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I finished The Witcher yesterday. And it was so much better in the 2nd half.
Major spoilers for the show and for the books below.
Episodes 5 and 6 were both pretty good. Episode 5 was “when Geralt met Yennefer”, which meh... But there was a lot of Jaskier. He’s very cute and his friendship with Geralt is wonderful.
Episode 6 was based on “Granica możliwości” (The Bounds of Reason), which is one of my favorite short stories. And Borch is my favorite one-off character in the saga. Show Borch looked nothing like Sapkowski described him, but he was really great. And Tea and Vea were both fantastic.
The last two episodes were ok, too. Vilgefortz is super hot, as he should be. :) And the actor is good, so I can’t wait to watch Vilgefortz in all his evil glory in season 2.
But Ciri’s part of the story was rather boring IMO. And I think it is a mistake that they don’t have Geralt and Ciri meet in Brokilon forest first, like in the books, and form a connection before Geralt even knew who Ciri was. Without that meeting them finding each other in the last episode loses all emotional impact. At least it does for me.
That last episode “Much More” is based on “Coś więcej” (Something More – the last story from Sword of Destiny). And this is my favorite short story. It’s wonderful and moving, and it always makes me cry. And I read it at least 10 times, if not more.
I was waiting for Geralt and Ciri meeting, but that was, as I've said, disappointing. But mainly I wanted to see what they would do with Visenna. The actress was fine, but her and Geralt’s meeting was kind of disappointing, too. I guess for me it was more moving when we knew what Geralt was thinking in that scene, what his reaction was when he recognized her. When we could see all the complicated, tangled emotions – the resentment, the anger, the bitterness. But also the longing and the desperate need for some answers that he knew wouldn’t bring him any relief even if he got them.
In the story one passage especially gets me:
- Nie – powiedziała łagodnie, cicho, aksamitnie, głosem, który drążył, który szarpał pokładami pamięci, pamięci, której już nie było. Której nigdy nie było, a przecież była.
My rough translation:
“No”, she said gently, softly, in a mellow voice, voice that penetrated, that tugged at the seams of memory, memory, that wasn’t there. That was never there, and yet it was.
To sum it up – some things I liked a lot (Jaskier, Yennefer), some I didn’t. But I did enjoy watching the show for the most part. And I will watch the 2nd season for sure.
Major spoilers for the show and for the books below.
Episodes 5 and 6 were both pretty good. Episode 5 was “when Geralt met Yennefer”, which meh... But there was a lot of Jaskier. He’s very cute and his friendship with Geralt is wonderful.
Episode 6 was based on “Granica możliwości” (The Bounds of Reason), which is one of my favorite short stories. And Borch is my favorite one-off character in the saga. Show Borch looked nothing like Sapkowski described him, but he was really great. And Tea and Vea were both fantastic.
The last two episodes were ok, too. Vilgefortz is super hot, as he should be. :) And the actor is good, so I can’t wait to watch Vilgefortz in all his evil glory in season 2.
But Ciri’s part of the story was rather boring IMO. And I think it is a mistake that they don’t have Geralt and Ciri meet in Brokilon forest first, like in the books, and form a connection before Geralt even knew who Ciri was. Without that meeting them finding each other in the last episode loses all emotional impact. At least it does for me.
That last episode “Much More” is based on “Coś więcej” (Something More – the last story from Sword of Destiny). And this is my favorite short story. It’s wonderful and moving, and it always makes me cry. And I read it at least 10 times, if not more.
I was waiting for Geralt and Ciri meeting, but that was, as I've said, disappointing. But mainly I wanted to see what they would do with Visenna. The actress was fine, but her and Geralt’s meeting was kind of disappointing, too. I guess for me it was more moving when we knew what Geralt was thinking in that scene, what his reaction was when he recognized her. When we could see all the complicated, tangled emotions – the resentment, the anger, the bitterness. But also the longing and the desperate need for some answers that he knew wouldn’t bring him any relief even if he got them.
In the story one passage especially gets me:
- Nie – powiedziała łagodnie, cicho, aksamitnie, głosem, który drążył, który szarpał pokładami pamięci, pamięci, której już nie było. Której nigdy nie było, a przecież była.
My rough translation:
“No”, she said gently, softly, in a mellow voice, voice that penetrated, that tugged at the seams of memory, memory, that wasn’t there. That was never there, and yet it was.
To sum it up – some things I liked a lot (Jaskier, Yennefer), some I didn’t. But I did enjoy watching the show for the most part. And I will watch the 2nd season for sure.
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I have to say that I would be ruly scared if some US service with a lot of money decided to turn one of my absolute favorite naratives into a series. there are just so many things to get wrong. So I am glad that you could enjoy some of the show!
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Heh, yes, that's true. I'm definitely not saying that Sapkowski is flawless and did everything right. And the show definitely improved some things (Jaskier is a big one for me). But for a man in his forties in Poland in the nineties he did quite well when it comes to female characters and orientations other than heterosexual.
Not gonna lie I would love to have a Polish TV show based on The Witcher saga done with Netflix's budget (the one made in 2002 was abysmal and we don't talk about it ;)). I saw people complaining about special effects. But IMO they were rather good and didn't look cheap.
I hope you'll enjoy the show. I will be very interested in your opinion if you would like to share it in the future.