Who Are the Rats in the Witcher? Let’s Get Into It

Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for The Witcher.

As Henry Cavill’s time as the titular Witcher comes to a close, fans are mourning his exit while hoping for the best when it comes to Liam Hemsworth taking over. It’s not just Henry Cavill that keeps people coming back to the show, but rather the source material written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. He really has a knack for creating fascinating yet deeply complicated personas.

Some of his most controversial characters are collectively known as the Rats, and they are about to get the spinoff treatment from Netflix. If the streaming giant chooses to stay true to the books, things could get rather messy. Who are the Rats in The Witcher, and what in the world can we expect from this latest installment? Let’s toss a coin, or perhaps some cheese, to the Rats.

The Rats are a gang introduced at the end of Time of Contempt, when one of them helps Ciri escape capture. Like the princess, Kayleigh also lived in a castle that was destroyed by Nilfgaard soldiers. That’s not where their similarities end. His adoptive parents were killed in the attack, but a Nilfgaard soldier took pity on him. From here, things get dicey.

Ciri, who is 14 at this time, is nearly assaulted by Kayleigh but it is thwarted by Mistletoe, another Rat. Unfortunately Mistletoe and Ciri then enter into a sexual relationship that appears to be not entirely consensual because again, Ciri is a teenager. This continues as Ciri joins the Rats in their violent crusade that involves killing and looting. However similar to Robin Hood, they disseminate their riches among the poor. Still, their characters have always come under fire from fans.

According to What’s on Netflix, “the new series is created by The Witcher writer Haily Hall, who also serves as showrunner.” The director’s chair will be occupied by Mairzee Almas, who previously directed episodes of Shadow and Bone and The Sandman. This is definitely a great choice.

Apparently, the only thing that will be carried over from the books is the characters themselves as the plan is to develop an entirely new backstory for the series. In November 2022, Redanian Intelligence reported that “The Rats will be featured in episodes 7 and 8 [The Witcher], when Ciri will first meet them,” and will be featured prominently Season 4. Word on the street is, the spinoff will drop between Seasons 3 and 4 of The Witcher.

As far as casting goes, The Rats are already scurrying about. Christelle Elwin (Half Bad) will be playing the part of Ciri’s love interest Mistle, though it hasn’t been revealed if Ciri will be making an appearance in the spinoff. She will is joined by Ben Radcliffe, Fabian McCallum, Aggy K. Adams, Juliette Alexandra, and Connor Crawford who are Giselher, Kayleigh, Iskra, Reef, and Asse respectively.

Rounding out the cast is action star and chemical engineer degree holder Dolph Lundgren, who is a “ruthless rogue witcher from the School of the Cat called Brehen.” We first meet him in Season of Storms. Fingers crossed this spinoff fares better than the Blood Origin prequel.