The Wild Hunt are the main antagonists of The Witcher 3, and an important force in the Witcher novels. Earlier this month, pictures from the set of Netflix's second season of The Witcher revealed that the Wild Hunt would almost certainly be making an appearance, drawing new attention to the Wild Hunt, and their leader, in the books and games.
In The Witcher 3, the Wild Hunt is led by a mysterious figure named Eredin Breacc Glas. Though he often appears as a specter, he is in fact a physical being from another world, with politics and problems similar to those found in Geralt's. Here's a breakdown of Eredin Breacc Glas' story in the books and the games.
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Eredin Breacc Glas was a powerful general of the Aen Elle Elves. These Elves are distinct from the Aen Seidhe Elves who live on the continent that Geralt of Rivia grew up on. 1500 years before the events of the novels, the Conjunction of the Spheres caused the multiverse to disperse species and monsters from many different realities across multiple worlds.
This brought humans to the main world in which The Witcher is set, where they eventually became the dominant species. Before the humans arrived, however, that world had been inhabited by Elves. Following the Conjunction, some of these Elves used powerful magic to leave their planet through portals. They arrived on a new world which they found inhabited by humans and The Witcher's version of Unicorns. They slaughtered the humans and began a seemingly endless war with the Unicorns. They founded a new capital city, Tir Na Lia, and came to call themselves the Aen Elle — the Alder Folk.
In the world of The Witcher, these otherworldly Elves came to fill the role of Elves in much of Northern European mythology — terrifying unearthly beings associated with magic and death. In contrast, the Elves who remained on their original homeland lived lives similar to their human cohabitants, though they found themselves and other non-humans oppressed in human society.
Eredin Breacc Glas was born an Aen Elle Elf at some point after the arrival of his people on their new world. He became a successful general known for leading campaigns against the Unicorns, and served under King Auberon Muircetach. Auberon is named after the mythical king of the fairies, King Oberon, who appears in A Midsummer Night's Dream. This is just one of many Shakespearean references in The Witcher series.
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King Auberon's society had a problem. Having killed the human population, it was left without any slaves. However, the Aen Elle Elves had captured a Unicorn who they could use to access the Gate of the Worlds. The Gate of the Worlds was the name for a power held by the Unicorns which allowed them to move through space and time. The Aen Elle were able to give Eredin this power. He was made captain of the Red Riders, later known as the Wild Hunt. This was a cavalry with a single goal: travelling to other worlds to take slaves.
To strike fear into the worlds he visited, Eredin and his Red Riders donned skeleton-like armor and used magic to make themselves appear more spectral through effects like voice alteration. Eventually Eredin rediscovered the main world of The Witcher which his people had originally left. He found that humans had taken over, but consequently considered the world ideal for his mission. Eredin and the Red Riders would return to this world many times, taking more and more slaves as they did. With no way to know where these terrifying riders were coming from the people of Geralt's world began calling them the Wild Hunt, and Eredin the King of the Wild Hunt.
Eventually, however, the Aen Elle lost control of the Gate of the Worlds. This trapped them on their world, but they eventually developed a way for small groups to travel to other worlds, where they would tear across the sky in spectral form. In 1267 Eredin and his Wild Hunt encountered Princess Ciri, who they realized had Elder Blood. They believed that by bringing her back to mate with their king they would restore the Elder Blood and its immense magical powers to the Aen Elle.
An Aen Elle Elf named Avallac'h was eventually able to lure Ciri to their world. However, King Auberon found the prospect of mating with a human disgusting. Under the guise of delivering an aphrodisiac, Eredin poisoned and usurped his king. Though he had long been called King of the Wild Hunt, he was now truly the king of the Aen Elle. Avallac'h was one of few to suspect his betrayal.
In the timeline of The Witcher games, Eredin found himself facing a new problem. His world began to get taken over by the White Frost, an eternal winter which would destroy all life. Eredin believed that only the magic of the Elder Blood could stop this, but Ciri was able to escape back to her home world with the help of a Unicorn. Now, Eredin's sole mission became tracking down Ciri. Hoping to lure Ciri with her loved ones, he captured Yennefer of Vengerberg. Geralt eventually caught up with the Wild Hunt and offered himself in exchange.
Ciri was able to rescue Geralt without being caught, but she fell into the hands of the Crones, who served Eredin. Ciri would escape the Crones, but Eredin's relentless pursuit of her and her Elder Blood would eventually lead to the death of Vesemir, Geralt's mentor. Enraged, Ciri nearly unleashed her full powers against Eredin before he escaped back through a portal to his world.
After many chases and near-escapes, Geralt would eventually fight Eredin in a battle that took the pair through portals to many different worlds. Geralt's victory ended in Eredin's death, but in his dying moments he hinted that both of them had been used by Avallac'h, who wanted to use Ciri's power for his own ends. The game never reveals whether or not he was telling the truth.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.