Exclusive: The Sirens of the Deep writers introduce Essi, a new companion vying for Geralt’s attention

Essi and Geralt in The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep

(Image credit: Netflix)

By the time we catch up with Geralt (Doug Cockle) in The Witcher’s new anime film Sirens of the Deep, he’s on the outs with Yennefer (Anya Chalotra). No, their on-again/off-again romance hasn’t hit another road bump. Instead, the upcoming animated affair takes place between episodes five and six of the first season of The Witcher on Netflix when the pair were on the outs after a series of tempestuous meetings across the years.

With uncharted territory, then, comes a brand new companion for Geralt to potentially warm up to. Enter Essi Daven (Christina Wren), an old friend of Jaskier (Joey Batey) who ends up by The White Wolf’s side as he finds himself entangled in a brewing war between humans and merpeople.

Essi is described as “bubbly, bright, and very extroverted” by co-writer Rae Benjamin in the new issue of SFX magazine, which features Daredevil: Born Again on the cover and hits newsstands on January 29, the complete opposite of Yen’s “brooding and tortured” demeanor.

For fellow writer Mike Ostrowski, she represents “the road not taken”, someone who “on its face, makes more sense than Yen.”

While The Witcher executive producer Lauren Hissrich said the mainline show made the decision that “Geralt would never really stray from Yen again” after the first season, she points to Geralt’s wandering adventures in Sapkowski’s books as a rich vein of storytelling still to mine.

“So we thought this was a great way to pay homage to how Geralt was after he met Yen, but before they became what we now know them as, which is lovers who have become each other’s family,” Hissrich says.

The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep releases on February 11 on Netflix. Read more in the latest issue of SFX magazine, which will be available from Wednesday, January 29. Check out the Daredevil: Born Again cover to look for on newsstands below…