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
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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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