I have been catching up on some shows since games have kinda slowed down going into the new year before a bunch of new stuff comes out in February. One of the shows that was heavily recommended to me by friends was Netflix’s The Witcher. My experience with The Witcher series is only with the games by CD Projekt Red, but the show is actually more closely related to the book series that was written by Andrzej Sapkowski, so I was curious how I would enjoy the show. Well after burning through the two seasons that Netflix has made before, I have some thoughts!
To start, all the stuff that happens in the show (also the books) happens before the games, which take place about five years after the events in the books. Since that is my touchstone for this universe, there might be some comparisons to one or the other.
The first major thing that jumped out to me is how perfect Henry Cavill is to play the role of Geralt, it is like he was made exactly for this role. Across all the mediums that this character shows up in, he is always a stoic, grey-haired, gruff man who seems void of emotion because of the transformation into a Witcher. Cavill absolutely nails all of this, down to the deep, gruff voice that Geralt is known for from the games. He is definitely one of the stronger members of this cast and deserves all the praise.
The other two standouts to me in both seasons were Freya Allan and Anya Chalotra, who play Ciri and Yennefer respectively. While I think both of them are strong in each season, they both have their strongest performances in different seasons.
Yennefer is such a great part of season one, you see her journey from someone with a hunchback that someone would rather sell than have her around. We see her experience with the mages, who in this universe are a collective that place themselves into royal courts around The Continent and pull strings from the shadows. Yennefer in season one is someone who is an independent woman, using her power to fight against how this male-dominated society thinks women like her should be, with a great example of that her trying to find a way to still have children, even after being told she would never be able to. She still is that to a certain degree in season two, but with the storyline of losing her powers she also loses a lot of her fire and ambition that was such an important part of her character in season one.
Ciri is a very interesting character to me, since I kinda know some of how her character is when she is older and what she becomes, at least according to the games so seeing her younger, pre-Geralt self was definitley entertaining. In the games she is talked about but not seen till The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, where Geralt is trying to track her down, since she hid herself from him and everyone else because of the Wild Hunt coming for her. While I enjoy her in season one and her trying to escape the Nilfgaard forces, I think her character shines way more in season two. Where Yennefer become less independent and powerful, Ciri started commanding more independence and started to grasp more of what she was. Watching her go through the Witcher training course at Kaer Morhen and gain the respect of Geralt’s fellow witchers was a big stepping stone for her and Geralt’s relationship.
Speaking of their relationship, this is maybe one fo the biggest problems I have with the series. Almost immediately Geralt and Ciri have a perfect relationship, with Geralt coming across as the best father someone could ever have. From what I have seen of the source material, one of the biggest arcs is Geralt struggling to be the father-figure that Ciri needs and just kinda of bumbling through it till he starts to figure it out with that being one fo the key cornerstones of their bond. Geralt already being the perfect dad inversely has an impact on Yennefer and Ciri’s relationship with each other. In the books, Yennefer is the one who can finally get through to Ciri and teach her to start controlling her powers. The show seems to have put their relationship on the back burner, to the point where they almost seem antagonistic towards one another, very different from the mother/daughter relationship that develops in the books and is in the games when they reunite. Seeing how the show develops the three of them and their relationship with each other is going to be very important to how good future seasons will be.
Out of the two seasons, I think season one is the stronger of the two , but both are easy watches and enjoyable. The way season one handles the jumping to different spots in the timeline is confusing at first but makes for a great lightbulb moment when you realize the events you have been watching are not linear. While at the beginning it makes following the events unfolding a little difficult, it is a nice creative spin on the traditional show setup. Season two is the exact opposite, more linear which makes telling the story easier, but I feel like it does lose some of the magic that season one had.
If you enjoy any fantasy shows, novels, or games then I would definitely give The Witcher a shot, especially if you have played the games or read the books. They do a great job of adapting from the source material while deviating away from it at the right time, which is something shows struggle with (i.e Game of Thrones). It is an easy binge watch even with the hour long episodes and it is great to see Henry Cavill portraying a role he seems excited about and is perfect for.