CD Projekt REDThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a fantastic game with a massive world, a fully fleshed out cast of characters, and side quests deeper than a lot of other video RPG’s main questlines.
With The Witcher Netflix show starring Henry Cavill set to arrive later this year, I thought it’d be fun to take a look at which of last game’s more memorable side quests would translate well to full episodes on the new series.
Before we start, I’m aware that the show will be looking to the books rather than the games for inspiration, but if it needs to take a little something from CD Projket’s RED take on The Witcher, it should be from one of these five quests.
Wild At Heart
CD Projekt RED This wonderful side quest would basically play out like an episode of CSI Velen if it were to be adapted for TV. It’s got all the elements of a great detective story: A missing person, dual identities, a terrible secret, and a murder scene that isn’t quite what it seems.
This early-game side quest sees Geralt tasked with tracking down a man’s wife who went missing in the woods. It’s not long before it turns into a real supernatural family affair, as refusing to take the case at face value leads you to a fierce fight with a conflicted werewolf, a jealous lover, and a difficult choice.
Nothing in the world of The Witcher is ever cut and dry, and the beasts you fight are rarely the real monsters of the piece. Hopefully this is a theme the Netflix show picks up on, and adapting this quest would be a great chance to convey that.
The Phantom Of Eldberg
CD Projekt RED If Wild At Heart is a detective story, then The Phantom Of Eldberg is a good old fashioned ghost story, complete with a spooky lighthouse on an abandoned island surrounded by destroyed ships that were unfortunate enough to crash on the rocks.
In this tale, Geralt finds himself helping out a terrified lighthouse keeper who’s elected to stay safe in his hut until the ghosts (or wraiths) that haunt the island are dealt with. In The Witcher, exorcisms always involve getting to the truth behind whatever terrible event happened, and there are plenty of twists in this one as our hero uncovers what really went down.
This would be a chance for the Netflix show to get really scary and fully embrace the horror genre for an episode. Plus, rocky, rainy island with mountains and crashing waves in the background would be a truly gorgeous setting for a one-off ep.
Witcher Wannabe
CD Projekt RED A light-hearted quest that could really lend itself to a fascinating deep dive into what it means to Geralt to be a Witcher if it were adapted for TV. Wannabe Witcher is all about our gruff hero coming face to face with a fraudster who’s been scamming townsfolk by pretending to be a monster slayer.
In the world of the books and games, Geralt and “his kind” are seen as freaks and outcasts, despite all they do to help people. This prejudice is something that’s ripe for exploration in the TV show, as Geralt tracks down and deals with a human who has actively been exploiting – and adding to – the bad press that Witchers get.
If nothing else, it’d be hilarious to see the episode end with Geralt putting the absolute fear of God into the impostor when he inevitably finds him.
Possession
CD Projekt RED Possession is easily one of the most mind blowing and genuinely affecting side quests in The Witcher 3, and one that everybody still talks about.
If you’ve never played it, I absolutely won’t spoil it for you here, but it begins with a properly scary demon that feeds on the childhood trauma of a man in a position of great power, and ends with an outrageous twist that left my jaw on the floor the first time I played it.
The twist in question is the result of an awful last minute choice in-game, but the Netflix show would surely go down the route that allowed it to show such an audacious sequence. There’s no doubt in my mind that it’d be an episode people remembered for years to come, much like the quest itself.
Carnal Sins
CD Projekt RED Dandelion and Priscilla are two key players in the world of The Witcher, and adapting the Carnal Sins quest would be a fun, if slightly chilling, way to introduce them.
In Carnal Sins, Geralt finds himself on the hunt of a savage serial killer who performs surgeries on their victims in the massive city of Novigrad. It has everything you’d want from an hour of television, including a thrilling chase through the sewers, a violent showdown, and a scene in which Geralt accidentally bursts in on a brothel.
As with any good detective story, there are multiple suspects in play and you’ll be guessing until the very end who the real killer is. In fact, the first time I played the quest I outright accused and attacked the wrong person. Oops.
While it’s very unlikely we’ll see any of these quests adapted for TV any time soon (if at all) I hope you can take away one thing from this article: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is really, really bloody good. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to play it through again for like, the sixth time.
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Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.