The final season of Game of Thrones left a deep, gaping void in the hearts of moviegoers, which urgently needed to be filled with quality content. And this difficult mission was undertaken by Netflix, releasing the long-awaited series The Witcher, starring Henry Cavill.
The mission was really difficult, because the Witcher has a huge fan base. Someone is familiar with the White Wolf from books, and someone has been in his shoes in the playing space. Netflix coped with its task or not - it's up to you to judge, but we suggest taking a look at the 10 biggest differences between the series, games and books about The Witcher.
Important: there are spoilers!
10. The Fall of Cintra
In the books and short stories, the fall of Cintra, the birthplace of Princess Cyril, has never been directly discussed. The looting of the kingdom is mentioned only in passing, through a series of stories that Buttercup tells Geralt.
The series gives us 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. The Power of Ciri
The Witcher books portray Ciri's strange chaotic powers in a different light than Netflix's movies. The novels mainly demonstrate the girl’s magical instincts, and the true potential of her magical abilities has not been studied until the book “Hour of Contempt”.
But in the series, Ciri's capabilities are extremely powerful and uncontrollable from the start. This explains why there is a continuous hunt for her.
8. Gvint
This is a gambling card game in the world of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Its popularity has stepped beyond the limits of the “parent” project, there is even an e-sports discipline Gwent Masters, which is under the patronage of CD Projekt.
The game of the same name appears in the novel by Andrzej Sapkowski "Baptism of Fire." However, it was possible to play four in a book gwent (four for a pair), in a game one only for two.
It would be interesting to see if the gwint will take root in the series, although it will most likely not be given to such a gloomy and serious character as Geralt of Rivia performed by Henry Cavill.
7. History of Yennifer
Perhaps the most striking difference between the book and the Witcher series is related to the witch Yennifer of Wengerberg, who becomes a love interest for Geralt and the adoptive mother of Ciri.
In the books of Andrzej Sapkowski little is known about the life of Yennifer before she met Geralt. Her adventures in Arethusa, her relationship with Thessaya, and her attempt to save the baby queen were not mentioned in the books.
The only aspect of the history of Jennifer from Wengerberg that is in the books is that she was a hunchback and tried to commit suicide before becoming a student of Tissai. The series also revealed the character of Yennifer and explained why she so desperately wants a child.
6. Swords of Geralt
When the first promotional shots of The Witcher TV series appeared (Henry Cavill with a white wig on his head, dressed in tight-fitting leather clothes), avid fans of CD Projekt RED games were unhappy with them.
This was largely due to the fact that the cinematic 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 did not need a second sword to defeat his enemies.
5. Journey of Ciri to Geralt
The Netflix adaptation paid great attention to events that were not described in too much detail in the books. One of these events was the whole path of Ciri to the Witcher.
Details of her escape from Cintra through the plains, the Brokilon Forest, and finally into the arms of Geralt were invented specifically for the series.
4. Buttercup
This carefree and talkative bard performed by Joey Beti won the hearts of the audience, almost eclipsing the sullen and less talkative Geralt-Cavill. And only the one who got rid of the TV for a long time and does not go online does not know how to pay the Witcher (thanks, Buttercup, this song will stay with us for a long time).
Their relationship with Geralt gives the series a much-needed note of humor.
But if you suddenly played the English version of the game “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt”, then you did not meet there Buttercup. Instead, the localizers for some reason chose the name Dandelion. And in German - at all - Zhivokost. It is good that in the series and in the Russian version of the game, they did not depart from the name that Andrzej Sapkowski gave his creation.
3. Childhood Geralt
Another event that is not accompanied by so many details in the books as in the series is the meeting of the wounded Geralt with his mother. It occurs throughout most of the eighth episode when the White Wolf is wounded and lies delirious.
Netflix demonstrates to the audience that even the brutal monster killer was once an innocent and gullible boy who became the Witcher of his choice. In Sapkowski’s books, Geralt was left by his mother — the druid Vishena — to Vesemiru 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 main disappointments of the series The Witcher is also one of the most important differences between him and the games about Geralt of Rivia. In the game, Triss is a fair-skinned sorceress with luxurious brown hair and green eyes. And she is Geralt's love interest (of course, after Yennifer). In the book, her hair is also brown, but her eyes are blue.
The series did not develop the theme of the love triangle of Triss-Geralt-Yennifer and, much sadder, changed the face of the Fourteenth from the Hill, which infuriated many fans who were accustomed to the luxurious playing appearance of a red-haired sorceress.
1. The Battle of Sodden Hill
In books, this terrible battle was mentioned after it had already happened. And Geralt came to the battlefield, looking for Jennifer from Wengerberg, 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 a 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 Jennifer of Wengerberg possesses.
When is the second season of The Witcher coming out?
As for the release of the second season of the series The Witcher, 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 book “Blood of the Elves”.
