Television The Witcher | Netflix | There are book spoilers here

Halftrack

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You were the absolute worst person in the GoT thread for book spoilers :lol: Well, until Robin came along at least.
That's the guy who read leaked scripts and presented facts from them as predictions, right? Then proceeded to claim he had divined everything from the trailer or something?
 

Dargonk

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Considering that the next season isn't out for a year, this thread is basically just going to revert back to people speculating how they are going to go direction wise compared to the books. Which is what it has been for the last year. If people want to avoid book talk and such, they should be creating a new thread, not trying to remove all the discussions that have been happening within this one for the last year.

I also don't think the GOT policy should apply in this thread, this isn't a week by week show, where people come to discuss things after each episode. We all binge watch it, and come to discuss the product as a whole after we are done. Those that haven't seen everything, should come with the expectation that a post may contain information that could spoil something for them.
 

Massive Spanner

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I also don't think the GOT policy should apply in this thread, this isn't a week by week show, where people come to discuss things after each episode. We all binge watch it, and come to discuss the product as a whole after we are done. Those that haven't seen everything, should come with the expectation that a post may contain information that could spoil something for them.
Yeah but there's a difference between spoiling something that's in an aired episode they haven't watched yet and a spoiler from the books that hasn't been made into an episode yet. One is avoidable by not reading the thread, the other isn't if there are idiots who don't use book spoiler tags, which we've already had. I don't see how it's any different to GoT just because one is weekly and the other isn't.
 

DWelbz19

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You're right. The OP post mentions by name also Yen which was months before she was cast.

But in all honesty, by just reading the first page it is clear that it was a TV show, but in relation with the books and games. People were discussing how certain events will play out, casting choices (including for characters which we still haven't seen), and most importantly




Give a price to this post. Absolutely spot on. Just 14 months before the show was released.
Class. Correctly predicted Euro 2016 and Netflix’s The Witcher Season 1 tag any time soon? @Damien
 

RedSky

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Tissaia was excellent, she was probably my 2nd favourite character after Geralt. Yennefer was good on't get my wrong, but her storyline was pretty teenage rage heavy (which is fair given her early story arc).

In a way it's a shame they did several time jumps (understandable) but it does make Yennefers transformation a little quick. Seems like a missed opportunity.
 

Massive Spanner

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Tissaia was excellent, she was probably my 2nd favourite character after Geralt. Yennefer was good on't get my wrong, but her storyline was pretty teenage rage heavy (which is fair given her early story arc).

In a way it's a shame they did several time jumps (understandable) but it does make Yennefers transformation a little quick. Seems like a missed opportunity.
Her timejumps were just done really badly and it was almost impossible to know when they were in relation to anything or how long actually passed. There's one point where she goes "I've already lived three lifetimes" and I was like bitch, how the f*ck you been alive 100 years when you still act like a 12 year old? I honestly thought up until that point that it had been like 10 years since she was a cripple :lol:
 

Cnaiür urs Skiötha

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So in the end the season felt a bit like Xenia with updated visuals and GoT aesthetics and more blood and boobs.
After having read all books, played all games and watched season 1 I think in this universe the games work best.
 

Samid

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Kind of makes sense when you put it like that. No wonder people find the timelines confusing when Yenn has lived several lifetimes while Ciri has been running and screaming for two weeks :lol:
 

Redplane

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Kind of makes sense when you put it like that. No wonder people find the timelines confusing when Yenn has lived several lifetimes while Ciri has been running and screaming for two weeks :lol:
One thing that immediately seems weird is that according to that the banquet and Geralt returning to Cintra for Ciri occuring on the same day. That wasn't on the same day at all unless I am way confused.
 

Samid

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One thing that immediately seems weird is that according to that the banquet and Geralt returning to Cintra for Ciri occuring on the same day. That wasn't on the same day at all unless I am way confused.
It's definitely on the same day. In E7, Geralt saw Ciri playing with the kids, found out he was being conned, confronted the queen and then got locked up. In E1, Ciri looked towards the gate where Geralt was standing (just like she did in E7). She was then escorted to the banquet.
 

Redplane

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It's definitely on the same day. In E7, Geralt saw Ciri playing with the kids, found out he was being conned, confronted the queen and then got locked up. In E1, Ciri looked towards the gate where Geralt was standing (just like she did in E7). She was then escorted to the banquet.
Weird. I guess because in E7 he was in full gear and at the banquet he was out of it it made it feel like the two were disconnected I guess. Also because the Queen made it seem she hadn't seen Geralt in years then at the banquet it didn't seem like he was almost a regular.
Perhaps I should watch it again.

Part of me feels they could do with a recut of the first season and make it flow significantly better than it does now.
 

Samid

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Weird. I guess because in E7 he was in full gear and at the banquet he was out of it it made it feel like the two were disconnected I guess. Also because the Queen made it seem she hadn't seen Geralt in years then at the banquet it didn't seem like he was almost a regular.
Perhaps I should watch it again.

Part of me feels they could do with a recut of the first season and make it flow significantly better than it does now.
:confused: Geralt wasn't at the banquet, he was locked up in the chambers.

I think you're confusing the banquets. The 'out of full gear' was in E4 when he saved the elf and Pavetta (Ciri's parents). The second one (E1 and E7) is 15 years later with Ciri being there and Geralt in custody.
 

Redplane

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:confused: Geralt wasn't at the banquet, he was locked up in the chambers.

I think you're confusing the banquets. The 'out of full gear' was in E4 when he saved the elf and Pavetta (Ciri's parents). The second one (E1 and E7) is 15 years later with Ciri being there and Geralt in custody.
Ahhhhhhh you're right. I was forgetting the fact there was that other banquet. I was thinking about the one with Ciri s parents only.
 

Samid

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Ahhhhhhh you're right. I was forgetting the fact there was that other banquet. I was thinking about the one with Ciri s parents only.
:lol:

If I remember correctly the queen didn't know who Geralt was before the first banquet.
 

Revan

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Kind of makes sense when you put it like that. No wonder people find the timelines confusing when Yenn has lived several lifetimes while Ciri has been running and screaming for two weeks :lol:
Interesting. Is this official? I actually had a slightly different timeline in my mind:

- Thought that Geralt met Yennefer before, and the stregha episode (when he also met Triss) a bit later (maybe 12-15 years before the events of Cintra). At the very least, I thought that he had already met Yennefer when he met Triss.

- Thought that he met Jaskier later. While Geralt and the sorceresses don't age normally, Jaskier is a human so he ages normally, and didn't get the impression that he aged a tiny bit on 25 years or so.

- Didn't know that Yennefer's training lasted for 20 years.

- Thought that the assassination of Queen Kalis has happened earlier, cause Yennefer looked relatively weak, and so thought that it happened early on her career.

- Ciri stayed only 3 days in the forest?
 

Ekeke

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Finally slogged through the last few episodes. Gotta give it a 6/10 overall. Mediocre not very well written fantasy, which is fine as I've watched plenty of those shows I know arent that great. So I'll compare it to those other shows around the same level.

The problem is it was pretty boring. The characters werent very interesting...
parts of the story it was hard to suspend my disbelief and just go with it. Such as the scene where Geralt helps spiky boy procure his "child of surprise" and then when asked what he wants, he says he'll take a surprise too... And then the woman feels sick and they gather she's pregnant and Geralt is surprised, like holy shit I wasnt expecting a child!... Only, he had just been involved in a big battle over a child of surprise so obviously it makes no sense to be surprised. What was he expecting?

Yennefer's origin story started off interesting and then she was "fixed" and became a generic mage in a story as hers fizzled out. Ciri had the scene where she fled at the battle, but everything after was boring and felt like filler until she meets Geralt. And that happened so late...

Geralt got sidetracked by a love story, which I guess wasnt the average love story because of the magic component but it still felt like one. The battles and effects were mostly decent, some decent Geralt fight scenes. Although honestly action wise I liked the first episode the best and everything else was downhill from there.
 

RedDevilRoshi

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Just finished it. I’ve not played the games nor read any of the books. Thought it was a no bad watch and intrigued to see what direction it now goes with season 2 next year.
 

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Anyone read the BBC review of the series? Incredibly bitter stuff, even though it's better than anything the Beeb has produced over the past few years.
 

amolbhatia50k

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Anyone read the BBC review of the series? Incredibly bitter stuff, even though it's better than anything the Beeb has produced over the past few years.
This is definitely a case where I disagree with a lot of the reviews.
 

syrian_scholes

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Anyone read the BBC review of the series? Incredibly bitter stuff, even though it's better than anything the Beeb has produced over the past few years.
There's recently a lot of disconnect between reviewers and viewers about shows especially, I find it refreshing.
 

Halftrack

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Finally slogged through the last few episodes. Gotta give it a 6/10 overall. Mediocre not very well written fantasy, which is fine as I've watched plenty of those shows I know arent that great. So I'll compare it to those other shows around the same level.

The problem is it was pretty boring. The characters werent very interesting...
parts of the story it was hard to suspend my disbelief and just go with it. Such as the scene where Geralt helps spiky boy procure his "child of surprise" and then when asked what he wants, he says he'll take a surprise too... And then the woman feels sick and they gather she's pregnant and Geralt is surprised, like holy shit I wasnt expecting a child!... Only, he had just been involved in a big battle over a child of surprise so obviously it makes no sense to be surprised. What was he expecting?

Yennefer's origin story started off interesting and then she was "fixed" and became a generic mage in a story as hers fizzled out. Ciri had the scene where she fled at the battle, but everything after was boring and felt like filler until she meets Geralt. And that happened so late...

Geralt got sidetracked by a love story, which I guess wasnt the average love story because of the magic component but it still felt like one. The battles and effects were mostly decent, some decent Geralt fight scenes. Although honestly action wise I liked the first episode the best and everything else was downhill from there.
Invoking the law of surprise can result in a surprise child, but it is much more likely to end up being something far more mundane. It's basically just a way to tell someone that they can repay you whenever they happen upon something they can use to repay you with.

With Geralt invoking the law of surprise to Duny, in front of his (seemingly) non-pregnant wife, the odds that surprise would be a child were vanishingly small. Duny had just married a throne heir, and would likely have recieved something in the next few of days or weeks that would qualify as the surprise reward. As fate would have it, though, this was the moment Pavetta's pregnancy came to be known, and thus the reward could only be the child. Hence Geralt's surprise.
 

Bobcat

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Anyone read the BBC review of the series? Incredibly bitter stuff, even though it's better than anything the Beeb has produced over the past few years.
Yeah some of the professional reviews are embarrassing. Its not the best show ever, but when the distance between public opinion and professional critics becomes so big, you have to ask what is even the point of their job.

Video game reviews are mostly on par with public opinion, as they seemingly try to give a somewhat objective critique of the quality of the product, where as movie/TV reviews often seem incredibly snobby and contrarian just for the sake of it
 

onemanarmy

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The timelines are extremely confusing, for someone who hasn't read the books or hasn't played the videogames.
 

Sylar

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I'm surprised people found it confusing
I guess binging it all within 2 days helped as it makes it more noticeable whereas watching one a day or week might make it difficult to tell? Dunno? Thought once the first banquet happened it was a huge sign that was in the past
 

onemanarmy

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I'm surprised people found it confusing
I guess binging it all within 2 days helped as it makes it more noticeable whereas watching one a day or week might make it difficult to tell? Dunno? Thought once the first banquet happened it was a huge sign that was in the past
I binged it too. I don't know why, but I have no connection with the characters. Completely opposite of the first GoT seasons. I can probably name 2 characters from The Witcher series, Geralt and Yennefer. Overall I thought it was ok, but maybe I should have watched it with more attention.
 

b82REZ

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I'm torn on this show.

Production values are fine and Cavill is doing a good job as Gerlat but the narrative is all over the place.

It's never clear what timeline we're watching and tbh it was only the third or fourth episode I realised there were multiple arcs over different periods.

The show is so exposition heavy and assumes you know the lore already which is terrible for a new show hoping to draw in new viewers. Characters are referred to that we've never been introduced to as well areas and monsters we've never seen.

Also isn't the Bard called Dandelion in the game (only played the third one)?
 

rollingstoned1

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So in the end the season felt a bit like Xenia with updated visuals and GoT aesthetics and more blood and boobs.
After having read all books, played all games and watched season 1 I think in this universe the games work best.
agreed, seems like people here enjoyed it but i thought it was shit and disappointing. The only reason i even sat through it with some level of disinterest is because of how much i enjoyed the games. Felt more like Xena than something that might resemble GoT. It actually reminded me of how good GoT used to be initially before it jumped the shark and became shit. It takes something to make the casting choices which were quite jarring and questionable not even be one of the biggest problems of this show.
 

evil_geko

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Also isn't the Bard called Dandelion in the game (only played the third one)?
"In Andrzej Sapkowski's books that inspired both the video game series and the television show, Dandelion's name was originally Jaskier. When translated directly from Polish to English, Jaskier means Buttercup, a name that doesn't quite properly fit the bard's personality. So instead of Buttercup, the translator opted to change Jaskier's name to Dandelion, seeing that it better fit the character."
 

b82REZ

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"In Andrzej Sapkowski's books that inspired both the video game series and the television show, Dandelion's name was originally Jaskier. When translated directly from Polish to English, Jaskier means Buttercup, a name that doesn't quite properly fit the bard's personality. So instead of Buttercup, the translator opted to change Jaskier's name to Dandelion, seeing that it better fit the character."
It surprises me they didn't stick with the Dandelion "translation" in the show then as it's
an easier name for western audiences to say and remember.
 

Sylar

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I binged it too. I don't know why, but I have no connection with the characters. Completely opposite of the first GoT seasons. I can probably name 2 characters from The Witcher series, Geralt and Yennefer. Overall I thought it was ok, but maybe I should have watched it with more attention.
I wonder if that might have changed if this was a weekly show rather than a binge show. I remember with GoT thinking 'holy crap, so mayn characters' and there being a bran, bron, brienne, etc. But with it being weekly, being able to digest it, and of course having discussion (eg here) around each episode, it really helped with remembering each part of the story and made the characters more familiar.

I always find with shows you binge, you can watch it within a few days, some things dont stick, you discuss it for a bit, and then until a year or two later, you dont watch it again.
 

BluesJr

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I enjoyed it but agree with some comments on here, particularly the pacing and assumption around the lore etc. To be a real success I think they’d have been better sticking to one timeline and introducing the characters in a less chaotic way. Also needed more episodes.
 

Mike Smalling

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Finished the season yesterday, without having read the books or played the game. Overall, I would rate it as 'Ok', but it definitely has some flaws.

As others have pointed out, the main issue with the series is, that Geralt is pretty much the only interesting character. I mostly liked the parts with him, but found the Yennefer and Ciri storylines to be relatively boring. Hopefully the three will get to interact more in upcoming seasons - it felt like a missed opportunity to have Geralt and Yennefer share so little screentime in this.
The different timelines did confuse me initally, but once you understand it, it is not an issue.

Looking back at it, my favourite episode would still be the first. The Renfri story was great in terms of introducing Geralt's character (his morality in not choosing sides etc.), and it also had the best action. Also really enjoyed the Striga episode (although I can't really recall what happened to Yennefer and Ciri in that).