Critique of The Witcher: S2, Episode 6 - RIP Roach

[@MarkusBartus]

Roach death scene was rewrite to be more emotional. In the original script Lauren wanted that scene to be funny by making Geralt say the line: you were my favourite Roach. Henry Cavill dissagreed on that and eventually took the whole line from the short story Something more. So by her, Geralt refers to death which she always followes Geralt footstep.

[@xLetalis]

Shame he couldn't convince her to actually have the Something More scene

[@metalheadviking5633]

@@xLetalis couldn’t agree more

[@Fyke816]

Can't imagine the show without Henry, not just as Geralt, but because of his love for the series.

[@joncoutts1671]

@@Fyke816 Right? How bad would this be without A-lister, heavyweight Henry, who loves the books and source material throwing his weight around? I'd like to say I can't imagine how bad it would be...but I've seen Cowboy Beebop, the Witcher Anime, and others. Putrid. Really, I think I'm only continuing to watch out of love for Henry and Freya. There may come a time when I stop watching, but I'll always tune in to xLetalis to find out how bad it was :D

[@PhongTran-km1mx]

I would assume most of the lines from the books was suggested by Henry, but he can't tamper too much with whatever "vision" the showrunners have

[@redith137]

Kahr Morhan in the books and games. A secret reclusive zone only witchers and the most trusted my go to. In the show-one of the top 10 tourist sites of the Northern Kingdoms.

[@xLetalis]

hehe

[@antoniobrown247]

😭😂😂

[@jonbaxter2254]

Apparently there is a full brothel just down the mountain. Wut?

[@mikepette4422]

yeah i hate this too

[@mikepette4422]

@@jonbaxter2254 aren't all brothels at the bottom of mountain just waiting for witchers to come by ? On the other hand, if everyone seems to know about the Witchers safe haven in the shows then I would think some enterprising ho's would venture there 1 time a year at least lol

[@margo_gin]

The quest where you have to get the old lady her frying pan makes more sense than the whole Netflix show.

[@Seraphatum]

One of the best quests ever! 😎

[@green_kinsley6419]

Found me pan have ye

[@Baraxes]

@Green_Kinsley I read this in her voice 😂

[@alittlecreepywhenyou]

@@Baraxes Is it even possible to read it in any other way.🤣

[@JamboGameplay]

3:30 "Vesemir is incredibly sad, perhaps he has read the script and knows what coming." Made me burst out laughing!

[@tankee5722]

Me toooooo! Hilarious

[@miikayak]

Comment of the day. Me too!

[@legendsofthebravebard]

Same, bro

[@malekiththeeternityking5433]

Yennefer betraying Geralt and Ciri is really what Netflix is all about. Not getting the fricken story. They make Yen the main character but Fs her up

[@Okkotsu86275]

Talk about irony

[@DovahVokuna]

I agree. I dislike Yennifer so much in the series

[@valeriekopiske9968]

Things Ciri did at Kaer morhen in the books: Study monsters, other languages, signs, fighting techniques, enjoyed her time with the witchers and Triss, practiced with a real sword made to her size. Things Ciri did at kaer morhen in the show: obstacle course, swung a wooden sword around, killed witchers.

[@nela3986]

So true... It's sad... They butchered the story and left a hole. And then get applauded for that crap show... Ew.

[@arorajivlogs1641]

instead of pleasant memories, she will have nightmare abt the place.

[@tankee5722]

Exactly! In the show, she's more like getting bullied

[@margo_gin]

Also washed the witchers' clothes and toilets

[@arorajivlogs1641]

@@margo_gin exactly, geralt wouldn't stand for it and after knowing this should have fought with other witchers, atleast heated debate....

[@BURGATRON]

I laughed at "vesemir didn't even watch his own anime". That was a good one

[@marekkolomaznik5174]

8 episodes - tons of characters, plots, twists, magic etc... and the strongest scene is when a horse dies... I mean - I've been involved with Wiedzmin almost my whole life and this is what I get? This show is a perfect example how not to do an adaptation. I am really sorry for all the people who put their honest work into this and truly believed it can be something special. To the rest of the crew who obviously were in charge of this project I'd say only one thing - thank you and never more please!

[@patryk_lewandowskiabc]

Glad we have one of our own amongst the producers who can ensure the story, atmosphere and characters are done justice and the general charm and notion of the books is preserved. Oh wait

[@xLetalis]

sadly you have a point :(

[@grubi05]

I can recall Henry Cavill always saying "read the books".. as much as he likes playing Geralt, I bet he gets in to constant fights with producers of the show for creating such script lacking scenes and empty plots.. maybe we'll see a better adaptation in few decades.

[@patryk_lewandowskiabc]

@@grubi05 I wonder how much of a "know his place" person he is. Obviously, he is the biggest (hehe) asset they have on the show, but can he really be that influential over what's written? Does it all come down to you do the acting and we will do the writing?

[@its_dey_mate]

@@patryk_lewandowskiabc He already changed some parts by telling the producer. Obviously it has limits, but it is clear he wishes nothing but respect shown to the characters and does his best with what he is given

[@jackbeckett2838]

So instead of Ciri being at the Temple with Yennefer, which was pretty much their main bonding time and integral to the story, they changed it to Yennefer showing up to kidnap Ciri, the adopted daughter of the man she loves and would do anything for, because an evil witch said she'd get her magic back even though a child is the main thing she wants, presumably with the man she loves if it was possible. I don't know how anyone with a job in this industry could have such poor judgment in regards to writing such a massive show. I have no hopes for a reconciliation of the story after this.

[@xLetalis]

yes

[@denisamua127]

This is true, this plot twist is the only one that bothered me in this series.

[@SenseofNoneYT]

Not to mention that Yen went to the temple because of the letter from her dear friend. And the letter expressed such joy that Geralt turned to her for the matters of Ciri. A wholesome letter but riddled with "dear friend" poking fun at Geralt. Ciri's relationship with Geralt and Yen is a massive driving force for her to keep pushing forward. And the moments when Ciri and Yen finally started calling each other in intimate and familial terms were surprisingly endearing. Used sparingly but to great effect. Meanwhile, seeing Yen in the show turn to Geralt who was telling her to stop, as she goes "I wish I could..." I was like, yes you can, Yen. That's a weak mind-set. She could be your new purpose in life.

[@vasilcho]

"Dear friend" was my only hope for this season... and they couldn't even deliver that.

[@jhansam8757]

😔 yea

[@4589dude]

Here's something that bothered me; Why the hell is the medallion humming practically giving Vesemir a heart attack? 6:35 Lmao

[@xLetalis]

Good question... I guess cause he's "old"...

[@ipraytovodka]

@@xLetalis yeah but that doesnt happen during the Leshi attack nor in the later episode....its just so nonsensical and never comes up again

[@ironfoot1938]

Well i mean maybe the medallions are malfunctioning. I mean we learn in the last episode that lambert forgot to charge them (with the usb charger), so maybe they can also just suddenly vibrate so hard that it interferes with the heart beat.

[@RedWolfenstein]

@@ironfoot1938 it's just bad writing

[@Evija3000]

Because they wanted to create a sense of something very ominous approaching would be my best bet, assuming it had any purpose/reason at all.

[@paulpaul8221]

I don't like that Vesemir is always getting his ass kicked in the show. I mean he is supposed to be one of the strongest living witchers who trained Geralt.

[@stoopidyoutubehandle]

Well in books, Vesmir doesn’t have diabetes. So the show thinks he is too op so they add a “reasonable” handicap for him.

[@xboogsx]

Here's something I just realized. They make as if you can just teleport in and out of Kaer Morhen at will, but triss arrived on foot, true to the books. Makes it seem like she walked there and you have to "know the way" as it were to get to Kaer Morhen (also true to the books as far as I remember) but now we have rience just teleporting in and out willy nilly. And then we get some bullshit excuse about him spying on the super secret secluded witcher stronghold that only the witchers and a few mages know even exists. They can't even be consistent with their own lore man...

[@xboogsx]

ALSO ALSO, kind of related, why the fuck does vesemir have what looks like a stroke when his medallion starts humming?? Wtf is that??

[@slackjaw1525]

@@xboogsx yeah, using a magic detecting necklace that incapacitates you for no discernable reason when it gets activated seems a bit weird

[@adamp6320]

Yep. Triss teleports to leave; why would she go there by horse/foot? Makes no sense. They need to be MUCH more careful with teleporting.

[@xboogsx]

@@adamp6320 same way they need to be more careful with dopplers. If they're evil or even just not good natured they can be put into any plot and create massive problems

[@xLetalis]

All good points.

[@alexanderbieler3897]

Her... is Death. She is not evil, she dont takes anything away, she just guides through the mist, so nobody has to walk alone. Geralt meets "her" at the monolith in Sodden, end of The Sword of Destiny. Geralt even admits that he was always afraid of "her", that has been the reason he never looked back. Now Geralt is not afraid anymore, because "she" took everything away from him, even fear. Thats what Geralt was refering to, as he mercy killed Roach. sorry for bad english, i am german ;)

[@xLetalis]

Shame the Sodden scene wasn't there :(

[@Truthisscarierthanfiction]

That's also what I thought he was referring to.

[@2wolf5]

@@xLetalis Shame, a lot of scenes that in my opinion was more impactful were changed by some fan fiction ones...

[@carmallym7286]

Your English is brilliant, coming from an Englishman, don't worry about it! 😄

[@alexanderbieler3897]

@@carmallym7286 thanks man, but i think got problems with tenses and interpunction

[@xLetalis]

RIP Dear Friend letters :(

[@gaius6187]

Hi

[@baldwinthefourth4098]

The weight of that loss...

[@witcherErland]

RIP Roach

[@gaius6187]

@@witcherErland yo you here also?

[@witcherErland]

@@gaius6187 i am here 4 years XD

[@xXXDeadlyHavocXXx]

They need to stop Yennefer swearing so much, it's really not fitting.

[@xLetalis]

too late :)

[@vulfreyde]

It’s not just her. Nenneke drops f-bombs in casual conversation, Lydia, even Ciri does it like once or twice. It would be fine if it’s in a heated moment, but they’re doing it so casually. Vesemir too. It just doesn’t suit those characters.

[@adamp6320]

Mother Nenneke swearing was ridiculous. Really can someone force the showrunners to stop swearing for shock value? It's so bad.

[@fireprooffrog4669]

I hate Netflix with passion.

[@shadowofhawk55]

It feels like if Verse and Sirin from Tyranny switched speech styles. Sirin is supposed to be a well educated young woman, sixteen at the time of the games, who has spent most of her life being groomed to be the perfect little court songbird for Kyros the Overlord. Verse meanwhile is the bastard daughter of a woman with a small plot of land and a man who bought some fun time at one point. She joined an army of psychopaths, rapists, and killers around her teens and spent the rest of life becoming a killer. So one cursing sparingly and the other cursing like me makes sense, and Yennefer is closer to Sirin than Verse so why the Frell is she cursing worse than Verse?

[@Ludvigvanamadeus]

I've been a fan of the Witcher for about 20 years now (I remember that when I finished reading the saga Sapkowski was in the middle of writing his next project, The Hussite Trilogy, so it must've been around 2002-2003). I remember reading articles about the upcoming video game - at first beeing disappointed when I learned that the main character is supposed to be some other witcher, then the excitement when CD Projekt announced that they would actually make Geralt the main character instead. The games did not disappoint and were a worthy continuation, I treat them as canon. In the meantime Game of Thrones got a highly acclaimed TV adaptation and while I enjoyed the initial seasons, I thought to myself "this is a good story, but man, the Witcher is so much better, if only HBO decided to give it a proper treatment, the books are just a perfect material for an awesome TV show...but who's going to care about some Polish fantasy books that don't even have an English translation?" Then the Wild Hunt (the game) happened and suddenly The Witcher became one of the most famous fantasy franchises in the world. Suddenly everyone in the world knew what it was and before you know it - Netflix is doing an adaptation ! I was so hyped. Fast forward to 2022.... and I'm just sad. I'm sad and disappointed. This is such a wasted opportunity... well, perhaps in another 20 years someone else will remake the show (just like we're getting a LOTR series by Amazon) and this time, they will do it properly. It's not impossible - after all, Frank Herbert's Dune was adapted multiple times before Villeneuve did it properly just recently, so many years after the books were published. Perhaps one day.

[@SuperPico94]

I wonder what Sapkowski thinks about all of this…

[@Ludvigvanamadeus]

@@SuperPico94 publically he says that he thinks the show is great, but I don't believe it. He's probably saying it because he got paid a lot and the better the show does, the more he gets paid.

[@Ignisan_66]

Amazon's LOTR is not a remake of Jackson's movies. I bet it will be crappy like this Witcher. Sadly we live in an era where 95% of new movies and TV shows are a complete unwatchable horse shit.

[@aligmal5031]

@@Ignisan_66 Lotr show looks to be even worse

[@cosmic2750]

I honestly hope any kind of remake of the show is actually done by Polish people. I don't mind the actors, like, they can hire Henry, Freya, whatever, but the scripts and direction definitely needs to be done by Polish people.

[@brettvonklock3206]

the thing that stinks about aging Ciri up in the show is you don’t get the vibe of the wide eyed adorable little girl with a million questions that she was in Blood of Elves. I can't tell you how often I was grinning ear to ear at how cute she was in that book with all her questions.

[@xLetalis]

yeah... it's true

[@qualified9309]

Yes. Ciri was truly what one would call a little devil

[@Evija3000]

Instead we get a broody teenager 😄

[@deadlyalchemist397]

Not only that, but in the books we got to experience her grow up and mature, we won’t get that in the show…

[@moosestache1769]

They wanted to avoid the pedo issues with an older female lesbian preying on an alone/afraid young girl.

[@judostar11]

Must be awesome watching this show for people that haven't read the books or even played/watched the games. I'm trying my absolute hardest not to facepalm while watching the show. It's fun to watch but man some of the changes they made make it hard not to facepalm.

[@doma7956]

You're making a cameo from legend's streams 😊

[@naamari]

Yeah, it's incredible the amount of praise you hear for this trashfire of a show. Can't remember ever seeing a book-based show/film get this thoroughly fucked. I heard from Shadiversity the Wheel of Time was destroyed just as badly, but having not read it I can't say. I'm dreading what they'll do to Lord of the Rings, the last bastion far as I'm concerned.

[@GoToSleep1993]

@@naamari all I'm gonna say is *there* is going to be hobbits, and black hobbits.... thousands of years before hobbits were ever discovered by the other races.... so yeah it doesn't sound like they're gonna stay that true to lore lol

[@elck3]

i've only watched the show, but season 2 imo was so much of a downfall in quality compared to season 1 - i actually hate the fact they took out the timeline switching

[@shadowofhawk55]

Ikit!! Hey man, how you been? Noticed a severe lack of you in the Mortal Realms, but I am sure you are just scheme planning yes yes?

[@Okkotsu86275]

Now I can't lie. Roach's death was very emotional. My definitely got misty. The poem that Geralt said was very sweet and beautiful. Big ups to Henry Cavill for wanting something emotional and pivotal for the scene. Instead some meta comedy that the showrunner. Made respect for him for sticking to his guns

[@magikfrost4876]

it wasn’t a comedic scene originally lol. people took it too far. the line was literally just “you were my favorite roach”

[@Okkotsu86275]

@@magikfrost4876 😮😮Color me surprised then

[@highlanderknight]

Sadly I was so annoyed with episodes 2 and onward I felt no real emotions in this or any of the scenes from season 2.

[@deadlyalchemist397]

Henry is honestly the best part of the show

[@Okkotsu86275]

@@highlanderknight I sadly can understand that

[@MmmmmNnnnn]

I hate the fact that they are calling him Firefucker. It feels so out of place and so unnecessery vulgar. In the books (at least in the original polish version) they call him ,,Totumfacki" which means a person that is obediant and does everything if ordered. He is called that only by Dijkstra but i love this name nonethelesss and was exciting to hear it in polish dub but unfortunetely instead of calling him by a name that perfectly encapsulates his character and lore they call him Firefucker.

[@xLetalis]

Yeah that instantly rubbed me the wrong way, I even mention it in my Episode 1 review

[@joncoutts1671]

Watching these after having seen the whole of Season 2 is like therapy. I LOL'd hard at some of your quips. Thank you for these.

[@xLetalis]

[@catnipnapkin3329]

Shame that the one who got the most character development from S1 to S2 was Ciri's eyebrows

[@Evija3000]

Nah, I though it was rushed. They were just suddenly black one evening when she and Geralt were camping. I imagine she started painting her eyebrows with coal 😄

[@NoOne-hl2eo]

Idk man. Her S1 eyebrows suit her better, they matched her hair too so it looks more natural.

[@patryk_lewandowskiabc]

@@NoOne-hl2eo Now imagine her eyebrows back to what they were in S1 in S3. Pair it up with Triss hair change and we are getting more and more confirmation that the writers or producers have no idea what's going on, what they want to portray and how, and that they are all like flags in the wind. Can't wait to see Eskel resurrected or something....

[@NoOne-hl2eo]

@@patryk_lewandowskiabc I just stopped watching after episode 3, too much bullshit happening lmao. The only thing that gets me excited is the reviews.

[@catnipnapkin3329]

@@NoOne-hl2eo I didn't say it was BETTER I just said it was developed lol

[@fiveadayproductions987]

Couldn't click on this fast enough, loving the analysis so far. I think it's totally different watching it as a book/game fan and just facepalming versus the blissful experience of just watching it as a new fan.

[@shadowofhawk55]

Lovecraft had a saying about ignorance in a sea of knowing

[@uncleharm8893]

As a fan of the books and the games, I feel I have to comment his name is pronounced 'Rience' but I appreciate the attempts.

[@SOLIDCHIMERA]

Witcher fans to each other: "Triss or Yennefer?" Letalis: Uma

[@warlordofbritannia]

There’s something backhand about how the most emotional scene in this show is of a horse dying Not Yen and Geralt reuniting in the same episode, not late term elf baby abortion, not anything in season one…no, the only time I cared about a character was the horse Anyways, RIP Roach I, First of Her Name, Best Mount and Companion She was True Best Girl 🥺

[@luisaramos6862]

And the interesting part is that apparently what he said was not in the script. He mentioned in an interview that he decided to say those lines instead of the ones proposed and that he'd face the consequences later on but they decided to keep it. But it was Henry and not the writers who made that scene and was certainly the most emotional one.

[@patryk_lewandowskiabc]

Not that I disagree with you, because I don't, but this whole thing is a very interesting approach and is seen in plentiful both in games and movies alike. When we grief more about an animal dying, because of its connection to the protagonist or w/e, but when it's some people dying it's like meh. But sometimes maybe it's easier to portray the death of a pet like that cause they're cute or something. This had also striked me in the episode with Nivellen. At the end, when he says that he raped the priestess, Geralt and Ciri are like "kill yourself, we outta here". But earlier, when he was telling the story of how he massacred a few men, Ciri tells him "Come on, you were not yourself". I mean, I am not trying to portray that one is lesser of a tragedy than the other, but apparently killing some folks is like "alright, it's a brutal world anyway", while sexual crimes are like "what have you done - this is unimaginable".

[@joanamagalhaes924]

@@patryk_lewandowskiabc It wasn't "just" rape. He didn't hurt a random woman, he did it to a holy woman, from arguably the most adored goddess in the Northern part of the Continent, and inside the actual temple. A goddess that not only represents love and abundance, but also motherhood... A lot of the priestesses are healers and help everyone, regardless of station or money. It could also have easily been Nenneke or any other priestess Geralt knows. I saw it as more of "if it isn't the consequences to your own actions" kinda thing - his curse was broken, but the guilt and self-hatred were justified and they could (and would) do nothing to remove those.

[@killerbug05]

@@luisaramos6862 bruh the writer(s) and director(s) of this show cannot be serious, imagine being so bad at your job the actors have to compensate 🤦

[@senitoni]

@@patryk_lewandowskiabc the way you’re defending rape…………

[@koldrix]

The death of Roach felt more traumatizing than Eskel's

[@seandoyle296]

The "woman" Geralt references is Death, who Geralt meets on Sodden Hill during "Something More". A good reference in a solid scene, of a pretty mediocre (and source-defiant) season.

[@xLetalis]

If only they had done the Sodden Hill scene properly then!

[@WaterResistance]

Yeah, the reason it's 'her' and not 'him' because in polish all the words have gender and "death" is a female word.

[@W._Langman]

@@WaterResistance interesting. In German death is male. Der Tod

[@Terror_Official]

She is Marzanna (Marena, Mara, Morana, Morena, Mora), Goddess of Burial Rites, Death, and Rebirth of Nature. She's associated with Dreams, the coming of annihilation by Winter, and Rebirth as the Spring Goddess Kostroma. The books show Ciri (because she's a Source) is temporarily possessed by her, as Triss glimpses her walking down into the red abyss, on a marble staircase. Morana asks Ciri to take her hand to a door that should not be opened. One such scene is super important in the books because it's where Geralt believes that Yennefer is the 14th of the hill, but is relieved to hear the 14 people do not include her. The encounter is one of two times Geralt meets a deity, and another happens to Yennefer in Skellige. Morana comes to collect the flowers and offerings (meant for her) on Sodden's hill when Geralt is at the Obelisk, and is awaiting Triss who is marked as the 13th of the Hill. Ciri has an interchange with Triss when they meet at Kaer Morhen's trail, in which Morana speaks through her as a Source calling her back to the hill. The conversation also includes that the skeletons within Kaer Morhen's moat do not like to lay there as a remainder to foreign enemies, that they wish to be buried in simple barrows for the flora to overgrow them. I wish they would include her, as her motifs and purpose in Slavic faith fit perfectly with the Wild Hunt and the coming of the End that can be brought about by Ciri. I also think if they had just called the gargoyle looking "Chernobog" as a gargoyle, it would have fit a lot better. There's no way Polish people would name a simple monster after the patron deity of the Polabian Slavs. Čьrnobogъ along with his brother were important deities, as Czernobog mirrors Morana in being a God of Death. Morana is his consort and they both herald Death in different forms.

[@paulofernandesroberto9336]

@@WaterResistance Fun fact: In Portuguese death is also a female word (A morte). I guess this is why I wasn't too confused in the scene 😋

[@R3stor]

Geralt: Vesemir, have you lost your mind? You cannot risk Ciri's life by turning her to a witcher Also Geralt: Let's use Ciri as a decoy

[@marty.m2933]

I always knew they were sacrificing a huge part of her character by aging Ciri, but the way they handled her relationship with Yennefer just hurts. It used to be pure gold. It wasn't that typical "I'am best mother on the world because im funny, tell story before sleep etc." relationship, that we get to see in every movie or show. She was actual mother to Ciri and she was really a daughter to her, while they both stayed true to their characters. For me, it was one of the best parts of whole franchise. It's sad how Lauren's desperate effort to make females characters somehow better, makes them only unbearable and flat.

[@MandalorSkyrd]

They literally don't have any relation in the show. I'd say it's more than a fucked up ^^

[@marty.m2933]

@@MandalorSkyrd Yeah... that's true actually. Well, whatever. I guess we'll just have to settle for the fact that she had a dream about her in the first season or something...😞

[@ipraytovodka]

@@MandalorSkyrd i think the season finale was meant to kick-start that but its really absent ....

[@nela3986]

I don't know about her "wanting to make them better". I got more the "G.O.T. genius delusions" feeling. Like she really thinks she came up with something great since nobody else thought of it... Somebody should tell those people that just because nobody thought of it, it doesn't make it any good. It's just garbage nobody thought of. But what enrages me is that she actually is getting supportive back-patting for this nonsense.

[@agilemind6241]

@@ipraytovodka Yeah, Yennefer has more chemistry and a deeper relationship with Jaskier and Cahir than either Geralt or Ciri.

[@semsteegmans3715]

“I guess Vesimir hasn’t watched his own anime” I have a feeling no one at Netflix actually watched it tbh

[@mikitazhylinski5526]

"Netflix has to THINK about it" - I can hear them laughing from here.

[@Grintock]

Xletalis, thank you for these review videos. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out to know more about everything Witcher than all of the people working on the show combined.

[@colacola8367]

I mean he does . He has on hiws own many thoudands of hours in all witcher games , read the books and watched this series while also making videos about all of that.

[@Grintock]

@@colacola8367 and that's such a waste, like, the people with knowledge are there, why wouldn't a platform like Netflix make use of that? I'm sure they could have afforded xLetalis' consultation fee for a show this big.

[@juandiegoferreira889]

Not only that but he has more organization and comum sense then anyone on this show given all the contradictions with their own comum sense that xLetalis himself has pointed out lol

[@Grintock]

@Sir Soma Yeah I know, been following him since like 4 years ago. I meant I don't understand why Netflix wouldn't hire someone with this level of knowledge to consult for storylines and dialogue.

[@colacola8367]

@@juandiegoferreira889 fr. Mans a prodigy

[@oneiricbutterfly6532]

Mother Nenneke's relationship with Geralt was so endearing in the books... one more thing butchered by the series. Sincerely, at this point they shouldn't even bother with introducing The Rats: their relationship with Ciri was complex, toxic yet the reader could understand why Ciri was drawn to them. I don't want for it to be watered down and ruined. Also while Rience was a competent spy in the books, Netflix Rience makes no sense at all. It's sad, he was a good character. For those that have seen season two, do they put Thanedd anywhere or they gloss over it? If they're going to forcefully insert it in season three it's going to be a disaster

[@liv3vil-Kei]

The only thing they won't ruin with the Rats will be Ciris relationship with Mistle. I bet you they can't wait to get to that point.

[@oneiricbutterfly6532]

@@liv3vil-Kei Eeeeh, I think they'll fuck it up because of its violent origin (Mistle did assault Ciri at the beginning of their relationship). They already fucked up Lydia's backstory, I think it's very likely that the Rats will have the same treatment

[@scythelord]

@@liv3vil-Kei Yep. it'll be yet another box checked for the show.

[@ambrosiona2967]

If Yennefer is swearing this much, Angoulême is going to have a field day

[@MandalorSkyrd]

*If* they ever do Angoulême, maybe they'll subvert our expectations and have her not swear at all

[@manuj2868]

Man I don’t even want to know Thaler then

[@ghostface4167]

@@manuj2868 You know Talar is just a game character right?

[@manuj2868]

@@ghostface4167 Yea I know. Just had to make that reference

[@scythelord]

@@ghostface4167 Thaler even as a game only character is closer to the original witcher world than anything introduced by these shitty netflix writers.

[@Kyrande_Foxfairy]

I don't get why people were angry about you seeing a romantic undertone with Francesca and Fringilla. I honestly think they had the most chemistry since Geralt and Renfri so far.

[@gigabilly1160]

Thank you for another analysis of this Witcher-like product

[@SuperStormfury]

My biggest wish is that Lauren or the writers watch all these videos and fix this messy show. I might even make a petition for them to watch them 😂 They sum up all my feelings perfectly as a huge book fan. It could and should be so much better. For a show that was supposed to be the new "game of thrones" it made the exact same mistake - deviating from the source material for no gain at all...

[@Eth77930]

Even GoT mostly followed the books, while they could. It went to hell when they ran out of source material but it is hard to blame them. At least they realized that the best-selling author probably did better job than they could. Here someone has a false image of their abilities, and the show suffers for it (and we as well). I love the books (and the games) so much, I was willing to cut the show some slack, but this goes well past my limits.

[@aarone1981]

There is no Reviewer even close to Xletails, he is simply the best for Witcher content!

[@Sperminski]

Check ProperBird on youtube.

[@mustafasaidkaya6087]

@@Sperminski She is not making a S2 review most probably because she was threatened and insulted after her S1 criticisms.

[@izzsyahid6155]

@@mustafasaidkaya6087 It's really sad and ironic because if I remember correctly she was one of the people who defends the casting decisions and story rumors of S1 before it began, and said to reserve judgement. She basically in line with the fans who mindlessly defend the show decisions before the season but when she tries to give criticisms after the release they turned their back on her

[@jindigo5606]

I feel like the books had some philosophical thoughts about life, society, growing up and personal growth in them that the show kind of lacks for me. Of course it also had some societal criticism in it, but the dialogue didn't really convey the same feeling and charm to me as the books did. Another thing that I thought was a little strange is how in my perception Ciri seemed to spend maybe a few days in Ellander when in the books I think she spend months there. That the fight with the Michelet brothers took place also in the temple is in my opinion yet another missed opportunity for world building (thus showing Oxenfurt where the fight actually took place). I generally don't dislike the show, but I think this episode was among the ones I was most disappointed in. PS: I just realized that also means that they removed Shani, the Myhrman encounter and the Philippa & Dandelion scenes. Sad.

[@ipraytovodka]

and apparently dropped the mute neuromancer (? the dream magic) priestess who helped Geralt and iirc ciri

[@tonytan5945]

@@ipraytovodka Her name is Iola, and yeah it looks like she was removed.

[@shahqurbanbaba1873]

Dandelion and philipa moments were great in the books, and dandelion's views on philipa were hilarious! I remember dandelion thinking something along the lines of "the very idea of asking philipa to bed would make him wet his pants" or something. It was so funny

[@ShinForgotPassxXx]

This mustve been your best edit ever. Alone searching out the scenes from the game to match the scenes from the series must have taken forever. The finished product is awesojme!

[@xLetalis]

Hey, thank you :) Yeah these reviews take 50ish hours to produce from start to finish!

[@НикакНетфамилии]

Rience, the terminator. Netcher-Vilgerputz has nothing on this guy! Fire magic user, stealth invader of Kaer Morhen, took out both Triss and Vessemir at the same time, held his own and escaped with precious prize. Vilgerputz should serve him, not vice-versa.

[@faquarl4603]

And on the other hand Yennefer without any magic outplays this guy easily. Two times...

[@AnnaEmilka]

Also doesn't sound like a guy that would have been outplayed later in the books "dumpling-style" by a group of mercenaries when he was spying on them while being invisible. He was supposed to be a very mediocre wizard and they made him the almost most powerful one...

[@jakartaajalah]

@@AnnaEmilka netflix for ya. They probably end up making Vilgefortz inferior

[@diamondsfinest9386]

Clicked faster than Netflix could change the entire freaking lore

[@Janos_Audryn]

I enjoy how the big/Tomira references are consistent. Kudos!

[@RastaGamesful]

In this episode i only love renuion scene in the temple and some fight scenes. And of course Roach death was really emotional. :( Thank you for the video! Really lookin forward for the next ones!

[@TheMistyBlueLounge]

Oh and that scene with Letho on the frozen boat that's falling apart is one of the coolest CGI scenes I've ever seen! I watched it so many times when it first released!

[@megaluria9654]

The main problem of both seasons is that characters make very odd or unnatural decisions quite often and enormous amount of eye striking coincidences (like random encounters) just to take the story where the writer wants it to be. I guess even without super writing talent but with some empathy and logical thinking anyone can try to put himself in his characters' shoes and imagine if desired reactions are really appropriate or even realistic.

[@MandalorSkyrd]

Some stuff is pretty hard to ignore even first viewing. Like Rience knowing where Kaer Morhen is for no reason.

[@megaluria9654]

@@MandalorSkyrd Yes, the teleporting nonsense is a chapter for itself in general.

[@megaluria9654]

@@Leunenkoenig You talking about that feeling when you catch yourself feeling embarrassed for watching such rubbish just because of your internal fight for acceptance of disappointment? Yes, I had my hopes for the 2nd season too, but I'm not going to repeat this mistake again.

[@Hoolygamer]

I missed the chapter with Yarpen. It was such a great way to introduce the squirrels and how everyone actually felt about the elves' pointless racist crusade. With all the changes they did, it seems they aren't gonna be Nilfguards vanguard force in the Northern Realms. That was one of the biggest reasons why everyone hated them and spilt their blood. At least one good thing to come out of this trainwreck is me discovering your channel so I guess I'll roll with it

[@TheDoctorIWho]

Again a great critique. The "magic ball" was necessary only to show, that there was somewhere with magic power in the room. Because how should Yen know, that Ciri has magical powers? Maybe the ball is/was a the force has awakene indicator.

[@maxpotapenko4632]

I would want to add something to the temple thing: Kaer Morhen is located on the north of Kaedwen, while the Melitele temple run by Nenneke is on the north of TEMERIA. So in order to teach young witchers signs, they would need to be sent far south, either through Aedirn or through Redania. Yeah, through the borders, military checkpoints, forests and swamps full of monsters, also roads filled with bandits. Why would Kaer Morhen send them there? Only 3 out of 10 children survive the mutations, almost everyone dies at their first contract and now in between these two they need to go to another kingdom to learn magic? I'd get it if sings were difficult and required some magic or church tutor, but no, it's the easiest form of magic, it only requires will and concentration. Any witcher or mage who knows something about sings can teach you that, you don't even need to be mutated, like Ciri. The show first ruins an arc and then tries to put it back together. Geralt had great connection to the temple and Nenneke herself, but since that fantastic line was removed in season 1, the producers decided to write a new one. Same as always - makes no sense 👍

[@ryanelliott71698]

People like to criticize TWD for it not swearing, (not that at times I wish they’ve used it to emphasize a scene) but after watching the Witcher I now see the other coin in what happens when you have too much. It makes your characters look like children trying to act tough like a 10 year old would.

[@patryk_lewandowskiabc]

Yes! And the duo of Yen and Geralt, not being able to come up with some other insult on Rience is just... ugh, they are long-lived, probably some of the better educated people on the continent and we get firefucker repeated like 3 or 4 times. Dull.

[@AnnaEmilka]

I also felt chemistry between Yennefer and Cahir! Much more than nonexistent with Geralt

[@toastydanny9136]

"Perhaps he has read the script and knows what's coming" Reminded me Mr Plinkett's Star Wars Attack of the Clones review when characters pointed out things that they shouldn't know and Plinkett always asked "Did you read the script? Hey, what's that over there on the ground? Is that the script?"

[@xLetalis]

hah damn been ages since I watched these but now that you mentioned it I remember that part as well!

[@ishanbajpai6940]

2:55 That whole temple was giving me a Hindu temple vibes. Except for the incense hanging, it would have been a temple bell instead in a Hindu temple.

[@Eth77930]

Exactly. I was getting more of a "spa" feeling, but your observation is also accurate - this simply does not feel like a temple at all. Then again Lauren is american, what does she know of medieval temples, abbeys and cloisters.

[@juma8126]

Same here. It's weird though, because I always thought Melitele was supposed to be based on a Celtic myth, not on India.

[@Shamino1]

The most entertaining element of this show is watching people try and pull off Olympic-levels of mental gymnastics to try and argue that not only is this season not difficult to follow, it's exceptionally faithful to the overarching themes and morals of the books. I find that to be FAR more entertaining than the show itself, sadly.

[@mateuszmarciniak2828]

First Sequels, then... something (I don't know atm), now Netflix Witcher

[@Vattghern_]

I just love the subtle sarcasm throughout this video

[@jcksparrowfan]

The teleportation thing is a good point. Reminds me of when the Angels in Supernatural had the power of flight, their Wings, before they fell from Heaven, then they broke and had to use conventional means of trave and can't find things if areas have Enochian warding around it. You'd think Kaer Morhen would have wards around it to keep it from detection, too.

[@shadowofhawk55]

Exactly. Even the OP of the most OP things in Supernatural had plot based limits that they stuck to. Sure, you'd have a one of version that was worse than normal, like a Knight of Hell or an Alpha of something, but once a rule was a applied it was mostly stuck to.

[@Evija3000]

Weird, but in the scene where Triss arrived I got the impression that it's either magically hidden or at least very hard to find. Yet somehow while she had to approach it on foot, fire dude just seemed to teleport inside. Side question, why was Vesimir falling to his knees when his medallion was humming, slutching at his chest, as if he had a heart issue or something.

[@meatbagkiller7174]

now thanks to netflix abusing teleportation Ciri can just teleport out of any situation. Oh no I am stuck in a desert *teleports*

[@Puppy_Puppington]

Oh letalis. I will never tire of your “but” segment switches.

[@warlordofbritannia]

Remember feeling excited about this show? Gods, we are all so young back then…

[@matthew4423]

I really enjoy the fact that you don’t just look for the differences between books vs show but actually explain why that difference does or in most cases doesn’t work. Love the vids!!

[@DLibera]

You're spot on with Fringilla and Francesca. I mean, if they went for it, it would've been inappropriate and awkward as fuck, with her being pregnant and all... But, I will not be gaslighted, those were romantic scenes. I'm so glad someone else noticed it. Funny thing is, those two had more chemistry than Yen and Geralt. Also, something that bothered me is that after going through the trouble of releasing the anime in between seasons, I thought and hoped they were gonna expand on Vesemir's character. Maybe develop him more after what he went through at the attack. I liked that the anime gave people a chance to sort of "experience" what happened then along with Vesemir so, I thought it would be a good opportunity to make something of it. At least they could've included some development that explained why he was so eager to make more witchers. I feel bad that they made him so weak both mentally and physically.

[@void_star_void]

Thank u for the outro! that W2 CGI is better than the whole show!

[@DanieJlRamos]

I mean, if they wanted to convey that Francesca had a rough relationship with her dad, why make such a strange twist with the flower instead of just following the original reasoning? Simlas (Francesca's father) wanted to just sign peace with humans instead of continuing the fight, but Francesca was too proud and inspired by Aelirenn's words. She ignored him, joined the fight and her dad disowned her. That would make the exact same amount of sense without needing to be symbolic and cryptic about a single flower. And it gets better when you learn this disdain for her father later pushed Francesca to make a deal with Emhyr to help Nilfgaard during the Second War in exchange of giving Dol Blathanna to the elves and making her Queen.

[@ipraytovodka]

hahaha if the writers went for simple they wouldnt have rewritten every short story

[@i.cs.z]

They changed the whole elf lore that's why...

[@ExitUtopia616]

19:39 This is something I just realized watching this review: if Nenneke knew Geralt since his childhood, she would be dead by now. She was nothing more but a human - she wasn't like the mages, she did age normally, so according to Netflix narrative, she would have been more than a solid 100 years old. So, yes - she's a bit too young. And wow, giving her the ability to open portals (Geralt asks her to open one for him when he's about to go after Yen and Ciri), when all she had in the book was simply herbs and a strong belief in her patreon - I have literally no words for that. Congrats, Netflix. Amongst so many others, you've managed to ruin that character too. Thankfully, there are still books, so now I'm reading it, like, for the third time as a form of catharsis after watching that horrible parody of a Witcher adaptation.

[@gamingsolvesmyissues8192]

0:16 I definitely also got the feeling they were trying to allude to my favourite type of magic here, but hey what do I know? :D 3:30 I feel like this whole Rience stealing the blood scene is so sloppy because they pushed the elder blood can make witchers thing too much without thinking about how little sense it makes (all the things you mentioned in the last video) 4:54 someone needs to count how many times people say fuck this season :D 8:27 really sad that they cut all the stuff with Jarre and made him a very basic character here. Ciri correcting the guy on the forktail (or was it wyvern?) and it all proceeding to go to shit was wonderful 9:31 rip the dear friend letters, I remember walking to school years ago listening to them in the audiobook and every line was such a brilliant roast of Geralt XD 12:45 I love what you named this segment lmao 16:28 I actually quite like the stuff with fringilla and cahir in season 2, sure its not completely canon compliant but I actually quite enjoyed it, plus Cahir's actor is great imo

[@xboogsx]

All of this is correct and well written but I feel like I have to correct you on the wyvern thing. That took place in the city next to aretuza the first time ciri gets there. She gets a tour of the city from a bankers assistant.

[@xLetalis]

I was hoping you'd share your opinion on the lesbomancy! And I agree with everything else as well ;[

[@agilemind6241]

The blood thing definitely felt like the writers were trying to connect a bunch of completely disparate things with any logic possible - Lydia's face, Rience finding Ciri/Geralt at the temple of Melitele, giving Vesemir & Ciri some actual character development at Kaer Morhen. It all felt like a completely rushed plot line. Re: Jarre... I think they must have realized they messed up having Ciri befriend a boy called Yara and another called Jarre. 'Cause that was destined to be super confusing. The Wyvern scene is fun but it's been in the books and the game so I'm not sad we don't have a third depiction of it.

[@ironfoot1938]

I actually saw a reddit post about how often they said fuck. I dont remember the number, but it was like x2.5 more than in S1

[@AnnaEmilka]

@@agilemind6241 I don't remember, who Yara was?

[@kjanikova6731]

There is one thing that keeps bugging me about the scene where Ciri and Yen teleport, but perhaps I'm missing something: Geralt asks Yen to "stop", but at that point, Ciri had already gone through the portal. What did geralt want, for Ciri to be left alone on the other side? How was that supposed to work? I just genuinely don't know how did geralt immediately think Yen was doing something wrong and what would they have done to get Ciri back if she had no magic.

[@MandalorSkyrd]

We could assume he begged her to stopped doing whatever devilry she was planning to do, no specifically not cross the portal

[@Antiside]

The Portal closed after she went through so stopping her from going alone after Ciri, instead going together with her was what he wanted. At least that's what I got from it.

[@kremulon179]

He knew she betaryed them at that point he meant stop like stop dont bring ciri to Ehmyr

[@marty.m2933]

Pěkný postřeh. Byť hádám, že to už je taková úroveň detailů, že by se tam z toho pár myslitelů v Netflixu rovnou svezlo k zemi. :)

[@ipraytovodka]

@@kremulon179 there is literally nothing up to that point to clue him in of a "betrayal"....none that i can think of at least...and he doesnt know about Emyr either...hell - in the books no one even knew Ciris father was still alive and thought he died with Pavetta in the ship crash. Also everyone that knew Ciris father knew him as Duny...

[@kolapon6832]

One thing I'm lamenting is, if Ciri had properly bonded with the Witchers then the scenes where they die would have been more emotional instead of using them as props during a fight. Even Eskel, who if they used more of his game/book personality, could have become like a big brother to her, giving us also time to show his relationship with Geralt. So then when he dies, he isn't some asshole who made sleazy comments about Ciri.

[@xLetalis]

yeah

[@erronblack3462]

19:50 i see what you did there i was already truning my eyes away from the monitor expecting uma genius twist

[@SesmarCz]

One thing that bugged me most: Geralt is taking Ciri out of Kaer Morhen because it's not safe there anymore, but then proceeds to use her as a bait on an unknown monster!!! How do you portray that grumpy witcher had his heart melted with little girl so much he will go through literaly hell to save her but meanwhile tells her to stand on the cliff and just wait while he glides with wooden stick...

[@destroyinggaming4life410]

The way this influences me man, I love the Witcher and this channel. Even when there is nothing new in the world of Witcher, you make sure you bring new content out anyway. Love that

[@xLetalis]

[@Epictook]

Love all your reviews on this series

[@Camille_Fox]

Thanks for releasing the review on my birthday! Awesome stuff!

[@xLetalis]

happy birthday!

[@vxtlmuwu]

I commend your dedication to this project. I assume you have to re-watch each episode at least once to make such comprehensive reviews out of them. If only the showrunners would have the same level of dedication to proofread their work to make sure the final product isn't dogshit, but I digress. I genuinely am more hyped for your reviews than I was for this whole season. You managed to point out flaws and dumb stuff that I haven't noticed myself, which makes me dislike the show even more, but gain a whole new level of entertainment out of your videos. Dobre rabota!(that's all I know in Bulgarian :D)

[@xLetalis]

Yeah by the time the review is done I've pretty much watched the episode 3 times

[@dondandojo]

As always! Thank you for the video and the overall work you put to make those. Great job! I love those reviews - they are giving me more entertainment that the actual show! XD

[@xLetalis]

my pleasure :)

[@samgrat9399]

Honestly i don't think i'll watch season 3. I was expecting a dark fantasy story and i feel like it's just a fantasy one. The scenes with Fringilla and Franscesca for instance feel soooo out of place. anyways, great video, as always !

[@stellas4033]

Great video as usual! And I want to thank you and say that I respect you for listening to the criticism from the last videos about Fringilla and Francesca. You addressed the criticism and you weren't insulted or sulking. Respect, that's why I like you and your content so much.

[@xLetalis]

Thank you :)

[@yellowtunes2756]

13:08 i hate this scene. It's portrayed like Yen betrays Gerald (and he understands it) because audience knows about her agreement with immortal witch. But from Gerald perspective Yen just followed Ciri in random portal just to not let her be there alone. What did he wanted Yen to do? Wait until portal get closed and Ciri will be potentially anywhere in the world (possibly in any world too) without guide, anyone's help and with no advice about how to use magic?

[@UOweMe]

Exactly! Why would be try to stop her? And wouldn't he at least try to rush into the portal too?

[@rayliu4351]

2:27 hahahaha channels his "inner superman" to glide to the monster. My thoughts exactly when I saw that scene.

[@gRiMrEaPeRsco]

0:20 I'm with you there pal, I thought there was a bit of romantic tension between them too, especially with how she acted towards filavandrel.

[@CelebralBore]

What I don't like about Yennefer in this season is how she is constantly swearing, doesn't have herself under control, etc. The Yennefer in the books even when failing seems like a person who knows exactly what she does and does it in a graceful way. The one in the series doesn't even find a nicer word for the description of Rience other than "Fire F***er".

[@spek888]

Thanks for the upload mate as always 👍

[@finngeorgas4090]

15:20 since Dara is called "Rat Boy" the showrunners might make him the Founder of the Rats. Or they might Make Ciri and Him The Co-Founders of the gang.

[@eduardocesardossantos5392]

I remember that even Geralt rarely swore in the books (maybe he did in the Polish version) and that the dwarves, specially when playing Gwent, that swore the most. I guess that many swearing is just to appeal to the audience, but it's a turn off for me. Not really something that was so present in the books.

[@ipraytovodka]

its a cheap attempt at making it more "adult" like gratuitous nudity

[@patryk_lewandowskiabc]

You are totally right on dwarves. And it was so great, because it brought a contrast to how different races are versed in the world. Dwarves were very direct and "down to earth" but they were no morons. And it's not even their swearing per se, just personal (racial) approach of telling stories, talking with each other and explaining stuff to other characters. In the netflix show, each time I hear a swear word from a character I feel like "well, that was unnecessary".

[@chriss790]

Geralt swore just enough in the books. In general Polish swearing is more ‘creative’ than English language show would ever get across. For example “kurwiarz” which Geralt calls Jaskier plenty of times in casual convo at the table is loosely translated to “a man who fucks whores”. Which I can’t think of an easy shortcut in English for…? Slut doesn’t quite cut it, does it? In Polish in general there’s “kurwa” which everyone knows means whore/bitch/fuck, but when you add the “-arz” suffix you change it as you do with professions. For instance when applied to “stół” (a table), you get “stolarz” which now means “a carpenter”. Either way it’s just an example. Point is basically Geralt swears quite a bit in books as do several other characters even though they are often made to appear more regal I.e. Yennefer. But when they do, it doesn’t even feel like they are swearing because it’s connected to humour. In the show on the other hand swearing is often disconnected from it, it’s to express emotion. Or in Yens case you could understand “fire fucker” at least two ways - you could put an emphasis on the fact that you’re insinuating Rience literally “fucks” fire, ergo to belittle him (as you would a guy who fucks goats or whatever) or just using it out of sheer anger. I don’t mind the swearing that much for characters like Geralt. Yen though… the dialogue is far from ideal. Edit: ffs autocorrect

[@ipraytovodka]

@@chriss790 "fuckboy" has been making it's rounds lately...or man whore as a slightly older version with similar meaning, but I see your point. Geralt swearing doesn't have to be rare but should be more casual instead of dropping f bombs left and right. He certainly doesn't swear around Ciri a lot though...actually if I remember correctly the dwarves made a point to keep their swearing around her to a minimum as well. I think yen really only swears in certain company (witchers and dwarves). That's all excusable though....the witches wizards and vezimir cussing constantly is just weird

[@chriss790]

@@ipraytovodka eeh maybe. 'fuckboy' sounds diminutive. Kinda like if you're being used in prison lol

[@miikayak]

I swear these reviews are nicer to watch than the show itself. Please do longer videos!

[@yuescloset]

"I guess Vesemir doesnt watch his own anime" is the funniest line in this review . Thanks for that little surprised at 16:57 XD. If your Rats theory is correct. do you think the show will replace Mistle with Dara? Anyways, this is a great review of a show I will never watch.

[@patryk_lewandowskiabc]

I am really interested in how the whole alleged bisexuality of Ciri will be portrayed during the Rats phase. You have a traumatized teenager that does not know the capability of her powers, wants a little bit of warm and relationship she had with Yen or Geralt. So the Rats show up, Kayleigh wanted to basically rape her iirc and then Mistle takes her away to also... rape her? It's all kind of messy ground, what was the connection between the two - and somebody just recently made a great analysis on the whole thing with Ciri and Mistle on reddit. So yeah, a lot of checkboxes for netflix to go through. Can't wait how messed up will that be.

[@xLetalis]

The might replace Mistle with Dara, who knows! Just recently I heard that Dara might also be some long lost relative to Ciri, based on his name Dara being some kind of word play on lARA Doren :D And you're most welcome

[@noelgomariz3038]

I think it's impresive how objective and close to detail you are. I had not noticed the fact that mother Nenneke is completely unknown for us, but now I realize that I only have this familiarity with the character because I know her from the books.

[@maxmustermann369]

you could literally critisize the same thing about every episode. the changes suck (in this case the tempel scenes bothered me most, had literally no impact on ciri compared to the book plotline, and why would you have the fight here, its literally the most peaceful place in the whole world), the cgi monsters look like ps2 graphics, most characters have only the name in common...

[@xLetalis]

it is why I basically skipped talking about them, they are inconsequential :(

[@maxmustermann369]

@@xLetalis totally understandable, you ve pointed that out often enough. cant be bothered to watch the show again, but your analysis is fun to watch. very fascinating to see your pov of it, you point out a lot of new details i didnt notice while watching. confirms my first impression that it is not that great of a show even on its own...

[@ipraytovodka]

really confused how Rience managed to stroll in with a bunch of thugs when in the books they made a major point that the kingdom (province?) that the temple is located in protects the place and respects its "no violence" policy to the point of not even allowing their own soldiers on the grounds...

[@ipraytovodka]

even the duel was held outside of the grounds....which by the way was a really cool story that unfortunately seems to have been cut from the netflix show entirely...

[@olivemartini0011]

Okay. I will give Netflix one thing: Ciri walking in on Yen and Geralt kissing and then backing out quickly was a very fun moment. It's not true to anything in the books, but it was very well done by Freya Allen. Definitely brought out a chuckle. Also, I watched the unicorn conversation with my Mom for the first time and audibly said "OH MY GOD" and then provided no context.

[@thejohnhopkinscompany9599]

Every episode I get progressively more confused on how they intend to depict the Thanedd Coup. That plotline decides the direction of the entire series and the way they're handling all the mage characters I can't even imagine a vague facsimile of it being plausible. Is Vilgefortz even going to be the main villain anymore?

[@adamp6320]

He's BARELY in this season, and even though he was the hero of Sodden they're retconned it to be Yennefer inexplicably. Thanedd is basically Philippa vs Vigelfortz so let's hope they do something interesting.

[@MandalorSkyrd]

I feel it's going to be veryyyy different from the books

[@agilemind6241]

I'm guessing they will move the Lodge of Sorceresses to before the Thanedd Coup next season to set up the Thanedd Coup. In the books it kind of completely comes out of left field, so they need some kind of set up. This season they did a bit of Tissaia vs Vilgefortz, and Yennefer & Istredd vs Stregobor stuff...

[@Ruimas28]

What is sorely missing is Phillipa..... She was there for a couple scenes as owl. But her introduction during BOE is completely missing. In several key aspects: . Yen first talks about Phillipa + Dijkstra to Jaskier right at the start of the book. That´s their introduction and it sets their place in the story. . Phillipa then shows up tracking Geralt and starts interacting with Geralt. They have some interactions and they end up with Phillipa having her "talk" about choices and the war to come. This is key because it sets up Phillipa as a key character in this conflict to come. She also sets up that Triss is actually on her side now. BOE does not waste much time with her. But it does enough! It sets her up has someone who is very powerful / influential. She is no doubt one of the key players around. She is on top of who Rience is and who he is working for. So...she is obviously BIG / HUGE. She is recruiting magic users and she is influential enough that Triss seems to be going her side. This gets everything where it needs to be for the incoming coup. Plus, it establishes Phillipa has existing, being important, and being related with main characters (already interacting with Geralt and implied to be interacting with Triss). What did they do with all this? ABSOLUTELY MISSING FROM SEASON 2 Which just shows how they simply do not understand the book story and what characters are really important to it.

[@Ruimas28]

@@agilemind6241 NO! It does not come out of the left field lol Phillipa is well introduced in BOE, contrary to the silly series. You already know that Phillipa is on top of who Rience is and who he works for. This is established in BOE. You also know that Phillipa managed to somehow get Triss on her side. This is established in BOE. So you know Phillipa is building her own side already. And later, in TOC you will read a bit more about the coup. How Phillipa was trying to take charge of all magic users. So....its pretty much obvious she is going to try and be a big leader going forward. You cant even be surprised by Phillipa wanting a female only club.....because she is established as having turned that way quite seriously ;) The only real surprise might be that she also wants to include Elves and Nilfgaardians on her club. That is the only real surprise ;)

[@guren6770]

Love your reviews, always makes my day better :)

[@JLoc]

It’s crazy, because I never played the Witcher games or read the books. So, the show is fine to me. BUT, I wholeheartedly understand and watch every single review episode you do, just so I can get an understand on why most people are not satisfied and even learning the lore. You don’t know how many Witcher videos and wikis I’ve been on since watching this review series. Big ups

[@Thebigbad1013]

I really enjoy these reviews. I do wish the people making the show put as much care and thought into it as you clearly do with these reviews. I still don't think the show is terrible, but I do feel it should be so much better than it is.

[@Ruimas28]

We have come from Rience throwing Fire at Yen and Yen being able to BLOW it back to his face...... Now Vesemir gets pushed by Rience throwing Fire at him. Looks like Rience got a pretty nice upgrade on his FireFucker abilities. He upgraded quite a few levels! Probably should have showed up with a skull over his head.....Triss and Vesemir were too low level for upgraded FireFucker.

[@pinaraytuna]

Been waiting all weekend!

[@jeremiahharrington2380]

glad somebody is watching it, cause I sure ain't. Thanks for taking one for the team.

[@neros398]

I got covid 19 yesterday and thought it will be the worst 2 weeks ever. But then i saw you uploaded a new video, made my day like always

[@xLetalis]

hey :) Get better fast

[@neros398]

@@xLetalis thanks

[@beardblanket8311]

Not gonna lie, the death of Roach has affected me more emotionally than anything else in the series

[@danielbellick3518]

I felt a lot of rage from the death of the real plot .. if that counts

[@beardblanket8311]

@@danielbellick3518 that’s fair

[@randomlyaverage9181]

I love your reviews dude, just absolutely hilarious!

[@wildmanhistory]

Henry Cavill's shoulder's hurt by carrying this whole series

[@ipraytovodka]

eh...the actors are honestly doing a pretty good job with this terrible writing...except for Fringilla - not only was she completely different from the book look I could've excused it if she was a good actress...alas...

[@izzsyahid6155]

@@ipraytovodka Cavill's shoulder hurts because this show wouldn't be as loved or even much looked at if the lead isn't a household name like Cavill. His name brings viewers especially for Season 1. Personally I think this show initially wouldn't be received quite well if Cavill isn't the lead, simply because the outrage from the fan of the source material would trump the voices who like the show, which I think wouldn't be that many based on how convoluted Season 1 are. Season 2 improved the storytelling to be more streamlined, but I think the general reception for Season 1 if Cavill isn't the lead would be like the Amazon's Wheel of Time; many book fans wouldn't like it, only few people would love it, and the general audience wouldn't care that much. Another point though unrelated is that this show precisely released only months after the release of Game of Thrones season 8. You know how it goes with that season. The Witcher conveniently released after the downward spiral of GOT towards it ends, and you could say promising to fill the emptiness of the fantasy "itch" left by GOT finale, so it really helps that even if Season 1 is mediocre, except for the production value it's still better in general than the GOT final season.

[@cemselcuk6710]

Thank you for your thoughts! You truly vocalize my opinions about the show.

[@xLetalis]

my pleasure ;]