On Monday morning, Netflix released the first poster for its upcoming adaption of The Witcher, reigniting an age-old debate between warring factions of The Witcher fandom: How many damn swords does Geralt carry anyway?
Show of hands! Is it just the one, as is displayed on Henry Cavill’s, er, backside? Or is it two swords, one steel (for people) and one silver (for monsters)?
Well, as it turns out, they’re both right (kind of).
Basically, the answer depends on whether you’re talking about book!Geralt or game!Geralt.
In the original Witcher novels by Andrzej Sapkowski, Geralt indeed has two swords, one steel and one silver. However, as some close readers on Reddit helpfully pointed out, he mostly only carries the steel on his back, keeping the silver one tucked away in his saddle for easy access. Accordingly, the covers usually show Geralt as single-sworded:
Meanwhile, in the games (which are an adaptation of the novels), Geralt and his fellow witchers carry two swords. During gameplay, each sword gets its own equipment slot, and players switch between the two depending on the type of critters they’re coming up against (non-magical living things get steel, while supernatural beings get silver).
This is further complicated by the fact that some of the newer covers, clearly influenced by the games, strap two swords across Geralt’s back, instead of one:
Since the Netflix series is based on the novels, not the games, it only makes sense that TV!Geralt would have only carry one sword.
The worst monsters are the ones we create. pic.twitter.com/OIJeWwCYFK
— The Witcher (@witchernetflix) July 1, 2019
Get your first look at Geralt (Henry Cavill), Yennefer (Anya Cholatra), and Ciri (Freya Allan) in #TheWitcher pic.twitter.com/2l0R2vgBZt
— See What's Next (@seewhatsnext) July 1, 2019
So that settles that.
