The Witcher - Netflix Series

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BryceC

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The main issue I have is with Vesimir willing to make Ciri a Witcher. Based on the books females cannot become witchers. Even if you ignore that, Vesimir knows Ciri can die during the process. He's desperate to be able to make more witcher's again, but at the same time willing to risk killing the one source that can make this happen. Poor writing.

You can tell when the deviate from the books. The writing becomes bad.

This is the show and doesn’t have to follow the books so I don’t care about that, and I thoroughly enjoyed the books.

Some book changes I really liked:

1. The Elves moving into Cintra makes a ton of sense. I really liked what they did with that storyline to give the elves a bit more motivation and I like what they are doing with Fringilla.

2. I like how Ciri's power is creating new monsters. In the books Geralt basically stops being a Witcher after the first one and it's just a traveling adventure. In a visual medium doing the monsters is interesting and fun.

Some I didn't:

1. Probably a dumb decision to try and make Ciri a Witcher but he was emotionally beaten after seeing so many Witchers die. We also don’t know if the death rates here match the books. May not have been such a foolish decision and was a desperate man. Either way I think it's explainable.

2. Agreed on the hookers in Kaer Mohren. That was dumb and unnecessary. Let's be honest though this show is kind of trying to be GoT-lite and there were very few opportunities for nudity in this season. Literally the only reason why I think it was added.

3. Book Geralt absolutely would have got down with Triss especially considering he thought Yennifer was dead.

Admittedly I'm a little sensitive to people wanting things to hew to closely to the source material. I see it in GoT, the Expanse, etc. This is a show, and it has ever right to use the source material how it wants. Overall I think the show is doing very well. Everything can be nitpicked.
 

CloneIce

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Did anyone else feel like the quality of Season 2 dropped off vs. season 1? I'm about 6 episodes in but I'm just not enjoying it very much. I can't quite put my finger on it but it feels like there is just too much going on and/or we were expected to remember too many minor details from Season 1 that I haven't seen in 2 years. I've never read the books so maybe missing that context is hurting me too. Season 2 feels like it's trying to play up a bunch of intrigue, but doesn't seem to give out enough information to understand what the intrigue is or why we should care. At least that's my feeling.

I liked it better than Season 1 myself. That might be because I played Witcher 3 in between the seasons, so I understood the characters and world more.
 

BryceC

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Did anyone else feel like the quality of Season 2 dropped off vs. season 1? I'm about 6 episodes in but I'm just not enjoying it very much. I can't quite put my finger on it but it feels like there is just too much going on and/or we were expected to remember too many minor details from Season 1 that I haven't seen in 2 years. I've never read the books so maybe missing that context is hurting me too. Season 2 feels like it's trying to play up a bunch of intrigue, but doesn't seem to give out enough information to understand what the intrigue is or why we should care. At least that's my feeling.

I actively didn't like season 1 because I hated the choice to time jump and not tell us what they were doing. I had no book background at the time and had only played the video games. So I was constantly confused which is not what I'm here for on the Witcher. When Dark is easier for me to track I think there is a problem.
 

agrabes

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I actively didn't like season 1 because I hated the choice to time jump and not tell us what they were doing. I had no book background at the time and had only played the video games. So I was constantly confused which is not what I'm here for on the Witcher. When Dark is easier for me to track I think there is a problem.
Yeah, I remember a few people saying that when Season 1 came out too. I have played the games and so I know the general world set up but don't know all the exact details since I haven't read the books. I felt like I had enough context in Season 1 to understand this was all prequel stuff and it seemed obvious to me the point of it was to show us how Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri came to know each other.

Maybe that's why I'm liking Season 2 less - it feels less like the story of those three and more about the overall world with characters referencing a ton of things I either don't know or forgot from Season 1. In Season 1 I didn't really have to worry much about the side characters. Plus, as someone who got introduced to these characters through the games, it kind of sucks that Triss is such a minor character and none of the main 3 seem to give a crap about her. I know that is more true to the books, so I get it.
 

srjclone

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Started Season 1 last week, and am through 6 episodes of season 2. Funny about you all mentioning Ciri looks far older, watching S1E8 and S2E1 back to back really didn't throw me off too much. It took me a few tries to get through the first couple of episodes in season 1, but once I realized the time jumping aspect I started to settle into it more and have come to love watching it. Witcher 3 is possibly my favorite single-player game ever, so that adds to my attraction of it, I thought season 1 was really solid with pacing, and season 2 has been good but not as good as season 1. Hoping the last 2 episodes are the culmination of a few things they've been teasing.
 

helechopper

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Just finished season 2 and thought it was solid. Not as good as season 1, but season 2 left me with that feeling you get when your show is over for a year or longer and you realize you gotta move on (haha).

As of today, The Witcher is the Best fantasy genre show since GoT. IMO.

Also, Wheel of Time is okay. There’s some good parts but I don’t like some of the characters due to poor casting choices, like Matt and Rand in particular. I do have a feeling the show will pick up steam as we get deeper into the story though.
 

Iastfan112

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This is the show and doesn’t have to follow the books so I don’t care about that, and I thoroughly enjoyed the books.

Some book changes I really liked:

1. The Elves moving into Cintra makes a ton of sense. I really liked what they did with that storyline to give the elves a bit more motivation and I like what they are doing with Fringilla.

2. I like how Ciri's power is creating new monsters. In the books Geralt basically stops being a Witcher after the first one and it's just a traveling adventure. In a visual medium doing the monsters is interesting and fun.

Some I didn't:

1. Probably a dumb decision to try and make Ciri a Witcher but he was emotionally beaten after seeing so many Witchers die. We also don’t know if the death rates here match the books. May not have been such a foolish decision and was a desperate man. Either way I think it's explainable.

2. Agreed on the hookers in Kaer Mohren. That was dumb and unnecessary. Let's be honest though this show is kind of trying to be GoT-lite and there were very few opportunities for nudity in this season. Literally the only reason why I think it was added.

3. Book Geralt absolutely would have got down with Triss especially considering he thought Yennifer was dead.

Admittedly I'm a little sensitive to people wanting things to hew to closely to the source material. I see it in GoT, the Expanse, etc. This is a show, and it has ever right to use the source material how it wants. Overall I think the show is doing very well. Everything can be nitpicked.

I really don't think it's nitpicking to say Witcher S2 mangled the relationship between Ciri and Yennefer beyond all recognition from what occurs in the books.

Lest we mention 1/4 of the season is just made up whole cloth with no ties to the book whatsoever. I don't think it's unfair for book readers to be annoyed that they are getting a S2 not only differs in event to event details but also has issues with remaining faithful to the spirit of the books.
 

BryceC

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I really don't think it's nitpicking to say Witcher S2 mangled the relationship between Ciri and Yennefer beyond all recognition from what occurs in the books.

Lest we mention 1/4 of the season is just made up whole cloth with no ties to the book whatsoever. I don't think it's unfair for book readers to be annoyed that they are getting a S2 not only differs in event to event details but also has issues with remaining faithful to the spirit of the books.

Correct that is all different. My recommendation to anybody who loves a book story a lot is to not watch the shows that are inspired by them.
 

BoxsterCy

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Been hoarding the episodes and not binging it so it would last me into January. Finished Season 2 tonight. Such much good. Nice reveal to end the season. Hate shows that do cheap ass cliff hangers, much prefer something like this.

Not a book reader of this so just watching as a fantasy fiction fan.

Could have used more gratuitous nudity, of course. ;)
 

Triggermv

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Bigman38

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Sad the see Henry go, but if it means more Superman finally, I'm 100% on board. Can't say I'm sold on Liam being the right replacement, but I will give him a shot.

That’s a bummer, really liked his Geralt.
 
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Clonehomer

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Sad the see Henry go, but if it means more Superman finally, I'm 100% on board. Can't say I'm sold on Liam being the right replacement, but I will give him a shot.

If the option is more Witcher or more DC movies, give me Witcher every time.
 
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CloniesForLife

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It was good. Felt like there were a lot of characters that made it tough to follow. Will have to rewatch before volume 2
Yeah I had to read some summaries on what happened in the past 2 seasons and read up on all the different kingdoms as a reminder. I was watching episode one of the season and just not remembering a lot of details. Feel like I still probably missed stuff. Feel like there is going to be lots of action in Volume 2