S03.E01: Shaerrawedd

[AnimeMania]

Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri journey to the far reaches of the Continent in search of a safe haven. King Vizimir puts his charming younger brother to use.

Original Airdate: June 29, 2023     Netflix      

[Athena5217]

I don’t know how old Ciri is supposed to be on this show, but the way she is talked to and about makes it seem like she is maybe 14 or 15. However, the actress playing her is 21 and looks like it.

[thuganomics85]

The Witcher has return and Henry Cavill is here for one last ride!

It's been a while, so I don't remember all of the events that transpired last season, but I vaguely remember that Yennifer had betrayed Ciri and Geralt on some level, so I wasn't surprised that things kicked off with her being in the dog house with them more or less (mainly Geralt.)  But I also wasn't surprised that the ice is already melting, and not only is trust being rebuilt but the flame between her and Geralt is starting to rekindle.  Of course, all this happens and then they find another reason to separate them, but that's just par for the course on this show.  The trio can never be together for too long!

Francesca and the elves continue to be their own worst enemies, as their goals seem sound and understandable, but their approach always tends to blow up in their faces.  And I'm guessing this new elf played by Robbie Amell is going to spell trouble for her, since he wasn't happy with how she ran things.  And she just lost one of her main allies, with her brother getting a sword in the back courtesy of good old Geralt!

More political, Game of Thrones-ish shenanigans with Philippa and Dijsktra.  King Radovid is making for an interesting wrinkle as well.

You are never up to anything good, Stregobor!

Jaskier continues to be on the top of my list of characters I'd normally find annoying, but I actually kind of love this go around.

Fight scenes seem to be better compared to most of last season, I thought.

Looking forward to seeing how this season goes!

[shrewd.buddha]

I cannot believe it is the year 0023 and the elves are still fighting for racial justice!! 
(joking)

It is, mostly, nice to have The Witcher back for another season. There was so much of the previous episodes that we did not remember - at all. 

My biggest gripe is that the show feels too busy .. and messy -- too many pots in the fire -- the politics, the un-fun racial issues, the side stories and conspiracies that will, probably, eventually, merge back to what the Witcher is doing. 
All the extra stuff make the episodes feel long and tiring. 
It would help if there were less side stories and side characters per episode.  Constantly jumping to another set of characters and trying to remember if I should recognize them takes a toll on the enjoyment.

The fighting does seem better this season.

[Ottis]

That was … boring. There isn’t enough depth to this show to go Game of Thrones on politics. And their actions are too dumb to make anything logical (they let Ciri, with no mask and blonde hair, dance in public AND go into a MAZE alone).

I’ve been playing PS5 Witcher again and it underscores the poor casting of Yen. In the game she is mature and gorgeous and always in control. On the show she is too young and too needy.

And whatever that loooooooong scene was with the bard and the scorned lover and the brother and chick, that was a snore.

Edited July 1, 2023 by Ottis

[Hanahope]

I too struggled to remember some of the side plots and who was who beyond the main characters, even after watching the recap.

 Ciri is no longer possessed right? And Yen got at least some of her magic back.  

and do the elves want to kill her or what exactly?  The fire guy does want to kill her I believe.  
I may need to go read a fuller recap

[Morrigan2575]

17 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Fight scenes seem to be better compared to most of last season, I thought.

Interesting,  while I think the choreography has improved I hated some of the fight scenes, with the use of slow-mo and close up scenes. It's almost like the imitating a game cut scene.

I'm here for one last ride, after S3 I'm out.

Episode 1 worked as a season primers, brought everyone up to speed on the events of last season, and put most of the major players on the board.

I hate tha the gang is already splitting up, but I enjoyed the Ciri/Yen scenes last season so I hope for more fun, especially with Tissaia joining the girls.

21 hours ago, Athena5217 said:

don’t know how old Ciri is supposed to be on this show, but the way she is talked to and about makes it seem like she is maybe 14 or 15. However, the actress playing her is 21 and looks like it.

She's younger in the books, I think about 10-12. There are some scenes thathat aren't working because of the actresses age. It's hard to view Yen/Ciri as mother daughter whethey appear to be the same age.

Robbie Amell doing his best Arrow impresion is seriously not working for me.

Where the heck is Fringilla?

[Kasienka]

Yennefer looks absolutely gorgeous but she doesn't act like Yen. She gave me more Triss vibes tbh with how she chased after Geralt's affection. Book!Yen would sleep wherever she wanted and the thought of Geralt closing the door in her face is laughable. She's the dominant partner in this relationship, she doesn't really apologise, she doesn't grovel. But then Book!Yen would never sacrifice a child to a monster so...

That being said I greatly enjoyed seeing the trio together, especially the scene when Ciri teaches Yen ice skating and the montage of dinners. I'm glad that they finally feel like the found family trope. Letting Ciri go to the party without mask and a wig or using some spell to alter her appearance was stupid though. Especially that they discussed this earlier.

Yarpen is always a plus and I'd take dwarves storylines over elves any day. I just don't care about Franceska and her conflict with a new guy. I really don't get why add another non canon character that would eat screentime, when there's plenty of canon characters even among elves who didn't made an appearance. I feel the same about Radovid, why is he even here? Most people is watching for main trio and constant jumping to other storylines is rather annoying. I just hope that Jaskier and Geralt plan to use Philippa to capture Rience and that the bard is not actually working with Redania.

Waiting for Cahir and Fringilla to show up and hoping that Stregobor will bite it this season. I had enough of this dude after the first episode of season one😂

[TaurusRose]

I was happy for The Witcher's return, but sad it's Henry Cavill's last hurrah as Geralt. I agree; letting Ciri go to the dance without a disguise was stupid. And I still can't stand Jaskier.

Edited July 3, 2023 by TaurusRose

[PurpleTentacle]

Oh I hate this kind of bullshit. It would have litterally taken 3 extra seconds to cut Riences head off. Had Geralt not bothered to break his hands, he would have even saved time.

Can these writers really not think of a way to keep villains around without making Geralt into a grade A moron?

[iMonrey]

I did a deep dive on YouTube and watched three separate, detailed recaps of Seaons 1 and 2 so I'd be up to speed on this. Good thing I did, I had forgotten a lot of it and would have been completely lost without them. So I was mostly able to follow this without too much trouble. Do yourself a favor and go look for those recaps if you're having trouble remembering last season like I was.

[Stardancer Supreme]

It was crazy letting Ciri go to the festival without a disguise, even though it would not have helped her.  Ciri's magic is more destructive than most, why not have her learn how to level things without blowing the countryside to bits? 

I, too, am looking for Fringilla!

Edited July 9, 2023 by Stardancer Supreme

[SharonH58]

I didn't make it very far.  I am a big Yennefer hater so all the letters to Geralt were stupid IMO.   

[Mercolleen]

Yennefer's wig is distracting ... her hair looked so much more natural before. Did the actress shave her head between seasons or something?

[tennisgurl]

Its good to see this show back, although its sad knowing this is Henry Cavill's last dance as Geralt. We'll see how the new casting goes but I cant imagine that it isn't going to be jarring. 

There is so much going on, its sort of exhausting. I wish sometimes that this show was a lot more episodic, we could mostly focus on Geralt doing Witcher things with the bigger plot stuff happening more in the background. The elves vs humans stuff is especially tedious, and now having Robbie Amell around just makes it hilarious. He's trying so hard to be this hot blooded elf warrior but he just seems like he's had a few too many drinks at the Halloween party. 

Ciri really needed a disguise to go to that party, come on guys.

[Taryn74]

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

Ciri really needed a disguise to go to that party, come on guys.

Right? She was even like, it's a masquerade ball, I'll be wearing a mask. Then she shows up holding a mask approximately three feet out in front of her face. 🙄

[blackwing]

On 7/1/2023 at 1:14 AM, thuganomics85 said:

The Witcher has return and Henry Cavill is here for one last ride!

It's been a while, so I don't remember all of the events that transpired last season

I just started watching this season and you seem to have done much better than me... I really don't recall much of anything of the prior two seasons.  When I saw some of the supporting faces like the Elf Queen, I was all "oh yeah, her" but I didn't recall any of their stories.  The brother that died, for some reason, I thought was her husband.  

On 7/1/2023 at 12:43 PM, Ottis said:

That was … boring. There isn’t enough depth to this show to go Game of Thrones on politics. And their actions are too dumb to make anything logical (they let Ciri, with no mask and blonde hair, dance in public AND go into a MAZE alone).

Agreed.  I don't really care about any of the politics.  I spent most of this episode wondering what the hell was going on.  Then determined if I am just in it for the amazing battle sequences, then until I can figure out what's going on, I'll just enjoy the fights.

Maybe I am getting older, but I don't recall shows in the past (like 20, 30 years ago) being this convoluted.  I shouldn't have to google for episode recaps or wiki summaries to attempt to follow what is going on.

I also didn't understand the letters between Yennifer and Geralt.  For most of the episode, they were all living together in the same place.  So why were they sending letters to each other?