Summary: Yennefer lives a sad life, being abused in her family. She unlocks her magical ability and is recruited by Tissaia to learn how to control her magic, but she isn't very good at it. She forms a bond with another mage, Istredd, but he is actually spying on her for Stregobor, learning that she is half elf. Geralt takes on a new mission and is joined by a bard, Jaskier. Geralt's mission takes him to Filavandrel, the former king of elves, who has been scavenging grain to keep his small community alive. Geralt and Filavandrel come to a deal, Filavandrel moves on and Geralt gives his earned money to Filavandrel. On the run, Ciri is found by a boy, but she leaves him behind when she finds a Cintran encampment. Ciri learns that many people despised the ruling family. In an attack, the camp ins destroyed, but Ciri is saved by the boy, who reveals himself to be Dara, an elf hiding in the forest.
The Good: The opening sequence is very effective as a compelling short story that is separate from the rest of the show we were introduced to in the first episode. Yennefer is immediately easy to sympathize with because of her miserable life and kindhearted nature, and she is a good viewpoint to learn about this world through. The rest of her story is an effective exploration of magic's role in this world, and the uniqueness of the training is interesting to watch. Ciri's experience in the camp is generic and uninspired, but it works and is an effective stepping stone for her character. Her story already feels like a sloppier version of Arya's story in "Game of Thrones", but the storytellign device is so strong that it still mostly works for me. I appreciate that Ciri is being faced with the realities of the poor soldiers who she has never properly interacted with, and she is faced with the harsh reality that her precious grandmother may not have been as well-liked as it seemed from her position as a princess. There's also a good sense of danger throughout her storyline as she is forced to conceal her identity, and by the end of the episode, she is alone and on the run again, with just a single boy, Dara, to help her. I enjoyed the episode's focus on introducing elves to us, giving a strong connection between all of the storylines as each of the three main characters end up having some sort of connection with elves. Ciri is saved by a lone elf, Yennefer reveals she is part elf, and Geralt has a direct encounter with the king of elves, and also expresses some intriguing parallels to them. This was a good way to develop the lore of the world, and it helps connect us more with Geralt especially since we can imagine that his story is very similar to that of the elves, we just have to wait until we can learn more about him. The Bad: The Geralt story is hard to get into. It never elevates above feeling like a mission of the week storyline. I was also very confused by how unsatisfying his story felt. We didn't get enough interesting world-building throughout his storyline to ask any interesting questions about his mission. I was confused with the man hiring him with full faith that he would do his job. If Witchers aren't very well liked, then why is he trusted so much? Furthermore, I was left wondering about the authority in charge of these people. Isn't there someone else to go to when there is a "devil" or suspected thief? I can buy that maybe there is nobody to turn to in this society, but this needs to be shown to us. This episode has too much exposition and that makes it bland at times. A lot of the information on the elves is given to us via flat monologues that aren't acted well. These scenes were extremely bland to watch, and I found myself losing focus at numerous points. Yennefer's story has flaws. Her romance with Istredd is awful and hard to watch. The acting is atrocious and the romance feels really forced and unrealistic, making it difficult to watch. The Stregobor twist is interesting, but we don't know Stregobor well enough as a character for this to have impact. Why should I care if he has interest in Yennefer? To me he's just another wizard living in a tower. I don't understand why he is considered so important. I'm sure there is a reason, but the show hasn't done a good job of conveying that reason to me. It's tough to grasp Stregobor's role in this world right now. I also did not like the ending eel scene very much. It is surprising to learn that some students are sacrificed to keep the world of magic going, but I had too many questions about logistics for this to have impact. Are these sacrifices made to keep magic alive? Why did the students agree to die? How did Yennefer feel about this? Why wasn't Yennefer sacrificed, since she was so inept at magic? It will be fine in the long run if these questions are answered, but by forcing me to ask these questions now, the show prevents me from engaging with the deeper societal questions that it tries to raise by sacrificing students for the greater good. The same problems with dialogue, poor acting, and lack of subtlety persist from the first episode. This episode isn't written very well, and even though it presents an intriguing world, I find myself losing my immersion in almost every scene because of how poor the acting and dialogue is. The lack of subtlety is emerging as a big problem as well. There is definitely some good storytelling to be had in this humans vs elves conflict that seems to go back a long time, but so far the show is only interested in hammering in how greedy and selfish humans are, which is very one-note and uninteresting. It's frustrating to see the show transparently attempt to criticize humanity over and over again with these lines about how bad humans are. Rather than being philosophical or though-provoking, it comes off as preachy, shallow, and edgy. The Unknown: How did Yennefer portal? Who is Tissaia? She suggests that she is similar to Yennefer, is this true? Why did she sacrifice the other students? How does she feel about allowing Yennefer to live? Why is Istredd at this location? What is his role? Why did he try to warn Yennefer to stay away from Tissaia? Why is it significant that Yennefer is half elf? What will Stregobor do with this information? What is Stregobor's role in this society? Is he some kind of leader in the wizard community? Why is he important? What power does he possess? Who Dara? Why is he in the woods? Is he with anyone else? What was Filavandrel's Uprising? When did it happen? What was its significance? What will happen next with Filavandrel? Will he return? Abbott seemed to be a dwarf. What makes him "clean"? What happened to him and his people? Why is Torque a goat-man? How? Who is the authority in this world? We know Calanthe was ruling in Cintra, but what about everyone else? Which kingdoms are Geralt and Yennefer in anyways? Best Moment: I'll probably go with the music sequence at the end of the episode. The visuals and editing in this show have been quite good so far, and without any of the poor acting and dialogue, this scene doesn't have anything holding it down. Also the song is really good. Character of the Episode: Yennefer. Conclusion: This episode had more decent progression and world-building, but the blunt nature of the storytelling combined with poor acting and dialogue continue to get in the way of the show. So far, I am not impressed by what I've seen. Score: 55
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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