The second season of The Witcher spends an estimable portion of its 8-hour screentime delving into the dynamic between Geralt and Vesemir, his father figure, while he spends the winter in Kaer Morhen. Now, Netflix has released an actor-on-actor interview between Henry Cavill and Kim Bodnia, who go in-depth into the process of how they brought that dynamic to life when the cameras started rolling.
You can find a lot of parallels between Geralt and his mentor Vesemir as he grows older and accepts the responsibilities of parenthood through his adoption of Ciri. This was apparently a point of interest for the show’s writers when they approached season two because you can find a slew of sequences throughout episodes 8 to 16 that depict the emotional connection between these two aged monster hunters.
Vesemir has a deep sense of longing for the days when the Witchers – his children, as he sees them – roamed the Continent in larger numbers. Now as an old man, he has to watch them die one by one at the hands of monsters, whether of a literal or humane nature. Even Geralt says at one point that “no Witcher has ever died in his own bed.”
Out of all the Witchers, though, our protagonist is the one who relates the most to Vesemir through his connection with Ciri. Perhaps that’s why this powerful dynamic is so palpable when the two characters share a scene.
Cavill and Bodnia themselves explain the phenomenon better, of course, so check out what they have to say about their connection in this new interview:
There’s no telling if Kim Bodnia will reprise his role for future seasons of the Netflix series, but one thing’s for certain; The Witcher fans wouldn’t want his appearance in the season two finale to be the last of what they see from Papa Vesemir in live-action.