The Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski has discussed a key plot point in the video game series that was actually a mistake in his novels, but “video game people have clung to the idea with remarkable tenacity”.
Sapkowski took part in a reddit AMA yesterday, where one user asked for his thoughts on the additional Witcher schools added to the games.
“The issue of ‘witcher schools’ requires – I apologise – a longer explanation,” Sapkowski began. “A single sentence about some ‘school of the Wolf’ mysteriously made its way into The Last Wish. I later deemed it unworthy of development and narratively incorrect, even detrimental to the plot. Therefore, later I never included or referenced any Witcher Gryffindors or Slytherins again. Never.
“However, that one sentence was enough. Adaptors, particularly video game people, have clung to the idea with remarkable tenacity and have wonderfully multiplied these ‘witcher schools’. Completely unnecessary.”
Sapkowski added he was “uncertain about what to do with this situation”, and provided a couple of suggestions without confirming which route he’ll take.
The path of least resistance, he said, would be to remove the sentence in future editions of The Last Wish, but he may also “expand and clarify the matter somehow in subsequent books”. He continued: “Perhaps I’ll shed some light on the issue of Witcher medallions, their significance, and their connection to specific individuals? There are many possibilities, and the sky is the limit.”