S03.E06: Everybody Has a Plan 'til They Get Punched in the Face

[AnimeMania]

Betrayal and bloodshed rock the conclave when the hunt for Ciri comes to a head. As sides are chosen and enemies unmasked, nothing will ever be the same.

Premiere Date: July 27, 2023     Netflix

[Kasienka]

Those are some seriously underpowered mages. At least Tissaia mastered Rasengan and Kirin😂😂

This episode is so over the place I don't even know how to describe what I feel. Cahir got some off screen character development (shame those damn elfs ruined his epic moment with Ciri😂 ), Fringilla's just randomly there, Jaskier's convinced that two conversations and one night stand makes him a romantic hero in a tragic romance, Dijkstra's still pathetic and Rience and Filavandrel are just gone. Oh and Stregobor gets to murder people of the race he hates and I'm supposed to cheer?

Still I enjoyed it more than all episodes of part 1, except ep. 4. Family dynamic between Geralt/Yen/Ciri works. Although I find it hilarious how they never mention Jaskier. Like no one wonders where he is😂?

Vilgefortz vs Geralt was short and brutal, but fight with Renfri is still the best duel in the series in my opinion.

I don't know, so much has happened and even though I read the books I feel a little lost.

But Geralt and Vilgefortz looked sooo good. Like damn.

[thuganomics85]

Yeah, even with magic proof arrows or whatever, the mages honestly looked like completely chumps in their battle against the Scoia'tael/elves.  Probably didn't help that it seemed like only Tissaia, Yen, Artorius (RIP), and Stregobor had any real offensive power worth a damn.  Everyone else just had half-assed force pushes that you could shake off in a few seconds.  Lame!  And, yes, it was hilarious that they gave Stregobor of all people the hero's entrance.  Who doesn't love murderous anti-elf bigots as long as they are murdering the ones who are jerks?!

Damn, hate to say it, Geralt, but you got wrecked!  Vilgefortz is apparently beyond overpowered.  Have to imagine a rematch of some kind is in order, so hopefully Geralt will find another approach next time.

Cahir now feels guilty about what he did and wants to redeem himself?  When did that happen?!

Where did Jaskier go?

I'm guessing whatever Ciri read will make her even more powerful which can end up being both a good and bad thing.

As much as I love Graham McTavish, I'm starting to think Dijkstra really isn't that good of a spymaster...

I do kind of love that all of the factions came to blow and in the end, no one got what they wanted and basically lost.  It be like that sometimes!

This show really doesn't want Geralt, Yen, and Ciri to be together for more than five minutes, huh?

[Dac22]

9 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Cahir now feels guilty about what he did and wants to redeem himself?  When did that happen?!

It honestly feels like the show suddenly decided Cahir was an inherently different character this season from the previous two.

The show really leaned into establishing him as being this awful person who would do something like needlessly butcher a tavern full of people without much remorse simply because it would make things a little easier for him.

That he was someone who cared more about his status and loyalty to Emphyr above everything else to the point he didn't care who he had to hurt along the way.  

But now it seems to want to essentially blame Emphyr for all of the terrible stuff he did as if Cahir was this mindless drone incapable of telling right from wrong and act like Cahir is this good and honorable guy deep down. 

If this is the direction they wanted to go, then it would have made more sense to me to show Cahir being conflicted about what he was being asked to do before he fell out of Emphyr's good graces and bothered by Cintra over the course of the first two seasons to set it up. 

I can see what they were trying to accomplish, but there just seems to be a massive disconnect between how his character was portrayed this season from the previous two that it feels a bit hollow as if something was missing.

[shrewd.buddha]

So, that seemed like a real bloodbath .. but after all that magic-versus-arrows killing and  Tissaia pulling down lightning death .. it seemed  as if every semi-regular character was still alive.  Meh.
(The number of Witcher characters on IMDB is mind-boggling)

It sucks for fire-hands-evil-magic guy.  They built him up since the the first episode of the season - - then he shows up only to get beheaded in about 15 seconds.

On 7/28/2023 at 7:03 PM, thuganomics85 said:

Yeah, even with magic proof arrows or whatever, the mages honestly looked like completely chumps in their battle against the Scoia'tael/elves.

That was so WtF.. The mages really came off as severely not clever.  So, the tips of the arrows were magic-proof. What about the bows? The bow strings? Nobody knew how to make toxic fumes? Smoke? Nobody knew a spell to create blindness? 
Why would they stay in the grand ballroom and fight almost hand-to-hand? Blech..

16 hours ago, Dac22 said:

It honestly feels like the show suddenly decided Cahir was an inherently different character this season from the previous two.

It feels so random as to which characters TPTB decide to give more screen time to.  

Edited July 30, 2023 by shrewd.buddha
grammar / spelling

[iMonrey]

This episode really was a bit of a mess. I understand they wanted a big battle scene, but there really shouldn't have been much of a contest between the mages and everyone else. That was just stupid. I got a kick out of Tissaia using the Thunder of Azura or whatever it was. Shouldn't it be called the Lightning of Azura?

I've completely lost track of Vilgefortz's motivations here. Whose side is he on and what's his goal?
 

I did get a kick out of the way they dispatched fire fingers guy. They really thinned out that cast this episode.

 

[Mercolleen]

On 7/31/2023 at 11:22 AM, iMonrey said:

I've completely lost track of Vilgefortz's motivations here. Whose side is he on and what's his goal?
 

Me too!

[tennisgurl]

Wow, for an ancient powerful magical society that is supposed to be controlling the world, the mages really went down like a house of cards. Why were they practically just hurling themselves at the elves and their pointy sticks when they have magic to throw at them and they're on their home turf? I guess the show wanted to have a big fight scene after so much time watching people talking in the last episode, but this was an absolute mess. I still have no idea why half of these people are doing anything or who's side they're on, I felt like Geralt as he spent the whole episode annoyed with everyone and their bullshit and wanting to be somewhere else. Watching the mages get their asses kicked by a bunch of people with bows and arrows was just embarrassing, so so soon after they were already falling apart due to more in-fighting. 

At least Vilgefortz vs Geralt was a pretty good fight, even if Geralt got beaten pretty badly by the end now that Vilgefortz got a power up. 

I did get a laugh when Dijkstra took a shot at Geralt, obviously missed, and was like "cant blame me for trying" before Geralt about tore his arm off. I'm starting to feel like the only reason Dijkstra is considered a master spy is because everyone is so dumb that his stupid plans look good in comparison. 

Since when does Cahir want to be a good guy? When the hell did that happen? Why are so many characters acting so randomly? 

They'll really do anything to keep the main characters away from each other, which is so bizarre as that's usually when the show is at its best.

[meeeechiganman]

wow this show has really gone downhill what a complete mess, no wonder Henry Cavill wanted to leave.  His duel was a complete ass whipping on the Witcher he is suddenly weak in his own show lol.  Not looking forward to the end I fear disappointment will be in abundance.

PS.  Won't Watch the Liam debacle whenever this strike is over, im out as of 3rd season final scene.

 

Edited August 4, 2023 by meeeechiganman
added thought

[Silver-hyren]

Did Francesca always have magic or did I just not care enough to notice before?  Jaskier's going to be pissed when he finds out Geralt/Yen/Ciri were just going to leave without him.

 

[Ottis]

Hey, shit happened! Random, forced shit, but still! 

[Tachi Rocinante]

OK, the Carrie-esque blood soaked female slamming doors was amusing. Poor Filavandrel.

Does Garalt only drink potions when he's fighting monsters?

Is Fringilla supposed to be pregnant?