Thue Ersted Rasmussen of Skytten fame has officially declared that he is no longer a part of the sequel of the megahit Henry Cavill starrer show. The Danish actor, who was cast as the character Eskel has recently confirmed his departure from the production scenes.

He announced the news on his Twitter handle and explained that the pandemic and scheduling disputes are the reasons for him to finally part ways with The Witcher Season 2 project. He wrote in a three-paragraph long statement that due to the unavoidable obstacles created by the pandemic and conflict in scheduling dates, he would not be able to play the character Eskel in the upcoming Season 2 of the hit fantasy show.

In the statement, he conveyed his sadness but said that he will always cherish the moments he spent on the sets earlier this year. He hailed the production team and said everyone out there was very engrossed and “passionate” about what was going on, and it motivated him immensely. 

In the second paragraph, he wrote a simple sweet statement expressing gratitude to all the fans who had been sending pretty positive messages to him.

In his concluding lines, he conveyed his wishes to the entire production team and said that he is pretty confident that what they will achieve with Season 2 will be nothing short of “amazing.” He also humorously said that now he will get a chance to watch the series as a “fanboy” instead of being a stressful cast member anxious about his performance as Witcher.

In the books and video games, Eskel is also a Witcher, just like Geralt(Henry Cavill), and is his companion on several missions.

No revelations have been made, neither from Netflix nor from the production team regarding the actor who will replace Thue Rasmussen, but if the speculations put forward by Redanian Intelligence are to believed, Swiss actor Basil Eidenbenz or Scottish actor Craig McGinlay are being considered to be the ones suitable for the role of Eskel.

Eidenbenz has made his name with characters like Lukas Oertli in Best Friends, Lohlein in Victoria, Edsel in X Company, and Lanny Brandt in the latest film The Athena.

Scottish Actor McGinlay has done some work in Knightfall and Outlander. His most noteworthy performance has been the role of Percival in the King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.   

Redanian Intelligence has put its money on Eidenbenz as he looks almost identical to Rasmussen in terms of his height, muscularity, and looks.

What is imperative to remind ourselves is that the McGinlay’s recent social media activity does hint towards the actor being a serious contender as he has posted a photo of himself alongside Henry Cavill. He has also followed some show related accounts on his Instagram handle and has followed the director himself, Stephen Surjik.

In the Witcher universe, Eskel considers himself a brother of Geralt as both of them grew together as Witchers at the school of wolves under the supervision of Master Vesemir at Kaer Morhen. After Witcher brings Ciri to the fortress, Eskel is the one who helps him train the girl.

It is true that Eskel does not have the skills of Geralt, but he is also a very reliable Witcher as he has made a name for himself in the books as well as in the games. His most recent adventure was about saving a girl’s life from the grasp of a basilisk. Eskel was hunting zeugls when he found a young girl in trouble. After the intense battle, Eskel saves the girl’s life after savagely destroying the monster.

Thue Rasmussen will not be a part of The Witcher Season 2, but he will be visible in F9 (9th installment of Fast & Furious) as Otto and will star alongside  John Cena and Vin Diesel.

Season 1 of The Witcher came out in December 2019 and was an instant fan favorite at Netflix; however, there were few critical criticisms of the show regarding its slow and monotonous pace in the middle episodes.

But Joey Batey’s entertaining songs, action, suspense, dark theme, and the sound mixing was extensively praised.

In the end, it is a safe thing to say that there is a strong fanbase of Witcher, and people are indeed looking forward to Season 2 as Netflix itself has revealed its ambitious plans of establishing its own Game of Thrones-like-universe.

Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra, Freya Allen, and Joey Batey will most likely reprise their roles in Season 2.

Mathew Anderson is a Microsoft Office expert and has been working in the technical industry since 2002. As a technical expert, Mathew has written technical blogs, manuals, white papers, and reviews for many websites such as office.com/setup.