Why Netflix’s The Witcher Shows Geralt With Only One Sword

Netflix dropped its first batch of official images from The Witcher on Monday, the TV show based on the famous novels that’s releasing later this year. We got to see three of the main characters with Henry Cavill’s version of Geralt of Rivia being the main focus. Cavill is looking like he’ll be more than just a suitable fit for Geralt, but there was something about the images that caught the attention of the series’ fans: Geralt is only carrying one sword.

There’s a pretty simple explanation for that, but it might not be one that you’re aware of if you only know Geralt from the games. In the novels, Geralt has both a silver and a steel sword in a similar fashion to how he’s been depicted in the game. The difference there is that in the books, he often leaves his silver sword on his horse, Roach, if he doesn’t need it at the time.

Many enemies can be defeated using only the steel sword while the silver-coated weapon is saved for the most trying of foes who are weak to its effects, so there’s no sense in Geralt carrying it around all the time with him when Roach being nearby gives him easy access to it. The version of Geralt in the games, however, shows him with both swords strapped onto his back so that he can whip out the appropriate weapon when the situation warrants it. With a game’s design in mind, you can imagine how it’d become tedious if you had to call up Roach and swap out your weapon every time you encountered an enemy that called for either steel or silver, so having two swords is more practical in that sense. Mathematically, it also makes him look like a more imposing protagonist which is always a plus for someone known for hunting monsters and other entities.

Lauren S. Hissrich, the showrunner for Netflix‘s The Witcher, shared two images of Geralt, one of which showed him holding just the one sword. Hissrich addressed this within the tweet and said he only carries one sword before trailing off.

For anyone who read the novels, you probably didn’t need an explanation for Geralt’s one-sword look, but it’d be understandable if you’re a Witcher fan that did seeing how the games were many people’s first introduction to Geralt. It’s also the best visual representation we have of the hero so far, so it might take a while to get used to not seeing the two-sword getup.

Netflix’s The Witcher is scheduled to release later this year.