Welcome to a world of myth and magic – The Witcher season 3
agic, mystery, intrigue and medieval mayhem inhabit the world of with season three currently on my viewing radar.
The fantasy drama television series was created by Lauren Schmidt Hissrich for Netflix. It is based on the book series of the same name by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski and is set on a fictional, medievalinspired landmass known as the Continent.
In the first three seasons the main character, Geralt of Rivia, has been played by Henry Cavill (in line to be the next James Bond), and in the third season he pays a fittingly fond farewell to this particular character. In Season four Geralt will be played by Liam Hemsworth (brother of Chris), who played Will Blakelee in
(2010), Gale Hawthorne in film series (2012–2015), and Jake Morrison in
(2016).
explores the legend of Geralt of Rivia, Yennefer of Vengerberg and Princess Ciri. It stars in the main roles Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra, and Freya Allan.
The story begins with Geralt of Rivia, Crown Princess Cirilla of Cintra, and the quarterelf sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg at different points in time, exploring events that shape their characters throughout the first season, before eventually merging into a single timeline.
Geralt and Ciri are linked by destiny since before she was born when he unknowingly demanded her as a reward for his services by invoking ‘the
Law of Surprise’.
After the two finally meet, Geralt becomes the princess's protector and must help her and fight against her various pursuers to prevent her Elder Blood and powerful magic from being used for malevolent purposes and therefore keep
MCiri and their world safe.
This is an adult fairytale with more than a fair share of expletives and sex scenes and a smattering of gore and monsters to keep the bloodthirsty viewer satisfied.
But it could quite easily cut out the more unsavoury elements of the above and be a great adventure yarn for the younger viewer. But that’s not what is about.
At the start of season three Geralt slays a bunch of bad guys intent on doing Ciri harm. Then the trio of Geralt, Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) and Ciri (Freya Allan) ride across a stunning expanse of land to find sanctuary from the countless factions that want Ciri.
Yennefer tries to train Ciri to harness her magic but it proves to be a long and arduous task.
To recap, in season one it looked like the adaptation of the first book was finding its feet and, as a result, was a little clunky at times.
In season two the story began to gel, but it still lacked a certain something. In season three it appears to be more accessible, balanced and watchable than the first two seasons.
Although not a faithful reproduction of the Andrzej Sapkowski’s novel series it does provide the viewer with great fantasy entertainment.
The lothario bard Jaskier features more frequently this season after he was side-lined for a good chunk of season two and he provides light relief and comedy moments juxtaposed with the earnest and serious Geralt.
In this season the romance between Geralt and Yennefer which has been simmering, combative, and complicated in turn so far, grows into full blown romance.
At the back end of season two the romantic couple had just helped save their charge in this season – the teen Ciri (Freya Allan), but they hadn’t managed to stop an apocalyptic group of otherworldly beings called the Wild Hunt from gaining power.
Thankfully the Wild Hunt don’t make an appearance for the first half of season three, but the trio of runaways are still pursued by all manner of elf and human baddies intent on doing them harm.
Season three is a satisfying watch that condenses the source material into a cohesive, flowing story that grips the viewer and refuses to let go.
continues to entertain the viewer with its diabolical double crosses and spells that send the story off in a fresh direction.
There always seems to be a portal to a different world cropping up. It seems everybody (aside from the parting Cavill) in the series is fully invested in the project enabling the story to spin a wild and bloody yarn, but will the series survive without our Henry? Tune into Netflix to find out.