MOZI NEWS – The Witcher star Joey Batey, who plays the bard Jaskier, has made sure that an important character is transferred from the book to the screen.

Season 3 of The Witcher throws viewers into a world of rich characters. Among them may be a character that Jaskier’s actor Joey Batey insisted be transferred from the books. Season 3 of the series is based explicitly on the second novel in Andrzej Sapkowski’s series, Time of Contempt.

The story largely revolves around Ciri as the main character, which the creators promise will stay true to The Witcher books.

Now that Ciri is on her own two feet, she’ll have more leeway in her life. The book focuses on the struggle of the Princess of Cintran to harness her magic. The title is apt; the new season’s source material is full of tragedy and difficult choices. But Batey’s desire to portray a specific character was more personal.

“I insisted on putting a book character in,” Batey told GamesRadar+ in an interview. “I said, ‘Can we please have Vespula in there please.'” Vespula, Jaskier’s lover, was a character Batey met during the audition process. “We have this scene from the book, and it was just nice to be able to return to that and the scene with Vespula is the scene that I auditioned with five years ago. So it just felt really full circle and I felt very settled in the character.”

Vespula has crossed mediums from book form to play. Typically, she can be seen yelling at Dandelion for chasing other women. She also throws pans at him. Her inclusion definitely adds more flavour to Jaskier’s backstory. Other characters from the book and game will also play a bigger role in the new season. Philippa Eilhart, seen briefly in season 2 when she is not in her usual owl form, will be moving through many threads.

Fans will also finally get to see Prince Radovid of Redania, mentioned last season, who comes into conflict with The Witcher’s troublesome elves.

Season 3 will give us the opportunity to expand the world of The Witcher. It is less likely to upset fans of the books with its flawed changes. While Vespula is not as fleshed out as Philippa or Dijkstra, she serves an important function. Jaskier barely got enough screen time in the first two seasons to function as a main character. Geralt dismissed him in season 1, and he only reappears halfway through season 2. The inclusion of Vespula gives Jaskier more inner life and a chance to have a role beyond supporting Geralt and comic relief.

Source: GamesRadar+