🚨The Crimes of The Witcher Netflix🚨

[@JimbobVEVO]

Geralt in the books: Superhuman Socrates with a sword Geralt in the show: 💪😐 mm

[@valliyarnl]

hahaha you nailed it

[@GeroldLive]

And on top of that Geralt was the best of this garbage

[@obrgrs2547]

"Mm... Fuck."

[@brandonsummitt7579]

"Superhuman Socrates with a sword" is the best description I've heard and will certainly use it in the future.

[@artcorbeau]

cavill played the 3rd game without knowing about the existence of the books, he based his performance on the game

[@KALtheHighstorm117]

I feel like Netflix's Witcher is the best example of a fantasy adaptation gone wrong. Writers that openly mock and hate the source material, actors who don't understand the roles they play (except Cavill), and managers who have no passion for the project. It also tries to chase the high of GoT. GoT is dark and gritty. Witcher is dark and gritty. But Witcher does not equal GoT. So not only does the Netflix series completely disrespect the source material, it also disrespects what makes the fantasy genre so good by thinking that every fantasy adaptation has to be the next Game of Thrones.

[@valliyarnl]

Totally!

[@mintymelancholy]

i agree but with the exception of joe batey, i personally love his jaskier/dandelion. did great making him not just a playboy but keeping him complex and while a bit playboyish, mostly just cant help falling in love a tiny bit with everyone he meets. not just sexually attracted to all of his flings but undeniably romantically attracted to them and caring

[@i.cs.z]

​@@mintymelancholy Nah, he was terrible.

[@mintymelancholy]

@@i.cs.z 🤷‍♂️😅 agree to disagree ig lol i loved his rendition

[@i.cs.z]

@@mintymelancholy Sorry but, what's there to like? They completly removed every peronality trait he had in the books, the actor had 0 things to work with, how can that be a good rendition?

[@aserosiris]

Netflix Writer: Look at all this amazing lore and material for me to ignore!

[@valliyarnl]

😭😭😭

[@Blynat]

"I have an idea, let's make Eskal INTO wait for it TREE.... MONSTER....THEN Geraldine kills him." "Did you say Geraldine?" "Eh. I never read the books or played the game."

[@-RedCloud]

I can never forgive them for what they did to Eskel....

[@valliyarnl]

i get flashbacks whenever i look at a tree

[@Blynat]

That was so dumb. They made me hate the show (like completely give up and stop watching). They killed him off for no reason and made me like Treebeard less 🤣.

[@AlbusPercivalWulfrykDumbledore]

They even created new witcher for this show. Ignoring how stupid that whole leshen thing was, why did it happen to Eskel and not one of the new witchers?

[@farmpunk_dan]

That’s what I said!! Incomprehensible writing choices all over the place. Baffling.

[@pipalittle5216]

I stopped watching after they did that

[@Kyle-bt1co]

Only smart writers can write smart characters. Netflix Dijkstra never stood a chance.

[@valliyarnl]

true that Dijkstra never stood a chance, but he would've been hard to get right in any situation to be fair

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

@@valliyarnland the actor is fantastic. At least they got a quality actor for the role.

[@Memu_]

​@@misanthropicservitorofmars2116 He is definitely a highlight of the show. Literally the only problem with him in the role is that he is too handsome in my opinion.

[@julian7247]

I thought Dijkstra was one of the better parts of the show

[@fearlessromeo4293]

The golden dragon! The damn golden dragon supposed to be beautiful. But in the show.... (Internal cry)

[@valliyarnl]

100% ... and the fact that it isn't even a dragon in the show but a wyvern smh

[@fearlessromeo4293]

​@@valliyarnl Personally waiting for Ciri fighting with skates over frozen Lake. The show better not miss out that legendary fight.

[@valliyarnl]

@@fearlessromeo4293 that scene is one of the best things I’ve ever read.

[@petrsvoboda1895]

@@fearlessromeo4293 Tbf, rather not see it at all and wait for someone to actually do a great adaptation in like... 10 to 20 years? Ffs. :D ... But yeah, what a scene!

[@freepancakes6011]

What do you have against giant chickens!? 😂

[@marcos_derozzi]

🔥CRIME #1: it exists 🔥

[@valliyarnl]

to be honest... yeah. i think it did more damage than good :(

[@marcos_derozzi]

@@valliyarnl yea, if I was in the place of someone who didn't know the series beforehand and watched this boring mess with bad writing I'd be pretty confused as to why people like this franchise so much

[@matdeke]

it got me to read the books finally so im glad it exists

[@thedarkpierogie]

They stripped away the Slavic and Americanized it while saying they're being faithful to the source material. Straight to jail.

[@3choblast3r4]

Ok, so whilst I agree that them Americanizing it and the forced diversity, the poor casting etc were all bad things. Whenever I see someone talk about how the Witcher is "Slavic" I'm reminded of the fact that when someone said that to the writer he actually got upset and said he was inspired by countless cultures and not just slavic ones. I mean Jinn aren't really Slavic. Neither are names like Dijkstra etc

[@olivercastillo5883]

did the same with god of war supposed to be scandinavian myhtlogy but all of sudden we see scandinavian charcaters looking like they they are spanish or north african

[@BananaWasTaken]

@@3choblast3r4to be fair to him, the last book is very blatantly based on English legends

[@corriban]

The worst thing about this is that the intellectual property is now "tainted" by the incoherent schlopp that Netflix delivered. It's gonna be years and decades until another production company even touches this with a 10 foot pole, if ever.

[@redblade7029]

Could Witcher 4 revive interest for the universe from production companies? The Netflix show really screwed up the image & idea of Witcher for non-fan audience

[@clawwestfall8799]

​@@redblade7029 It could if the Witcher 4 would still be centered on Geralt's story but because his story is finished, the fandom worries about the game 4 too.

[@redblade7029]

@@clawwestfall8799 true... :/

[@chromesucks5299]

IF there is another production company, I might be misremembering how author sold the witcher tv media related rights to netflix only. So its probably stuck with them

[@LeutnantJoker]

​@redblade7029 if you look at whats going on with political agendas inside cs Projekt ATM, then I'd say witcher 4 is more likely to make things even worse

[@Bellannie15]

Yen trying to kill Ciri made me SO angry. The show was completely irredeemable at that point.

[@YauheniBahdanau]

I would also count as a crime how Netflix writers tried to casually ride their favourite horses, like racism, strong women characters, and stuff, while completely ignoring the fact that Sapkowski's books already had those topics covered well ahead of the time on a completely different level of quality. I mean, it was always there, just go by the book, don't invent stuff you can't do properly.

[@UsmevavyPanacek]

You see, the problem with the original's coverage of those topics was that it was well written. Can't have that. Making people better understand societal problems by making them feel for well written characters facing those problems is right wing and problematic, especially when written by old white man. What does some dude, who lived under communism, know about oppression?

[@YauheniBahdanau]

@@UsmevavyPanacek gotta admit, this does sound about how that train of thought has crashed.

[@MichaelJP]

@@UsmevavyPanacek Exactly, nobody on Earth understands REAL oppression more than upper-middle class white women!

[@davidthor4405]

I don’t have much to add here, but I’ll write a reply so I can return to this comment

[@SpectraLight]

Agreed, there are so many badass and super intelligent woman in the books. They had so much to pull from to check their boxes or whatever, it boggles my mind. Oh wait no it doesn't I forgot that none of them understood or even really read the books lol.

[@alexconstantin9661]

I mostly agree with these rankings, but I'll be honest, Vesemir wanting to murder Ciri for her Elder Blood in order to make more witchers should get AT LEAST life in prison, if not the death sentence. I mean come on, he's basically been a grandfather figure to Ciri (so he shouldn't even THINK about wanting to kill her), a father figure to Geralt (so he shouldn't even THINK about wanting to kill his adoptive daughter), and a father figure to the other witchers (who also started caring a lot about Ciri as they trained and even kind of helped raise her, and who, especially Lambert, didn't seem really keen to be witchers nor to make more witchers, so they too would be opposed to the idea), so there's no way this shit would ever happen, not in the books and certainly not in the games! And also, correct me if I am wrong, I also don't think he ever even mentioned wanting the witchers to be in higher numbers, therefore where does the wish of making more witchers even come from? I've re-read the books at the beginning of this year and I can't for the life of me figure out when Vesemir even mentioned wishing for there to be more witchers. Honestly, I kind of liked the first season, but after the whole fiasco with Vesemir wanting Ciri's blood and Yennefer losing her powers, I just couldn't watch the show anymore. I think it's ok, or maybe even good for someone who has never read the books or played the games, but as a fan of both the books and the games, the show is utter garbage and I hate Netflix for it. And I'm saying this as a person who kind of rocks the "I don't give a shit" attitude, so watching myself be so pissed of about something like this says something, lol.

[@valliyarnl]

you know what? fair enough. I wanted to get some sort of death sentence and the fact that Vesemir disappears after book 1 made me rank it lower. but yeah. super super disappointing. and i feel you rage, trust me.

[@svenr.3803]

Was Vesemir against making new Witchers or was it only the smashed instruments and killed mages prevented the mutation rituals after the Raid on Kaer Morhen?

[@wiedzx]

It's so crazy that the entire witcher tv series seems like it is made by people who had a deadline for a story and they just decided to ask the worst ai to summarise the books, which it did by making up random bullshit, and they submitted it.

[@valliyarnl]

and it broke my heart

[@wiedzx]

​@@valliyarnl honestly, such a shame. I wish we could experience the show that the books deserved.

[@eduardbalfego]

even chatGPT would have made a better script

[@MrFakefall]

​​@@wiedzx to be fair, a lot of how Netflix operates has become public knowledge with time and thus we're aware of the fact that the way they try to keep the budgets balanced is saving money on everything not *visible* in their shows. Writers being one of such invisible assets

[@LilFeralGangrel]

it felt more like it was made by people who did not understand or like the book series, i'd go as far as to say that they have a great deal of contempt for it.

[@смрш]

One detail that stuck out to me in particular was driads using crossbows in the show. A crossbow is not elegant it takes longer to draw and perhaps most importantly is much harder to produce, requiring a trigger mechanism while a driads primitive bow would be a string on a stick. Driads, beings who shape trees into being their homes, wear virtually no clothing and live harmoniously with the land would NEVER go through the trouble of making crossbows. Never.

[@valliyarnl]

Good catch!

[@brodysandifer-williams8205]

For me the worst crime the show committed was revealing Emhyr Var Emreis as Ciri’s father so early. That was a huge reveal in the final book.

[@Keram-io8hv]

Also they had no right to make him THAT hot Hells, I would go with him if he was my dad

[@chromesucks5299]

@@Keram-io8hv Didnt he want to have sex/have a child with Ciri to produce the next child of destiny or something tho? would you 'go with him' still?

[@Keram-io8hv]

@@chromesucks5299 Yep, because he is hotter than all the witches in the show

[@ThatOneElfEnjoyer]

@@Keram-io8hvYou need Jesus, therapy AND to touch grass 💀

[@Keram-io8hv]

@@ThatOneElfEnjoyer Jezus is lame, therapy is only for those who need it and grass is literally everywhere

[@CruelDwarf]

The best characterization of Witcher TV adaptation by Netflix is something that I heard from one fiction writer: "They removed the heart with surgical precision from every single Witcher story and plotline and then violently shoved this heart into the story ass".

[@omarsulaiman8456]

I remember liking the first season of the show when I watched it without knowing anything, but after reading the first two books I was like what happened.

[@valliyarnl]

Welcome to the fandom 🫡

[@XanderPGK]

Same

[@nikjovan4816]

After I saw the Eskel Tree episode I was left in such disbelief that I sat in silence for like 10 minutes pondering life 😂. I finished season 2 because I hate not finishing things, but I never even took a look at season 3. Screw that. How you could screw up a Witcher TV show when you have so much to work with is crazy.

[@valliyarnl]

I am astounded by their talent to screw something with so much potential up. 💔

[@Kintabl]

This moment was a stop for me. The show was dead to me.

[@nikjovan4816]

@@Kintabl Yes, when I saw that I was like what the fuck? I asked myself if I heard it right and that that asshole is Eskel. I immediately thought about the mission with the goat and was like: "How dare you?"

[@Kintabl]

@@nikjovan4816 I Don't even know why they did this? To angry the fans? Yeah, great job writers!

[@axis7383]

How could you screw up? Simple, Lauren Hissrich only has experience writing series' driven by drama between characters, and the writers themselves admitted to hate the source material. Back when I first read the series a few years ago (minus the final book unfortunately, I think I need to read the series once again from 0), I really appreciated how not only relations between the characters are nuanced and organic, but the relations between kingdoms and races are too. Hell, even Geralt is exposed to act like a petulant kid in one of the earlier campfire conversations by being insistent on doing everything himself and bearing the weight of the journey only on his shoulders, and is called out by none other than Jaskier and the rest of the group for pushing away any kind of help (I might be getting the details wrong, it's been a while, but that one part of the book really stuck with me for personal reasons). And while the stance of Jaskier, Milva and Cahir was understandable and I think right, you really emphatised with Geralt and understood where he's coming from too. All that nuance is missing from the adaptation, and instead of shades of grey like in the real world, you are only presented black and white. In my opinion, they missed one of the key points of the saga - that evil isn't created in a vacuum, it's the result of everything that happened before, and sometimes even good people can commit evil by being misled, mistreated, or failing to reflect on their urges or actions. And meanwhile in the Netflix series, there's only good and bad. You are supposed to like the good and hate the bad. That's it. And I could say more. I hate the Netflix series with passion not even because how far it strayed from the original series and how it character assasinated almost the entire Witcher cast, but because now we have to wait for this slop to finish, and then wait another 5-10 or more years for somebody to take over the IP rights to give the series the adaptation it deserves 😒

[@RetiredWitcherGeralt]

I hate that everytime I mention Witcher to people I meet, I have to specify and emphasize that nope, I don't mean Netflix Witcher, NO. :(

[@BlueBEAZY45]

The way that the other Witchers were portrayed in “Kaer Morhen” was just jarring. They pretty much turned the place into a brothel lol

[@yairsofer8933]

Another small but huge change in the show that showed me the writers don't understand the characters, and why I hated this show from the beginning (I know people love season 1 I hated it) is in The Last Wish episode. In the books Yen thinks Dandelion is the one making the wishes which is why after she hypnotises Geralt to punish the people who insulted her, she teleports Dandelion to the courthouse to make a wish that what Geralt did (because she made him do it) would be forgotten by everyone so he is not punished or killed because of her (obviously it doesn't work because Geralt is the one with the wishes but she doesn't know it yet). Yet in the show Yen just does NOT care what happens to Geralt as a result of what she made him do and just threatens Dandelion to make a wish with a knife to his throat, which just makes her an evil selfish person where as in the books she DID care enough to not let him be punished because of what she made him do. It's a tiny detail but important imo exactly because of the implication that the show Yen did not care if Geralt would have been killed because of her. I loved in one xLetalis video how he compared the Netflix Eyck vs how CDPR made him in Witcher Tales: Thronebreaker which if you haven't played i HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend it is unbelievably good and criminally underrated. Also that is not the "Polish" eagle. I don't know what "Polish" is you made that up, that is in fact the REDANIAN eagle thank you very much

[@OonalovesAstarionssimpleplan]

Are there people who love the first season? I 'm out after the first season because they implemented The Last Wish so poorly. "Who is Yennefer?" really??????

[@yairsofer8933]

@@OonalovesAstarionssimpleplan Tons of people you'd be surprised. People loved it for some reason. It was better than the other seasons for sure but it wasn't good. Also Cavil is severely overrated just because he's a Witcher fan people worship him (Which I understand I really do appreciate him ALOT more than the others working on this show for how much he loves and respects the games and books but we can't look at his performance through these goggles of "he is one of us") , his Geralt wasn't good and not just because of the writing he is just not a good match for him imo especially the Witcher 3 version but they were adapting the books not the games so that's not something i would have held against him.

[@СергейЗахаркин-б4ы]

Dijsktra is kinda dumb in Witcher 3 too, especially at the end. His desicion to force Geralt to choose between him and Roshe was really stupid.

[@valliyarnl]

I gaslight myself daily that Reason of State doesn’t exist

[@Radonatorr]

Honestly in Witcher 3 they butchered the entire character of Radovid too. Radovid the Madman is nothing like the ruthless but intelligent and at times quite sympathetic Radovid from Witcher 1 and 2. It feels like the entire "political" side of Witcher 3 was severely undercooked or cut, and scewed in Nilfgaard's favour in order to do the "Empress Ciri" ending

[@gabehere]

​@@Radonatorr It was screwed due to time, there was a lot of cut content on the political side, given how complex Witcher 2 was.

[@Fanthomas1742]

They already delayed the game twice, they had no time or money so some stuff they had to just finish fast

[@mr.carnage3210]

It's cause they had deadlines so some plot lines got cut short. Dijkstra received a very short end of the stick

[@malcolmferguson4869]

It's like all the writers knew of Dijkstra was the end of the Reasons of State quest...

[@jowoman7799]

I know you AREN'T a Witcher account, but you're already my favorite one 😂 Binge watching all your videos. Love how much you understand and care about the Witcher. Unlike the Netflix writers.

[@valliyarnl]

Awwwhhh thank you 🫶🏻🫶🏻

[@GarantiaMicaeli]

God i loved your channel so much!!! And yess!! I totally agree. I started reading witcher this year and im totally invested. I sure miss someone to talk about it, since none of my friends like the witcher stories. Im so glad I found your content!!!

[@KingDodango]

On the point of Wyverns vs. Dragons: I normally don't have an issue with the terms each universe uses as long as they're consistent. In The Elder Scrolls, dragons have 2 legs and 2 wings, and it's okay because there are no wyverns in that universe, nor dragons with 4 legs and 2 wings. Same with A Song of Ice and Fire. But in The Witcher, wyverns and dragons both exist and are entirely different things, to the point where Geralt refuses to kill dragons because they are intelligent.

[@valliyarnl]

same thoughts!

[@Jebusthlord]

There are actually wyverns in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire. They are common in Sothoryos, a region south of the continent of Essos. They have two legs and two wings, they don't breathe fire. Both the region where they are common and wyverns themselves are sparingly mentioned in the main book series but to name a few, some of the gargoyles of Dragonstone depict wyverns, it is the coat of arms of a lesser noble house in the Reach, sworn to house Tyrell, and one of the main books Tyrion lists for information on dragons is about dragons, wyrms, and wyverns. A fan theory is that dragons might actually have been *created* by the Valyrians from wyverns through fire and blood magic. The next book, if it ever comes out, is supposed to shed light specifically on the origins of dragons and their connection to humans.

[@KingDodango]

@@Jebusthlord That's interesting, never heard of them! Also, pretty curious how the only distinction seems to be the ability to breathe fire, since dragons are also always said to have two wings and to legs (like the Targaryen crest).

[@Jebusthlord]

​@@KingDodango Yes, they are very similar in this world. Wyverns are smaller, more aggressive, at least some hunt in packs (of 100+), and, ofc, they can't breathe fire. Hence why some fans hypothesize Valyrians created dragons from wyverns through magic. There is, so far, no lore evidence to support this aside their similarities, however. There are numerous comments from GRRM over the years where he was asked why his dragons had 4 limbs, not 6 and his answers basically boil down to: He's always disliked 6 limbed dragons even if that's their common depiction in heraldry and fantasy. His favorite dragon is Vermithrax Pejorative from Dragonslayer which also only has 4 limbs.

[@KingDodango]

@@Jebusthlord I have read about GRRM's logic behind it. I believe he said somewhere that he thinks it makes no evolutionary sense since there are no real 6-limb vertebrates, or something along those lines.

[@matdeke]

the fact that they didnt include ciri and geralt meeting in brokilon is instant death sentence imo, that short story is so endearing

[@malcolm4737]

I now truly understand the meaning of the "The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference". Witcher from Netflix is so bad, it made me re-evaluate my attitude towards its franchise as a whole. I don't think I would care if HBO would somehow secure rights for the adaptation and make it work. The whole thing is now sour, lame and retroactively ruined. Great video, keep up the good work.

[@8684LYFE]

The show shoved Dijkstra aside. Forcefully.

[@JuanFernandoRochaHoffman-qx5xt]

🤣

[@TheQuietRiotProductions]

I am currently reading the Witcher series for the first time and loving it so far. I’m glad I avoided the show.

[@valliyarnl]

So glad you’re enjoying it!! 🥹 (Remember book 1 is the Last Wish)

[@anthonyheffron5500]

Yeah I was hoping you'd mention the ballsack armor. After playing 3, it hurt to see. It was so wrinkly. So wrinkly.

[@valliyarnl]

Traumatising

[@qzoid3060]

It’s so funny to turn it on while playing w3 tho, completely clashes with absolutely everything else

[@LeutnantJoker]

​​the joke is that they didn't use the game designs for license reasons but then put the ballsack armor into witcher 3 next gen ...

[@petrsvoboda1895]

Ohh, I hated the KM/brothel scenes so bloody much. And how much they've butchered the witchers in general. The actors woulda been fine, tho.

[@valliyarnl]

agreed!

[@Keram-io8hv]

I guess girls used fast travel

[@ticijevish]

The sorceresses are taught the price of magic. Fringilla makes a stone levitate and her hand withers. The other sorceresses levitate the rocks by draining a flower of its life essence. All this after Yennifer opened cross-continental portals with no external life force and stayed alive, instead of instantly dropping dead, as per the magic lesson. Depicting Queen Cyrilla in 4 separate time periods as the same actress, in the same costume, with no aging or de-aging makeup, or CGI, and then having the gumption to say "sorry we didn't make it more clear".

[@valliyarnl]

Oh my gosh I didn’t even catch that! You’re so right about the magic system 🤦🏼‍♀️ I think u mean Queen Calanthe? Honestly was so disappointed by her being so boisterous and drunk in that one scene :(

[@ticijevish]

@@valliyarnl yes, Calanthe, Cyrilla's grandma. Sorry. I like Jodhi May as an actress, but having her look exactly the same as a supposed teenager, young adult, mother and grandmother was a failure of basic visual storytelling. She acted loudly and boisterously in that one scene to compensate for the fact that she looks nothing like the age she is meant to portray.

[@ticijevish]

@@valliyarnl and what the heck was that stuff with catching lightning in a bottle supposed to be? Or transforming into eels that are swept into a pool of milk? WTF? If they wanted to deviate from Sapkowsky's magic systemy they could have, but that would require writing skill. For instance, if they wanted all magic to be paid for in life force, or whatever, they could have added a concept of the very first spell the mage spontaneously casts upon coming into their power to be a "freebie" for them. This would also explain why Yenniffer was so important, she can open portals anywhere without breaking a sweat. Of course, this would also require all other mages to be depicted having to prepare for an extended time gathering the energy needed to make a portal. There's also the matter of scale. Levitate a rock, your hand withers. Incinerate an army, you get difficulty with your sight for a short time. The show utterly failed to even hint at any progression of skill among the spellcasters.

[@overshottyler]

​@@ticijevishI really wanted her to cover this. I never watched passed season 1 because the magic system sucked so bad.

[@mikelaragt]

One thing it really bothered me that you didn´t mention is the Duny - Enhyr revelation so early in the saga. For me this was such a shock when it was revealed in the books, and in the show they just threw it in there early for the shock value... but so many things that needed to happen before you needed to find out of this!

[@valliyarnl]

I was using the crimes people submitted but yes!! Totally agree!

[@Pichuuh]

I love books and I love the witcher. I'm so glad I found this channel.

[@valliyarnl]

glad you're here

[@ThatOneElfEnjoyer]

1)Yennefer willing to sacrifice Ciri to get her powers back… 2)Vesemir wanting to make Ciri undergo the trial of grasses,also wanting her blood for whatever… 3) Eskel becoming a tree and getting unalived 😭 4) That Avengers:Endgame wannabe battle between the mages and the Scoia tael (ONE mage should have been enough to clear out those elves, let alone a group…) and they get wiped?! 5)Geralt doesn’t play Gwent or dice poker in the show (Unforgivable) I have a lot more beef, but I’ve run out of patience…

[@andrewshaw1571]

The highlight of the endgame battle was the hero moment of a racist man in robes calling another race mongrels before trying to kill them with fire. Bizarre shift in tone there, wasn't sure what message they were trying to send.

[@itsnotrael]

the Vesemir thing belongs into Death Sentence for me. Iirc Vesemir in the books was completely against the idea of creating new witchers, and Triss actually suggested to help him but he was firmly against it and wanted that knowledge gone for good. In the show they just turned that around 180 and it was one of the things I hated the most (only overshadowed by Yen trying to sacrifice Ciri) edit: spelling

[@nicholasrage1640]

Agreed. The idea that Witchers were needed after the Conjunction, but now the worst of the monsters are going extinct to the point Witchers aren’t needed anymore and new ones aren’t being created, is such a core part of the tone of the books. It doesn’t just ruin Vesemir’s character. It messes with the entire world setting and themes.

[@itsnotrael]

@@nicholasrage1640 True, I almost forgot about the portals bringing in hundreds of monsters, thanks for reminding me of more things I hated about the show xD

[@lycianempire]

Ugh the scene where they literally rip out Yen's uterus rather than the magic affecting her fertility. What the hell. How would Geralt have been born at all if his mom went through the same procedure.

[@Reedg333]

Cathartic to listen to this 😌 i think it could have been so cool to use The Voice of Reason as an opening 2-3 minutes of each episode in season 1. Like you said, to ground each episode and the timeline, and a super easy way to familiarize viewers with exposition dump in a lore accurate way. But, seeing as it wasn’t nearly as offensive as season 2 I guess it doesn’t matter. Rip. I still love you Henry.

[@valliyarnl]

yeah in comparison to s2, s1 is a masterpiece...

[@norat1883]

«I thought they wanted to make money» awh, I feel you! This, this so often.

[@ramseybolton1258]

I'm starting to like your channel more and more every single day

[@valliyarnl]

Thank you, Mr Bolton 😁

[@NASkeywest]

Netflix was given a home run GOT level success! They had An amazing lead actor who loves the source material. They had a beloved franchise with deep lore and blew it terribly

[@TheMathsTutorJosh]

Now we need 'The crimes of Amazon prime's wheel of time'.

[@valliyarnl]

Oof I’m not as deep in the lore for that one. I also don’t think the crimes were as outrageous as the ones for the Witcher but who know? If I choose to do it I’ll send out a poll on instagram**

[@Anotherperson81]

The crimes are superior sadly….. The series was great until about about book 8. You can forgive a lot. The show? At least some of the characters were good …. Like Morraine. The general casting otherwise …. I dare not say anything that would be construed as a hate crime, but they have destroyed my childhood almost as much as Disney with Star Wars. And I like the actress that did Yen despite the majority vote. They should have perhaps gone the anime route.

[@aitor2516]

Yeah i dont understand why they dont go the anime route for such a big world, you need a shit ton of money to actually make a good show if its not animated in the case of WoT​@@Anotherperson81

[@stefvanroey8191]

​@@Anotherperson81there is a short dip for a book or 3 but the quality goes right back up at book 9 imo. Those last 4 are the best WoT books. But yeah the crimes are pretty severe there, the fact that the main character is just robbed of any cool moment he might have had, the fact that they break the very defined magic system in very serious ways....

[@KeytarArgonian]

And Rings of Power

[@RheaMainz]

Though I haven't read, watched, nor played The Witcher, I love how you express your passion for it!

[@ThePariahDark]

You sure get it. I find myself agreeing with pretty much everything you said (well, almost). Here is how I would do the show, if I had the money / were the showrunner: Do Seaons of Storms and all the short stories, then tease Ciri at the end of season 1. If season 1 is successful, convince the studio to let us film the next seasons back to back, so that Ciri ages gradually WITH the story at the right pace. Hard sell? Yes. Impossible? Not if season 1 was a hit.

[@sixdemonbag17]

Late to this party, but the no “Triss: Butterflies” at Sodden was just…sad.

[@valliyarnl]

would've been iconiccccc 🦋 (and visually stunning)

[@انا_ابراهيم_البناوي]

The Netflix Witcher suffers from the same disease that other current adaptations suffer from which is bad writing and massive egos and self-inserts they don't respect the original source and try to outdo the original source it was apparent from the start when they started to take creative liberties with the writing Henry Cavill was the only person who actually cared and wanted for the show to be as close as possible to the books which rubbed the wrong way with the writers and directors massive egos and they just girl bossed Ciri and Yen and didn't give them any good character development and for some weird reason they made all male characters either reckless stupid or bad made and female characters with no flaws and just instantly made them strong also the main showrunner said she picked the actress for yen not because she was good or talented but for her color of skin which really just showed how much they didn't respect the actors or the source material and that's why everything felt boring and weird and didn't look like the witcher more like a regular fantasy drama look

[@valliyarnl]

Like to be fair, both Yen and Ciri are “girlbosses” in the source material too but a) Yen is very enigmatic at the start and b) Ciri is a naive child and only grows into the leading-lady of the series in the penultimate book. As for Henry, I guess he’s the reason why there aren’t many Geralt-related crimes bc I think it’s evident he tried to mitigate :)

[@انا_ابراهيم_البناوي]

@@valliyarnl True but the TV show really just felt like it didn't have any effort done to ensure it was as close as possible to the original books also they tried to make the death of his horse Roach a Comedy scene which Henry didn't like one bit and fought hard to change it and they told him to write the lines and do the scene by himself in a very short time

[@stephengrant4841]

Seriously why does it feel like every adaptation fails in this way. I'll never get over this and the Wheel of Time.

[@انا_ابراهيم_البناوي]

@@stephengrant4841 It's egos and selfish writers and directors and screenplay writers who try to self insert unnecessary topics that has no point being in the TV show

[@KeytarArgonian]

Never forget: the Netflix head of casting hired Anya Chalotra to ‘subvert beauty standards’ which to me is insanity considering Chalotra is clearly a gorgeous woman hired to play a gorgeous woman, and I don’t get what they were going for in that comment 😳

[@valliyarnl]

That’s so rude wtf. She’s so beautiful!!! Her in that bath scene lives in my head rent free 💜

[@glory4645]

That girl is gorgeous it didn't subvert anything.

[@OonalovesAstarionssimpleplan]

I loved the books and the Game. And after watching the first season, I decided not to watch this series again. I avoided it for years because I was disgusted by what Netflix did with it. Your video is the first thing I've seen about it and it makes me sad and incredibly angry at how bad it has become. what they made of dandelion, vezemir, yennefer...everything. This series is a crime against fantasy, against this special world around Geralt, in terms of character design and dialogue. it belongs in prison an should be a warning for every concern that makes adaptions.

[@LPSD4829]

The video is amazing, i wholeheartedly agree with your takes. Also love hearing how you accent changes when you pronounce polish words, one does really start thinking about how our personalities are also different when talking in different language

[@Keram-io8hv]

I will write it before watching the video, the totally destroyed Cahir´s portrayal In the third book he was this brooding presence, Ciri´s nightmare and more nightmare than man In the fourth book we finally saw who he truly was, just a young men following orders And then in next books he became my favourite character Unlike the show where he was psychopath and later knelt while saying "Pls kill me"

[@valliyarnl]

spoiler for the video but Cahir is one of my personal favorites and what they did with his character shattered my heart

[@CLuigiplayer]

You raised so many good points in this video! Though I disagree with the Vesemir placement because they massacred his character so much. In the original story he's so kind, caring and would never ever hurt innocents while they made him a grumpy old man who is completely unlikable in the show. That's a death sentence from me. Also: I too hate it when Dragons are depicted as Wyverns.

[@melkerbotin7098]

Great video! I only read one of the books so I was not aware of just HOW MUCH they actually changed (for the worrse).😭Man who on earth gave this show into the hands of the writers.

[@EldritchAugur]

Dijkstra's casting bothers me more than anyone because his appearance is such an important part of his character. He's supposed to be a massive brute with an unflattering pig-like appearance. He looks like the least intelligent person you've ever seen and yet he's a political manipulative genius. The guy they cast for the show looks like the stereotypical walmart version of the guy you would choose for that role. It completely removes that unique aspect from his character.

[@vladmarcu3536]

They messed up too many things to count. But by far the stupidest thing they did was to make Yen to sell out Ciri. That was it for me. There is absolutely no going back from there.

[@SamButler22]

The most painful pronunciation to me is Cahir. His names are all very Irish/Welsh/Celtic. The Irish town Cahir is close to where I spent every summer as a child. It's closer to Care

[@callandor5865]

Saw Witcher in polish on the shelf and decided to trust this video

[@valliyarnl]

Im polish!

[@sirpardon]

You have mentioned Ciri being way too competent (big agree), but I´d like to raise a point of Geralt also being way too competent (and calculated) in some situations. Haven´t seen this trashfire of a show in a while, but I remember how they absolutely botched my beloved A Grain of Truth story. In that one (and many more), huge charm of the books is that Geralt is an exceptionally observant monster hunter yes, but he´s also just some guy sometimes and does not 100% of the time get things right. You as the reader unravel the mystery with him and watch him deal with situations in which he screwed up and it nearly cost him his life. Netflix Geralt feels like he could diagnose any type of cancer from licking a footprint. I don´t really get it 🤷‍♂ + to expand on this, Netflix decided to cater to 3 year olds, I guess?? I cannot fathom otherwise why would everything need to be spelled out at all times. They are dropping all of these backstories and sad things, fishing for sympathy points for characters they changed to be completely unlikable, and it comes off as incredibly tone deaf in the moment and comical (I believe they did this to Cahir, who is also my beloved blorbo and they deserve the electric chair for what they did to him). In the books there are so many wonderful metaphors, dilemmas, slow unravels of the tragedies many characters go and went through, sometimes not even ever said out loud and Netflix just completely stripped it bare and expects the same emotional impact, absolute joke. Anyway sorry this is long, love the video!

[@JackieDelos-f1g]

i discovered your channel with your witcher videos , and i really think you're doing a great job talking about this franchise in a unique way and i'd love to see more 👏👏👍

[@valliyarnl]

Thank you!

[@theshine_x1064]

Good video! I really hope that the tv show will get into the deepest parts of the psycological battle in Ciri's mind related to her love and relationships, because its one of my favorite parts of all books. Also, I hate when the games also do like the tv show and changes characters that are alredy defined, like Radovid's personality throughout all three games.

[@Wazkyy]

I like the passion, always fun to find more people who are passionate about these characters like me.

[@Elvis.D99]

8:00 I think Ciri actually finds the cat school medallion after she kills Bonhart since he had been showing them off to her before the fight

[@valliyarnl]

That is “sometime after the desert” 😅. I just didn’t remember how long after haha

[@hristohristov1016]

Netflix Witcher made me reconsider my views on alcohol :)

[@valliyarnl]

Let’s brew White Gull together?

[@music-is-my-world-83]

Wera, I love this video! I want to apologize as a US citizen on behalf of our entertainment industry for highjacking a beautiful piece of art and turning it into essentially a generic superhero movie. I feel sorry for fans outside of America who were Witcher fans and were probably excited to have a new film adaptation too.

[@damon2184]

This series is so easy to adapt, I have no idea how they messed it up Just do what dozens of other shows like Buffy, Supernatural, X-Fikes, etc have done and just have the first two seasons be a Monster of the week type show that builds up the world, then adapt the saga in later seasons. They could’ve even been creative and added some of their own stories to introduce important charterers and further tie into the overall narrative

[@valliyarnl]

totally

[@tomblade]

Exactly!! An X-files type concept would have worked perfectly!! That's actually what you get from the game if you only play the witcher contracts!

[@xlrouge]

You are so much fun! Thanks for the ranking! Dzięki!

[@tomblade]

Netflix ruins EVERYTHING it touches !!! ☠️☠️☠️☠️

[@markozerdin9784]

I 100% agree with you with the dandelion and radovid crime. Dandelion is one of my favorite characters from the books and radovid is a favorite from the games. Shame what the writers did to them. Good video

[@michaeljedlowski4227]

Great vid! I was cautiously optimistic about this show... Could have been great but was more mid... what a pain...

[@moonbot7613]

Never read or watched the series but wanted to give ya view anywho. However, more Malazan breakdowns please ☺️😉

[@valliyarnl]

soooo many of my friends are peer pressuring me into picking up Deadhouse Gates rn haha. Have they sent you? in all seriousness, i have to wait until I get back to Ireland so I can buy a physical copy (i think they're gonna be better for me when it comes to this series)

[@moonbot7613]

@@valliyarnl lol,😂 I say nothing! Yeah, definitely read the physical copy.

[@tracelisey]

I love your videos on the Witcher and how they incorporate the books, games, and other adaptions (even if i dont like those adaptations - looking at you Netflix!). I hope you make more Witcher videos. It could be really interesting to hear you talk about the female characters in the books in particular, maybe looking at how they are represented by a male author. I cant wait to reread these books because of you! I'm English but visisted Poland with my Polish partner a few weeks ago and loved it! I also picked up a Polish copy of The Last Wish! 😅 I just needed to have one of the books in its original language!!! Anyway, thanks for these vids and i hope you make more in the future 😊

[@SCAinthegame]

I'd say what they did with Yen character should be Death Sentence Yen story line in season 2 was just unwatchable, anyway great vid, I'm glad I found your channel I hope you the best! :)

[@dante.rovere]

Totally not related to the video lol, but maybe a month ago you recommended "Balladyna" by Slowacki. I finished it not too long ago and really enjoyed it (as much as you can enjoy a story about murder). I read a lot of Shakespeare for my degree in college, so it wasn't as difficult as I was anticipating. I also studied a lot of the Arthurian myths in school, and it was super interesting seeing some elements of that influence Slowacki's work. Thanks for the recommendation! I bought it as part of a collection including three of his other works, so I'll probably end up reading those too.

[@valliyarnl]

Ah! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! He’s very foundational to Polish Romanticism and I think “vibe” wise you can truly get a feel for Polish culture/traditional stories. I haven’t read his other works yet (Kordian is his most famous work so I assume it’s in the bundle), but I really want to soon. Happy reading!

[@stevecanada4830]

I’ve seen so many rankings videos and I do like them.. but, I loved how you put your own spin on it with crimes against Witcher Netflix.. very unique and creative! Always enjoy your thoughts and interesting takes on the literary world! This also would have worked well with Wheel of Time and Amazon Prime..

[@helloniceperson1988]

Myślałam, że jesteś z USA ze względu na twój bardzo dobry akcent. Po chwili usłyszałam słowo "policja" i miałam mindfucka czy wujek google nagle wgrał mi tłumacza z AI XD

[@valliyarnl]

🤣🤣

[@fredymendez855]

Briliant I just woke and a new vid of Wera about the witcher just dropped = starting off the weekend right

[@valliyarnl]

🥺💗🫶🏻

[@MrFakefall]

I've genuinely never heard/seen *any* polish person say The Witcher is their favourite or most important series before (considering its origins), so this is quite new and refreshing to me, not to mention the extra twist of it coming from someone both young and a woman. No disrespect intended, love goes to all my middle-aged neckbeards, which is the stereotype for enthusiasts of (dark) fantasy but i also prefer my favourite things being the favourite things of all kinds of people with diverse backgrounds and shi . Steady on!

[@valliyarnl]

🙌🙌🙌 Love this comment!

[@tagus100]

I’m really glad you touched on the casting choices but was disappointed that you didn’t go hard enough. You seemed to avoid anything politically controversial, when you’re not at fault for making it so. The casting director & anyone else within that Hollywood bubble has admitted that DEI is the priority. The reason it looks un-Slavic, is because it’s a Medieval Fantasy show inspired by contemporary Eastern, Northern, and Western Europe; yet it looks more diverse than present day London, LA, or NYC. These people will inject politics into the things we love & ram it down your throat & call you every -ist & -phobe under the sun when you even slightly disagree. Another example being that Yennefer getting everyone else’s achievements is to push her as the girlboss character. This is their explicit goal. Demoralise & dissuade you from even referencing the political nature, let alone criticising it. They’ve cowed you into submission and it’s sad to see. These are the exact people we should gatekeep against. Their writing skill is terrible and their political ideology is downright malicious in its goals & implementation. I really enjoyed this video and your commentary. Just wish you weren’t scared to confront the elephant in the room.

[@انا_ابراهيم_البناوي]

welcome back from your US Roadtrip been really excited for this video

[@valliyarnl]

thank you!! hope it lives up to your expectations 🫡 less edits than usual, but it crashed my computer twice anyway :(

[@انا_ابراهيم_البناوي]

@@valliyarnl I know that feeling I was doing work in Unity for about 3 hours and my PC crashed without saving my project same thing also happened while doing a F1 video I think it's a sign I need a new PC

[@zegominha3586]

Look, another IP ruined because screenwriters think they know better, anyway, great video!

[@sjtaylor121]

Loved your take I was ranking along with this video and was saying all the same things as. The writers and showrunners took certain plot points from the lore and source material and just bastardised them thinking they know better. After Eskel in S2 I could sense what was happening and then the shitshow with Yennefer trying to kill Ciri.. Wow just Wow. I’m all for adding new characters as long as they add something to the story or existing characters but leaving out characters and mini stories like Shani, Little Eye or Dudu and replacing them with Dara the Disappointing and Mrs Baba Yaga is just so frustrating. I think the actors playing Yennefer, Dijkstra, Philippa, Rience , Francesca and Vilgefortz are all great castings and had so much potential but have all been butchered by awful writing. And even though I think Cahir, Triss and Fringilla were all casted wrong, with good writing I believe they could’ve worked. And I’m glad you made a point about not blaming the actors because unfortunately it’s too common for fans to vent their frustration at the actors when in reality it’s the directors and showrunners at fault. I guess whoever is cast as Stefan Skellen and Leo Bonhart will have to be working overtime in the coming seasons in order to replace Rience now that his storyline has been cut 2 Books Short. I felt so bad for Henry Cavill when he stepped away from the role but I’m glad he won’t have to be a part of the flop that is going to be S4.

[@Dev-ed6ul]

Wow i dont think i would be so entertained watching a video criticizing the serie i droped since season 1. THAT WAS GREAT!! i am realy a fan from the books and the witcher 3 game, seeing you say everything I thought and more about what is wrong with the series realy made me feel lighter and relieved Thanks for the great video

[@valliyarnl]

Thank YOU for such a kind comment!

[@milanhin5024]

Another one for me I recently noticed is that in the series, Ciri is there in the castle of Nivellen, while in the books Geralt doesn't even know ciri yet.

[@valliyarnl]

so this i don't consider a crime. it's a change from the books but it is one i would've been fine with. i was excited to find out that A Grain of Truth (that short story) would be adapted and I don't think it was one they should've squeezed into season 1 (if they stayed with the 8 episodes they had). What annoyed me with that episode is how trivially they treated the central conflict :/

[@pajenczonkin]

Thank you for all your hard work it must take to create this video

[@tree9215]

Really enjoyed the video! Had too share it with fellow Witcher fans! Velmi dobře, heel goed!

[@valliyarnl]

🥹🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

[@Anarcho121]

this is the first video of you i saw and besides the witcher beeing your number one book series you also mention malazan and the first law. take my like xD

[@winterfell_forever]

I really have to commend you for your British accent. Quite nice and natural flowing. Listened to a lot of Polish people that are supposed to be very proficient and fluent, because they are "in the business", (videogames) and they sound atrocious. One of the worst offenders in youtube is Outstar, who now is shilling for Paradox/The world of Darkness, and she sounds like she is Dracula's daughter.

[@jasondetilly5647]

Amazing video! It really felt like the countless discussions I had with a friend about how Netflix butchered The Witcher lore haha You brought up great points and some I hadn't even thought about! For me, death sentences are Brokilon omission, Kaer Mohren brothel, Yen planning to kill Ciri, and Vesemir planning to turn Ciri into a witcher (and approving of the prostitutes at Kaer Mohren). Restraining myself to not put more in that category 😂

[@jungtothehuimang]

Them trying to make Yen and Vesemir hurt Ciri is the dumbest shyte I have EVER seen! I was infuriated! They ruined the found family trope that I loved about these books. Absolutely desgustang!

[@Mephilis78]

Brokilone happens out of sequence. It's supposed to be before the fall of Cintra, and it's supposed to be the first time Geralt and Ciri actually meet.

[@Zabbeify]

Hi, this video was so nice to have in the background whilst cleaning!! Can I suggest a tip for upcoming videos? You talk about many characters in this video and how they were done wrong. For the next video, can you add a picture of the character so I can remember them. I’m not good with names and mostly learn characters by their face😅

[@valliyarnl]

Good point! So originally I wanted to pull clips and pictures to back up what I was saying, but my computer just couldn’t handle the file sizes :( but I will in the future!

[@Zabbeify]

⁠this is like the first time an OP has has answered one of my comments, kinda starstruck right now🤪 Looking forward to the next video! Since you’re so well read and knowledgeable about fantasy books. A fun idea would be for you to talk about book series that would make good tv adaptions

[@sneakysnake4466]

Great vid! Agree with almost everything. Few nitpickings: Coën is from Cat school, and Ciri gets her medalion from Bonhart (after killing him) as does Geralt actually, because Geralt lost his medalion in ToS.

[@valliyarnl]

about the cat medallion i knew it was sometime after the desert but i forgot exactly where. doing a reread now so ill have a better recollection for future videos. about Coën he is from the School of the Griffin tho!

[@sneakysnake4466]

​@@valliyarnloh Damn! He is from griffin lol! I actually always thought he was a cat! I reread the books like 2 weeks ago, I have no idea how I missed it XD

[@mcina001]

Haha great watching an actual Polish fan roasting the show. I’m not as invested in the books as you, but I agree that the showrunner could have done more faithful adaptation and had a better outcome.

[@auronwatson2477]

Great video, and I agree with most of your points. My one point of disagreement would be the cast. The Witcher is kind of a unique setting, it was the one show that could've showed off slavic lore and culture, and our own brand of "diversity". If some aren't bothered by the medieval east/central europe stand-in having the same mix of people as modern day LA -- good on you, but it shatters my immersion. Would've been nice to see some slavs in roles which don't depict us all as either villains, or criminals (with or without a heart of gold). Just my two cents.

[@Vs-ub4tq]

I was so heartbroken when they butchered S1 but I could at least pretend they didn't exist. Then came the rest. Great video detailing the mistakes, I would just put Geralt being a silent brute to the top as that's who Geralt is for me.

[@valliyarnl]

I get that. For me, Henry really tried to get Geralt across more so I feel like Geralt was better on a fidelity level than the other characters esp after s1 and I wanted to make a sort of bell curve :) thanks for commenting!!

[@TheSixOfSwords]

This is perfect! Do you have any plans to do a video like this on the Wheel of Time show?

[@valliyarnl]

mayyybe but closer to season 3 release window thank you for watching!

[@yusufozdemir769]

One more crime that I'd say is the music. In the first season soundtrack was really good, Sonya Belausova and Giona Ostinelli did a really good job. It sounded like they were heavily inspired by the Witcher 3 music. So I liked it. But in season 2 and 3 for some reason they worked with a different composer. Only music that left a impression on me in these two seasons was the Kaer Morhen one. All the others ones were negligible.

[@Gurianthe]

I immediately knew I'd like your video when you said The Witcher books are the most important series in your life BUT I've been avoiding Neflix Witcher like the plague ever since it was announced and im scared to learn the changes they made I know about the big things (thank you, Redanian Intelligence) but I'm still scared of what I might learn in this video

[@straightjak1t]

This breakdown was so well done. Great job! The Witcher is my favorite franchise ever and I cannot explain how much I hate the show. It is absolutely worthless. It can’t deliver on a single iota of the franchise’s themes and spoils every opportunity to tell a good story.

[@Mile2357]

I was more invested in this 47 ranking video than in any episode of Netflix Witcher. I gave up in first couple of episodes of season 2. I wanted to give up in season 1, especially for what they did to Vilgefortz but wanted to give season 2 a chance.

[@mtchllBarrett]

I've spent way more time watching people complain about the Witcher show than I've spent actually watching it. I'm glad I never picked it up after the first season, but I'm also glad I get recommended content like this now