[Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for The Witcher, Season 2, Episode 4, “Redanian Intelligence."]All of our main player go through some significant changes in The Witcher Season 2. Henry Cavill aimed to show Geralt’s “intellectual and thoughtful” side, especially when it comes to his relationship with Ciri (Freya Allan). Ciri learns far more about what she’s really capable of, on the Witcher training course and also when it comes to the Chaos bubbling inside of her. Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) is stripped of her precious power, challenging her to find new purpose and a different path forward. And then there’s Joey Batey’s Jaskier.
He spent much of the first season tailing Geralt and contributing whenever possible, but the character steps up more than ever this time around. Since parting ways with Geralt after a mighty heated argument in Season 1, Episode 6, Jaskier has gone on to become a fighter himself. He’s now the Sandpiper, an individual who risks everything to help elves escape to Cintra for safety.
With The Witcher Season 2 now available to watch on Netflix, I got the chance to chat with Chalotra, Mimî M. Khayisa who plays Fringilla and Batey, and a good chunk of the conversation focused on what inspires Jaskier to assume that role. Batey began by highlighting the prep work that helped him tap into that mind frame:
“In my preparation for Season 2 I did a fair bit of research into entertainers throughout history who used their platform and their position of fame within the entertainment industries to do good. Amazing people like Josephine Baker, the early years of even Marcel Marceau. They all used their position in society as performers, and in some ways being outside of society and commenting on society, but they used their fame to do some real good, particularly in times of war or turmoil. And so that greatly influenced me when I was prepping.”
But what about Jaskier himself? It’s quite clear that he’s a charcter with a good heart in Season 1, despite making some suboptimal decisions here and there, but taking on Sandpiper duties is quite the leap. He may want to help the elves, but where did Jaskier find the confidence in himself that he could actually do it? Here’s what Batey said:
“The best artists in the world always respond to the world around them and want to adapt and become part of that movement. So if the world is becoming darker, becoming grittier, then I think the artists sometimes do that, or sometimes they push against that. And throughout Season 2 we get to see Jaskier exploring that, whether he wants to kind of accept that this is a horrible, horrible place to live or fight against it and try to find the optimism and the light in himself and in everyone around him. So that sort of dichotomy is something that I really enjoyed walking that tightrope walk on.”
Eager to learn more about the making of Season 2 of The Witcher? Catch my full chat with the trio in the video at the top of this article to hear about how Chalotra and Khayisa grew as scene partners and also about how Yennefer and Fringilla influence each other via their journeys this season.