It looks great, the action scenes are well done but the problem is the storytelling. Compared to Game of Thrones, another fantasy series with multiple storylines and this is an uninteresting mess.
Finally a worth while episode!
Horrible storytelling, writing, weak action sequences, and idiotic, illogical behavior.
Hey look, something actually happened!
That scene with the mages all bound and then Tissaia freeing them was utterly awful. One of the worst fight/battle sequences this show has done. Episode 5 had built up some great momentum leading into this episode, but the opening sequences utterly botched the landing and killed the momentum episode 5 had built.
The fight between the mages and the Scoia'tael was pretty bad too.
Geralt killed Rience? What the actual fuck. This ruins what is arguably Ciri's most badass moment in the entire series from the final book. Great job, Netflix! The setup of the moment where Geralt killed him was awful too. The action is honestly so bad, and the writing is so chaotic and weak. Total botched landing of any setup from the first 5 episodes of the season.
Ciri telling Yen to go to Tissaia is an awful writing choice. This is not a conversation Ciri would be having with Yennefer. They are literally like weird sisters in this show, yet they are still trying to push Yen as a mother figure. "I love you, my daughter." Like what? There is no way that anyone watching this show can actually see this version of Yennefer as a mother to Ciri. Their dynamic is all wrong.
The way they set up Ciri vs Cahir was bad too. It felt way too forced. Geralt would literally never let Ciri put herself in danger fighting Cahir alone like that. And what the hell? He just runs off to go fight the Scoia'tael after everything that happened in this episode up until that point? The writing here is next-level dumb. I'm 30 minutes in as I write this, and this honestly might be the worst episode the show has done so far.
Dear Netflix, I will never forgive you for giving us such a lacklustre Geralt vs Vilgefortz fight. It wasn't bad like the rest of the action in this episode, but it could have been so much more.
This episode aggravated me to no end. Easily one of the worst the show has put out.
An okay episode, but this show has become such a bloated chaotic mess that after so many episodes I'm still constantly asking myself 'who was this again?'
The series is steadily declining in quality. The fight scenes were awful and Gerald hardly talks or does anything in this season. Complete garbage.
For me the witcher should copy supernatural. One monster fight each episode while advancing the plot so we can really feel the connection with the characters.
I'll try to watch the next episodes but I think I am wasting my time
Wow! Well, that was... unexpected. At least the cinematography and art department are still solid. The story is something else since they took a hard left from the original material, but they definitely nailed chaos and confusion.
I'm (not) looking forward to more non-linear episodes where we find out how key characters joined up, because unless I missed episodes (I did not), there were some very important off-screen reunifications happening that need to happen on screen. Which means the rest of this series is going to be messy af.
An awesome episode. again! Thanks Netflix! All the haters can go watch Barbie… everyone thinks he’s a fu… critic nowadays…
I was just so bored and I shouldn't have been.
Extremely bed where it deviates from the original source. Stupid writing choices, compounded by stupid writing choices in past seasons and episodes. When will Hollywood learn to lean to the original text as much as possible. I would hope that Lord of the Rings movies showed the way, but no. Again and again Hollywood butchers great stories.
The books are more focused, so much less sporadic. Focus on drama not on fight scenes.
There were few good points when the deviation for low form the source. I liked the Vilgefortz fight scene with Geralt.
Rience death scene ... wtf
And so many pointless stupid deviations...
Director of the series should be fired ..
Wow. Everything that happened was truly beyond rushed and without any real build-up, consistency or rationale. How disappointing
Finally, some action! This episode is action packed and with how slow the season has been so far, it's about time.
Finally, some action! Well not just some, this episode is fully packed, like: Spartacus endgame packed. Yay
(669-word review) For novel readers, this episode could be one of the worst ones for reasons I can't relate to, having never read them; for TV show viewers, it could be one of the best ones somehow, or weak, as per usual with this show, for some – for me, it was in the latter territory to some degree but most significantly, it was goofy. So much is riding on you taking things seriously – well, everything is with a show like this and any TV show or film that isn't specifically a comedy – but there's so much goofiness at play; it's ridiculous.
Here are some examples (it's practically everything in the episode, so get your snacks): the dramatic zoom-in on Ciri as she turns and "looks at the camera," the on-the-nose armbands and Philippa's before-the-title-sequence 'a purge' line, Dijkstra and Geralt walking out of the room as if nothing is going on around them because the scene demands it, the weird inches-apart standoff between the mages and the Scoia'tael-Nilfgaardians duo (I get that fight sequences like that, magical or otherwise, that employ VFX elements, have difficulties impacting the execution, but that could've been done so much better – also, the baseball scene in Twilight did the 'inches-apart standoff' better), Filavandrel's explosive death, Fringilla's impactful appearance that was only preceded/set-up by her overhearing talk about boats going missing in the fourth episode, Artorius' death, Geralt's marvelous teleporting skills (on top of finding Ciri because "he'll find us; he always finds us," which also seems to apply to Yennefer finding her and her finding Yennefer – it must all be...what do you call it, plot convenience...sorry, Destiny, amirite?) behind Rience for dramatic entrance's sake despite the area being a clearing and Geralt nowhere to be seen before the magical moment, Gerhart of Aelle, "the oldest living sorcerer," dying of a heart attack, Triss getting arrowed in the chest out of nowhere, Mel Brooks-style (probably by a cameraman because the scene went on without it being that big of a deal, a prominent theme throughout the episode; I didn't mind how Tissaia was out of it, expression/reaction-wise, as it made some sense, but the overall scene was silly), Cahir's so-impactful embracing of death as penance at the hands of Ciri, only to backtrack immediately to fight off the Scoia'tael, with the final line, "I will find you," Stregobor's "I've been waiting for this moment," Geralt's stern order to Ciri, telling her to "Go," which is so well-written because we KNOW what he means and where he's telling her to go (...right?), and characters hugging, which happened three times.
In other words, mostly everything (supposed to be) significant came across goofy. But through the presentation on how to do comedy, there was a beacon of hope: the production value. This (and possibly the final two episodes of the season) was where that budget, rivaling the budget of Game of Thrones, a proudly proclaimed statement by many, went. A smaller budget could've achieved the same result, but we can forget (more like ignore) that; many HAVE.
The only noteworthy parts here were the fight sequence between Geralt and Vilgefortz (which I, even as a non-novel reader, know wasn't as good as the potential for it laid out – Geralt also got destroyed way more intimately in the novels from the few details I know – but it managed to stand out regardless, likely assisted by the goofiness of other things: including the dialogue between them, despite the writers' attempt through Vilgefortz's iconic line about mistaking the stars reflected on a pond at night for the sky from the novels being used at the end to make you forget or ignore that their dialogue writing has been mediocre; Mahesh Jadu's delivery was also unconvincing) and the fact that the smoke-show that is Tissaia de Vries/MyAnna Buring will now be further so with her new white-haired look.
TL;DR: Geralt and Vilgefortz's fight sequence and the goddess, Tissaia de Vries' (MyAnna Buring), new white-haired look stood out amongst prominent goofiness.
With Cavill's exit, consider this the final season.
Some of these things are happening a little fast, how did Geralt get out of there this quick? The Rience scene was pretty great though. Again, a little quick, but I yelled all the same.
All in all tbis would make a good last episode. Yet there’s a next? Oooo. Let’s go.
I'm unfamiliar with Anya Chalotra and Eamon Farren but they are absolutely wasted in this. The strongest and most interesting actors and FOR WHAT?
Secret passages are always nice :)
Jaskier did a bad job protecting Ciri :o
"So this is a trial?"
"No, a purge."
Tissaia was so badass and she's so respected ("the most powerful of mages", "I wrote that book", etc.) <3
I didn't like seeing her broken though and abandoning the mages that called for her help (plus having to use the spell of last resort).
"You can't blame a man for trying" - Dijkstra can be such an idiot...
"I have my own aims and they no longer include you."
"Poor Tessaia. Such a failure of judgement."
Wow... :o He didn't have to be that mean but he chose to.
"Today we reclaim Arithusa as our own and we bring the elder blood princess home."
No idea what they expected but one does not simply reclaim Arithusa!
That kill was brutal though!
Their plan really didn't work out well but they did manage to make quite mess.
"Go to hell, you fucking mongrels!"
"Die abomination!"
"I love you, my daughter."
"Never lost, always found."
"Today you begin your new life as my warning to the continent."
That really sucked... ("Fuck.")
I cannot wait to see someone kicking Vilgefortz's ass!
At least Vilgefortz couldn't capture/convince/etc. Ciri!
the bully racist old man ,waited his whole life for that moment ... to burn some Elfies .
My mouth is still open
You just have to love 12yo Ciri fighting grown man with sword and saying "he is mine". Oh yes. Another lovely thing is that in 6th episode we finally saw Geralt fight. It was two times in total this season in 20 seconds scenes. You would wonder if its Vampire Diaries or The Witcher a guy created to fight monsters.
I always love how they just run to the forest or to random cave and 15 seconds later they meet each other in the middle of nowhere and act like happy family reunion.
You can see that they have budget for visuals but the writing is just so average with so many characters badly written for this tv show. Shame.
omfg. this is terrible.
there's no semblance of a plan, everyone is aimlessly wandering around, the writers must have had a stroke or something... horrible storytelling, ridiculous fighting scenes, and those mage battles, dam they must be one of the worst I've ever seen from these streaming services. Even wheels of time trash scenes are better than this.
I know this series have fallen for some time, but this... this is a whole new low.
Shout by Andy GilleandVIP 7BlockedParent2023-07-27T10:33:14Z
This was a great episode