The Witcher Sequel Teaser Hints At Ability To Create Our Own Witchers

As I'm sure you've probably heard by now, CD Projekt RED has finally announced that the next instalment of The Witcher saga is in development. I won't lie to you: I'm hyped. Pumped. Ready to GO.

The Polish developer confirmed that the new entry is being developed in Unreal Engine 5 in partnership with Epic Games, and that it's definitely not The Witcher 4. That's, um, pretty much all we know for sure at this point. But since when has that stopped the internet from wildly speculating?

The one teaser we currently have to go on is a rather striking image of a Witcher medallion buried in the snow (see below). And it's here that we begin our journey - because it's quite literally the only place we can.

The first and most obvious question, of course, is which school this medallion belongs to. For the uninitiated: there are various schools in the world of The Witcher, each with their own set of beliefs, ideals, and approaches to monster hunting. Geralt belongs to the school of the wolf, but other schools include cat, bear, griffin, crane, viper, and manticore.

The medallion in the teaser most closely resembles a cat, which perhaps throws up the biggest hint we have to go in terms of who will star in the new game: Ciri.

Geralt's adopted daughter played a huge role in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, to the extent that she was actually playable for certain segments of the adventure. The game's "best" ending - and the one I'd certainly hope becomes canon - sees Geralt handing Ciri her very own silver sword and sending her off on a journey to become a witcher.

While it doesn't get mentioned often (or at all) in the game, Ciri actually carries a medallion from the school of the cat. The books explain that Ciri picked up this medallion from a bounty hunter who looted it from the corpse of a cat school witcher he murdered, essentially making it her unofficial school.

At this point you might be wondering what sets the school of the cat apart, and why that matters. This particular school is widely despised around the world, even by the low standards to which most witchers are held. Seen more as bloodthirsty mercenaries willing to kill any man or beast for the right price, most of these witchers were largely hunted down and killed. Why would Ciri want this to be the group she represents? We'll get to that.

It's also been hinted by CDPR before now that if a new Witcher game were to happen, it would probably star Ciri. All of which to say it looks like Ciri is almost definitely going to be the focus of this new saga, with Geralt perhaps appearing for the occasional cameo.

However, this is far from guaranteed. As others have pointed out, the medallion in the teaser doesn't look much like the cat school medallion seen in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. If anything, it looks more like a lynx.

The most obvious explanation here is that CDPR has simply decided to redesign the Cat School medallion, but I can't help but feel there's a little more to it than that.

Perhaps Ciri is attempting to start a brand-new school of witchers based on the school of the cat, under the belief that if she can redeem the most-hated school of witchers, she can help usher in a new age for witchers everywhere. Or perhaps the school of the lynx is a new endeavour of her own design, adapting the ideals of the previous, now-defunct school? CDPR previously introduced new schools that weren't in the book (such as viper) so it's not a huge stretch.

Moreover, the school of the cat is described as "one of the few schools training women and non-pureblood humans," which sounds like it could be right up Ciri's alley as she travels the world to build a new group of witchers from all backgrounds and walks of life.

This also brings me rather neatly to my next suggestion: what if Ciri isn't the playable protagonist of the new game? While she could still very well be one of the main characters in the story, what if we're instead given the chance to build our own witcher from the ground-up and take it from there.

This would be a huge departure from the previous Witcher trilogy, of course, but it lines up. The cat school being one of the few that doesn't just train young boys sets the scene for a robust character creator, with players taking on the role of a budding witcher that learns under the likes of Ciri and Geralt. It's less likely than giving us Ciri as the main character, I grant you, and runs the risk of robbing the new game of much of the personal stakes and gripping storytelling provided by The Witcher 3. But it's not impossible!

For now, we simply have to wait and see where the new game goes. But I certainly wouldn't bet against the school of the cat playing some kind of role going forward.

Featured Image Credit: CD Projekt

Topics: The Witcher 3