The news has come out that Netflix has begun production of the third Season of the Witcher Series. On one hand, Netflix has been notorious for cancelling shows around Season 3 in the past. On the other hand, fans have been complaining about Season 2 not being up to mark. So will this be the last season? And if it is, will it be a satisfactory ending?
How Long Should the Series Be?
Before we answer those questions, let’s discuss how many seasons would be ideal from a fan’s point of view. Let’s ignore all the negative criticism of Season two from the fanbase itself. Then it would be rational to expect the series to last anywhere from 3 to 5 seasons.
But, the ideal number of seasons would depend on the arch that the creators have planned for the series. Lengthening the series just for the sake of lengthening might also irk the fans. This is especially likely when the mid-seasons are better written than the later ones.
But if we compare where the plot is to the source material, they have barely completed 5% of the Blood of Elves. If this pacing is kept, it might need six or seven more seasons to finish the story completely.
Why Season Three Won’t Be the Final One?
However much fan criticism has been, the third season won’t be the final one. Mainly because of the evidence of how heavily they have been banking on the series.
They seem to be working on what I can describe as the Witcher Cinematic Universe. Alongside the movie, they have everything from spin-offs, prequels, live-action and animation in the works. It is pretty clear this series is the company’s cash cow and they are not done milking it yet.
Direct Adaptation vs. Divergence
Let’s try and imagine what the ideal adaptation of Blood of Elves would look like. The main issue with adaptations is that not everything that happened in the book would be entertaining as a TV show.
The lack of a narrative that is always present in the book takes away a lot as well. Let’s day someone made a really faithful adaptation of the book. They kept sayall the inaction and voiceover narration of what is going on in a character’s head. Would it have made for good TV?
I don’t think so. Unlike books, movies and series need more actions, conflict, and intrigue. When the premise of the show is based on something like The Witcher, this is even more true.
Moreover, wouldn’t watching a direct adaptation feel like you were just reading a book again? But, a divergence would give more of a surprise even to fans who have already read the books to keep them intrigued.
Book in Comparison to the Show
We can get one thing out of the way–the best Witcher is still the game. The series, which came the last in the market, has been garnering harsh criticism from the fanbase.
Most of the criticisms were for writing in the second season. The book is about learning to be a parent, which is not something that was shown in the series. The interrelationships between characters were not felt to be the same as that in the books. Fans believe that Geralt would never use Ciri as bait in any circumstance.
Alongside that, the gratuitous fight scenes were another frequent criticism. Viewers found the combat scenes in every episode an insult to their attention spans.
Ignoring the Books
Now that we have gotten the criticism out of the way, we can criticise the series as a standalone media piece. Will the same criticisms hold someone who has never read the books or played the game from enjoying the series?
I think not. The passionate level of fan following around the books and the games has been both a curse and a boon for the series. Dogmatic fans do not want this adaptation to make any changes because for them to change it would be to ruin it.
People not familiar with the world of Witcher before have indeed enjoyed the series. Plus, the second season has a 94% critic’s rating on Rotten Tomatoes compared to the 65% audience ratings. This shows how critically acclaimed it is.
To Conclude
So, while not being anything deep, this is a great series. Cavill is the perfect Witcher, and the cast is great. Except for a few logical inconsistencies that it needs to work on, the show is going in the right direction. And it is really enjoyable.
