Summary: Geralt takes Ciri to Kaer Morhen where she trains to become stronger. Yennefer has lost her powers and is captured by Fringilla. They are both captured by the elves, led by Francesca, and the three of them encounter a witch who offers them a deal. Francesca and Fringilla work together and Fringilla offers Cintra to the elves. Yennefer returns to Aretuza having lost her power but she isn't trusted so she escapes with prisoner Cahir. Cahir returns to Cintra while Yennefer saves Jaskier in Redania from Rience who is after Ciri. Geralt learns that Ciri is likely responsible for bringign new monsters into the world and he investigates a toppled monolith with Istredd. Geralt returns to Ciri and takes her to Melitele's Temple where he finds Yennefer. Yennefer makes a connection with Ciri and portals away with her when Rience attacks. Geralt fights them off and tracks down Ciri. Yennefer is tempted to sacrifice Ciri to the witch to get her powers back but is unable to do it. The witch is revealed to be Voleth Meir, a monster, and she is freed and possesses Ciri. Voleth Meir tries to kill the witchers but they fight back and Geralt and Yennefer are able to free Ciri. Fringilla and Francesca continue their alliance until Francesca's baby is suddenly killed. The elves seek vengeance by attacking Redania. The mages inform the kings about Ciri and they decide to go after her. Emhyr arrives in Cintra and is revealed to be Ciri's father Duny.
The Good: Geralt and Ciri's relationship was the core of this season and I thought that it was really well done. Henry Cavill is still the best part about this show and I completely bought into his passion to protect Ciri and act as a father figure for her. Meanwhile Ciri's respect for Geralt is completely understandable as he is the only one still alive that cares and protects for her. Both characters genuinely care for each other and the reasons are plain to see. I became more and more emotionally invested in this pairing as the season went on. The world building was much better than in season 1. Season 1 was rushed and convoluted, and I never felt the world of "The Witcher" pop out and grip me in the way that places like Westeros and Middle Earth have done in "Game of Thrones" and "Lord of the Rings" respectively. Thankfully, season 2 has addressed this and there has been far more world-building to make this world feel more real. World-building is a must in the fantasy genre, and I'm glad that more time was dedicated to it. Redania, Kaer Morhen, Cintra, Aretuza, Melitele's Temple, and all of the other various locations felt more fleshed out and recognizable, and I am more well-versed with the norms of this world and the people within it. There was also a lot more history and lore revealed to us in this season, which I always welcome. This season had great production value. It looks far better than season 1, and a big reason for the improved world-building comes from the improved set design and the increased amount of epic sweeping "Lord of the Rings" style establishing shots. I think that the season also nailed its dream sequences. There were several of these and they were all creepy, suspenseful and mysterious. Sure they were sometimes frustrating, but there's no denying that the production of these sequences added so much to scenes that could have been flat had they been directed in a static, predictable way. The storylines earlier in the season were fun and engaging to watch even if they did not lead to a satisfying pay-off. Yennefer losing her powers was an intriguing development, and while it didn't get explored to the extent that it could have, I enjoyed seeing Yennefer contend with not having her powers, forcing her to be resourceful and feel frustration at having now become just a normal person once again. Ciri's training is a joy to watch and her grit and determination is admirable, making you root for the character. And she is not simply perfect. She struggles and fails throughout the season, and her abilities and resolve are tested in every challenge she faces. It was great to see her slowly win over the respect of Geralt, Yennefer, and all of the witchers. Jaskier's return was welcome, and we had some nice moments when he first came back. The one storyline I really want to single out is actually Geralt and Ciri's visit to Nivellen's place in the first episode, "A Grain of Truth". This was quite easily the best episode of the season because of this stand-alone story. This isn't a plot-heavy episode but it explores the relationship between Geralt and Ciri really nicely, and both characters shine with the spotlight firmly on them. Then you add on Nivellen who is a fascinating grey character that allows "The Witcher" to explore some surprisingly thought-provoking and mature themes which I did not expect from the show at all. The ambiguity of Nivellen's past is a joy to uncover, and to learn of the awful things that this sweet man has allowed to happen under his watch is a real gut-punch. Plus there is a compelling mystery surrounding the bruxa, who is brought to life with so many terrifying ticks and movements, making it the show's best and most memorable monster so far. The Bad: Most of what I liked about this season came in the first half of the season, and that is because the final few episodes completely bungled all of the set-up and storytelling. I've read that "Blood of Elves", the book that this season is based on, is a slower paced, character-driven story with little action. And that slow paced storytelling is what we needed to invest in the characters and world during this season. But evidently, the creators thought that people wouldn't care for a season without much action, so the end of the season sees Voleth Meir forcefully inserted into this narrative, distracting from the story and characters to include some empty "dramatic" action sequences to prevent the casual audience from being bored. We spent so much time building these characters and their relationships, but Voleth Meir makes much of this a moot point by stealing the spotlight from the emotional narrative in the final two episodes. This gives the end of season 2 a really unsatisfying feeling because we didn't see the character arcs completed with the level of emotion we needed. It also doesn't help that the writing in these last two episodes was pretty terrible, and you can find more specifics in my episode-by-episode reviews. Also contributing to the lack of a satisfying emotional conclusion to the season is how rushed the season felt. The story moved forward too rapidly and there were far too many storylines shoved into this 8 episode run. An extra 2-3 episodes would have helped this season a lot by giving these storylines time to breathe. As the show is right now, so many of the side stories uninterest me because they weren't given time to develop and hook me in. I don't care about Rience because I hardly know him, the kings haven't received enough screentime for me to care, Francesca was never given enough time to grow into a complete character, Yennefer's relationship with Ciri did not get adequate time to grow and make me buy into it, etc. All of these are examples of storylines that fell flat because they were squeezed into an overstuffed season and not given the time to make me care. I was only really interested in the Geralt/Ciri stuff, and that didn't even get very much screentime because so much time was spent on these various other poorly realized characters and their rushed storylines. The fact that the season feels so rushed makes Voleth Meir's inclusion even more questionable. How much important story build-up and character development was cut to include this unnecessary, boring villain? This season doesn't do a whole lot of things badly, but these two main points are devastating to the overall quality of the story, leaving me feeling extremely disappointed with this season because we should have gotten a far better story. Another criticism I have is on the decision to release all eight episodes at once, encouraging people to binge the show thoughtlessly. For shows like "Stranger Things" which is very simple and easy to watch, this works well. But for a complex and lore-heavy show like "The Witcher", this decision to encourage binging is perplexing. For a fantasy narrative, you need to have time between episodes to ponder the story and the world, letting the new concepts we learn sink in. But when the show is binged, it encourages the viewer to ignore all of the world-building, themes, and deeper storytelling, and to simply watch the show for its action and fun, only appreciating the deeper elements of the show on a surface level. I do not agree with this approach at all, and I firmly believe that releasing episodes of this show weekly is a far better approach than to drop the entire season at once. This show is based on a fantasy book series. And you never read fantasy books in a single day, it's always bit by bit over time so that it doesn't feel overwhelming. Releasing the entire season at once is a big way that this show fails to capture the feeling of its source material. Best Episodes: E01 A Grain of Truth: This stand-alone experience ended up being the best episode of the season. An intriguing and mysterious story about a man that grapples with themes of morality and what makes people into monsters. The best content we have got from "The Witcher" so far. E04 Redanian Intelligence: The set up done in this episode is good and exciting to follow and it feels like the season is building up to something exciting. Yennefer, Geralt, and Ciri continue to develop well, while we also get a good mini-arc of two elves who meet their end in this episode. Worst Episodes: E07 Voleth Meir: An episode that feels rushed and uninspired, ending with a woeful action sequence that is forced, poorly written, and entirely unsatisfying. E08 Family: A season finale that focuses too much on monster fighting and too little on making us care about what is going on. This was a dull, flat experience. Character of the Season: Ciri. Freya Allan puts in a great performance this season and she has much more to work with this time. Conclusion: Going into this season, I had expectations that the show would learn and improve from season 1, which was tonally awkward, confusing, and filled with sloppy dialogue, writing, and acting. Season 2 corrected these flaws, and early on it looked like it was building up to something great. Characters were developing, storylines were getting introduced, and I was getting more invested in the narrative with each passing episode. But the ending of this season flopped. The last two episodes introduced a random new villain and abandoned much of what made the first six episodes interesting, leaving us with a poorly written and unsatisfying mess to end what should have been a triumphant season that pushed the narrative of "The Witcher" forwards in interesting ways. Instead what we got was a villain forcibly inserted in the story, a lack of satisfying character arcs, and yet again, the feeling that this season's entire purpose was to set up the next one. Even though this corrected the flaws from season 1, new cracks emerged that led to this season feeling just as flawed as the first, even if I did enjoy it a bit more overall. I'll once again be going into season 3 with the expectation that "The Witcher" will improve and learn from its mistakes, but this time I will be more skeptical. The source material is solid, it just needs to be put to the screen in a compelling way. And after two seasons, "The Witcher" still hasn't found out how to do that.
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Summary: Ciri, possessed by Voleth Meir, starts killing witchers in Kaer Morhen. Yennefer and Geralt try to stop her and wake the witchers. Vesemir wants to kill her but Geralt resists the idea. Eventually Voleth Meir is removed from Ciri, and Yennefer's powers are restored. The elves murder babies in Redania out of vengeance. Cahir and Fringilla frame it as their own doing, but Emhyr arrives and reveals it was his order. He is revealed to be Duny. The elves capture Istredd who tells them of Ciri. The mages reveal information about Ciri to the kings.
The Good: Geralt trying to save Ciri does some basic storytelling well. It solidifies his meaningful relationship with her and also how important she has become to the witcher community. Much of the rest of the episode is set up for next season, and that much is done well. The Emhyr twist was a great moment to end the season. The Bad: But much of this was pretty bad. Voleth Meir feels like such a useless character to introduce. Instead of developing the characters and their relationships, this final episode is all about defeating her and it is woefully dull. Voleth Meir isn't interesting at all, and it's obvious that Ciri won't die so there is a lack of tension. I'm disappointed that proper storytelling was forsaken to provide more empty action. Voleth Meir's possession of Ciri doesn't even make sense. I have no clue how she did this or what's stopping her from possessing others. Yennefer's sacrifice of slitting her wrists could have been effective but I had absolutely no idea what that was even accomplishing. Then she somehow got her magic back, confusing me further. For much of this episode, I was left scratching my head at all of the events that were transpiring. Jaskier had a terrible episode. I enjoyed him in previous episodes, but now all he does is deliver bad jokes during serious situations, which feel completely out of place. Was it really worth saving Ciri at the expense of so many witchers? I find it hard to believe that everyone praised Geralt for his actions. Yennefer becoming trusted by everyone so quickly did not feel earn. Her story has been rushed. The set-up with so many characters coming after Ciri feels hollow because we hardly know these people. I don't care that the elves are killing babies (a gross over-reaction if I've ever seen one), I don't care about Rience and Lydia because I know nothing about them, I don't care about Dijkstra because all we have seen from him is that he's weird, and I don't care for the council of mages because they are all shallow and uninteresting. As a final quibble, how the hell is the witcher lab still functional after being destroyed two times? The Unknown: How does Voleth Meir's possession work? Whoa re the wild hunt? What are their goals? Why did Istredd tell the elves about Ciri? Is Jaskier working for Dijkstra? He alluded to a bard working for him? What will happen to Cahir and Fringilla now that they have been apprehended? Best Moment: The reveal that Emhyr is actually Duny was a nicely executed twist. Character of the Episode: Geralt. Conclusion: This was poorly written and disappointing. When season 2 needed to ramp up and become more emotionally engaging, it completely failed and instead opted for rushed new developments and by-the-numbers storytelling by creating an unnecessary new villain. This needed to be much better. For my thoughts on season 2 as a whole, click here. Score: 45 Summary: Yennefer and Ciri head to Cintr and Yennefer helps her control her magic. Geralt saves Jaskier and they go after Ciri with Yarpen's group. Triss tells Tissaia about Ciri and she tells Vilgefortz. Dara informs Dijkstra about Ciri and then leaves his service. Francesca's baby winds up dead soon after. Ciri realizes Yennefer's intentions and they are attacked by Cintrans. Geralt's group saves them but Voleth Meir, the witch, is woken and she possesses Ciri. Fringilla is being pushed by both the elves and Nilfgaard. She kills many high-ranking generals and threatens Cahir.
The Good: Fringilla's conflict in this episode is the best she's had to work with so far. The episode does a great job of conveying how she is torn between Nilfgaard and the elves, and with both sides not cooperating as she would have liked, it's sensible for her to try to seek an escape in Aretuza. But true to form, the scummy arrogance of the mages removes any chance of Fringilla returning, and she goes back to Cintra with more resolve than ever in a chilling scene (see: Best Moment). Geralt and Jaskier's reunion is welcome and it is nice to see them back together with their bond intact. Jaskier is good at injecting levity in between the suspenseful storylines so his presence works really well here. The Bad: Everything involving Tissaia and Vilgefortz is melodramatic and devoid of emotion. I'm not a fan of how many moving pieces are being introduced that are targeting Ciri. All of them are half-baked and uninteresting; I would prefer a single focused story instead of this messiness. I did not like the ending action sequence at all. Ciri screams, and then somehow a bunch of Cintrans instantly teleport to her location within seconds. This is not only completely unfeasible, but it is directed and paced so poorly that it took me out of the scene. Then of course we have a Geralt ex machina as he just so happens to teleport right to Ciri's location and fight of the Cintrans (of which there was only a handful - where are the rest of them????). This scene was awfully written and that destroyed any chance of it working. I also didn't feel the impact of Yennefer's betrayal at all. We needed Ciri to spend more time with her and grow to trust her in order for this betrayal to really sting. And we needed more ways for Yennefer to really connect with Ciri to understand her emotions better. A single scene of Ciri learning to use magic is nowhere near enough to sell this story. The Unknown: What happened to Lydia when she tried to use the mutagen? Who killed Francesca's baby? What is Fringilla's plan? Did Voleth Meir just possess Ciri? How? Also how was she freed? By Francesca? Why did she need to do dealings with Francesca, Fringilla, and Yennefer to escape? Is Yennefer's magic going to return now? How were Ciri and Yennefer able to read each other's minds? Best Moment: Fringilla appearing during the generals' dinner and ruthlessly murdering all of them while establishing her dominance to Cahir. This was an excellent moment for the character after she spent much of the episode feeling lost. Character of the Episode: Fringilla. Conclusion: This was decent progression for most of the episode, but this late in the season we need something more emotional and engaging. Then add on an awful, sloppily written ending sequence and this is easily the season's weakest effort yet. Score: 49 Summary: Rience arrives in Kaer Morhen and takes the mutagen. Geralt and Ciri are followed by the chernobog. Geralt kills it but only after it kills Roach. Geralt and Ciri arrive in Melitele's Temple where they are met by Yennefer. Geralt and Yennefer catch up, but at night they are attacked by Rience who is after Ciri. Yennefer teaches her to portal out, leaving Geralt behind. Francesca and Cahir encourage Fringilla to turn on the other. Francesca has her baby. The White Flame opts to come to Cintra. Istredd meets with Ellis Codringher to get answers.
The Good: This was solid stuff. Geralt and Ciri get another good action-packed storyline that allows their dynamic to shine. I thought that the reunion with Yennefer wrote all three characters well. Yennefer's inner conflict was presented and acted well as she realizes that she must sacrifice Geralt's child surprise for her own magic. The action was also a stand-out. The final scene was suitably brutal, and the opening fight against the chernobog was good fun. It's nice to see Ciri get more involved with each passing fight. Roach's death was a somber, memorable moment in the episode, further symbolizing all that Ciri has lost. The Bad: Codringher feels like a convenient way to provide exposition and I didn't enjoy his scenes with Istredd very much. It all felt too easy and detached from the main story. The scenes in Cintra are fine but I'm not attached to Fringilla, Cahir, or Francesca enough to really care. Francesca's motives are the clearest but we hardly know anything else about her. Meanwhile Fringilla and Cahir remain really empty. I wish that Cahir's time with Yennefer could have developed him more. The Unknown: What was the Aard Incident? What is the orbuculum? What was it supposed to do? Is Ciri the child of destiny? What does this mean? What is the significance of Ithlinne's prophecy and the wild hunt? How does Codringher know so much? What will Lydia do with Ciri's blood? Who is her lord? Is it someone we know? Is it Emhyr? Why is the White Flame coming to Cintra? Will the elves stay loyal to Nilfgaard? Will Cahir and Fringilla have a falling out? Will Dara remain loyal to Dijkstra? Best Moment: Yennefer and Geralt seeing each other again. Character of the Episode: Ciri. Conclusion: This was a decent episode helped along by good action scenes. More solid story progression, but nothing special. Season 2 has been filled with solid but unspectacular episodes so far. Score: 60 Summary: Ciri agrees to use her blood to restore witchers, but wants the new mutagen to be used on herself first and Triss is horrified. Triss uses a spell to explore Ciri's past but it goes horribly wrong and Triss has a horror vision of Ciri ending the world. Geralt an dIstredd go to the monolith in Cintra and find a gigantic chasm. They discover that the new monsters are likely being pulled from the other spheres in space.
The Good: Ciri's visions are the best part here. They are filled with mystery, tense, suspenseful, and horrifying. Terrific fantasy television. The other stuff is pretty solid too. Vesemir has been given a good bit of story as he now faces the possibility of producing more witchers. You can easily understand his controlled optimism, and thankfully he never goes against Ciri's will. Geralt and Istredd's adventure is pretty good. We get a truckload of information on the conjunction, which is very welcome. The worldbuilding is solid and we get a hint of a deeper connection between the two based on their relationships with Yennefer. The Bad: Yennefer finding Jaskier and saving him from Rience was too rushed and convenient for my liking. In any other situation where the enemy wasn't a fire mage, Yennefer wouldn't have had a plan to get away. Furthermore, it's hard to understand how she found Jaskier so easily. Did Rience really take him back to his own tavern? The weakest part of Vesemir's story is his blockheaded decision to try out the mutagen on Ciri. If she dies, his entire source of mutagen is gone! Surely he should have objected to that. It's a massive stretch for Geralt and Istredd to assume that the monsters came from space. The possibilities are endless, so having them pinpoint the exact answer so quickly and without any real evidence is hard to believe. This episode feels rushed. There are lots of short scenes intercut with each other. Not only does this disrupt the tension, but the short scenes shortcharge a lot of the character interactions. The Unknown: Who is Lydia? Who does she work for? Why did she recruit Rience? Why is Rience imprisoned? What did he do to Calanthe? Are the monoliths actually conduits that are summoning monsters? What was the prophecy surrounding Ciri? What were the circumstances of her birth? What went wrong with Triss' spell? Did Ciri mess it up or did someone else invade it? What did Triss see? Who was the dying lady with the baby? Is Francesca pregnant with a baby? It seems that both Francesca and Fringilla made their wish to the witch. What will the consequences be? Did Yennefer just get her magic back? Why is she being sent to get Ciri? Who is waiting for her in Cintra? Best Moment: The terror Triss felt after seeing Ciri's future. The way she scares Ciri away is sad to see, and it's completely sensible that she would try to become a witcher to bury away her troubles. Character of the Episode: Ciri. Conclusion: This mystery building and tension was great, but other than that, there isn't much more to this episode and there are a fair amount of flaws. Score: 61 Summary: Triss arrives at Kaer Morhen to help Ciri develop. Along with Geralt, they discover that the monsters that have been showing up were likely because of a monolith Ciri had toppled. Vesemir discovers that Ciri has elder blood which can be used to make more witchers. Yennefer and Cahir are on the run in Redania, looking for a way into Cintra. They find Jaskier who smuggles them onto a boat before he is mysteriously taken. Dara is also on the boat, sent there by Dijkstra.
The Good: Redania is introduced well and feels like a fleshed out location. We get a glimpse of their politics, we see the horrifying discrimination against the elves, and the distinct sets and grand establishing shots make Redania feel like it belongs within the world. Yennefer and Cahir as an unlikely pair on the run makes for some surprisingly decent storytelling, illuminating Yennefer's inner turmoil after losing her powers, and also suggesting to Cahir how insignificant his existence really is to Emhyr. Additionally, we have a lovely little story of two elves that Yennefer and Cahir encounter in the sewers, with both of their stories ending in their tragic deaths. Plus we also get Jaskier's return, which was very welcome. His comedy was written nicely into the episode and he had lots of nice lines for Yennefer, wand also a sweet moment of sympathy (see: Best Moment). And of course, his all out verbal assault on the man checking his papers was hilarious. The Kaer Morhen story was pretty good. We got a deeper look at the relationship between Geralt and Triss and also a better understanding of Ciri's powers and what it is that makes her so desirable. The Bad: I'm honestly surprised that Jaskier was so hurt by Geralt, since his words seemed like a moment of anger instead of a definitive ending to a friendship. This is especially awkward because Geralt always did say mean things to Jaskier that were never taken seriously. I feel like I'm missing something with the character of Triss. I'm confused by why she was so hurt after Sodden, and I was especially confused by her relationship with Geralt, which I swear was not this personal the last time they interacted. While I enjoyed the episode, the show is still missing something. The characters and the story are being set up well, but this doesn't feel like good television just yet. The Unknown: What exactly is Triss' relationship with Geralt? Who tried to assassinate Vizimir? Why? What is Dijkstra's motivation? Why is he talking to an owl? Did he select Dara to act as his spy? How did he get Dara? Why are the monsters coming from the monolith? What is its significance? Will Istredd be able to help Geralt with this? What else can Ciri's elder blood be used for? Will Vesemir be able to make new witchers now? What is Yennefer's new purpose? What happened to Jaskier? Best Moment: Jaskier learns that Yennefer lost her powers, and after a brief and funny moment of gloating, he sympathizes with her. This also allows Yennefer to show us her newfound resolve, determined to find a new purpose. Character of the Episode: Yennefer. Conclusion: This was good stuff. There was some plot progression, quality world building, and some really good character moments. A solid episode as "The Witcher" looks much more assured in its storytelling halfway through season 2, even if some flaws still persist. Score: 64 Summary: Ciri steps up her training with Lambert and Ceon. Geralt and Vesemir lay Eskel to rest. Geralt and Ciri follow her visions and get attacked by monsters. Geralt kills them. Yennefer returns to Aretuza but Stregobor doesn't trust her. She is tasked with killing Cahir to prove her loyalty, but she instead frees him and escapes.
The Good: Ciri's training is engaging to watch, and you get the sense that it is do or die for her because she has to earn the respect of the other witchers to be allowed to stay. Her training has a very cinematic feel to it. The Aretuza storyline builds nicely to Yennefer being forced to kill Cahir to prove her loyalty. Yennefer's choice at the end is engaging to watch because it's very unclear what she's actually going to do. The Bad: Lambert and Ceon's antagonism towards Geralt is hard to understand. Surely they knew that Eskel had to die, and blaming Geralt for bringing Ciri is simply childish and unrealistic. It feels like manufactured drama. Also if they cared about Eskel so much, why were they absent when he was laid to rest? The magic politics still aren't very exciting to watch. Characters like Tissaia, Istredd, Stregobor, and Vilgefortz are not developed well enough to interest me, and the plot development is a slow-burn which can sometimes be extremely tedious since I'm not emotionally invested. I can't say that I fully understand Yennefer's decision to escape, or even her decision to return to Aretuza to begin with. We desperately need some time with her to get a better idea of her motives and emotions. Cahir and Fringilla are flat antagonists and their scenes don't interest me at all. Stregobor's decision to torture Yennefer in broad daylight is utterly insane. The Unknown: What is Triss contending with right now? Why are her scars such a big deal? Where was she summoned to? Who was Falka exactly and why does Stregobor bring her up? Why did Ciri's powers lead her to the monster? Why did it hesitate before it tried to kill her? Why did Yennefer choose to escape by freeing Cahir? Where will they go? Best Moment: Tissaia forcing Yennefer to face the reality of losing her powers. Character of the Episode: Yennefer. Conclusion: Some storytelling flaws reared their head and made this a tough episode to engage in, but otherwise this is more decent progression. Score: 57 Summary: Geralt and Ciri arrive in Kaer Morhen. Vesemir criticizes Geralt for claiming Ciri. Eskel returns, having been injured by a leshy. He brings women and throws a party, but he transforms into a leshy. Geralt and Vesemir fight him and kill him. Geralt decides to train Ciri. Yennefer and Fringilla have been captured by the elves. They choose towork with their leader, Francesca and they discover that they have been having connected dreams of a robed individual, who ends up being a witch. Fringilla decides to work with the elves, and Yennefer is left behind.
The Good: It's fun to see Kaer Morhen, the home of the Witchers. They are an interesting community to explore, and the characters are introduced well enough. Eskel's story is a decent single episode adventure, and his death feels like a big deal at the end of the episode. The visual effects are very good, and Eskel's leshy form is suitably unsettling. Season 2's monsters have stepped it up from season 1. The story with the elves is decent, and the creepy prophetic dreams and experiences are very well realized. The directing is top-notch, making these scenes creepy, mysterious, and engaging. The Bad: I'm still left a bit unsatisfied by everything I don't know about this world. The amount of exposition is frustrating at times, and I often wish that the show would slow down to further explore aspects of its world. I'm not sure of what to make of the weird prophetic dream sequence yet. I wish this was explained in more detail because I'm just confused after watching this episode. The Unknown: Who is this witch that is invading dreams? What has she done to Yennefer, Fringilla, and Francesca? What is Dol Blathanna, mentioned by Francesca? What more is there involving the conjunction of spheres which was brought up multiple times? How did Eskel get infected by a leshy? Was it a different monster or just a freak incident? Best Moment: The ending montage was a nice piece of filmmaking, connecting key moments in the character arcs for Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer. We see Geralt embracing his role as Ciri's father figure, Ciri finally gets a chance to learn how to survive, and Yennefer combats the despair that comes with the loss of her powers. The sequence is nicely edited, connecting the emotions of the variosu characters very nicely. Character of the Episode: Ciri. Conclusion: This is good story progression. The episode does not do much to stand out, but it advances the plot and the characters well enough while providing another entertaining monster-of-the-week story. Score: 62 Summary: Geralt and Ciri stay at Nivellen's place, he is an old friend of Geralt. While he is hospitable, he is cursed and Geralt suspects something is strange. It's revealed that Nivellen has been harbouring a bruxa to keep him company, hiding from the fact that she has massacred a nearby village. Geralt kills the bruxa and learns that Nivellen was cursed after raping a priestess. Geralt and Ciri leave him with his shame.
The Good: This episode wasn't strictly needed but I'm happy we got it. The Geralt/Ciri relationship is established nicely, and we get a good idea of how they feel for each other and the strength of their bond throughout the episode. While this is not a key plot episode, it is essential in terms of making us care for these characters. Nivellen, played by the great Kristofer Hivju, is charismatic and fun to watch, and the mystery surrounding him is a gripping hook for the episode. I appreciated the moral complexity of his story as we realize that a man who seems so decent can be capable of committing the most heinous crimes. This deepens the world, and also the complexity of the themes in this show. I'm much more invested to see more of "The Witcher" after this episode. The bruxa is brought to life stunningly well. She is terrifying in every way, be it her unnerving eyes, the creepy contortions of her body, or her innocent childlike voice. This is absolutely the scariest monster so far. But on top of that, this is also the most humanized monster so far. Up until now the monsters were just scary enemies, but now it seems like there is more to them than what meets the eye. The other scenes were decent. Tissaia torturing Cahir and Fringilla capturing Yennefer are intriguing developments. The Bad: I wish the show could have better realized the pain of Nivellen's curse. We are told what he has been through but we are never able to see how terrible it actually is. It's a minor quibble, but something I wish we could have seen more of. The Unknown: Who attacked Fringilla's group? Will Cahir give information to Tissaia? What is the temple of the lionhead spider? Who are the wild hunt? Best Moment: The drinking game between Nivellen and Geralt was engrossing. Not only did it build the mystery of Nivellen hiding something, but it also revealed so much about Geralt and his feelings for Ciri. This is essential characterization, and I'm glad that it wasn't glossed over. Character of the Episode: Geralt. Conclusion: Even though this isn't the most important episode, the character writing, mystery, and themes are all excellent, making this the most compelling experience of "The Witcher" so far. Score: 66 Summary: After Geralt is bitten by a ghoul, he is helped by a merchant who takes him to his home. Along the way, Geralt has visions of his past and is healed by a mage, the same mage who gave him his powers when he was young. Upon reaching the farmhouse, Geralt discovers that the merchant's wife is Zola, who has been taking care of Ciri. Geralt goes into the woods and finally meets Ciri. Meanwhile, Yennefer and the brotherhood reach Sodden Hill and fortify it against Nilfgaard. Fringilla attacks early in the night, resulting in several mages fleeing. By the time the real attack comes, only 22 mages are left. They fight hard but are fighting a losing battle. Yennefer unleashes her full power and demolishes much of the army. Foltest then arrives with troops to continue the battle. Tissaia calls out for Yennefer but she has vanished.
The Good: The battle on Sodden Hill was a visually impressive action spectacle that took the focus of much of the episode, and it is very enjoyable to watch. One thing to always be excited for in fantasy stories are the huge battles, and this episode provided one with reasonable success. Much of this was about showing us just how powerful these mages are, and there were plenty of impressive moments throughout the episode like Nilfgaard sacrificing mages to create fireballs, Triss creating a vine to defend the main gate, and the mages shooting arrows through portals to get them to travel further. Emotionally, we had some solid scenes too. Yennefer's big moment at the end of the battle was impactful, as was her march through the lost battlefield, hoping against hope that somebody could answer her. I liked Fringilla being the one to respond to Yennefer, offering her a chance to join Nilfgaard to pursue more power. Yennefer has rejected it this time, but I do wonder if she will get this offer again. Geralt's story is interesting and has some good moments. His life being risked to help a simple merchant reminds us that he is good-hearted which helps us like him more. I was intrigued by his hallucinations which suggest some interesting details about his upbringing (see: The Unknown). I also got a nice laugh out of Geralt sternly rejecting the merchant's offer of the law of surprise. Of course the big moment of his story came at the end when he finally met Ciri. The moment wasn't perfect (see: The Bad), but it was effective and it serves as a good pay-off for the season to have the two of them finally meet. The Bad: Lots of little things bothered me about this episode. Let's start with Ciri and Geralt's first meeting. I was surprised by how this moment was framed as a key emotional moment in this finale when it was difficult to feel that way. Sure, this is the characters' finding their destiny, but since they don't know each other at all, I found it extremely difficult to buy into this as a touching emotional moment at the end of a journey. Geralt only went after Ciri in the previous episode, and Ciri has hardly been given any screen time, so its been tough to empathize with the character. The moment was fine, but it was not good enough to be the emotional heart of the entire season. Geralt's story in this episode was an odd choice. To have him delirious and hallucinating in the finale of this first season was a strange decision, and it made the main character feel like an after-thought compared to everything that was going on with Yennefer. This didn't feel like a climactic storyline to close out the first season, in fact I feel like this may have been better in a season premier. The battle at Sodden Hill is inherently flawed because I do not care about any of these characters aside from Yennefer. I felt nothing watching all of these mages die, and characters like Tissaia, Triss, and Vilgefortz are too underdeveloped for me to feel any tension when they risked their lives, and it did not matter to me whether they lived or died. I was confused with Yennefer's role in this battle as a tactical leader. We've never seen this side of her before, so it felt like this new role came straight out of left field. Yennefer didn't show any discomfort with her position either, making it feel like we missed a significant part of Yennefer's character in which she learned to be a competent leader. Furthermore, the battle was hurt by the lack of a conclusion. Amazingly, we never learned the result of the battle! That's so disappointing and it reinforces my feelings of this battle not being emotionally important. Sure, it's a key plot event, but there is no emotional core for me to latch on to. That we don't see the result of the battle proves that even the show isn't invested in this battle, making me really question why we needed to center the finale around this battle. The Unknown: Cahir says his goal isn't to get to the center of it all. What does that mean? Who was Geralt's mother exactly? What is her importance? Why did she choose to leave him? Was she even his mother, or just his creator? Who is Vesemir? Apparently he named Geralt. How did Geralt get his eyes? What was the trial that only 3/10 people survive? What will Geralt tell Ciri about Yennefer? What impact will this have on their relationship? What was the result of the battle? Who won? Why did Vilgefortz seemingly turn against the mages? Where did Yennefer go at the end of the episode? What powers has she gained from letting her chaos out? Best Moment: It's tough to pick a stand-out moment because not a whole lot really stuck with me. I suppose I'll pick Yennefer's rage-filled final attack, which felt like a turning point for the character as well as a visual spectacle. Character of the Episode: Yennefer. Conclusion: This was a bit of a mixed finale. It was action-packed and it took several steps in the right direction, but the experience wasn't as emotional or as definitive as it was trying to be. Season 1 overall was not as good as I was hoping. This show is deeply flawed. From the poor dialogue, to the lack of subtlety, to a confused tone, there are many aspects of this show that combine to make this feel like an unsatisfying watch that is lacking heart. I really hope that these issues can be ironed out for season 2 because they are seriously dampening my experience in this world. The reason I will keep watching is because there is serious potential here. The story is in a much better place than when the season started, and there were signs of improvement as the season went on. I know that season 2 will be focusing on the first novel after season 1 focused on connecting several short stories, so hopefully that change will give this series a better sense of direction and tone, and if the writing and acting can improve, there is a genuine chance that season 2 of "The Witcher" can be really good. I won't be holding my breath, but I will watch season 2 with some expectation. As for season 1, it was a fine watch and it introduced this world and story adequately, but it is far too flawed to be compelling television. Score: 57 Summary: Geralt sees the Nilfgaardian army on the move and goes to Cintra with hopes of taking Ciri away to protect her. Calanthe doesn't want this to happen, and after unsuccessfully attempting to deceive Geralt, she imprisons him. Nilfgaard attacks and Geralt escapes. Yennefer visits Istredd in Nazair, hoping to reconnect with him, but he has moved on. Yennefer is met by Vilgefortz who manipulates her into returning to Aretuza, where he hopes to have her help. Yennefer is angered upon discovering this, but she stays at Aretuza and reflects on how jaded she is with the mage society. The mages gather to discuss what to do about Nilfgaard and they ultimately agree to let Cintra fall. Tissaia speaks with Yennefer, asking her to help a small group of mages who wish to stop Nilfgaard. Ciri attempts to get to Skellige and steals a horse from a lady who offered to keep her safe. At night, Ciri is approached by a group of people, headed by Anton who recognizes her. The group tries to steal everything from Ciri, but she unleashes her powers and suddenly recites a prophecy.
The Good: It was great to see Geralt's story finally link up with Ciri's in this episode. Just like in "Of Banquets, Bastards and Burials", a greater significance to the overall plot increased my interest in this episode and made its events more engaging and interesting. In a lot of ways this is a direct continuation of that episode because it deals with Geralt's return to Cintra to be with Ciri, and showcases where he was during Cintra's fall and what he did about it. I appreciate that Geralt tried to help, and it seems that he is now more interested in his child surprise specifically because of his last encounter with Yennefer who chewed him out for ignoring Ciri. I enjoyed the character consistency with Calanthe who refused to give up Ciri to Geralt, with her overprotectiveness reinforced after Pavetta was lost at sea (see: The Unknown). And fitting for Geralt, he sees through Calanthe's plan and quickly realizes that the girl given to him was a fake. I enjoyed the writing here and it led to the sensible conclusion with Geralt being imprisoned. It also gave some more significance to Calanthe's final words, knowing that she is essentially admitting that she was wrong about everything in her final moments. Yennefer's storyline was the strongest of the episode. Her return to Istredd following the collapse of her world in the previous episode makes perfect sense. It fits that she would try to return to the one place where she was happy, and it is equally fitting that Istredd no longer wants anything to do with her after all this time. I never really bought into their relationship, but the idea of an estranged lover wanting to return after everything else has gone wrong is so strong that it makes this story work. The acting is also much improved here and I found myself understanding both characters' plights in this scene. Yennefer regrets everything while Istredd has finally moved on and has no intention of going back. This is some of the strongest character writing that the show has done so far. Even better was Yennefer's return to Aretuza. This sequence perfectly illustrated the character's disillusionment at how little the institution prepared her for reality and how much they had hidden from her. Furthermore, she blames Aretuza bitterly for taking away her ability to reproduce, lashing out at the world that created her. This story is laid out nicely for us, and I enjoyed Yennefer's cold-hearted and bitter warning to the aspiring mages, knowing that these weak mages would likely just end up as sacrifices to power Aretuza. The show has done a fantastic job of building up Yennefer, and even if the experience of getting her to this point wasn't as compelling as I would have liked, I buy her in this position and I'm excited to see what's next for her. Now that we are starting to dive into the more political side of Aretuza, I'm intrigued to see how Yennefer fits into this world and what impact she will have on it. The Bad: Ciri's story still falls flat. We haven't spent enough time with her to care about what she's doing and that remains true in this episode. I wish that her story had either been more fleshed out, or even cut/shortened altogether to allow more time for the more interesting characters. The Unknown: Why did Geralt decide to finally take on the law of surprise? Was it because of what Yennefer said? Why are these Nilfgaardians so loyal and willing to throw away their lives? Just who is this Emperor Emhyr, and how was he able to inspire such loyalty? Will the mages ever turn against Nilfgaard or are they happy to let them conquer the continent? Will Yennefer choose to fight with the small brotherhood of mages opposing Nilfgaard? What role will she have in the political realm of Aretuza now that she has been invited by Vilgefortz. What was that prophecy that Ciri shouted out at the end? How did she become a vessel for a prophecy? What became of Anton and the others with him when Ciri's powers burst out? Best Moment: Yennefer ranting away to the young mages in training about the flaws in the Aretuza system. Character of the Episode: Yennefer. Conclusion: This is better stuff. There is a sense of momentum here, and some interesting ideas are now being explored. There's still a long way to go for "The Witcher", but I enjoyed this episode. Score: 62 Summary: Geralt agrees to go on a dragon hunt to help a man, Borch, become a lord when he sees Yennefer is a part of it. Several groups are in competition and they travel together with clear conflicts. Borch deduces that Geralt is in love with Yennefer. Geralt speaks with her and realizes that she is still looking to cure her womb. Along the way, Borch falls off of a cliff and dies. Geralt makes it to the top and finds that the dragon is dead and has been protecting its egg. Borch returns and reveals himself to be a gold dragon wishing to protect the other dragon's egg. Geralt and Yennefer side with Borch and fight off the other men. Yennefer learns that Geralt's last wish tied her to him and seemingly is making her love him. Enraged, she leaves and Borch reveals that Yennefer's womb will never be restored and Geralt will love Yennefer though he does not want to. Angry, Geralt blames Jaskier for everything and ends up being all alone. Elsewhere, Ciri learns that Mousesack is a doppler and tries to escape but she is captured and tied up. The doppler turns on Cahir when it finds out Ciri's true identity. Dara frees Ciri but refuses to help her anymore.
The Good: Committing to this show's lighthearted high fantasy storytelling was a good decision for the main plot. Previous episodes of the show have felt confused with their identity because of the extreme tonal shifts that happened within the episode. This one felt the most consistent in tone, and it was improved by that fact. I enjoyed the main plot and I thought that it helped make this world feel more fleshed out and developed. I enjoyed seeing Geralt and Yennefer together again, and their interactions are interesting to watch, particularly because of what we learn about the characters by giving them someone to open up to (see: Best Moment). I also liked the Borch twist, it surprised me, and also opened up the world to more possibilities of magic and fantastical creatures. Once again, this show is strong on paper. Geralt and Yennefer's story sounds like it should be fantastic, but in execution it doesn't quite get there (see: The Bad). But I really like the idea of them constantly running into each other and reigniting their love specifically because of the wish Geralt made in the previous episode. It's clear that he loves Yennefer, but it's unclear if Yennefer's feelings are real, or if Geralt simply wished for them to be real. This is a fascinating set-up for a relationship, and it should lead to some compelling places. I liked how the episode ended with what felt like a very real tragedy as Yennefer and Geralt split up once more, and in his rage, Geralt has seemingly severed his bond with Jaskier as well. Borch laying out some harsh truths for both Yennefer and Geralt was a great moment that will hopefully push forwards the growth of these characters in the remaining episodes of the season. The Bad: This show's biggest flaw is a lack of heart. I do not care about what is happening on screen enough to be pulled in to the drama, and there are a number of reasons why this is. For one, the pacing is terrible. Geralt and Yennefer just met last episode, and now they have already been propelled to a "tragic" break-up scene. But the scene doesn't feel tragic because we still hardly know about them and their relationship. Apparently they had met each other countless times since it has been years since the last episode, which was a jarring revelation. We haven't seen their relationship develop organically at all, so it feels strange to see that they have such a deep connection in this episode. Another problem is the continued cheesiness of the show. I appreciated the lighthearted tone to make the main plot more gripping, but it just made it that much more jarring when the show decided to tell a more serious story with Yennefer and Geralt's argument. I feel like I'm watching multiple different shows every time I watch an episode of "The Witcher", and that sense of confusion is dampening my enjoyment of a story that is based on some superb ideas. Some of this cheesiness really took me out of the experience. The woefully bad dialogue for the dwarves took me out of the episode every time they spoke, and then of course there is that awful kiss scene that feels so forced that it had me rolling my eyes when I watched it, completely taking me out of that climactic action scene. All of these problems make this show feel stunningly empty and devoid of meaningful emotion. I just can't get into it because of that, even though I really want to get invested. Add on the familiar problems of poor dialogue, acting, and a lack of subtlety, and more and more problems seem to be getting in the way of this show. Ciri's story was remarkably flat. I had no investment in what was happening to her because she has hardly done anything in these first few episodes. I found myself looking at my watch during her scenes, waiting to get back to Geralt and Yennefer. Ciri's story has progressed so little that I no longer have any interest in seeing her. She has a split in this episode with Dara, but I could not care less about that. Their relationship has never been defined, and I have no clue why Ciri seems to know him well enough to call him family. We literally haven't ever seen them properly interact! I was also perplexed by the doppler tying her to a tree, making it so easy for her to escape. Villains suddenly becoming incompetent is one of my least favourite tropes to see. Furthermore, I'm confused by how the dopplers work. It is heavily suggested that they retain the memories of the people they copy (they were able to see into Cahir's mind), and yet the dopplers don't know that Mousesack has arthritis and hates the cold. And somehow they also didn't know anything about Ciri, even though Mousesack's memories would give them all the answers that they need. This inconsistency reeks of awful, thoughtless writing. Cahir is such a boring villain so far. I can't care less about him. I'm also not invested in Fringilla as a villain either. We're supposed to be excited for when Geralt's timeline catches up to Ciri's, but there is nothing interesting going on around Ciri that makes me particularly excited for this. At this point, I would rather watch Geralt going on his light-hearted adventures with Jaskier if all we have to look forward to it a poorly-written, trope-heavy mess of a main storyline. The Unknown: Who is King Neidamir? Where does he rule? What powers does Borch have, being a gold dragon? Will we see dragons again in this show? Will we learn more about the dwarves and reavers? I would be interested in exploring these communities. Was Yennefer the one who killed Eyck? What is the prophecy that Cahir is following? Again, what is the White Flame? What was Geralt's wish exactly? How did he save Yennefer's life by also keeping her tied to him? Best Moment: Geralt and Yennefer talking to each other about their dreams was a lovely scene. Having these characters simply exist allows us to learn some really fascinating information about them. I'm not fully convinced by their love, but I am enjoying their conversations with one another. Character of the Episode: Geralt. Conclusion: This is more of the same from "The Witcher". There are good ideas here, but the show is riddled with problems and feels remarkably flat as a result. Score: 49 Summary: Geralt is searching for a djinn when Jaskier comes across him. Geralt finds it but Jaskier breaks the jar and releases it. The djinn finds its next vessel in Geralt and Jaskier is badly wounded by it with his life in danger. Geralt takes him to a mage nearby - Yennefer, who has settled in a town looking to find a way to restore her ability to give birth. She cures Jaskier but attempts to make herself the vessel for the djinn to fix herself. However, she incorrectly presumes that Jaskier is the vessel for the djinn when it is Geralt. Geralt realizes this and goes in to save Yennefer, realizing that she's going to die. Yennefer persists on continuing and Geralt uses his last wish, which gets everything to stop. After, Geralt and Yennefer have sex.
The Good: It feels good to finally see some crossover between the main characters. The previous episodes have all been hurt by having three wildly different stories happening at once, and they haven't felt cohesive. Now we finally get that bit of cohesion as Yennefer and Geralt meet each other. This has finally given the story some forward momentum, and I was engaged to see how Geralt and Yennefer interacted and what kind of relationship they would form. I enjoyed their interactions throughout the episode and their attraction to each other was obvious. I'm curious to see more of them together. The plot of this episode is very interesting. There are intriguing mysteries throughout like the nature of the djinn, Geralt's sleeplessness, and Yennefer's intentions. The plot held my attention the entire time, which is more than I can say for the previous episodes. This was much more engaging, interesting, and exciting. Yennefer's story has been well written to get her to this point. After the first few episodes, it seemed like she was destined to become a powerful and successful mage. Instead, she's now languishing in a small village, doing whatever she can to earn a living to have that baby she so desperately wants. Her decent is easy to understand, and it has been written well. I bought into her crazy actions in this episode, such as her trying to capture the djinn. The Bad: This episode had huge tonal issues that took away from the experience. By all rights, this feels like it should be a dark and gritty story considering Yennefer's story and how the show tries so hard to present her as scary and intimidating. This has been the tone that we have seen throughout Yennefer's story and it has worked. But with Geralt's story comes an absurdly lighthearted tone, the kind that you only see in a series that isn't taking itself seriously. These two tones clash in some really frustrating ways throughout the episode. The first main issue is unfortunately Jaskier. His presence is out of place here and his comedy has no place in an episode as tense and serious as this. It deflates the tension in almost every scene and many of the jokes aren't funny. The end of the episode is also ruined by a really stupid moment as Jaskier and Chireadan see Geralt and Yennefer having sex and offer up some ridiculous commentary. The whole episode has random scenes like this, and they do not work at all. Another problem is the constant unnecessary nudity throughout the episode. If you want to build Yennefer up as scary as intimidating, having her naked in most of her scenes, and including an orgy does not accomplish that at all. The show does not strike the right atmosphere because of this, and it is hurt further by the constant jokes with Jaskier. Instead of making us fear Yennefer, this makes her feel like a joke. I'm still disappointed with the Yennefer/Tissaia relationship. Their scene together should have been impactful, and I should have felt the emotion of Yennefer going rogue and how upsetting this is for Tissaia. But the relationship between these two has been so rushed and underdeveloped that I felt nothing during the entire scene. It was just another conversation because I haven't connected enough with the characters to feel for their struggles. I don't know how they feel about each other, so it is difficult to care about their decisions. Ciri's story continues to feel woefully out of place. There is a decent development here with the doppler meeting with Ciri, but this is the third episode in a row where her story's development has been limited to a cliffhanger. The Brokilon forest story was completely flat. I haven't seen enough of Ciri and Dara to care about their relationship, and I haven't seen enough of Brokilon forest for it to become a fully realized location. It was very difficult to care about what happened in this story. The Unknown: What exactly are djinns? How do they work? How did Geralt know where to find one? Apparently Witchers were created by mages. How? Also they apparently have a slower heartbeat. How does this affect them? Does this extend their lifespan as well? What was Geralt's last wish? Was it to cure his insomnia or something else? Geralt did sleep immediately after having sex, but perhaps this is just a red herring. There is likely a reason that Geralt's wish was hidden from us. What are the dopplers? How are they able to do their magic? Do they have other abilities? Do they have a true form? What is this doppler's plan to assassinate Ciri? What is the White Flame? Does Tissaia actually have a use for Yennefer? What happened to Yennefer in Aedirn? It sounds like things went very badly. Did they discover that she was part elf? Best Moment: Geralt and Yennefer's conversation in the bath. The sexual tension didn't do much for me, but what was much more fascinating was the way that these two characters sized each other up and tried to maintain dominance while learning more about each other. It was a rare sequence that had some excellent dialogue. Character of the Episode: Yennefer. Conclusion: This episode makes me more optimistic for the future of "The Witcher", even when it is bogged down by tonal issues and questionable character developments. This show isn't compelling yet, but I see potential. Score: 57 Summary: Geralt accompanies Jaskier to a betrothal party in Cintra and is immediately recognized by everyone. While at the party, Calanthe is organizing marriage with Eist and also wants to marry his nephew to her daughter Pavetta. The party is interrupted by Urcheon, a cursed knight who has come to claim Pavetta as his wife as per the Law of Surprise. Calanthe refuses and tries to get Geralt to kill him. When Geralt doesn't, a fight breaks out. They are stopped when Pavetta reveals she wants to marry Urcheon. Calanthe tries to kill him but Pavetta screams and unleashes magical power that destroys the hall. Mousesack and Geralt stop her and Calanthe ultimately agrees to let Pavetta wed Urcheon. The two marriages are finalized and Urcheon's curse is broken. Urcheon offers Geralt a reward and Geralt opts to take the Law of Surprise, and it is suddenly found out that Pavetta is pregnant and Geralt is now linked with their child - Ciri. Elsewhere, Yennefer has been a mage for 30 years and is unhappy with her position. She helps her Queen, Kalis, escape from an assassin but when she is ungrateful towards her, Yennefer leaves her and her baby for dead. Kalis is killed but Yennefer comes back for the baby, but the baby also dies while Yennefer escapes. Yennefer buries the baby and reflects on the awfulness of life. Ciri finds herself in Brokilon forest and is met by dryads. After drinking some water from the trees, she has a vision of a giant tree in a desert.
The Good: This episode was far more satisfying to watch. The first three episodes have been frustrating with how stagnant, aimless and detached they have felt, and its made it tough to get hooked into the show. This episode answered a lot of the questions I had in those first three episodes, and helped make the story feel more cohesive and purposeful. Geralt's story in particular did a brilliant job of shedding more light on Calanthe and Cintra, as well as explaining why Geralt and Ciri are destined for each other, all the while establishing more world-building and painting a clearer picture of this universe. A lot of the confusion that I had in the first few episodes dissipated, and now I feel like I might finally be able to emotionally invest in this story. This episode also had a very strong theme about destiny. This could end up being a central theme of the series, and I thought that it was established well here. Geralt's stance of opposing destiny is very modern, and I appreciate that the show doesn't conform to his ideas about destiny being correct, and instead the show has chosen to challenge his beliefs by presenting him with destiny. Also, a nice touch is that Geralt's decision to avoid his own destiny may have been responsible for Cintra's destruction in "The End's Beginning". A lot of little things were well done in Geralt's story. His dynamic with Jaskier is a lot of fun, and I appreciate that the show is giving us their relationship in small bursts to make sure it does not overstay its welcome. I really enjoyed the story told at the start of the episode. It offered some fascinating world-building, and makes this fantastical world feel a little bit more real with rumours like this circling around everywhere. It also nicely shows us the influence that Geralt has had on the public, while also showing us some of the character's growth as it looks like he is starting to become more well-known and well-liked in the world. I also really liked the tidbit of information we got on the history of Witchers. I'm interested to learn more about them. Yennefer's story has some very good beats to it. I enjoyed the magical chase sequence, and the unflinching brutality of the assassin was an excellent intimidating threat. The sequence was thrilling and had a wonderful ending as Yennefer looked to find an escape from her mundane, boring life that she has lived now for 30 years. Usually I would want to see how Yennefer went through such a change, but I think that this storyline was skillfully written around that. It was hinted at in the previous episode that Yennefer might regret her sacrifice, so it doesn't come off as jarring to see her so sorrowful and empty in this episode. The end of her storyline is almost excellently done. It was good writing to have her return to save the baby, likely hoping that she could sneak the child away and raise it as her own. But it's not meant to be and the child dies, allowing us a fascinating glimpse into the hopelessness that currently dominates Yennefer. The Bad: After watching "Game of Thrones", the banquet scene was not up to my expectations in terms of writing. The dialogue feels too on-the-nose, the lack of respect for authority feels out of place, and the sheer amount of tropes and cliches bothered me quite a bit. This show is not taking itself as seriously as "Game of Thrones" did, and while that is fine, it does require some suspension of disbelief. I'm still bothered by the structure and pacing of this season and I think that it has damaged my enjoyment of the show so far. The content in this episode was mostly good, but I feel like it did not need to take so long to get to this point. Furthermore, the multiple timelines addition feels detrimental so far, and it only confuses me needlessly. The reveal of the multiple timelines in this episode was lacklustre, and I think that if the show hasn't played this off as a surprise, I would have been able to engage with the more important aspects of the show better. Yennefer's story has been hurt by how rushed it has felt, and I felt more of that in this episode. The show didn't quite build up to that monologue at the end well enough to make me really feel it. And of course, the awkward dialogue does not do the show any favours. That scene is nearly excellent, but the poor dialogue and strangeness of Yennefer's story hampers it a little bit. Ciri's story is also suffering. She feels like an afterthought even though she is the main storytelling force of the show so far. I did not find much of substance in her story in this episode, and the progression was minimal at best. She has just been used for cliffhangers in the last two episodes, which is a bit of a waste. The Unknown: What is so special about Brokilon forest? What is its history? Who are the dryads? What was with Ciri's dream? How was she able to see events of the past? What is Shan Kayan? What does it have to do with the huge tree at the end of the episode? What is a selkiemore? Is it like a kraken? Apparently retirement exists in this world? How does that work? Are people able to retire? What is Pavetta's fate? She was not in Cintra back in "The End's Beginning". What happens to her and her magical abilities? What are these abilities anyways? Calanthe suggests they are genetic. Is that Nilfgaardian lord the one who ends up attacking Cintra later? What was the sacking of Kael Morhen? How do Witchers reproduce? Why are they unable to reproduce now? Who was the assassin that attacked Kalis and Yennefer? Was it really because the king wanted Kalis dead? What else has Yennefer been doing for 30 years? Best Moment: Yennefer's speech to the baby was really powerful. Character of the Episode: Yennefer. Conclusion: This was a much better episode that resolved several of the questions I had and made it so that I can finally start connecting more with the characters. I still have my concerns, but the show looks to be improving with time. Score: 63 Summary: Geralt goes to Temeria to slay a striga. Upon arriving there he learns that it killed a witcher. He is met by a sorceress, Triss, who wants him to save the striga who is a princess. Triss takes Geralt to meet the King, Foltest, and he discerns that the striga is the king's daughter and was birthed by his sister. After investigating, Geralt discovers that Ostrit, one of Foltest's men, is responsible fo rthe curse that made the girl into a striga. Geralt sacrifices Ostrit to the striga and fights her until sunrise when the curse is broken. Yennefer has passed her training and is going to be sent to Cintra, but Stregobor reveals she is an elf and tries to get her sent to Nilfgaard instead. The consensus is to send her to Nilfgaard and Yennefer is furious. Discerning that Istredd betrayed her, she argues with him and then goes to forcibly be reborn into a more beautiful and powerful form anyways. After, she meets with the king of Cintra to ensure that she is sent there instead. Ciri walks into an enchanted forest and Dara is unable to follow her.
The Good: The striga storyline is entertaining to watch. A reliable and easy way to make television more engaging is to include a mystery, and this episode did that effectively with that opening scene as we are aware that there is a dangerous monster out there, but we don't know what it is. The rest of the episode explores the origin of the striga and further enriches the world by exploring its fantastical and political aspects. The mystery is gradually resolved through these scenes, and we even get a horror-thriller action sequence reminiscent of "Alien". The story is fun to watch, the visuals are stunning, and the soundtrack is excellent. This is an easy to enjoy adventure, and the presentation was nailed. Geralt himself is uninteresting throughout the episode, but that is the point. The show is making a point of addressing how simplistic and shallow his life is, and it seems clear that this will change when he finally meets his destiny in Ciri, which will hopefully happen soon. Geralt has been set up neatly for a more compelling story down the road. Thankfully, Geralt is still engaging to watch even without much depth. His blunt, no-nonsense approach is refreshing in a political world that is packed with exposition. It's easier to engage in a story where you don't fully understand the world when you're exploring it with a character who doesn't care about anything going on in the world outside of his little bubble of existence. Because of this, I was easily able to invest in the story based off of the details that we know instead of fixating on the details that weren't addressed. Yennefer's story has some significant flaws (see: The Bad), but overall it works. Last episode got us to sympathize with Yennefer's uselessness, and we root for her to overcome her insecurity. This episode serves up a nice twist on that storyline by having Yennefer already be successful, but be faced with losing the chance to leave her past self behind. Yennefer is promised rebirth and feelings of power, but that goes away when she is threatened with being sent to Nilfgaard. We then see Yennefer take matters into her own hands and satisfyingly rebel against the wizards, choosing to force her way into Cintra. I also really enjoyed the world-building details in this episode. We've all-but confirmed that these storylines are happening at different timelines, which I'm glad has been revealed already instead of being milked for a twist later on. I was also pleased to learn more about the wizards, who firmly believe that they are maintaining peace across all kingdoms by sending members of their order to every royal family, similar to the maesters in "Game of Thrones". The Bad: There are a few little things that bother me in Geralt's storyline. The monster reveal did not feel significant at all. I don't know anything about the monsters in this world, so it means nothing to me to hear the characters discuss which monster it is that's terrorizing the people. It's also hard to invest in these monster-of-the-week type of stories. It's clear to me that these storylines will not be important in the long run, and when there is so much bland exposition and empty action filling out the episode, it makes the story feel much less interesting. This show is reminiscent of "The Mandalorian" in this regard, and that's making these early episodes somewhat difficult to invest in. Additionally, I've always hated the trope where villains are initially presented as vicious and unstoppable only to immediately become less competent when faced up with the heroes. The striga falls into this trap in the episode. It is ruthless and murderous against the Witcher at the start of the episode and against Ostrid, but it immediately becomes less bloodthirsty against Geralt. Instead of trying to eat him, it just throws him around. The inconsistency in its behaviour takes me out of the experience and it weakens the action scene. I would much rather prefer the monsters to be written consistently, either make it less vicious in its introduction or have it be more ruthless against Geralt. These options will decrease the drama, but that's a small sacrifice to make to improve my immersion. Yennefer's character development hasn't been very fluid. It felt like she was only just starting to find her way in the magical world in the last episode, but now it seems that she is one of the top mages in her class which is a sudden change. I wish we had seen this play out because I found myself being confused with her sudden increase in ability. In particular, the change in her relationship with Tissaia felt jarring and I was disappointed that the change in their dynamic happened off-screen. The romance between Yennefer and Istredd was just as awkward and cringeworthy as in the last episode, and I did not enjoy it. Their argument was written well to reflect Yennefer's arc in this episode, but it never quite felt organic or satisfying because the character of Istredd is still so murky, and we don't know enough about the world of the wizards yet. Istredd makes a big deal about the fact that he and Yennefer are both spying on each other and that this is normal. I was confused by this because we don't know enough about the wizards for this reveal to have significance. Furthermore, I still don't buy into their relationship with each other because of how rushed it has been. I don't feel like I understand the characters well enough to know why they like each other, and I feel no tragedy or sadness to see them arguing with each other. This episode brings up a fundamental problem with the show. All the storylines feel disjointed and its hurting the pace of the story. Geralt's story suggests that this is a lighthearted mission-of-the-week kind of story, but Yennefer's suggests a much darker serialized storyline. Then Ciri turns up at the end of the episode to remind me of the overarching storyline which has been all-but ignored since the first episode, making for a choppy pace and unfocused structure in these first few episodes. Episode-by-episode this isn't a huge deal, mainly because Geralt has a new storyline each episode, but for a serialized show, this makes it really difficult to invest in the main storyline. I was annoyed to see this episode lean so heavily on nudity and sex. The endless fanservice is one of the most annoying things about "Game of Thrones", and I'm disappointed to see that it's bled into this universe too. The usual flaws with dialogue and acting continue. The acting was better here, but the dialogue was difficult to get into. Most of it was exposition and plot details, which isn't very interesting to listen to. The Unknown: What is a vukodlak? Are orens the currency of the world, or just Temeria? Where is Temeria? Is it a kingdom, or within a kingdom? Which kingdom does Foltest rule? Why don't the Temerians like Witchers? It is suggested that they have the power to exile Geralt at will. Why are Witchers so reviled in this world? Why isn't Yennefer allowed to be reborn when she is assigned to Nilfgaard? I don't understand that at all. Why is it so important for Yennefer to be sent to Nilfgaard? Is she the best of Tissaia's mages now? Yennefer's story is clearly set well before the events of the first episode. What is the significance of this? How will Yennefer's assignment to Cintra influence the events of the future? Will her absence from Nilfgaard be what causes their attack from "The End's Beginning"? Who is Falka? What was Falka's Rebellion? What was Geralt's gift for the princess? What is that stuff that he drinks? What is this forest that Ciri entered? Who was shooting at Dara? Why weren't they shooting Ciri as well? Best Moment: The striga murdering Ostrit was a chilling horror sequence and tremendously well shot. The striga looked impressively terrifying, and I loved the way that its appearance was built up to. Excellent presentation. Character of the Episode: Geralt. Conclusion: Impressive visuals and more engaging storytelling ensured that this was the best episode yet. However, there are still lots of major flaws that need to be ironed out. Score: 59 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 Summary: Geralt is a Witcher that arrives in Blaviken. He meets the wizard Stregobor who wants him to kill a woman, Renfri, who he believes is able to destroy the world and is evil. Geralt speaks with Renfri and learns her story. She tells him to kill Stregobor. He tells her he would rather not get involved and suggests that she leave Blaviken. Renfri doesn't do it, and upon Geralt's return she gives him an ultimatum: choose between her or Stregobor. Geralt ultimately murders Renfri and her men and is banished from Blaviken. He gets a prophecy that tells him his destiny will be intertwined with a girl in the woods. Elsewhere, Ciri is the princess of Cintra. Nilfgaard declares war on Cintra and attacks, killing the king and queen. Ciri, who has a magical power of some kind, manages to escape into the woods.
The Good: I appreciate the lack of a prologue in this episode. Fantasy tropes were generally avoided in this episode, and I thought that throwing us into the world was the way to go. I naturally learned a good deal about this world and its rules by just watching the story unfold, and I think that the flow of information was pretty solid. Geralt is immediately likeable. Henry Cavill puts in a good performance and there is enough that is interesting about this character to make an impression. I appreciated the examination into his morals and ideology with the Stregobor/Renfri conflict. It leads to a nice moment towards the end of the episode as Geralt makes his choice and learns about the uncertainty of the world, how it is not in fact split into good and bad. The action was the other big highlight of this episode, specifically the climactic action scene with Geralt. The choreography was outstanding and the directing was superbly done to make Geralt look superhuman without making everyone else look weak and without compromising the intensity of the action. The sequence had a lot of heart put into it, and it was everything that it needed to be. The Bad: The dialogue has been really poor so far. It feels like modern day dialogue being thrown into a medieval setting and it does not fit at all. The clash between modern times and a fantasy medieval world does not work well, and it was jarring to me to hear people talking like they do in the 21st century. Furthermore, the dialogue is lacking in depth and subtlety. The messages of the show are forced too hard through dialogue, and I often felt like the dialogue wasn't natural, it was constructed specifically for the plot. Additionally, I was confused by a lot of the dialogue that focused on far too many terms that are unique to this world. For this dialogue to mean anything, we need to know what these terms mean, and the show doesn't tell us a lot of the time. That makes for an unsatisfying experience. The deadly combo of poor dialogue and poor acting has unfortunately hit the show. The only thing that made this dialogue worse was the disappointing line delivery that made things feel even more stiff and unnatural. Characters like Ciri and Calanthe were mostly unconvincing in their portrayals and it made their scenes difficult to enjoy. I'm also much less invested in the Ciri storyline than Geralt's. The characters haven't been defined yet, and the story so far seems like a generic, uninspired fantasy flick where the evil kingdom attacks the good kingdom because a girl has magic powers. I'll need much more of substance than that to get invested in this story. Geralt interests me far more. I expect pilot episodes to hook me and make me excited to watch the next episode. This episode didn't really make me do that. It felt like a generic fantasy piece with very little original or unique about it. I presume that the show will get better as it starts to explore the characters and world in more depth, but this is a rather flat way to hook the audience. The Unknown: To clarify, I have never seen anything in the universe of "The Witcher" so I am coming into this show completely blind. So I will have many questions. Where are these locations? Where is Blaviken? Rivia? Cintra? Nilfgaard? What is this world like? Who is ruling? How many kingdoms are there? What are these monsters? How do they live in this universe? Where did they come from? How many are there? Are they a serious threat? What is a Witcher? Why aren't they well liked? Are they some kind of mutants? How did that happen? Were they killed off in the past? Is the curse of the black sun a major event in the history of this world? Who is Lilit? What was Falka's Rebellion? Why is Nilfgaard attacking Cintra? Why did they choose to attack now? Who rules in Nilfgaard? Are they after Ciri? Why? What power does she have? Why is it so important? What's with the dream that Renfri gave Geralt? Was it prophetic? How was she able to give him this dream? Are these two storylines happening at the same time or is there a difference? Calanthe mentions that she won her first battle at 13, yet in Geralt's story, there is mention of Calanthe winning this battle in the present tense. Is Geralt's story happening at an earlier time? Is Ciri the girl in the woods? I imagine she is because she was told that Geralt is her destiny. Best Moment: Geralt talking with his horse, a remarkably human moment for him that helped me connect with him and his ideals. Character of the Episode: Geralt. Conclusion: Coming off of the success of "Game of Thrones", it was important for this show to establish itself as a fresh story that is worth being told instead of a pale imitation. It hasn't done that yet, but it did enough right in this episode for me to continue. The acting and dialogue is a problem that I really want to see improved though. Score: 58 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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