Well, the day that fantasy fans have been waiting for since December 2021 has finally arrived, as The Witcher has returned for its third season to all with a Netflix subscription. As fans know, there’s a lot riding on these episodes, because not only are Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer trying desperately to keep the ever more skilled princess safe from the many different factions who want to use her for their own nefarious purposes, but it’s the final season for star Henry Cavill in the story’s main monster-hunting role. The good news is that it sounds like he makes great work of it in the first volume of his last outing as the White Wolf, but fans might not get to see enough of what makes him shine in the part.
With Liam Hemsworth set to take over as our live-action Geralt of Rivia after The Witcher Season 3, those who work behind the scenes have been going to great lengths to convince the, pissed to the point of starting a petition, fandom to stick around. They’ve noted that the third season will deliver a “heroic sendoff” for Cavill, is “very close to the book” it’s based on (The Time of Contempt), and offers a “strong” exit that easily takes us into the Hemsworth era. According to Jack Seale at The Guardian, that appears to be true, as he praised Cavill as being “the groove upon which the show maintains its course,” and added:
We flit between several locations, often leaving Geralt unseen for long periods, as if the show was getting ready for the loss of Cavill…Can the show cope without Henry Cavill? It will be painful, but The Witcher has enough going on for us to imagine life without him.
Seale also noted that there’s a tendency for the political machinations of these episodes to bog things down with characters who “explain or complain about what just happened without furthering the story,” but believes the ensemble (which is even larger this time around) does a great job of just “distracting us with pure fun.” Andrew Webster of The Verge largely agrees, and didn’t seem to have an issue with how much time we spend away from Geralt or with him away from Yen and Ciri for a time, or with all of the politicking, which he believes is “told concisely and entertainingly” and is mostly in the “background.” He added:
More importantly, the show is fun again, where the big narrative beats don’t get in the way of all the blood and jokes…This lets the show bring its focus back to the main cast — and this time, it does right by those characters…At the same time, this season is also a return of form of sorts, bringing The Witcher back to the things that make it unique — it’s funny, bloody, and sexy. There’s even a bath scene, which is as Witcher as it gets.
Webster also enjoyed trying to figure out who the Big Bad is, and was particularly fond of Episode 5, which “genuinely surprised” him with a major reveal. Though he was mostly thrilled with the season so far, the same cannot be said for Bradley Russell of GamesRadar. This reviewer thought that Season 3 began and ended strong, with the interactions of the main trio being part of the show’s positives, but felt watching all the political maneuvering “grinds a significant portion of the first volume to a halt.” He added:
If it’s wrong to want an entire season of Geralt, Yen, and Ciri roaming around the Continent, I don’t want to be right. Cavill’s sizzling chemistry with Anya Chalotra’s Yennefer is almost worth the price of admission alone, while the burgeoning relationship he strikes up with an ever-improving Freya Allan as Ciri is, tragically, going to be cut down before it really blossoms.
While Russell noted that much of Episodes 2-4 “is ordinary at best and tedious at worst,” he also thought that fans will be so delighted by the high points that they’ll eagerly await the final volume of Season 3, which comes on July 27. Jen Lennon of the AV Club also praised the father/daughter relationship of Geralt and Ciri, thinking that the series “truly shines” when “showing the trust” between the two, and enjoyed when the main characters had to split up. But, was far from delighted by Episode 5, which rounds out this volume, calling it “the worst episode of the show so far,” saying:
The real problem comes with episode five, an interminable slog that doubles back on itself so many times it becomes exhausting about halfway through…And this is where Netflix chose to cut the season in half.
Lennon noted that the big reveal in that episode was far from satisfying because they found it obvious, and also because we don’t yet “get to see the payoff” of it. Meanwhile, Ed Power of The Telegraph also called out the main stars as “an appealing power trio of heroes,” while also giving thanks for Joey Batey as Jaskier, but was no fan of the political backstories:
Geralt is positively grumpy as he takes his bows…Perhaps he is struggling to keep pace with a story that is tricky to follow even by the standards of the genre…The Witcher struggles once more to tell a coherent story – even the subplots have subplots. Maybe Cavill is leaving at the right time.
Jarrod Jones of IGN echoed those thoughts, noting that long-time viewers might even have difficulty tracking all of the plotting, planning, backstabbing, and more that goes on, as “its third season sure makes the series' monster-slaying fun feel like work,” but added additional praise for Cavill and his co-stars:
Its fussy insistence on base-covering, lore-elaborating storytelling saps precious energy, which remains a big reason why The Witcher continues to be a good show instead of a great one…With a such a large cast, all this plotting and conniving leaves Cavill, Allan, and Chalortra – the trinity that holds the entire production together – just as lost in the shuffle as they've been in prior seasons…it's so frustrating when the focus pulls away from him and his connection with Ciri and Yenn – Cavill is exceptional in this season, especially during one quiet scene that reveals untold depths to the Butcher of Blaviken. It's not a stretch to say that, as an actor, Season 3 of The Witcher is Cavill's most compelling outing yet.
Though several critics had some strong (mostly negative) feelings about needing to get through a lot of intricate wheeling and dealing, it sounds like it might be worth it for those hoping to get their fill of Cavill’s Geralt while they still can.
