“The Witcher” Season 3 Part 1 Finally Confirms Jaskier as a Queer Character!

It took them three seasons but the creative team finally decided to confirm Jaskier to be a queer character in The Witcher Season 3 Part 1.

This article contains minor spoilers for The Witcher Season 3 Part 1. Proceed with caution!

One of my complaints about The Witcher Season 1 (back in 2019) was how it emanated queer energy but there weren’t any queer characters in sight. This was very surprising to me due to The Witcher IP including a bunch of queer characters. Heck! One of the leads, Ciri, is a queer character. And yet the live-action series still hasn’t properly explored that aspect of her.

Fortunately, The Witcher Season 3 Part 1 finally decided to confirm the sexuality of another main character.

Yes, Jaskier/Dandelion (Joey Batey) is indeed queer in the live-action adaptation!

I didn’t know if the writers would go through with it, but I could sense the flirty vibes between Jaskier and the character named Radovid (Hugh Skinner) the moment the two shared the scene together in the first episode. The good news is that the creative team didn’t drag the viewers for too long in Part 1 of The Witcher Season 3 (consisting of only 5 episodes).

Episode 2 had Radovid flirt with Jaskier by sharing his opinions about Jaskier’s singing and songwriting skills. I don’t think we have ever seen any character understand the depth behind Jaskier’s creativity to such an extent. So, it made sense as to why Jaskier would be so enamored by Radovid.

And while I did side-eye their initial interactions (due to Hollywood’s track record with queerbaiting), I couldn’t help but smile when episode 3 decided to confirm that Jaskier was a queer character after all (he’s been with men, women, dwarves, elves, etc.) and he was crushing hard on Radovid.

Episode 4 sealed the deal when Radovid paid Jaskier a visit and the two men finally kissed. And then they, apparently, slept with each other off-screen.

Jaskier and Radovid kiss in The Witcher season 3 Part 1 episode 4… pic.twitter.com/YRjDzy9JUG

— A.J Raven (@tempest071990) June 29, 2023

Now, The Witcher being okay with showing heterosexual intimacy, and yet homosexual intimacy between Jaskier and Radovid is kept off-screen is a whole other topic of discussion.

However, points to The Witcher Season 3 Part 1 for showing an intense love scene between two queer individuals other than Jaskier and Radovid. Said moment happened in episode 3 and it occurred between Phillipa (Cassie Clare) and a character named Eva (played by Cal Watson).

At least, that’s some sort of progress after sitting through how queer intimacy was handled in the recent spin-off The Witcher: Blood Origin.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing what the writers have planned for Jaskier, especially when you know Radovid can’t really be trusted.

With Part 1 debuting on June 29, 2023, The Witcher Season 3 Part 2 will be released on July 27, 2023, on Netflix.

The current season is the last one with Henry Cavill playing Geralt. He will be replaced by Liam Hemsworth.

What are your thoughts about Jaskier being confirmed as a queer character in The Witcher live-action series?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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