Two and a half weeks ago Netflix released the second season of "The Witcher", a TV show based on the fantasy book series written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. Back in 2019, when the first season premiered, I bingewatched all 8 episodes on one day. It wasn't great and it had it's flaws, but I really enjoyed they show and simply wanted more. Unfortunately, the second season was delayed by the pandemic. I didn't really mind that, since Netflix had more time to work on the CGI and other aspects of post-production. So after two years long wait I was finally able to see the second season of "The Witcher" and... Well, it's bad. Like really bad. And here's why I still enjoyed it!
Geralt finally found Ciri and Yennefer's magical outburst single handedly won the first battle of the Sodden Hill (well, incoming Temerian and Keadwan armies helped too). The story continues, as Geralt and Ciri come to Kaer Morhen to meet other witchers, among them their leader Vesemir, and Yennefer, captured by Nilfgaardian sorceress Fringilla Vigo, struggles to get back her lost power. Meanwhile, we see more politics and are introduced to different factions and factions within factions - Nilfgaard, elves and the Northern Kingdoms.
I happen to be Polish and I first read the whole series back in 2009, when I was 11. I loved it and although it isn't my favourite fantasy series, I still always have been fan of the Witcher, both the books and the games. Having known the source material, I must absolutely despise the Netflix series. It's showrunner, Lauren Hissrich, decided to write her own story, with her own characters. Yes, most of them share their book's counterparts name, but in the core those are entirely different people, who quite often do the very things, their book versions would never do. This is best seen in the actions of Yennefer and Vesemir, but also some other characters, Geralt included.
In it's core, I don't mind deviating from the source material. I actually really like, when showrunners change the stories, as long as the final product is faithful to the spirit of the books. And in case of the second season of "The Witcher"... Well, it seems like Hissrich wrote her own fanfiction. Having read the books and play the games, I simply cannot like the show knowing how good the original material was.
Unfortunately, the second season is not only not faithful to the source material, but it's just bad, especially the writing. The story is filled with plot holes, deus ex machinas and overused tropes. Most of the characters are boring and underdeveloped. The acting doesn't help either - while Henry Cavill as Geralt is just stellar, Anya Chalotra as Yennefer and Freya Allan as Ciri are mediocre at best. This isn't really their fault, due to the fact that the dialogues are cringe and both female leads are forced by the script to behave like a whimmy morons. The worst part of the writing, not counting the already mentioned plot holes and overused tropes, are the antagonists. I am sorry, but both Cahir and Fringilla Vigo are simply one-dimensional characters, the latter being terribly played by the actress. I liked Rience, but his role was deminished... And they finally fixed Triss (the actress gave a great performance by the way)!
Despite the flaws, I enjoyed watching the show, mostly due to my knowledge of the Witcher world, as well as to very good production value. Fights aren't as great as in season 1, but they are still really good, and so are the special effects. There were a few places in which the CGI was a bit off, but it isn't a problem whatsoever. And there actually are a few good moments and some subplots. For example I really liked how the showrunner expanded the Istredd subplot. It wasn't in the books and it's 100% original content, but it's really great and it fits the story... For the most part I was watching the series with interest and I really had a lot of fun, especially when I was laughing my ass off at the stiupidity of screenwriters.
Will "The Witcher" become the second "Game of Thrones"? No. Unfortunately, the showrunner really screwed the worldbuilding, which isn't coherent at all. There is no sense of scale whatsoverer and every location is almost the same... People loved the "Game of Thrones" due to it's excellent politics and worldbuilding, while both of those are the worst part of "The Witcher". I suppose that Netflix will milk this cow for a few more season and spin-offs, but ultimately the series will be stopped after 5th or 6th season. The more people will read the books and play the games, the less people will like the show.
"The Witcher" gets a 3/10 from me. If you liked the first season, you should watch it, but don't expect much. It's just a generic fantasy TV show, with a lot of flaws and only a few positive things, such as Henry Cavill as a lead character and great production value.
I surely prefere the first season.
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I have become interested in reading the books. But, I’ll wait until the show is over. I suspect I am missing out on enjoying some details of the show, if I knew the significance.
Or, I could read the series and enjoy as it is released like I did Game of Thrones. I am torn.
It's hard for me to give you an advice. The books are just great, but they are translated into English from Polish and unfortunately the translation isn't that good. Due to that English readers might miss quite a few details and subtleties. They are definately worth the try, but if you look at Reddit, you will see a lot of people that liked the show and decided to read the books... And then stopped enjoying or outright hated what Netflix did. I mean, really, the second season has almost nothing to do with the books and that's why fans like me are furious.
If I were you, I would try reading the first book, "The Last Wish". It's a collection of short stories, connected with each other. The first season was based on it and it is regarded as the best book in the Witcher universe. It won't spoil you a thing, so give it a try and see, whether you like Sapkowski style or not. If yes, just keep on reading the second short story collection ("The Sword of Destiny") and the main saga. The second season of the show is supposed to be the adaptation of the first book in the saga, "The Blood of Elves". It's a really slow and short novel, which is something like an introduction to the main story. Everything will rock in the second book, which is to be adapted by the third season.
Anyway, thanks for reading my review and have a nice one!
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