The Witcher Season Two is out now and we can finally catch up with the characters we know and love. Producing a television show is an immense undertaking that takes hundreds of people and thousands of hours of work. Sometimes what you don’t see on screen can be the most interesting. (Slight spoilers ahead) Here are ten behind-the-scene facts about the second season:

Geralt of Rivia has two swords this season: one silver and the other meteorite. In reality, the armoury department had 25 different versions of the sword. For the fight scenes, 15 rubber copies of each sword were made.

All of the elven weapons utilize nature imagery and design — axes with dragon and horse heads, swords and daggers with serpents, bows with little salamanders. For the background elves alone, the armoury department created 12 original weapon designs and made 150 items.

The contact lenses used in THE WITCHER are precisely measured and cut to each individual actor’s eye shape and size. Every lens was handpainted in America.

Actor Agnes Born did her own body movement and contortion training for the role of Vereena. When the bruxa’s head spins around, this was shot practically and with no help from visual effects. Agnes twisted her head in one direction before a mold of her back was fixed to her chest, giving the illusion she turned her head 360 degrees.

Graham McTavish plays the character Sigismund Dijkstra this season, and also voices the character Deglan, Vesemir’s mentor, in the anime movie THE WITCHER: NIGHTMARE OF THE WOLF.

To create the exterior of Kaer Morhen, the VFX team used a process called photogrammetry. They took thousands of pictures of two environments — a mountain called Sgùrr on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, and a second location in Iceland — to create a computer-generation 3D model.

Yarpen’s distinctive hammer showing two fingers has a backstory created by the armoury department. In their story, the hand belonged to a Nilfgaardian sentry who had a disagreement with Yarpen, so Yarpen cut his hand off and had it cast in bronze with the two fingers sticking up.

Production used 500 live cockroaches for the scene in Voleth Meir’s hut, plus 2,000 fake ones to visually bulk up the numbers. The live roaches had four animal wranglers who had to count each one out in the morning and back in the evening to make sure none had scurried away.

In memory of the thirteen mages who fell at Sodden, Tissaia carves their names into a marble plaque at Aretuza in Episode 203. Most of the names came from the original books. However, there were four mages not accounted for, so the art department added slightly altered versions names for showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, executive producer Tomek Bagiński, writer Haily Hall, and associate producer Tera Vale Ragan.

In the center of Kaer Morhen’s Great Hall stands the Medallion Tree, a memorial where the wolf medallions of fallen Witchers glitter in remembrance. Hidden among the many medallions is one very specific medallion that eagle-eyed fans should keep an eye out for.

What fact did you find most interesting? Let us know in the comments below or in our forums!

We’d like to temporarily pause our excitement over the release of The Witcher Season 2 with an announcement for The Witcher game fans: Secretlab, in collaboration with CD PROJEKT RED, have created the TITAN Evo 2022 The Witcher Edition chair, inspired by the legendary monster slayer Geralt of Rivia.

The chair is carefully crafted with elements and fabric that any School of the Wolf follower would love. If you need an additional incentive to own this chair, each purchase includes a special treat for fans, every purchase comes with one Secretlab chair card and one random GWENT card collectible, featuring Geralt, Triss, Yennefer or Ciri.

“We thoroughly enjoyed the creative process with Secretlab to explore various ideas for the world’s first official The Witcher chair. It was important to us that every single design feature corresponded to an iconic part of Geralt’s armor and weapons, and we know that fans will recognize and appreciate the different elements we’ve incorporated. It’s truly a chair fit for the legendary witcher himself.” - Przemysław Juszczyk, Lead Graphic Designer, CD PROJEKT RED

“Our designers wanted to bring the same magic and detail to the world’s first official The Witcher seat, modeled after Geralt of Rivia himself. From the dual swords Geralt wields to the studded metal accents along the side wings, every aspect of the chair evokes a witcher’s gear, reminiscent of the Continent’s magic and monsters.” - Vincent Sin, Head of Industrial Design

The chairs are available in Small, Regular, and XL, meaning that playing the game or binge watching the television series can do so in stylish comfort. Find out more details at Secretlab. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below or in our forum!

At last, The Witcher Season 2 is out! Whether you are binging the episodes in one go (we won’t judge) or savoring each like a fine wine, there are many exciting reasons to watch the newest eight episodes. Below are episode synopses for those curious to read the overall season story arc. If you are concerned about plot spoilers, reader beware. If you’d like to read our spoiler free review of season two, click here.

The second season synopsis is as follows, “Convinced Yennefer’s life was lost at the Battle of Sodden, Geralt of Rivia brings Princess Cirilla to the safest place he knows, his childhood home of Kaer Morhen. While the Continent’s kings, elves, humans and demons strive for supremacy outside its walls, he must protect the girl from something far more dangerous: the mysterious power she possesses inside.”

A GRAIN OF TRUTH | EPISODE 201
WRITTEN BY DECLAN DE BARRA DIRECTED BY STEPHEN SURJIK
Assuming Yennefer was killed at the Battle of Sodden Hill, Geralt and Ciri embark on the long journey to Kaer Morhen, home of the Witchers. When they stop for the night with Nivellen, they discover a curse has been bestowed on Geralt’s old comrade — and the truth isn’t all he’s hiding.

KAER MORHEN | EPISODE 202
WRITTEN BY BEAU DEMAYO DIRECTED BY STEPHEN SURJIK
Ciri settles into her new home with the Witchers at Kaer Morhen, but their safe haven is infiltrated by a new breed of monster. Meanwhile, Yennefer and Fringilla are captured by elves, but their lives are spared when Francesca, the new leader of the elves, discovers they share the same mysterious dream.

WHAT IS LOST | EPISODE 203
TELEPLAY BY LAUREN SCHMIDT HISSRICH AND CLARE HIGGINS STORY BY CLAIRE HIGGINS DIRECTED BY SARAH O’GORMAN
Suspicious that this new breed of monster has a connection to Ciri, Geralt takes the girl into the woods to track and kill the beast, but discovers another far more aggressive creature to overcome. Yennefer returns to Aretuza where she is accused of treachery and forced to prove her allegiance to the North.

REDANIAN INTELLIGENCE | EPISODE 204
WRITTEN BY SNEHA KOORSE DIRECTED BY SARAH O’GORMAN
Triss Merigold arrives at Kaer Morhen and uncovers a link between the new monsters arriving on the Continent and monoliths. Vesemir discovers Ciri could hold the key to the Witchers’ fates, and Yennefer reunites with Jaskier, who agrees to assist on her mission but becomes ensnared in his own misfortune.

TURN YOUR BACK | EPISODE 205
WRITTEN BY HAILY HALL DIRECTED BY ED BAZALGETTE
Geralt teams with Istredd on a journey to the fallen monolith on the outskirts of Cintra, Yennefer forges a desperate deal with a familiar demon, and Triss discovers the true identity of Geralt’s child surprise.

DEAR FRIEND | EPISODE 206
WRITTEN BY MATTHEW D’AMBROSIO DIRECTED BY LOUISE HOOPER
Geralt resolves to take Ciri to the sanctuary of the Temple of Melitele but their visit is cut short when a bounty hunter arrives to take the princess hostage. Yennefer and Geralt’s paths cross and the sorceress escapes with Ciri under her wing.

VOLETH MEIR | EPISODE 207
WRITTEN BY MIKE OSTROWSKI DIRECTED BY LOUISE HOOPER
Francesca sets out on a deadly quest for revenge while Fringilla spills blood to retain her power. When Yennefer has a change of heart, Geralt trades information for her betrayal. But it may be too late.

The Witcher Season 2 is out now. What do you think of the story arc? Let us know in the comments below or in our forums!

With less than 24 hours till The Witcher Season 2, the buzz of excitement has turned into electric anticipation. This season has been in development through a number of pandemic related changes and postponements, but we are finally here!

Netflix has released another set of images from this season, revealing some familiar faces like Dara and Yarpen. What their roles are will soon be revealed, but for the next several hours, please enjoy our image gallery:

You can also see our other two rounds of production stills here. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below or in our forum.