The Witcher Season 4 arrived on the 2025 TV schedule not long ago, and many fans have already gone all-in on Liam Hemsworth’s first season as Geralt of Rivia. The fantasy drama (which you can watch with a Netflix subscription) saw some big behind-the-scenes changes for the new set of episodes, but the same can be said for the characters we’ve followed since 2019. Now that most audiences have seen a major Season 4 death and gotten very upset about it, the showrunner has opened up about why Geralt “needed” it to happen right now. And, yes, there are SPOILERS AHEAD.
Who Died On The Witcher Season 4 And What Fans And The Showrunner Have Said About It
If there’s only one thing that can be said to be totally accurate about The Witcher for all of its run, it’s that loads of characters, major and not so much, die on a regular basis. The monster-filled fantasy has always been a bloody one, but the season which saw the cast and crew sweetly welcome new White Wolf Liam Hemsworth to the “gang” also saw the death of someone who’s very important to Geralt: his Witcher father figure, Vesemir.
This has caused some strife in the Witcher fandom, as the character survives in the books on which the series is based. Of course, we’ve been in this spot before, with changes to the book story getting a lot of flak previously, and partially being blamed for beloved star Henry Cavill deciding to depart after Season 3. Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich opened up to Variety about why they felt the time was right for Vesemir to die, and said:
This was the right engine for Geralt at the end of the season, as he’s actually experiencing some of his dreams coming true at the end of Season 4. The thing that he’s dreamt of the most, becoming a white knight, he’s able to get. Yet partially through the death of Vesemir, he knows that time is not on his side. If he is going to reunite his family, he has to give up that dream in order to pursue the dream of family. So it felt like the right time, not just for story and shock, but for Geralt and what he needed.
A lot of fans have definitely been of the opinion that it appeared that Vesemir was killed off simply for shock value. He and two of his remaining Witchers were called in by Yennefer to help her prepare the few mages she’d manage to assemble for their giant fight with Vilgefortz.
Unfortunately, Vesemir took the evil magic-user on himself, and quickly lost the fight. Viewers are also annoyed that when our hero finds out about his surrogate dad dying, well, Geralt simply doesn’t seem too pressed about the tragedy.
According to Schmidt Hissrich, with Geralt’s heroic actions finally seeing him realize his childhood dream of becoming an actual knight happening by the end of the season, Vesemir’s death (despite him not being present for it and having to be told about it later by Yen) comes at an important time for the former loner. Much of his journey throughout the series has been to recognize Ciri and Yen as his found family and how much he’s willing to put aside his previous life of remaining neutral at all costs to protect and help them.
So, it seems that Vesemir’s death will set him on a new path in the final season of The Witcher, where he fully abandons what he wants so that he can keep Ciri (especially) safe.
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