Netflix's "The Swiffer."
Started coming together for me around episode 3-4.
Reading here that it was indeed multiple time lines + see it through helped.
This as a normal weekly show probably never works. 2 episodes in the initial drop off inertia of ratings would have studio execs suicidal. Netflix prayed on the fact that it's a binge mode world now. No matter how much I was confused they were getting 4-5 episodes out of me before I would make the decision to see it to the end or not.
Bonus "IT Crowd" reference
"Yennefer of Vengerberg" sounds even more equally ridiculous and sexy the more they say it.
Everytime I hear "Yennefer of Vengerberg":
Wife and I are halfway through now and I love the way this show just goes balls-out with plot from the word "go."
Despite this I see people who actually get paid to review TV complaining about "incoherent structure" (because they don't pay enough attention to pick up the very obvious signals that there are three timelines), and "lack of world-building" (because they think world-building is something that only happens in big dumps of expository dialogue I guess).
Even more annoying than this, however, are the inane but I suppose inevitable Game of Thrones comparisons. Here's a Game of Thrones comparison for ya: Game of Thrones often seemed almost embarrassed by its fantasy elements, whereas The Witcher is like:
Henry Cavill kills it (it being the role of Geralt, aside from all the other people and creatures he kills). Although I do think it's sort of funny that after affecting an American accent for his performances as Superman, he uses his British accent for Geralt because they've gone with the it's-fantasy-so-everyone-sounds-British trope... whereas in the games Geralt sounded basically American and was just about the only one who DIDN'T have a British accent.
Seeing a lot of butthurt about the casting for Triss, and it does seem like kind of a strange choice, but from what I understand Triss is a much less significant character in the books and they greatly magnified her role in the games to add a choice of love interest for the player. I think that's what the people who are upset are going to have to ultimately come to grips with, rather than her hair being the wrong color, and I do feel for them, at least the ones who aren't acting like bigoted children about it. I suppose if the show goes the amnesiac Geralt route there is nothing stopping them from doing a Triss romance subplot in season two and even recasting the part and saying Triss gave herself a magical makeover between jobs, but I kind of doubt that will happen.
I confess I am not 100% sold on the casting of Yennefer though. She just seems very... young. And yes I get that sorceresses don't visibly age much if at all because magic, but she doesn't project the kind of mature charisma and confidence I think the character needs.
I'm not reading this thread until I catch up on episodes (probably going to watch episode 6 tonight), but I'm really liking the series so far. I think my only real complaint is that it doesn't seem to be taking place in a fully linear fashion and seems to jump around between past and present but without any indication of when something is taking place, and so I get confused over what is really going on and who is when and what is where!
Finished last night. So much better than I expected, bring on S2!
I love that it doesn't explain *anything* explicitly, but even after playing the games I was struggling to keep up with the first couple of episodes. It'd be hard to recommend to non-witchery friends.
Also it reminded me, I never played Thronebreaker. Worth going back to?
I'm not reading this thread until I catch up on episodes (probably going to watch episode 6 tonight), but I'm really liking the series so far. I think my only real complaint is that it doesn't seem to be taking place in a fully linear fashion and seems to jump around between past and present but without any indication of when something is taking place, and so I get confused over what is really going on and who is when and what is where!
There are basically three time periods, one for each main character (Geralt, Cirilla, and Yennefer). Yennefer's story starts the earliest, Cirilla's starts the latest, Geralt's part for the first few episodes is more like vignettes from his career as a monster hunter taking place in between the two... But eventually Yen and Geralt meet and at the end of the season their plotlines catch up to where Ciri's started.
Queen Calanthe of Cintra (Ciri's grandmother) is your reference point. When Yen's story starts Calanthe isn't queen yet, when Geralt's story starts Calanthe is a young queen, Ciri's storyline literally begins with Calanthe's death. More detailed explanation under the spoiler.
In the first episode Calanthe mentions winning her first battle when she was Ciri's age at (place name). Very shortly after in that same episode, Renfri says to Geralt "Queen Calanthe just won her first battle at (same place name)." This is a great big flashing neon sign that the events we see with different characters in different places are not taking place simultaneously... but I suspect some people who don't pay close attention to dialogue missed it completely and spent at least the first half of the series totally lost. (Not you, but perhaps some uninterested critics annoyed at having to spend their time on what they went in believing to be a tacky Game of Thrones wannabe.)
Then in the third episode the mages council, in their debate about which sorceress from Yen's "class" should get assigned to which royal court, mention that King Whoever of Cintra still resists their influence but he's ill and his heir, his daughter Calanthe, might be more receptive. That firmly establishes Yennefer's plotline as starting the earliest, but in ep. 4 her plotline jumps forward over what were apparently 30 very unfulfilling years as royal advisor at the court of Aedirn so she can meet Geralt in episode 5.
I don't believe there was any intention on the part of the show's writers to obfuscate the fact everything isn't linear, it's not like (spoiler for other show)...
...the skips forward and backwards in time in the first season of Westworld
...I think they just felt this a more effective way of telling the story and introducing all three main characters than, say, spending the whole first couple of episodes on just Yennefer, or having flashback sequences that stall the action. This way all three storylines are moving forward and eventually merging, and I would expect in season two everything will happen basically simultaneously in a conventional way.
But anyway, since for roughly the first half of the series there's no direct connection between the three storylines, there's no need to get hung up worrying too much about what happens when. Episode 4 with Geralt at the Cintran court is the first time they really start to entwine and it's obvious those events take place before the stuff we see in Cintra in episode 1.
I flat out thought it was an alternate world or time travel thing, particularly as we see some version of both of those in the games. Just putting in some descriptive text of when things were happening would have been much appreciated. For me, it wasn't entirely clear what was happening with the overall plot until episode 6. I don't think that would have detracted from the show at all.
I think my only real complaint is that it doesn't seem to be taking place in a fully linear fashion and seems to jump around between past and present but without any indication of when something is taking place, and so I get confused over what is really going on and who is when and what is where!
You should try watching Dark.
So, paying attention to the lore of the three games, I think I was mildly spoiled by the plot before I knew it. When the first Law of Surprise was invoked, I was like "Oh! I know whats going to happen!" That said, I loved it and I can't wait for season 2.
Queen Calanthe of Cintra (Ciri's grandmother) is your reference point. When Yen's story starts Calanthe isn't queen yet, when Geralt's story starts Calanthe is a young queen, Ciri's storyline literally begins with Calanthe's death. More detailed explanation under the spoiler.
Calanthe was who eventually made me suspect something was strange with the timing when suddenly she was alive again.
Your explaining that each of those characters having a timeline does help a lot though. I just thought that each episode just started at some random time based on whatever scene they wanted to emphasize that day. 
I flat out thought it was an alternate world or time travel thing, particularly as we see some version of both of those in the games. Just putting in some descriptive text of when things were happening would have been much appreciated. For me, it wasn't entirely clear what was happening with the overall plot until episode 6. I don't think that would have detracted from the show at all.
That's basically what I would also have appreciated. Maybe just a bit of text on the introductory scene with what year it was.
You should try watching Dark.
Yikes! One time-crazy show at a time...unless of course you want to send over the Tardis!
The third episode had the king as a middle aged man with a dead sister, then showed him and her as kids when Yennifer "debuted" herself in the same episode. If that doesn't decry a wonky timeline, then I don't know what does.
One little worldbuilding detail I loved about the timeline...
... is how Nilfgaard goes from a laughingstock to a terrifying evil empire over the course of the series. When we meet Yennefer, the thought of being assigned to Nilfgaard is so bad that she'd rather go rogue and 'steal' Fringilla's assignment than be sent there. Even decades later, when Geralt meets Calanthe, she thinks nothing of publicly humiliating Nilfgaard's ambassador.
Cue the "present day" storyline...
Bonus "IT Crowd" reference
Bonus Parks and Rec reference.
One little worldbuilding detail I loved about the timeline...
Spoiler:... is how Nilfgaard goes from a laughingstock to a terrifying evil empire over the course of the series. When we meet Yennefer, the thought of being assigned to Nilfgaard is so bad that she'd rather go rogue and 'steal' Fringilla's assignment than be sent there. Even decades later, when Geralt meets Calanthe, she thinks nothing of publicly humiliating Nilfgaard's ambassador.
Cue the "present day" storyline...
It's almost like they finally got themselves a ruler who was worth a damn.
Anya and Freya do their best Geralt impressions!
*need to turn on the sound
I really enjoyed the first episode. I haven't watched after that.
I get the feeling that this is going to have the lingering problem of killing off the best characters/parts of the show every episode/season a la "Game of Thrones". The king/queen and Renfri were the best moments along with the girl with the "milk" name. Lazlo got punked, the captain of the guard that distributes the poisons to everyone and "mousewrack" (the subtitles wrote it that way) had potential.
All I can say is just keep watching. Though everything that happens is fairly true to the source material, from what I understand.
Also, if I want to start reading the books, where should I start?
This has been happening, without fail, for the past two weeks.
and "mousewrack" (the subtitles wrote it that way) had potential.
It’s Mousesack, which frankly isn’t that much better a name.
All I can say is just keep watching. Though everything that happens is fairly true to the source material, from what I understand.
Also, if I want to start reading the books, where should I start?
The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski is the 1st book in the series. I just started it last week.
Damn, now i want to read the books. I steered clear of them because I didn't need another guy with a sword misogynistic fantasy story. But after seeing the first episode and looking up the characters, it seems like the women are really strong, smart, cool and important. I want to read the story focused on Geralt's mother. Apparently you can't get it or it is no longer in print?
Heh, they should change Mousesack back to the Polish. It probably sounds a lot more badass.
I finished it and enjoyed it immensely, but I was aware of some of the lore via the bits and pieces of the games I have played. I can definitely see why people - especially those new to the Witcher - can be offput by the "organized chaos" of the timelines. It's even more wonky when you consider even among the timelines for Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri, you are jumping around two or three different time periods for each of them, in no conceivable order.
For example, we see Geralt as a child, several years in the past, and in the "present". With Yennefer, we see her prior to becoming a mage, some time after she becomes a mage, and the "present", and then with Ciri, we see years before she was born prior to her mother's betrothal and then one or two distinct periods after her parents' death.
Now that I've watched it all and have a firm grasp on how it pieces together, I will likely go back and watch it a second time.
Edit: And I agree with the previously mentioned sword choreography - it was absolutely incredible. One of my coworkers told me this morning that the sword instructor/choreographer was the same as the one who worked with Viggo Mortensen in LOTR and he has said that Henry Cavill is hands-down the most talented swordsman he has ever trained.
There was some stuff in the fight that while I know how they would do it traditionally or with CG but it looked real to the point where I know how they'd have to do it but I don't know how they did it. (impaling Renfri's guy to the door, the impaling looked shockingly real)
Damn, now i want to read the books. I steered clear of them because I didn't need another guy with a sword misogynistic fantasy story. But after seeing the first episode and looking up the characters, it seems like the women are really strong, smart, cool and important. I want to read the story focused on Geralt's mother. Apparently you can't get it or it is no longer in print?
Heh, they should change Mousesack back to the Polish. It probably sounds a lot more badass.
Been awhile since I read them, but my recollection is that the series is pretty misogynistic. The series cut a lot of it out and increased the badassness of some of the women characters, but remember how the first game gave you "cards" to collect for sleeping with different women? That was pretty true to the books too. They spend a fair amount of time going on about how not only is Geralt sterile, he's immune to diseases with an emphasis on the sexually transmitted variety. It also common knowledge in the world, so naturally every woman sees him as a safe way to get their freak on and he's more than willing to oblige.
I never played the first Witcher game. I tried to get into 2 and 3 but gave up after an hour or so.
IIRC the first game is different so I may try that one again. Isn't it turned based and/or based on the old Neverwinter Nights engine?
fangblackbone wrote:Damn, now i want to read the books. I steered clear of them because I didn't need another guy with a sword misogynistic fantasy story. But after seeing the first episode and looking up the characters, it seems like the women are really strong, smart, cool and important. I want to read the story focused on Geralt's mother. Apparently you can't get it or it is no longer in print?
Heh, they should change Mousesack back to the Polish. It probably sounds a lot more badass.
Been awhile since I read them, but my recollection is that the series is pretty misogynistic. The series cut a lot of it out and increased the badassness of some of the women characters, but remember how the first game gave you "cards" to collect for sleeping with different women? That was pretty true to the books too. They spend a fair amount of time going on about how not only is Geralt sterile, he's immune to diseases with an emphasis on the sexually transmitted variety. It also common knowledge in the world, so naturally every woman sees him as a safe way to get their freak on and he's more than willing to oblige.
I just finished the series a couple months ago... that maybe largely true for the short story collections, but not so much for the series proper. IIRC, Geralt really only sleeps with one person outside of Yen in the main series, and that was also in the context of a relationship. The series still isn’t great in it’s politics by any means, but it’s not quite as bad as the first game.
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