The Witcher 4 has finally been announced, but it’s still shrouded in mystery. The School of the Lynx might just be the solution.
The Witcher 4 was always going to happen. The original trilogy of games, developed by Polish studio CD Projekt Red, was too successful just to be put out to pasture. The video game industry loves a dollar, and the hit Netflix series will have only made studio executives even more excited.
That said, The Witcher 4 announcement, despite creating massive hype, has resulted in more questions than answers. Chief amongst these is why the pictured Witcher medallion, which is all we’ve to go on, is that of The School of the Lynx.
This wouldn’t be such a mystery if, you know, The School of the Lynx actually existed in either the series of books by Andrzej Sapkowski or the original trilogy of Witcher games. However, it doesn’t.
That’s right; it appears CD Projekt Red have gone rogue and are now prepared to build their own lore for The Witcher 4. However, that’s not entirely true either, because The School of the Lynx is, in fact, the product of fan fiction.
https://t.co/XtbfqscMWr pic.twitter.com/eK6ZIbfLRa
— The Witcher (@witchergame) March 21, 2022
What is The School of the Lynx?
A quick search of the relevant terms online leads back to one place: a relatively thin fan fiction page that was created in 2019 by user Witcher190. The page states the following:
“The Lynx School appeared shortly after the official extinction of the School of the Wolf, when its remaining members, among them the notables Eskel, Geralt of Rivia and Lambert separated after Vesemir’s death.”
The big takeaway from this is that The Witcher 4 will be set after CD Projekt Red’s Geralt of Rivia trilogy. Suppose the fan fiction page is to be believed at all. Fans should note that The School of Wolf never actually suffers ‘extinction’ in the books.
Nonetheless, I think it’s fair to say CD Projekt Red are looking to move away from the source material and contribute to the world’s lore in their own way.
Who will be the star of The Witcher 4?
At this stage, it’s difficult to rule anyone out other than Geralt. CD Projekt Red is on the record stating that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt completes Geralt’s narrative arc. So that’s that.
Ciri seems the most obvious choice, and I think it’s fair to point out the similarities between the cat medallion she wears and that of the lynx shown in teaser material for The Witcher 4.
Eskel and Lambert are also possibilities, especially considering that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt had lengthy passages where you controlled a secondary character. A multi-character GTA V approach could be on the cards.
However, until CD Projekt Red indicates what’s going on with The School of the Lynx, this is all guesswork. It is, in essence, a secret – which is actually perfect considering the Lynx’s role in Native American mythology is that of ‘the keeper of secrets.
We’ll be watching this space, so check back in for the latest news on The Witcher 4.
