The Witcher - Netflix Series

[jdoggivjc]

Spoiler

I was really confused in episode 4 until I realized that Ciri, Geralt, and Yen are on different parts of the timeline. Geralt’s story is before Ciri was born, and Yen’s might be even before that. It also explains why Nilfgaardians became such bastards - Yen was supposed to be assigned to the Nilfgaard king, but instead weaseled her way into the assignment that she wanted, with the sported sorceress going to Nilfgaard and influencing the king with purposes of revenge.

 

[Mr Janny]

I've seen the first 2 episodes. Not getting the GOT comparisons that a lot of the reviewers are trying to make. They're both in the fantasy genre, I guess. Witcher is more fairy tale than GOT, but not the Disney version of fairy tales, the old school, real consequences, society is cruel, and people die version.

I feel like the show nails the atmosphere of the games pretty well m. I haven't read any of the source material, but you pick up enough of the history of the universe by playing the games that I feel like I can follow along.

Roach is the best horse, btw.

 

[Cyclonetrombone]

Handling this series like how Westworld handled their timeline is smart and efficient. My wife didnt pick up that there were 3 timelines until episode 3. Shes goes... "is this basically Westworld?" Now shes enjoying it as well.
It is not my favorite show but I am enjoying it and the GoT comparisons are lazy. It would be like saying LOTR is basically GoT in nature. That is factual only to the point if it all being this high adventure type fantasy style.
If you're into this stuff go look up Fred Saberhagen (Book of Swords series) or RA Salvatores (Forgotten Realms series). Heck, go watch Willow or the new Dark Crystal series. It is all the same type of world building. But they are very dissimilar in the details and application.
If I were providing top level comparisons to someone not sure if they would watch, I would say Witcher compares more to LoTR in content, Westworld in production and style and GoT in the amount of incessent nudity. So much so that for a while I thought this was season one of an HBO show (Rome, GoT, etc). Its not a distraction until you're like... why is that topless woman standing there trying to pick that apple for 10 minutes during main character dialogue.

 

[Cyclonetrombone]

Not sure why that originally posted to the Prohm thread but good now.

 

[helechopper]

I’m on episode five now and the story is getting much better, the characters more rounded.

I really enjoy the show. Give it a chance I say.

 

[jdoggivjc]

I’m on episode five now and the story is getting much better, the characters more rounded.

I really enjoy the show. Give it a chance I say.

The only people not giving the show a chance are professional critics who watched the episodes out of order and complained “this doesn’t make any sense”.

 

[Cyclonetrombone]

The only people not giving the show a chance are professional critics who watched the episodes out of order and complained “this doesn’t make any sense”.

Obnoxious stuff. It's like they didnt give it a chance

 

[jdoggivjc]

What people really need to do is shut up about their negative opinions until they’ve watched all 8 episodes. Yes, it’s confusing at first, until about episode 3 or 4 when you realize they’re telling stories at different points in time, but by episode 7 it all makes sense as everyone has caught up to one another (timeline wise) and you understand why they told season 1 the way they did. Because the “it doesn’t make sense” seems to be the major complaint.

If people don’t like the series after they’ve watched all the episodes, then fine. At least they’re coming from an informed perspective.

 

[Mr Janny]

Episode 3 feels like it could have been directly pulled from the games. And that's a good thing. I wasn't sure about Henry Cavill as Geralt, but he nails it.

 

[BryceC]

Not sure how anyone could think posting a review of a show without watching even half of it would be a good idea, much less not even a continuous half. Like does anyone watch the first 30 minutes of a movie and then another 15 somewhere further along and just go with that? That should be darn near career-ending for someone getting paid to do that.

Usually TV shows only release the first 3 or 4 to critics as screeners. Pretty much every TV review you ever read is in the first few episodes.

 

[CycloneWanderer]

Usually TV shows only release the first 3 or 4 to critics as screeners. Pretty much every TV review you ever read is in the first few episodes.

I get that, but this reviewer got 5 episodes, skipped 2 of them (3/4) and then complained about continuity issues and not knowing what was happening. That's ridiculous.

 

[BryceC]

What people really need to do is shut up about their negative opinions until they’ve watched all 8 episodes. Yes, it’s confusing at first, until about episode 3 or 4 when you realize they’re telling stories at different points in time, but by episode 7 it all makes sense as everyone has caught up to one another (timeline wise) and you understand why they told season 1 the way they did. Because the “it doesn’t make sense” seems to be the major complaint.

If people don’t like the series after they’ve watched all the episodes, then fine. At least they’re coming from an informed perspective.

I don’t think people should have commit to 8 hours of viewing before they have an opinion on something.

I’ve watch all of season 1 and the confusing timelines don’t make any sense to me. Did confusing me for 4 hours give me a better viewing experience? It sure didn’t. You don’t even have to change anything but adding a subtitle with the date for the three timelines.

 

[State43]

Spoiler

Yeah the timeline had me confused. I wasn’t even sure the characters were following a single timeline in the story either. I also feel I need to watch the series multiple times to grasp locations and characters fully. That being said, great show and wished there was more episodes. Now I need to look into the lore/world. Yenafor is an interesting character. Ceri’s trash, still unsure what direction the show will ultimately go with her

 

[ISUTex]

This is nothing like Game of Thrones. It's more like a mix of Narnia, The Hobbit and Harry Potter. The only comparisons to Game of Thrones are the kill count hot naked ladies. . Game of Thrones (Seasons 1-6) 100X better than the Witcher. And the Witcher is actually pretty entertaining.

 

[BoxsterCy]

Handling this series like how Westworld handled their timeline is smart and efficient. My wife didnt pick up that there were 3 timelines until episode 3. Shes goes... "is this basically Westworld?" Now shes enjoying it as well.

Ha, that was me tonight. Me, "Hey, this isn't concurrent, is it?"

 

[Daserop]

Spoiler

Watch the first 5 episodes so far. Here are my thoughts.

1. I didn't realize there was a timeline difference until episode 4, when Geralt is at the banquet with Ciri's grandmother, father (hedgehog face), and mother. This made sense, to me at least, because the choices of Yennefer, Geralt, and the other characters introduced in their story arcs (i.e. Queen Calanthe of Cintra) provide a foundation / reason to why/how the "The Witcher" story leads off. For instance, in episode 1, why is the kingdom of Nilfgaard attacking Cintra and how it has come to power.

2. I like the cause and effect the show demonstrates. For example, when Queen Calanthe of Cintra, disrespects the price of Nilfgaard for his proposal to the princess (Ciri's mom).

3. I like Yennefer's character development so far. She came from literally nothing and is not a powerful mage. In episode 5, with the jinn, we learn that she wishes for everything, due to her having nothing, when she was growing up. We see the lengths/risks she will go to get them.

4. Everyone says that Witcher's have no human emotion, due to him being a mutant. However with Geralt, and observing him in his adventure's that's not entirely true. His experiences being judge as a mutant, have made not judge others by how they look. How he cares for this friend, Jaskier the bard, even though pretends that he doesn't care about him. These are a couple examples of Geralt showing human emotion.

5. Ciri, while has had some character development, it has been minimal in my opinion. I understand that she has been sheltered her whole life, and when she's on the run, we see her learning how the real world really is. For instance we see her learning through the elf boy, and the other Cintra nobility, how other people viewed her grandmother. We see Ciri watch Cintra noble women being stabbed to death by the dwarf servant, whom she abused.

Perhaps the reason why Ciri has had little character development is because she's a teenage princess who was sheltered her whole life up till this point. There were few life experiences which would force her to change as a person. Now being on the run, needing the help of others, and seeing the world for what it truly is, will bring about character development. Perhaps more so in season two.

 

[Legend Hawk]

I really enjoyed the series. Didn't realize the separate time lines til episode 4, but now that I am through all 8, it all makes sense. I understand now why they did it that way, as you needed a lot of back story to set up where it is going to go in season 2. I think they actually wanted to surprise people with the timeline and that is why they didn't make it clear.

 

[jdoggivjc]

This is nothing like Game of Thrones. It's more like a mix of Narnia, The Hobbit and Harry Potter. The only comparisons to Game of Thrones are the kill count hot naked ladies. . Game of Thrones (Seasons 1-6) 100X better than the Witcher. And the Witcher is actually pretty entertaining.

Honestly, the best comparison of this would be a cross between the political (as well as the nudity) aspects of Game of Thrones with the monster hunting of the TV show Grimm. Outside of the political aspects (particularly the war between the Lannisters and the Starks) I wouldn’t compare it to Game of Thrones at all.

 

[jdoggivjc]

Spoiler

Watch the first 5 episodes so far. Here are my thoughts.

1. I didn't realize there was a timeline difference until episode 4, when Geralt is at the banquet with Ciri's grandmother, father (hedgehog face), and mother. This made sense, to me at least, because the choices of Yennefer, Geralt, and the other characters introduced in their story arcs (i.e. Queen Calanthe of Cintra) provide a foundation / reason to why/how the "The Witcher" story leads off. For instance, in episode 1, why is the kingdom of Nilfgaard attacking Cintra and how it has come to power.

2. I like the cause and effect the show demonstrates. For example, when Queen Calanthe of Cintra, disrespects the price of Nilfgaard for his proposal to the princess (Ciri's mom).

3. I like Yennefer's character development so far. She came from literally nothing and is not a powerful mage. In episode 5, with the jinn, we learn that she wishes for everything, due to her having nothing, when she was growing up. We see the lengths/risks she will go to get them.

4. Everyone says that Witcher's have no human emotion, due to him being a mutant. However with Geralt, and observing him in his adventure's that's not entirely true. His experiences being judge as a mutant, have made not judge others by how they look. How he cares for this friend, Jaskier the bard, even though pretends that he doesn't care about him. These are a couple examples of Geralt showing human emotion.

5. Ciri, while has had some character development, it has been minimal in my opinion. I understand that she has been sheltered her whole life, and when she's on the run, we see her learning how the real world really is. For instance we see her learning through the elf boy, and the other Cintra nobility, how other people viewed her grandmother. We see Ciri watch Cintra noble women being stabbed to death by the dwarf servant, whom she abused.

Perhaps the reason why Ciri has had little character development is because she's a teenage princess who was sheltered her whole life up till this point. There were few life experiences which would force her to change as a person. Now being on the run, needing the help of others, and seeing the world for what it truly is, will bring about character development. Perhaps more so in season two.

Honestly, as far as I’m concerned, Ciri’s most interesting stories come in the video games, particularly 3, and the most interesting thing is her fate in the games is entirely left up to the choices the player makes throughout the game. Perhaps in later seasons they’ll start tapping into what makes her so interesting in the games, but, I’ll leave that alone for the time being because it would get me in trouble much like I sometimes got in trouble in the GoT thread.

 

[Daserop]

Honestly, as far as I’m concerned, Ciri’s most interesting stories come in the video games, particularly 3, and the most interesting thing is her fate in the games is entirely left up to the choices the player makes throughout the game. Perhaps in later seasons they’ll start tapping into what makes her so interesting in the games, but, I’ll leave that alone for the time being because it would get me in trouble much like I sometimes got in trouble in the GoT thread.

Gotcha. I only played the first 2 Witcher games. I figured Ciri would become a more interesting character as the showed progressed.