The Witcher Season 2: Why Does Jaskier Sing ‘Burn, Butcher, Burn’?

| December 17, 2021 |

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I of the standout accomplishments of the first season of The Witcher was the sheer addictiveness of the vocal, "Toss a Money To Your Witcher" every bit sung by Joey Batey, who plays the bard Jaskier in the testify. Now lightning has struck twice with the season 2 entry, "Burn, Butcher, Burn," which is merely as much of an earworm. Given that it'southward been awhile since nosotros last saw Jaskier, the circumstances related by the lyrics might have been forgotten past some. Why is the bard so pissed at his friend Geralt, who is conspicuously the subject of this rage anthem?

The Witcher viewers may recall that early in Geralt'south career, he unfairly earned the moniker "The Butcher of Blaviken," referring to the claret the witcher was forced to shed during the feud between the mage Stregobor and the exiled princess Renfri, who lost her kingdom but for existence built-in during an eclipse. Geralt tried to persuade Renfri to set bated her revenge, but when her gang of mercenaries refused to yield, he defended himself and the innocent bystanders who later blamed him for the massacre.

Jaskier would know this particular nickname would be hurtful to his quondam friend, but it'southward likewise an effective way to hide a true story in the lyrics of a song. "Burn, Butcher, Burn" begins with a reminder that the bard and the witcher parted under uncertain circumstances:

I hear yous're live — how disappointing!
I've also survived, no thanks to y'all.
Did I non bring you some glee,
Mister 'oh look at me'?
At present I'll burn all the memories of y'all.

The terminal fourth dimension the two were together, as Jaskier mentions in "Voleth Meir," was when teams of fortune-seeking warriors traveled into the mountains to slay a dragon in the commencement flavour'south sixth episode, "Rare Species." Jaskier spent much of the journey to the dragon's lair trying to persuade Geralt to leave the quest and head with him to the coast, only the witcher was reluctant to do so, more often than not because of Yennefer's participation in the chase but besides because the bard was the source of much of Geralt's problems.

"Later on everything we did, we saw / You turned your back on me," says the song, and the pair certainly had their share of adventures. Earlier in The Witcher 's start season, Geralt and Jaskier had been captured past elves, and the bard had carelessly released a djinn that nearly killed them both every bit well as Yennefer. Jaskier was likewise responsible for Geralt being present at Princess Pavetta'due south betrothal, during which the witcher claimed the Law of Surprise and ended up with a child of destiny.

In short, Geralt blamed his friend for everything that acquired him malaise in his life and thus left him in the camp earlier the dragon encounter always unfolded. Later that detail adventure was over and the witcher was still feeling stung by Yennefer's rejection, he exclaimed that if life could give him 1 approving, it would be to have Jaskier off his hands. Clearly hurt, the bard resigned himself to getting the story of the dragon from the other adventurers.

Peradventure Geralt should accept remembered that if not for the encounter with the djinn, he might never have met Yennefer and joined his fate to hers. And although he initially rejected the idea of a kid of destiny, he eventually formed a bond with Ciri crucial to her survival and his own fulfillment. Those all-important relationships would never take blossomed if not for Jaskier and the unfortunate circumstances that brought together the witcher, the princess, and the sorceress.

Yet, the song continues:

At the end of my days when I'k through
No word that I've written will ring quite as truthful as
Burn! Burn, Butcher, burn!
Burn, Butcher, fire, fire, burn down, burn, burn, burn…
Watch me burn all the memories of you.

Although the friends eventually reconciled ("That'southward what friends do; they come up dorsum," the bard tells Geralt), it was quite poignant to run across Jaskier feeling so injure. His swanky outfit and confident demeanor show that the bard has earned a certain amount of fame in his own right, but he missed his friend and notoriety doesn't equal happiness. The lyrics that lash out decrescendo into a very quiet, forlorn statement that proves that the bard could never really rid himself of the painful memory of his friend's rejection.

And at present, we wait for the inevitable flood of YouTube covers of "Burn, Butcher, Fire!" Whether the interpretations are heavy metallic or a cappella, they are certain to be as soulful equally the original and just as much of a banger as "Toss a Coin To Your Witcher" was in the first season of The Witcher .