Excitement has been growing among fans of The Witcher that the Wild Hunt will appear in Season 2 of Netflix’s adaptation.
A variety of new images were taken on the set of the epic fantasy production appear to show that filming is currently underway for this important storyline.
According to The Witcher fansite Redanian Intelligence, images started emerging late last week, showing what appeared to be the Wild Hunt. The photos were captured on location at Saunton Beach in Devon, UK, and are a good indication this storyline will feature in the upcoming installment of The Witcher.
However, the question needs to be asked just how much of the Season 2 storyline will be taken up by this event.
Who — or what — is the Wild Hunt?
The Wild Hunt, or the Wraiths of Mörhogg, as they are known by the people of Skellige, are believed to be a group of ghostly specters riding on undead horses that appear in the sky and are seen as an omen of war.
However, what they really are is a group of elves from Tir ná Lia who are on the lookout for potential slaves. Eventually, though, they set their sights on capturing Ciri, who is played by Freya Allan in the TV series.
This group of elves features prominently in the storyline for CD Projekt Red’s video game, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. However, it is also a featured storyline in the original book series by Andrzej Sapkowski.
Will the Wild Hunt be the main storyline or merely a tease of things to come?
Various images of the filming of this group have been shared with Redanian Intelligence as well as The Daily Mail. These images were also later shared to the Twitter account of the Reddit forum for the TV series.
Many of the shots show details that are easily identifiable as the Wild Hunt, such as the below shot showing people on horses riding along the beach.
Already, it is known that Ciri’s storyline will be explored more thoroughly in the next installment. In particular, the impact of magic on humans such as her is expected to be covered.
However, according to some fans, Season 2 of The Witcher might be a bit early to be introducing the Wild Hunt, even though they made their first appearance in book 2, titled Time of Contempt.
This means that the scene currently being filmed in the UK could be some sort of dream or vision of things to come. Or, in fact, Ciri’s very first encounter with the Wild Hunt, who continue to pursue her for some time after that.
As Forbes points out, all the details regarding Season 2 of The Witcher also seem to indicate that Ciri will head to Kaer Morhen in order to hone her fighting skills, leading more to the theory that the Wild Hunt will not be the main event. However, only tuning in to the new season will reveal the answer.
The first season of The Witcher is currently streaming on Netflix.