A dignified farewell to Henry Cavill? That’s how good “The Witcher” Season 3.1 is on Netflix

“The Witcher” has had an interesting development over the course of three seasons: after the gripping, action-packed, but sometimes wild narrative first season followed a more mature, but sometimes much duller second season, which, with numerous changes, also appealed to some fans of the books and video games who were pissed off. In season 3, the first part of which appeared on Netflix on June 29, 2023, those in charge around showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich now have to master a difficult balancing act:

Season 3 is again based much more on Andrzej Sapkowski’s book template, yet sets its own points of interest and must also reconcile action, monsters and intrigue with a large arsenal of characters. The however, only succeeds in the good opening scene and in the masterfully told (semi) finale in episode 5. Meanwhile, the numerous storylines and supporting characters slow down “The Witcher” again and again – and deduce the emotional core of the plot surrounding Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri.

After rescuing Ciri (Freya Allan) from the Wild Hunt and the demon Voleth Meir, Geralt (Henry Cavill) and Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) accompany her across the continent, always searching for new hiding places from the countless kings, sorceresses and villains on the hunt for Ciri. The witcher and Yennefer slowly approach each other again. But they were not allowed a happy family life for long…

After the attempt to set a trap for the fire mage Rience (Sam Woolf replaces Chris Fulton) fails due to interference from the elven leader Francesca (Mecia Simson), the three go their separate ways: while Geralt hunts for Rience and his mysterious Master goes, Yennefer and Ciri make their way to Aretuza magic school. Here Ciri should finally learn how to use her enormous powers…

Unusual but successful start

“The Witcher” season 3 starts off very differently from what you’ve seen from the Netflix series so far – at least after Geralt made short work of the evil professor (Sunny Patel) and his henchmen in the usual way: Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri move from hiding place to hiding place in a funny and beautifully illustrated montageeach time Geralt unsuccessfully tried to buy their hosts’ silence with a sack of gold.

Only with Geralt’s old friend, the dwarf Yarpen Zigrin (Jeremy Crawford), do the three find something like a home for a while and so do we. she can see father-mother-child playing, which makes for very beautiful, heartwarming moments.

Nevertheless, the well-known strengths of “The Witcher” are not neglected when the trio together slay a monster (quasi the evil version of armadillo Tuk Tuk from “Raya and the Last Dragon”). Plus, Geralt and (!) Ciri slaughter dozens of opponents in the botched ambush for Rience – in the style of Season 1’s Blaviken carnage in one long shot with no visible cuts.

Known issues

However, from episode 2 onwards, the problems of the third season become apparent – and they are much the same as in season 2: “The Witcher” just drags in too many characters and storylines! While Yarpen Zigrin has a brief appearance in Episode 1 without having his own storyline, the many other supporting characters also appear in subsequent episodes – getting way too much screen time almost across the board.

This not only distracts from the story about Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri, but is also much less interesting, at least in these first five episodes as this central storyline – whether it’s master spy Dijkstra (Graham McTavish) and sorceress Phillipa Eilhart (Cassie Clare) plotting or Francesca and newcomer Gallatin (Robbie Amell) arguing over the right course of action in the elven freedom fight.

While all of these characters become important again in the semi-finals of the season (more on that later), it initially gives the impression that the likes of Nilfgaard officer Cahir (Eamon Farren) or the disgraced sorceress Fringilla (Mimi Ndiweni) who is Taster has been degraded and is therefore constantly intoxicated if contaminated grounds or fill material is dragged around. No comparison to “Game of Thrones‘, where those responsible have juggled locations, storylines and characters with seemingly effortless and, for the most part, no slack.

The balancing act between your own focus for the series and a closer orientation to the book template rarely succeeds in the middle episodes. For example, when Ciri visits a market with Yennefer, where the sorceress meets some of her colleagues and Ciri fights a monster, it’s more like ticking off the familiar plot elements from the novel “The Time of Contempt.” And Ciri’s subsequent run from the Wild Hunt, including her rescue by Geralt, is then eaten up so quickly that it ends up looking like mandatory exercise.

What a final!

With the finale of episode 4 and especially the subsequent fifth episode, “The Witcher” season 3 gets back on track – and how! In the finale in Aretuza, not only do the (too) many storylines and characters finally meet, especially this episode proves to be a staging and narrative achievement far too rarely seen in series production.

The episode focuses on Yennefer and Geralt, meeting numerous characters at a ball in Aretuza, dancing and trying to expose the real mastermind behind the hunt for Ciri. Director Loni Peristere and screenwriter Clare Higgins have come up with a very special trick for this: you tell the same evening in a series of flashbacks, in multiple runs and from different perspectives, each time bringing new bits of information and pieces of the puzzle together.

In this way, the audience, together with Geralt and Yennefer, who occasionally have sex in their rooms, can put the puzzle together and review the events at the prom. So episode 5 feels like a finale, even though the episode ends with a cliffhanger and the real highlight of the season is yet to come…

As mentioned above, the first part of “The Witcher” Season 3 has been available on Netflix since June 29, 2023. Part 2 or issue 2 will follow on July 27, 2023. Then there will be three new episodes of the eight-part season.