Geralt of Rivia, a brooding professional monster hunter for hire also known as witcher, struggles to keep his humanity in a medieval dark fantasy world ruled by corrupt kings, queens and mages, where poverty, violence and intolerance are rampant, normal humans are sometimes worse than actual monsters and most jobs that pay well involve the darkest of human emotions and desires. Yennefer of Vengerberg is an ambitious mage who came from nothing and wants everything. Princess Cirilla or Ciri is a young girl who may or may not possess some great mysterious power within her. Their destinies, seemingly quite different, slowly intertwine in a rather cosmic fashion. Their companions include Jaskier the bard, Geralt's endearingly annoying friend and hype man vowed to spread the word of his heroics throughout the continent even if he has to embellish them a little for a few coins more, Tissaia de Vries, Yennefer's secretive mentor who believes in tough love, and Triss Merigold, a good-natured druidic mage and trustworthy friend. The Nilfgaardian Empire's sudden brutal invasion of the kingdom of Cintra ruled by Cirilla's protective grandmother, warrior queen Calanthe, puts their lives in great danger.
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The dune landscapes of Gran Canaria stood in for the sea of sand Geralt has to cross on his travels, while nearby jungle and coastline on the islands were used to bring the Dryads' Brokilon Forest to life. Same set of islands, two very different biomes.
The abandoned castle of Vizima in Temeria is actually Kreuzenstein Castle near Leobendorf, Austria. Its exteriors gave the production a genuinely ancient, weathered look that would have been far harder to fake on a soundstage.
"Toss a Coin to Your Witcher" wasn't added in post or written on a whim, composers Sonya Belousova and Giona Ostinelli finished it back in November 2018, well before production began, because Joey Batey needed the finished track to actually perform on camera as Jaskier.
As catchy as it is, "Toss a Coin to Your Witcher" was created purely for the Netflix adaptation. It has no equivalent in Sapkowski's original novels, it was written specifically to give the show its own musical identity.
Batey wasn't in great shape when it came time to record the song properly. He turned up to the studio unwell, got through the session on multiple cups of honey and lemon tea, and still managed to nail several clean takes.
