by Chelsea House, GGR Chief Media Correspondent

Before watching the first season of The Witcher , I had little to no knowledge of Geralt of Rivia or the world from which he came. Even with the first season’s scrambled timeline I still fell hard for the show and those golden eyes. I couldn’t help myself and took advantage of quarantine by playing all three Witcher games as well as beginning the book series. It was so easy to get lost in this world, which explains its vast popularity. There’s just something so relatable to Andrzej Sapkowski’s characters. He a master of portraying scenarios that exist in a morally grey area but he also excels at beautiful development of story and person. He has a full understanding of people’s complexities. Needless to say – I have waited eagerly for this season and jumped on the opportunity to review it.

Season 2’s main focus is on the relationship between Geralt and Ciri, which makes sense since we had a whole season 1 to build up to that union. It switches from Aretuza to the more political side of the Mages, and also follows the two familiar faces of Yennefer and Fringilla, while also introducing Francesca. The review will be broken up on these story arcs. Just as a heads up – this will have spoilers, both book and show.

Cirilla

Freya Allen does such a great job as Ciri this season. Not that she didn’t do well in the first one, she just obviously had a lot more screen time this go around as well as a much better script to play with. Allen carries Ciri’s multifaceted personality in such a flawless way. Ciri is only about 13 years old which means she’s in the height of preteen awkwardness. Throw in the massive amount of power she has to be constantly aware of and the haunting images of a burning and destroyed Cintra, and our green-eyed child of elder blood is allowed to have a mood swing or two. In the games, Ciri is already pretty confident in herself by the time she’s introduced. She’s been through quite the journey of self-exploration and discovery. In the books though, which is what the show is following a little more closely, she struggles to fit in so much. She doesn’t really know what she is or why, which keeps her in a constant state of fear. It only makes sense that once she reaches Kaer Morhen with Geralt, she channels all of that into training. Even without going through the Trial of the Grasses, she’s fast, tough, and dangerous. Freya embraces this and has said in many interviews that she obsessed with training with the stuntmen to perfect her swordsmanship. It certainly shows.

Geralt and Ciri

This is the union we had all been longing to see ever since Ciri stumbled into Geralt’s arms in the last episode of Season 1! Lots of questions stirred in the air of how a fierce monster slayer like Geralt would be as a father to his Child of Surprise. Getting to watch Henry Cavill and Freya Allen act together as this dynamic duo was simply amazing. Their chemistry was incredibly evident onscreen and seeing Geralt transition to a father without losing the essence of what he is was so satisfying. In the books Geralt is pretty bumbling as he tries to get his stride on fatherhood. I love that in the show they made him so much surer of himself without feeling unnatural. In the beginning there is for sure some trust-building that had to occur, however, the moment he finds Yennefer after she ran off with Ciri and looks her in the eyes, sword to throat, and growls “Mine.” Like *chefs kiss*. There’s this impression that something has certainly changed in Geralt by the end of the season, another layer to the onion, if you will, yet he’s still perfectly him. And it’s that steadfastness that allows him to protect Ciri so fiercely while also letting her try to figure some things out on her own.

Geralt

We already talked about Geralt’s parenting abilities in the above section. So, we’re going to focus more on him as an individual. Even when you remove the person of Ciri from Geralt’s storyline, he still has a lot going on. For one – our handsome devil of Kaer Moren got quite the armor upgrade this season. Henry Cavill actually helped design the armor for the sake of easier movement. Which does mean that we get some pretty great fight scenes from him this season. For two – he's mourning the loss of Yennefer (at least until he realizes she’s alive) for most of the season. For three – season 2 shows us the more intimate side of Geralt and Vesemir’s (Kim Bodnia) relationship. Kim Bodnia does such an amazing job with Vesemir. I enjoyed watching him and Geralt almost as much as I did Ciri and Geralt. You can tell that both actors took the relationship between the two seriously and worked hard to portray it a something special. Another awesome surprise was the beautiful introduction to Kaer Moren. It looked like it popped right out of the games and I found myself just straight up tickled pink as I pointed things out (probably to my husband’s chagrin) as the cameras showed more and more of the ruined castle. Netflix did an amazing job of making sure that Kaer Moren was a living and breathing set piece instead of just camera fodder. The interactions between the Witcher's, their relationship with Vesemir, how they respond to the new Ciri, the lab, the armor and weapons... The list really just goes on and on. It’s here that we get to see Geralt in his very essence. He genuinely looks as if he’s home.

Yennefer

Here is where, unfortunately, my gleaming review will take a slight turn. For the sake of not giving away too much of Yennefer’s story in season 2, I’m going to focus mostly on the union of Ciri and Yennefer. After a whole season of watching Yennefer desperately seek after ways to conceive a child, it was only natural to assume that the meeting of Ciri and Yenn would be a powerful and emotional one. However, Netflix puts a really odd spin on it, and definitely not for the better. Even if your only knowledge of The Witcher is from Netflix and nothing else, you are still well aware that there is only one Yennefer of Vengerberg. She is cold, calculating, strong, passionate, and incredibly powerful. She could care less what anyone or anything thinks about her. Yennefer does what she wants. And that’s about that. Anya Chalotra did such a good job of portraying this in season 1, and it’s not that she does a bad job in season 2, it’s just that there’s not really much for her to work with. Yennefer feels like she’s fumbling through the whole season. It’s honestly hard to be captivated by her story. She just feels like she’s filling screen time. Why is this important? Well, in the show she makes a deal to kidnap Ciri for something that will benefit her. In her defense, she doesn’t know who Ciri is, and she does end up making up for it. But even when she does realize that Ciri is Geralt’s Child of Surprise, the damage is already done to the storyline. Let me throw the book at you for a second.

In the books, Yennefer knows who Ciri is. Geralt is the one who, in fact, asks her to come after Triss explains she can’t help Ciri control her powers. When Yennefer and Ciri meet, Yennefer is completely unsure of what Ciri is to Geralt and therefore there’s a cold and distant relationship at the start. The two quickly become inseparable, though, through training and conversations. Why? Because Ciri is a young girl who possesses untold amounts of power. She is absolutely terrified of who and what she is. No one can help her, no one can understand her, and no one sees her for what she truly is. Yennefer is a powerful sorceress, one who literally blazes her own paths. She knows what it’s like to fight for her identity and her place in the world. She is completely unintimidated by Ciri’s tantrums or her abilities, and through this, she becomes a safe place for the young girl, or a mother to her. It’s powerfully written, so well thought out, and just awesome to read. So, when we get the Netflix version of it, Ciri completely shadows Yennefer, making her seem like a second thought instead of a safe place and a person to look up to.

Yes, Netflix could rectify the storyline in the next season, and maybe if I hadn’t known the relationship between them in the games and the books, I would have felt differently? Right now though, I’m not super convinced.

A Nod to the Others

This season expands a little more on Fringilla (Mimi Ndeweni), Cahir (Eaman Farren), Triss (Anna Shaffer), and the world of the Sorcerers. We’re also introduced to Francesca (Mecia Simson), Phillipa (Cassie Clare), and Dijkstra (Graham McTavish) which is a really pleasant surprise. It was so nice to see Fringilla, Cahir, and Triss in a different light. We got to know each one a little more intimately which made their personalities and purpose seem so much deeper than the previous season. Fringilla especially gets some really great scenes as well as Triss, who also got some red in her hair. It was so nice to see each of them get much more screen time.

With the introduction of Francesca, we finally get into one of the biggest rivals of The Witcher, which is that of elves and humans. This rivalry also brings some complicated politics alongside it that will for sure continue to shape and mold future seasons. Then of course we have the lovable Redanian spy and his left-hand woman – Dijkstra and Phillipa. Dijkstra is a character I am super fond of, Phillipa coming close behind. So, this introduction was probably my favorite.

Seeing the more political side of the mages added another layer to our already pretty intricate Witcher World. I can’t say a lot in regards to that without completely spoiling their storyline. Jaskier this season was weird for me. I couldn’t tell if I liked him or not. Was he too much? I don’t know. Just something about him didn’t click with me. To be fair, although I’ve been fond of him on all platforms, he has never been a favorite of mine. So, I guess my indifference is just that – indifference. There is a scene in there, though, that does make you see why he’s so popular with the ladies.

All in all, The Witcher has a long and prosperous future ahead of it. I enjoyed watching this Season so much better than the last and will anticipate the next one just as impatiently.

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