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base
Banned
Skellige definitely but Novigrad and Velen are 100% Polish. They even copied some actual buildings from the Polish cities.
Some rituals are taken from the Polish Folklore. Google up "Dziady". It's an old pre-Christian tradition for connecting with ancestors.
PocoJoe
Banned
Almost watched the first season.
Only annoying thing is black characters, as(of my knowledge) there are no black skinned people in the books lore
We hear all the time how some used too dark makeup and is now mocking black people, or this and that is "whitewashed".
Rules should apply to everyone, or it is just hypocrisy. There were no real need to add black people so it feels more of political move anyway
I bet that Africans or Asians wont add white characters into their 100% native lore movies/series, while it should matter more with these same rules as white folks are minority in scale of the earth and most of Africa/Asia have none to almost none whites.
But it is what it is, these crazy days where us whites are seen as white wolf is seen by others.
And maybe 100% white looks odd in eyes of Americans, while there is/used to be almost 100% white countries on europe.
In 80-90's I saw maybe 1 black person/year in my country and still havent talked but to one in my life, and with zero asians
Anyway, epic series and I hope they make longer seasons
Only annoying thing is black characters, as(of my knowledge) there are no black skinned people in the books lore
We hear all the time how some used too dark makeup and is now mocking black people, or this and that is "whitewashed".
Rules should apply to everyone, or it is just hypocrisy. There were no real need to add black people so it feels more of political move anyway
I bet that Africans or Asians wont add white characters into their 100% native lore movies/series, while it should matter more with these same rules as white folks are minority in scale of the earth and most of Africa/Asia have none to almost none whites.
But it is what it is, these crazy days where us whites are seen as white wolf is seen by others.
And maybe 100% white looks odd in eyes of Americans, while there is/used to be almost 100% white countries on europe.
In 80-90's I saw maybe 1 black person/year in my country and still havent talked but to one in my life, and with zero asians
Anyway, epic series and I hope they make longer seasons
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Dynomite
Member
I liked the season overall and thought it was a good starting point for the series. I think season two is really going to determine whether the show will survive.
Was anyone else confused by when events were occurring. I don't believe they ever really stated when events were taking place, and I was often not sure if I was seeing the past or present.
Was anyone else confused by when events were occurring. I don't believe they ever really stated when events were taking place, and I was often not sure if I was seeing the past or present.
LaughingStock
Member
The actress who plays Yennefer looks nothing like in the games or the image i had in my mind reading the books. But i think she nailed the character. One of the highlights of the show.
And... she has beautiful tits.
This show isn't woke and has a lot of female nudity. And it respects the source material (for the most part) and its fans. I'm sure that's why critics are bashing it.
And... she has beautiful tits.
This show isn't woke and has a lot of female nudity. And it respects the source material (for the most part) and its fans. I'm sure that's why critics are bashing it.
Fuz
Banned
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LaughingStock
Member
Business
Member
Finished the second episode and if I thought the first was weak this one will most probably make me quit entirely. What’s up with the joking tone, the bard’s modern singing style, the super cheap looking elves and their cave. It’s just all so basic, dialogue, characters, the ‘new’ feel of the clothing and sets, poor CGI (that shinny water at the very end was cringe)...
Strife In a Teacup
Member
Witcher 3: "The Wild Hunt" title name is straight from Norse Mythology:
The Wild Hunt - Norse Mythology for Smart People
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, one of the earliest and foremost histories of the Anglo-Saxons, who were descended from the same Germanic tribes as the Norse and broadly shared the same body of religious lore, records the following event as having happened in CE 1127: Let no one be surprised at what...
norse-mythology.org
The Wild Hunt itself, Odin's Hunt, is very much Norse. Of course Norse, like Celtic mythology, covered a very large area at different periods in history.
Edit: Not to say I wouldn't be interested in Polish mythology. There is a lot of cross reference between Celtic/Brythonic/Norse/Gaulish/etc mythologies back in the day. Hence why a lot of the 'Gods' they worshipped were so similarly named/categorized.
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Scopa
The Tribe Has Spoken
What about the young girl having her little modern feminist monologue near the beginning of episode one? Did you notice that?
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Havoc2049
Member
It was a little confusing, but I loved how it brought everything together in the last several episodes and tied all the characters together.
Fuz
Banned
...he changed the voice in ep.3?
Weeeeeeird.
Have extras become that expensive?
Fuck you a million times for this, netflix.
Weeeeeeird.
They always seem so... understaffed. Like there should be much more people on set (wich actually all feel very small) and they had a big shortage.
Have extras become that expensive?
Fuck you a million times for this, netflix.
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GreyHorace
Member
I wonder what militant feminists would think of a character like Yennefer. She's a powerful sorceress who craves her independence and doesn't want to be tied down to any man (hence her one-off flings with Istredd and the numerous times she's broken up with Geralt).
Yet at the same time, she longs to be loved and have a family. Which is why she desperately searches for a cure to her condition and be able to bear children again.
These contradictions make her such a fascinating character, but would probably drive the feminazis nuts.
Fuck you a million times for this, netflix.
Was willing to give the actress a chance, but nope. That is not Triss. Triss is supposed to be the most beautiful of the sorceresses which is why Yen is so jealous when Geralt has a fling with her. And she doesn't even get the attitude right. What a horrible miscast.
It's a typical woman with at least some brains. No contradictions.
A pity that she's considered a complex character...
F0rneus
Tears in the rain
...I need to watch this.
PhoenixTank
Member
I found this to be excellent. Hit all the big points for me, though Triss lacked the warmth required.
Humans in the north are mostly united in hate against elves and (to a lesser extent) the dwarves, instead of this petty shit.
Zerrikania exists and absolutely allows for it. Wouldn't say this normally but given the rest of your post: Get over it.
Humans in the north are mostly united in hate against elves and (to a lesser extent) the dwarves, instead of this petty shit.
Coflash
Member
Humans in the books and games are united against anything that is different, I can't imagine that wouldn't extend to different races, given the history of humans in our own world. I suppose we'd know... if the books ever dealt with such issues.
And saying 'but Zerrikania!' is a lazy way of dismissing what he's saying. Different races are present because it was produced by Netflix, not because of Zerrikania. IMO they could have incorporated different races in a more interesting way rather than forcing diversity everywhere they saw fit. Conflict is interesting, just as it is with the elves and dwarfs. It's the catalyst for many events in the world of the Witcher. This just seems hamfisted to me.
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Kenpachii
Member
Watched the first 7 episodes.
episode 1: Solid, combat was great. slow start visuals kinda meh.
episode 2: Solid really well done, liked it
episode 3: Good episode, liked the actors in it and because of episode 2 i wanted more
episode 4: To much gore not my thing specially ending, visuals kinda meh at times. Wasn't the best episode
episode 5: God awful, honestly wanted to just speed it up, series also become to much porny
episode 6: Again not that good of a episode, instantly forget it.
episode 7: rewind episode, hard to realize at the start if its one of those, could have been done in 20 minutes to long and boring
All with all, i think yennefer was the strongest character in episode 2 and 3 with witcher second., liked the combat of the witcher and he plays his rol great. also liked some encounters and how he solves it and it gets solved.
However the further the series moves forwards the less interesting they become. It just feels like currently endless walking with nothing really happening with bad selected support characters ( forced diversity really hurts this serie big time as it breaks the immersion completely ), with iffy visuals at times which breaks the immersion kinda. Then the endlessly humping eachother that takes forever makes it more like a softporn show then actually something well balanced.
Still need to see the last episode but honestly i just turned it down for this evening, not having much faith in the last one anymore after i wanted episode 7. I think they have to cut the episodes drastically in time or they need to provide actual content.
episode 1: Solid, combat was great. slow start visuals kinda meh.
episode 2: Solid really well done, liked it
episode 3: Good episode, liked the actors in it and because of episode 2 i wanted more
episode 4: To much gore not my thing specially ending, visuals kinda meh at times. Wasn't the best episode
episode 5: God awful, honestly wanted to just speed it up, series also become to much porny
episode 6: Again not that good of a episode, instantly forget it.
episode 7: rewind episode, hard to realize at the start if its one of those, could have been done in 20 minutes to long and boring
All with all, i think yennefer was the strongest character in episode 2 and 3 with witcher second., liked the combat of the witcher and he plays his rol great. also liked some encounters and how he solves it and it gets solved.
However the further the series moves forwards the less interesting they become. It just feels like currently endless walking with nothing really happening with bad selected support characters ( forced diversity really hurts this serie big time as it breaks the immersion completely ), with iffy visuals at times which breaks the immersion kinda. Then the endlessly humping eachother that takes forever makes it more like a softporn show then actually something well balanced.
Still need to see the last episode but honestly i just turned it down for this evening, not having much faith in the last one anymore after i wanted episode 7. I think they have to cut the episodes drastically in time or they need to provide actual content.
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GreyHorace
Member
One of the better scenes in episode 2 was when Ciri was in the Cintran refugee camp. It was quite the shock for her to hear that Cintrans hated her grandmother and that she was happily participating in the slaughter of nonhumans. She even sees firsthand the racism inherent in the Nothern Kingdoms by the way that Cintran noblewoman treated her dwarf servant.
I actually liked Calanthe btw. But she's pretty typical of any monarch of the North with their predilection for war and racism. What happened to Cintra has horrible but the show also hints that perhaps they had it coming.
Business
Member
Witcher 3: "The Wild Hunt" title name is straight from Norse Mythology:
The Wild Hunt - Norse Mythology for Smart People
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, one of the earliest and foremost histories of the Anglo-Saxons, who were descended from the same Germanic tribes as the Norse and broadly shared the same body of religious lore, records the following event as having happened in CE 1127: Let no one be surprised at what...
The Wild Hunt itself, Odin's Hunt, is very much Norse. Of course Norse, like Celtic mythology, covered a very large area at different periods in history.
Edit: Not to say I wouldn't be interested in Polish mythology. There is a lot of cross reference between Celtic/Brythonic/Norse/Gaulish/etc mythologies back in the day. Hence why a lot of the 'Gods' they worshipped were so similarly named/categorized.
The wild hunt is an European myth. Odin is at the helm in Scandinavia while other characters lead in other regions.
xrnzaaas
Member
Seeing Geralt and Jaskier travelling together gave me serious flashbacks to Hercules & Iolaos... hm, now that I think of it they were proper friends and Iolaos could fight.
BadBurger
Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
You should read the short story and then watch the low budget Polish TV show episode that played it devotely. I wish the Netflix show had been more true to the material here for a number of reasons. Mostly because the already distrusted witcher came off as an absolute monster to the people of Blaviken because they had no idea what was going on or who anyone was aside from Geralt. As far as they knew he came up and started doing his witcher craft and murdered a bunch of people, including a beatiful young women (who they had no idea was an absolute villain).
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Herr Edgy
Member
I saw the first episode and it was so meh I don't think I'm going to continue watching. It's not the somewhat budget-feel of some things, it's the bad writing, the pretentious monologues and the pointless over the top emotional presentation of things, like the sex scene. King gets an arrow to the head, first thing the queen does is take off her helmet... Geralt is forced to defend himself in the town, 'he chose the lesser evil'. Prophecies flung around by everyone, everywhere. An entire army basically comes into the capital and there isn't even a proper fight, the walls aren't defended. The army apparently comes for the little girl, yet no one but one character apparently decides to pursue her/watch out for her in the first place.
From what I've read in an episode discussion thread on reddit, they left out many plot points from the books that would have made how the conflict between the mage and that supposedly cursed girl played out make any sense and gave it a bit more depth.
The only good parts for me were the fight scene at the market (even though I don't gain much from action by itself, I acknowledge it was well done) and the suicide scenes, especially the son not even knowing what he was forced to drink by his mother.
From what I've read in an episode discussion thread on reddit, they left out many plot points from the books that would have made how the conflict between the mage and that supposedly cursed girl played out make any sense and gave it a bit more depth.
The only good parts for me were the fight scene at the market (even though I don't gain much from action by itself, I acknowledge it was well done) and the suicide scenes, especially the son not even knowing what he was forced to drink by his mother.
cormack12
Gold Member
It's really weird watching criticism of some shows. Like yeah things are restricted by budget and there's sometimes inconsistency but I think people try too hard to share the definitively 'mean' quote which introduces this weird race to the bottom that creates a massive dogpile. I mean I've sat through BSG episodes and scenes with 'Starbuck' that made me cringe up real bad, same with Serenity, even GoT fell short. As for choreography, need we be reminded?
I think it's a solid start. It sits above shows like Xena, Hercules and Merlin for me. It's not as camp or cheesy and the production values are superb. The first couple of episodes take place before Brokilon so don't have much to draw on. The first episode was bold and when I first saw that jump out of water with the kikimora and the sword prop I was a bit
but it got better. The scenes with Stregebor looked cheap and nasty, reminiscent of 'Charmed'. In fact, that's probably a good analogy, it's the American Gothic to Charmed. However, it found its feet and episode 2 and 3 were excellent. I really liked them filling in Yens backstory. I have a question about the eel scene though:
I like Cavill as Geralt, sometimes he looks too hefty but he's nailed the character and eevrytime to does the 'hhmmmmph', I immediateky think Witcher 3 ha. I was skeptical on the Yen casting but she is fucking awesome. That scene when she crashes the ball, and that realisation after she says 'I do not want to be beautiful, I want to be powerful' - fucking superb. And I thought the artists reimaging scene was really well done.
Triss is a shocker. The actress is fine, but imagine reading all those Potter books, then the Weasley twins show up as brunettes. Red hair symbolically has meaning so to get rid of it seems strange. Hair colour has no bearing on ethnicity. Like others have said she didn't seem as warm. Don't want to be too harsh as we've only just seen her, but fuck me -at times - Thandi Newton was warmer in Westworld.
Don't like Stregebor at all. He seems daytime villain material. Tissaia is fucking awesome. Ciri does well treading the line of bratty and impetuousness starting to grow up on her own. Emma Appleton as Renfri would have been a better Triss I think from what little we saw but she also had a good cameo.
Soem of the scenes like the big Nilfgaard battle looked sketchy with some cgi, I think the large panning shots are the show at its worst. The smaller, drawn in scenes are much better. That set for the Striga battle was fantastic for example. Or the forest scene with Renfri. The pannign shots of the city looked fake, and the big Brokilon pan didn't really have the same impact as Fanghorn for instance just because the cinematography is lacking.
The sylvan battle was a bit of a low point as was the costumes and look of the elves. But so far, so good. I do think you get more out the show if you're familiar with the people, places and books/games though. It is aimed at that audience - unapologetically so - which is why I think the audience/critic score is so disjointed.
I think it's a solid start. It sits above shows like Xena, Hercules and Merlin for me. It's not as camp or cheesy and the production values are superb. The first couple of episodes take place before Brokilon so don't have much to draw on. The first episode was bold and when I first saw that jump out of water with the kikimora and the sword prop I was a bit
but it got better. The scenes with Stregebor looked cheap and nasty, reminiscent of 'Charmed'. In fact, that's probably a good analogy, it's the American Gothic to Charmed. However, it found its feet and episode 2 and 3 were excellent. I really liked them filling in Yens backstory. I have a question about the eel scene though:
Wtf was the deal with that scene? She turned the three students into eels, then got Yen to push them into the water. She said 'The best thing some flowers can do is die'. That led me to believe that she had got Yen to shed emotion and basically push them into the water to die. If they could transform themselves back they were free. But then I'm sure Sabrina was one of them and she was in the courtesan ball later?
I like Cavill as Geralt, sometimes he looks too hefty but he's nailed the character and eevrytime to does the 'hhmmmmph', I immediateky think Witcher 3 ha. I was skeptical on the Yen casting but she is fucking awesome. That scene when she crashes the ball, and that realisation after she says 'I do not want to be beautiful, I want to be powerful' - fucking superb. And I thought the artists reimaging scene was really well done.
Triss is a shocker. The actress is fine, but imagine reading all those Potter books, then the Weasley twins show up as brunettes. Red hair symbolically has meaning so to get rid of it seems strange. Hair colour has no bearing on ethnicity. Like others have said she didn't seem as warm. Don't want to be too harsh as we've only just seen her, but fuck me -at times - Thandi Newton was warmer in Westworld.
Don't like Stregebor at all. He seems daytime villain material. Tissaia is fucking awesome. Ciri does well treading the line of bratty and impetuousness starting to grow up on her own. Emma Appleton as Renfri would have been a better Triss I think from what little we saw but she also had a good cameo.
Soem of the scenes like the big Nilfgaard battle looked sketchy with some cgi, I think the large panning shots are the show at its worst. The smaller, drawn in scenes are much better. That set for the Striga battle was fantastic for example. Or the forest scene with Renfri. The pannign shots of the city looked fake, and the big Brokilon pan didn't really have the same impact as Fanghorn for instance just because the cinematography is lacking.
The sylvan battle was a bit of a low point as was the costumes and look of the elves. But so far, so good. I do think you get more out the show if you're familiar with the people, places and books/games though. It is aimed at that audience - unapologetically so - which is why I think the audience/critic score is so disjointed.
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jufonuk
not tag worthy
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cormack12
(ascension) The other three students were sacrifices. Only the top students in the group were able to ascend, at the cost of everyone else. It's somewhat similar to how most of the prospective witchers die during the trials. I just finished it the season, and it gets a firm thumbs up from me. It could really use some more budget, mainly, and there isn't enough Geralt screen time, and the scrote and glans Nilfgaardian armor looks absolutely ridiculous, but that doesn't kill the show by any means.
It's a surprise and a relief that the hardcore feminist writers didn't actually end up making this another trojan horse for intersectional feminism. The men aren't all impotent, the women have serious character flaws, and the PoC aren't all noble. People are people, and this allows for meaningful growth and nuanced conflict. Hopefully this signals a return to some semblance of sanity and normalcy in the industry post-#metoo. A lot of shows went down the drain over the past few years by suddenly painting all the male characters as Toxic and artificially empowering women.
I like Cavill as Geralt a lot. He brings physicality and gravitas to the role, and clearly prepares well for the fight scenes. Anya Chalotra as Yenn is good, too, and very striking looking. She has a solid character arc and her and Cavill work.
The Witcher evokes the books and the games pretty authentically, and it's cool to see the Striga and the Last Wish stories come to life.
Bring on season two. Pls upgrade the Nilf designs into something less ridiculous though. The leader has the same low-rent scrotum armor as the foot soldiers with an extra little badge, and it doesn't do the job of conveying intimidation and power.
PhoenixTank
Member
They have a real hard time uniting against Nilfgaard. I don't buy it. The books deal with these issues by swapping in elves and dwarves.
Not really. He is letting something inconsequential ruin his enjoyment of the show because he is mistaken about the world it is based in. I'm glad you're doing practically the same thing here that you're accusing me of.
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Strife In a Teacup
Member
Thanks, I'll check that out actually.
And probably why I loved Skellige so much. Really was the best part of the game for me.
Von Hugh
Member
Casting: 2/5. Cavill is decently good as Geralt, but there's always improvement. Yennefer is doing a great job, but the looks aren't quite fully there. Everything else is kind of meh aside from Dandelion.
The sets: 3/5. Looks very good at times, but there is also the occasional generic looking forgettable castle hall or a town repeated throughout.
Cinematography: 4/5. There are some really beatiful looking shots at times. Feels like the sets and casting only brings it down.
Visuals: 3/5. All the magic looks good if there is some, but there's always the occasional blatantly CGI looking stuff. On the other hand, even Game of Thrones looks crappier at times.
Dialogue: 2/5. On multiple occasions I just felt cringeworthy. Plenty of cliche sounding lines that feels like even the actor doesn't feel comfortable saying out loud.
Story/plot carrying: 2/5. There's really no sense of some bigger story unfolding throughout, the red line seems very scattered. On the other hand on micro level there's either too little or too much/fast "character development".
General tone: 2,5/5. I don't really no what to make of this. There's plenty of humor, or tries of being humorous, and while I appreciate the lighter tone, I'm not sure if it fully fits. Maybe it's just a tad too far in the camp-y side.
Tits: 5/5
The sets: 3/5. Looks very good at times, but there is also the occasional generic looking forgettable castle hall or a town repeated throughout.
Cinematography: 4/5. There are some really beatiful looking shots at times. Feels like the sets and casting only brings it down.
Visuals: 3/5. All the magic looks good if there is some, but there's always the occasional blatantly CGI looking stuff. On the other hand, even Game of Thrones looks crappier at times.
Dialogue: 2/5. On multiple occasions I just felt cringeworthy. Plenty of cliche sounding lines that feels like even the actor doesn't feel comfortable saying out loud.
Story/plot carrying: 2/5. There's really no sense of some bigger story unfolding throughout, the red line seems very scattered. On the other hand on micro level there's either too little or too much/fast "character development".
General tone: 2,5/5. I don't really no what to make of this. There's plenty of humor, or tries of being humorous, and while I appreciate the lighter tone, I'm not sure if it fully fits. Maybe it's just a tad too far in the camp-y side.
Tits: 5/5
lifa-cobex
Member
About half way through series.
Still no one playing gwent.
0/10
Still no one playing gwent.
0/10
Strife In a Teacup
Member
There was dice poker in the first episode though.
Syn Marnotrawny
Banned
cormack12
Triss didn't have red hair in books, but still, she shouldn't look like gypsy fortune teller.Don't know what to think about this adaptation. They completely butchered those short stories. Everything goes too fast, dialogues suck and they skip most important parts so everything is meaningless. Cavill sucks as Geralt. He is too bulky and the way he speaks is annoying. Generally acting is horrible.
VanEs
Member
Yeah that shit was annoying. A twelve (?) year old girl espousing modern feminism in a medieval society? Right.
cormack12
Gold Member
I've only just got to the end of sword of destiny so imagined the game was true to the books. Apparently not. I think the red hair is a good choice personally (superstition/ostracism) though. But yeah, still not a fan of her in general. Hopefully though they redeem the character, I thought Renfri was warmer...Just got to the end of Ep 6. Regarding timelines and the jackdaw short story
Is the Ciri storyline happening before all the current events? Not quite parallel but I'm imagining Geralt eventually stumbles across her?