SEASON 1

Summary

The Witcher is a brilliant and brief medievalist fantasy series, of great strength and concise narratives, that will surprise us at all times and we will wish that it never ends. Powerful characters, novelties in each chapter (which develop independent and varied stories and challenges but inscribed in a wide narrative arc), impressive production design, a highly original time structure and a fascinating sorceress with whom we will fall in love.

Review

The series follows in the footsteps of Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill, a lonely wandering sorcerer who makes a living hunting monsters, the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra) and the young princess Cirilla (Freya Allan), a fugitive after their kingdom was invaded, in a fantasy world of medieval imprint, but fortunately removed, due to its narrative treatment, from the dynamics of Game of Thrones.

The Witcher is based on the saga of stories and novels Saga by Geralt of Rivia or The Witcher Saga by the Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski (also co-writer of the series). The series has brilliantly capitalized on and combined this dispersed origin in two fundamental aspects of its narrative structure. In the first place, because each episode develops a central event that shows a certain independence, but at the same time is at the service of a narrative arc that encompasses the entire series and maintains the interest of the viewer. Secondly, because of the highly original temporal structure with which it develops the course of its three protagonists.

As for the characters, it will cost us a little to empathize with the witch Geralt at first, until he conquers us with his phlegmatic, almost ironic apathy. Princess Cirilla is not likely to generate much excitement either, although her palatial setting is very interesting, with the energetic Queen Calanthe (Jodhi May), her grandmother, at the helm. But without a doubt, the most powerful character in the series is Yennefer, the young sorceress, and her fascinating evolution throughout the story. The English actress of Indian origin who plays her, Anya Chalotra, is a real find. Another magnetic character is the sorceress and instructor Tissaia, in charge of the Swedish actress MyAnna Burning, who recruits and prepares sorceresses for an interesting role that the series will reveal to us quite soon.

The development of the series will not spare fights with very diverse monsters and in different contexts, magical elements from their sorceresses, political and palace intrigues, battles and a love story, but always with a careful painting of its characters, dialogues that always they move the story forward, an ideal balance between intimacy and action or display scenes, moments of heroism that will never be seen as empty or bombastic, and wisely placed hints of humor.

The production design is impressive: the costumes, the crowd scenes (which always look real), the locations.

In short, a brilliant and brief medievalist fantasy series, of great strength and concise narratives that will surprise us at all times and we will wish that it never ends.

SEASON 2

Summary

Unfortunately, the second season abandons all the successes it had seen in the first: its time structure is more conventional; very interesting characters and ties lose prominence; the dynastic-political subplots oscillate between the complex and the confusing, they are too autonomous and lack narrative projection and are abandoned (except in the beginning); certain thematic autonomy that the S1 chapters held and that gave the series greater variety and richness and finally, as a learning story, it cannot compete with that of the sorceresses of the first season.

Review

The universe of Geralt de Rivia expands, with the uncharismatic princess Cirilla coming to the fore, a proliferation of new characters, situations and locations linked to the dynastic-political subplots and the return of some characters from S1.

Unfortunately, the second season abandons all the successes it had seen in the first: its time structure is more conventional; very interesting characters and ties lose prominence; the dynastic-political subplots oscillate between the complex and the confusing, they are too autonomous and lack narrative projection and are abandoned (except in the beginning); certain thematic autonomy that the S1 chapters held and that gave the series greater variety and richness and finally, as a learning story, it cannot compete with that of the sorceresses of the first season.

As for the successes or improvements, the locations are more spectacular and the special effects regarding the monsters are more careful. And there is a certain pattern of characters that wander and meet, converge, disencounter or move away.

The general result is a more disjointed season, at times confused and desolate, with less interesting and perhaps more childish connections.

Next, with a slight spoiler, I expand on the issue of the mistakes of the series:

1) In the first place, its temporal structure is frankly linear, leaving aside the one it had displayed in S1, which was one of its most original features.

2) The sorceress Jennefer (the most powerful character in S1) gives the lead to Princess Cirilla, a rather stereotypical and lacking charisma character, who becomes a disciple of Geralt (another stereotype), reminiscent of GOT's Arya . Characters as interesting as Tissaia, lose relevance. The Geralt-Ciri relationship is definitely less interesting than the Geralt-Jennefer relationship. Geralt-Ciri's learning story is more conventional and less engaging than Tissaia-Jennefer's.

3) The dynastic-political subplots become more complex, where the elves acquire a fairly important role. At times, the number of names of characters and places makes it difficult to understand what is happening, which sides are in conflict. On the other hand, they have so much autonomy that at times they seem to belong to another series.

4) In S1, each chapter developed a story with some independence, but framed in the general narrative arc. S2 starts with that structure, but abandons it.

5) The vast, masculine winter dwelling of the witcher's guild inevitably refers to the Black Castle of GOT.