Season 2 of Netflix's The Witcher has long been reported to be adapting Andrzej Sapkowski's Blood of Elves. With the first day of Witchmas, the show teased fans with the arrival of a major faction from the novels: the Scoia'tael, a guerilla army fighting against the Northern Kingdoms.Netflix recently offered fans a chance to vote for a gift for the first day in the 6 Days of Witchmas event. Fans voted for the Law of Surprise and were given three shots from the set of Season 2 of The Witcher: medallions bearing the symbol of the School of the Wolf, a collection of swords and finally, a banner bearing the insignia of the Scoia'tael as described in the novels.
While leaked photos from the set of Season 2 have shown that an elven army will appear, as well as the elven sorceress Francesca Findabair, the appearance of the banner appears to confirm that they will indeed appear as part of the Scoia'tael faction.
The Scoia'tael were introduced in Blood of Elves as an army comprised of non-human fighters, whose cause was to free non-humans from oppression by the humans who rule the Northern Kingdoms. Unlike the other factions, the Scoia'tael regularly employed guerilla tactics: ambushing their targets and setting traps in forests. The name "Scoia'tael" translates to "squirrels;" a reference to the squirrel tails fighters often wear on their persons.
In an effort to liberate the non-humans, the Scoia'tael formed an allegiance with Emperor Emhyr of Nilfgaard, who made Francesca Findabair Queen of Dol Blathanna. As previously stated, set photos have shown that Findabair will appear, as well as Filavandrel of the Silver Towers and Toruviel, who both made an appearance in Season 1 leading a small group of elves. In the novels, Toruviel joins the Scoia'tael, while Filavandrel supports Francesca, even after the newly appointed queen ceased her support for the faction.
Despite a number of delays and hiatuses due to a number of issues -- including the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic -- Season 2 of The Witcher is currently filming in the United Kingdom and is scheduled to complete in February 2021. A release date has not yet been announced. Additionally, Netflix is developing a number of Witcher spinoffs such as The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf and the limited prequel series, The Witcher: Blood Origin.
Voting continues for the 6 Days of Witchmas on social media.
The Witcher stars Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, Anya Chalotra as Yennefer of Vengerberg, Freya Allan as Ciri and Joey Batey as Jaskier. Season 1 is now available on Netflix.
Source: Twitter