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| Taken from Google Images |
Title- The Witcher
Creators- Lauren Schmidt Hissrich
Cast- Henry Cavill, Freya Allan, Anya Chalotra, Joey Batey, MyAnna Buring, Eamon Farren and ensemble cast
Genre- fantasy, drama
Length- 8 episodes
Platform- Netflix
Rating- 4.5/5 stars
Plot
The story begins with Geralt of Rivia, Crown Princess Ciri of Cintra, and the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg at different points of time, exploring formative events that shape their characters throughout first season, before eventually merging into a single timeline.
Geralt and Ciri are linked by destiny since before she was born when he unknowingly demanded her as a reward for his services by invoking "the Law of Surprise". After the two finally meet, the witcher becomes the princess's protector and must help her and fight against her various pursuers to prevent her Elder Blood and powerful magic from being used for malevolent purposes and keep Ciri and their world safe.
Taken from Wikipedia
Opinions
I was swept up in The Witcher hype at the beginning of 2020, having never read the books or played the games. I really enjoyed it and went out and bought the first three books. I even rewatched it a few months after I had first watched, while we were plunged into lockdown. It became a favourite and a show I was excited for the second series. After a very long wait because of the pandemic, it finally arrived. I was only able to get to it in mid-January, a month after it released because I was so busy and tired with work. I wanted to savour it and enjoy it. I ended up watching it over three days and I bloody loved it.
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| Taken from Google Images |
This series had a much stronger overarching plot. It felt established and like it new what it was doing. While I liked the jumping around and different timelines in series one, I found myself engaging with this one more. This is odd because when I was reading the books I loved The Last Wish (which provided the stories/inspiration for series one) but really struggled with Blood of Elves (which was the inspiration for series two). I had a lot of expectations for series two and it didn't fail to meet them. I really liked when Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer finally all met together. It has a lot of potential for series three, for them being a little family unit. They're clearly meant to be and are connected to each other.
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| Taken from Google Images |
If you follow me on Twitter, then you might know that Jaskier is a favourite character of mine and I was beyond excited to see his return in series two. I wish he could have been introduced a bit earlier, as I was almost watching just to find out what happened to him and not the other characters. His introduction as the Sandpiper was great. Speaking of great, they had some more incredible songs in series two. They had a very difficult job of topping series one, but they did it. Burn, Butcher, Burn lives in my head. I've found a playlist on Spotify with all of his songs and I listen to it on repeat. I felt we got to explore a bit more of Jaskier this series. He wasn't just the comic relief. He went through a fairly traumatic time and his directness with Gerlat was really good. I hope they include Jaskier in the family dynamic in series three as he is an integral part of that family.
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| Taken from Google Images |
Let's talk about the ending. I audibly gasped when it was revealed that Dunny was the White Flame as I thought he was dead. That was a really good reveal. The end with Ciri being possessed made for a good battle, with Yennefer's sacrifice and getting her magic back feeling like a satisfying ending. It wasn't quite as dramatic a cliffhanger as series one. I found the plot line with the Elves somewhat predictable. I knew that something bad was going to happen to the baby Elf. I didn't see Francesca going on a baby killing spree, that was kinda haunting. There's a lot of room for great things to come in series three, but I'm not as desperate for it as I was for series two.
The production felt a lot tighter this series. I thought the sets, the costumes and the overall design of the show was beautiful. The stories and directing were great. I could talk for days about the music because I'm a sucker for a good soundtrack. It felt like a step up from series one, with even better things on the horizon for series three.
Overall, I really enjoyed this series. I'm glad I waited until I was in the right mindset to watch it as I think I enjoyed it more. Naturally, I am very excited for series three and I'm even tempted to dive back into the books, despite some of the problems I have. In the meantime, I'm going to impatiently wait for my Jaskier Pop Funko to arrive, while listening to my Jaskier playlist repeat.
What did you think of the Witcher series two??
