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The Witcher Season 2 Review – Fan service meets politics

Warning: This review contains mild spoilers for season two of The Witcher.

There are moments of brilliance in the latest season of The Witcher on Netflix, but many of those moments are spoiled by long drawn out political discussions that really aren’t very interesting, at least not yet.

The second season of the hit show starts off with Geralt and Ciri’s journey to Kaer Morhen, although it takes an entire episode to actually reach the famous home of the Witchers and before we can meet the likes of Vesemir we need to meet Nivellan who’s presence in the show has no bearing on the story being told.

It was a bold move to make the first episode more filler than it needed to be and it didn’t pay off.

https://youtu.be/TJFVV2L8GKs

The crux of the plot in the second season is Geralt, Yennefer and Triss trying to understand who, or rather what Ciri is.

While we know that she has Chaos within her, how that Chaos is used is unclear and we only really get a glimpse at who Ciri is toward the end of the season.

While the human based politics are a bore at times, the further exploration of the place of the elves in this world is fantastic. We meet Francesca Findabair, an elven mage who, together with Yennefer and Fringilla unknowingly (or knowingly) set off a chain of events that dictate the remainder of the season.

The big bad of the season is Voleth Meir, an ancient enemy that the first Witchers locked away. The trouble with this is that this big bad is introduced in the second episode and we only get to see their power in action at the end of the season.

There is this constant threat hanging over the characters but why Voleth Meir is so terrifying and what her goal is isn’t explained until the latter half of the season.

In between those episodes we have a mix of filler episodes which elaborate on the politics following the Battle of Sodden and a hunt for Ciri by other characters.

The weakest episode for us is funnily enough, the most important episode of the season – Kaer Morhen.

This episode kicks off the main storyline for the entire show, but its pacing is odd. Nothing really happens during the first half of the episode and then, everything happens. In the 23 remaining minutes of the episode we learn of the big bad, that the world is changing, and that Ciri is going to be trained.

If like us you didn’t pay much attention, come episode eight you will be going back to episode two to learn what happened and why things played out the way they did.

While there are tidbits of information that help lead to the final episode, for the most part you’ll be watching mages fight among themselves (with words and not magic), elves fight for rights and Witchers fighting for their existence.

While it’s engaging for a bit, it quickly becomes too much to cram into one episode and it’s not very interesting.

At least it’s not interesting yet.

The Witcher: Blood Origin is a forthcoming show from Netflix which will explore the beginnings of the world The Witcher is set in. Importantly, the show will touch on the Conjunction of the Spheres, an event which saw the parallel world of humans and monsters being flung together.

Many of the events which play out in this season of the show rely on the Conjunction of the Spheres to explain why they are happening. In fact, Ciri’s story needs the context of the Conjunction of the Spheres to make sense.

The trailer below appears as an end credits scene for The Witcher season two finale.

This is where we see a disconnect between the first and second season of The Witcher. While the Conjunction is mentioned off handedly in both seasons, the first season is very much focused on Geralt’s quest to find Ciri.

By contrast, the second season needs the context of the Conjunction to make sense and for viewers to understand or at least follow along with Ciri’s journey.

There are flashes of exposition which help explain things but for the most part you are left guessing. In one episode we learn that Feainnewedd is popping up wherever Ciri has bled.

This is incredibly important and is explained twice but both times the importance is superseded by something else such as the plant’s use in the Trial of the Grasses. The idea that Ciri has elder blood flowing through her veins and the importance of this is underplayed in our opinion and we hope that this changes moving forward.

If you are new to the world of The Witcher then, season two of the show is very much focused on politics and a build up to something big that is coming in future. We recommend giving it a watch, but be prepared for long discussions about Emhyr and the Redanians.

For fans of this world, season two is fan service through and through. Although the characters we meet do have important roles in the plot, what they do and say could just as well have been done from the shadows by nameless characters before they reveal they were pulling the strings all along.

Fans will know what is coming and future seasons of the show will benefit from the ground work season two is laying down. So while it’s a chore, if you plan on watching more shows in The Witcher universe, this season is required viewing. Maybe just watch it slowly so the politics don’t bore you to sleep.

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