There’s no question that The Witcher is one of the most popular series on Netflix, and it’s a testament to how much of an appetite there is for fantasy stories told in new and imaginative ways. At the same time, the second season has come in for its fair share of criticism from fans of both the novels and the video games.
There are a number of users at the popular site Reddit who have weighed in with some unpopular opinions about the second season of the series, its strength as an adaptation, and what it’s done with some of the key characters in the stories.
It Would Have Been Better If Ciri Was Geralt’s Biological Daughter
User bluesummers1813 suggests that one key change the series could have been made would be to have Ciri be Geralt’s biological daughter rather than just his adopted one. He argues that, “It would’ve been a no brainer bigger plot twist, shocking in terms of the characters reactions, funny, and deeply irony [sic].” Others would point out, however, that it’s precisely the chosen family aspect of the Geralt/Ciri story that makes it so powerful, demonstrating that biology doesn’t necessarily have to be destiny.
Loving Fast Travel
The Witcher, like Game of Thrones, often has characters wandering over large parts of the Continent. While some might take issue with this, user White_Knighttt states that, “I love this fast paced aspect of the show.”
However, while this might be true, it’s also important to point out that the fast-paced nature of this show sometimes means that important pieces of detail and context end up missing precisely because there isn’t enough attention paid to how people get from one corner of the Continent to the other.
Missing the Time Skipping
One of the more divisive aspects of the first season was its non-linear storytelling (even if it was fairly obvious for Witcher fans at times), and some users actually missed this aspect, with TheLadViking remarking: “I think it made me concentrate more about each scene because I wanted to know how it fitted.” Of course, the flip side to that argument is that the second season’s more straightforward means of telling the story means that it’s easy to tell what’s going on from the outset rather than trying to piece it all back together with the benefit of hindsight.
They Could Have Left Yennefer Out of Season Two
Yennefer is one of the strongest characters in The Witcher, and she becomes a key part of Geralt’s and Ciri’s destinies. Her story arc in season two left much to be desired, however, and BottleOfGin argues that the show “could have just left out Yennefer entirely for her to come back in the last two episodes.” While this might seem fine on paper, in reality it wouldn’t make sense to give this important character nothing to do for an entire season, and the viewer needs to see her development.
It’s A Good Adaptation Of The Books
One of the most pressing issues for the second season is how well it managed to adapt the original novels, and many took issue with the changes (since, like season one, there were many changes that were made to Witcher mythology). HarleyEffingFreeman, however, notes that “Anyway, TV adaptations are just adaptations, not audio books with moving pictures - they are inevitably going to be different in some ways.” While this might be so, it is also true that fans of a given series also have a right to expect that showrunners will show at least some respect to the source material.
A Straight Adaptation Would Have Failed
In a similar vein, user LittleKidLover775 points out that a straight adaptation of the novels would have inevitably failed, due to the fact that the books contain “Too much walking, too much talking, too little action and world building.” Once again, however, it’s important to note that just because a series doesn’t translate every aspect of a novel to the screen doesn’t mean that they necessarily should have free rein to change fundamental aspects of the story for no apparently good reason.
The Show Should Be Allowed To Do Its Own Thing
There are also many others who have added their perspective to the question of just how well the second season has done as an adaptation, with user m_agus remarking: “Nobody took away your books, Nobody massacred Eskel, nobody destroyed your memories you have for the Characters and Lore you love.”
This unpopular opinion about the process of adaptation, however, misses the point, which is that those who have invested their time into the original series should have at least some expectation that the new series will honor the legacy of the original.
They Like The Series
Others who liked the series, such as TheW0lvDoctr, note that “There's a lot of room for characters to grow and develop as time goes on.” This is true to a degree but, as other users pointed out, some of the changes don’t always make sense, and some of them actually undercut the purpose and development of the characters. This is especially true of Yennefer, whose arc in the second season is very different than the book and is, in some ways, weaker than her novel counterpart.
Season Two Was Actually Good
Many users expressing unpopular opinions about the series suggest that it’s best to look at the novels and the TV series as two separate things. User fishplay, for example, says: “I think it's okay for the two things to be separate and tell two flavors of the same story.” While it is certainly true that books and their adaptations are two separate things and should be seen that way, there are times, as some of the other users pointed out, when the changes are such that it forces one to ask why they bothered adapting something rather than writing a new story altogether.
The Series Keeps True To The Characters
Some who liked the second season noted that it managed to stay true to the characters as they appear in the novels. User Zodiac5811 states: “I don’t see any issue with the show runners deviating from the book as long as they maintain what makes the characters who they are.” Arguably, Geralt stays largely the same between the books and the adaptation, but that can’t be said of characters like Yennefer or, for that matter, Fringilla (one of the scariest characters in the Netflix show), whose story arc is very different than it is in the original series.