This is what happens when you ruin your adaptation with mind numbingly stupid fanfiction. The Witcher Season 3 Ep. 1 was one of the better episodes to come out of the show in its three-season runtime, yet the stupidity of Season 2 made this episode feel like obvious backtracking to stay on air.
It’s pretty obvious these writers are harking back to the books for the sake of their career and show, but even in the face of disaster, they can’t get out of their own way.
The first episode of The Witcher Season 3 had some key elements from the novels imbedded into the main plot to make it watchable, but the shortcomings of these writer’s story-telling abilities, the disaster of Season 2, and their foolhardy insistence on “making their own story” made this episode pretty bland overall. And, to be honest, I’m surprised I’m praising this episode at all.
I’m going to give credit where credit is due and say that the interactions between Ciri, Yennefer, and Geralt (and then their journey with Yarpen and Jaskier) was some of the best television that’s come out of this franchise to date. The chemistry between the three actors was on full display as I really believed the mother-father dynamic Geralt and Yennefer had towards Ciri, while their playful moments, training sessions, and family dinner moments were a joy to watch.
Plus, as I hinted at, the moments with Yarpen and Jaskier were also really cool as the show truly managed to translate the relationships these characters had with one another in the books onto the silver screen. Honestly, it was the most faithful and believable moments the show has adapted from Andrzej Sapkowski to date…which is a great compliment in of itself.
(Netflix-The Witcher-Season 3 Official Trailer)
It’s just a shame that the writers had to use all of their brainpower on loosely adapting a few scenes from Sapkowski’s novels as the rest of the episode was complete crap.
I don’t really know where to start with this episode as it was clear the writers were trying to incorporate parts of Time of Contempt (Sapkowski’s 2nd book) as faithfully as possible due to the backlash Season 2 got for being garbage fanfiction, yet said fanfiction has to bleed over into this season for the show to make sense.
So, even though the family dynamic between Yennefer, Ciri, and Geralt was great and a good adaptation from the books, the prior knowledge that Yennefer tried SACRIFICING CIRI TO A DEMON in Season 2 creeped back into my mind whenever I was getting into the show. And, the show really didn’t help me forget that Yennefer is a would-be child murderer as she tried justifying herself to Geralt and Ciri by saying “she was desperate” and that “she would never make the mistake again”.
Now, I probably could get over the rift in their familial relationship (which was not in the books…because Sapkowski obviously doesn’t have the literary mind and skills of a dead toad like these writers) if Yennefer had just stolen something from Ciri and/or Geralt or lied to them, but she was trying to SACRIFICE CIRI TO A DEMON.
(Netflix-The Witcher-Season 3 Official Trailer)
It really doesn’t get much worse than that, and it makes Geralt choice to leave Ciri ALONE WITH YENNEFER again at the end of the episode even more stupid and baffling. Though, even with these logical inconsistencies, this was easily the best plot as the other two, Redania and the Scoia’tael, were even more braindead.
These writers have completely butchered the characters of Radovid, Francesca Findabair, Jaskier, King Vizimir, and Philippa Eilhart as all of them either made some of the stupidest decisions imaginable, character-breaking decisions, or were writer completely different than how their characters were portrayed in the books and games.
Radovid was turned from a ruthless, fantastic general (and the son of King Vizimir to his younger brother) into an obnoxious frat boy who may or may not be drooling over Jaskier (I’m praying they don’t go down that route), Philippa Eilhart is now a weak, mocked moron who gets disregarded by Dijkstra AND Radovid despite being the most political shrewd and calculating sorcerer in the North, Francesca Findabair got nerfed from one of the most powerful, tactful, and politically ambitious sorceresses in the world into a buffoon who loses the moral of her troops and gets bodied by Yennefer after a single magic attack, and Jaskier was transformed from a free loving, fun-loving bard into a scheming elven freedom fighter.
If you could go on trial for character assassination, then the showrunners and writers of The Witcher would all be put behind bars for life for what they did to these characters. They don’t have even a hint of the characterization they have in the books, while their plotlines make less sense than the plot to Gotti (2018).
I haven’t watched the rest of the Volume I yet, so I can’t give my opinion on how the rest of the episodes plays out. But I highly doubt they’re any better than this one.
Episode 1 of The Witcher Season 3 gets a 4.5/10 from me.
Images Source: Featured Image: (Netflix) (The Witcher: Season 3 | Official Trailer | Netflix – YouTube)
In Text Image 1: (Netflix) (The Witcher: Season 3 | Official Trailer | Netflix – YouTube)
In Text Image 2: (Netflix) (The Witcher: Season 3 | Official Trailer | Netflix – YouTube)
