What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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T2 WHATS UP! December 25 - 31, 2022 TV FEATURE BY DANA SIMPSON TV Media T ype "The Witcher franchise" into Google, and the re- sults will reveal a vast and enviable fantasy empire. First created by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski in 1986, the sprawling tale of monster hunt- er Geralt of Rivia has now evolved into a number of short stories, comic books and video games, as well as five table-top games, two feature films, two series and one manga to date. On Christmas Day (Sunday, Dec. 25), Netflix expands the Witcher universe with the re- lease of "The Witcher: Blood Origin." A miniseries spinoff of the hit Netflix adaptation, which is also set to release its highly discussed third season in the new year, "Blood Origin" is set 1,200 years before "The Witcher" begins. It focuses on the shifts in the elven world and tells the story of the first- ever Witcher. Those unfamiliar with the plot of Netflix's "The Witcher" should know that it follows the aforementioned Geralt (a.k.a. the White Wolf, the Butcher of Blaviken and many other nick- names) on his quest to hunt deadly beasts and protect oth- ers by eliminating the threat of monstrous violence. Optimized for monster hunting, thanks (if such a word can be used — he's pretty bitter about it) to a series of unnatural mutations, Geralt travels the land with the bard Jaskier (Joey Batey, "Knight- fall"), who often serenades him with songs of praise. Amid his travels, the Witcher also runs into a series of hu- mans, sorcerers, elves, goblins, merpeople and many more. Among this crowd are the fran- chise's two other main protago- nists: Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra, "Wanderlust"), a sorceress who has an interest- ing, passionate and complex re- lationship with Geralt; and Cirilla, a.k.a. Ciri (Freya Allan, "Gunpowder Milkshake," 2021), the former princess of Cintra who was forced to leave her home during a siege earlier in the first season and find the Witcher. While most talk of "The Witcher's" upcoming third sea- son revolves around the depar- ture of leading man Henry Cavill, its "Blood Origin" coun- terpart doesn't contain the ac- tor at all. Instead, the prequel welcomes another familiar face to the franchise: that of "Everything Everywhere All at Once" (2022) actress Michelle Yeoh. Yeoh plays Scian, the last liv- ing "member of a nomadic tribe of sword-elves on a mission to retrieve a blade stolen from her people." On her quest, she is joined by two others: Éile (So- phia Brown, "Giri/Haji"), a queen's guard warrior "who leaves to becomes a travelling musician" (because what is The Witcher franchise without a bit of nomadic song), and Fjall (Laurence O'Fuarain, "Game of Thrones"), who is described in the news release as "a man born into a clan of warriors sworn to protect a king, but [who] in- stead sets out in need of ven- geance." While each member of the Office 5 x 5 continued on page T10 Michelle Yeoh stars in "The Witcher: Blood Origin" 'All beginnings. All ends.' Did you know those images are available for purchase? IT'S EASY! Just go to nwaonline.com, click on "Photos" in the top menu bar and use the search to fi nd the photo you want. Then just click "Purchase" for sizing options. You can also have the image put on a coff ee mug, mouse pad, key tag, holiday ornament and more! Did you see a photo in our newspaper or on our website that you would love a copy of? Check it out!