The world ofThe Witcherhas a complicated timeline. Though there isa reason for that in the Netflix series, thattimeline has recently gotten even more complicatedwith the introduction of the animated filmThe Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.This origin story for Geralt’s mentor Vesemir shows a very different environment for Witchers, at least at the start. These monster hunters have a thriving stronghold at Kaer Morhen. Witchers leave in the spring to take contracts and then spend the winter resting and training new recruits.
However, one winter things don’t go as planned for one particular Witcher. This Witcher is, of course, Vesemir. Because of a new threat, Vesemir does not spend the winter the way he wants to. Instead, he must seek out this threat and put a stop to it with the help of sorceress Tetra Gilcrest. Though things aren’t, as is usual on the Continent, what they appear to be.
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The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolftells the story of how the Witchers went from thriving to barely surviving in the Netflix series. Fans solely of the serieshave not met Vesemir yet, thoughthey will in season 2ofThe Witcher.Geralt did briefly mention his mentor in season 1, though. Yet the version of Vesemir that fans meet inThe Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolfis much more carefree. He’s a lovable yet careless protagonist. He tends to leave training new Witchers to his fellow monster hunters while he spends the winter just resting. So how does he end up being Geralt’s mentor? What events lead to that inThe Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf? What changes for Vesemir to make him into someone who could mentor Geralt? And where does this origin story fit into the wider Witcher timeline?
To understand whereThe Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolffits in, it is crucial to understand where the action of season 1 ofThe Witchertakes place. It does jump around in time quite a lot, but there is a present-day timeline, that centers on the fall of Cintraand its Nilfgaardian takeover. Anything after the fall of Cintra and Nilfgaard taking it over is taking place in that timeline. So the bulk of Ciri’s storyline is taking place in the present-day timeline. Geralt and Yennefer’s storylines at the end also take place in that present-day timeline. Of course, Geralt meeting Ciri in the woods is also part of that timeline.According to Netflix, this present-day timeline is the year 1263.Season 2, of course, will be more linearthan season 1 was, now that the three main characters are on the same timeline. Their origin stories have been told, now it’s time to get into the action in earnest. Vesemir’s origin story, on the other hand, is told inThe Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.
There are flashbacks as well inThe Witcher: Nightmare of The Wolfto Vesemir’s childhood, which takes place in the year 1100.It shows Vesemir becoming a Witcheras a child and the life he left behind to do so. However, the majority of the story takes place in 1165, when Vesemir has already been a Witcher for decades.The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolffollows Vesemir and Tetra’s journey to discover the threat scaring the Continent at that time. Of course, things don’t go as planned. And Vesemir and Tetra are nothing like Geralt and Yennefer. The two don’t get along at all, though they might seem to for a while, as Tetra does not trust Witchers. And the rogueish Vesemir doesn’t want to have to look after the sorceress. Tetra’s suspicion and fear of Witchers and the way that magic is used –or in her view, misused – to create them leads to the attack on Kaer Morhen. Vesemir, of course, defends the Witcher’s stronghold.
Yet there are some complications that occur and things are not as simple as they might seem to be at first. According to Netflix’s video, the Great Cleansing takes place only a couple of decades after the events ofThe Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf. The Great Cleansing is, of course, when humans, after Elves taught them magic,forced the Elves outof their land on the Continent. Both of these moments inThe Witchertimeline show just how often people can be scared of and harmful to what or who they don’t understand. That is a major theme ofThe Witcheruniverse: the harm that people can do when they take out their lack of understanding of others.
This harm can even have far-reaching consequences. For example, because of Tetra’s distrust of Witchers inThe Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, Geralt is one of the last remaining Witchers. If Tetra hadn’t been so fearful and taken her fear out on the Witchers themselves, perhaps Kaer Morhen would still be as strong as it was in the beginning ofThe Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.Then Geralt and the other remaining Witchers in season 1 of the Netflix series wouldn’t have such a burden to bear. And Vesemir’s life might have remained somewhat carefree.
Unfortunately, that isn’t how things worked out inThe Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolfor the Netflix seriesThe Witcher. Of course, not every fan of both stories will see them this way. Some might not see the far-reaching consequences of what Tetra does inThe Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf. Or might think such events might have happened eventually anyway. Witchers certainly aren’t beloved by the time Geralt gets the job. However,The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolfdoes show how one person’s actions can shape the world, for better or for worse.
Both Vesemir and Tetra play a role in shaping the history of the Continent. And the harm Tetra does ends up affecting the Witchers up to the present-day timeline ofThe Witcheruniverse. In addition, some fans will not be that intrigued by finding out whereNightmare of the Wolffits intoThe Witchertimeline. Yet those who are will be glad to finally know the answer. And to know how events that took place long ago in 1165 with Vesemir are still affecting Geralt in 1263.
