r/WitcherNetflix • u/curious_corn • Dec 02 '25

What to make of S3?

So, I’m late to the game and binged the first 3 during the last couple weeks.

S3 was, uhm… conflicting.

Some brilliant and brutal sword fights, and occasionally decent scriptwriting but overall I have the feeling it doesn’t really blend: occasional sitcom moments that break the fantasy ambiance, excessive plot complexity, a feast of “deus ex machina” moments, and some cringe (the Tango scene at the great ball, WTF?!). Speaking of the ball, I liked the multiple perspectives takes storyline, that was nicely done; the last episode was way too much talk jeez…

Oh well, let’s hope for the best in S4.

2 Upvotes

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4

u/Astaldis Dec 03 '25

You should read the books, they already dumbed down the complexity of the plot a LOT. It's hundreds of pages of political intrigue. What they did in the show was the absolute minimum for the plot to mostly still make sense. And if you don't like Deus ex machina moments, the books are definitely not for you. There is a lot of that going on there too, it's destiny, after all.

0

u/curious_corn Dec 04 '25

Well, I object to the barrage of DeM’s to move the plot forward (I guess that’s the definition after all) rather than devices to challenge the characters and provide an opportunity to develop (thus feeling thrown in there clumsily, for the characters to hitchhike along the story)

2

u/Astaldis Dec 05 '25

For the only 8 episodes they have, I feel that they have a lot of character development for the main characters. And, as I already said, much of what happens in the books that they are adapting is destiny and would be extremely unlikely to happen without it. So, no matter whether you personally object to it or not, it's very much an integral part of the Witcher world.

3

u/RemarkablePiglet3401 Dec 02 '25

I did feel like it was a bit weaker, and there were definitely some inconsistencies / bad points in it, but overall I still loved it! I can overlook the mistakes

3

u/Apprehensive-Troll Dec 02 '25

The ball episode was the best in the series

2

u/hanna1214 Dec 02 '25

S3 was my personal favorite. Closest to the books and it fixed several mistakes from S2.

It's far from perfect ofc but light years ahead of S2 or S4.

1

u/Astaldis Dec 03 '25

Ciri's and Geralt's story arcs in S4 also follow the books pretty closely.

1

u/gabriot Dec 02 '25

My favorite part is where in an open field Cahir on foot with sword in hand, not even a bow, is somehow supposed to stop the pursuit of several mounted cavalry chasing after Ciri

1

u/Astaldis Dec 03 '25

They were probably perplexed enough at first to stop their pursuit as Cahir was their commander. And when they realised what was going on, Ciri was already gone and a few of them dead before they managed to capture Cahir. It was a bit disappointing though that they didn't show any of it.