Henry Cavill Wrote The Witcher Season 2’s Heartbreaking Roach Scene

“It’s some kind of chernobog” is the kind of line that just ends in doom.

While newly released The Witcher season 2 delivered some shocking turns, it was the opening of episode 6, “Dear Friend…”, in which Geralt, Ciri, and their equestrian friend Roach encounter a monster that resembles a monster. dragons, that broke this writer’s heart – and somehow made me chuckle as well. The Witcher Host Lauren Schmidt Hissrich says I’m not alone.

[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers and graphic details for The Witcher season 2.]

In “Dear Friend…” Geralt and Ciri find their journey to the Temple of Melitele interrupted by a chernobog, an attacker with razor-sharp claws, but ultimately no match for a bit of Witcher magic. However, the chernobog still drained before retreating. Horse blood.

In both the book and the video game The Witcher, “Roach” is the name Geralt uses for his current horse. So when his current stallion expires, in battle or otherwise, he will anoint a new mare with the title. All the legends about it make up the creepy death scene in The Witcher season 2 feels layered: Killing Roach is both an inside joke for fans who understand the cycle of life, and a truly painful moment.

“What I think is amazing is that your response is so perfect for what I’m hearing,” Hissrich told me as I lamented Roach’s death instead of asking her a question. “We kill people, we kill humans all the time in our show and people are like, ‘How can you do that Roach!? “

Image: Netflix

She and the writing staff have their reasons. For one thing, horses don’t live as long as humans, and “we’ve removed the boundaries of reality there,” she says. “We knew that at some point Geralt was going to have to get a new Roach.” The staff also didn’t want Roach to die in vain, so they had to write in chernobog – one of the deadliest scenes in the Witcher universe – to tear the new horse apart. “We wanted Roach to die on screen in a very heroic way.” That he did.

Hissrich admits that when she first wrote the scene where Roach died, her instinct was to combine the moment with a bit of super comedy. Henry Cavill tried for a more heartfelt moment, and Hissrich eventually surrendered – which she said ended up being the right call.

“Henry was very unhappy with the line,” she recalls. “Finally I said, ‘You know what, you come up with something. I trust you, you know the material so well, you know the book so well, you don’t even need to recommend it to me. ‘ And he came back the next day with a beautiful speech at the end of Sword of Destiny as Geralt was facing death and it was the perfect moment. ”

Cavill’s choice is simple, but effective in the speech of earnest Geralt: “Enjoy your last walk through the meadows and through the mists. Don’t be afraid of her because she is your friend. ”

Hissrich says that Witcher fans have every right to be heartbroken over the horse’s death, but she offers a glimmer of hope: “There will be a new Roach! It will still be Roach. “