She screams causing the very earth to split, allowing her to escape into the woods. Ciri is captured by the Nilfgard leader (Eamon Farren, The ABC Murders), which is when we get the first taste of her true powers. This leads to a beautiful shot of Calanth standing at her window watching Cintra burn, just before she tosses herself to the ground far below. Ciri is whisked from the castle while those inside poison themselves rather than face the Nilfgard troops. Nilfgard stands at the gates, ready to torture and kill all the citizens and, it is revealed, to capture Ciri. The wizard shows his influence over the crown, perhaps using magic to control them, causing Geralt to be stoned and thrown from Blaviken, while Stregobor yells after him, “you’ll never know if you made the right choice.” Stregobor enters and lays claim to the body, causing Geralt to hold him at swordpoint, telling him not to touch the body. The fight is elegantly choreographed and almost balletic, ending in the death of Renfri. Geralt and her banter back and forth for a moment, which turns into a sword fight between them. Suddenly Renfri shows up with Marlika as her hostage. Through a combination of awesome swordplay and magic, he overcomes the men easily and in a gory manner. And we finally get to see the Witcher in action. He enters the town and is immediately set upon by Renfri’s men. She goads him into a fight in Blevkin, forcing him to choose between her need to kill Stregobor and his own need not to get involved. Geralt, meanwhile realizes that Renfri has seduced him and used him as a means to an end. Ciri wants to fight alongside her grandparents, who find it more important to keep her away from it: for their protection and perhaps her own. This is intercut with Ciri petulantly arguing with her protectors as she is forced to wait in the castle for their return. The scene is well shot, capturing the chaos of battle while focusing on the main characters. Nilfgard overpowers the Cintra army, killing Eist and grievously wounding Calanthe. Both Calanthe and Eist are great warriors and you can tell they have fought many a battle in their past. An aside here: it is great to see so many strong female characters not being sidelined by their male counterparts, even in battle. Calanthe and Eist are on the battlefield, charging towards the Nilfgard army. It is refreshing in a time of grimdark fantasy to have a bit of humor show up in a fantasy show and this is one of the shows strengths.īack to Cintra, we get the show’s first big action scene. The chemistry between the two characters is spot on and there is a fair amount of humor in this scene. They talk briefly about being outcasts, him because of his mutations and her because she was born under a bad omen. Just as we are certain that a fight is about to break out, we are introduced to a character named Renfri (Emma Appleton, Dreamlands), who calls her men off and buys Geralt a round of drinks.

They take a disliking to him because of what he is, a Witcher and a mutant that is inhuman to them. Following this, he enters the town of Blaviken, where he is immediately set upon by men in a tavern. It is well shot and exciting, a good beginning to the series. We begin the first episode with a battle between Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill, Man of Steel) and a monster. I am happy to report that I found that to be untrue.

I heard that the first episode was a confusing mess that would leave most viewers cold. For every review that said this was an outstanding show came another that complained about The Witcher’s lack of accessibility and how it throws you into a world without explanations or exposition. I'd like to see that, myself.I went into the show with mild trepidation. Or if the Lionhead Spider priestess - or the Lionhead Spider itself - shows up. It'll be interesting to see if Nivellan recurs later in the season.

: I've lived through a whole dark age and three supposed end of days.

Geralt: I've lived through a whole dark age and three supposed end of days.

Nivellen: I'm simply saying, the North and South at war, monsters roaming when they should be hibernating, pestilence sweeping the land. If Season 1 served the purpose of laying out the pasts of our three protagonists, Season 2 is gearing up for future conflicts and potential obstacles. The world's acting of its own strange accord these days. Mind you, the visual effects team has had two years of COVID delay to really show what they can do, and it's an undeniably spectacular final product showcased here.Įqually impressive is the exposition slipped into Geralt's chats with Nivellan.

Geralt's battle with Vereena is more involved than I remember the Witcher elixir-fueled fights from Season 1 being.

The witcher episode 1