The Witcher: Blood Origin will feature moments "critical" to future seasons of the main series

The Witcher: Blood Origin
(Image credit: Netflix)

The Witcher: Blood Origin creator Declan De Barra has opened up about how the spin-off will tie into the main Witcher series.

Blood Origin, which debuts on Netflix on December 25, heads back in time over a millennium to tell the pre-human story of Michelle Yeoh’s Scian, Sophia Brown’s Eile, and Laurence O’Fuarain’s Fjall, the collapse of elven civilization, and the paradigm shift of the Conjunction of the Spheres – which saw the worlds of elves, men, and monsters collide.

Despite its prequel status, De Barra told Netflix’s Tudum that we can expect major setups in Blood Origin that will pay off in future seasons of The Witcher.

"Blood Origin sets up certain core characters and fan favorites from the books in the later Witcher series. There are items and discoveries that are made in this world that play off in later seasons of The Witcher and have critical effects on the storyline," De Barra explained.

De Barra continued, "Witcher creator Lauren Schmidt, the producers and I spent a lot of time seeding new Easter eggs and answering older Easter eggs from other episodes and series. We’re weaving a complex spider web of delicious story that stretches over thousands of years."

That will even extend to exploring the creation of the very first "prototype" Witcher across the spin-off's four episodes.

The Witcher season 3, meanwhile, has recently wrapped filming. As revealed at Netflix’s Tudum, the new season is set to premiere in Summer 2023.

For more from the streamer, check out some of the best Netflix shows you should be watching right now.

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.