The Witcher: Episode 2 Review

Here we are with a review for Episode Two of The Witcher. This episode adds yet another storyline to follow, through it also begins to hint at what the connection between these three currently disconnected stories will be. SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

We start out our second episode with two lovers running through a town and stopping off at an out of the way barn to make love. It is here that they discover they are being watched by a deformed farm girl, Yennefer (Anya Chalotra, The ABC Murders). They proceed to mock her ugliness, then begin to physically assault her, which leads her to panic and accidentally create a portal through the fabric of reality to escape. She awakens in a strange chamber made of skulls and bones, confused as to what has just occurred. Though not as shocked as Isstred (Royce PIerreson, Murdered By My Boyfriend.) Impressed by her power, he informs her that the portal she created has put a target on her back, he makes a portal through which she can return to her farm.

We are then whisked to a tavern in which the bard, Jaskier (Joey Batey, The White Queen) is playing a particularly bawdy ballad. The customers begin throwing bread at him so he’ll stop playing, at which point he notices Geralt in the corner. The back and forth between them is great, as we see that Geralt is capable of a fair bit of wit and sarcasm himself and Jaskier is just plain hilarious. Outing Geralt as a witcher to the bar patrons results not in a fight, but in a job offer. One of the locals wants Geralt to stop a demon that is stealing all of their wheat. Geralt agrees to do so for a fee and him and Jaskier, who has invitied himself along, set forth.

This is a good place to point out on of my favorite things about this show. Geralt’s storyline feels like a video game, and not in a bad way. He is given quests, seemingly at random, that feel as if they are unimportant or silly little sidequests. They, however, end up giving us a view into the world he inhabits and are a great way to give exposition without just telling everyone what is going on through dialogue.

Next, we find Princess Cirilla running through the forest, trying to avoid the Nilgard forces that are on the hunt for her. As she makes her way through the forest, she stops at a bush to eat some berries but is stopped by Rat Boy (Wilson Radjou-Pujalte, Dickensian). He informs her through pantomime that the berries are poison, then offers her rat to eat. She finally gives in to her hunger and eats, then she notices that survivors of Cintra have formed a camp nearby. As she makes her way there, she realizes that Rat Boy has run away. Hungry, cold, and tired, she enters the camp where she is offered aid by a family of merchants. It is here that she learns of the common people’s hatred for her grandmother, whom they consider to be a war monger who ruins the lives of her people.

It is kind of refreshing to see war not being glorified in a fantasy setting. Too often we see wars displayed as just or good in these kinds of stories. But The Witcher is committed to its grey morality, showing war as having a cost that is much too great, especially to those not in power.

Following this, we arrive back at Yennefer’s farm. A witch, Tessaia (MyAnna Buring, Ripper Street) has come to purchase her from her father. He sells her for less than a pig and is happy to be rid of her, revealing that he is not her father in the process. Yennefer is then taken to Aretuza, The Witcher universe’s equivalent of Hogwarts. She doesn’t understand why she is there and attempts suicide. Tessaia awakens her and informs her she will begin her formal training to control Chaos, which is magic in this world. These scenes are well done, and Yennefer is played with a combination of fragility and strength that a lesser actress couldn’t pull off, but Chalotra does a great job with.

Back to Geralt and Jaskier. We continue to be entertained by the bard’s ridiculous music in a scene that recalls Monty Python and the Holy Grail’s Sir Robin scene. Finally they find the “demon” that has been stealing grain. It turns out that it is a goat man named Torque (Amit Shah, Hospital People), that has been taking the grain. Geralt and Jaskier are then knocked unconscious and kidnapped.

Yennefer is revealed to be a poor student of Chaos, but is also shown to be very powerful in the magic. Tessaia reveals that it is her lack of emotional control that is causing her failure, a weakness that they share. She continues to meet Isstred in secret, the two apparently falling in love. The scenes are sweet and the love between the characters feels genuine, no small feat for only having been introduced to them 45 minutes prior. This is testament to the quality of writing and acting on the show. This makes the reveal later that Stregobor and Tessaia are using the two to their own ends heartbreaking. Are the two in love, or are they just acting the part to get their masters what they want? For Tessaia, a flower that opens portals or for Stregobor, the revelation that Yennefer is actually half-elf, hence very powerful.

It is important to note that throughout the episode, we have been told several times about The Great Cleansing, an event which saw humans wipe out most of the world’s elves and remove them from their lands. This plays an important role as it is revealed near the end that Torque is stealing grain for Filavandrel aén Fidháil (Tom Canton, Farming), the king of the elves that are left after the Great Cleansing. We learn that humans killed the elves so that they could claim Chaos as their own, and that Rat Boy is actually an elf named Dara. It seems that The Great Cleansing is the connective tissue between these three stories, and I’m interested to see how this plays out.

Anyway, let’s fast forward a bit. Geralt, now prisoner in the elves’ cave, convinces the elves and Torque to release him and move on to find new lands to settle, even going so far as to give them the money the man who hired him paid. Yennefer is shown that those who are able to control the Chaos best are sacrificed so that their power may be fed into a glowing lake that is the source of Chaos. And Cirilla is saved from a Nilfgard raid on the Cintra camp by Dara, who reveals himself to be an elf. All of this happens in quick succession to a hilarious and epic song sung by Jaskier, entitled “Toss A Coin To Your Witcher.” It’s a great song and catchy as hell. I’ve found myself singing it to myself quite a bit.

This was another great episode that managed to expand hugely on The Witcher’s world in the hour that it had. We now have a struggle for power between wizards and witches, a genocide of elves, what the cost of war is for the commoners, and a hilarious bard! What more could you ask for? The dialogue continues to be witty and great, the themes of the show have unexpected depth, and the chemistry between the characters remains great. This is quickly becoming my favorite show on Netflix, which is high praise indeed. I can’t wait to see what the next episode brings.