Warning: Spoilers for The Witcher Season one below

For several weeks I made my way through the entirety of Netflix’s The Witcher. For a little context, I am new to the whole world of The Witcher: I have both “The Last Wish” and “Sword of Destiny” books, as well as made my way through ten hours of the first game. So, I am by no means the main source of all things Witcher related, but it is safe to say that I have found myself falling in love with the series.

Throughout my reviews, I had been enjoying the majority of the show; but found that it fell behind in some aspects. For instance, I found the writing to be muddled at times, with ham-fisted dialogue and lore that didn’t do much in the way of fleshing out the world. I mentioned how the timeline seemed to be an absolute disaster in the early episodes, and funny enough, my feelings on that hadn’t changed as I made my way through the season.

Seeing the timeline between Ciri, Geralt and Yennefer be twisted and confusing, slowly unraveling, at first was more frustrating than intriguing. I felt it was poorly executed, as I was left with nothing but confusion, and it didn’t leave me satisfied when the fourth episode explained the timeline between Ciri and Geralt. As some of his stories were taking place before her birth.

I have since spoken with other fans of the show, and I seem to be in the minority with this opinion. I felt that having the show’s opening episodes be as confusing, just gave the audience more questions that won’t be answered till later in the season a little disrespectful. To me, it felt like the writers and showrunner were more concerned about setting up for season 2 and beyond, rather than telling a cohesive narrative. It felt like the early movies in the DC extended universe rather than taking its time and making me care. I constantly felt rushed and pushed along.

The early episodes were also quite disappointing, as after watching the first, I was left a little disheartened but still happy to watch more. However, it was the second and third episodes that left me with a sour taste in my mouth. The first three episodes as a whole were completely unbalanced, as it seemed the show didn’t have an overarching narrative; Yennefer’s origin felt rushed even though she had two full episodes of build-up.

After Yennefer was introduced, I thought the show displayed some promise. Unfortunately, the handling of her early character felt like we should have had a full season, or at least three or four episodes, of build-up instead of two. I would have loved to see a bit more of the magic school, how they were trained, and expand on that a little more. I wanted to see how the mages guild were elevated to such an important status to the point that they were advising kings. Unfortunately, though, we never got to see the full extent of the politics behind the world; Which is what I found so intriguing about Game of Thrones, which The Witcher is often compared to.

As for Ciri, I found her character to be a little by-the-books bland. She didn’t seem to add much to the overall story besides being the MacGuffin. She really didn’t have much in the way of development; Staying pretty static throughout the show. I know that we won’t get a lot of growth in one season, but I seemed to forget that she was a vital character most of the series, as she was sidelined half the time and when she was the focus, she didn’t have much screen time.

Now that I really think about it, the story was probably the single most disappointing aspect for me. As was the storytelling. Seeing the little hints of plot in the first few episodes was interesting at first, but as it went on through the season, I realized that the story didn’t progress much. I felt that if they kept the show’s structure akin to an anthology series like Love, Death & Robots, it would fit better. It would keep the Witcher identity and be able to set characters properly, while fleshing out the world in interesting ways.

Now, I know I have spent a bit of my time seemingly hating on the show; However, it’s not all bad. I love the music and I constantly have the soundtrack on in the background as I cook or write. The fight choreography is absolutely stunning at times. When Geralt starts fighting a group of enemies, seeing the camera pan so seamlessly with his fluid motions is awesome. Not to mention how fun and exciting the combat is to watch, it just makes me happy.

The acting is also well done. I think Henry Cavill and Anya Chalotra as Geralt and Yennefer respectfully, both embodied the characters to a T. I felt both loved their roles, as playing this character was a passion project for Henry Cavill. Another great addition to the cast was Joey Batey as Dandelion, or Jaskier, he balanced both humor and drama quite well, and we do have him to thank for “Toss a Coin to your Witcher.”

Overall, I think that The Witcher is a show of missed opportunities and rushed storytelling. I think if handled differently with the writers not being so concerned with making a second season, but rather being focused on the present, I think The Witcher would have been great. However, I think that a second season will be better and more concentrated. Now that the timelines have matched up the show is ready to move on.

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