How Does Jaskier Connect to the Main Series? – United States KNews.MEDIA

With The Witcher: Blood Origin, Netflix expands the universe of The Witcher into new and exciting directions, showing events that predate the main series by 1200 years. However, the issue with a prequel that takes place long before The Witcher is that Blood Origin cannot use any of the main characters fans love. And since a prequel is only remembered when it connects to the main story, creators Declan De Barra and Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich had to devise a clever solution. Their solution was to use Jaskier (Joey Batey) as a link between Blood Origin and the main series since the whole prequel is about the bard learning the story that led to the Conjunction of the Spheres.

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What Is Jaskier Doing in a Prequel to ‘The Witcher’?

Instead of taking us back 1200 years right away, The Witcher: Blood Origin begins at the main series’ present time. The first scene of the spinoff shows Jaskier tied in a battlefield as the Scoia’tael attacks the Redanian soldiers who captured the bard. After becoming the Sandpiper and helping Elves escape Redania’s tyranny, Jaskier won the favor of the Scoia’tel, which came to his aid when he needed the most.

While Redanian soldiers are falling like flies around Jaskier, he’s still just a bard on a battlefield and soon becomes a target for a Redanian soldier. Jaskier is sure his life is over, but time stops around him before he receives the fatal blow. This mysterious spell seems to have been cast by a creature that looks just like Jaskier, minus the blood and dirt. Seanchaí, the mysterious being, is a shape-shifter capable of wearing many faces and who came to visit Jaskier to give him an important mission.

After the initial shock has passed and Seanchaí takes the less disturbing shape of Minnie Driver, Jaskier is asked to listen to the story of the Seven, warriors who banded together to defeat the tyrannical Golden Empire and ended up causing the Conjunction of the Spheres. As Seanchaí tells Jaskier, this story has long been forgotten, but people must remember it again. So, it’s up to the bard to compose songs that inspire people to break their chains and face the many dangers ahead. That means every episode of The Witcher: Blood Origin is a story Seanchaí narrates to Jaskier.

How ‘Blood Origin’ Engrosses ‘The Witcher’ Mysteries

Jaskier remains unseen for the rest of The Witcher: Blood Origin, until the very last episode. After the Golden Empire has been toppled and the Conjunction of the Spheres brought humans and monsters to the Continent, one of the surviving members of the Seven, Éile (Sophia Brown), is taking care of her pregnancy. Worried about her baby’s future, Éile asks a seer friend of hers to touch her belly and read her future. The seer reveals Éile’s baby will begin a long lineage that will help to shape the future of the Continent. Specifically, a distant descendant of Éile’s baby will be in charge of telling the story of the Seven one last time before they witness the end of the Continent.

The revelation indicates Jaskier might be this descendant. That makes sense since Éile was a talented bard, and Jaskier could have inherited her musical talents. Nevertheless, the end of the story is unsettling, as it indicates the Continent might face destruction soon, and Jaskier will witness this cataclysmic event. Jaskier wakes up on the battlefield right after Seanchaí finishes their story, holding the pieces of paper where he wrote down the story of the Seven. In their last whisper, Seanchaí asks Jaskier to spread the tale because the Scoia’tel needs more than anger to face the dangers ahead. They need hope, and Jaskier is the one who can give it to the Continent.

We still don’t know what danger the Continent might face in Season 3, but The Witcher: Blood Origin tease it will be related to the Seven, the Golden Empire, and the Conjunction of the Spheres. So, while the prequel might not be necessary to understand the next season of The Witcher, the prequel certainly reiterates the cyclical nature of history, anticipating the dangerous events that are about to change the Continent forever once more.

The Witcher: Blood Origin is available now on Netflix.