Netflix’s The Witcher has been steadily assembling a dedicated fanbase since its premiere in December. The series quickly became one of the most popular on the platform, a second season is already in the works and showrunner Lauren Hissrich has said that they have plans for a story that spans seven seasons. But given that many people are familiar with CD Projekt Red’s incredible RPG takes on the franchise, not to mention Andrzej Sapkowski’s original books, folks have been wondering why the show chose to do some things differently.

One minor element that’s kicked up a bit of a stink is that Joey Batey’s Jaskier isn’t wearing a hat. The prancing, cowardly and weirdly loveable bard is known for his ostentatious outfits and is generally seen wearing a dandy-ish hat. In a recent Reddit Q&A, Hissrich was asked why it was absent and said:

“Ah, yes, the hat! It was made, we tried it on Joey, and we couldn’t stop laughing. Will we try again? Sure. Nothing is impossible.”

And now we can see said hat. And yes, it looks ridiculous, as evidenced below:

However, given that Jaskier is supposed to look ridiculous in comparison to the grubby denizens of The Witcher‘s world, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But I can see how it might be a bit of a distraction to audiences.

One of my favorite things about The Witcher is that they absolutely nailed Jaskier. On paper, the character could’ve been the show’s equivalent of Jar Jar Binks, but Joey Bates is a funny guy and Henry Cavill’s Geralt is a fantastic straight man. Plus, and nobody who’s seen the show can deny this, Jaskier is a great bard and his song ‘Toss A Coin To Your Witcher’ has deservedly become a viral hit.

In fact, now that I’ve written about it I’ve got it stuck in my head again…”When a humble bard / graced a ride along / with Geralt of Rivia / along came this sooooong.”

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