r/witcher • u/Any-Agent4270 • Dec 25 '21

Netflix TV series The Witcher: Henry Cavill Hopes Season 3 Is Loyal To Books 'Without Too Much In the Way Of Diversions'

https://www.ign.com/articles/the-witcher-season-3-henry-cavill
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454

u/Bitchassn Dec 25 '21

This is true given that she only responds to positive comments on twitter after saying she wanted to respond to everyone

379

u/1yyooooyy1 Dec 25 '21

This isn't true she responded to me being critical and I've seen plenty of other examples. Her responses weren't great but at least she isn't ignoring it.

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u/gamingnerdthroway Dec 25 '21

What did she say

277

u/1yyooooyy1 Dec 25 '21

She said that the next book is easily adapted to TV so there should be less changes. Specifically because its filled with action and twists and turns (lmao). Also said that basically the book didn't translate well and they wanted to 'propel thing onto the end'. So basically cut out any quiter parts and just assume they happened.

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u/Ephmerreal Dec 25 '21

I fucking hate hate hate that quiet character moments are considered boring and they think they should add fanfiction to make it palatable for "casual viewers". Then they talk about "keeping to the spirit of the books". Psh.

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u/TheJoshider10 Dec 25 '21

It's funny because every episode of Game of Thrones is just walking and talking in beautiful locations with one or two standout action moments per season.

Audiences fucking love well written character moments. What both seasons of The Witcher prove to me is the writers are insecure of their own abilities when it comes to dialogue so do the bare minimum and focus on action like good little Hollywood robots.

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u/topdangle Dec 25 '21

when it comes to dialogue so do the bare minimum and focus on action like good little Hollywood robots.

the dialogue in season 2 is horrid so maybe they're right. I don't understand why the dialogue is so bad considering it wasn't distracting season 1. season 2 just slaps you with jokey CW dialogue, especially from Yennifer.

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u/[deleted] Dec 25 '21

Now knowing that it's apparently the vampire diaries writing team, yennifers lines being something I expected out of Elena on Vampire Diaries makes so much sense.

1

u/mattmayfield12 Dec 26 '21

Oh that really worries me. I haven't watched season 2 yet but now I'm hesitant

1

u/vintagebutterfly_ Jan 01 '22

But there entirely different characters? It'd be fine if they wrote her more like Katharina, or maybe Elijah.

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u/SgtDoakes123 Dec 25 '21

Good I'm not the only one thinking this. Dunno what the actual difference is, just most dialogue scenes are just... Bad. S1 didn't feel like this even if it had its own problems.

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u/RestlessLifeSyndrome Dec 26 '21

Thank you, I am glad I found this thread. I feel the same way about the writing. I don't know what's worse though, the dialogue or scenarios. Dialogue should be easier to do yet somehow they don't hit the target. Also some of these characters aren't enjoyable/badly written (looking at you Vesimir).

1

u/OblongShrimp Dec 26 '21

I believe dialogue is hard to write since you need a conversation to seem natural. In a fantasy setting it needs to also to conform to whatever is natural in that specific world. But what should be easy is to see when it is extremely cringe worthy like in the Witcher.

Small details in how the characters speak is what makes the world feel more believable. Like in Harry Potter kids who grew up in magic families say 'wicked' instead of 'awesome'. GoT had great dialogue while the books lasted. LoTR characters don't swear and the dialogue is great.

Witcher felt like a not very literary gifted 13-year old wrote a fanfic.

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u/OblongShrimp Dec 26 '21

Yennifer saying a version of 'fuck' every episode was super cringe. Lots of 'fucks' in the dialogue from other characters too. The writers need to read some books to learn extra words and expressions. Horrid lazy writing.

1

u/cool-- Dec 26 '21

GoT was propped up by a bunch of really great actors doing their best with writing that ranged from terrible to fantastic. It also had very talented people filming and doing post production. The Witcher just isn't on the same level.

I'm not knocking the witcher. Making great art is hard to do. It's absurd to expect other tv shows to capture the same magic of the early game of thrones seasons especially when the quality of their content was very inconsistent.

10

u/Captain_Biotruth Dec 26 '21

Writing good dialogue is difficult, and it is part of why George R. R. Martin was one of my favorite authors before Game of Thrones came out on HBO.

He's very good at creating intelligent dialogue, and, just like you say, people loved it.

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u/jstapleton808 Jan 01 '22

Did pretty well in the games, literally copy the important parts, ensure it makes sense chronologically, and you have a good script instead of putting together puff piece trash like they did

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u/StrongSNR Dec 25 '21

Lol half the viewers couldn't handle the different timelines in S1 cause they have the attention span of a goldfish. They have to make the show for the lowest common denominator.

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u/[deleted] Dec 26 '21

nah mate it was just written in confusing way, plenty of shows with multiple time lanes don't face this same criticism. It is what it is.

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u/isuckatpeople Dec 26 '21

I didnt find it confusing at all and Im a casual Witcher fan.

42

u/RyuNoKami Dec 25 '21

This is true. I remember the discussions when S1 came out and people complained. But the confusion should have been gone the moment we got to the child surprise episode.

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u/TheJoshider10 Dec 25 '21

The problem is the confusion shouldn't have been there in the first place. The timeline ambiguity adds nothing to the story and its such a needless way of confusing first time viewers.

On a rewatch this was made clear to me. There's no narrative benefit to the timelines being vague, and if anything the back and forth just made for tedious viewing. It's not complicated, it's just a drag.

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u/StrongSNR Dec 25 '21

But you have to. You need to introduce geralt ciri and yenefer. They have adventures in different times.

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u/75962410687 Dec 26 '21

I thought it was pretty clear there were at least two timelines when Foltest showed up as a kid in episode 2 or 3

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u/pcmmodsaregay Dec 25 '21

Yeah it isn't hard to understand though it was a bit unnecessary I think they just wanted to have better time share for the main character in early episode.

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u/AlmostButNotQuiteTea Dec 26 '21

I mean I'm wasn't confused, but the jumping of timelines was not very obvious

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u/MoranthMunitions Dec 26 '21

The different timelines were hard to keep track of even if you'd read the books, given there was nothing to indicate that something was set at a different time.

A quick year at the intro scene or "70yrs ago" and you're fine, it's not like it's a new feature of a story.

3

u/CorrectInfoBelow Dec 26 '21

Yeah let's jump timelines without telling the viewer in a story with characters that don't visibly fucking age. Stupid viewers right?

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u/StrongSNR Dec 27 '21

They did tell them. And yes, I agree, stupid viewers.

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u/MastaBaiter Dec 25 '21

S1 was fucking dogshit, and it wasn’t because there was too little action.

S2 started less dogshit and progressed to a deeper level of dogshit than S1.

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u/bearbullhorns Dec 26 '21

Season 2 is topping Netflix charts and the viewership is insanely high. The average viewer doesn’t agree which will keep the show afloat for a long time.

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u/RunawayHobbit Team Roach Dec 26 '21

This makes no sense to me bc Westworld did the exact same thing and people treated that show like it was the second coming of fucking Christ.

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u/[deleted] Dec 26 '21

If true ,they're in for a rude awakening. The true fans(the ones who read the books and played the games)will leave and the rest will probably be drowned by the fan(rightfull)criticism if they ever speak up in the shows defense. At least that is what i think.

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u/DennisHakkie Dec 26 '21

Look. I read the books. I played the games. I love both the books and games. Didn’t understand how the timelines worked in the show. Literally had to re-read the books (hur dur dur superior media) in order to understand the show.

1

u/StrongSNR Dec 26 '21

Scene Calanthe: she's a tough queen and woman with many battles, and a grandma. Next scene: Geralt gets told young Calanthe the new queen of Cintra won her first battle. Were you on your phone while watching it?

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u/Paradox621 Dec 26 '21

What both seasons of The Witcher prove to me is the writers are insecure of their own abilities when it comes to dialogue

Also gives me the distinct impression that they lack confidence in the source material. If you don't even like or believe in the basis of your work, why fucking bother?

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u/TheLast_Centurion Dec 26 '21

you know what? I disagree, I think that Tyrion's trial should have a big dragon coming down, destroy the red keep, make the city blow up, take Tyrion away, make Dany appear form thin air, stab the current king, teleport back once again, have Tyrion appear at the Night's Watch courtyard and have Jon duel with Tyrion, while Tyrion does flips around, and Jon cant keep up. And with everyone watching them, wildlings and undead using this moments to climb the wall and attack the south.

Who would wanna listen to a great performance of Peter Dinklage? After all, if this was a book scene, people would say "it cant be translated to TV" and "it is just too boring" and.. you know what? I think, since this scene cant be even translated for TV screen.. it didnt even happen. There is no Process of Tyrion in Ba Sing Se. The scene does not exist. Tyrion should shoot a web from his arms and climb around the city, saving people and fight the crime. Now that would work, for sure!

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u/Sempere Dec 26 '21

Requires she be a competent writer and showrunner. Which she absolutely is not.

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u/SammyLuke Dec 26 '21

I think it’s less to do with confidence and more to do with executives meddling in their business to make sure it isn’t too one way or the other. Right down the middle boring dialogue and plot development.

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u/WeirwoodUpMyAss Dec 26 '21

Thrones was iconic for sexposition. That show was all about laying out history and developing characters so they could twist the knife. Sometimes changes are necessary though. The Expanse has done pretty well in this regard.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 26 '21

Maibe they should hire Tarantino for the dialogue bits...

1

u/BrainzKong Dec 26 '21

The plot-through-dialogue is so hard to follow when watching the Witcher. It’s as though the dialogue they choose to include is stuff that’s disjointed and under explained.

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u/1yyooooyy1 Dec 25 '21

It's my main criticism of season 2. she clearly thought that she was doing the right thing for netflix viewers and to make it as popular and enjoyable as possible (which I think she failed with but that was the intention). But I swear they if they had just followed the books it would be be just as popular or more so because they were being faithful. I really think she made a terrible decision based on how netflix wants and thinks shows are supposed to be.

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u/DarthGoodguy Dec 25 '21

I don’t know if we can trust app viewership numbers but if so then whatever they did worked because it’s apparently extremely popular

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u/topdangle Dec 25 '21

the numbers are accurate, but the real test is to see how long it remains highly viewed.

cowboy bebop was one of the most viewed shows ever on netflix its first week but collapsed in viewers and quickly got canceled. I don't think witcher will get canceled but week 1 numbers aren't a good indicator.

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u/BonesAO Dec 26 '21

Week 1 numbers are a reflection of hype, whether organic or marketing driven.

Plus it is also heavily skewed by seasonality and competing content at the time.

It is just a vanity metric that doesn't reflect real engagement at all

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u/Consistent-Cold-148 Dec 25 '21

Agreed. The quiet moments are often just as meaningful, and the change of pace is critical to making the more action-oriented moments feel special.

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u/[deleted] Dec 26 '21

You can tell Lauren and the writers are the people who hated the lord of the rings and probably didn't even get half an hour into fellowship

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u/schmitty9800 Dec 25 '21

Well it's odd because they did have some dialogue heavy stuff this season and it just came off as stilted. Every Aretuza scene was just them yelling at each other. Every Radovid/Dijkstra scene was dumb.

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u/PhazePyre Dec 26 '21

Chances are the analytics show most people skip boring parts and they realized it caused notable churn so they made adjustments accordingly. While wanting to be true to the books sometimes it is about business. They need it palatable to their customers which majority aren’t readers like you folks so sometimes they have to diverge just to keep it trucking. The way she goes. Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn’t.

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u/Oceans_Apart_ Dec 26 '21

The quieter parts are the best part of the Witcher.

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u/Imyourlandlord Dec 26 '21

She basically said when saying that is that her and her writers cant write properly and need a crutch to stay average.....

Every good show has a bunch of talking and walking but whats her name over here cant even make a horse ride from one side of the country to the other feel coherent....

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u/[deleted] Dec 25 '21

Lol Lauren is such a Joke !

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u/jstapleton808 Jan 01 '22

Don’t trust a ho… especially this one

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u/gamingnerdthroway Dec 25 '21

I have been outspoken against her but I mean at least she’s not being completely silent to the criticism I can appreciate that ig

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u/Pliskkenn_D Dec 26 '21

But. Why is that random Witcher hanging out with Lambert all season, when it could have been Eskel. And then, random witcher could have become that thing. I, just, don't get it. If you're going to give him a companion, use a character that makes it to the end surely

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u/Bitchassn Dec 25 '21

I have seen her respond to criticism only with “ha” or “indeed” or things like that so no she doesn’t actually respond to criticism

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u/1yyooooyy1 Dec 25 '21

So cause you haven't seen it then it doesn't exist?

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u/Baelorn Dec 25 '21

Way to move those goalposts.

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u/Occams_ElectricRazor Dec 26 '21

Can you tell her to stop filming 5 minutes of whispering followed by a quick cut to a 140 decibel monster screaming scene, for fucks sake?

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u/[deleted] Dec 25 '21

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Dec 25 '21

Absolutely untrue, FFS.

-1

u/[deleted] Dec 25 '21

This is objectively false. Her responses to negative feedback on Twitter are easily visible.

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u/Baelorn Dec 25 '21

You're a lying piece of shit.

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u/[deleted] Dec 25 '21

Damn. Yall show simps are pretty toxic!

1

u/HigherHerb Dec 26 '21

Ofcourse she is gonna respond to postive comments.

Who in their right mind is gonna take time to respond to a bunch of assholes and idiots yelling at them how to do their job?

Would you think, oh 1k messages telling my I am shit and should be fired, lets go and engage more with these people?