The Witcher Season 3 Will Be Based On The Time Of Contempt

"The Witcher" season 2 just hit Netflix last week, but if you've already binged all eight episodes, you may already be looking forward to season 3. There was a two-year gap between season 1 and 2 of "The Witcher," thanks partly to the pandemic and an on-set injury that the show's star, Henry Cavill, suffered. Fans are hoping that season 3's delivery will be a little more expedited and that it will come before December 2023. The good news on that front is that "The Witcher" season 3 is already in development.

Viewers can't expect to see it too soon, but when it does arrive, there are some big things in store. Before the release of season 2, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich told TechRadar:

"Actually, this is our last week [December 3] in the writers' room. We're almost done with the scripting phase, and it's amazing. I'm really thrilled with how the season is shaping up because it's based on my favorite book in the saga, which is The Time of Contempt.

"I feel like seasons 1 and 2 have been laying the playing field for everything huge that's about to happen. But the creative process is now really just starting. We have the scripts, and now we'll bring directors on, the actors back in, and really start delving in deeper and reflecting back and making sure that it's the perfect season."

The popularity of the "Witcher" video games often leads people to believe the Netflix series is based on the games, when in fact it's a new adaptation of the original "Witcher" short stories and novels by Andrzej Sapkowski. The games are set after the books, whereas Hissrich and Cavill's series draws directly from the literary source material.

"The Witcher" season 1 pulled primarily from two short story collections: "The Last Wish" and "Sword of Destiny." The recently-released second season drew from another "Last Wish" story, "A Grain of Truth," as well as the first novel, "Blood of Elves," and the start of "Time of Contempt."

If you're looking for something to keep you busy while you wait for season 3 of "The Witcher," you could always go back and read any of these books, or continue reading ahead with the rest of "Time of Contempt" and its three follow-up novels, "Baptism of Fire," "The Tower of the Swallow," and "The Lady of the Lake." There's a lot of "Witcher" material out there already, and that includes the animated Netflix prequel, "The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf," which tells the story of how Kaer Morhen came to be in such a run-down state, and why there are so few witchers left in the world. 

Netflix also has a live-action prequel miniseries, "The Witcher: Blood Origin," on the way in 2022. It stars Michelle Yeoh and just dropped its first teaser as a mid-credits surprise with "The Witcher" season 2 finale.

"The Witcher" season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.