I should note, I'm reviewing this as someone who's never played the games nor read the books. This may be the biggest gripe I have with the show, as it feels like it assumes you're familiar with the world. At the end of the season I still have no idea how big the Continent is, how many kingdoms and species are within it, nor what its history is (they keep referring to past events like "the convergence of the spheres" and similar as if I'm supposed to have any idea what that is). Unlike Game of Thrones (which this show is clearly trying to emulate), magic is at the absolute forefront of this series. However, it never gives you a proper idea how it works outside a few hints. There's very few rules established for the practice, and there's never a clear sense of what magic can and cannot do. Curses pop up out of nowhere, and the way they're dismissed is straight out of a fairytale.

However, the moment-to-moment writing in this show is very enjoyable, especially with Cavill giving us an incredible character to follow. Although many were annoyed by the lack of clarity in the shows storyline, I found it to be an enjoyable mystery that drew me into the world. Again, however, I never felt rewarded for getting invested in the world as I still have no idea how this world works.

As expected from a show following in GoT's footsteps, this is an extremely mature show. Although it feels like it slips a bit too far into nudity for nudity's sake at points, it generally handles this maturity well. This extends to the fight scenes, as well. They're every bit as graphic and brutal as you'd expect, and most are exceedingly well choreographed and performed.

The individual stories contained in each episode are generally enjoyable. Unfortunately, the overarching story is much less so. Far too many episodes feel straight out of video game side quests, with the main story told in very brief intervals throughout the season. This leads to the main story feeling unimportant and rushed. The writers feel more like they want us to enjoy the daily adventures of Gerald rather than the epic struggle over a young girl's immense power than the main story depicts. Again, this leads to a lot of extremely enjoyable individual moments but never a wholly unified experience.

In summary, this was a show that somehow managed to be both extremely fun to watch and just as equally frustrating. It has all the ingredients to make an excellent show, but just never manages to put it all together into something truly special.