Ep. 35 — Chapter 3 from "Blood of Elves" (Part 2)
Anita and Karolina from Witcher Kitchen and Nerds Kitchen join Alyssa for Part 2 of our discussion of Andrzej Sapkowski’s first Witcher novel Blood of Elves, Chapter 3. Very important bits include: a look at Ciri’s witcher training in Kaer Morhen, what separates Sapkowski from authors like Tolkien in his own words, language learning, Dumpling Gate, a new entrepreneurial venture for the witchers, ”Traduttore, traditore”, and, this summer, don’t miss History’s Hottest Must-Have Hygiene Routine for keeping strigas at bay.
This episode is available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher.
In this Episode
[00:00] Cold Open
[00:43] Introduction
[05:20] Discussion
[38:17] “Tidings from Toussaint”
[41:34] Discussion
[56:35] Outro & Credits
Relevant Links
Transcript
Cold Open
Transcript to come.
[Breakfast in Beauclair theme music by MojoFilter Media]
Introduction
ALYSSA: Welcome to Breakfast in Beauclair, a global Witcher Podcast. My name is Alyssa from GoodMorhen, and I’ll be your host as you, I, and our international hanza accompany Geralt of Rivia and his destiny, Cirilla of Cintra, across the Continent.
[Ep. 34 Addendum]
A quick addendum from the previous episode of the podcast: Anita and Karolina have kindly provided translated excerpts from Historia I Fantastyka by Sapkowski & Bereś that provide additional context into the world of the Witcher and Sapkowski’s writing process. This first excerpt relates to our conversations about prophecy in Ep. 34 and is about Ciri and how her character is treated and interpreted by Sapkowski:
Translation: The thesis as old as the world confirms that it is good to read a book to find out about the author's intentions. In the book, however, it is written directly: first, Ciri brings [REDACTED]. Thanks to her travels through [REDACTED], a [REDACTED] is brought in, the monstrous nature of which can be guessed from the content of the book. Second, it is explicitly stated that the complete destruction of the world of stories is imminent, the cataclysm of glaciation will destroy everything—but it will happen in three thousand years. Well, the prophecies are twisted. The gods mock people with their help.
(Original Polish: Potwierdza się stara jak świat teza, że by poznać zamiary autora, dobrze jest przeczytać książkę. W książce zaś napisane jest jak wół: po pierwsze, Ciri przynosi swemu światu straszną zagładę - za sprawą jej wędrówek po zaświatach przywleczona zostaje niszcząca zaraza, której potwornie pandemicznego charakteru można się z treści książki domyślać. Po drugie, mówi się wyraźnie, że zupełna zagłada świata opowieści jest nieuchronna, kataklizm zlodowacenia zniszczy wszystko - ale przydarzy się za trzy tysiące lat. Cóż, przepowiednie są pokrętne. Bogowie drwią sobie z ludzi za ich pomocą.)
For a spoiler version of this excerpt, which relates to the last Witcher novel, Lady of the Lake, visit the Spoilers channel in the Hanza Discord.
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[Episode Details]
As for this episode, Anita and Karolina from Witcher Kitchen return for Part 2 of our discussion of Blood of Elves, Chapter 3. Join us as we examine Ciri’s witcher training in Kaer Morhen, what separates Sapkowski from authors like Tolkien in his own words, language learning, Dumpling Gate, a new entrepreneurial venture for the witchers, ”Traduttore, traditore”, and, this summer, don’t miss History’s Hottest Must-Have Hygiene Routine for keeping strigas at bay.
In our mid-episode news segment, “Tidings from Toussaint,” Lars from Witcherflix shares casting and production news as production and press mount for Season 2 of Netflix’s The Witcher and The Witcher: Blood Origin.
Without further ado, let’s begin our discussion of Blood of Elves, Chapter 3.
Discussion
[Breakfast in Beauclair stinger by MojoFilter Media]
Transcript to come.
ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): If you skipped over the intro at the top of the episode, Anita and Karolina have kindly provided translated excerpts from Historia I Fantastyka by Sapkowski & Bereś that provide additional context into the world of the Witcher and Sapkowski’s writing process. Here’s a second excerpt, about which Anita and Karolina said: After analyzing the fragment about the prophecy, Ciri’s character is not fully determined as the author treats her as a white or blank page which can be written upon. This fragment is about transformation and reads:
Translation: Ciri, on the other hand, is gray, unremarkable, yet undefined. She "whitens" in the finale. You could say just a bit like Gandalf. Gandalf from Gray becomes White because he goes through the rite of passage. [...] Ciri at the end of the story is a blank card that can be written down. As to with what and how this page will be written, I leave the reader in the dark. To make him wonder.
(Original Polish: Ciri natomiast, jest szara, nijaka, jeszcze nieokreślona. W finale "bieleje". Można powiedzieć, że trochę jak Gandalf. Gandalf z szarego staje się Białym, bo przechodzi rite de passage. (...) Ciri pod koniec opowieści jest białą kartą, którą można zapisać. Co do tego, czym i jak zapisana będzie ta karta, czytelnika pozostawiam w nieświadomości i niewiedzy. By musiał się zastanawiać.)
ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Before we continue with the episode, we're gonna hand it over to Lars from WitcherFlix for recent news on the Netflix show. When we come back, Anita, Karolina, and I will continue our discussion of Blood of Elves, Chapter 3.
“Tidings from Toussaint”
[“Tidings from Toussaint” theme music by MojoFilter Media]
LARS FROM WITCHERFLIX: Hey, it's Lars from WitcherFlix and this is “Tidings from Toussaint". Welcome back everybody! We are still desperately waiting for something new about Season 2 of The Witcher—and it seems like our cries have been heard! Netflix announced some big Witcher news coming in the week from June 7th to June 11th. They write that they will be LIVE on @NetflixGeeked with "big news, exciting first looks and more from the shows and films you love." They tease that The Witcher will be among these shows. But whether this announcement will be about a teaser, a trailer, some new character or set photos or even a release date remains to be seen. But for now, let's see what happened in the Netflix Witcher world in the past weeks.
First, Witcher showrunner Lauren Hissrich posted on Twitter that she was back in London and confirmed that the post-production for Season 2 of The Witcher is well on its way. Moreover, in another post, she added that she is already doing press work for Season 2. So, could an interview be part of NetflixGeeked's week I just talked about. Possible, but I don't think this is the only option. Interviews and other promotional stuff will pop up in different places very soon.
In other news, Witcher writer Matthew D'Ambrosio teased his episode in Season 2 on Twitter—or at least the feel we can expect in it. He said: "I won't say what my season two episode of the Witcher is about but I will say that I exclusively listened to Godspeed You! Black Emperor's album Luciferian Towers the entire time I was writing it." The experimental post-rock band from Quebec is known for its droning, epic and often dark music.
In the world of the Witcher prequel spinoff "Blood Origin", there was definitely even more to report. According to Redanian Intelligence, filming for the spinoff is set to begin this August with an end in November 2021. They add that the show will probably have two directors: Sarah O'Gorman (who also worked on Season 2 of the main show) and Vicky Jewson. Moreover, Sophie Holland Casting released another casting call for a female character named "Kaali". It is for an actress of East Asian descent. It reads as follows: "A sweet and enthusiastic handmaid to a member of royalty and the young wife of a sought-after genius. Eager, kind, caring and loyal to her husband and his plight."
In addition Redanian Intelligence reports that a very surprising character will appear in "Blood Origin": It is Eredin, the commander of the Wild Hunt. He is supposed to be played by Australian actor Jacob Collins-Levy, known for TV shows such as "The White Princess" or "Young Wallander". This is very interesting as Eredin and his Wild Hunt had been confirmed to appear in the Witcher main show, too. There Eredin will be played by Sam Hazeldine. We don't know if Sam Hazeldine will play an older version of Jacob Collins-Levy's Eredin or if the main show's Eredin will only appear in a brief cameo role. It seems like Eredin will be a fleshed out character in "Blood Origin".
Anyway guys, that's all for today. I hope you all stay safe and well. We'll talk again in the next episode of Breakfast in Beauclair. Until then, thanks again for listening and good luck on the path!
[“Tidings from Toussaint” theme music by MojoFilter Media]
Discussion
ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Hey, everyone! Welcome back from the break. When we left off, we had discussed Ciri’s lessons with Lambert, Triss, and Vesemir.
Transcript to come.
ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): The third and final excerpt from Anita and Karolina is about Ciri’s fencing training. Sapkowski explains why she practices it as she could have been raised by the witchers differently. He describes the system of character building and what path it should take—for Ciri's character, it was natural to learn fencing:
Translation: It is obvious that keeping the archetypal narrative and meeting the requirements of popular literature—and fantasy novels are completely immersed in it—it was necessary to show the science of fencing, which is a very important element of the rite of passage that the protagonist goes through. As with Ursula Le Guin, we educate a magician, the topic of training a warrior, or rather a female warrior, must have appeared here, because Ciri, not a witcher, goes through training in the novels.
(Original Polish: Jest oczywiste, że, zachowując archetypiczny tok narracji i spełniając wymogi literatury popularnej (a powieści fantasy są w niej zanurzone całkowicie), należało pokazać naukę szermierki, która jest bardzo ważnym elementem rite de passage, który przechodzi bohater. Tak jak u Ursuli Le Guin mamy edukację maga, tak tutaj musiał się pojawić wątek kształcenia wojownika czy raczej wojowniczki, bo przecież Ciri, nie wiedźmin, przechodzi w powieści przez szkolenie.)
ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Before we get to those current events and updates, we’re going to end our discussion here. Join Anita & Karolina from Witcher Kitchen and I in the next episode of Breakfast in Beauclair for our continued discussion of Andrzej Sapkowski’s Blood of Elves, Chapter 3.
Outro & Credits
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ALYSSA: Thanks for joining us at the breakfast table! For show notes, transcripts of each episode, and a complete list of our social platforms and listening services, head over to breakfastinbeauclair.com.
Breakfast in Beauclair is created by Alyssa from GoodMorhen. It’s hosted by Alyssa with the “Tidings from Toussaint” News Segment by Lars from WitcherFlix. The show is edited by Alyssa with music by MojoFilter Media.
Breakfast in Beauclair is produced by Alyssa in New York City with Luis of Kovir, The Owner of The Churlish Porpoise, Arix the Godling, Katie (The Redhead of Toussaint), Jacob B., Ayvo of Gulet, Bee Haven of the Edge of the World, Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye, RedKite, The Original Roach, AerialKitty, Dustin, Libby, The Castel Ravello Sommelier, Clare Odell, Jennidy Mundilovitch, Brett from California, Wolf, Corey from the US, and John of Ryblia.
Special thanks to Anita and Karolina for joining us for this episode and our international hanza for their support.
Transcriptionist: Rachelle Rose Bacharo
Editor: Krizia Casil