Fantasy Netflix's The Witcher - General Discussion Thread

[Punisher_MAX]

I can't stand the showrunner, she needs to shut up on Twitter about her ****ty creative choices and try to justify them. It just makes her decisions even more egregious.

 

[TheVileOne]

I can't stand the showrunner, she needs to shut up on Twitter about her ****ty creative choices and try to justify them. It just makes her decisions even more egregious.

Not sure what's been happening there, but I hope she's not getting a lot of harassment on Twitter. At the same time for someone in her position it's probably better to just unplug. You're never going to make everyone happy. Fans on social media are brutal and she's not going to get anywhere by arguing with them.

 

[Punisher_MAX]

Not sure what's been happening there, but I hope she's not getting a lot of harassment on Twitter. At the same time for someone in her position it's probably better to just unplug. You're never going to make everyone happy. Fans on social media are brutal and she's not going to get anywhere by arguing with them.

She basically said she fridged Eskel to help Geralt grow.

 

[TheVileOne]

Well, that is the reason you fridge characters

That's the reason they gave that dude on Wheel of Time a wife who got fridged after saying like one line. And then like no one mentions or talks about his wife ever again or comfort their friend who just lost his grieving wife in devastating attack on their home.

 

[Punisher_MAX]

Well, that is the reason you fridge characters

That's the reason they gave that dude on Wheel of Time a wife who got fridged after saying like one line. And then like no one mentions or talks about his wife ever again or comfort their friend who just lost his grieving wife in devastating attack on their home.

Oh I know...it's just a dumb ****ing decision and they could've LITERALLY used ANY no name for the same reason since Eskel didn't even get any real development to mean something to Geralt.

 

[TheVileOne]

In defense of Lauren Hissrich, Eskel isn't a major character in the books. He doesn't suffer the same fate, but like not much happens with him.

It's not like what happened with Barristan Selmy in Game of Thrones.

I think most of the anger is because of game fans like Eskel because he's in Witcher 1 and 3. And because the games were continuing off of where the books left off, they could do more with characters like Eskel.

Now all that said, the stuff in Witcher 3 and Kaer Morhen and Geralt hanging out with Eskel and Lambert are my favorite parts.

 

[Punisher_MAX]

In defense of Lauren Hissrich, Eskel isn't a major character in the books. He doesn't suffer the same fate, but like not much happens with him.

It's not like what happened with Barristan Selmy in Game of Thrones.

I think most of the anger is because of game fans like Eskel because he's in Witcher 1 and 2. And because the games were continuing off of where the books left off, they could do more with characters like Eskel.

Now all that said, the stuff in Witcher 3 and Kaer Morhen and Geralt hanging out with Eskel and Lambert are my favorite parts.

I mean Eskel, Lambert and Vesemir do have a funny situation calling in Triss to deal with a growing girl in Ciri as theyre all clueless how to handle that AND her Elder Blood.

But yes you're right, in the books they dont have much to do, but her reasoning rings hollow when Eskel has no development at all within the same Episode and is simply killed off. We are told that he and Geralt are friends and that he's supposed to mean something, but none of it pays off.

 

[BlackFox]

To hell with Eskel, but Roach, that I can never forgive.

 

[Punisher_MAX]

To hell with Eskel, but Roach, that I can never forgive.

I mean Roach literally disappears after Aretuza in the books and Geralt just calls a new horse Roach, so that I don't care about lol

 

[BlackFox]

I mean Roach literally disappears after Aretuza in the books and Geralt just calls a new horse Roach, so that I don't care about lol

I know, just being tongue in cheek. Roach's come and go to Geralt like the changing of the seasons.

As for Eskel and being serious, I can agree that perhaps killing him off and introducing him in the same episode was a all too quick but killing him off at all is not a big problem to me. Perhaps if they had used another name or just a made up Witcher it wouldnt have been so bad for some to take but then perhaps the impact wouldnt have been the same. As soon as you make a decision like that though you can expect a backlash.

 

[Iceman]

I mean Eskel, Lambert and Vesemir do have a funny situation calling in Triss to deal with a growing girl in Ciri as theyre all clueless how to handle that AND her Elder Blood.

But yes you're right, in the books they dont have much to do, but her reasoning rings hollow when Eskel has no development at all within the same Episode and is simply killed off. We are told that he and Geralt are friends and that he's supposed to mean something, but none of it pays off.

There was no need to have him appear and die in the same episode. Even just being around and not doing much over time helps build the appearance of a relationship but this was too quick for the audience to relate to.

 

[Reek]

@TheVileOne Cavill has some pretty damn good parts IMO, so he was a surprise for me. he genuinely cares... cosplaying for him i say cause he loves every of it.

Definitely some parts i wanted to kick myself in the balls about though... one obvious one being Yen's dumb ass line "what witches do best... make a potion!" followed by heroic music as she heroically grinded up some parsley.

 

[TheVileOne]

I mean Eskel, Lambert and Vesemir do have a funny situation calling in Triss to deal with a growing girl in Ciri as theyre all clueless how to handle that AND her Elder Blood.

That part was referenced in the show, though it was altered. Instead it's Lambert, Coen, Geralt, and Vesemir. And we didn't get the scene of Ciri telling Triss about her experiencing her first time of the month. Then Triss dressing her up and giving that elaborate speech about being "indisposed."

Spoiler

The only part I didn't like with Triss in the show is after Triss figures out what Ciri is, she goes mad and believes Ciri is basically akin to the antichrist. Triss does figure out that Ciri is of Elder Blood and a "Source," but it doesn't drive her batty.

But yes you're right, in the books they dont have much to do, but her reasoning rings hollow when Eskel has no development at all within the same Episode and is simply killed off. We are told that he and Geralt are friends and that he's supposed to mean something, but none of it pays off.

Well he gets a flashback in the next episode. They were basically like brothers growing up. Same age and from the same class of Witchers. In the books, they were compared as basically brothers.

In the Nightmare of the Wolf anime, he and Geralt were survivors of the sacking of Kaer Morhen. That's why Vesemir calls him and Geralt his "sons."

 

[BlackFox]

There was no need to have him appear and die in the same episode. Even just being around and not doing much over time helps build the appearance of a relationship but this was too quick for the audience to relate to.

Yeah I think it would have been better had we met him in episode 2 but the change and fight came in say 5 or 6, so that we could see how close they were and built things up a little more. I actually dug the fight quite a lot and had some great camera work and shots, plus we got to see Geralt and Vesemir fighting along side each other which was something I really wanted to see out of this season so it ticked a lot of boxes for me that episode, just the pay off Ezkel's turn could have been much greater. I can see where the frustration lies with it though.

 

[Iceman]

Yeah I think it would have been better had we met him in episode 2 but the change and fight came in say 5 or 6, so that we could see how close they were and built things up a little more. I actually dug the fight quite a lot and had some great camera work and shots, plus we got to see Geralt and Vesemir fighting along side each other which was something I really wanted to see out of this season so it ticked a lot of boxes for me that episode, just the pay off Ezkel's turn could have been much greater. I can see where the frustration lies with it though.

Yeah, the fight itself was good. As you say great to see Vesemir in action alongside Geralt. I want a scene in a future season where they all fight together, Geralt, Vesemir (maybe other remaining Witchers), Yen, Ciri, Triss.

 

[VictusMortuus]

I know next to nothing about the books or games and I really enjoy this show. But I can certainly understand people being frustrated that it isn’t super faithful to them. It’s how I feel about the Harry Potter movies after the third one.

 

[BlackFox]

I know next to nothing about the books or games and I really enjoy this show. But I can certainly understand people being frustrated that it isn’t super faithful to them. It’s how I feel about the Harry Potter movies after the third one.

I'm coming across this more in real world situations, people who have never read the books or even played the games seem to be enjoying this a lot more than anyone else, not to the levels of GoT but there seems to be a lot more people watching it than most other things and I have fielded a lot of questions on it already, haha. However I have not come across anyone else who has read the books (or can read for that matter lol) perhaps thats why it did so well with critics this season, they didnt have that pre-loaded idea of what the show should have been before and are taking it at face value.

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

I can't stand the showrunner, she needs to shut up on Twitter about her ****ty creative choices and try to justify them. It just makes her decisions even more egregious.

Agreed, she is very annoying. I stopped following her a while back.

 

[Iceman]

I'm coming across this more in real world situations, people who have never read the books or even played the games seem to be enjoying this a lot more than anyone else, not to the levels of GoT but there seems to be a lot more people watching it than most other things and I have fielded a lot of questions on it already, haha. However I have not come across anyone else who has read the books (or can read for that matter lol) perhaps thats why it did so well with critics this season, they didnt have that pre-loaded idea of what the show should have been before and are taking it at face value.

Yeah, heard similar for Harry Potter, Witcher, Wheel
Of Time, GoT.

 

[TheVileOne]

Agreed, she is very annoying. I stopped following her a while back.

In general, I find Twitter is a dumb place to debate and exchange ideas anyway. There's no nuance. At least Benioff and Weiss are smart enough to insulate themselves and stay off Twitter.

Can you imagine how bad it would've been if they were on Twitter during Season 8? Would've been a dumpster fire. Not excusing how bad those final seasons were, but like writers and showrunners would be better off if they just don't expose themselves to Twitter. People on Earth in general.

 

[BlackFox]

Yeah, heard similar for Harry Potter, Witcher, Wheel
Of Time, GoT.

And lets not even get started on Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, lol, I remember people back in the day having all sorts of issues with those films and LoTR is considered a classic trilogy by most. No doubt the tv series will have a few having something to say about it, haha. It comes with adapting anything though, people love the original whatever it is thats why they usually fell in love with something. The Witcher has two problems, fans of the books and fans of the game.

 

[Iceman]

And lets not even get started on Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, lol, I remember people back in the day having all sorts of issues with those films and LoTR is considered a classic trilogy by most. No doubt the tv series will have a few having something to say about it, haha. It comes with adapting anything though, people love the original whatever it is thats why they usually fell in love with something. The Witcher has two problems, fans of the books and fans of the game.

Yep, probably impossible to please everyone, even when things are done well across the board, which they aren’t always. The LotR EEs are my favourite films but they left out a bunch of characters I really wanted to see (eg the sons of Elrond, Prince Imrahil, Glorfindel).

 

[BlackFox]

Yep, probably impossible to please everyone, even when things are done well across the board, which they aren’t always. The LotR EEs are my favourite films but they left out a bunch of characters I really wanted to see (eg the sons of Elrond, Prince Imrahil, Glorfindel).

Yeah, there's bound to be some characters that I do love that get left all together in this series as well I dont doubt, so may well be me having a rage next season or two, haha. The main thing is they got the main characters right and for me they have done that at least. I hope we get more improvements next time out again, Geralt's armor really needs to be "outsourced" to CDPR if they can get away with it (they've already nicked a few things from the game after all so a couple more wont need the lawyers just yet).

 

[Punisher_MAX]

And lets not even get started on Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, lol, I remember people back in the day having all sorts of issues with those films and LoTR is considered a classic trilogy by most. No doubt the tv series will have a few having something to say about it, haha. It comes with adapting anything though, people love the original whatever it is thats why they usually fell in love with something. The Witcher has two problems, fans of the books and fans of the game.

LoTR as a movie was already a tall task so condensing some stuff while still making a damn good movie is a feat in itself, but with Netflix you have about 8-10 hours to do one book or two per season, the fact that they have so much time and waste it on dumb things is incredible.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Finished this last night and while some of the lore was hard to follow at times, I still really enjoyed this season. I thought it was a huge improvement over the first one and we got some good growth for our three central heroes (and Jaskier too!). I say all that as someone who hasn’t read the books or played much of the games so if I had, maybe I would feel differently. I don’t mean to dismiss the feelings of people who have lived and breathed this series for years. But as a more casual fan, this felt like a much nerdier GoT and I was into it.

So often fantasy movies and TV shows try to downplay the magical elements because they don’t have the budget or they’re afraid too much will turn people off. But I like that The Witcher just goes all in on it with basilisks and portals and tree monsters and the Wild Hunt. It doesn’t always work but when it does, it’s a lot of fun. I also loved the little (and not so subtle) nods to other films like Beauty and the Beast and Jurassic Park. I’m sure some viewers rolled their eyes at that stuff but I liked it.

I also love that this series is so popular that Netflix is investing in building a whole Witcher expanded universe. It shows that they have confidence in the show and we don’t have to worry about it getting canceled two weeks after a new season premieres.

Also. Frangilla using that paralysis toxin was straight up terrifying and possibly the best moment in the entire series. Holy ****.