Fantasy Netflix's The Witcher - General Discussion Thread

[DarthSkywalker]

So I finished the series this weekend. I liked the second half a lot more then the first half, but it still has a lot of problems. Casting of certain characters is just bad. People are going to get into the race of characters, and it is going to be used as a crutch by both sides. But the choice for Fringilla is bad. Triss could go either way I guess, but she didn't inspire a lot of confidence in me. I also think it is odd that she looks so much older then her "big sis" Yen.

The show is so weirdly paced. It either slows to a crawl or acts like these characters have known each other for years to leap forward in time. So much of the dialogue is on the nose or boring as heck. But when the show is having fun, it is a lot of fun imo. Yen instantly became a character I went from not caring for to really liking once she was around Geralt. Even when she wasn't around him after that, she felt more alive, more like the Yen I fell in love with before. I hope the same happens with Ciri, who to me is the biggest misstep so far. I don't think her actress is an issue. She seems good enough. But the material so far has been super meandering, and has basically asked her to be an annoying stick in the mud. It also doesn't really help that they aged her up so much. She should be a little girl, when she is clearly a young woman. I think one of the shows biggest sin is starting the show with Geralt, Yen and Ciri all as a sourpusses. There is no fun to be had with them to start. Geralt gets on track in the second episode, but it isn't until Yen runs into Geralt where there is joy to be had with her. Hopefully that means Ciri will be more interesting next season. The writing on the show just isn't good enough to support all the dreariness imo. This is why I think Dandelion was an instant hit on the show.

I really, really, really hope the color grading improves next season. A show where the action is so good, shouldn't look so bad imo. I got a kick out of them going through Geralt's Witcher 3 wardrobe. Same with Yen and her dresses in the second half.

Oh and one little thing that bugged me. I wished they used the story titles for the episodes. I am not exactly sure why they didn't. The Last Wish, The Lesser Evil and Sword of Destiny were built for just that.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

So the week after the last episode of the Mando came out on a smaller platform? Cool.

The signs were there that no matter what critics said, this show was going to be successful. I don't know why people were even worried. GoT showed the appetite for this kind of stuff, and the combination of Cavill and the ground set by the Witcher 3, meant people were ready for this specifically. The question is, does it hold up so we get more then 3 seasons, especially as it is licensed.

I love that geek proprieties are killing it though. Looked down upon for so long. But now they have to give it to us, whether they like it or not. We are the lesser evil.

 

[Reek]

So the week after the last episode of the Mando came out on a smaller platform? Cool.

oh god this is a thing now? lollll

can't wait for the thread "Witcher VS Mando VS TDK"

 

[DarthSkywalker]

oh god this is a thing now? lollll

can't wait for the thread "Witcher VS Mando VS TDK"

The Dark Knight. But the Mando was pretty flippin good.

 

[TheVileOne]

Triss is a really minor character in the books anyway. She's a supporting player.

 

[TheVileOne]

The Dark Knight. But the Mando was pretty flippin good.

I like both shows. I don't think it has to be a competition. But let's not ignore that Netflix is clearly inciting this by releasing The Witcher same day as Rise of Skywalker. Disney+ launched its own streaming service to compete with Netflix and Amazon Prime and what not.

I just enjoy all the great shows. I don't think we need to create these arbitrary divides.

 

[OutOfBoose]

It makes more sense to introduce Ciri in the first season as an important character.

This decision is nominal. Ciri has nothing to do in the first season and in expense of what? Many shows of the past introduced key characters in later seasons and it didn't hurt anything. Books do that all the time.

But alright. You deviated from the book for whatever reason, but can you at least be more aware of why things worked in the books and why they don't work anymore after the changes you've made in your show? You rip apart entire short stories but keep specific scenes in the script almost intact without a clue... No wonder the show feels so clumsy and frustrating. Nothing is earned and just stitched together in awkward ways.

 

[TheVileOne]

To say she has nothing to do is a misnomer. She's trying to find Geralt and not get captured by Nilfgaard. Could it have been executed a little better? Arguably less. But I'm not opposed to that basic premise and scenario for her character in S1.

 

[OutOfBoose]

But there's more to it than how closely you did or didn't follow the books. You still have to write the scripts, you still get to see on screen what worked and what didn't, whether you followed the books too slavishly or not enough, and so on. So in either case, there's no reason to think LH and crew can't improve on what they did. I happened to really like it, but also see its flaws. I don't see why they can't as well and go from there. In fact, it seems the reason they strayed further from the book was specific to how they wanted to give these characters a presence in the first season narrative, and now that they are all in the same timeline, they don't have to take such departures (even if you don't think those departures were necessary in the first place).

I didn't say they can't improve. In this very thread couple of pages back I argued that maybe they will be able to since launching a show is difficult and now they can see issues more clearly. But it wasn't the point. It's not important what season it is. Either it's done well or it's not.

I haven't read the books for either franchise, but I have heard plenty of people comment on how many changes they made to the books in GOT. I've read LOTR and adore the movies. There are some areas they were much closer to the source, other times where they translated things differently to make it work with what they were doing.

I'm not against changes, I want quality changes.

 

[OutOfBoose]

To say she has nothing to do is a misnomer. She's trying to find Geralt and not get captured by Nilfgaard. Could it have been executed a little better? Arguably less. But I'm not opposed to that basic premise and scenario for her character in S1.

And he story is basically on pause for majority of S1.

 

[TheVileOne]

What comes down to quality changes is opinion at the end of the day.

 

[Reek]

it's all a sick demented game that evil south park Mickey mouse planned from the beginning Hu Hu!

 

[OutOfBoose]

Game of Thrones S1, the first season where they totally ran out of money in their budget so they couldn't actually film any significant battle scenes. Hence Tyrion getting knocked out as he's running into battle and it happens entirely offscreen.

Jaime Lannister's capture also happens offscreen.

Did these changes affect the characters, their relationships or dramatic scenes?

 

[Iceman]

I love that geek proprieties are killing it though. Looked down upon for so long. But now they have to give it to us, whether they like it or not. We are the lesser evil.

Yes, it's great. We had good sci-fi already when I was young. But now superhero material is taking over and fantasy is also getting big with the mainstream.

What is the greater evil?

 

[lespaul59]

Here is a video by Witcher George about Geralt and Ciri meeting in Brokilon:


There is another Geralt and Ciri meeting video I've been trying to find but I can't find it. I actually think it's better than the Witcher George video or at least I remember it being better. There are a few Witcher related videos I can't find that where from smaller channels they're either buried under all of the tv show and game videos of they're just gone.

 

[TheVileOne]

Did these changes affect the characters, their relationships or dramatic scenes?

Yes. They are pretty pivotal moments.

 

[TheVileOne]

So the week after the last episode of the Mando came out on a smaller platform? Cool.

The signs were there that no matter what critics said, this show was going to be successful. I don't know why people were even worried. GoT showed the appetite for this kind of stuff, and the combination of Cavill and the ground set by the Witcher 3, meant people were ready for this specifically. The question is, does it hold up so we get more then 3 seasons, especially as it is licensed.

I love that geek proprieties are killing it though. Looked down upon for so long. But now they have to give it to us, whether they like it or not. We are the lesser evil.

Well from my perspective we've heard tons of clickbait reports on how shows were the most watched ever for Netflix only to get yanked after two seasons.

It doesn't mean much to me because Netflix is always quick to deny reports as not being the actual numbers but then will never tell us real legitimate numbers anyway. Just vague ideas of them.

 

[Punisher_MAX]

Triss is a really minor character in the books anyway. She's a supporting player.

I wouldn't say Minor, she's basically Ciri's sister in the first part of Blood of Elves.

Even if she is a minor character in the books she is definitely popular in part because of the Witcher games.

 

[TheVileOne]

I wouldn't say Minor, she's basically Ciri's sister in the first part of Blood of Elves.

Even if she is a minor character in the books she is definitely popular in part because of the Witcher games.

Right she is popular because she became a full blown love interest and got a large following in the games. She isn't in the main trio in the books. Yeah she sees Ciri as a little sister and generally tries to seduce Geralt despite the fact that he loves Triss and isn't interested in her in that way. She's still a minor character in comparison.

I think the actress was miscast and I was not impressed by Anna Schaeffer, but the show's success will not hinge on her performance wise.

 

[OutOfBoose]

Yes. They are pretty pivotal moments.

Huh? In what way? If I remember correctly, Jaime battle isn't really there and described post-fact. Tyrion battle is skipped for obvious reasons, but I don't remember any pivotal character development there, that wasn't relegated in other parts of the series. If anything, it scaled down on superhero ****. We missed the action, but we didn't miss character development. Arguably the most important part was that Tywin sent Tyrion to battle knowing his chances.

 

[kvz5]

I’m currently watching this and as a non-book reader, I was devastated that Renfri was not a major character. The actress playing her was really good and made me want to see more of her. So far, with 4 episodes in, I feel that the ladies are stealing the show acting wise. I really liked the featured monsters but I suppose that this will go mythology heavy rather than “one monster per episode” as it progresses? Not that it’s a bad thing but I really liked the monsters.

 

[Marvolo]

I’m currently watching this and as a non-book reader, I was devastated that Renfri was not a major character. The actress playing her was really good and made me want to see more of her. So far, with 4 episodes in, I feel that the ladies are stealing the show acting wise. I really liked the featured monsters but I suppose that this will go mythology heavy rather than “one monster per episode” as it progresses? Not that it’s a bad thing but I really liked the monsters.

I've seen a number of people share the opinion that Renfri's actress should have been Triss, and I share the opinion. Idk how they had that actress and didnt immediately put her in the Triss role. Piss poor casting management on display there.

 

[lespaul59]

I don't know if it's the acting, writing or directing but the actress playing Triss is forgettable. I'm trying not to be mean or anything but about the only good things I can say is she wasn't bad ( as in omg why did they cast this woman ) and she didn't bring the show down.

One change I'm kinda glad they made was Renfri back story was charged from basically being Snow White. Well I wasn't a fan of the prophesizing but every thing I mostly fine with. I'm sure after a rewatch it a re-read or the story I could find things I don't like. One funny thing about The Last Wish is you have one story that basically had Snow White in it and one story that is Beauty and the Beast.

 

[Marvolo]

I don't know if it's the acting, writing or directing but the actress playing Triss is forgettable. I'm trying not to be mean or anything but about the only good things I can say is she wasn't bad ( as in omg why did they cast this woman ) and she didn't bring the show down.

One change I'm kinda glad they made was Renfri back story was charged from basically being Snow White. Well I wasn't a fan of the prophesizing but every thing I mostly fine with. I'm sure after a rewatch it a re-read or the story I could find things I don't like. One funny thing about The Last Wish is you have one story that basically had Snow White in it and one story that is Beauty and the Beast.

That's actually a common recurrence in the series. Dandelion invents the story of the Little Mermaid based on one of Geralt's jobs. The Cinderella story is mentioned in the books. Geralt says Cinderella was eaten by a monster and only her slipper or foot was left behind. Snow White's seven dwarves are referenced at one point. Sleeping Beauty is mentioned as well.

With the conjunctions of the different worlds and some beings having the ability to world hop a reader can infer that some of earth's fairytales and legends may have come from Geralt's world.

Spoiler

Ciri even travels to medieval earth at one point and meets Lancelot.

He thinks she is a water nymph or the Lady of the Lake. I cant remember which. Avallon is also in the Witcher universe.

 

[flickchick85]

So wait, you book readers can spoil me: does Renfri never come back? I was operating under the assumption she'd return in a bigger role later. If not, I agree it was a waste of one of their more compelling actors.