The Witcher season 3 is 'when everything changes in the series'

Love is in the air across the Continent, and it couldn't come at a better time on The Witcher.

Torchlight illuminates the lace-covered eyes of the sorceress Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) as she enjoys the annual Beltane festival (a familiar event from the books) with Geralt (Henry Cavill) and Princess Cirilla (Freya Allan) when the series returns for season 3 this June. There's a lot of pressure. Yennefer nearly sold Ciri out to a demon to restore her magic, and now she's trying to mend those broken bonds.

Showrunner Lauren Hissrich tells EW she received a lot of feedback from viewers about Yennefer's acts last season. "'How could you do that to these characters?' 'They'll never be able to forgive her.' Well, that just becomes a story problem for us," she says. "How do two characters forgive each other?" Her mind immediately went to Beltane, a festival during which both Yen and Ciri were born. Viewers will see the enchantress' "romantic reconnections" with Geralt play out here, Hissrich teases.

Chalotra also makes note of a familiar black dress that Yen is wearing in this moment — the same garb she wore during the character's first meeting with the White Wolf. "She wouldn't have put that on for no reason," the actress says. Given Baltane is a fertility festival, she adds, "That's enough of a hint."

It is character moments like this that made Hissrich eager to dive into The Witcher season 3, which is now tackling material from her favorite of author Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher books, Time of Contempt. While previous seasons of the show haven't strictly adapted the earlier novels — a result of the slow character development in the source material up to this point — season 3 will be more faithful. "Time of Contempt is so action packed, but of course not just plot for plot's sake," Hissrich explains. "It is one of the books that I think has the best character development that is matched with high-stakes action, high-stakes plot moments."

"We're in it now. We're in the thick of the story," says Chalotra, who mentions the third season is "a lot more politically driven."

"We get a lot more magic this season, and I was excited for that because I don't think we've seen enough of it," she adds. "Also the movements of magic, which have evolved for Yennefer. We put a lot of Indian dance and movements into this, because we wanted to be specific and for magic to be more placed. We were looking into ways we could do that and make it more personal."

Amid pivotal events — including Shaerrawedd, a massive set piece coming in the first episode, and the Thanedd coup, a squabble between mages which the showrunner confirms is being adapted in season 3 — are crucial character beats, like with Beltane. "Our characters still find time to have fun and enjoy each other, and you finally get some long-long-awaited emotional moments between them," Hissrich says.

It's the season when Geralt relinquishes his vow of neutrality and realizes he not only needs his family but wants them. It's when Yennefer further grapples with the idea of motherhood as she trains Ciri in the ways of magic at Aretuza. Speaking to Yennefer's past sins, Chalotra points out that, "She puts a lot of time and energy and effort into making it up to them at the beginning of season 3. That quite quickly and quite organically evolves into a real family dynamic."

It's also when Ciri comes to terms with who she wants to be, especially after the season 2 finale reveal about her father. In those respects, "We really feel like it's when everything changes in the series," Hissrich says.

The biggest change, though, is that season 3 is now Cavill's final season playing Geralt, a role that will be recast with The Hunger Games star Liam Hemsworth starting with season 4. News of the switch came down after filming had already wrapped on season 3.

"All we knew were the feelings that we have when any season comes to an end. It's full of pride and love and accomplishment for what we've done," Chalotra says. "So, we stayed in that moment rather than anything else. The news was... yeah, it's hard to take because he's a crucial part of the show and we all adore him. So, we're gonna miss him a lot. I wish him all the best."

The Witcher season 3 will be released in two parts: the five-episode Volume 1 arrives on Netflix June 29, and the three-episode Volume 2 debuts July 27.

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