Even Henry Cavill Fans Have To Admit This Harsh Truth About The Witcher

Netflix’s The Witcher is back with its fourth season, which hasn’t been well-received by long-time fans, but there’s a harsh truth about the show that even Henry Cavill fans have to admit. Netflix is home to many great fantasy shows, and one of its biggest releases to date is The Witcher, based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s book series.

The Witcher had a strong start with its first season, but trouble began not long after. The biggest shake-up was when Henry Cavill left The Witcher after season 3 and Liam Hemsworth was cast as Geralt, so there was a lot of anticipation and curiosity around season 4. Unfortunately, season 4 hasn’t been well-received.

Despite its strengths, a much better story than previous seasons, and Hemsworth’s solid performance as Geralt, The Witcher season 4 hasn’t performed well. While many attribute this to the show’s Geralt recast, the truth is that the problems of The Witcher began way before Henry Cavill’s departure.

The Witcher’s Problems Started Long Before Henry Cavill Was Recast

The path of Netflix’s The Witcher so far has been quite uneven. Season 1 was a big hit for the streamer, and despite its flaws (such as its confusing non-linear narrative), it attracted an audience that was looking forward to the show’s second season. Unfortunately, season 2 is where the Witcher’s problems truly started.

Although season 2 of The Witcher is the one with the highest critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, its popcornmeter was a lot lower than season 1’s, and in this specific case, that’s what actually counts. In terms of production value and performances, The Witcher season 2 is definitely an improvement on season 1, but it failed at its most important elements.

Why The Witcher Season 2 Is The Show’s Worst

The Witcher season 1 had Geralt, Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), and Ciri (Freya Allan) separated in different places and timelines, with Geralt and Ciri finding each other right at the end of the season as they are destined to be together by the Law of Surprise.

Thanks to this, The Witcher season 2 was expected to explore the dynamic between Geralt and Ciri and later theirs with Yennefer, forming the family bond they are known for in the books and video games. Unfortunately, the team behind The Witcher made too many unnecessary changes to the source material of season 2.

The biggest and most controversial changes that The Witcher season 2 made were all about Yennefer. At the end of season 1, Yennefer was missing after channeling her chaos to use fire magic at the Battle of Sodden, and at the beginning of season 2, it was revealed that she had been found and captured by Nilfgaardian soldiers, but she no longer had her powers.

Yennefer and Fringilla were later captured by elves, and with Francesca, they met the Voleth Meir or Deathless Mother. This mysterious entity showed Yennefer what she needed to get her powers back: she had to find Ciri and hand her to the Voleth Meir.

This turned Yennefer into a villain through most of season 2, redeeming herself right at the end of the season by sacrificing herself to the Voleth Meir to save Ciri. Given her whole journey before that moment, Yennefer’s redemption was very hard to believe. Because of this, The Witcher season 2 skipped the beginnings of the family bond between its three main characters.

This led to The Witcher season 3 rushing through it with a montage that showed Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri being a family, but it felt forced. The same happened when Yennefer called Ciri “my daughter” for the first time, a moment that felt undeserving and like it came out of nowhere, as there was no real focus on their family bond.

The problems of The Witcher season 2 didn’t stay in this season, and they had an impact on the subsequent seasons, changing their rhythm and forcing them to rush through certain stories so the characters could get where they should be.

The Witcher Season 4 Is The Closest The Show Has Been To The Books

Given its source material, The Witcher will always be compared to it, and that’s an area where it has deeply struggled from the beginning. Season 1 of The Witcher covered many events needed to give context to the big journeys of Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri, and while it made some changes to the characters, especially Geralt, these were generally well-received.

However, as explained above, season 2 heavily deviated from the books. This was the biggest criticism about The Witcher season 2, and has continued to be in subsequent seasons despite how loyal to their source novels they were. Season 3 was a huge improvement, especially with the buildup to the Thanedd Coup and the coup itself, and so was season 4.

The Witcher season 4 is the one that feels more like the books, and it has significant narrative improvements, but, unfortunately, these aren’t being recognized. The Witcher dug its own grave with its bad decisions in season 2, and not even fixing these in the seasons that have followed has made up for them.

How The Witcher Season 5 Can Further Improve The Show

The Witcher season 5 has all types of challenges ahead: it’s not only the show’s last, but it also has to follow up on one of its best seasons that, at the same time, is one of its most divisive ones. On top of that, The Witcher season 5 has a lot to cover to give Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer the ending they deserve.

The best way to go for The Witcher season 5 is to be as loyal to the remaining novels as possible, leave unnecessary storylines and characters aside, and address all loose ends left by the previous seasons. Liam Hemsworth had a huge challenge ahead when he joined The Witcher and did a great job as Geralt, but he’s not the reason for the show’s decline.

Release Date

December 20, 2019

Network

Netflix

Showrunner

Lauren Schmidt Hissrich

Directors

Stephen Surjik, Charlotte Brändström, Edward Bazalgette, Loni Peristere, Louise Hooper, Bola Ogun, Alex Garcia Lopez, Gandja Monteiro, Sarah O’Gorman

Writers

Haily Hall, Clare Higgins, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Jenny Klein, Tania Lotia

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  Anya Chalotra

  Yennefer of Vengerberg