Netflix announces episode titles for THE WITCHER

Netflix has confirmed episode titles for the first season of The Witcher.

The titles are as follows:

1. The End's Beginning
2. Four Marks
3. Betrayer Moon
4. Of Banquets, Bastards & Burials
5. Bottled Appetites
6. Rare Species
7. Before the Fall
8. Much More

Episode 1 will likely feature Geralt's battle with the striga and the restoration of King Foltest's daughter, which is the subject of the short story "The Witcher" (from The Last Wish) and also featured in the animated opening to the first Witcher video game. It also sounds like it will expand to cover "The Lesser Evil" (featuring the massacre at Blaviken) as well.

Episode 2 appears to be a mixture of original material and references from the books, and will explore Yennefer's backstory.

Episode 4 adapts the short story "A Question of Price" from The Last Wish, where Geralt exposes a complex mystery in the capital of Cintra and wins a promise for the future.

Episode 5 will possibly adapt "The Last Wish" itself, depicting the first meeting of Geralt and Yennefer.

Episode 6 sounds like it will adapt the story "The Bounds of Reason" from Sword of Destiny, where Geralt and Yennefer join a hunt for a dragon which turns into a more complicated affair than they were expecting.

Episode 7 will expand on the Nilfgaardian invasion of the Northern Kingdoms, particularly the assault on Cintra.

Episode 8 may adapt the story "Something More" from Sword of Destiny, which expands on the aftermath of the attack on Cintra. It's quite a short story, so I wonder if it will also adapt "Sword of Destiny" itself, as the two stories define Ciri's relationship with Geralt in important ways.

There are, however, several additional question marks raised about how the series will proceed. We know many characters from much later in the book series will appear in Season 1, such as Triss Merigold and Taissia. This suggests that Yennefer's flashback episode may also introduce many of the other sorceresses of the world, or that new subplots featuring these characters will be in play, setting them up long before they first show up in the books. The character of Istredd has also been cast, despite "Shards of Ice" from Sword of Destiny apparently not being fully adapted this season.

The series also has Ciri (Freya Allan) listed in a starring role, which would be unusual if she really isn't showing up as an adult until the final two episodes of the season. This suggests there may be some kind of framing device where we see Ciri as an older girl flashing back to earlier events in her life and she will be much more present through the series.

We'll find out for sure on 20 December when the first season of The Witcher is released on Netflix.