“Toss a coin to your Witcher…”

Netflix’s The Witcher series, adapted from the popular series of books by Andrzej Sapkowski and the critically acclaimed video games, is full of striking visuals and unique takes on traditional fantasy and sword/sworcery concepts. As embodied by Henry Cavill, the series protagonist, Geralt of Rivia, is a distinctive, stoic action hero. Cavill, of course, is no stranger to playing superhumans, but playing a Witcher is a little different than playing a Kryptonian. Most notably, a Witcher’s powers aren’t naturally born with them, but rather brought out by intense physical, magical, and even chemical means.

One of the most iconic visuals in the Netflix series is when Geralt’s pupils fully dilate, giving his eyes an unsettling, all-black appearance. This is to symbolize the change brought about by one of the Witcher’s potions, which enhance his already considerable abilities, a key one being the ability to see in the dark.

Sure, The Witcher is fully in the realm of fantasy, full of ideas that would never make it in the scientific world. But considering the remarkable structure and function of the eye, and the broad spectrum of vision that exists throughout the animal kingdom, the idea of adapting and expanding our existing senses doesn’t seem so far-fetched. So we’re tackling night vision in the world of The Witcher this episode, and you might be surprised by what we found.

You can also check this episode out on our YouTube page!

FURTHER READING 

Do you want to delve a little deeper into the facts, concepts, and stories Hakeem and Tamara referenced in today’s episode? Of course you do! 

How Eyes Work

Before we can get into the really fun stuff, it helps to just have a little bit of an understanding of how the human eye is structured and why it works the way it does. This is the most detailed explanation we found that also still makes sense for a layperson.

Night Vision

To start, let’s take a look at the upper limit of human night vision capabilities. We’re honestly pretty unspectacular compared to the rest of the animal kingdom, but it’s good to get a baseline of where our eyes are at in this area. The other thing to consider is how electronic night vision works, because this will give us a better understanding of how light behaves and how it’s perceived. But then take a look at the biology of animals with superior night vision and think about how this might map on to the human eye. It’s a long shot, but it helps support the idea as explored in The Witcher.

Averted Vision

“Our dark sensitivity is way greater than most people realize.” 

The technique Hakeem describes to see more faintly lit objects is explained in considerable detail here.

Henry Cavill’s Witcher Transformation

“I know there’ve been a lot of questions about cat’s eyes and all sorts online. For me, his eyes had to look like normal human eyes unless he’s staring into direct sunlight, where he has the ability to contract his pupils into a cat’s eye so he can gain an advantage against an opponent in direct sunlight. I wanted it to look slightly terrifying, but also a little enthralling at the same time.

Read the full interview with Henry Cavill here!

SUGGESTED VIEWING 

For some of the points specifically discussed in this episode, check out The Witcher season 1 episode 1 “The End’s Beginning”, season 1 episode 3 “Betrayer Moon”, and season 1 episode 8 “Much More.” Obviously, we suggest you watch all three seasons, because the show is excellent. But you should also check out the prequel anime, The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, which details the rigorous and painful transformation process it takes to create a Witcher!

WANT MORE FROM DOES IT FLY?

From fantasy fantasy to space fantasy, have you checked out our episode on Star Wars’ lightsabers yet? Do it now!

Just as unsettling as The Witcher (but in an entirely different way) are the trauma demons from the Smile horror movie series, which we unpacked here.

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