The nextWitchergame is officially in development, though very little has been revealed about the sequel to CD Projekt Red’s award-winning RPG.The Witcher 3was one of the biggest games of the last decade, attracting critical acclaim and a huge fanbase. It’s no surprise that speculation is already running high about a newWitchertitle, with fans poring over every scrap of information they can get.
One of the most interesting clues released so far is theWitchermedallion in its announcement image. Fans realized the medallion didn’t represent Geralt’s School of the Wolf, and may be a hint thatThe Witcher 3’s protagonist won’t be a focus in the fourth game. The next popular theory was that it represented the School of the Cat, but that has now been disproved by atweet from CD Projekt Red Community Director Marcin Momotrevealing the medallion represents the brand-new School of the Lynx. The revelation that the medallion belongs to a newWitcherSchool is pretty major one for the community, as it really opens up what the developers can do.
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The Lynx in Witcher Lore
There is currently aSchool of Lynxin popularWitcherfanfiction, but it’s unlikely to have much of an influence on the canon. What is more likely is that the School of the Lynx will in be related to the School of the Cat in some way.
The School of the Cat is one ofThe Witcher’s most infamous Schools, founded by a ragtag bunch of former students who broke away from the Witcher Order. Seeking to refine and improve traditions, the Cat is one of the few Schools that is willing to train women and demi-humans. It could be that this friction between the Cat and the other Witcher Schools is what gives rise to the School of the Lynx, a more accepted version of the breakaway School. Alternatively, the School of the Lynx may take the Cat’s ideals even further, causing a schism within a schism.
Whichever origin the School of the Lynx has, it’s likely that they’ll inherit the School of the Cat’s fighting style to some degree. Whilethe School of the Bearfocuses on heavy armor, and the School of the Griffon on magic, the School of the Cat trains its students in speed, agility, and precision. These teachings came to the School from the Aen Seidhe elves, a group they built strong relations with.
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The Lynx in Real-World Mythology
Although the School of the Lynx doesn’t currently exist inThe Witcherlore, it is possible to speculate about its characteristics by looking at the mythology that surrounds Lynxes in the real world. Each of the other Witcher Schools carries over the connotations of its representative animal, with Bears being tough, Wolves being adaptable, and Vipers being cunning.
The Lynx features heavily in Greek, Norse, and Native American mythology, with all three attributing some similar properties to the wildcat. The most notable feature of the Lynx is its eyes, which are believed to be supernaturally gifted, always able to see the truth and peer straight through solid objects. In the nextWitchergame, this could translate into an improved version ofGeralt’s Witcher Senses, the special vision mode which allowed him to track scents and trails invisible to normal humans.
Lynxes are also renowned as mysterious and elusive creatures, known in some Native American mythology as the “Keepers of Secrets.” This could hint toward the School of the Lynx being some kind of secret Witcher society, perhaps reinforcing the idea of abreakaway from the School of the Cat. The Lynx medallion is similar enough to the Cat medallion that Lynx Witchers may be able to pass as members of the more famous School at a cursory glance.
It’s almost certain that CD Projekt Red will call upon the real-world connotations of the Lynx when it createsthe new Witcher School, particularly as the creature has no particular lore in the existing canon. However, with the game a long way off yet, fans can only speculate about the details of this mysterious new School.
