Following the major updates for The Witcher: Blood Origin at Netflix's TUDUM event, showrunner Declan De Barra addressed recent reports that the show's episode count had been reduced from six to four episodes.

In an interview with TUDUM, De Barra explained, "This felt like a two-part movie. You never want to be watching a movie going, 'I love this movie.' And then you start to look at your watch going, 'Oh, please end soon,' I never wanted there to be any moment where we’re just stringing the audience along to have an episode."

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The nature of the Netflix service meant there were no real limits when it came to episode count, meaning the change occurred without issue. "When we were in the edit room, that [four-episode structure] is what happened organically, the shaping into four episodes from all the footage we shot. Optimum story flow. I wanted it to be a punch in the face, so that you can’t take your eyes off it," De Barra added.

Reports of significant edits to Blood Origin began circulating in August, suggesting certain episodes had been stitched together. The writing credits appeared to reflect that. They include showrunner Declan De Barra, who is attached to the first and fourth episode; Alex Meenehan and Aaron Stewart-Ahn for the second episode and, finally, Tania Lotia and Kiersten Van Horne attached to the third. Except for the first and last, the episodes appear to have been merged, suggesting heavy edits.

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When it comes to the story, the showrunner -- who also worked on The Witcher -- confirmed that it will be a linear story and audiences will not have to concern themselves too heavily when comes to when in the timeline a sequence is taking place, which was an issue some reportedly had with the first season of The Witcher. So much so that Netflix followed up with the show's release with an explainer about when each event occurred.

The Witcher: Blood Origin tells the story of how the first witcher came to be on the Continent. The live-action limited series is set 1,200 years before Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer and will introduce a number of new characters, exclusive to Netflix's Witcher universe. These include the show's main protagonists, Fjall 'Stoneheart,' Eile 'The Lark' Lithe and Scian, played by Laurence O'Fuarain, Sophia Brown and Michelle Yeoh, respectively, none of which appear in Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher novels or the lore established in other media.

The Witcher: Blood Origin is scheduled to release on Netflix on Dec. 25.

Source: Netflix TUDUM