Netflix's The Witcher - Season 2

[DRK3]

Its coming out tomorrow!
As a huge fan of the books and games, i personally didnt like the 1st season at all, with the exception of a few characters and aspects.
But im still quite excited for this 2nd season, i have high hopes for huge improvements, and the reception it got so far (by critics who got early access) has supported these expectations.

The 2nd season will focus more on Geralt and Ciri, and will introduce our beloved other wolf school witcher trio: Lambert, Eskel and Papa Vesemir.

And on the Gwent side, to mark the occasion, (shameless plug time ) i will make a special deck featuring all these characters and theme, coming out tomorrow too:

Deck of the Day

It includes all 3 versions of Saskia, because why not? Saesenthessis: Blaze cries in shame.

forums.cdprojektred.com

Feel free to use this thread to discuss the series and share your opinions, but use the spoilers feature to prevent ruining the experience to other viewers who havent watched it yet.

 

[Feline_Witcher]

I strongly disliked and even laughed at (quite hard) Season 1. That being said, I'm looking forward to S2 and the witcher lore finally making a proper appearance

 

[Riven-Twain]

To be honest, although I am quite fond of the games, and enjoy many parts of the books, all the previews and fragments I have caught from the Netflix adaptation have failed to pique my interest. Something about the style and aesthetic doesn't quite 'click' with my vision of the Witcher's world. I may watch it, some day, out of mere curiosity, but it remains rather a low priority.

 

[Feline_Witcher]

To be honest, although I am quite fond of the games, and enjoy many parts of the books, all the previews and fragments I have caught from the Netflix adaptation have failed to pique my interest. Something about the style and aesthetic doesn't quite 'click' with my vision of the Witcher's world. I may watch it, some day, out of mere curiosity, but it remains rather a low priority.

The aesthetics are indeed horrid (looks like Geralt is wearing the carnival costume version of the Kaer Morhen armor, he's clearly wearing a wig and DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE FUCKING CONTACT LENSES IN THIS SHOW ). Many of the actors chosen look nothing like their game AND book counterparts (looking at you Triss and Yen). The show is just too colorful when the World of The Witcher is anything but. Hell, the show is even unintentionally campy lol. And after watching The Tudors, now I'm convinced Henry Cavill would've actually made a great Geralt if he acted like his character in that show

 

[ooodrin]

Not gonna watch it, don't even have the Netflix account and everything I've seen and heard about the series makes my skin crawl, but I hope that those who found enjoyment in first season enjoy the one even more.
So yeah, hard pass, but you do you.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

Even if the first season 1 was not the "greatest" show that I ever watched, but I watched some worse ones for sure... So I'll watch the second season, no doubt

 

[Draconifors]

To be honest, although I am quite fond of the games, and enjoy many parts of the books, all the previews and fragments I have caught from the Netflix adaptation have failed to pique my interest. Something about the style and aesthetic doesn't quite 'click' with my vision of the Witcher's world.

Same here.

I wouldn't be interested in giving it a chance even if I had a Netflix account, because everything I've seen or heard about it seems to clash with what I think the universe is or what it should be like.
Even the very premise of a TV series doesn't really sit right with me, not that I really know why. Possibly because there already exist excellent games based on the novels, and that fills the "visual" role that otherwise could "belong to" the series (not that it would exist if the games didn't).

 

[koalahugs]

I really enjoy the TV series. I actually like how fun and light it is. Plus Henry Cavill's absolute nerdiness about the show is appreciated; you can tell he cares and takes ownership of the role on a level that's really rare in the industry.

I'm not sure if I'd be too into the books though. Heard there's a big discrepancy between the way women are described compared with men. Like, objectified to an unnecessarily creepy degree*. So from that point of view I'm glad to have a version of the story run by a female writer.

*Interesting thread about it on Reddit

 

[Feline_Witcher]

Even if the first season 1 was not the "greatest" show that I ever watched, but I watched some worse ones for sure... So I'll watch the second season, no doubt

There are worse shows to be sure... at least I'm getting a kind of enjoyment from this one, it is entertaining and unintentionally funny, which is more than what can be said about others I could mention

 

[Hexipoo]

I watched the first 4 episodes of season one when it came out and stopped. Another IP completely ruined, it's worthless.

Post automatically merged: Dec 16, 2021

I really enjoy the TV series. I actually like how fun and light it is. Plus Henry Cavill's absolute nerdiness about the show is appreciated; you can tell he cares and takes ownership of the role on a level that's really rare in the industry.

I'm not sure if I'd be too into the books though. Heard there's a big discrepancy between the way women are described compared with men. Like, objectified to an unnecessarily creepy degree*. So from that point of view I'm glad to have a version of the story run by a female writer.

*Interesting thread about it on Reddit

Why do you people have to vandalize existing art instead of making your own?

 

[Spockprime]

Good to hear. Maybe I'll do some binge watching tonight, since I'm taking a couple of days off.

To the Witcher folks who like the books / games, but are troubled by the deviations in the Netflix series: I understand completely. The departures are odd, and don't add anything positive, or even reduce confusion regarding missing background material, as far as I can figure. I'm the same way about Tolkien's work. I despise the Peter Jackson LoTR movies more than I can put into words without getting banned. I watched each of them once, and never will again, even if I'm at a friend's house and that's what they have on.

However, last year's episodes are somewhat entertaining as a stand alone loose derivative. Not great, but enough that it's worth watching, at least for me. I just think of it as a DC or Marvel Comics sort of thing: every character has at least a dozen different and conflicting story lines, which each have to be treated as a separate reality.

 

[Riven-Twain]

Plus Henry Cavill's absolute nerdiness about the show is appreciated; you can tell he cares and takes ownership of the role on a level that's really rare in the industry.

I recall he spoke about his relationship with the character, the games, and the world during the recent WitcherCon. I was not unfavorably impressed by his remarks, as he appears to have some regard for the material. Also, apparently, he plays Gwent.

I despise the Peter Jackson LoTR movies more than I can put into words without getting banned.

Same here. The less said about them, the better, I say.

 

[koalahugs]

I watched the first 4 episodes of season one when it came out and stopped. Another IP completely ruined, it's worthless.

Post automatically merged: Dec 16, 2021

Why do you people have to vandalize existing art instead of making your own?

What do you mean "you people"? I'm not involved in the Witcher TV series (though I'd love to be).

And since when was bringing up a valid criticism the same as vandalism? Sheesh, you've just made a criticism of your own in the same post. It's not an act of vandalism to criticise a book or make a TV adaptation You can still buy the books. In fact, haven't book sales gone up because of this show?? That's hardly vandalism.

 

[Feline_Witcher]

Why do you people have to vandalize existing art instead of making your own?

I get what you're saying but good artists copy, great artists steal

 

[Hexipoo]

What do you mean "you people"? I'm not involved in the Witcher TV series (though I'd love to be).

And since when was bringing up a valid criticism the same as vandalism? Sheesh, you've just made a criticism of your own in the same post. It's not an act of vandalism to criticise a book or make a TV adaptation You can still buy the books. In fact, haven't book sales gone up because of this show?? That's hardly vandalism.

You can criticize a realistic depiction of the late middle-ages all you want, but don't then market your fan-fiction as an adaptation. The only thing adapted from the books was character names to trick people into watching that garbage.

Post automatically merged: Dec 16, 2021

I get what you're saying but good artists copy, great artists steal

The only thing they stole was character names. There's a great video about the episode "lesser evil" that perfectly illustrates how the people writing that trash COMPLETELY missed the point. They don't even understand what they are adapting.

In fact, here it is.

 

[Feline_Witcher]

I despise the Peter Jackson LoTR movies more than I can put into words without getting banned. I watched each of them once, and never will again, even if I'm at a friend's house and that's what they have on.

I disagree but I will say Return of the King should have NEVER won the Oscar for Best Movie in a year that saw films such as Monster and Mystic River

Post automatically merged: Dec 16, 2021

You can criticize a realistic depiction of the late middle-ages all you want, but don't then market your fan-fiction as an adaptation. The only thing adapted from the books was character names to trick people into watching that garbage.

Post automatically merged: Dec 16, 2021

The only thing they stole was character names. There's a great video about the episode "lesser evil" that perfectly illustrates how the people writing that trash COMPLETELY missed the point. They don't even understand what they are adapting.

In fact, here it is.

I should have clarified: the Picasso quote applies ONLY if you make something better than the original, which this show has obviously failed to do

 

[koalahugs]

You can criticize a realistic depiction of the late middle-ages all you want

LOOOOOL whaaaaat?

 

[Feline_Witcher]

LOOOOOL whaaaaat?

Gotta concur with you on that. The Witcher is super dark and all that, but I've yet to see a medieval fantasy that is a real depiction of historical Middle Ages from our world in everything but the fantasy element

 

[BigWezz69]

Whoa! Some people are getting a bit mad in here no?

Its just a show, and if it entices people into the world of the Witcher, then that is a great thing to be sure.

Peter Jackson's adaptation of LoTR is an example of this. True its not perfect and it does not cover everything in the books, but how could it? (The extended editions are the best ones )

But they did open people up to reading the books and delving into JRR Tolkien's master crafted world that he created. I saw The Fellowship before I read the books, I had not even heard of the books beforehand (I was quite young at the time) and after watching the film, then going on to read the books, it was fantastic. The following two films just added to the wonder, sure they were exactly like the book, but that was ok since it was just an adaptation.

I have no idea why people think that one adaptation (Witcher or LoTR) lessens or cheapens the primary sources ... because it doesn't

 

[Hexipoo]

LOOOOOL whaaaaat?

I obviously meant as far as how women are treated in the books, as in, horribly. The things that happen to Ciri, for example, are an atrocity. However, it provides context and context MATTERS.