Netflix’s The Witcher, one of few series I had been anticipating this year came out three days ago, and I took my time watching the series. My final verdict is that I really liked this adaptation of the books, and it really makes you wanna play the games to learn more about the world of the Witcher.
Geralt of Rivia is a mutated monster-hunter for hire, one few of his people left in the world with this mutation. Those who share his genes are known as Witchers. Season 1 one mostly did a good job in establishing the character of Geralt to the audience and the motives that drives him to hunt. Despite not caring at all for the world of politics, somehow Geralt always finds himself amidst the chaos of it all. And that’s the interesting part about the Witcher. Sure you get epic sword fight and monster killing, but it’s the politics that’ll keep you watching.
The politics of the world is the vast and sophisticated and I felt like you didn’t need a huge amount of knowledge of the games nor books to understand what’s going. It had a level of depth and mystery to it that will always keep you captivated to learn more. You also learn very quickly that man on earth is more of a wicked monster than the beast that roam the lands.
I mean, the premise right now was simple enough to understand on the first viewing, one kingdom, Nilfgaardian Empire is on a hellbent conquest spree, wiping out all those that oppose its rule in search of Ciri. However, like I said there’s more layers to it, most of which we started to learn from cast’s perspective. There’s also a council of mages that try to keep the balance by pulling the strings of nobles to avoid wars and such.
I will admit, there were times in which I didn’t realize that we had skipped periods in time, going back and forth in time during the story-telling at the beginning but if you paid enough attention, you’d easily pick up on it.
Henry Cavill portrayal of Geralt was very good, he really captured the stoic yet humorous personality of Geralt well. As the episode went on, we got an even deeper understanding of Geralt’s personality and the turmoil he faces being a Witcher, a profession that everyone hates but won’t hesitate to call for its service. Aside from that, we have his supporting cast Yennefer, Ciri and Jaskier who all did an amazing job at playing their roles respectively. Out of all of them, Yennefer, played by Anya Chalotra could be considered the second main cast as she too went a rather interesting journey.
Going from a troubled childhood to a powerful mage throughout the series was very interesting to follow and her personality and attitude is quite entertaining to watch. She had a strong presence whenever she’s on screen. Ciri played by Freya Allan was cool too and obviously was the centerpoint to the whole story but I guess I need to see her do more. Jaskier who played by Joey Batey, and also known as Dandelion in the books and games over in the West was Jaskier for the most part, he carrying majority of the dialogue whenever he’s talking to Geralt. He for the most part was the comedic relief in my opinion.
I honestly can’t find a reason why anyone wouldn’t be happy with how the series was handled. I think the did a fantastic job in adapting the world of the witcher. If you enjoyed Games of Thrones or other fantasy series that delve heavily into politics and war, you’ll definitely enough the Netflix series.
