it's interesting how geralt claimed he'd rather use his child surprise as bruxa bait in season 1. but, here he is in season 2 saying, "when i say, run, you run." love to see the emotional growth!
@UCRMDLheH8tUk_WqSrhLKyiQ Yeap. Even that Ciri was there it still was good. Beacouse THE BOOK SOURCE and LOGICAL consequetnions in writing. We all know there cant be 1:1 adaptation but FFS do that changes (and scenario) with logical consequetnions. Look Lauren how LOTR was made.
I love how season 2 starts with Geralt telling Ciri, he needs to slay a monster and by the end of the season he says it again, coming full circle, because the first time she has that layer of doubt but the second time, she trusts him completely.
I love that this was included. Truly one of it not the best episodes in the series. It felt like it truly committed to that moral and philosophical complexity that is so beautiful and profound in Sapkowski’s books. If I may be so bold, I feel like much of it was lost in the flash and dash of Season 2, however. So much powerful storytelling was done at the Temple in the books, and, with no harshness intended, that felt completely neglected. I hope we can maybe twist some flashbacks into future seasons, if not simply continue the story in S3 with that developing relationship between Yen and Ciri that occurs largely at the Temple. Speaking of which, the entire philosophy of “the Sword of Destiny has two edges” has not yet appeared. Just a few thoughts. I loved the season, and love that the creators seem to care so much for the source material. Please continue down that route, but don’t forget to continue to flesh out and portray the beautiful discussions (as was accomplished with Nivellen this season, and Stregobor, Renfri, and Calanthe in S1). I think it’s fair to say that the Witcher fan base loves the monster stories…but we love the deeper meaning of it all even more. PS perhaps one of the most heartbreakingly absent exchanges was Geralt and Yen’s night on the hillside at the festival in Sword of Destiny. Maybe we just haven’t seen that yet, but it was so profound in illustrating the depth of Yen and Geralt’s relationship - something that is really well expressed in Sword of Destiny overall.
"They really have to grow to have that trust and to fully believe that neither of them is going to hurt theother." Yes. Then why Brokilon meeting was removed from S1? That's where the relationship started in books. Without it meeting and hugging in sodden at the end of the S1 had litlle sense. Now you did exactly the same thing with Yen and Ciri with that betrayal arc and removal of Yen teching Ciri in Ellander. This relationship between Yen, Ciri and Geralt was what mostly glued everything together and made readers care for characters. I had feeling that most of this changes were done to rush via book in 8 episodes in more "action-packed" manner. Why? You could easilly split book in two series ( maybe Kaer Morhen and travelling to Ellander with Triss and dwarwes in S2 and yen teaching Ciri and Thanned rebellion in S3) and create more filler content (like yen arc in S1 - that was great addition to existing lore). I agree with making changes to have version better suited for TV, but these were not the best choices.
What can I say, book readers will never get a worthy adaption. First the old Hexer serie and then this. Takhle to dopadá, když necháváš Američany hrabat se ve slovanském folklóru..
@@processing4426 Bohužiaľ tie problémy, ktoré mi tam vadia nemajú s folklórom dokopy nič. To sú chyby v storytellingu a aj odhliadnuc od toho, že by som chcel aby to bola adaptácia sú v príbehu diery.
This here. The Brokilon meeting and Geralt then abandoning Ciri again was so profound; so key to developing that relationship. I wish there was a way to fix that, flashback to it or something.
@@LNER985 this isnt an adaptation, it's literally an entirely different story. You clearly didnt read the source material if You think this is trying to adapt the source material.
I remember reading the story for the first time. It got me emotional. Since than, I,ve read it many times, whenever I got time. The adaptation was very good, the acting, dialogues, fighting, monster portrayal...and the emotional ending. It's sooooooo good.
@@BabbyCat3008 I know, yet it’s as close to the book plot wise as it can in the context of the show. The rest of the season was basically made up with a general inspiration by the books and can’t really be called an "adaptation".
@@borkwoof696 That I can agree, fans of the books like myself would say they completely butchered the witcher lore, but I would say Netflix actually did a pretty good job. A very bold move by them perfectly executed. Though not as good as the games.
Nivelen: I slaughtered a lot of people and heist the temple Geralt: okay, you are still a friend to me Nivelen: I raped a woman Geralt: unforgiven, you should put a sword into yourself Man, briliant logic and priorities
Awesome adaptation and really does capture the essence of the story, but a slight problem is that at the end, Nivellen seems inredeemable and we leave him depressed and suicidal. Whereas in the short story he is essentially redeemed and is happy that the curse is lifted. The series has a much darker and grim ending, a bittersweet ending you could say.
The only genuinely good episode in the whole season. Yennifer's betrayal was so against the whole concept behind the book, as if she does not care about Geralt and is not smart to know what Ciri means for him.
"By the Book"? Is this a joke? Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this season a lot, but I felt kind of betrayed and disappointed for the enormous drift from the books, I know I'm not the only one who feels like this...
I love hearing Lauren EXPLAIN the hows and whys of the choices they make when adapting these stories. I'm not a book person but I seem to run into the worst comments from book people mad about this changing and that changing - like the show is going to be word for word a copy of books. There's reasons...lol. When you hear her talk, you can see that she has real love for the books as well and is doing her best to adapt them to tv as faithfully as possible.
Lauren loves the books - maybe that's true. Unfortunately, she is not a good writer. And people don't mind changes to the story! Story from s02e01 is changed a lot and yet people love the episode. The key is understanding the lore, the characters and the atmosphere. Many people liked season 1 despite the changes, but in season 2 Lauren decided to change the very essence of characters! and made up that ridiculous voleth Meir storyline.
The problem is not that there are differences between the show and the books but rather that the show is a straight downgrade compared to the books narratively speaking. Lauren keeps saying that she wanted to change as little as possible from the books yet the show is so different that you can’t call it an "adaptation" anymore.
@@AdamFeuerauge She butchered the books and messed up the storyline real bad. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if she made Dandelion Ciri's lover in the next season because 'it felt good in her mind'.
As a book reader I don't think the Witcher Show sucks, in the contrary I've been recommending it to friends, however what really annoyed me was how they treated Yen & Eskel. I know it's a book adaptation, and I did not have a problem with the first episode. just because it was different in the books, I didn't even mind Istredd's appearance, Vilgefortz, Stregobor, I didn't even mind Francesca's arc, what I really mind was the fact, that the showrunners really considered Yenn sacrificing Ciri. In the context of the show, it might make sense, but is a complete disservice to her character. I was so looking forward to cute mother-daughter bonding moments, between Ciri & Yen... All in all Season 2 was great! :)
If she has a plan and great ideas that would be ok, but the script is not good as well. If she put words from books and then she change something, what is must be , that would be ok. Unfortunetly Lauren and her writers changing almost everything to worse...
I’m so disappointed that, in S1, Renfri being Snow White was almost completely lost in the shuffle, and then the one-paragraph mentions or Rumpelstiltskin and Cinderella were completely left out at the wedding scene. S2 has made a better effort to allude to the folklore and fairytales, but I would like to see those others mentioned. The way Sapkowski tied the fairytales into the Witcher universe not only made the fairytales more profound, but made The Witcher universe feel more authentic.
What and how is different in the episode from the book material though? So if wanted to edit the episode and put it back into season 1, how would I do that?
It is not an obligation for the creators to cover everything in the books... they have taken inspirations which is visible.. but it is an original story.. its just that our prior knowledge of the story kind'a stops us from enjoying everything.. just keep a clear head and dive ri8 in.. trust me, it works
Couldn’t agree more. Adaptation is adaptation. If everything goes according to the book, then you already know what's gonna happen next, which kills the suspension that is supposed to stick you to the screen. I have enjoyed season 1 very much and I enjoyed this even more. It’s an example of how adaptation should be.
Bruh, Lauren said multiple times that’s it’s going to be a almost 1:1 adaptation (check the IGN interview), she lied. She continues to lie and doesn’t take responsibility for it, answering only to the never ending stream of positive feedback by brainwashed individuals, saying that this season was perfect etc. If this is perfect or even good, GOT S8 is a fucking masterpiece lmao
@@shumon375 Yep, exactly. The relevance of adaptations rely on its original material. Otherwise it has no added value. People who want to see everything word-for-word should just read the books again, if they're so inclined. Luckily the silent majority knows this. The loud minority of the fandom come here to complain about everything. 😅
Season 1: Stay somewhat close to the source to not piss of the author and long term fans to hard Season 2: Start of with a good one to give the impression you honor the source material Ep 2 onwards: Coopt the franchise and insert your own nonseniscal bs wherever you can
How is ciri anything like nivellen? Did you get that from the looks? What Nivellen is struggling with is What he became, his past mistakes and how he can’t do anything about this. Ciri is struggling with her past. What this story should show is the humanity in the monsters and how humans became the actual monsters of this world. Ciri and Geralt have No reason to not trust eachother.
This episode was quite alright. It had that Witcher vibe to be honest. It was fun and it's certainly the best episode of this season. Then there goes the remaining episodes which went so far from the source material that it's almost unwatchable. I had hopes for this season and the actors were great but they were given a bad script. I hope the third season will stick more to the source material and don't make things up because it will have more action and battles. The dialogue and conversations are important.
this was the only good episode of the season i'm still mad at what they did to Eskel and how they portrayed Yennefer Netflix keeps saying ''oh we adapt the books'' no you don't
Sad isn't? Though i think they may bring Eskel back somehow. He was never burried, they left his body in a forest. May be they plan to bring him back somehow in the next season and killed him now just for a drama. One thing the crew can't recover from is Yeniffers betrayal. There is no way they can build mother-daughter relationship now with Ciri. It just really goes against the books and Yeniffers nature.
man oh man, this episode got me excited for the rest of the season. It was misplaced, the rest of the episodes slowly devolved until the final episode, which sucked btw. horrible writing all around.
If you're even remotely familiar with the source material, know that you won't enjoy this. It completely butchers the novels, to the point where it can't be called the same story. It's as close to the books as Game Of Thrones is to The Hobbit. But this comment will probably be removed like all the other negative ones
I am pretty critical of S2 because they straight up butchered it and it had little to do with Blood of Elves. Though this episode was really a highlight of the Season. I loved this one a lot.
Every episode of season 2 is pure gold! Of course it's not perfect, just like every other book adaptations out there, but is an 100% improvement over season 1
lmao, this was the closest to the books than any other ep. If it weren't for the other teams asides from the writers, the show would have collapsed in of itself.
@@LNER985 I don't actually care if it's the same story from the books, I just want them to make something good. And if they can't, they can just do what it's in the book because it's already a good story
Thank goodness that it's her favorite part, otherwise I couldn't imagine how worst it would have get. As a reader, I cannot understand how they managed to twist the plot so much, it's embarrassing and totally deceiving. This show shares nothing more than the title, some characters and few key-events with the original saga: it can't be called "The Witcher" anymore.
"By the book" :D you shouldn't call anything from the second series by the book gosh, everything wrong ... fucked up the story, the characters and any logic behind it. Why make a pure good stuff simplier, worse and stupid just for fans who can't understand a book, need absolutly obvious everything and can't even cast a question like, how the heck Ciri get from 10 years cca girl to look 18 in few months, why you had to make her cast a portal when she absolutly couldn't, why you fucked Cahirs character so much, Fringilla, Elves, Triss, Witchers and even the Aretuza, why the heck you made up some absurd monsters right in 2nd session? You had plenty and plenty of material to make this great, shame (cink, cink), shame
@@Merullan Yes, I would love that. However I don't think anybody would be willing to work on a show that followed the books closely, except maybe Henry Cavill. "Follow the books" isn't something that anyone except a Witcher fan would get out of bed for in the morning.
@@IAmebAdger Well probably yes, but I hate this point of view They shouldn't have differ from the book and its logic and make something like this mading up so much bullshit (They shouldn't have show Emhyr so soon, wtf monolith, wtf its monters and what Ciri has to do with it, why they make up shits like Elder blood is needed to make Witchers wtf, they are not grey wardens 🙈🙈 they could do so much much better work
Liar. You think we don't know the subtle changes you made to Nivellen and Vereena's characters and the fight wasn't that challenging. Don't add/remove something that changes the powers, motives or behaviour of the characters. All your story based changes makes it worse. Try to stick to the books and you'll get a better show and love from fans.
I don't get how people feel that this season is not good enough, I mean just look at the depth of the dialogues throughout the season and the various hints you get here and there, I believe the series has now such a solid ground to be the next Got ( Of course am not comparing)
So, I'm reluctant to comment anything usually, but this has to stop. I want to like and enjoy the show, because I love the Witcher (books and games both), but I can't. This episode is a complete mess, from every point of view (except maybe the music, I didn't listen to it much) Also, the part about "facing the fear with someone at your side and not alone" was not bad, Freya Allan has shown a pretty good impession of real fear and that nervousness. As always in this show, changes in the story are destructive. All the ideas that were in the book are lost (no "who's the real monster" dilemma, no funny stories about girls, who were "accidentaly" left with Nivellen by their fathers to gain money and jewelry from him). And no new ideas are introduced. What should I, as a watcher, learn from this? That a bad thing done is always unforgivable? Or is unforgivable not noticing that someone, who's company you appreciate, is, in fact, a murderous beast? The bruxa is done in a weird way, she hides from Geralt and Ciri, but as soon as someone sees her, they understand that she is not human. How was she supposed to hide among humans, to feed on some people without others noticing? What does the phrase "You're more than that, Cirilla" mean? Is it just to appease the people who read the books? Because if so, it didn't work. What's the deal with Cirilla feeling a monster on the inside? From what I've seen, she can, in a way, control her powers. Sooooo... How am I supposed to empathize with a character, who "sometimes feels, that she can burn the whole world"? The mages are all idiots, except for Tissaya and Yennefer. Vilgeforz, who is not a part of the Chapter of mages, tells Tissaya to go against the orders and when called out basically says "I don't care". Who is he again? Is he powerful, known, influential in the mages society? Nope. If I'm right, and Kahyr's arc is going where it's going... You decided, that in your adaptation, Kahyr will at first be a bloody sociopath. And then, when that (obviously) didn't resonate with the audience, you decide to wipe his memory clean. What the hell? What should tie him to Ciri emotionally? Wasn't the Sodden Hill Battle finished by the end of the last episode in the first season? Didn't Yennefer defeat all of Kahyr's troops? Because I didn't seem to notice the 20000 nilfgaardians in his "army". Why do you decide to show the magical part of the battle (boring and not epic at all), and not to show all the rest of it? Somehow the troops of the Northern Kingdoms were damaged in the part, that we do not see. Where is the castle and the hill at all? What does Geralt's "Was it worth it?" mean? He does not understand the politics, he didn't even know, where Temeria was! A mess... Hope that at least it will be funnier to watch this... I don't know how to call it...
Note: There's a magic barrier in Cahir's mind which stops the memory wipe from being completed. It is explained later. I don't think funny stories about fathers making money off their girls are necessary. Vereena clearly wasn't the type of Bruxa who would put effort into blending in with society. If you remember from the books she'd appear as a creepy figure in the woods, and if you remember from the books and games, not every vampire can be bothered to live amongst humans, there are some wild ones. I've seen lots of people reacting to this first episode by now and most of them start thinking about the "who's the real monster" dilemma at some point in the episode, I think this episode really conveys that conflict as a main point. I don't agree with some of the other points, and I know I should also list some points you put up that I agree with to keep the mood of this post balanced, but I'm tired and we should keep discussions centered on only a few points anyways to avoid clutter.
Witcher season 2 is fantastic other than it straying from the books it's still great and the actors are amazing. Season 3 though will be an important one im sure
See that only the book fans actually loved this episode. For us on the strictly Netflix diet, this episode felt out of place. The resonance the director hoped to have with the rest of the story isn't as evident as they say. Maybe in the 3rd season it will come properly into play. Because as we see, Ciri isn't bothered about being a monster, she's bothered most about is being able to defeat all those who will like to kill her for being one.
Book purists should learn that the concept of "death of the author" is something that will always happen and should learn to understand a creative approach to a set series. You can't just make a show like this and copy the entire source material, it doesn't work that way. I think the Game of Thrones TV show really screwed people over and it shows. Enjoy and critique the things that are worth critiquing.
Game of thrones was absolutely incredible up untill they ran out of source material.. and they followed the books very closely. Sure some characters that are alive in the books were dead in the show etc but nothing major really.
Them why call it The Witcher if the plot is entirely different and the characters are just not themselves? The only thing the show shares with the books at this point is just the characters' names.
I agree, you can't just copy and paste a book, but THIS is not an 'adaption,' they literally changed the core story. They remove all the emotional substance Sapkowski put in the books and replace it with boring as shite fight scenes. I get it, they want action, but even the choreography was a downgrade from season 1. Why can't they make fights like the blaviken one? Witchers are supposed to be fast, almost unstoppable to humans, yet the witchers of kaer morhen seems unremarkable compared to normal soldiers like Cahir. The rewrites are horrid in this show, I can't believe they took something so good and translated it so bad. That takes some serious skills.
I agree, some of the dialogue is absolutely cringe, but here is where I'm not a big fan of Henry Cavill and Anya Chalotra, the acting, not their real life personalities. I just think there's a sense of smugness and the show runner rubbed me off the wrong way, but to expect this show to be a carbon copy of the books is simply not how TV and cinema works. I'm sorry but it just doesn't. Even legendary movies such as "In the Name of the Rose" didn't get a one for one adaptation because shooting scenes is much more taxing for the parties involved without taking the general audience into bizzaro territory. What I'm saying about the Netflix Witcher series is: nobody was owed this, not even Sapowski himself. The original 1980s show was the same story. People just love to fantasize that their favorite novel gets a one for one representation of the plot so that they can gloat about how much they knew about it. Anyway, Netflix is at least willing to show signs of respect towards the fan base and it can only go one way or another, but I'm glad we have the show runner at the table who is willing to listen to honest feedback. That is far better than what HBO did with Game of Thrones.
I believe that it's time for show runner change. She doesn't know what the hell she is doing. Let someone else do it, there are definitely more suitable people for this job. Most of the episodes have meaningless conversations between characters that bring nothing to the story. Like Yennefer and Fringila, Dora and some guy.... Some desperate elf woman gives birth that changes nothing on screen. Some dude gets hanged on a tower. It's just shallow writing.
Season 1 was "The Last Wish", Season 2 was "Sword of Destiny" and next year Season 3 will be "Blood of Elves". There going by the books. If anyone was wondering.
The way the Bruxa came out of the ceiling was creepy as hell!
it's interesting how geralt claimed he'd rather use his child surprise as bruxa bait in season 1. but, here he is in season 2 saying, "when i say, run, you run." love to see the emotional growth!
But in one of the later episodes he uses Ciri as a bait for a monster. Character regress?
Yeeeee this episode is only one closer to books that others. Thats why was pretty goooood.
@UCRMDLheH8tUk_WqSrhLKyiQ Yeap. Even that Ciri was there it still was good. Beacouse THE BOOK SOURCE and LOGICAL consequetnions in writing.
We all know there cant be 1:1 adaptation but FFS do that changes (and scenario) with logical consequetnions. Look Lauren how LOTR was made.
They really fit Ciri into the story well, I wish the rest of the show was as thought out as this.
@@Azakadune Yeah im obiectivly agree with you.
I love how season 2 starts with Geralt telling Ciri, he needs to slay a monster and by the end of the season he says it again, coming full circle, because the first time she has that layer of doubt but the second time, she trusts him completely.
Oooooh
Such a fantastic episode!
Pity that its first and last fantastic episode in 2 season.
@@blllklbn4055 lol
I watched it 3 days ago and I can't remember anything from episodes 2-8 apart from epic charnobog fight. Episode one was epic.
I love that this was included. Truly one of it not the best episodes in the series. It felt like it truly committed to that moral and philosophical complexity that is so beautiful and profound in Sapkowski’s books.
If I may be so bold, I feel like much of it was lost in the flash and dash of Season 2, however. So much powerful storytelling was done at the Temple in the books, and, with no harshness intended, that felt completely neglected. I hope we can maybe twist some flashbacks into future seasons, if not simply continue the story in S3 with that developing relationship between Yen and Ciri that occurs largely at the Temple.
Speaking of which, the entire philosophy of “the Sword of Destiny has two edges” has not yet appeared.
Just a few thoughts. I loved the season, and love that the creators seem to care so much for the source material. Please continue down that route, but don’t forget to continue to flesh out and portray the beautiful discussions (as was accomplished with Nivellen this season, and Stregobor, Renfri, and Calanthe in S1).
I think it’s fair to say that the Witcher fan base loves the monster stories…but we love the deeper meaning of it all even more.
PS perhaps one of the most heartbreakingly absent exchanges was Geralt and Yen’s night on the hillside at the festival in Sword of Destiny. Maybe we just haven’t seen that yet, but it was so profound in illustrating the depth of Yen and Geralt’s relationship - something that is really well expressed in Sword of Destiny overall.
the best short story (other than "Something More") =)))
Loved the Vereena character. Such a gorgeous job with the writing, cast choice, acting and visual representation.
"They really have to grow to have that trust and to fully believe that neither of them is going to hurt theother."
Yes. Then why Brokilon meeting was removed from S1? That's where the relationship started in books. Without it meeting and hugging in sodden at the end of the S1 had litlle sense. Now you did exactly the same thing with Yen and Ciri with that betrayal arc and removal of Yen teching Ciri in Ellander. This relationship between Yen, Ciri and Geralt was what mostly glued everything together and made readers care for characters. I had feeling that most of this changes were done to rush via book in 8 episodes in more "action-packed" manner. Why? You could easilly split book in two series ( maybe Kaer Morhen and travelling to Ellander with Triss and dwarwes in S2 and yen teaching Ciri and Thanned rebellion in S3) and create more filler content (like yen arc in S1 - that was great addition to existing lore). I agree with making changes to have version better suited for TV, but these were not the best choices.
Okay
What can I say, book readers will never get a worthy adaption. First the old Hexer serie and then this.
Takhle to dopadá, když necháváš Američany hrabat se ve slovanském folklóru..
@@processing4426 Bohužiaľ tie problémy, ktoré mi tam vadia nemajú s folklórom dokopy nič. To sú chyby v storytellingu a aj odhliadnuc od toho, že by som chcel aby to bola adaptácia sú v príbehu diery.
This here. The Brokilon meeting and Geralt then abandoning Ciri again was so profound; so key to developing that relationship. I wish there was a way to fix that, flashback to it or something.
Please respect the books the season 3.
"If it is not broken, do not fix it."
--Henry Cavill
They respect the books in seasons one and two.
@@LNER985 You dont read them. Im sure about it
@@gotfrydzbouillon4191 I read the books and don't have a out of touch mindset on how adaptations work.
@@LNER985 this isnt an adaptation, it's literally an entirely different story. You clearly didnt read the source material if You think this is trying to adapt the source material.
@@LNER985 You confuse adaptation with what inspiration (fanfic) is.
I remember reading the story for the first time. It got me emotional. Since than, I,ve read it many times, whenever I got time. The adaptation was very good, the acting, dialogues, fighting, monster portrayal...and the emotional ending. It's sooooooo good.
Were you crying ?
@@Rudi_Mentary723 No, I don’t cry. And I don’t bully. I'm well passed that age.
This is the only episode that is "by the book" in S2.
Ciri wasn't with Geralt when he met Nivellen and in the book, he actually doesn't even know Nivellen and meets him for the first time.
@@BabbyCat3008 I know, yet it’s as close to the book plot wise as it can in the context of the show. The rest of the season was basically made up with a general inspiration by the books and can’t really be called an "adaptation".
@@borkwoof696 That I can agree, fans of the books like myself would say they completely butchered the witcher lore, but I would say Netflix actually did a pretty good job. A very bold move by them perfectly executed. Though not as good as the games.
Nivelen: I slaughtered a lot of people and heist the temple
Geralt: okay, you are still a friend to me
Nivelen: I raped a woman
Geralt: unforgiven, you should put a sword into yourself
Man, briliant logic and priorities
Awesome adaptation and really does capture the essence of the story, but a slight problem is that at the end, Nivellen seems inredeemable and we leave him depressed and suicidal. Whereas in the short story he is essentially redeemed and is happy that the curse is lifted. The series has a much darker and grim ending, a bittersweet ending you could say.
Why do you think they changed it?
The only genuinely good episode in the whole season.
Yennifer's betrayal was so against the whole concept behind the book, as if she does not care about Geralt and is not smart to know what Ciri means for him.
The writers misunderstood the very essence of yennefer's character. They even forgot yennefer s motivations from season 1.
Considering the state of the show, “by the book” is a hilarious title.
If you've read Blood of Elves, you would know that an accurate adaptation of it would make for the most boringass season imaginable.
@@BlueMania96 Biggest fucking cap I've ever seen. Blood of elves is an amazing book and has a lot of action in it as well.
@@BlueMania96 honestly yeah . There were some poor directing choices made tho
There is nothing wrong with the state of the show.
@@LNER985 we talking abt the same show? The accuracy is all over the place.
that is my fav episode from this season ♥
"By the Book"? Is this a joke?
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this season a lot, but I felt kind of betrayed and disappointed for the enormous drift from the books, I know I'm not the only one who feels like this...
I’m hearing this a lot. I see some angry people out there, but a lot have been gracious in appreciating the season, but asking for improvement.
I love hearing Lauren EXPLAIN the hows and whys of the choices they make when adapting these stories. I'm not a book person but I seem to run into the worst comments from book people mad about this changing and that changing - like the show is going to be word for word a copy of books. There's reasons...lol. When you hear her talk, you can see that she has real love for the books as well and is doing her best to adapt them to tv as faithfully as possible.
Lauren loves the books - maybe that's true. Unfortunately, she is not a good writer. And people don't mind changes to the story! Story from s02e01 is changed a lot and yet people love the episode. The key is understanding the lore, the characters and the atmosphere. Many people liked season 1 despite the changes, but in season 2 Lauren decided to change the very essence of characters! and made up that ridiculous voleth Meir storyline.
The problem is not that there are differences between the show and the books but rather that the show is a straight downgrade compared to the books narratively speaking. Lauren keeps saying that she wanted to change as little as possible from the books yet the show is so different that you can’t call it an "adaptation" anymore.
@@AdamFeuerauge She butchered the books and messed up the storyline real bad. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if she made Dandelion Ciri's lover in the next season because 'it felt good in her mind'.
As a book reader I don't think the Witcher Show sucks, in the contrary I've been recommending it to friends, however what really annoyed me was how they treated
Yen & Eskel. I know it's a book adaptation, and I did not have a problem with the first episode. just because it was different in the books, I didn't even mind
Istredd's appearance, Vilgefortz, Stregobor, I didn't even mind Francesca's arc, what I really mind was the fact, that the showrunners really considered Yenn sacrificing Ciri.
In the context of the show, it might make sense, but is a complete disservice to her character. I was so looking forward to cute mother-daughter bonding moments,
between Ciri & Yen...
All in all Season 2 was great! :)
If she has a plan and great ideas that would be ok, but the script is not good as well. If she put words from books and then she change something, what is must be , that would be ok. Unfortunetly Lauren and her writers changing almost everything to worse...
the audacity to include by the book in the title xD
It was his Personality that made him so beautiful......... HENRY CAVILL ♥️💙💜
Episode 1 theme: Beauty and the beast
Episode 2 theme: Hansel and Gretel
I’m so disappointed that, in S1, Renfri being Snow White was almost completely lost in the shuffle, and then the one-paragraph mentions or Rumpelstiltskin and Cinderella were completely left out at the wedding scene. S2 has made a better effort to allude to the folklore and fairytales, but I would like to see those others mentioned. The way Sapkowski tied the fairytales into the Witcher universe not only made the fairytales more profound, but made The Witcher universe feel more authentic.
my favourite episode of the season
This is my fav episode.
What and how is different in the episode from the book material though? So if wanted to edit the episode and put it back into season 1, how would I do that?
Please more of this in the next season, more short stories
It is not an obligation for the creators to cover everything in the books... they have taken inspirations which is visible.. but it is an original story.. its just that our prior knowledge of the story kind'a stops us from enjoying everything.. just keep a clear head and dive ri8 in.. trust me, it works
Couldn’t agree more. Adaptation is adaptation. If everything goes according to the book, then you already know what's gonna happen next, which kills the suspension that is supposed to stick you to the screen. I have enjoyed season 1 very much and I enjoyed this even more. It’s an example of how adaptation should be.
Bruh, Lauren said multiple times that’s it’s going to be a almost 1:1 adaptation (check the IGN interview), she lied.
She continues to lie and doesn’t take responsibility for it, answering only to the never ending stream of positive feedback by brainwashed individuals, saying that this season was perfect etc.
If this is perfect or even good, GOT S8 is a fucking masterpiece lmao
@@shumon375 Yep, exactly. The relevance of adaptations rely on its original material. Otherwise it has no added value. People who want to see everything word-for-word should just read the books again, if they're so inclined. Luckily the silent majority knows this. The loud minority of the fandom come here to complain about everything. 😅
i f'kin love Tormund and also love Nivellen. best characters
Season 1:
Stay somewhat close to the source to not piss of the author and long term fans to hard
Season 2:
Start of with a good one to give the impression you honor the source material
Ep 2 onwards: Coopt the franchise and insert your own nonseniscal bs wherever you can
by the book? XDDDDDDD netflix should never use that phrase
How is ciri anything like nivellen? Did you get that from the looks? What Nivellen is struggling with is What he became, his past mistakes and how he can’t do anything about this. Ciri is struggling with her past. What this story should show is the humanity in the monsters and how humans became the actual monsters of this world. Ciri and Geralt have No reason to not trust eachother.
Great episode !!!
This episode was quite alright. It had that Witcher vibe to be honest. It was fun and it's certainly the best episode of this season. Then there goes the remaining episodes which went so far from the source material that it's almost unwatchable. I had hopes for this season and the actors were great but they were given a bad script. I hope the third season will stick more to the source material and don't make things up because it will have more action and battles. The dialogue and conversations are important.
Lies all of the episodes are watchable and the script wasn't bad.
@@LNER985 bro how old are you all you do is spending all you days in the yt comment defending the show get a life
@@trackdog432 Says the one obsessed with being suffering to the Witcher community.
Okay captain.
@@trackdog432 Everyone can have their own opinion about the series. So I think there's no reason to get into offensive mode.
this was the only good episode of the season i'm still mad at what they did to Eskel and how they portrayed Yennefer Netflix keeps saying ''oh we adapt the books'' no you don't
Only 1 Question : You killed Eskel.... Why?
Sad isn't? Though i think they may bring Eskel back somehow. He was never burried, they left his body in a forest. May be they plan to bring him back somehow in the next season and killed him now just for a drama.
One thing the crew can't recover from is Yeniffers betrayal. There is no way they can build mother-daughter relationship now with Ciri. It just really goes against the books and Yeniffers nature.
She explains why in the extended interview on this channel.
man oh man, this episode got me excited for the rest of the season. It was misplaced, the rest of the episodes slowly devolved until the final episode, which sucked btw. horrible writing all around.
🤦♂
Man that bruxa girl was pretty
Best episode of the season, after this the writers went rogue and it shows
The writers didn't go rogue.
If you're even remotely familiar with the source material, know that you won't enjoy this. It completely butchers the novels, to the point where it can't be called the same story. It's as close to the books as Game Of Thrones is to The Hobbit. But this comment will probably be removed like all the other negative ones
Yo, easily the best episode ever
I am pretty critical of S2 because they straight up butchered it and it had little to do with Blood of Elves.
Though this episode was really a highlight of the Season. I loved this one a lot.
Please, please do more episodes each season, instead of only eight. Build and let us experience the world of Witcher.
Hopefully on Season 3, They will start with Vampire Foklore on Blood and wine that would be an epic start.
Every episode of season 2 is pure gold! Of course it's not perfect, just like every other book adaptations out there, but is an 100% improvement over season 1
XD
Ehhh no
if only you knew how hard my eyes are rolling right now.
hope this series will go up until the wild hunt
Um, looks like next season already lol
At least it seems they plan on doing it by the end
@@SmartFool24 wow that would be great! Finished the game this year and didnt watch the season2 yet but im already excited!
when is season 3 coming 🤔
When they’ve managed to have written a completely new story that has nothing to do with the book. It’s not so easy to not use anything in there.
Nivellen acting is over the top
lmao, this was the closest to the books than any other ep. If it weren't for the other teams asides from the writers, the show would have collapsed in of itself.
Why Lauren, why did you change the story from the whole book to make a worse story?
Clearly, you don't understand how adaptions work and they did a good of adapting a grain of truth.
@@LNER985 That not even adaptation thats fanfic or interpretation ONLY
@@gotfrydzbouillon4191 Netflix Witcher is an adaptation.
@@LNER985 I don't actually care if it's the same story from the books, I just want them to make something good. And if they can't, they can just do what it's in the book because it's already a good story
@@LNER985 And I agree that they made a nice adaptation of the grain of truth, I was actually talking about the whole season itself
1st episode is my fevoriot
That was the best episode
Thank goodness that it's her favorite part, otherwise I couldn't imagine how worst it would have get. As a reader, I cannot understand how they managed to twist the plot so much, it's embarrassing and totally deceiving. This show shares nothing more than the title, some characters and few key-events with the original saga: it can't be called "The Witcher" anymore.
Awesome.
This episode wasnt horrible and it had some good moments but you missed the heart of the story.
"bruxa" just means witch in portuguese. I wonder if that's how the word got to polish folklore
"By the book" :D you shouldn't call anything from the second series by the book gosh, everything wrong ... fucked up the story, the characters and any logic behind it. Why make a pure good stuff simplier, worse and stupid just for fans who can't understand a book, need absolutly obvious everything and can't even cast a question like, how the heck Ciri get from 10 years cca girl to look 18 in few months, why you had to make her cast a portal when she absolutly couldn't, why you fucked Cahirs character so much, Fringilla, Elves, Triss, Witchers and even the Aretuza, why the heck you made up some absurd monsters right in 2nd session? You had plenty and plenty of material to make this great, shame (cink, cink), shame
The first episode was the most worthy of being called by the book. Try and convince me otherwise.
@@IAmebAdger Most worthy probably yes, but still this adaption is soo badly treated in case how cool it could be if they followed the book
@@Merullan Yes, I would love that. However I don't think anybody would be willing to work on a show that followed the books closely, except maybe Henry Cavill. "Follow the books" isn't something that anyone except a Witcher fan would get out of bed for in the morning.
@@IAmebAdger Well probably yes, but I hate this point of view
They shouldn't have differ from the book and its logic and make something like this mading up so much bullshit (They shouldn't have show Emhyr so soon, wtf monolith, wtf its monters and what Ciri has to do with it, why they make up shits like Elder blood is needed to make Witchers wtf, they are not grey wardens 🙈🙈 they could do so much much better work
Only one good episode in second season. Lol. And why? Because its based on book. Without stupid whole ideas.
Liar. You think we don't know the subtle changes you made to Nivellen and Vereena's characters and the fight wasn't that challenging. Don't add/remove something that changes the powers, motives or behaviour of the characters. All your story based changes makes it worse. Try to stick to the books and you'll get a better show and love from fans.
I don't get how people feel that this season is not good enough, I mean just look at the depth of the dialogues throughout the season and the various hints you get here and there, I believe the series has now such a solid ground to be the next Got ( Of course am not comparing)
By what?
Season 2 was an epic journey. Keep up! 👌
So, I'm reluctant to comment anything usually, but this has to stop. I want to like and enjoy the show, because I love the Witcher (books and games both), but I can't.
This episode is a complete mess, from every point of view (except maybe the music, I didn't listen to it much)
Also, the part about "facing the fear with someone at your side and not alone" was not bad, Freya Allan has shown a pretty good impession of real fear and that nervousness.
As always in this show, changes in the story are destructive.
All the ideas that were in the book are lost (no "who's the real monster" dilemma, no funny stories about girls, who were "accidentaly" left with Nivellen by their fathers to gain money and jewelry from him). And no new ideas are introduced. What should I, as a watcher, learn from this? That a bad thing done is always unforgivable? Or is unforgivable not noticing that someone, who's company you appreciate, is, in fact, a murderous beast?
The bruxa is done in a weird way, she hides from Geralt and Ciri, but as soon as someone sees her, they understand that she is not human. How was she supposed to hide among humans, to feed on some people without others noticing?
What does the phrase "You're more than that, Cirilla" mean? Is it just to appease the people who read the books? Because if so, it didn't work.
What's the deal with Cirilla feeling a monster on the inside? From what I've seen, she can, in a way, control her powers. Sooooo... How am I supposed to empathize with a character, who "sometimes feels, that she can burn the whole world"?
The mages are all idiots, except for Tissaya and Yennefer. Vilgeforz, who is not a part of the Chapter of mages, tells Tissaya to go against the orders and when called out basically says "I don't care". Who is he again? Is he powerful, known, influential in the mages society? Nope.
If I'm right, and Kahyr's arc is going where it's going... You decided, that in your adaptation, Kahyr will at first be a bloody sociopath. And then, when that (obviously) didn't resonate with the audience, you decide to wipe his memory clean. What the hell? What should tie him to Ciri emotionally?
Wasn't the Sodden Hill Battle finished by the end of the last episode in the first season? Didn't Yennefer defeat all of Kahyr's troops? Because I didn't seem to notice the 20000 nilfgaardians in his "army". Why do you decide to show the magical part of the battle (boring and not epic at all), and not to show all the rest of it? Somehow the troops of the Northern Kingdoms were damaged in the part, that we do not see. Where is the castle and the hill at all? What does Geralt's "Was it worth it?" mean? He does not understand the politics, he didn't even know, where Temeria was!
A mess... Hope that at least it will be funnier to watch this... I don't know how to call it...
Note: There's a magic barrier in Cahir's mind which stops the memory wipe from being completed. It is explained later.
I don't think funny stories about fathers making money off their girls are necessary.
Vereena clearly wasn't the type of Bruxa who would put effort into blending in with society. If you remember from the books she'd appear as a creepy figure in the woods, and if you remember from the books and games, not every vampire can be bothered to live amongst humans, there are some wild ones.
I've seen lots of people reacting to this first episode by now and most of them start thinking about the "who's the real monster" dilemma at some point in the episode, I think this episode really conveys that conflict as a main point.
I don't agree with some of the other points, and I know I should also list some points you put up that I agree with to keep the mood of this post balanced, but I'm tired and we should keep discussions centered on only a few points anyways to avoid clutter.
The only good episode this season
All of the episodes were good.
Witcher season 2 is fantastic other than it straying from the books it's still great and the actors are amazing. Season 3 though will be an important one im sure
Two seasons in and still no silver swords
See that only the book fans actually loved this episode. For us on the strictly Netflix diet, this episode felt out of place. The resonance the director hoped to have with the rest of the story isn't as evident as they say. Maybe in the 3rd season it will come properly into play. Because as we see, Ciri isn't bothered about being a monster, she's bothered most about is being able to defeat all those who will like to kill her for being one.
Book purists should learn that the concept of "death of the author" is something that will always happen and should learn to understand a creative approach to a set series. You can't just make a show like this and copy the entire source material, it doesn't work that way. I think the Game of Thrones TV show really screwed people over and it shows.
Enjoy and critique the things that are worth critiquing.
Game of thrones was absolutely incredible up untill they ran out of source material.. and they followed the books very closely. Sure some characters that are alive in the books were dead in the show etc but nothing major really.
then it’s not an adaptation, it’s an inspiration
Them why call it The Witcher if the plot is entirely different and the characters are just not themselves? The only thing the show shares with the books at this point is just the characters' names.
I agree, you can't just copy and paste a book, but THIS is not an 'adaption,' they literally changed the core story. They remove all the emotional substance Sapkowski put in the books and replace it with boring as shite fight scenes.
I get it, they want action, but even the choreography was a downgrade from season 1. Why can't they make fights like the blaviken one? Witchers are supposed to be fast, almost unstoppable to humans, yet the witchers of kaer morhen seems unremarkable compared to normal soldiers like Cahir.
The rewrites are horrid in this show, I can't believe they took something so good and translated it so bad. That takes some serious skills.
I agree, some of the dialogue is absolutely cringe, but here is where I'm not a big fan of Henry Cavill and Anya Chalotra, the acting, not their real life personalities. I just think there's a sense of smugness and the show runner rubbed me off the wrong way, but to expect this show to be a carbon copy of the books is simply not how TV and cinema works. I'm sorry but it just doesn't. Even legendary movies such as "In the Name of the Rose" didn't get a one for one adaptation because shooting scenes is much more taxing for the parties involved without taking the general audience into bizzaro territory. What I'm saying about the Netflix Witcher series is: nobody was owed this, not even Sapowski himself. The original 1980s show was the same story. People just love to fantasize that their favorite novel gets a one for one representation of the plot so that they can gloat about how much they knew about it. Anyway, Netflix is at least willing to show signs of respect towards the fan base and it can only go one way or another, but I'm glad we have the show runner at the table who is willing to listen to honest feedback. That is far better than what HBO did with Game of Thrones.
The only good Witcher episode Netflix made
You couldn’t cover all the stories because you kept trying to cram in made up bullshit. This is not an adaptation.
Is it me or the Season 2 was boring than season 1. Honestly I have never read witcher book but the first episode of season 2 was out of the world.😳😳
Lies, lies and more lies
There have been no lies.
This episode is an abomination. "By the book?" Which book did you read? Cause whatever you came up with isn't the original story.
didnt read the books or played the games, i liked season 2, netflix delivered.
I believe that it's time for show runner change. She doesn't know what the hell she is doing. Let someone else do it, there are definitely more suitable people for this job. Most of the episodes have meaningless conversations between characters that bring nothing to the story. Like Yennefer and Fringila, Dora and some guy.... Some desperate elf woman gives birth that changes nothing on screen. Some dude gets hanged on a tower. It's just shallow writing.
The only good episode of this season. I'm sorry, but you have wasted the potential of a great brand. Next episodes ... I’m lost for words :(
Damage control, stop lying Lauren
No damage has been done and Lauren hasn't done any lying. Fans like you are damaging the Witcher community.
@@LNER985 Nooope you just have shitty taste.
@@LNER985 shill
@@Torsteen-p3d Its called having a heart and wanting what is best for the Witcher.
Season 1 was "The Last Wish", Season 2 was "Sword of Destiny" and next year Season 3 will be "Blood of Elves". There going by the books. If anyone was wondering.
Season 2 is adapted from Blood of Elves
@@bordenvincent well, technically it was only inspired by Blood of elves. They changed almost everything.
Sword of Destiny was also in Season 1. Sword, Blood, and Wish are all mishmashed throughout both seasons so far.