The Witcher: Blood Origin Creator Explains How the Prequel Series Impacts The Witcher

Thanks to Netflix's recent Tudum fan event, there has been an outpouring of news big and small about the upcoming prequel series The Witcher: Blood Origin. For example, we now know that it's releasing on Christmas, Minnie Driver will feature prominently in it, and that it really is just four episodes instead of the originally announced six. On top of all of that, The Witcher: Blood Origin creator Declan de Barra has explained exactly how the prequel series might affect the mainline The Witcher series.

"Blood Origin sets up certain core characters and fan favorites from the books in the later Witcher series," said de Barra when asked by Netflix itself how The Witcher: Blood Origins affects fan-favorite characters from The Witcher. "There are items and discoveries that are made in this world that play off in later seasons of The Witcher and have critical effects on the storyline. Witcher creator Lauren Schmidt, the producers and I spent a lot of time seeding new Easter eggs and answering older Easter eggs from other episodes and series. We're weaving a complex spider web of delicious story that stretches over thousands of years."

Exactly what all that might mean is anyone's guess at this point. It's known that the show will explore the events leading up to the Conjunction of the Spheres as well as the creation of a "prototype" witcher and the origins of the mysterious monoliths seen in The Witcher. As for specifics, however, that will seemingly have to wait.

As noted above, The Witcher: Blood Origin is set to release on Netflix on December 25th. Declan de Barra is the showrunner and executive producer for The Witcher: Blood Origin while The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich is an executive producer. The Witcher: Blood Origin cast includes Sophia Brown as Éile, Michelle Yeoh as Scían, Laurence O'Fuarain as Fjall, Minnie Driver as Seanchaí, and more. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the upcoming limited prequel series right here.

What do you think of the tease about how The Witcher: Blood Origin affects The Witcher? Are you looking forward to catching the new prequel series when it debuts later this year? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop in order to talk about all things television and gaming!