The Witcher S2 E2 death was originally meant for another character

The Witcher showrunner, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, explained that the major death in season two, episode two was originally meant for another, much less beloved character. 

Based on the work of Andrzej Sapkowski, Netflix's 'The Witcher' premiered in December 2019 before becoming one of the streamer's biggest first seasons of television ever. 

While season one adapted stories from 'The Last Wish' and 'Sword of Destiny', season two looks to 'Blood of Elves', which is considered to be the true beginning of Geralt (Henry Cavill), Ciri (Freya Allan) and Yennefer's (Anya Chalotra) story.

In episode two, Geralt and Ciri arrive at a very significant location in 'The Witcher' universe - Kaer Morhen, the old Witcher keep and Geralt's childhood home. 

There, they are reunited with the elder Vesemir (Kim Bodnia) and fellow witchers, including Lambert (Paul Bullion), Coën (Yasen Atour) and Eskel (Basil Eidenbenz) - all of which remain fixtures of Kaer Morhen throughout the books and video games. 

However, like Yennefer's arc and the Deathless Mother, 'The Witcher' season two makes some serious alterations to the source material. 

Spoiler alert!

During The Witcher Unlocked, via The Witcher Netflix on YouTube, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich revealed that Eskel's death in episode two was originally meant for John. 

On top of that, Schmidt Hissrich was asked to explain the decision to kill off Eskel so soon given what the character means to longtime fans.

In addition to his premature death, 'The Witcher' season two changes many aspects of Eskel's personality, portraying him as resentful and belligerent as opposed to being jovial in the books. 

In the show, he's used as little more than a plot device to introduce mutated monsters and monoliths.