S02.E08: Family

[Meredith Quill]

Quote

Geralt faces off with a demon targeting his nearest and dearest while the most powerful players on the Continent ramp up their pursuit of Ciri.

 

[Enero]

Good season. But my goodness everyone wants Cirilla to either save them or give them power, which can only end in disaster because the type of power she has shouldn’t be in the hands of anyone. As horrible as it may be, as the lady from the brotherhood said, things were a lot simpler for everyone when Cirilla was “dead.” 

So Cirilla’s father is alive?! Well that’s a shocking twist. How is that even possible? Wasn’t he supposedly murdered when Cirilla was a baby? And if he’s alive where is her mother? And what a POS he turned out to be, murdering a baby to further his cause is nothing short of evil.

Fringilla once again finds herself up the creek without a peddle. When will she learn? I knew the alliance between her and the elves was not going to hold up. 
 

I guess Cirilla will now serve as the daughter Yennefer and Geralt can never have together. I must say I am looking forward to Yennefer training her. 

Edited December 19, 2021 by Enero

[Bort]

1 hour ago, Enero said:

So Cirilla’s father is alive?! Well that’s a shocking twist. How is that even possible? Wasn’t he supposedly murdered when Cirilla was a baby? And if he’s alive where is her mother? And what a POS he turned out to be, murdering a baby to further his cause is nothing short of evil.

Lost at sea, I think. My guess is that he might’ve tried to come back alone and claim Ciri but Calanthe wouldn’t let him have her, so a rampage across the countryside was the only way. Seems like overkill. Literally.

Quote

I guess Cirilla will now serve as the daughter Yennefer and Geralt can never have together. I must say I am looking forward to Yennefer training her. 

I’m looking forward to it too. Ciri is already using what Yennefer taught her, repeating something Yennefer said right before opening that Red Dune portal.

[Zonk]

I did like the season, we did get some more info. Like where the monsters and humans came from. Not sure if last season it was already clear that this was the elves homeworld originally. Wondering if the lore is that some also came over to our world during the conjunction and that is where we got the legends from.

What I don't quite understand is how demons work. I mean how would a demon feed on hatred in a world of just other demons? Also if the demon in Ciri just wanted to go home why didn't she just open a portal to the demon world? Ciri can do it, the demon was able to open a portal to the monster world in Ciri's body. That doesn't seem to track.

I guess monsters just feed on each other in their world. But why would the monsters from the monster world be different and generally stronger? Did the monsters in the witcher world just get weaker over time and it has been forgotten what they originally could do?

Other than that it was a pretty slow season. Did anything really happen throughout the whole thing? It seemed like a lot of treading water until some things were knocked over in this final episode. I hope they are going to pick up the pace next season, as this show has 2 seasons max before getting cancelled.

[Enero]

5 hours ago, Zonk said:

Also if the demon in Ciri just wanted to go home why didn't she just open a portal to the demon world? Ciri can do it, the demon was able to open a portal to the monster world in Ciri's body. That doesn't seem to track.

I’m kind of thinking Geralt had no idea what he was talking about. The demon seemed to want revenge on the Witchers for locking her up for all those years.  Hence the havoc she wrecked on the Witcher compound. If she had managed to kill them all I can’t imagine she would’ve just open a portal and went home. I mean home to what? Surely she doesn’t have some humble abode in another realm where she’s going to live quietly and peacefully in her evilness with other monsters? I imagine if she’d managed to destroy all of the witchers she would’ve ventured out into the world spreading evil and disaster. After all that’s what she supposedly thrived on. 

[Bort]

6 hours ago, Zonk said:

Also if the demon in Ciri just wanted to go home why didn't she just open a portal to the demon world? Ciri can do it, the demon was able to open a portal to the monster world in Ciri's body. That doesn't seem to track.

I was under the impression that A, only Ciri could open that particular portal and B, it could only be done at the shattered monoliths which also could only be done by Ciri. 

[Smad]

So they make a big montage about how everyone now wants to either get their hands on Ciri or kill her (and anyone who helps her). And I'm supposed to go 'OMG so exiting'. Except they gave Ciri the ability to portal to other worlds already which deflates all of the tension before next Season is even out. Just have Ciri leave this sphere with Geralt and Yen, find a nicer and peaceful one and settle down as a family. Problem solved.

So the witchers who have been nothing but a-holes and bullies to Ciri the entire time (and one had just stabbed her) are suddenly preaching about 'big loving family' to get Ciri to come back to herself? Vin Diesel would be ashamed. So much time wasted on Jaskier to get that gem to Geralt and nothing came of it. How was Yen able to transfer VM into herself without magical powers? Considering that the possession seems to be decided by VM, it wouldn't leave Ciri willingly because it needs her powers to get back home.

No wonder the elves lost to the humans. These people are idiots with no understanding of realpolitik or deception despite them constantly talking about how devious humans are. /facepalm And seeing as how dumb a lot of those humans are (looking at you Cahir and Fringilla) makes it even worse.

Too bad Ciri didn't pay much attention when she was locked in dream world or she could have answered Geralt's question of how Nilfgard knew before everyone else. Because her father didn't turn to dust, only Pavetta, Calanthe and Mousesack did. Doesn't really matter now though since Emhyr has announced to everyone that she is his daughter. Word will get out.

11 hours ago, Enero said:

And what a POS he turned out to be, murdering a baby to further his cause is nothing short of evil.

He murdered all the babies. Nilfgard has been warring over half the continent. How many babies were killed in Cintra alone? Nilfgard takes no prisoners after all. Lots of dead babies and children left in their wake.

10 hours ago, kariyaki said:

Lost at sea, I think. My guess is that he might’ve tried to come back alone and claim Ciri but Calanthe wouldn’t let him have her, so a rampage across the countryside was the only way. Seems like overkill. Literally.

Considering that Emhyr had to already have known his heritage (rightful heir to Nilfgard) when he met Pavetta's father and claimed the law of surprise, one should probably question the entire story. He clearly used fake names and titles. And clearly Ciri's parents didn't die at sea seeing as daddy is still kicking. And of course he couldn't go to Calanthe and ask for his daughter since he was supposed to be, you know, dead. Considering everybody is after Ciri because of her special heritage, why would Emhyr be any different (and Cahir has already back in S1 made that clear)?

[Zonk]

5 hours ago, kariyaki said:

I was under the impression that A, only Ciri could open that particular portal and B, it could only be done at the shattered monoliths which also could only be done by Ciri. 

So? The demon was in Ciri, so she could do all of it. I mean she did open that portal to the monster-world...

3 hours ago, Smad said:

So they make a big montage about how everyone now wants to either get their hands on Ciri or kill her (and anyone who helps her). And I'm supposed to go 'OMG so exiting'. Except they gave Ciri the ability to portal to other worlds already which deflates all of the tension before next Season is even out. Just have Ciri leave this sphere with Geralt and Yen, find a nicer and peaceful one and settle down as a family. Problem solved.

That would be a good option. I guess earth would be up there in terms of hospitable spheres. How many years has it been since the conjunction? Would it be 2021 if they traveled to earth? That could be interesting. Make a sharp right turn into technomancy! Come back with enchanted Kalaschnikovs and mow down your enemies!

3 hours ago, Smad said:

No wonder the elves lost to the humans. These people are idiots with no understanding of realpolitik or deception despite them constantly talking about how devious humans are. /facepalm And seeing as how dumb a lot of those humans are (looking at you Cahir and Fringilla) makes it even worse.

Also seems like they never heard about guards in front of the royal chambers... Anybody can just wander in and stab some babies.

Edited December 19, 2021 by Zonk

[Smad]

13 minutes ago, Zonk said:

So? The demon was in Ciri, so she could do all of it. I mean she did open that portal to the monster-world...

The demon needed Ciri's Elder Blood ability apparently (which includes world hopping).

15 minutes ago, Zonk said:

That would be a good option. I guess earth would be up there in terms of hospitable spheres. How many years has it been since the conjunction? Would it be 2021 if they traveled to earth? That could be interesting. Make a sharp right turn into technomancy! Come back with enchanted Kalaschnikovs and mow down your enemies!

I don't think our Earth is really an option. The closest we would get to 'our world' would be Arthurian legends (this is me speculating with the last book in mind which we aren't supposed to talk about in here).

18 minutes ago, Zonk said:

Also seems like they never heard about guards in front of the royal chambers... Anybody can just wander in and stab some babies.

IKR. Considering how scared they are of humans crossing them, even inside the castle they found sanctuary, you'd think the hallways leading to that baby room would be filled with guards. And of course the assassin was so silent that even Filavendrel, sleeping right next to the cradle, didn't hear a thing.

[MissLucas]

I know this is not what the franchise is about but I wish they cut some of all the monster stabby scenes so that we get a bit more lore and world-building. I like people talking - yeah, wrong show. That said we got a decent amount of blanks filled in compared to the first season so there's that.

The White Flame is hedgehog-guy? Okay then, doesn't make much sense right now but that's what season 3 is for I guess. At least we got a good montage of all the main players and their motivations - well, except Fire F***er, I have no idea what's his deal.

Quite frankly I got more excited about the Blood Origin trailer than anything else in this episode. Seeing a certain someone wielding a sword again made me insanely happy.

[Sakura12]

If Ciri's dad is alive and he knows Geralt is connected to Ciri by the law of surprise. Why doesn't he just go after Geralt instead of starting a war with the entire continent? I mean he probably wants more then just getting Ciri since he waited this long. You'd think it would be easier to go after one man. 

I'm guessing the fact that Yennifer isn't afraid of Ciri like everyone else is and tells her not to be afraid of her power is the reason she's able to help Ciri with her powers. Or it's the Elf/Elder blood connection. 

Are the Elders the first Elves or something? Since Ciri is not like the other elves. 

[Smad]

1 minute ago, Sakura12 said:

Are the Elders the first Elves or something? Since Ciri is not like the other elves. 

Elves are the original inhabitants of the sphere all these characters we are watching live in. When the conjunction happened, that's when humans poured in from another sphere and they then took over. The Elves tried to get the right bloodlines together in order to create a powerful line of magic users. Only Lara Dorren fell for a human and had children with him. Elder blood is specifically the name for Lara Dorren's line of descendants.

If anyone wants to know a little more then this link will help. It's not really spoilery for anything. It just has the general story of the Elder Blood. It was a little tweaked in the show but the essence is more or less the same.

https://witcher.fandom.com/wiki/Elder_Blood

[Morrigan2575]

OMG this season was awesome. Loved everything about the finale except Jaskier 😂

I guess they couldn't get the actor that played Ciri's grandfather back so they just had him turned from the camera the entire time. I enjoyed the scenes of Ciri back in Cintra but, I guess that was needed in order for her to start to move on, she needed to choose her new family.

So, mommy, daddy and little Ciri will be having adventures together next season. I'm down for it. Should be fun although especially since there are hits out on Ciri and Yenn.

BTW anyone else think Ciri is crushing on Lambert?

[Smad]

7 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

BTW anyone else think Ciri is crushing on Lambert?

I saw people mention they thought Ciri was giving Triss the look in episode 4 I think.

[Smad]

Everything that happened at Kaer Morhen was such a waste of time so the show can have some epic action scene. Ciri has the ability to blink and that includes blinking back from other worlds. That's what she did when she brought herself, Geralt and Yen back to KM from the other world. So why on earth did VM waste all this time killing witchers, summoning weird looking basilisks and just standing there? As soon as it possessed Ciri in the last episode, it could have gone to it's world. If Ciri can blink back from that world, then VM in Ciri can blink there.

[Meredith Quill]

Reminder:

No book talk in episode topics please. Even if someone asks for it, even if spoiler tagged, nope. A number of posts have been removed for this reason.

If your post includes any variation of "in the books" then it doesn't belong in topics tagged 'No Book Talk'.

[Morrigan2575]

22 hours ago, Smad said:

I saw people mention they thought Ciri was giving Triss the look in episode 4 I think.

I could see that, there was a look Ciri gave Triss at the table that had me wondering. 

[Nellise]

A bunch of random thoughts:

What was the name of the person everybody wants? Cirellie? If they had only said it 500 times instead of just 400 I might remember it.

Very much not a fan of stories of possession where the solution is the person possessed just has to "Be Strong!" to defeat it. The whole possession reasoning, switching to Yenn and the demon leaving Ciri and Yenn, and the entire part of going to the other planet and the demon seeming to join the Wild Hunt wasn't very clear at all .

During the end of the fantasy part for Ciri all I could think of was that they must've bought some CGI from Infinity War on discount.

So is Geralt supposed to be better than all the other witchers at being a witcher? The other guys don't seem to be on his level at all.

With so few episodes, rushing into everything being world ending catastrophes feels like too much too soon.

[MissL]

48 minutes ago, Nellise said:

 

So is Geralt supposed to be better than all the other witchers at being a witcher? The other guys don't seem to be on his level at all.

I’ve been wondering the same thing! They just don’t seem all that badass. Just like regular guys with medallions whose eyes turn black when they drink a potion.

Also I don’t buy that these hardened warriors would be able to be killed while they slept.  I would have buyed it more if she tricked them somehow because they trusted Ciri then they just didn’t notice someone came in their room. I’d think they’d have heightened senses as Witcher’s or something.

[lorbeer]

On 12/20/2021 at 11:34 PM, SilverStormm said:

Reminder:

No book talk in episode topics please. Even if someone asks for it, even if spoiler tagged, nope. A number of posts have been removed for this reason.

If your post includes any variation of "in the books" then it doesn't belong in topics tagged 'No Book Talk'.

Will there be then separate episode threads tagged 'book talk'?:)

[Meredith Quill]

2 hours ago, lorbeer said:

Will there be then separate episode threads tagged 'book talk'?:)

No. The books can be discussed in topics marked with a 'Book Talk' tag.

[AnimeMania]

Those were dinosaurs right, the heads were kind of Serpenty, but those were definitely dinosaurs!

I didn't like this season, every show is make making a huge deal about finding your family, either your natural one or creating a found family (I blame the OnePiece anime for this stupid nonsense trend).

The story line did nothing and went nowhere. I started watching the show because I wanted to watch a man fight a lot of monsters, period. Something tells me the monster fighting is over and the human fighting is going to take precedent. So many characters were introduced, so many nations, so many agendas. Do I really want to keep track of all of that for a year until the show comes back with Season 3.

I couldn't stand Ciri in Season 1 and barely tolerated her in Season 2, because I knew they were turning her into something "special". Yennifer was interesting in Season 1, but without any confidence or powers, turned into a wet dishrag in Season 2. Geralt was most interesting when fighting monsters and not too bad when fighting humans. I think they made a misstep introducing all these nations and their politics, I don't really care about any of the characters, my strongest reaction was to the death of Roach. And my favorite character this season was the lady that could turn into an owl, and she only really had one scene, but man I am all in to see more of her.

[lorbeer]

6 hours ago, SilverStormm said:

No. The books can be discussed in topics marked with a 'Book Talk' tag.

But all of them are tagged 'No book talk'. 🙄 Except for general one. Anyway, I got my answer. Cheers!

[thuganomics85]

Man, what is going on with the sci-fi/fantasy/action industry, where the big baddie is defeated by the power of family?  Obviously, the Fast & the Furious franchise is already known for that, but it's also a go to solution for shows like The Flash all the time, and now even this show dips into it (despite the other Witchers barely tolerating Ciri at times.)  Is this just their way of trying to make things hopeful and optimistic?  Because it's kind of becoming hilariously sappy now.

Geralt really is just Top Tier Witcher compared to the rest, since it took a whole lot of them to kill two secondary monsters (and lose a few of their own in the process), while Geralt just took out the big, dinosaur one in less than a minute.  Vesemir might want to focus more on training up the current group before he tries and creates more.

So, Yen takes a step towards redemption by risking her own body to get the witch out of Ciri.  Good enough start, although I'm not surprised Geralt is still not in a forgiving mood right now.

Francesca and the elves see their own dead baby and raises the stakes by... killing a whole bunch of human babies.  How will they top things next?!

Nice seeing version of Mousesack and Queen Calanthe again.

Emhyr finally arrives!  Going to have to put aside

Spoiler

my memory of The Witcher 3 game for this one, because he was played/voiced by Charles Dance and that will be hard to top in my eyes/ears!

Wish Jaskier had more to do in the final battle, but his scenes with Yen never fail to crack me up.

So, it looks like next season will be Geralt, Yen, and Ciri on the run because now almost every person/group in this world want a piece of Ciri and her blood.  Road trip!

Going to think on this season some more, because while it was generally stronger than the first one in most departments (costumes, visual effects, directing/cinematography, acting, etc.), it strangely wasn't as fun to me for whatever reason.  I guess I kind of liked the cheesiness last time, while this was more self-serious.  But it sounds like it was more loyal to the books this go around, so whatever works, I guess.  I'll certainly be back either way.

Edited December 25, 2021 by thuganomics85

[edhopper]

And I am still bored with all the Games of Throney kingdom stuff. The Geralt and Ciri scenes keep me watching. 

[Smad]

19 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Wish Jaskier had more to do in the final battle, but his scenes with Yen never fail to crack me up.

My one hope for next Season is more Jaskier & Yen. Prefer them to Jaskier & Geralt as a duo. J&Y have such awesome frenemy chemistry, plus unlike Geralt, Yen can spar with him verbally. My fave parts of Yen this Season were her scenes with Jaskier because the rest of her story was just badly done.

[iMonrey]

Quote

Very much not a fan of stories of possession where the solution is the person possessed just has to "Be Strong!" to defeat it. The whole possession reasoning, switching to Yenn and the demon leaving Ciri and Yenn, and the entire part of going to the other planet and the demon seeming to join the Wild Hunt wasn't very clear at all .

That's kind of where I land too. This "locked in a dream world" thing feels like an over-used trope. And I wasn't real clear on what happened when they portaled to another sphere. Did the old woman demon become the horsemen, or join with them?

Quote

I guess they couldn't get the actor that played Ciri's grandfather back so they just had him turned from the camera the entire time.

Yeah, Eist. His absence was very noticeable to me. I saw some guy sitting to the right of Calanthe with his head turned away, didn't know if that was supposed to be him or not.

Overall I did enjoy this season though. I find this show much more accessible than Wheel of Time, for example. I will, however, have to watch it again before Season 3 comes out because they did introduce a lot of new characters and an entirely new kingdom. Had we seen this Philippa character before?

[Stardancer Supreme]

On 12/21/2021 at 8:30 AM, Nellise said:

So is Geralt supposed to be better than all the other witchers at being a witcher? The other guys don't seem to be on his level at all.

 

On 12/24/2021 at 9:51 PM, thuganomics85 said:

Geralt really is just Top Tier Witcher compared to the rest, since it took a whole lot of them to kill two secondary monsters (and lose a few of their own in the process), while Geralt just took out the big, dinosaur one in less than a minute.  Vesemir might want to focus more on training up the current group before he tries and creates more.

It may be that Geralt would have been a decent Mage if he wasn't turned into a Witcher.  He can do things the other Witchers can't seem to do. He is also a better fighter! 

Vesemir might not be able to use Ciri's blood (what's left of it, anyway) to create new Witchers.  The Witcher formula messed that lady's face up! Her blood might be too volatile to use. 

[Sakura12]

Geralt's mother was a mage, so I think he's more skilled with magic then the rest of the Witchers.

[Smad]

13 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Had we seen this Philippa character before?

Does her owl form count? If so, then yes she has been there for most of the Season. If not, then no she is new.

[Quark]

I found the first few episodes of this season relatively confusing, but then things started to click together. I found it very enjoyable. Love Fringilla and Jaskier. Never read the books, but I knew the second that Geralt wondered how the Nephilim (or whatever they are called) knew about Ciri, the Emperor would turn out to be Ciri's Dad.

Looking forward to the next season.

[SourK]

I knew from the games that Ciri and Emhyr had to be related somehow, but I did not know it was because he was a secret hedgehog. LMAO.

On 12/19/2021 at 1:12 PM, Smad said:

So the witchers who have been nothing but a-holes and bullies to Ciri the entire time (and one had just stabbed her) are suddenly preaching about 'big loving family' to get Ciri to come back to herself?

 

My favourite was when Vesemir stabbed her and it didn't work and then he was like, "Nevermind. Come back to the light, child. We love you and I'm sorry for my actions before."

[CatWarmer]

On 12/24/2021 at 8:14 PM, edhopper said:

And I am still bored with all the Games of Throney kingdom stuff. The Geralt and Ciri scenes keep me watching. 

Am I the only one who yelled “Mother of Dragons” when the ?dinosaurs started emerging from the monolith?
 

I wish this show inspired me to read the books (as The Expanse and Shadow and Bone did), but like Wheel of Time, sounds like too intensive of detail for me.

[Smad]

21 hours ago, SourK said:

My favourite was when Vesemir stabbed her and it didn't work and then he was like, "Nevermind. Come back to the light, child. We love you and I'm sorry for my actions before."

Oh come on. What's a little kill attempt between family members? We've all been there.

I love the little retcon they did with what the dragon told Yen and Geralt back in 1x06. When did the dragon tell these two that they were destined for each other? Made for each other? That destiny alone wasn't enough and they needed something more? And if that's now the new canon why was Yen so focused on Geralt making a wish and blaming her feelings for him on that? Last I checked, destiny trumps absolutely everything in this show. So Geralt's wish doesn't matter since apparently they are destined for each other. So why 'break up' after 1x06 then?

[Dobian]

Just a general review of the season, I really liked it overall.  There were a few missteps with the behavior and motivations of some characters, but I was totally invested in the politics and intrigue this season, which is what I have always loved about The Witcher.  The characters are for the most part very well written and have complex motivations which makes them interesting.  No one is truly "good" or "bad".  You sympathize with Francesca when they murder her baby, then she turns around and commits mass infanticide.  So many stories in fantasy settings keep everything black and white, but Witcher always deals in shades of gray.  The first season was very disjointed with them jumping all over the timeline, but the narrative this season was very focused.  Geralt's complicated relationship with both Ciri and Yennefer was really on display in the season finale.  The reveal of Ciri's father at the end was a great way to foreshadow next season. 

Edited December 30, 2021 by Dobian

[Dobian]

On 12/26/2021 at 11:25 AM, Stardancer Supreme said:

Vesemir might not be able to use Ciri's blood (what's left of it, anyway) to create new Witchers.  The Witcher formula messed that lady's face up! Her blood might be too volatile to use. 

I think it's like vanilla extract, you should only use a couple of drops mixed with something else. 😄

[TaurusRose]

On 12/27/2021 at 5:41 PM, CatWarmer said:

Am I the only one who yelled “Mother of Dragons” when the ?dinosaurs started emerging from the monolith?

Yes.

[WatchrTina]

On 12/19/2021 at 4:02 AM, Zonk said:

Did the monsters in the witcher world just get weaker over time and it has been forgotten what they originally could do?

This is just a guess but could it be that the Witchers have simply done a good job of cleaning the monsters out of their world?  If so that would explain why the monsters that came through the portal were of a scale we haven't seen before.

 

On 12/19/2021 at 9:27 AM, Enero said:

The demon seemed to want revenge on the Witchers for locking her up for all those years.

And damn, didn't she just get her revenge?  I mean she didn't manage to kill them all but she killed at least two of the Witchers, right?  And when you consider how few Witchers are left in the world and that they still don't have RELIABLE means of making more -- (because it's not clear if Cirilla is going to agree to let them use her blood, or even if it works since we saw a bad outcome using the stolen blood) -- the loss of any Witcher is a tragedy.

 

On 12/19/2021 at 12:12 PM, Smad said:

So much time wasted on Jaskier to get that gem to Geralt and nothing came of it.

Yeah, that WAS a red herring. (Heh.  The big red stone was a big red herring.)   Oooh that reminds me -- I was convinced that the big reveal at the end was going to be the revelation that the "white flame" was . . . Jaskier.  Yeah, I know.  It makes no sense.  But that's where I thought they were heading.  So when they revealed someone else (I didn't recognize him as Cirri's father), it was a bit of a let down for me.

 

On 12/24/2021 at 8:51 PM, thuganomics85 said:

So, Yen takes a step towards redemption by risking her own body to get the witch out of Ciri.  Good enough start, although I'm not surprised Geralt is still not in a forgiving mood right now.

Sigh.  I'm definitely going to have to re-watch because NOW I can't recall what Yen did to piss off Geralt.

 

On 12/24/2021 at 8:51 PM, thuganomics85 said:

Francesca and the elves see their own dead baby and raises the stakes by... killing a whole bunch of human babies.  How will they top things next?!

I have to say that sh*t was DARK.  I guess that level of retribution makes sense to the elves because baby elves are so rare and the death of a baby in the elven royal family is thus SUPER tragic.  But, damn.

 

On 12/24/2021 at 8:51 PM, thuganomics85 said:

Going to think on this season some more, because while it was generally stronger than the first one in most departments (costumes, visual effects, directing/cinematography, acting, etc.), it strangely wasn't as fun to me for whatever reason.  I guess I kind of liked the cheesiness last time, while this was more self-serious. 

I think the prior season was also easier to watch because they were basically monster-of-the-week stories that stood on their own so you didn't HAVE to remember the prior episode (you didn't necessarily have to have even SEEN it) to enjoy the current episode.  This season was much harder work, requiring more attention and the retention of much more information from one week to the next.

 

Edited December 31, 2021 by WatchrTina

[Bort]

8 hours ago, WatchrTina said:

Yeah, that WAS a red herring. (Heh.  The big red stone was a big red herring.)  

The rock was some sort of symbol. Jaskier didn’t manage to hand it directly to Geralt but he still saw it sitting on the ground and that’s when he realized that they needed to coax Ciri out, rather than fight her.

Quote

Sigh.  I'm definitely going to have to re-watch because NOW I can't recall what Yen did to piss off Geralt.

Yennefer had been instructed to deliver Ciri to the shattered monolith at Cintra. Yennefer realized at the last minute what a colossal, dangerous mistake that would be and was backing out, but Geralt is still mad at her for the intent and putting Ciri in danger.

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I think the prior season was also easier to watch because they were basically monster-of-the-week stories that stood on their own so you didn't HAVE to have to remember the prior episode (you didn't necessarily have to have even SEEN it) to enjoy the current episode.  This season was much harder work, requiring more attention and the retention of much more information from one week to the next.

I had to watch it twice. Each season, actually. I don’t know if it would be true for everybody but in a show with so much going on, I just don’t pick everything up the first time around. I ended up with a much better understanding by watching it again a few days later.

[Smad]

4 hours ago, kariyaki said:

Yennefer had been instructed to deliver Ciri to the shattered monolith at Cintra. Yennefer realized at the last minute what a colossal, dangerous mistake that would be and was backing out, but Geralt is still mad at her for the intent and putting Ciri in danger.

I'm not even sure if Geralt is aware that Yennefer wasn't going to go through with it in the end. Doesn't look like any conversations were had between them coming back from the other sphere and the talk we saw of Yen/Geralt at the end.

[Bort]

3 minutes ago, Smad said:

I'm not even sure if Geralt is aware that Yennefer wasn't going to go through with it in the end. Doesn't look like any conversations were had between them coming back from the other sphere and the talk we saw of Yen/Geralt at the end.

I think that’s what Yennefer was trying to tell Geralt when they first got back to the Witcher stronghold. He’s not going to believe what she tells him anyway, so I don’t think it matters for her to try and convince him. All she can do now is show him that she’s sincere — she’s already a step in the right direction with the wrist-slashing sacrifice — and do her part in training Ciri.

[shrewd.buddha]

It was a pretty good season, but it didn't feel as fun as the first season.  Personally, I enjoy the monster-of-the-week, rollicking sword-and-sorcery type episodes.  The GoT, political drama seemed to complicate and weigh things down (so many names to remember).  Infanticide was definitely not fun. 

The actress playing Ciri is doing a great job ... BUT ... this Ciri is definitely not a "child", no matter how many times they say that word.  
Ciri is like a nuclear warhead football: everyone wants to either control her or destroy her.  She has the power to do almost anything but doesn't have the skills to control it -- which makes her the deus ex machina plot device -- she can do whatever the plot needs when it needs it. 

We like the show and look forward to another season.  
I do hope the writers settle on a consistent tone for the show.  Sometimes it seems to know it is sort of wacky: people often talk in contemporary ways , people are pretty casual about magical teleportation despite it being medieval times.  The sweet spot, for me, are scenes such as ones with Jaskier and Jennifer sniping at one another but also working together.  However, I could do without yet another show going the route of "we are a family now". 

Edited January 4, 2022 by shrewd.buddha

[Smad]

On 12/31/2021 at 8:39 PM, kariyaki said:

I think that’s what Yennefer was trying to tell Geralt when they first got back to the Witcher stronghold. He’s not going to believe what she tells him anyway, so I don’t think it matters for her to try and convince him. All she can do now is show him that she’s sincere — she’s already a step in the right direction with the wrist-slashing sacrifice — and do her part in training Ciri.

Don't care really what Geralt believes, he doesn't seem to care to find out what actually happened to Yen post Sodden anyway. The whole 'lets punish Yen' storyline got boring halfway through the Season. Now Geralt can continue the punishment which I have no desire to see. Vesemir did far worse to Ciri, TWICE, and got instantly forgiven. But Geralt can't forgive Yen. Screw that. And screw Lauren with her whole 'next Season Yen has to prove herself to them'.

[DigitalCount]

On 1/3/2022 at 7:59 AM, shrewd.buddha said:

I do hope the writers settle on a consistent tone for the show.  Sometimes it seems to know it is sort of wacky: people often talk in contemporary ways

I'm very glad you said this, because there were a few times that I was legitimately taken out of a scene by some piece of dialogue that sounded incredibly modern. I have no idea why they decided to do that, especially with Jaskier.

[Affogato]

On 12/26/2021 at 12:01 PM, iMonrey said:

That's kind of where I land too. This "locked in a dream world" thing feels like an over-used trope. And I wasn't real clear on what happened when they portaled to another sphere. Did the old woman demon become the horsemen, or join with them?

 

 

I think what happened is that Baba Yaga, a member of the Wild Hunt, was captured during one of the hunts and imprisoned. The hunt is attracted to any activation of the monoliths, so they come when Ciri opens the portal. Baba Yaga jumps ship and takes her normal place as a member of the hunt.

The hunt hunts the multiverses for meals of fear. They may only go in and out when a portal is activated, or they may already have that power, but if they need someone to open the portal, Ciri would be a prize.

I'm betting they show up again, but I have zero knowledge of the books or the game.

[Affogato]

On 1/3/2022 at 7:59 AM, shrewd.buddha said:

 

The actress playing Ciri is doing a great job ... BUT ... this Ciri is definitely not a "child", no matter how many times they say that word.  
Ciri is like a nuclear warhead football: everyone wants to either control her or destroy her.  She has the power to do almost anything but doesn't have the skills to control it -- which makes her the deus ex machina plot device -- she can do whatever the plot needs when it needs it. 

 

Really, because I can't figure out what is so 'great and powerful' about her. Is she the only one who can open a portal, or the specific multiverse portals?  Her value as a producer of 'elder blood' and a breeder of future producers of 'elder blood' is evident, but kind of irritating (when added to the 'powerful women sacrifice their womanly reproductive powers' trope, which is mitigated by the witchers also having that choice, but still, sigh.)

Yen's devastating the battlefield was powerful. the mages have a LOT of power. Granted Ciri is untrained.

Edited January 22, 2022 by Affogato

[Affogato]

On 12/19/2021 at 6:18 PM, MissLucas said:

I know this is not what the franchise is about but I wish they cut some of all the monster stabby scenes so that we get a bit more lore and world-building. I like people talking - yeah, wrong show. That said we got a decent amount of blanks filled in compared to the first season so there's that.

The White Flame is hedgehog-guy? Okay then, doesn't make much sense right now but that's what season 3 is for I guess. At least we got a good montage of all the main players and their motivations - well, except Fire F***er, I have no idea what's his dea

I'd like more world building, too, or at least a good quality map at the beginning and some time to absorb what it is saying--I guess, like Game of Thrones. We are starting to get some idea of why the elves are mad as hell and can't take it any more. That's something. I don't mind the stabby scenes so much, but unless the actress who plays Yen takes some acting lessons, I could do with less focus on her. She had a compelling story this season, but the execution didn't do it for me.

I'm hoping hedgehog guy retains some endearing trait from his hedgehogging years, like a taste for raw slugs. "Now, when you (munch).find my (squelch, licks fingers) daughter."

Edited January 22, 2022 by Affogato

[Smad]

2 hours ago, Affogato said:

I don't mind the stabby scenes so much, but unless the actress who plays Yen takes some acting lessons, I could do with less focus on her. She had a compelling story this season, but the execution didn't do it for me.

IMO the problem is not the actress (there are much worse on this show than her who get too much focus) but her character is among the worst written and directed.

[Affogato]

14 hours ago, Smad said:

IMO the problem is not the actress (there are much worse on this show than her who get too much focus) but her character is among the worst written and directed.

I liked her best in season 1 so maybe that is right. I wonder if she is supposed to be hard to read, so we don’t know if she will betray, well, anyone. 

[Kasienka]

So many things happened, I feel that if you haven't read the books it's rather confusing. But then it's only second season, so they're not going to explain everything yet.

Seems like the writers really wanted to have battle at Kaer Morhen involving all the witchers in the final, shame that they only allowed Geralt to be competent;) Overall I'm not really thrilled with Deathless Mother storyline, it's like they really wanted to have some big bad to fight in the last episode and they're not ready to reveal all the players yet.

I'm surprised they showed Emhyr before Rience's and Lydia's employer for sure. All those flashbacks to Ciri's parents are here so we remember how daddy dearest looked;)

That being said since all three of our protaginist are together now, I'm ready for season 3 to focus on their bonding. But I agree with poster above who said it's dumb Geralt readily forgave old Ves for STABBING his daughter, but Yennefer who was ready to bleed out for her is still on probation so to speak. I really don't like this dynamic for Geralt/Yen when she has to grovel. It's so unlike Yennefer. I feel she'd be more like "Yes I screwed up, now I'm fixing it, deal with it or not, you'll need me anyway". Generally I enjoyed her more with Jaskier this season, at least she had a bite.

Disappointed with Tissaia for scheming with those idiots kings. And queen, though I always pictured Meve to be older. Filippa on the other hand looks amazing, I was wondering if we see her human form this season or if they save it for the next one.  Also loosing sympathy for elves, murdering bunch of babies is not a good look Franceska. 

So to sum it up, Brotherhood and most of Northern Kingdoms want Cirilla dead, Redania with Dijkstra and Fil want her rights to Cintra's throne, elves and Istredd think she can save their race and Emhyr is probably aware of her special heritage, so I doubt it's fatherly instincts that motivate him. And the Wild Hunt is also after her. And we still don't know what is Rience's boss after.  Geralt and Yen are going to be very busy.

 

Also what happened to the dwarves?