The Witcher season 1 was released on Netflix late last month. Many viewers were impressed by the engaging story and cast of characters. The series impressed so many that the novel series by Andrzej Sapkowski saw a surge in sales and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt set records for concurrent players.
While there was plenty of praise for the live-action adaptation, the show had its fair share of criticism. Many believed that the crossing timelines were difficult to follow.
The showrunner, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, said before the series debut that she wanted to focus on the characters Ciri and Yennefer before they met Geralt. She wanted to expand on these two characters that are especially important to the story.
The first season had three different timelines from each character’s perspective. While many familiar with the novels understood the content, new viewers expressed some confusion.
Netflix has released an interactive map that viewers can use to understand the events of the show better. The timeline focuses on the characters in the show and any important battles that took place.
The map contains spoilers for the show, so viewers who haven’t watched it yet will have to beware. Though the video game adaptation by CD Projekt Red details some of the events, the games take place after the novels. They’re considered to be “inspired” by the books, and not an official sequel.
The map is easy to navigate. The timeline is at the bottom of the webpage. Viewers simply have to click one of the dots to get a snippet of information. The map automatically centers on the location where the event took place.
The map also states which episode a specific event takes place. Extreme caution is advised to those who want to avoid spoilers.
The series’ protagonist is Geralt of Rivia, but the series expands on the world beyond the Witcher’s monster slayings. Since Yennefer and Ciri’s stories are also told in-depth throughout the series, the storytelling method presented some confusion.
Netflix hopes that fans will better understand what happened and when in preparation for season 2. The second season was greenlit before the first season was launched, and many fans are waiting impatiently for the next installment.
The Witcher live-action adaptation is available now on Netflix.
