The Witcher Won’t Repeat Game of Thrones’ Final-Season Mistakes
Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich says The Witcher is steering toward a mapped-out, Sapkowski-faithful finale—nothing like the last-minute chaos that marred Game of Thrones. With the end already planned, Netflix’s monster saga aims to stick the landing.
The Witcher is heading for the finish line at Netflix, and showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich says this is not going to be a Thrones-style scramble to the end. There is a plan. There has been a plan. And it ends where the books end.
The roadmap is locked
Talking to Dexerto, Hissrich made it clear the series will wrap with a defined endpoint and won’t leap past Andrzej Sapkowski’s material. The whole approach was set early, which is why she sounds pretty relaxed about the endgame instead of stressed out by it.
"We’re not going to go past the books. We have the ending."
She also acknowledged Sapkowski’s saga gets wild toward the tail end, and the show is embracing that energy rather than sanding it down. Translation: expect big fantasy swings in the last chapters because that’s how the author wrote it. Knowing the destination from day one kept the writers honest about what to include, what to compress, and what to save for the finale.
Ending on their terms, not stretching it thin
When Netflix ordered Seasons 4 and 5 together, the writers mapped straight to the finish. According to Hissrich, that let the team aim every choice at a specific final beat. Instead of feeling like a burden, the wrap-up feels like a victory lap for a show that actually got to tell its whole story over five seasons.
What the final stretch looks like
- Seasons 4 and 5 filmed back to back.
- They adapt the last three novels in the saga: Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow, and Lady of the Lake.
- Season 4 premieres October 30 on Netflix.
- Liam Hemsworth debuts as Geralt of Rivia in Season 4, stepping in after Henry Cavill’s exit.
- The series ends with Season 5, in line with the books and the plan Hissrich has been pointing to since the start.
The headline for fans: the show’s conclusion is baked into the source material and the writers room already steered toward it. Whatever your feelings about other fantasy finales that ran out of runway, Hissrich is promising The Witcher won’t repeat that playbook.