Following the release of the second season of Netflix’s The Witcher, Henry Cavill, who plays the lead aka Geralt of Rivia, has recently opened up about a scene he improvised this season. We warn you against spoilers that are peppered here!
After its release on December 17th, 2021, the second season of the show has been, quite expectedly, showered with love and appreciation from their cult-like fan following.
Based on Andrzej Sapowski’s 1990s fantasy novels that birthed the Witcher-verse, subsequently leading to various video game spin-offs and popular adaptations, the role of Geralt of Rivia was a much-coveted one for Cavill who is a massive fan of the novels.
His co-star Freya Allen, who plays Princess Ciri in both seasons, even hinted at how he is the “living encyclopaedia” on Lauren Schmidt Hissrich’s fan favourite show.
Recently, Cavill opened up about the heartbreaking scene in the second season where his loyal horse, Roach, dies. He said that although the scene was beautifully put together, the nerdy bookworm in him had a gut feeling about something crucial being omitted from the scene that was there in the books.
Cavill said, “Due to the nature of the plot and the vision, there’s a lovely bit missed out from Blood of Elves, where we see Geralt have this experience with Death as he’s at the top of Sodden Hill. There’s a monolith there with all the names of the majors who have died protecting the North.” In the scene, Geralt, who is still weak from the recent ghoul bite, is seen passing out after climbing up to the hilltop.
Cavill said, “But we think he’s having this experience with Death where Death is talking about a crossing over in this lovely sort of poetic piece. I think it’s something like ‘across the meadow and through the mist’.”
Cavill felt that it was a “shame” to miss “that beat in the story”, which, according to him, was an important and “informative” nugget about his character’s personality.
Thus, he decided to change the lines to “not be afraid of She Who Is Waiting For You.”
Cavill, who is a huge fan of Sapowski’s novels, was probably about right as it remains one of the most poignant scenes of the season. The actor also spoke of how the second season would have a closer connection with the books.
With the third season underway, watch the newest season of The Witcher on Netflix now.
