The final season of Game of Thrones left a deep, gaping void in the hearts of moviegoers that urgently needed to be filled with quality content. And this difficult mission was taken on by Netflix, releasing the long-awaited series "The Witcher" with Henry Cavill in the title role.
The mission was really hard, as The Witcher has a huge fan base. Someone is familiar with the White wolf from books, and someone has been in his skin in the game space. Whether Netflix has coped with its task or not is up to you, but here's a look at the 10 biggest differences between The Witcher series, games, and books.
Important: Spoilers are present!
10. Fall of Cintra
In books and short stories, the fall of Cintra - the birthplace of Princess Cyrilla - has never been directly discussed. The plundering of the kingdom is only mentioned in passing, through a series of stories Dandelion tells Geralt.
The series provides us with the opportunity to witness the bloody battle for Cintra, and then the fall of the city, first through the desperate escape of Ciri and then through the escape of Geralt.
9. Power of Ciri
The Witcher books portray Ciri's strange, chaotic forces in a different light than Netflix's movies. The novels mostly show the girl's magical instincts, and the true potential of her magical abilities was not explored until the Hour of Contempt.
But in the show, Ciri's capabilities are extremely powerful and out of control from the start. This explains why there is a continuous hunt for her.
8. Gwent
This is a gambling card game set in the world of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Its popularity has stepped beyond the "parent" project, there is even the Gwent Masters e-sports discipline, which is under the patronage of CD Projekt.
The game of the same name appears in Andrzej Sapkowski's novel "Baptism by Fire". However, the book gwent could be played by four (a couple for a couple), while the game could only be played by two.
It would be interesting to see if the gwent will take root in the series, although it probably won't be given to such a dark and serious character as Geralt of Rivia played by Henry Cavill.
7. Yennefer's story
Perhaps the most striking difference between the book and the series about The Witcher is associated with the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg, who becomes a love interest for Geralt and Ciri's adoptive mother.
In Andrzej Sapkowski's books, little is known about Yennefer's life before she met Geralt. Her adventures in Arethusa, her relationship with Tissaia, and her attempt to save the queen's baby were not mentioned in the books.
The only aspect of Yennefer of Vengerberg's backstory that is in the books is that she was a hunchback and tried to commit suicide before becoming Tissai's apprentice. The series also allowed to reveal the character of Yennefer and explain why she so desperately wants a child.
6. Swords of Geralt
When the first promotional footage of The Witcher came out (Henry Cavill with a white wig on his head, dressed in tight leather clothes), avid fans of the games from CD Projekt RED were unhappy with them.
This was largely due to the fact that the movie Geralt had only one sword. But in books and games, the White Wolf wielded two swords. One of them was for monsters, the other for humans.
However, the show quickly proved that Geralt doesn't need a second sword to defeat his enemies.
5. Ciri's journey to Geralt
The Netflix adaptation put a lot of emphasis on events that weren't covered in great detail in the books. One such event was Ciri's entire journey to the Witcher.
The details of her escape from Cintra through the plains, Brokilon forest, and eventually into Geralt's embrace were thought up specifically for the series.
4. Buttercup
This carefree and chatty bard performed by Joey Bati won the hearts of the audience, almost eclipsing the gloomy and quiet Geralt-Cavill. And only the one who got rid of the TV long ago and does not go online does not know what to pay the Witcher with (thanks, Buttercup, this song will stay with us for a long time).
Their relationship with Geralt gives the show a much needed touch of humor.
But if you suddenly played the English version of the game "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt", then you did not meet Dandelion there. For some reason, the localizers chose the name Dandelion instead. And in German and at all - Larkspur. It's good that in the series and in the Russian-language version of the game, they did not deviate from the name that Andrzej Sapkowski gave to his creation.
3. Childhood of Geralt
Another event, which in the books is not accompanied by as many details as in the series, is the meeting of the wounded Geralt with his mother. It takes place for most of Episode 8, when the White Wolf is injured and delirious.
Netflix demonstrates to viewers that at one time even the cruel monster slayer was an innocent and gullible boy who became the Witcher by no means of his choice. In the books of Sapkowski, Geralt was left by his mother - the druid Hanging - Vesemir in Kaer Morhen. It was she who gave Geralt his name at birth, which is not mentioned in the series.
2. Triss Merigold
One of The Witcher's major disappointments also ranks among the most important differences between it and the Geralt of Rivia games. In the game, Triss is a fair-skinned sorceress with luxurious brown hair and green eyes. And she is also Geralt's love interest (of course, after Yennefer). In the book, her hair is also brown, but her eyes are blue.
The series did not develop the theme of the Triss-Geralt-Yennefer love triangle and, much more sadly, changed the appearance of the Fourteenth from the Hill, which infuriated many fans, accustomed to the luxurious playable appearance of the red-haired sorceress.
1. Battle of Sodden Hill
In the books, this terrible battle was mentioned after it had already happened. And Geralt came to the battlefield looking for Yennefer of Vengerberg, in the hope that her name was not engraved on the memorial obelisk. But the series "The Witcher" fully reveals the Battle of Sodden Hill, giving it a large amount of screen time and, in fact, making it the key chord of the season.
This clever decision by the showrunners made it possible to truly demonstrate the capabilities of many magicians and the sheer chaotic power that Yennefer of Vengerberg possesses.
When is the second season of The Witcher coming out?
As for the release of the second season of The Witcher series, it is expected in December 2020.
The first season was based on the books The Last Wish and The Sword of Destiny.
The second season, according to showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, will include parts of the stories from Sapkowski's Blood of Elves.