Following his run as fan favorite character Tormund Giantsbane on Game of Thrones, Kristofer Hivju has been cast for a role in the popular Netflix series The Witcher. As reported by Redanian Intelligence, a casting breakdown for the show's second season reveals Hivju has officially been cast as a character called "Nigel." This is believed to be a codename for Nivellen, who appears in the short story "A Grain of Truth" from Andrzej Sapkowski's book The Last Wish, and the character description for Nigel makes it appear that way as well.

Nigel is described as a "charismatic, witty and funny man," and the role is said to be "physically demanding with a requirement for a great emotional range." Those of us who've seen Game of Thrones will already know Hivju fits that bill perfectly, as Tormund Giantsbane checks each one of those boxes as well. The role also describes Nigel as an aristocrat who's been "cursed for the crimes he has committed in the past," which is exactly the same backstory for the Nivellen character in Sapkowski's original short story.

In the original story, Geralt of Rivera follows a trail of corpses leading to a mysterious mansion in the forest. It's inhabited by Nivellen, a man cursed to live as a bear-like beast until Geralt ultimately helps him break the curse and return to normal. Certainly, it's not hard to picture Hivju in this role, as the casting here really is perfect. According to the reported casting breakdown, Hivju's role as "Nigel" will only be for the first episode of The Witcher season 2, so this is also in line with Nivellen's limited role in Geralt's journey.

Based on The Witcher novels and stories from Andrzej Sapowski, the hit Netflix Original debuted its first season in December. Set in a medieval land known as the Continent, the series stars Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, Freya Allan as Princess Ciri, and Anya Chalotra as the elf-sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg. Though it was released as the tail end of 2019, the series quickly became one of the most streamed shows of the year, rivalling The Mandalorian and Stranger Things. Last month, Netflix would also claim that the show had been viewed by over 76 million users in its first month.

On Game of Thrones, Tormund was one of the few major characters to make to the end unscathed. We last saw him with Kit Harington's Jon Snow, with the two venturing north of The Wall into an undetermined future. As for what they might be up to now, Hivju believes they might be bonding over their respective lost loves. "Jon is in a huge depression, so he needs Tormund to cheer him up, by the fire, warming each other," Hivju recently joked. We may have seen the last of Tormund, but we certainly haven't seen the last of Hivju, and it's going to be awesome to catch him on The Witcher season 2. This news comes to us from Redanian Intelligence.