Convinced Yennefer’s (Anya Chalotra) life was lost at the Battle of Sodden, Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) brings Princess Cirilla (Freya Allen) to the safest place he knows, his childhood home of Kaer Morhen. While the Continent’s kings, elves, humans, and demons strive for supremacy outside its walls, he must protect the girl from something far more dangerous: the mysterious power she possesses inside.
Now as someone who doesn’t know much about the Witcher world from the books or the games, I liked the first season despite its issues, as well as the anime spin-off. I was really into the characters, the world, and themes, as well as the storylines that were colliding, leading up to major events that would unfold with this new season. And I can happily say that this season is significantly better than the first season and was absolutely awesome from start to finish.
With a more streamlined story, we get an epic adventure that follows Geralt as he protects and trains Cirilla, and other storylines that come together centering around her and her power that could change the entire continent for better or for worse. Many forces and factions are at play through this series and it was significantly more interesting compared to the previous season and handled much better. There’s a lot to absorb this season with the expansion of the world of the Witcher and several faces to follow both new and old.
Henry Cavill once again absolutely nails Geralt in performance, perfectly delivering our monster hunter who struggles to find his place in the world while also acting as a father figure, trying to make due on his promise. He has evolved since the previous season and becomes more human the more time he spends with Cirilla and other characters. He had a great updated arc but he wasn’t the only one.
Cirilla last season was one of the weakest elements, but in this season she received a massive upgrade in character development as she trains to be like Geralt and explores the truth of her mysterious power. Freya Allen delivers an emotional and stronger performance as the character, morphing into someone way more investing, and she grows a special relationship with Geralt that evolves over the course of this season.
Yennefer returns, once again played beautifully by Anya Chalotra, going on another personal journey that eventually leads her back to Geralt. She is extremely vulnerable compared to when we saw her last, which forces her to make desperate decisions that put so much at risk for other characters and factions. Because of her, we see the lines of good and evil blur, seeing both sides of the major conflict going on in the continent.
We also see the lives of some new faces that all end up being connected to one thing that brings everyone together. I was at first unsure how they were going to pull everything together but they succeeded by having the characters drive the story.
In this season we get returning faces that have major parts to play, like Triss (Anna Shaffer), Jaskier (Joey Batey), Fringilla (Mimi Ndiweni), Cahir (Eamon Farren), and others. But we also get some new faces that play big parts and are given fantastic performances, including Graham McTavish as the mysterious Sigismund Dijkstra, and Kristofer Hivju as Nivellen, a lively aristocrat who has been transformed into a beast through a curse.
But the most major standout of all the new faces was Kim Bodnia as Vesemir, the oldest living witcher and Geralt’s mentor and father figure. Vesemir was last seen as the lead character in Nightmare of the Wolf and the events of that film play a huge part in this series, showing Vesemir as a character having grown older and wiser. Kim Bodnia truly delivered as the character both emotionally and physically as we see him go through quite a lot this season that challenges his humanity and duty as a Witcher. And he shares great moments with Henry Cavill’s Geralt.
The story is still complex and rewatches might be needed but I found it much easier to follow in comparison to last season. It was also more intense and darker compared to the previous season, ending on a rather shocking note that I didn’t expect, opening up the doors to major events that will be occurring in season 3.
The action and visuals for the series are improved and excellent, featuring a great mix of magic and brutal swordplay that’s guaranteed to entertain everyone. Combined with gorgeous cinematography and set pieces, season 2 looks and feels much larger than the first. And of course the music is once again fantastic, really uplifting a lot of scenes and making them more impactful.
Overall, this season was a significant improvement and has a world and story that continues to have me invested to see where it goes next. If you liked the first season then you will probably like this second season a lot more. I’m giving The Witcher Season 2 an A.
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