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Review: ‘The Witcher,’ a Netflix Heavy Hitter, Finally Returns

Still ranking in the service’s Top 5 in viewership, the medieval fantasy is back for a second season after a two-year hiatus.

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By Mike Hale

Before “Squid Game,” before “Bridgerton,” there was “The Witcher.”

In late 2019, it was by some measures the most popular television show in the world, and it was Netflix’s second most-viewed TV debut to that point. Then Covid-19 set in, and two years passed without more “Witcher.” A few shows, notably “Squid Game,” overtook it in the all-time Netflix rankings. But Season 1 of “The Witcher” is still hanging in there , comfortably in fifth place.

That’s impressive, and a little surprising, for a “Game of Thrones”-on-a-budget sword-and-sorcery adventure whose visual and dramatic quality ranged from “hey, not bad” to “[helpless giggle].” Maybe it was a testament to the popularity of the source material, a cycle of stories and novels by the Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski that has also inspired a successful video-game franchise. Maybe the audience for sprawling medieval fantasy, even when it’s medium grade, is simply that large.

Or maybe people were just drawn in by the show’s charms, of which it had several: a playful sense of humor (an area in which it scored quite a bit higher than “Game of Thrones”); a refreshingly straightforward episodic structure; and an amusing, minimalist performance by Henry Cavill as the witcher, Geralt, a mutant mercenary charged with hunting down all manner of C.G.I. beasts.

Now the show’s pandemic-delayed second season is here, premiering Friday on Netflix, and based on six of the eight episodes, a lot of what made the series charming has been set aside. But that may not stop it from racking up equally impressive viewership numbers this time around.

Picking up in the wake of the scorched-earth battle between kingdoms that ended Season 1, the show takes Geralt away from peripatetic monster-slaying for hire and puts him on a narrower path, as bodyguard and teacher to Ciri (Freya Allan), the refugee princess with mysterious powers. The third major character, the mage Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), has lost her magic and is also on the run. Jaskier (Joey Batey), the traveling bard — the 13th century’s version of a fabulous cabaret star — who was responsible for much of the sniping humor is offstage in the early episodes.

It feels as if, after the good times of Season 1, the series’s creator and showrunner, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, decided it was time to get serious — to start incorporating more of the elaborate mythology and terminology of Sapkowski’s books.

Now there are more and longer conversations filling in the history of the story’s setting, called the Continent, and of the various species who inhabit it, including elves, dwarves and humans. Geralt and Ciri come off the road and hunker down in a witcher fortress where she trains to be a warrior, leading to discussions of whether she’s a savior or a destroyer. (There’s also a sheen of topicality, with elves representing an oppressed Indigenous population.)

We also get a raft of new characters, some of whom seem to pop up out of nowhere; keeping track of all the faces and folklore, not to mention beasts — a grisly central European menagerie of wyverns, strzygas, chernobogs and the like — starts to feel like studying for a final exam without any notes.

On the positive side, the influx of new cast members includes Simon Callow and Liz Carr as a pair of paranormal investigators, Kim Bodnia of “The Bridge” as a veteran witcher and the “Game of Thrones” alumnus Kristofer Hivju as a tusked nobleman in a subplot recalling “Beauty and the Beast.” The story lines begin to coalesce, and the action begins to pick up, around the fifth episode.

Cavill, who’s as lethal with a disappointed sigh or a sidelong glance as Geralt is with a dagger, is still a steady, engaging presence at the center of the action. Geralt’s scenes with his new sidekick, the somewhat grim young Ciri, don’t have the kick of his banter in Season 1 with Jaskier, though. The new season also finds less time for heart-to-hearts between Geralt and the one character who really understands him, his horse, Roach.

Overall, you probably know whether you’re the kind of viewer who’s willing to add another complicated Brothers Grimm-meets-Middle Earth saga to your schedule. And if you like your costumed fantasies mythology-forward and you find the mechanics of world building to be an end in themselves, then this new, more mysterious and portentous season of “The Witcher” may be for you. Plan accordingly.

Mike Hale is a television critic. He also writes about online video, film and media. He came to The Times in 1995 and worked as an editor in Sports, Arts & Leisure and Weekend Arts before becoming a critic in 2009. More about Mike Hale

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The Witcher: Season 1 Reviews

All told, this is a fun, often thrilling romp...

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 13, 2021

The world inhabited by Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer is as fascinating as their story is compelling.

Full Review | Jul 13, 2021

Each episode gets stronger as the season progresses, and ultimately satisfies the fantasy itch.

Full Review | May 3, 2021

Henry Cavill reinvents himself as Geralt, while Anya Chalotra steals the show from start to finish in The Witcher, an epic fantasy series that will definitely fill the void in your life left by Game of Thrones.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 10, 2020

I didn't know what to expect beyond "mature" fantasy, but what I got was three interesting plot threads tied together with some really impressive sword fights and magic.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jul 28, 2020

It relies so much on the gameplay of it and what people love about the game, it's like they forgot how to make a TV show.

Full Review | Jul 15, 2020

The [action] is of a kinetic and impressively top-shelf variety, Cavill's Geralt moving like a man possessed as he rends flesh from bone and engages in some surprisingly balletic bouts of swordplay.

Full Review | Feb 24, 2020

The Witcher is basically Game of Thrones, if Game of Thrones took itself less seriously.

Full Review | Feb 20, 2020

Part GOT, LOTR and Harry Potter, The Witcher's first season is a winner. Henry Cavill is perfectly cast in this sexy, fantastical world with lots of potential. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 26, 2020

When movies featured on RiffTrax do a better job of establishing a plot and characters than your TV show, you have a problem.

Full Review | Jan 18, 2020

I wouldn't say it's the Game of Thrones killer Netflix were wishing for, but The Witcher is still worth a watch.

Full Review | Jan 17, 2020

For all its massive scale, The Witcher is a surprisingly small story centered around three appealing main characters.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jan 14, 2020

When the worst thing you can say about a series is that every episode ends up being better than the one that preceded it, that leaves an exciting amount of room to grow.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Jan 14, 2020

It's a really entertaining fantasy epic with really charismatic characters and actors who make them so.

Full Review | Jan 13, 2020

The Witcher, for all its convoluted inanity, manages to buck expectations of female characters in a TV fantasy series simply by writing them the way men in the genre normally are.

Full Review | Jan 11, 2020

An enjoyable romp with spectacular effects and impressive battle sequences, but as it stands it doesn't have the same grip as some of its fantasy predecessors.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 10, 2020

Violent medieval monster mayhem is mature fun, has nudity.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 10, 2020

It effectively introduces a credible and realistic fantasy world, populated by characters who can't be defined as either good or bad. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 7, 2020

Proves very rewarding for audiences willing to invest without preconceived notions on how it should play out.

Full Review | Original Score: 8.5/10 | Jan 7, 2020

Even with the hardcore fantasy elements and mesmerizing sword fighting, The Witcher feels like both a high stakes fantasy drama and a bit of a western, nailing down the lone ranger trope with Geralt fairly easily.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Jan 7, 2020

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The Witcher Season 3 First Reviews: Henry Cavill Mesmerizes in His Final Run as Geralt, Critics Say

"funny, bloody, and sexy" — check out what the critics have to say about the third season of netflix's hit fantasy series..

TAGGED AS: Netflix , streaming , television , TV

Henry Cavill makes his triumphant return as Geralt of Rivia in the third installment of The Witcher , which just hit Netflix. Continuing the adventures of the brooding monster hunter and sometime-companions Ciri of Cintra ( Freya Allan ), Yennefer of Vengerberg ( Anya Chalotra ), and Jaskier ( Joey Batey ), the new run of episodes (which draw from Andrzej Sapkowski’s second “The Witcher” book, “Time of Contempt”) will find Geralt doing anything he can to protect his found family – and Ciri’s growing powers – against an onslaught of dark forces.

Joining Cavill, Allan, Chalotra, and Batey in the new season are MyAnna Buring as Tissaia; Mahesh Jadu as Vilgefortz of Roggeveen; Anna Shaffer as Triss Merigold; Royce Pierreson as Istredd; Lars Mikkelsen as Stregobor; Eamon Farren as Cahir; Mimî M. Khayisa as Fringilla Vigo; Mecia Simson as Francesca Findabair; Cassie Clare as Philippa Eilhart; Graham McTavish as Sigismund Dijkstra; Robbie Amell as Gallatin; Meng’er Zhang as Milva; and Hugh Skinner as Prince Radovid.

Season 3 marks Cavill’s final run as the titular hero (Liam Hemsworth will take on the role in season 4) and is being broken up into two parts, with Volume 2 set to drop on Thursday, July 27. Needless to say, the anticipation is high for the new season, but do these new episodes deliver the goods?

Here’s what critics are saying about season 3 of The Witcher :

How does it compare to previous seasons?

This latest season is far and away The Witcher’s most political outing yet, trading in gnarly monster fights for exposition-heavy negotiations, secretive plotting, and backroom dealing between a wide variety of elves, mages, and human kings, all with their own goals and agendas. — Lacy Baugher, Paste Magazine

One of the major complaints about The Witcher (at least in Season 2) was how much it deviated from the plot of Blood of Elves. Although the third season at least tries to broadly follow Time of Contempt, its past deviations from the source material really hinder the show as it wades more and more into the geopolitics of the world. — Christian Hoffer, ComicBook.com

The opening entry of the third season continues that fast-out-the-blocks trend and is, in many ways, the volume at the height of its powers – but sets a standard that is rarely reached again in the remaining episodes. — Bradley Russell, Total Film

The sprawling universe that has been established in the first two seasons feels just as expansive as ever in its third run of episodes. But where in the past the multitude of characters has felt unwieldy, this time around the various plotlines are finally beginning to converge on one another. — Amon Warmann, Empire Magazine

The first half of the season gets back to what made the show so successful in the first place. — Andrew Webster, The Verge

How is Henry Cavill?

Really, it falls to Cavill to carry the whole thing, which he does with aplomb. The man utterly sells it: you care about Geralt, and when he is not on screen, the whole thing suffers. This series will be poorer without him. — Vicky Jessup, London Evening Standard

As far as swan songs go, Season 3 of The Witcher is an unexpectedly exceptional one for Cavill’s Geralt… — Carly Lane, Collider

Over the course of the first five episodes, viewers are reminded just how much Cavill’s brooding but compelling take on Geralt elevates the show from the standard fantasy B-show fare that is Netflix’s bread and butter to one of the platform’s top shows. — Christian Hoffer, ComicBook.com

What about the rest of the cast?

A great showcase for the chemistry between Henry Cavill, Anya Chalortra, and Freya Allan. — Jarrod Jones, IGN Movies

Joey Batey does a fine job at bringing a sense of resigned anguish to the jovial and quippy Jaskier, but Anya Chalotra is too subdued playing the now humbled Yennefer and Freya Allan feels a bit too one-note at times when capturing Ciri’s defiance. — Christian Hoffer, ComicBook.com

Jaskier (Joey Batey) hams it up big time, and watching him and Geralt spar with each other is always a joy, even as he’s struggling with his own loyalties. — Vicky Jessup, London Evening Standard

Chalotra and Allan wholeheartedly bring the weight necessary to these scenes, as Yennefer discovers that she can still be a mother to someone even if it isn’t how she originally hoped or planned for while Ciri begins to think of the sorceress as someone to look to when she needs help — just like she already does with Geralt. Allan, especially, carries one Season 3 episode entirely on her shoulders, ensuring that the future of this series rests with her character in particular. — Carly Lane, Collider

Freya Allan continues to shine in The Witcher’s most underappreciated role, imbuing Ciri with a potent mixture of heart and grit that makes her endlessly compelling to watch. — Lacy Baugher, Paste Magazine

Do the action sequences deliver?

There’s action aplenty, a monster or two, and a solid emotional core. — Jonathan Wilson, Ready Steady Cut

The strongest bits of The Witcher is when Cavill gets to draw his sword to face weird and horrifying monsters. The monsters are definitely terrifying this season and one thing the show does well is make Cavill look believable as a professional monster hunter who is equally proficient at killing people. The fight choreography and direction during these scenes in The Witcher are still a highlight, although the show’s plot somewhat regrettably means we have fewer of those fights this season. — Christian Hoffer, ComicBook.com

That long goodbye, though, carries plenty of promise. The combat has gone up a notch, no doubt bolstered by the return of fight coordinator Wolfgang Stegemann. The fantasy series also sets up plenty of fearsome roadblocks that viewers will surely delight in seeing Geralt eagerly crash through when the second volume drops in July. — Bradley Russell, Total Film

The fight scenes are as beautiful and gruesome as they’ve ever been, but they feel particularly great when Ciri gets into the mix and holds her own. — Jen Lennon, AV Club

How is the writing and directing?

(Photo by Netflix)

The Witcher may desire to be the next Game of Thrones … but the kind of character writing it wants to emulate was done a hundred times better by the real successor, House of the Dragon. The Witcher can’t even hold a candle. — Akhil Arora, AkhilArora.com

even seasoned watchers might be hard-pressed to keep up with this season’s knottier twists and even more bloated character roster – to the point that they might find themselves yawning through frequent detours into clunky plot development chit-chat just to get to the fun stuff. — Jarrod Jones, IGN Movies

The Witcher Season 3 is an immense political and magical story cleverly woven through five episodes, with the actors appearing well settled in their roles by this point — a quality that could prove troublesome once Cavill leaves the series. — Shannon Connellan, Mashable

But there’s also so much going on that it feels burdensome to navigate, as we’re whipped frustratingly to and fro by the needs of a screenplay that has left loose ends dangling since the very first season. — Jonathan Wilson, Ready Steady Cut

The Witcher quickly becomes bogged down in warring kingdoms and a battle that never dares make its way on-screen. The show often struggles under the weight of juggling these plots, with the continual back-and-forth between Geralt’s protection of Ciri and the attention given to the world around them gifting the season an uneven shape. — Bradley Russell, Total Film

Any final thoughts?

It’s a shame that Cavill won’t be present to see the show through to its conclusion, but given what Season 3 of The Witcher establishes in terms of mounting conflict, rich character growth and relationships, and phenomenal performances, there’s still plenty worth tuning in for into a fourth season and beyond. — Carly Lane, Collider

Can the show cope without Henry Cavill? It will be painful, but The Witcher has enough going on for us to imagine life without him. — Jack Seale, Guardian

The Witcher show made its name based on Cavill killing monsters, but its underlying source material used those fights as a way to introduce Geralt to readers, but the show has failed to pivot to match the source material and is running out of time. — Christian Hoffer, ComicBook.com

Geralt and Ciri’s latest outing is a spectacular odyssey of family and destiny set within a world as brimming with history as it is in political schemes. — Andrew Murray, The Upcoming

In the meantime, the first half of The Witcher Season 3 remains a frustratingly messy adventure that still can’t quite capitalize on the franchise’s obvious potential. — Jonathan Wilson, Ready Steady Cut

Season 3 retains much of what makes The Witcher so enjoyable, mixing over half a dozen major characters, complicated relationships, and blockbuster storylines together to form something that’s simultaneously smart, self-aware, and loads of fun to watch. — Lacey Baugher, Paste Magazine

A return of form of sorts, bringing The Witcher back to the things that make it unique — it’s funny, bloody, and sexy. There’s even a bath scene, which is as Witcher as it gets. — Andrew Webster, The Verge

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Full-bore … Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher.

The Witcher review – the granite-muscled monster-slayer is back!

Why do the forests spend half their time on fire? What’s with the medieval game of Total Wipeout? Because it’s time for more fun with Henry Cavill’s swords-and-horses fantasy saga

T V’s foremost peripatetic monster-slayer is back. Season two of The Witcher (Netflix) lets us settle again into the granite-muscled embrace of Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, a wandering warrior looking for his place on the Continent – a faux-medieval land full of awful creatures, scheming rulers and forests that spend half their time on fire.

Last time out, the epic Battle of Sodden Hill coincided with Geralt finally meeting magical princess Ciri (Freya Allan), with whom he shares both a destiny and a love of coloured contact lenses. Now he must look after his new ward, while pining for up-and-coming sorceress Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), whom he wrongly thinks dead. Meanwhile, politics on the Continent become more complex. Basically, elves are up to something.

This is a full-bore fantasy saga with a sprawling world of antagonists to keep track of, including the smaller details of elven bloodlines, and knowing who’s Vizimir and who’s Vesemir.

The Witcher has ways of keeping your interest up, though. Naked bodies are the standard sweetener in the swords-and-horses genre, along with freely pouring blood, and this show does have both. But it prefers to deflate its own pomposity with blunt comedy, often provided by Joey Batey as Jaskier, an annoying bard in an unlikely purple leather jacket who helps see us through some mid-season episodes that get bogged down in straightening out the show’s mythology.

Even the three main characters, much as they gravely go on about prophecies and dynasties and whatnot, can display an admirable economy of speech – which offsets the grandeur of the landscapes, the palaces and the protagonists’ voluminous capes. “Fuck!” says Yennefer when she finds herself regaining consciousness in captivity. Geralt himself has a prosaic answer to Ciri’s naive suggestion that they seek refuge in a place called Skellige: “You’d be married off to the nearest Lord of Bad Breath.”

The Witcher also loves to treat us to a top British character actor, the sort who makes you say: “Oh good, it’s … whatshisname. From thingummy.” Here’s Kevin Doyle (Downton Abbey) as a cowardly elf! There’s Graham McTavish (Outlander) as an intimidating intelligence officer! Look out, it’s Simon Callow and Liz Carr (Silent Witness) as a pair of private investigators, poring over parchments in a book-lined hovel!

If all this is a distraction from The Witcher never really amounting to much, that’s not necessarily a problem. Season one was based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s short stories, since that was initially the Witcher author’s favoured format. In turn, The Witcher in its TV guise began as a monster-of-the-week show and it sticks with that for the first of the new episodes, sending Geralt and Ciri to stay in the mansion of eccentric beast-man Nivellen (Kristofer Hivju). He’s a raconteur who can make a roast dinner or a hot bath fall magically from the ceiling, but who struggles to find love due to his hairy, tusked face. A horror-tinged twist on Beauty and the Beast develops, which could happily be watched in isolation.

After that, though, season two bases itself largely on Sapkowski’s 1994 novel Blood of Elves and is more concerned with slow scene-setting. It has to take every opportunity to have fun among quite a lot of scenes of kings, queens, generals and magicians debating the nuances of their possible next moves. Much of the season is given over to Ciri training to fight alongside Geralt, which happens while they lodge with a senior Witcher named Vesemir (as opposed to Vizimir – he’s the churlish king of the Redanians). He’s played by Killing Eve/The Bridge star Kim Bodnia, who gives us his usual twinkly uncle with a dark side, enhanced by a ridiculous slicked-back long mullet. Ciri’s coming of age also involves an obstacle course that’s like an amusing medieval version of Total Wipeout, and there are some monsters to be slain, from a vengeful tree-man to a huge winged insectoid. When it needs them for a big dust-up, The Witcher’s special effects are flawless.

But it’s mostly marking time, with Geralt barely ever driving the action as he surely should. Careful as one must be in the Time of Covid not to be too harsh on shows that return feeling constrained and underpowered, that is how The Witcher feels, at the point where you might have expected it to widen into a grand spectacle. It’s a between-the-wars season that works hard to keep us entertained while we wait for Big Gerry to be given something momentous to do. We’re waiting a little too long, though.

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Netflix’s ‘the witcher’ season 2: tv review.

The second season of the epic fantasy series picks up with Geralt (Henry Cavill), Ciri (Freya Allan) and Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) in the aftermath of battle.

By Angie Han

Television Critic

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The first season of The Witcher may have been far from perfect, but in retrospect it’s impressive it worked as well as it did. Burdened with the challenge of building an expansive fantasy universe that would welcome existing fans in addition to total newbies, the series chose to braid together three different timelines — an approach so confusing, it necessitated a whole cottage industry of explainer articles. Still, some combination of cheeky humor and over-the-top drama coalesced into something genuinely satisfying by the end of the season, which finally saw the timelines converge at the explosive Battle of Sodden.

The second season of The Witcher benefits from all the groundwork laid out by the first. While the characters are still reeling from battle, the show itself feels much more assured in the first six (of eight) episodes sent to critics for review. The narrative arc is cleaner, with everyone on the same timeline. The characters are better explained — including key supporting players like Fringilla (Mimî M. Khayisa), who felt frustratingly opaque in season one. The themes are more polished. And in the most pleasant surprise of all, the series feels more emotionally effective than it ever has before. If season one was worth watching mostly to see what bizarre new monsters Geralt ( Henry Cavill ) might slay or what irresistible new tunes Jaskier (Joey Batey) might sing about them, the second feels worth watching simply because we give a damn about all these people.

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Netflix’s The Witcher is a dark, funny, and faithful adaptation of the fantasy series

The law of surprise.

By Andrew Webster , an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.

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You learn nearly everything you need to know about The Witcher hero Geralt (Henry Cavill) a few minutes into the first episode. The titular witcher — a work-for-hire monster hunter with some helpful superpowers — is first seen in a swamp, nearly killed by a giant spider monster, beaten and almost drowned. In the next scene, Geralt heads to a local pub for information on his next quest, only to be subjected to ridicule and scorn from villagers who are scared of his supernatural nature. Ultimately, he’s saved from a barroom brawl thanks to a helpful young woman, who very quickly becomes a romantic partner.

The Netflix adaptation captures the enigmatic hero perfectly. He’s struggling to survive in a world that hates him, stubbornly sticking to a moral code that forces him into dangerous situations. He’s gruff and sarcastic, always down for a fight, impossibly charming, and frequently irresistible. It’s a premise that worked well in book and video game form — and now it’s one of the best series on Netflix.

This review contains light spoilers.

The Witcher is based on a series of fantasy novels from Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, which reached a new level of global popularity thanks to a series of video games. 2015’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt , in particular, propelled the franchise to blockbuster status. Every iteration follows Geralt, part of an ancient and dwindling line of monster hunters known as witchers. They’re mutated from a young age to be stronger and faster, and the process also gives them limited magical abilities and prolonged life spans. Geralt is a gunslinger type, moseying into a town in trouble, slaying the inevitable magical beast, collecting his pay, and moving on.

In this way, The Witcher is different than most fantasy stories, including obvious contemporaries like Game of Thrones . It does have the elements of a vast epic tale — including plenty of political machinations and lots of warring kingdoms — but at its best, The Witcher is like a fantastical detective series, with Geralt investigating dangerous magical creatures and inevitably being pulled into much bigger conspiracies.

The structure feels true to the spirit of the series

What makes the new show work so well is the way it seamlessly blends together these two types of storytelling. There is an interesting overarching story. In addition to Geralt, the show also follows Ciri, a young princess with mysterious powers who is on the run from a rival kingdom, and Yennefer, a fiercely independent sorceress with grand ambitions. Viewers follow along as their three paths inevitably intertwine. But instead of the serialized approach favored by prestige television, for much of its runtime The Witcher has more of a “creature of the week” structure. (This changes in the final two episodes as the season rushes towards a conclusion that very clearly sets up the second season.)

Each episode — many of which are based explicitly on short stories from the books — tasks Geralt with solving a different monster-related problem, whether that’s a princess turned into a beast, or a vengeful djinn who has cursed his best friend, the bard Dandelion (who primarily goes by Jaskier in the show). The structure feels true to the spirit of the series, while also making it work well for television.

It also means that the show demands a bit more from viewers. Events in The Witcher don’t always unfold in chronological order, and there’s no explicit indication of whether you’re watching a scene in the past or present. Instead, you have to sort out the timing based on contextual clues: a line about an event you’ve already seen, or how close two characters have become. (Figuring out the timing isn’t helped by the fact that witchers and sorcerers barely age.) It took me a few episodes to get a solid sense of things. This also means The Witcher benefits from repeat viewings, where you can pick up on small details you may have missed the first time.

The most important part of The Witcher , though, is Geralt himself. I’ll admit: I was nervous after seeing the initial photos of Henry Cavill in a Party City-esque white wig, but he absolutely nails the role. His Geralt is the exact right blend of scary, sexy, and sarcastic. Even his gravelly voice is perfect. The wig may look strange at times, but ultimately it doesn’t distract from what makes Geralt interesting. You even get to see him in multiple bath scenes .

As a TV show, The Witcher is particularly refreshing in an era full of nihilistic fantasy stories inspired by Game of Thrones . Yes, the show gets brutal at times. The wonderfully choreographed fight scenes are extremely violent, as is one very particular and hard-to-watch magical transformation. It’s a show where — shock! — the bad guys are usually humans, not monsters. What makes The Witcher feel different, though, is in the details. These stories aren’t full of people being awful for the sake of it; they’re making choices based on love or survival, and then things go wrong. What makes The Witcher so compelling is how it delves into these gray areas, exploring why people do what they do. By the end, you’ll have some measure of sympathy for almost everyone, no matter how irredeemable they might seem at first.

‘The Witcher’ has a sense of humor

Crucially, The Witcher has a sense of humor. It’s not all dark and dire. Jaskier (Joey Batey) frequently plays the comedy relief, following Geralt around despite not being welcome, in order to turn Geralt’s exploits into song, sometimes breaking the fourth wall in the process. “There I go again,” he says at one point, “just delivering exposition.” When he meets the witcher for the first time, the bard tells him “I love the way you just sit in a corner and brood.” Meanwhile, Geralt’s quietly sarcastic nature is on full display. He can cut through any situation, no matter how awkward or horrible, with a frustrated “fuck.” And one of the show’s most dramatic sex scenes is accompanied by a playful jig and gawking onlookers making jokes.

The Witcher could’ve very easily turned out wrong. It’s not hard to misinterpret what it is that actually makes the series interesting, but the TV adaptation gets it. The Witcher is funny, intense, and uncomfortable, and it balances out those disparate emotions almost perfectly. Yes, it stars Henry Cavill in a bad white wig, but you’ll forget about all of that as soon as he starts talking.

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The Witcher 1 Review: Is It Still Worth Playing in 2023? (RPG Rewind)
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COMMENTS

The Witcher | Rotten Tomatoes">The Witcher | Rotten Tomatoes
80% 201 Reviews Avg. Tomatometer 54% 25,000+ Ratings Avg. Audience Score The witcher Geralt, a mutated monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world in which people often prove more ...
Review: ‘The Witcher’ Finally Returns to Netflix - The New York Times">Review: ‘The Witcher’ Finally Returns to Netflix - The New York...
Review: ‘The Witcher,’ a Netflix Heavy Hitter, Finally Returns Still ranking in the service’s Top 5 in viewership, the medieval fantasy is back for a second season after a two-year hiatus ...
The Witcher: Season 1 | Rotten Tomatoes">The Witcher: Season 1 | Rotten Tomatoes
68% 91 Reviews Tomatometer 89% 10,000+ Ratings Audience Score The witcher Geralt, a mutated monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world in which people often prove more wicked than...
The Witcher: Season 1 - TV Reviews | Rotten Tomatoes">The Witcher: Season 1 - TV Reviews | Rotten Tomatoes
The world inhabited by Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer is as fascinating as their story is compelling. Full Review | Jul 13, 2021. Each episode gets stronger as the season progresses, and ultimately...
The Witcher Season 3 First Reviews: Henry Cavill Mesmerizes in His ...">The Witcher Season 3 First Reviews: Henry Cavill Mesmerizes in...
by Aaron Pruner | June 29, 2023 | Comments. TAGGED AS: Netflix, streaming, television, TV. Henry Cavill makes his triumphant return as Geralt of Rivia in the third installment of The Witcher, which just hit Netflix. Continuing the adventures of the brooding monster hunter and sometime-companions Ciri of Cintra ( Freya Allan ), Yennefer of ...
The Witcher review – the granite-muscled monster-slayer is back ...">The Witcher review – the granite-muscled monster-slayer is back...
Jack Seale. Fri 17 Dec 2021 01.00 EST. Last modified on Wed 14 Dec 2022 22.23 EST. T V’s foremost peripatetic monster-slayer is back. Season two of The Witcher (Netflix) lets us settle again ...
The Witcher Season 3 Volume 1 Review - IGN">The Witcher Season 3 Volume 1 Review - IGN
The Witcher Season 3 Volume 1 Review. The Witcher can swing a sword with the best of fantasy TV, but its third season sure makes the series' monster-slaying fun feel like work. Netflix 's ...
Netflix’s ‘The Witcher’ Season 2: TV Review - The Hollywood Reporter">Netflix’s ‘The Witcher’ Season 2: TV Review - The Hollywood...
Netflix’s ‘The Witcher’ Season 2: TV Review The second season of the epic fantasy series picks up with Geralt (Henry Cavill), Ciri (Freya Allan) and Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) in the aftermath ...
The Witcher review: a dark, funny, and faithful adaptation of the ...">The Witcher review: a dark, funny, and faithful adaptation of the...
The Witcher is funny, intense, and uncomfortable, and it balances out those disparate emotions almost perfectly. Yes, it stars Henry Cavill in a bad white wig, but you’ll forget about all of ...
The Witcher [Reviews] - IGN">The Witcher [Reviews] - IGN
The Witcher Season 3 Volume 2 Review. Jul 27, 2023 - Henry Cavill bows out gracefully in Netflix’s otherwise graceless third season. The Witcher Jarrod Jones. 246. The Witcher Season 3 Volume 1 ...