The Witcher has officially landed on Netflix and the first episode is enough to make anyone think that this first season is going to be interesting. Cintra has fallen, Geralt is on the way to meet his destiny, and it’s kind of obvious that he doesn’t blend all that well when it comes to integrating with society, as a Witcher is seen as someone that’s less than accepted by anyone, save those that have some need of his services. Between a wizard that wants him to kill someone and the target in question Geralt doesn’t have an easy decision to make, but what he goes and does is even less appealing to the townsfolk. In a way Geralt’s life is very much like one long Catch-22, he’s not welcome wherever he goes and yet the people would be glad to have him if they knew about the nightmarish things he’s there to eliminate. With all that in mind the series is already off to a great start as the story moves back and forth between Geralt and his uncertain path to Ciri and the importance she carries with her.
Those that don’t know much if anything about the Witcher are best advised to simply watch the show and enjoy it for the entertainment value since keeping up with the story line is bound to require that one reads the books or at least plays the game, and that could take a while. Thus far it’s being given up as a dark fantasy tale in which the hero is the loner type that’s extremely misunderstood, mistrusted, and seen as something less than human by many. His use is seen by those such as the sorcerer Stregobor, who has already used his careful machinations to achieve his ends and insure that the Witcher won’t be welcome within the village any longer, and yet he’s also seen as a tragic character thus far as he has no one other than his horse, Roach, for company to begin with. The life of a Witcher seems rather lonely, not to mention dangerous since not only is he out to destroy monsters where he finds them, but he’s prone to being used for the machinations of others. As fantasy stories go this is definitely one of the darker stories that doesn’t offer a lot of hope from the get-go, but this makes it a breath of fresh air that allows the audience to think that there’s something truly wrong within this land and that things are going to get so much worse before they get any better for anyone. Darren Franich and Kristen Baldwin of Entertainment Weekly have their own take on the show, but keep an open mind.
Geralt is the kind of figure that we’ve seen in many different stories thus far, the loner that is out to do a job and not get involved with anyone. He’s not liked by many and not many like him, but those that would seek to use him are no doubt prone to think that he’s far simpler than he really is. In this manner the story takes on another level as the character is far more complicated and thus is able to remind those that would seek to use him later on, as lashing out at every possible moment doesn’t seem like his style. Otherwise the village shown in the opening wouldn’t have long survived his frenzy. For all that he is skilled and powerful though it’s obvious that there are others within the story that are just as skilled, even if he’s far more driven and thus capable of taking a great amount of pain without falling. Without knowing too much about the story I can say that I’m hooked, and will likely be reading the books and possibly even playing the game if I get that far into it, if only because Geralt is a very intriguing character, and the world-building that’s occurred with this story has become intoxicating in a very dark and dreary way. Whatever is on the horizon for the characters in this story is anything but pleasant and doesn’t have a positive spin at this point since the first episode has gone down a rather dark path, especially with the fall of Cintra. While it might not be one hundred percent in line with the books it is interesting all the same though like anything that’s derived from a book or a game it goes a little too quickly in some moments and doesn’t offer as much explanation. Samantha Nelson of Polygon has more to say on this matter.
This however is where the interest of the audience can take over as the show might entice one to pick up a book and see how the story originally played out. One thing that can be said for movies and TV shows that is highly positive is that they do raise questions that might interest people in the research that went into them, and the original stories from which they were derived.
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