Netflix's upcoming adaptation of The Witcher features a unique interpretation of Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski's novel series. That much has gradually become clear through the clips, photos and posters that have been released over the past few months.A new poster, marking the fact that there is just one month left until the release of the series, was revealed by official Netflix accounts on social media, featuring Geralt of Rivia, Yennefer of Vengerberg and Ciri. Interestingly, behind the series' stars is a partially visible map of The Continent. While only a few of the Northern Kingdoms are visible, such as Temeria, Redania and Kaedwen, it seems to be enough to confirm the use of a map that began circulating Reddit just days ago.
There has never been an official map of The Continent. However, thanks to various descriptions throughout the novels, fans have been able to piece together several similar versions of the fantasy realm, most of which Sapkowski himself has said are reasonably accurate. The shape of The Continent that many fans are accustomed to is best encapsulated by the highly-detailed Ortelius Map 2.0, which was evidently constructed at least a decade ago.
There are several notable differences between the Netflix series' map and the Ortelius map that readers might notice. For example, the Skellige Isles are shown on the series map to be far closer to the shores of The Continent than commonly depicted, and the Mahakam and Kestrel mountain ranges -- usually placed between Temeria and Aedirn, and Redania and Kaedwen, respectively -- appear to be almost non-existent on the Netflix map.
It is worth noting that none of these differences mean that the upcoming series will be any less faithful to the world of the novels than showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich has claimed it will be. The map has clearly been stylized in such a way as to reflect an ancient age, before humankind had perfected cartography, among a myriad of other things-- something that is sure to be explored in Netflix's The Witcher, as it was in the novels.