Helmed by Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, The Witcher Season 3 Volume 2 follows directly after the events of Volume 1. Massive revelations have sparked the fires of war and all major parties collide together in a battle that will determine the fate of the Continent and its inhabitants forever.
Due to the spoiler-heavy nature of this second half of the season, this review won’t be as long or detailed compared to the first in terms of character or plot but I will do my best to go into what I can.
So after a mostly solid first half of the season that felt like a character-driven build up I was expecting an explosively exciting second half that pays off everything established in the first five episodes. Unfortunately what I ended up getting was one very rushed episode full of chaos and two sluggish episodes full of confusing choices that together make for an extremely underwhelming second half, one that totally botched what could have been a great third season.
What the hell happened to all that build-up leading up to an explosive event only to get the bare minimum in return? I felt like I was falsely led to believe that all these characters and threads were going to clash together in an exciting and impactful second half. There are certainly events that occur that greatly impact the story going forward but not as much as I was expecting, and I felt so let down and confused by the narrative directions this second half takes.
It felt like season 1 again. where rather than a more focused linear narrative there is so much going on with characters being in different places, new additions being added way too late in the season, and then major conflicts being absolutely wasted despite all the prior build-up for them.
Episode 6 seemingly starts things off strong as the consequences of revelations in the previous volume begin sparking the “Great War” that this series wouldn’t shut up about. But in the middle of all the chaos, numerous characters that had been built up throughout the series just straight up get killed off or end up being completely underutilized in this second half, despite promises of seeing where things would go for them and their conflicts with our heroes. A lot of the deaths made no real sense to me and I felt they were only done for pure shock value but not the good kind. I don’t know if any of what happens in this episode ever happened in the book, but if I had to take a guess I bet the choices made were not based on any of the source material and are guaranteed to piss off fans.
It just felt like absolute chaos was unfolding and it was hard to be excited or thrilled about any of it because I was just completely lost. And then after this chaotic episode the following two episodes drag the entire story to a grinding halt with an abrupt change in pace that completely bored me.
If it weren’t for some of the characters and the passionate performances behind them I would have honestly fallen asleep with how boring and confusing things get. What started off as a very character-driven first season becomes a completely plot-driven season by the end, with massive turns in the story that felt very unearned and confusing. And by the end, I was not only underwhelmed by the hyped-up “epic conclusion” of the season but I was also left generally confused by the direction the story took. Again, I haven’t read the books, but I’m guessing that whatever happens in it is obviously better executed than what I was given in these sloppy three episodes.
The cast really acts their hearts out in this second half of the season but damn it they seriously deserved better. Some have their awesome moments to shine in terms of emotional scenes and action scenes but my lord did they feel so misused and misplaced by the end, with new motives that make very little sense and character choices that equally make little sense.
Even Henry Cavill as Geralt, in what is set to be his final time as the character, felt completely sidelined in these episodes. It felt like the writers just forgot the series is titled The Witcher and completely forget about him in this second half, making Henry’s exit from this series go out like a whimper instead of a well-deserved bang. What an absolute insult to him after all the hard work he put into this.
Action wise this second half does provide some really well-shot and choreographed fight scenes that are all filmed beautifully like before, but once again many are tainted by subpar CGI and effects. And sometimes it’s not even in the action where I could see bad CGI, many moments pop up in these episodes where the effects are glaringly awful and extremely unfinished and you could tell these episodes were rushed.
The practical effects and sets of course look amazing when on display but they definitely did not overshadow the apparent ugliness of most of these visuals. The cinematography and landscapes once again look beautiful, giving the world of the Continent natural beauty that doesn’t deserve to be paired up with an ugly CGI mess.
The music is great as one would expect and if anything it’s the one consistent element of this season that wasn’t ruined in its second half.
I was really disappointed by this second half and despite all the good stuff given in the first half, it’s not enough to save the season as a whole from being extremely underwhelming, due to how much it was building up and yet wasted within a short amount of time. If this is the kind of shit to expect going forward with the series, especially without Cavill involved, then I don’t feel that compelled to watch the next season unless they give me a good reason. The Witcher Season 3 Volume 2 gets a D+ = 69 and the full season gets a C+ = 76.
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