Netflix’s The Witcher directly adapts Andrzej Sapkowski’s novel series, but the show also takes five scenes straight from the iconic Witcher video game series. The Witcher has sprouted into a massive multimedia franchise in recent years with the incredible success of the video games encouraging Netflix to adapt the original novel series. Netflix has since expanded its Witcher world to include an animated prequel film, as well as a live-action prequel miniseries.

While Netflix’s Witcher installments are all based on the prose of Andrzej Sapkowski, certain aspects of The Witcher are clearly inspired by the video game series as well. The Witcher games, especially The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, have played a huge role in the franchise’s rise to fame, which explains why Netflix has chosen to drop some Easter eggs from the games in its main Witcher series. Upon close examination of some of the scenes from The Witcher, it becomes clear that five scenes from the show contain close parallels to scenes from the video games.

5The Witcher’s Bathtub Scene

The Witcher season 1 contains a scene that sees Geralt take a bath with Yennefer, which closely parallels the iconic opening scene of The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, in which Geralt is shown lounging in a tub while Yennefer reclines on a chair nearby. The similarity here is striking, and it’s clearly meant as a treat to longtime fans of the video games tuning in to see their favorite characters come to life on television. Although, there are some key differences between the scenes, namely that Yennefer and Geralt are both in the tub in The Witcher, the inspiration is undeniable.

Moreover, the purpose of the bathtub scene is vastly different, as Geralt and Yennefer are discussing business in The Witcher shortly after meeting each other. In the game, Geralt and Yennefer are already longtime lovers at this point, and the bath is meant as a relaxing escape rather than an unorthodox business meeting. Yennefer is also different in the show, which further changes the dynamic of the scene. Even so, the bathtub scene is an excellent tribute to this strangely popular moment in the games.

4Geralt’s Degrees Of Evil Speech

Geralt’s famous quote about evil being evil regardless of the degree is another moment that shows up in the show and the games. This line is originally from the book series, and it is altered slightly in each telling, but it occurs in all three mediums. Geralt says this to the mage Stregobor during The Witcher season 1 and in the Sapkowski short story, “The Lesser Evil”. This quote pops up again in a trailer for The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, in which Geralt delivers his monologue to a group of bandits preparing to hang a woman for suspected witchcraft.

While this quote is probably part of the show because of its significance in the book series, it’s still notable that it pops up in the video games as well. It’s possible that it is meant as a tribute to both the games and the book series, but more than likely, it’s adapted to the show solely because it’s one of the most famous quotes from Sapkowski’s books. Even so, it appears in the games and the show, which makes it worthy of inclusion on this list.

3Geralt’s Fight With Foltest’s Striga

In one of Geralt’s best fights in The Witcher, he battles a striga who turns out to be the cursed daughter of King Foltest of Temeria. This scene also occurs in the original game, The Witcher, and in one of Sapkowski’s short stories compiled in The Last Wish. Geralt’s fight in the show bears some striking similarities to the games, and in many ways, it looks like an exact recreation of the fight in the games. Many of Geralt’s movements are exactly the same, all the way down to his climbing into the Striga’s tomb and sealing himself there with a sign until the morning.

While this scene does originate in The Witcher books, its choreography is far too similar to the game to be a coincidence. Geralt’s battle with the striga probably wasn’t included because of its presence in the game, but the way the scene is constructed takes clear inspiration from the way it occurs in the original Witcher game. It’s also worth mentioning that Geralt’s strategy for fighting the striga is the same across all three mediums, which probably contributes to the similarities between them.

2Geralt Finds Ciri In The Woods

This is another scene from the end of The Witcher season 1 that occurs across all three mediums of The Witcher franchise: books, games, and TV show. In the games, this scene comes as a flashback, showing Ciri running and jumping into Geralt’s arms, much as she does in the show. In Netflix’s The Witcher, this emotionally tense scene comes near the end of the show’s first season, when after being injured by a pack of ghouls, Geralt is taken to a farmstead where he finds Ciri in the woods and embraces her warmly.

This scene also looks very similar in the game and the show, which is probably because they are both directly inspired by Sapkowski’s novel series. The main difference between the scenes is the environment. In the show, Geralt and Ciri reunite in a forest, running through the trees and crashing into each other’s arms. In the game, Geralt and Ciri meet in a grassy meadow littered with garish spring flowers. Besides the difference in the landscape, these two scenes are nearly identical.

1Ciri’s Training In Kaer Mohren

Ciri’s training in Kaer Mohren is also strikingly similar between The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt and Netflix’s The Witcher TV series. At the beginning of the iconic video game, Ciri is shown training on an obstacle course of sorts, running along a collection of wooden pegs, dodging the incoming pendulums that swing back and forth above the pegs. The obstacle course she trains on in The Witcher is a tad larger and more complex, but it still looks vastly similar to the scene in the games. These scenes are loosely inspired by the books, but they are more similar to each other than any one book scene.