The Witcher season 4 once again killed off characters who survived in the books, but their deaths weren't for shock value: "We always do it for a reason"

The Witcher may have once again bumped off multiple fan favorite characters from the Continent who survived in the books, but showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich defends the body count – and explains why it isn't done for shock value.

Spoilers for The Witcher season 4 ending follow.

"We've had some controversy with characters that we have killed off before, that aren't killed in the books," Hissrich tells GamesRadar+, perhaps nodding towards Eskel's divisive Leshen-shaped demise in the second season. "Yet we always do it for a reason."

In the fourth season, Vesemir meets an untimely end, with Geralt's mentor falling at Vigelfortz's hand in the Battle of Montecalvo.

At Styygga Castle, the mage Istredd ends up sacrificing himself to deal a hefty blow to Vilgefortz's plans.

For Hissrich, though, these casualties weren't arbitrary; instead, they offered a way for the still-living characters to transform, all through the lens of processing their grief and trauma.

"I don't think anyone is sitting around going, 'Let's just kill that person. Let's have that shock value.' One of the things that our characters have to deal with is the trauma of losing someone and how that changes who you are and how you view the world," Hissrich says.

The showrunner continues, "There are several deaths this season that I think are unexpected, and they change our characters in very different ways. It feels like a very sort of human experience that we wanted to reflect on the show. Throughout the last two seasons, there's, there's a lot of death. The Witcher is not always a happy place."

The Witcher season 4 is now streaming on Netflix.

If you're all caught up, be sure to read our guide to The Witcher season 5. You'll have plenty of time to tick off some more of the best Netflix shows around before heading back to the Continent, mind.