S02.E01: A Grain of Truth

[Meredith Quill]

Quote

Geralt sets off with Ciri on a journey that leads him to an old friend. After the Battle of Sodden, Tissaia shows no mercy in her search for information.

 

[iMonrey]

First thing's first. The problem with child actors is how quickly they age. Throw in a pandemic that shuts down production longer than usual and you've got a kid playing Ciri who is clearly much older than she was in the last episode of Season 1, which is only supposed to have been about a few weeks ago, in-show. I wonder if there was any discussion about a recast. I can appreciate the quandary they were in though. She looks a bit like Lindsay Lohan now.

Otherwise, solid start to a new season. I liked the subplot with Nivellen even if it was a bit "monster of the week." Vereena was creepy as hell. So many things on this show "skitter." It's verging on being over-used.

What is that potion that Geralt always drinks that turns his eyes black? Have they ever explained that? 

[mledawn]

After Geralt threw the first knife that went wide of the dad's face, we all knew Nivellen was using magic. I guess Geralt just had to show that he knew instead of calling Nivellen out on it.

The vampire was very typically vampire, which was sort of disappointing? A bit. 

I read they've already written Season 3, so that's a good sign!

[Harvey]

Wow. The horror elements in the episode were so good! And the effects were nice to look at. They really put the increased budget to good use.

The boar man's story was heartbreaking. Thormund is a great actor.

Geralt and Ciri has good chemistry. Henry is still killing it as Geralt with his physicality and broodiness.

The way the show told us about Nivellen, adapting it to what they had from season 1, Ciri being present, and the way they told his story in 50 minutes. It's almost unbelievable. And the way it focused on Geralt, and now his relationship with Ciri, was really the right way to move forward with the show. Well done!

[thuganomics85]

Even after he was out of the boar make-up, it still wasn't till the credits that I realize that Kristofer Hivju was playing Nivellen.  Definitely a lot different from Tormund on Game of Thrones and most other characters he tends to play.  Dude's got range!  The actress playing Vereena was pretty good too.  A solid enough "monster of the week" (I think I heard that it was from the books) that seemed to serve as a way to cause from friction between Geralt and Ciri, as now Ciri will worry if Geralt will ever consider her to be a "monster" due to her strange abilities.

Yen might still be alive, but she's now in the clutches of Fringilla, which probably isn't a good thing.  Of course, that all might change again considering whatever the hell just happened at the end of the episode.

Triss is currently not in the best of shape, but still is hanging in there.  Meanwhile, Cahir is learning very quickly that pissing off Tissaisa means you are in for a bad time!

Henry Cavill may or may not have had more lines in this episode alone compared to most of last season, heh.

Solid start so far and it looks like they've up the production values a bit this go around.  That said, I'll probably space out the episodes a little, because it feels like it will be season that is better to let breathe instead of binge.

[AimingforYoko]

Loved that Ciri never looked at Nivellen as a monster until after the curse was lifted.

Nice start to the season, as it let us know where all the players are now, but now I'm ready to get things in motion.

[Nellise]

22 hours ago, iMonrey said:

First thing's first. The problem with child actors is how quickly they age. Throw in a pandemic that shuts down production longer than usual and you've got a kid playing Ciri who is clearly much older than she was in the last episode of Season 1, which is only supposed to have been about a few weeks ago, in-show. I wonder if there was any discussion about a recast. I can appreciate the quandary they were in though. She looks a bit like Lindsay Lohan now.

The weird thing is the actress was 17 in season 1 and not yet 19 when they filmed season 2 so I'm not sure why it looks like she aged so much since she really wasn't a kid in season 1 either. (An example of what you're talking about is the show Titans where Rachel/Raven grew about 6 inches in 3 months of show time).

As for the episode, I liked Geralt talking more and the boar-man was fun with his magic, but I didn't really like that the monster was kind of bland and just a version of a vampire.

I also remembered about 5 minutes in that this is one of the only shows I need to have captions on for. They all talk in whispers or growls but all the other music and sounds are set to 11. That and and all the fake place and people names make it so I can't understand the dialogue without reading it.

Edited December 18, 2021 by Nellise

[iMonrey]

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The weird thing is the actress was 17 in season 1 and not yet 19 when they filmed season 2 so I'm not sure why it looks like she aged so much since she really wasn't a kid in season 1 either. 

That's really an age when you change a lot physically though.

[Nellise]

25 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

That's really an age when you change a lot physically though.

I didn't quite remember what she looked like last season so I did a search for season 1 vs 2 pictures: apparently the big reason she looks different is they're not bleaching her eyebrows any more :) (the actress requested they stop doing it).

[AnimeMania]

The story had a double Beauty and the Beast type of vibe, a handsome man made to look like Pumbaa and a Batwoman posing a as a beautiful girl. Each was the opposite of what they appeared to be, but still managed to fall in love with each other. I am not sure why the curse would make you immortal or give you magical powers (those traits seems more like a blessing, than a curse). Excellent production values for a sightly interesting story to force Ciri to mention to Geralt that she has some sort of powers that might make her a monster and her fear that Geralt might want to kill her.

Fringilla has captured Yennifer, but all of Fringilla's soldiers have been killed so now the playing field is equal. Something tells me that Fringilla and Yennifer will have to work together to survive their situation and Fringilla is going to get redeemed and brought back onto the same side as Yennifer and the rest of her witches.

[ferjy]

On 12/17/2021 at 5:42 PM, iMonrey said:

First thing's first. The problem with child actors is how quickly they age. Throw in a pandemic that shuts down production longer than usual and you've got a kid playing Ciri who is clearly much older than she was in the last episode of Season 1, which is only supposed to have been about a few weeks ago, in-show.

To make matters worse, they clearly have her wearing more makeup which makes her look even older. Why not go no makeup like they did in season one which makes her look younger? Very odd. It’s as if they’re trying to make her look older when they should be trying to make her look younger (for the reason you mention, it’s supposed to continue on from where we left off last season).

 

[ferjy]

On 12/18/2021 at 2:26 AM, thuganomics85 said:

Even after he was out of the boar make-up, it still wasn't till the credits that I realize that Kristofer Hivju was playing Nivellen.  Definitely a lot different from Tormund on Game of Thrones and most other characters he tends to play.  Dude's got range! 

I like Kristofer Hivju and I loved Tormund. I’ve seen him in a few things and he’s always good. I had to check the cast list too. I thought it was him but I’ve never seen him without his bushy beard!

 

[Morrigan2575]

22 minutes ago, ferjy said:

I like Kristofer Hivju and I loved Tormund. I’ve seen him in a few things and he’s always good. I had to check the cast list too. I thought it was him but I’ve never seen him without his bushy beard!

 

Holy crap, THAT was Tormond?! I had no idea, didn't recognize his voice or his face (no beard). He was really good, I had no idea he had that much range.

[Smad]

On 12/17/2021 at 11:42 PM, iMonrey said:

First thing's first. The problem with child actors is how quickly they age. Throw in a pandemic that shuts down production longer than usual and you've got a kid playing Ciri who is clearly much older than she was in the last episode of Season 1, which is only supposed to have been about a few weeks ago, in-show. I wonder if there was any discussion about a recast. I can appreciate the quandary they were in though. She looks a bit like Lindsay Lohan now.

Doesn't help that the actress had work done before S2 shooting as well (lips and cheekbones). Plus they use more make up as well.

[Dobian]

Great first episode.  Creepy MotW, and Nivellen’s story showed that humans can be monsters too.  Good plot development with Yennefer and Fringilla.  Like others mentioned, I was also thrown off by Ciri’s age change.  I also couldn’t understand why Geralt was so quick to write off Yennefer.  Okay she’s missing.  Maybe you want to do a search, find out if the enemy captured her?  No body means death inconclusive.  Otherwise, a nice start to the season.

[Stardancer Supreme]

I see that I need closed captions for this show.  I missed what Nivellen said that made Geralt and Ciri turn from him; I was confusion until the rewatch and I saw that Nivellen was cursed for raping the priestess. Guess he was the real monster all along.

Love this show!

[tennisgurl]

You can really tell that their budget got bumped up, everything looked really good. Nice start to the season, setting up a lot of new stories while also giving us a solid monster of the week story. I liked the whole twisted beauty and the Beast vibe, with the nobleman cursed to look like a monster alone in his big magic castle and the beautiful woman who loved him anyway, but in this one the beautiful woman is a blood thirsty vampire and the guy nobleman really did have it coming. I also liked how they used it to more explore the concept of monsters. Verenna the vampire is a blood sucking creature of the night, but eating people is just her nature, while Nivellen had no such excuse for what he did. I didn't recognize him as Tormond at all, the guy really does have range. 

Very solid start to the season, I like Geralt and Ciri traveling together, even if she apparently used her powers to age a few years in the last couple of weeks. 

[WatchrTina]

On 12/17/2021 at 4:42 PM, iMonrey said:

What is that potion that Geralt always drinks that turns his eyes black? Have they ever explained that? 

I can't remember if the potion has ever been specifically explained but my assumption (as someone who has never played the game) is that the potions are a tool, known only to Witchers (and effective only on them), that supercharges a Witcher's powers like a booster in a video game.  When Geralt drinks them he become faster, more powerful, possibly immune to certain weapons.  For a while.  (Huh.  I've just realized that statement describes Ms PacMan, which I played a LOT in the early 1980s in my college dormitory.  Some things never change.)

I don't recall where Geralt gets his potions.  It seems safe to assume that he either makes them or he knows how to acquire them but either way it's a time-consuming, difficult and/or dangerous process.  Thus, he only ever has a limited supply of them.  As such, they have to be used sparingly (which even a non-gamer like me can recognize as a classic video game trope.)

Edited December 23, 2021 by WatchrTina

[AnimeMania]

 

[DigitalCount]

On 12/23/2021 at 11:33 AM, WatchrTina said:

I can't remember if the potion has ever been specifically explained but my assumption (as someone who has never played the game) is that the potions are a tool, known only to Witchers (and effective only on them), that supercharges a Witcher's powers like a booster in a video game.  When Geralt drinks them he become faster, more powerful, possibly immune to certain weapons.  For a while.  (Huh.  I've just realized that statement describes Ms PacMan, which I played a LOT in the early 1980s in my college dormitory.  Some things never change.)

I don't recall where Geralt gets his potions.  It seems safe to assume that he either makes them or he knows how to acquire them but either way it's a time-consuming, difficult and/or dangerous process.  Thus, he only ever has a limited supply of them.  As such, they have to be used sparingly (which even a non-gamer like me can recognize as a classic video game trope.)

I think he mentioned in this episode that he was going to his home base to make or collect more of those, among other things. So I think you're right; he can't just have a sack of them on his person all the time, and they're consumable, so he has to use them at the right times and replenish his supply every so often.

(am gamer, have not played any of the Witcher games, but he's a guest character in my favorite fighting game and I'm a fan)

[Bruinsfan]

On 12/18/2021 at 9:25 AM, AimingforYoko said:

Loved that Ciri never looked at Nivellen as a monster until after the curse was lifted.

Being the daughter of a porcupine-man probably involves a certain amount of open-mindedness on that point.

 

On 12/19/2021 at 4:07 AM, AnimeMania said:

I am not sure why the curse would make you immortal or give you magical powers (those traits seems more like a blessing, than a curse).

I think the curse made Nivellen not so much immortal as unkillable so his punishment would continue, and I assumed his knowing how to work magic was independent of being cursed.

[Smad]

45 minutes ago, Bruinsfan said:

Being the daughter of a porcupine-man probably involves a certain amount of open-mindedness on that point.

Except she doesn't know that. When Geralt explained it to her he used the words 'your grandma didn't want your mom to marry an outsider' rather than 'grandma didn't want your mother to marry Sonic the hedgehog'.

[nodorothyparker]

Hey, the princess of no discernable eyebrows finally got some. I wouldn't have thought it would make such a difference in her appearance but it really did.

I loved the high gothic tragedy of the twisted Beauty and the Beast story at the heart of this one. Despite the tusks, Nivellen wasn't a monster to them until he'd reverted to his mortal form and admitted that yeah, it was quite a bit more than his earlier explanation that it had been tripping balls on mushrooms and trashing a temple that got him there. If Vareena hadn't been tearing villagers limb from limb, Geralt might have been a bit more understanding of the love story at the center of it all. I thought part of the curse was that Nivellen couldn't even kill himself, hence Geralt's parting shot that he was mortal now and could do it himself if he wanted to end it.

It's hard to remember at points in this episode that Gerald and Ciri really haven't known each other very long at all and they're still feeling each other out. Ciri's stressing at the idea that she has some powers he probably isn't aware of and hey, he kills monsters. Would he consider me a monster with what I can do?

The show obviously got quite the bump up on their budget and put it to good use. Everything looked terrific and the show even figured out how to block scenes without extraneous T&A.

[roctavia]

Ha, just rewatching the 1st season since I clearly missed a lot of stuff after watching the 2nd.... in the dragon episode when Geralt lets slip to Yen that he has a child surprise, he's yelling about how he'd rather feed his child surprise to a bruxa than have her live their kind of life....  And here's our bruxa! 

[Scarlett45]

On 12/18/2021 at 9:25 AM, AimingforYoko said:

Loved that Ciri never looked at Nivellen as a monster until after the curse was lifted.

Nice start to the season, as it let us know where all the players are now, but now I'm ready to get things in motion.

I loved that too. Nivellen was also so selfish he let the monster terrorize the town just because she loved HIM. 
 

 

On 1/2/2022 at 3:06 PM, nodorothyparker said:

Hey, the princess of no discernable eyebrows finally got some. I wouldn't have thought it would make such a difference in her appearance but it really did.

Lol. I don’t think there’s any difference in how most people look physically between 17 & 19 (especially for women), but at that age makeup and styling can do A LOT. Additional makeup, change in her clothing etc can make a teenage girl look a decade older, but I I like the way they have styled her character. Ciri has been through a lot of emotional upheaval in a short time and that “hardens” you. 

 

On 1/4/2022 at 9:53 PM, roctavia said:

Ha, just rewatching the 1st season since I clearly missed a lot of stuff after watching the 2nd.... in the dragon episode when Geralt lets slip to Yen that he has a child surprise, he's yelling about how he'd rather feed his child surprise to a bruxa than have her live their kind of life....  And here's our bruxa! 

I remember that thanks! I intended to watch Season 1 again but got busy with Christmas stuff. 

I do hope Ciri learns to fucking LISTEN to Gerald. When he says “run”- RUN! When he says “hide”- HIDE! I was yelling at the screen “he told you to stay near the horse child!” Ciri has been raised a princess, she does not have fighting skills yet. I don’t doubt she will get some, but for now she needs to follow Gerald’s lead 100%.