While The Witcher Season 3, Vol. 2 ending showed viewers several twists at the end of July that they should still be talking about, pretty much no one who’s a fan of the fantasy drama can stop talking about the fact that it was star Henry Cavill’s final episode as Geralt of Rivia. Ever since he announced his departure in October 2022, and revealed that Liam Hemsworth would be taking over as the White Wolf, there have been a number of rumors about what could have led the die-hard fan to abandon the ship he’d worked so hard to board. Now, one of the show’s directors has spoken about why he has “trust” in the former star’s choice to leave it all behind.
Why The Witcher’s Director Understands Henry Cavill Leaving The Series
One of the chief allegations that led fans to become so upset about Cavill leaving that they started a petition to fire the writers instead, is that those who crafted the series didn’t respect or even like the books on which the sword fight-heavy show (and the video games which came before it) was adapted from. Audiences might want Cavill back, but director Marc Jobst (who worked on two episodes of the hit) has some thoughts on why the Geralt of our hearts might have wanted to call it quits, pointing to the incredible amount of work the actor put into his role. He told ScreenRant:
That's draining on your number one, so after three series, I feel, ‘Okay, he's brought the show into being, and if he feels like he's done what he can, I trust him.’ That focus that he has, that desire to get it right, is a gift to work with, because it elevates everybody to say, ‘Good enough isn't good enough. It's got to be fantastic.’ We all want to work like that, we all don't wanna make something that's good, we want to make something incredible.
We’ve heard quite a few times about how dedicated Cavill was to bringing the world of The Witcher into live action. He did all of his own stunts, and a serious injury sustained while working on the series delayed Season 2 a bit more. Plus, a recent look at him preparing for Season 3’s Shaerrawedd battle, while hearing how long it takes to get such stunts right, really led to some understanding of why he might be ready to move on. As Jobst added:
Well, look, Henry has done three series, these are demanding shows to make, you know, they are huge. Henry does every single beat of his stunts, he won't even allow a hand, if you're doing a close up of a hand grabbing a sword, it has to be his hand...and as a result of that, the results are extraordinary. You're working with an incredible athlete, first and foremost, who works out hours before, and hours after, you've been shooting for 12 hours, and who cares deeply about the work that he does.
The star might never come right out and say why he ultimately decided to leave The Witcher, but at least we can all look back on the glory that he gave us with fond memories.
