Given how harsh and bloody the rest of this world is I’d say the harsh methods are probably consistent with a lot of other training methods - if I recall from what I’ve heard about the series the process to create Witchers is probably is even more harsh and cruel - even if such methods are not strictly necessary
I’ve now seen 3 eps, and I have a couple issues. I find I need to turn on subtitles, everyone kind of mumbles, especially names.
And Yennafer looks way too much like Coco from the Mayans MC show.
This is exactly right -
The only aspect I am a bit confused on at this moment (also on episode 5)
[spoiler]Episode 1 - Renfri - (and the overall timeline of this episode) is set ~20 years after the eclipse and girls locked in a tower -right? (something like 1200 years ago?)
The events with Ciri (the princess) are more “current” -
And basically alot of the bits with the Witcher in between are just his adventures as he lives until he meets up with Ciri?
[/spoiler]
The episodes are like a series of short stories, may of which are not strongly connected to each other, taking place within a larger/longer arc story which ties them all together.
Also, totally minor question:
Roach is, apparently, a life-long companion of Geralt. But horses only live about 20-30 years at best (and in such a setting I’d think many would have shorter lives, particularly if frequently in close proximity to monsters such as would happen to a witcher’s mout). Does Geralt just name every horse he owns Roach, or is the horse magical, too?
Yep.
Episode 6 has some issues
Why is Yennefer fighting with a sword like a commoner? Surely she has better defenses? And what was with the kiss-blast? Did she boost Geralt’s magic through the power of makeout?
Why are they bothering to fight the soldiers anyway? They have a DRAGON. Stand aside and let him shoot his fire. He does it later, let him just blast the group.
And how in the world is
That old guy who fell off the ledge into the canyon still alive?? How?! I remember when faking off cliffs used to kill people.
Why not? It is established that mage’s power is not unlimited and indeed they often have to derive it from something else, often resulting in the destruction of that something. Supplementing her magic with mundane means makes a lot of sense, especially in a situation where even a mage’s strongest efforts in the magical realm may not be sufficient.
And strictly speaking, that’s NOT a “commoner” weapon. Weapons for commoners are things like pitchforks and mining picks. That’s a weapon for professionals like royalty, knights, mercenaries, and brigands who can afford one.
Maybe.
It’s established they both have magical abilities, even if one is dramatically more endowed with them than the other. No more crazy than a lot of other stuff that goes on.
The dragon very specifically stated he’d be guarding the egg, which absolutely could not be moved. The dragon made it very clear his priority was the egg, not the humans. Geralt and Yennifer are helping the dragon, the dragon is not helping them.
The “old guy” is the gold dragon in human form, just as his two female companions are, presumably, black dragons in human form (which is how they survived the fall). My assumption is that after they fell off the cliff and were concealed by the fog they transformed back into dragons and flew off to a soft landing.
Ah totally missed that bit about the old guy. That’s what I get for watching while working.
We started watching last night. I love this show. It’s “Grimm” plus “Conan the Barbarian” and a little GoT for spice. I think I’m actually helped by not having read the books or played the games. I don’t have any preconceived ideas about how it should be.
The one thing that is really bugging me is Geralt’s hair. Even when he’s covered in mud, the ends of his hair always look like he’s just had it razor cut in a salon. Perfectly trimmed. Everyone else’s hair gets actually messed up, so it’s just annoying.
Yeah, his hair is too long to stay that neat while being that active.
I had heard that his hair was bleached by what was done to him to make him a witcher, and implied that ALL his hair was rendered colorless. But his eyebrows and body hair are dark in the show, not to mention beard stubble. OK, OK, I get that there are logistical problems with bleaching every hair on Henry Cavill’s body, and I’m glad they didn’t just shave him bald because I sort of a like a man with body hair, so I’ll just have to go with it. Really, I’m happy they didn’t shave him bald (barbarian warriors always perfectly clean shaven are just as annoying as ones with hair that never gets tangled or out of sorts). I’ll just accept that for the TV version only Geralt’s scalp hair is white.
Really, for a guy in combat that often he needs to either get a buzz cut or tie it up better, some braids or something. It’s just the right length to get in his eyes/face/mouth while spinning around and doing stuff (says a person who has had long hair all her life and dealt with that sort of problem by getting good at braids early). It’s sexy as all hell but for guy making his living by killing monsters sexy isn’t worth getting killed over.
Okay, powered through all eight and after going in with low expectations…
…it’s honestly better than I expected. Not a triumph exactly, but well worth watching as a fan at least. I particularly liked that they didn’t try to soften Yennefer. You( or at least I )find yourself rooting for her even though she is frequently a power-obsessed, arrogant, manipulative asshole. The fact that you get to see how she ended up so damaged helps.
I thought the bard stuff might be tough to take, but he actually wasn’t too grating as a comedic sidekick.
Ciri gets a bit short-changed as far as narrative growth, but that’s sort of to be expected given her age and situation.
Not sure I like this iteration of Nilfgaard. It’s a bit too black and white evil/fantasy bad guy as portrayed. The Witcher should really be about shades of grey, but I guess an ideological Big Bad plays better for TV audiences.
It would have just been an easter egg for people who played Witcher 3, but they really should have had him get progressively more stubbly and bearded throughout the season. Then he could have started the next season clean shaven again :). A dynamic growing beard and paying to get it shaved was a feature in the game.
Pedantic canonical correction about the bodyguards for those who care about such things:
The first part is correct, but the second is not canon( unless changed for the show, don’t know why they would bother ). The bodyguards are human and were presumably saved from falling by Borch. They’re Zerrikanians, who are a people some of whom worship dragons, hence the utter dedication. Not really possible to pick this up in the show though, so your guess is really as good as any.
My exposure to The Witcher was via playing through Witcher 3. I never got around to reading the books. I binged the series over the weekend. Personally I enjoyed it.
I thought the budget showed in a few spots here and there, but you can’t expect GoT level budgets here, and IMO it wasn’t particularly distracting.
I didn’t pick up on the non-linear storylines until about episode four or so.
The only disappointing thing for me was Triss’s casting. Nothing wrong with the acting ability, but where was that wonderful red hair? 
One thing I was curious about, was I presume it was a prosthetic on Yennefer’s face. If so I thought it was very well done.
I’m familiar with and quite like the universe from the PC game series and this show makes me feel dumb. I can’t follow half the plots with the non-linear storyline and unexplained canon.
But my biggest gripe is that Gerald doesn’t carry two swords. I can only assume the combat acrobatics would be more difficult for the actor with a big-ass sword still on his back but that’s still garbage.
The timelines will make more sense when it hits episode 8 - there is really one 2 timelines
The Witcher’s - is linear as he lives/adventures to meet his destiny
The Princess’s - also linear - but starts much later overall.
Episode(s) 7 and 8 line it all up.
I so wanted this to be good and I am so disappointed. I’ll give Season 2 a chance in hopes that once the threesome gets together things will pick up.
The music often reminds me of “Black Sails”. It doesn’t show the same composer, so maybe only because it uses a hurdy-gurdy (?) a lot. But it feels like certain themes from “Black Sails” were used as inspiration.
Perhaps part of the problem is that this show is based on the books and not the PC game?
Eh, I think carry two swords at once is the garbage thing. You can get away with that in a computer game, but in real life…? In the books he only carried one sword at a time and kept the other on his horse.
Seriously, your biggest gripe is he’s only carrying one sword at a time?
Three really, Yeneffer’s story starts much earlier than the Witchers. She spends 30 years at her first posting before bailing. I believe they also talk about Queen Calenthe’s parents still ruling.
The show is a bit uneven, sometimes fantastic, sometimes not so good, but it’s generally well done and we look forward to season two. I am afraid that the non-linear storytelling ended up just making things more muddled for general audiences, though, than being a clever storytelling device.