Despite being set more than 1000 years before the events of the main series, Joey Batey’s Jaskier has seemingly been confirmed to appear in The Witcher: Blood Origin prequel series. First announced in July 2020, The Witcher spinoff miniseries is set to star Everything Everywhere All at Once’s Michelle Yeoh and Sophia Brown alongside The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power star Sir Lenny Henry. Currently slated for a December 25 release on Netflix, the four-episode show will explore the creation of the first Witcher and the events which led up to the cataclysmic event known as the Conjunction of the Spheres.Earlier this year rumors began to suggest that despite the prequel’s time frame, Batey’s Jaskier was set to make an appearance in The Witcher: Blood Origin to help link it to the main series. Now those rumors seem more likely than ever, thanks to a new tweet from Henry. Taking to social media, the series star posted a picture of himself alongside Batey taken from his time spent during a press junket for The Witcher: Blood Origin. Check out the original post below:
How Jaskier Can Appear In The Witcher: Blood Origin
While Henry Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia has been the lead attraction for countless fans of Netflix’s adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher books, Batey also earned considerable acclaim for his own performance as the fan-favorite bard. Perhaps best known for his rendition of the viral song “Toss A Coin To Your Witcher”, Jaskier’s self-assured charm and quick wit made him a perfect foil opposite Geralt’s dour hero. The question most fans will be asking, however, is how Jaskier could possibly appear in The Witcher: Blood Origin given it is set well over a millennium before he first encountered Geralt.
While far more complex theories regarding magic and time travel may spring to mind, the far simpler explanation lies in Jaskier’s occupation as a traveling bard. Previous reports have suggested that The Witcher: Blood Origin will feature a narrative framing device in which Jaskier begins telling the story behind the origins of Witchers before he is interrupted by an elf who corrects his grossly exaggerated version of the tale. Minnie Driver is set to play the character Seanchai, a collector of old lore who has already been revealed as the series narrator, and it is likely she may be the elf in question.
However it plays out, fans will be keen to see more of Batey’s Jaskier before he returns in The Witcher season 3 sometime in 2023. With next year’s season 3 being the last time Cavill dons Geralt’s wig before handing the role over to Liam Hemsworth, the potential opportunities to see Batey cross paths with Cavill are decreasing by the minute. In the meantime, audiences can potentially look forward to more of Batey’s beloved bard in The Witcher: Blood Origin this Christmas.
Source: Lenny Henry/Twitter