Warning Spoilers for the episode “Before A Fall” below

Netflix and the team behind The Witcher have finally done it! They have finally created an episode that captivated me; left me feeling anxious, intrigued, and hungry for more of The Witcher. The question I want to answer is after a mediocre and unbalanced first season, is it too late?

Clocking in at only forty-seven minutes long “Before a Fall” seems to be a perfect length for the story they were trying to tell. Previous episodes felt bogged down and sluggish, but also felt rushed at the same time; introducing seemingly important characters that are just shoved off to the side to be forgotten about until the last minute where they serve some importance.

Geralt’s story has finally been released from his “monster of the week” story structure and thrusts him straight into his destiny. He notices that the Nifgaardian army marching towards Calanthe’s kingdom and goes to claim what is his by the law of surprise; to protect the child that has been promised to him.

To succeed in this fashion, the writers had to make the penultimate episode of the season a prequel story that ties all the characters together a bit more and makes the story confusion of the first few episodes a little more straight forward. The only problem this creates is that it doesn’t excuse the bad storytelling of the early episodes.

Yennefer is given a more dramatic role this time around as she arrives back at abusive Hogwarts, finds a group of students, and tries to warn them about the council taking away any free will that the students have. I loved seeing Yennefer stand up for something she feels so strongly about, and putting her at the forefront of a meeting on whether or not to go to war over the Nifgaardian invasion was a great idea.

Ciri is given a smaller role this time, as her story is the only one that takes place in the present timeline. She is trying to find her way to the coast on her continuing search for Geralt. It was lovely to see how the first episode ties into this one, seeing Ciri’s reactions to the situation with the newly added context of how Geralt was there during the invasion and how he tried to warn the Queen of its impending doom.

The Witcher smartly plays into its jumbled storyline to focus on the overall plot and make sure the whole season makes sense. However, this doesn’t excuse the previous episodes mistakes of making a confusing narrative, sidelining characters, poor pacing, and making Geralt’s story linear and at times meaningless. “Before a Fall” has everything that made The Witcher games great.

From a great story, action intriguing characters, and outstanding character motivations, ”Before a Fall” was the best episode in the series so far. It has reinvigorated my interest in the show to the point where I would like to go back and rewatch the show just to see how going in with this knowledge, it may have a different impact on my enjoyment.

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The Witcher "Before A Fall"

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• Timeline comes full circle.
• Satisfying answers finally arrive.
• Character motivation are exploreds.

Cons

• Characters feel sidelined.