The Witcher Costume Designer Talks About the Controversy of Nilfgaardian Armor Design in the Show

Netflix's The Witcher officially premiered last Friday, and fans seem to have largely embraced the new fantasy series. However, despite everyone loving Henry Cavill's portrayal of Geralt and other aspects of the first season, there have been many criticisms of Netflix's work on the show, such as some of the costume design work. More specifically, there have been a lot of discussions about the Nilfgaardian armor in the show, most of which have been critical.

Stills from The Witcher

According to The Witcher costume designer Tim Aslam, designing armor for the vast empire of Nilfgaard was a challenge second only to designing Geralt's armor. "I think the most difficult costume to design was Geralt's costume, because of the game of the same name, fans have high expectations for Geralt's appearance. Also, there is a specific image in the minds of those who have read the books about what Geralt should look like, and the challenge was to design a convincing set of armor for Geralt. The armor we designed gave Geralt a tough and dangerous look, but also adapted to the requirements of Henry Cavill to move his body freely and perform complex movements. "

Later, Tim Aslam talked about the armor design of the Nilfgaard Empire soldiers. He said: "I think the difficulty of designing armor for the Nilfgaard Empire soldiers is second only to designing armor for Geralt. Nilfgaard armor is a black armor with a sun pattern. It is easy to make it into any medieval or Renaissance armor. But I think it is not enough to just show the dark and terrible power of the Nilfgaard army."

However, if you've watched The Witcher TV series, you'll know that what Tim Aslam and the costume design team have done is incredible. There may be some flaws, such as the armor of the Nilfgaardian soldiers, but overall there's nothing to complain about and the designs are actually great.

Netflix's The Witcher has been renewed for season 2 and will begin filming on February 17, 2020.