Regarding the casting of Yen, I just finished the Last Wish and the first time Geralt meets Yen he describes her as looking around 20 (of course she's decades older). I think fresh faced is exactly how she would look, especially in the earlier short stories.
Television The Witcher | Netflix | There are book spoilers here
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The fresh face would be ok if she could pull off the character of somebody incredibly wise and mature for the look. They'd of been better off casting somone older and more serious, with a bit of a baby face. The personality is more important than the look, Eva Green/Kate Beckinsale (with lots of make up) sort of person would have been a better fit. Difficult character though, she's doing a decent job still.
On another note, just rewatched S1:E1, its the best episode of the lot, comfortably.
I don't really agree. I'd say those things are equal. Yennefer being the prettiest in almost any group of people plays a big role in her presentation in the books also and it means something to her character as well. Other sorceresses being prettier than her simply by looking fresher would've definitely caused some criticism as well.
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One thing that I do think season 2 does worse than season 1 is that it loses the Witcher music/soundtrack style that the games had set and that season 1 had done at least a good job of adapting. The score for season 2 does work but it's not really something that you could listen to by itself and know that it's The Witcher (not talking about Jaskier's songs). Season 2's score feels more like a Mandalorian style Witcher soundtrack or something that just follows the curent soundtrack trend of being very loud and adding tension.
The games and season 1 had a very atmospheric and simultaneously mysterious/uncanny sound to it that made you feel like you were always unsure whether something happening around you was off or whether it's just that mysterious Northern Kingdoms vibe. That's sadly lost in season 2.
Dijkstra's casting is great.
It is! I'm semi ashamed of instantly recognising him from Outlander. A show my wife found too girly and romantic which meant I ended up watching it alone
Charlie Cutter from Uncharted 3, no less.
Not as keen on Jaskier in S2, seems they're trying to force it too much with him this season compared to the first.
Ok finished it now.
Gripes..all this artsy fancy bollocks of going into dream type sequences is absolute shite. Just feels massively cheap.
They just also randomly get new magic just when they need it.
Still a good season. Think the first ep was the best though.
The Wild Hunt what did feel weird seeing them was how it looked desert type / hot and from the game I remember everything going cold when they were kicking about.
I'd have liked to see the games wild Hunt in the series but knew it wasn't going to happen. Caranthir was my favourite. Even his design was awesome.
Wasn't sure about the Emhyr casting at first but the last scene makes me think it's definitely a good choice, even his voice was perfect.
Trailer for blood origin looked shit.
Gripes..all this artsy fancy bollocks of going into dream type sequences is absolute shite. Just feels massively cheap.
They just also randomly get new magic just when they need it.
Still a good season. Think the first ep was the best though.
The Wild Hunt
what did feel weird seeing them was how it looked desert type / hot and from the game I remember everything going cold when they were kicking about.I'd have liked to see the games wild Hunt in the series but knew it wasn't going to happen. Caranthir was my favourite. Even his design was awesome.
Wasn't sure about the Emhyr casting at first but the last scene makes me think it's definitely a good choice, even his voice was perfect.
Trailer for blood origin looked shit.
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Edit: Wrong thread.
Just finished season 2.. Will really need to rewatch..
I mean, I definitely enjoyed bits and some of the characters are great.. I was just more often than not very annoyed by deviations with the books.. And I dont mean Triss' hair color but I mean the (sequence of) events, things that didnt happen in the books or in different manners, main character relations which are different..
I mean.. Why?
I mean, I definitely enjoyed bits and some of the characters are great.. I was just more often than not very annoyed by deviations with the books.. And I dont mean Triss' hair color but I mean the (sequence of) events, things that didnt happen in the books or in different manners, main character relations which are different..
I mean.. Why?
Finished and think it's a massive improvement on season 1. Having a straight story arc rather than back-and-forth made it easier to follow.
What does everyone else think of the casting for the following new characters introduced in S2?
Vesemir - on first sight, didn't think he was the right fit at all, even though he does look a lot like his game character. However he really grew on me and now think he was well cast.
Dijkstra - brilliantly casted! Thought he was great and exactly how I imagined.
Emhyr var Emreis - so so. Waiting for season 3 before making a judgement on what I think of him.
Eskel - very controversial how they dealt with him. Popular character gone quickly, again well casted from how I imagined.
Probably others I'm missing but they all first sprung to mind.
On another note, anyone else thinks Triss' actress' acting is unbelievably flat? Probably one of my least favourite characters because of it, just annoys me every time shes in a scene
What does everyone else think of the casting for the following new characters introduced in S2?
Vesemir - on first sight, didn't think he was the right fit at all, even though he does look a lot like his game character. However he really grew on me and now think he was well cast.
Dijkstra - brilliantly casted! Thought he was great and exactly how I imagined.
Emhyr var Emreis - so so. Waiting for season 3 before making a judgement on what I think of him.
Eskel - very controversial how they dealt with him. Popular character gone quickly, again well casted from how I imagined.
Probably others I'm missing but they all first sprung to mind.
On another note, anyone else thinks Triss' actress' acting is unbelievably flat? Probably one of my least favourite characters because of it, just annoys me every time shes in a scene
Haven't read the thread as it's dangerous when all episodes are released at once.
Watched 4 episodes so far and enjoying it but also suffering a bit from the fact that I've essentially forgotten the entirety of season one. Even watching that 15 minute long recap didn't really help. People are saying names of things and places at times and I've no clue. I know Nilfgaard and Cintra, and Skellig. Random bits from the game. I have no idea who the owl man is or what his motivations are. I forget why Dandelion and Yennifer don't like each other. I can't remember anyone's motivations tbh
Watched 4 episodes so far and enjoying it but also suffering a bit from the fact that I've essentially forgotten the entirety of season one. Even watching that 15 minute long recap didn't really help. People are saying names of things and places at times and I've no clue. I know Nilfgaard and Cintra, and Skellig. Random bits from the game. I have no idea who the owl man is or what his motivations are. I forget why Dandelion and Yennifer don't like each other. I can't remember anyone's motivations tbh
So, I'm nearing the end of season 2 and am wandering if the books are a good read?
I'll be honest, I'm not a great / quick reader, so these look more digestible than what I did start a few months ago.... The Wheel of Time.
I'll be honest, I really enjoyed the start of the first book, but I got to around 50% through and there just doesn't seem an end in sight.... Considering there's 15 books and they're all huge
I'll be honest, I'm not a great / quick reader, so these look more digestible than what I did start a few months ago.... The Wheel of Time.
I'll be honest, I really enjoyed the start of the first book, but I got to around 50% through and there just doesn't seem an end in sight.... Considering there's 15 books and they're all huge
So, I'm nearing the end of season 2 and am wandering if the books are a good read?
I'll be honest, I'm not a great / quick reader, so these look more digestible than what I did start a few months ago.... The Wheel of Time.
I'll be honest, I really enjoyed the start of the first book, but I got to around 50% through and there just doesn't seem an end in sight.... Considering there's 15 books and they're all huge
Havent read The Wheel of Time, but I think The Witcher books arent that hard to get into.. I had way more issues with Game of Thrones for example..
Im still debating with myself how upset I am with the deviations between the Netflix series and the books.. Perhaps tomorrow if I feel like it I will point out on here exactly where I felt they made a turn deviating from the books which I didnt like..
It's not nearly as intimidating as a Wheel of Time or Malazan Book of the Fallen or any of those other behemoth series. Of the 7 books, most are below 400 pages, so nothing like the 700/800+ book averages of those others. In my opinion they are absolutely worth reading for any fan of the games.So, I'm nearing the end of season 2 and am wandering if the books are a good read?
I'll be honest, I'm not a great / quick reader, so these look more digestible than what I did start a few months ago.... The Wheel of Time.
I'll be honest, I really enjoyed the start of the first book, but I got to around 50% through and there just doesn't seem an end in sight.... Considering there's 15 books and they're all huge
I can't really speak for fans of the show, I'm only on episode 4 of the second season but it's become pretty apparent that this show is moving towards a story that has virtually nothing to do with the books. I'm expecting that gulf will only widen in future season. So I'm reluctant to recommend the books in that case. If you, for example, like Yennefer in the show, be prepared for a character that is nothing like her and isn't involved in the way she is in the show. Same for a lot of others.
I don't know which point you're referring to, but for me
I turned off the episode when Vesemir seemingly became excited at the prospect of using Ciri's blood to create more Witchers. I might continue watching, but that was just too much bullshit for me at that point. Maybe it isn't as bad as I think now, but I don't trust these writers anymore.
i know what you mean. it’s like why didn’t they just use the eagles and fly to mordor at the beginning!?
Because the eagles, just like horses, have their own society in Middle Earth and can't just be summoned at will. That's why everyone is so happy when they show up in the final battle - did you even watch the movie or the books that are based on the movie? Ffs Rimaldo (sorry, "rimaldo" - fix your fecking keyboard) I can't even WHY THE FECK seriously this is what is the point of you feck sake hope you get disease.
To be honest. That is exactly the reason I am interested in reading them.
I’m enjoying the show, but to be honest, I’m interested in seeing how much better books are.
The only series I’ve actually ever read was Harry Potter, and that is when I really understood that books are that much better than the films.
Wheel of time is just too big of a commitment and a few of the chapters were such a waste of time that it really put me off
I guess they have a choice to make that will make or break it for some book readers: Do they follow the plot of Time of Contempt or not. The showrunner has said S3 is written and that it will be an adaptation of TOC. They can do a reset and have Yen and Ciri head out and Geralt chases Reince which should sort of get things back on the rails.
I read the first book of short stories.The writing was really plain and simple. I didn't really care for it tbh but they're definitely not hard to read. I'm not sure if I just had a shitty translation or not but it didn't compel me to continue reading but you might have better luck.
Someone made a point that the reason they've changed things this season is to bring the main three together so that the audience can actually grow to care about the three of them together and also to cut out some of the unnecessary filler. I haven't read the books beyond the first one so I don't have an opinion about it but I thought it was an interesting perspective vs all of the complaints about this season's storyline with the hut witch.
I'm still not really sure about my opinion on this season, I might just have to rewatch it but despite season 1 having a lower budget and a confusing non linear story I remember being more enthusiastic after that than after this season but that might just also be because it was new back then?
i didn’t have to read the books or watch the film as my dad was actually from middle earth (high up, board level position there.) he says the eagles might have had their own society but they were considered low down in the middle earth caste system, “similar to how we view pigeons nowadays” were his words.
Couldn't get further than this before I was pissing myselfIt's one of the major things indeed, but I have a whole lot of other stuff on my list below where they deviate.. Some of them Im really struggling with, others Im still debating to the extent in which im bothered with it...
The whole Monolith thing which Ciri destroys and where new monsters come out of is not in the books. In the books they are more often than not mentioning the decrease of monsters and the use of witchers, in stead of new kinds of monsters appearing. And what's with the monoliths being triggers for monsters from other worlds appearing? That all not happening in the books, where its about Ciri jumping between realities. Im really not sure why the makers deemed in necessary to introduce this topic into an already quite complicated story...
This also brings me to the role of Istred. In the books Istridd plays. I actually quite like his character, but in the books he plays a very minor role, only really appearing in the short story A Shard of Ice.. The only time Geralt and Istridd meet and know damn sure they are rivals for Yennefers affection. In the series they are suddenly studying monoliths together?
Voluth Meir is also a character which is non-existent in the books. Did they add her for another exiting story? I can live with making up some minor character for an exiting episode introducing monsters or anything, but this seems exeggerated, as the introduction of Voluth Meir is intertwined with 1) The whole monolith thing 2) Yennefer losing her magic 3) the Yennefer Ciri relationship.
So I dont really remember what happened what happened exactly with Yennefer directly after Sodden in the books, but she sure as hell wasnt captured by the Brotherhood with Cahir and they certainly didnt escape together and Yennefer certainly wasnt captured by Elves together with Fringilla. Why did they feel the need to mess up this whole timeline? I also think there is no mention whatsoever about Yennefer losing her magic in the books. She defeats Rience using magic right in the books? What in earth is the added value there for introducing it in the series?
The whole Voluth Meir thing also really messing with the Yennefer Ciri relationship. In the books Geralt requests Yennefer to help train Ciri at Nenneke's, after which they evolve into a mother-daughter relationship. They can still recover from this with Yennefer starting to train Ciri from S3 onwards. The whole basis of their introduction is tainted for me in the series however, with a starting point of Yennefer trying to lure Ciri into the hands of a demon (because she lost her magic, which doens thappen in the books in the first place..)
The whole thing with Yennefers capture by elves/brotherhoods/monoliths as triggers for new monster appearances/Yennefer losing magic/Voluth Meir is intertwined and all of it never happens in the books. They created a whole new timeline/new content for the series and Im really really wondering why.. There was a perfectly nice exiting timeline /line of events to go on with..
The relationship between Ciri and Triss is also cery different in the books. Triss comes to Khaer Moren by request of Geralt to help Ciri indeed, but they evolve into a really trust relationship where Ciri considers Triss her big sister. In the series the end up with Triss shooting in Ciri's eyes she is death herself basically, and runs off to tell on her, in stead of keeping it quiet and trying to help her where she can (like in the books) and travelling with her to Nenneke with Geralt from Khaer Moren.
Like mentioned above as well.. Vesemir trying to inject Ciri with the Witcher serum is absolute shambles, as it's so far away from the values and how everyone at Khaer Moren treats Ciri.. Moreover the existence of the new Witcher serum is something that nowhere occurs in the books, which is a quite essential concept of the books..
So the whole Cahir things bothers me as well.. I think all that happened with him during this series didn't happen in the books.. Where he 'fails' at Sodden, then later 'fails' at Thaned, but there is (or am I remembering it wrong) no real mention of stuff like this happening to him (or him meeting Yennefer etc) in between those events? Im really wondering how there are working up towards the Thaned events..
The whole Fringilla/Fransesca is also something whihc doenst occur in the books.. I dont think there are mentions of them meeting pre-Thaned.. Francesca I dont think is even introduced before Thaned.. Now there is this whole storyline about here have somekind of female bromance (is there a word for that) with Fringilla, she gets a baby which gets killed and she want justice by killing Redenian babies. Why? What is the point of introducing this storyline?
Do they want to explain/strenghtn why Nilfgard and the elves have an alliance? They could have done so in less destructive manners right? In the books the Scoiatel (of which there is no mention in the series) are introduced when Geralt/Triss/Ciri travel away from Khaer Moren, and they get attacked in the road.. I dont see why this whole Francesca/Elven chapter is added to the series?
Im really really wondering how they are working towards the Thaned events and how they will portray the Thaned events..
And ehhh.. Why are they already exposing Emhyr as Ciri's dad? That happens really really late in the books.. Near the final part of the final book... I think they are taking a lot of the suspense away of 'what the hell happened, why does Emhyr want Ciri, whats the mysery with Pavetta's/Duny's death' away.. Ofcourse also a lot of people who only played The Witcher 3 and not have read the books also already know Ciri is Emhyrs daughter..
So thats a whole chunk of stuff which bothers me really to different extents.. Some other things which Im wondering
- Why taint the picture of Eskel so much by portraying him like this? I can understand the serie makers wanting to introduce a good monster figth and the bit with the Leshen is a decent manner to do so, but why use Eskels character for this? They could've just kept closer to the Eskel book character and made up another non significant Witcher character getting bushed by the leshen.
- Im also slightly bothered by the Dandelion/Jaskier - Geralt relationship. It was already at the end of S1, but in the books they have a close friendship throughout and there is no falling out between them after the Golden Dragen adventure.. I dont like it why they did that..
- Rience suddenly finding his way to Khaer Moren, because he follows Yennefer? Come'on..?!
This also brings me to the role of Istred. In the books Istridd plays. I actually quite like his character, but in the books he plays a very minor role, only really appearing in the short story A Shard of Ice.. The only time Geralt and Istridd meet and know damn sure they are rivals for Yennefers affection. In the series they are suddenly studying monoliths together?
Voluth Meir is also a character which is non-existent in the books. Did they add her for another exiting story? I can live with making up some minor character for an exiting episode introducing monsters or anything, but this seems exeggerated, as the introduction of Voluth Meir is intertwined with 1) The whole monolith thing 2) Yennefer losing her magic 3) the Yennefer Ciri relationship.
So I dont really remember what happened what happened exactly with Yennefer directly after Sodden in the books, but she sure as hell wasnt captured by the Brotherhood with Cahir and they certainly didnt escape together and Yennefer certainly wasnt captured by Elves together with Fringilla. Why did they feel the need to mess up this whole timeline? I also think there is no mention whatsoever about Yennefer losing her magic in the books. She defeats Rience using magic right in the books? What in earth is the added value there for introducing it in the series?
The whole Voluth Meir thing also really messing with the Yennefer Ciri relationship. In the books Geralt requests Yennefer to help train Ciri at Nenneke's, after which they evolve into a mother-daughter relationship. They can still recover from this with Yennefer starting to train Ciri from S3 onwards. The whole basis of their introduction is tainted for me in the series however, with a starting point of Yennefer trying to lure Ciri into the hands of a demon (because she lost her magic, which doens thappen in the books in the first place..)
The whole thing with Yennefers capture by elves/brotherhoods/monoliths as triggers for new monster appearances/Yennefer losing magic/Voluth Meir is intertwined and all of it never happens in the books. They created a whole new timeline/new content for the series and Im really really wondering why.. There was a perfectly nice exiting timeline /line of events to go on with..
The relationship between Ciri and Triss is also cery different in the books. Triss comes to Khaer Moren by request of Geralt to help Ciri indeed, but they evolve into a really trust relationship where Ciri considers Triss her big sister. In the series the end up with Triss shooting in Ciri's eyes she is death herself basically, and runs off to tell on her, in stead of keeping it quiet and trying to help her where she can (like in the books) and travelling with her to Nenneke with Geralt from Khaer Moren.
Like mentioned above as well.. Vesemir trying to inject Ciri with the Witcher serum is absolute shambles, as it's so far away from the values and how everyone at Khaer Moren treats Ciri.. Moreover the existence of the new Witcher serum is something that nowhere occurs in the books, which is a quite essential concept of the books..
So the whole Cahir things bothers me as well.. I think all that happened with him during this series didn't happen in the books.. Where he 'fails' at Sodden, then later 'fails' at Thaned, but there is (or am I remembering it wrong) no real mention of stuff like this happening to him (or him meeting Yennefer etc) in between those events? Im really wondering how there are working up towards the Thaned events..
The whole Fringilla/Fransesca is also something whihc doenst occur in the books.. I dont think there are mentions of them meeting pre-Thaned.. Francesca I dont think is even introduced before Thaned.. Now there is this whole storyline about here have somekind of female bromance (is there a word for that) with Fringilla, she gets a baby which gets killed and she want justice by killing Redenian babies. Why? What is the point of introducing this storyline?
Do they want to explain/strenghtn why Nilfgard and the elves have an alliance? They could have done so in less destructive manners right? In the books the Scoiatel (of which there is no mention in the series) are introduced when Geralt/Triss/Ciri travel away from Khaer Moren, and they get attacked in the road.. I dont see why this whole Francesca/Elven chapter is added to the series?
Im really really wondering how they are working towards the Thaned events and how they will portray the Thaned events..
And ehhh.. Why are they already exposing Emhyr as Ciri's dad? That happens really really late in the books.. Near the final part of the final book... I think they are taking a lot of the suspense away of 'what the hell happened, why does Emhyr want Ciri, whats the mysery with Pavetta's/Duny's death' away.. Ofcourse also a lot of people who only played The Witcher 3 and not have read the books also already know Ciri is Emhyrs daughter..
So thats a whole chunk of stuff which bothers me really to different extents.. Some other things which Im wondering
- Why taint the picture of Eskel so much by portraying him like this? I can understand the serie makers wanting to introduce a good monster figth and the bit with the Leshen is a decent manner to do so, but why use Eskels character for this? They could've just kept closer to the Eskel book character and made up another non significant Witcher character getting bushed by the leshen.
- Im also slightly bothered by the Dandelion/Jaskier - Geralt relationship. It was already at the end of S1, but in the books they have a close friendship throughout and there is no falling out between them after the Golden Dragen adventure.. I dont like it why they did that..
- Rience suddenly finding his way to Khaer Moren, because he follows Yennefer? Come'on..?!
Ok, so writing all this above.. Im quite bothered with the sum of all things. Maybe Im to stuck on wanting/expecting them to stick closer to the books.. The thingh do which bother me is that:
- a lot of the chances are stirring into the essence of the storyline/character relations..
- I dont understand why a lot of these changes are necessary?
Any thoughts by others who've read the books and seen the series?
I fully agree with you Harry Potter statement.. Harry Potter is the embodiment of how much more depth/story there oftern is in a book as apposed to how it's portrayed on screen..
We have to see to what extent the same will hold for the Witcher.. What I feel now at The Witcher is that they are doing so many things different than in the books, in stead of just lack of depth as opposed to the books..
I think we already have to give up on the idea this is an adaptation of the books. So much for Cavill's talk about getting them to stick to the source material, looks like he lost that fight.
Its a Netflix show, doing their own thing. Given what they've done already despite having so much ready made material, its a fair assumption there's going to be a lot more changes to come. It could still turn out well but it'll be akin to self-harming if we carry on making book comparisons while watching.
But but but... I dont want to...
The books are great. Simple and easy to follow with a good main plot and ending.
The first few are short stories, but it ends up building towards the main plot.
I'd also recommend giving the witcher 3 game a go. It's really good in terms of stories and building characters if you haven't already played it. It helped me picture the characters also in my head.
They are all available in audio book form too if you aren't a great reader. I preferred listening to them in the car etc.
Oh man I'm so glad I stopped watching after reading all that.
Audio books are a no no. I don't concentrate at all, mind wonders elsewhere
As for being a bad reader, it's more, I read late, so I tend to get a few pages done and fall asleep
(I don't know what it is, but I can sit through 2-3 episodes of something and it feel like an hour, yet when I'm reading, I can read for about 20mins and it feels like I've been reading for 3 hours)The game. I've tried it a few times, but always put it down, but I'm going to give it a real bash after xmas this year. I'm more determined to play it than ever
I've ordered the first book and reinstalled the game. The second series has gripped my interest.Audio books are a no no. I don't concentrate at all, mind wonders elsewhere
As for being a bad reader, it's more, I read late, so I tend to get a few pages done and fall asleep
The game. I've tried it a few times, but always put it down, but I'm going to give it a real bash after xmas this year. I'm more determined to play it than ever
Fair enough. For me it's the other way around but whatever works for you best - i'd definitely give them a try though if you like the witcher world.Audio books are a no no. I don't concentrate at all, mind wonders elsewhere
As for being a bad reader, it's more, I read late, so I tend to get a few pages done and fall asleep
The game. I've tried it a few times, but always put it down, but I'm going to give it a real bash after xmas this year. I'm more determined to play it than ever
Even if you don't want to play the game, go on youtube and watch the witcher 3 cutscenes and you get a nice idea for the characters etc.
I'm not the only one then
I've 'ordered' the book from some Bay full of ships and grog and put it on a kindle... Then if I like it enough, I buy the best editions I can find just to look pretty.
Got some nice GoT , LoTR and Harry Potter so far..
Yeah now would be a good time to give the games a go if you haven’t already now that you know who Ciri’s father is.
TW2‘s combat hasn’t aged well, or maybe it was naff to begin with, but the story is a lot of fun.
TW2‘s combat hasn’t aged well, or maybe it was naff to begin with, but the story is a lot of fun.
Yeah, agreed. It’s pretty clear this is its own entity that only leans on the source material when it wants to.
In all, it’s not bad or anything, it’s enough fun to watch and not take too seriously. Like pretty much everything half-decent on Netflix.
Based on interviews with Sapkowski I went into the series, and especially season 2, fully expecting a big deviation from the books. Here are some quotes from his interview with Gizmodo:
and my favorite line (and a good way to look at the show):
And here are his comments on season 2:
and my favorite line (and a good way to look at the show):
And here are his comments on season 2:
That he's ok with it, doesnt mean I have to be right...
But it all at least makes damn clear I shouldnt expect the series to follow the lead of the books...
i wasn’t saying you should be, just saying that since I started the series with the expectation that it would differ a decent bit I am able to enjoy it.
season 3 is going to be TOC, which is more of political thriller than monster hunting.There is a good chance that they stick closer to that source material than BOE. We’ll see.
What is TOC and BOE?