Jaskier is set to fall in love in The Witcher's third season in what actor Joey Batey described as his "hot girl summer". Netflix hasn't confirmed who his lover will be, but reports claim it's Prince Radovid and that Jaskier is bisexual, which has expectedly sent fans into an outrage.
The reports come from Redanian Intelligence which has a fairly accurate track record with The Witcher, and the idea of him falling for Radovid is something that was floated as far back as 2022. It was reported then that he flirted with Jaskier in an audition tape. It's worth noting that, in this adaptation, Radovid is King Vizimir's younger brother, rather than his son, so the age difference isn't quite as big as it could've been.
"I don't even know what to say," Gwynbleidd_94 posted on the subreddit. "This show is a joke".
Their post already has 5,100 upvotes with many of the comments echoing that sentiment, with one user saying, "I may have read the books wrong but I don't remember Jaskier being attracted to men at any point". For some, the sticking point doesn't seem to be the romance, but the mere idea of a character being queer.
Many have also taken his falling for Radovid to mean that he is gay, completely ignoring a key part of the report - he's bisexual. That means he likes men and women, so he can both be the infamous womaniser the books paint him as, and date men. The two aren't mutually exclusive. But rather than seeing it as an opportunity for representation, many of the fans label it as fuel for hate-watching, trying to drum up views by further inciting outrage, when in reality, it's just playing into how much of a flirt Jaskier is. That's nothing new.
Others are less offended by the mere idea of queerness in their favourite fantasy show in which mythical monsters are made reality, and are instead confused by the idea that anyone would find Radovid attractive. Given that he led a genocidal campaign against mages and non-humans, that's fair enough. Hopefully, Jaskier realises that Radovid is a horrible person and swiftly moves on.
Wherever you land on the idea of Jaskier dating the infamous prince, The Witcher's third season arrives on Netflix on June 29, so it won't be long before we see how this story plays out.