Netflix’s epic fantasy series The Witcher concludes its third season with most questions answered and most mysteries solved. It’s refreshing how this show doesn’t rely on cliffhangers to maintain audience interest; absorption in the characters and the story is enough to keep fans of The Witcher thirsty for another season. The word “refreshing” describes most things about this show, as it persists with technical expertise and outside-the-box thinking.
1. Geralt of Rivia
Our titular witcher Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) has been defeated in a way we have not seen before. Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu) has beaten him so thoroughly, we are meant to believe he may not recover. Of course, we don’t really believe that, but we are meant to. Still, it enshrines Vilgefortz in our imaginations as the most powerful and terrifying villain Geralt and his friends have encountered yet. It seems to have happened little by little and then all at once, that the stakes have been raised from a monster-per-week to the fate of the entire Continent. We don’t leave Geralt on a down-note; we leave him just about recovered. When we see him again at the start of season four, he’ll be embarking on his biggest challenge yet, and he’ll be doing it through the mind body and soul of Liam Hemsworth. Henry Cavill’s lovingly crafted performance will be a challenging act to follow.
2. Tissaia de Vries, Rectoress of Aretuza
Season three bids goodbye to Henry Cavill, though not to Geralt, but it also bids goodbye to both MyAnna Buring and her powerfully and sensitively embodied Tissaia de Vries, Rectoress of Aretuza. To Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), she was a complicated mother figure. Her fortitude was as intimidating as it was admirable. That this towering symbol of love and might is killed not by Vilgefortz directly, but by Tissaia’s own depression, by her fragility in the face of having been so completely and suddenly betrayed, and by her feeling responsible for the loss of Aretuza, the Brotherhood, and possibly every Northern Kingdom, is so much more heartbreaking than if she’d been murdered by Vilgefortz or someone else. While Tissaia’s death is narratively compelling, it is difficult to imagine what a loss it will be for season four, to lack the profoundly empathetic performances from both Henry Cavill and MyAnna Buring.
3. Ciri and Falka
While Geralt and Yennefer end this season each beginning their own journey with specific goals, Geralt on his way to Nilfgaard, and Yennefer rebuilding Aretuza, we leave Ciri (Freya Allan) geographically and spiritually lost. After escaping her captors who rescued / kidnapped her from the desert, she’s considering if not already partially embracing her inner evil. Every power player in The Continent wants to harness Ciri’s unique abilities; while she’s still learning to harness them herself, she’s also deciding when to wield them, whom to protect, and whom to destroy. Ciri kills someone kind of in self-defense in a way she kind of enjoys and takes on the name Falka, an ancestor who wielded those same powers destructively. The Witcher, a show about a monster-hunter, has always been interested in exploring the nature of monstrosity, so this is a natural and expected direction, though nonetheless emotionally and intellectually gripping.
4. The Dancing Camera
The Witcher consistently and expertly integrates the camera into its combat choreography. As the performers brawl, the camera swings around and between them, capturing exciting and dynamic frames. The active dancing camera evokes a feeling of movement and places the viewer in the fight scene. The Witcher succeeds in designing each of its many physical confrontations with its own distinctive feelings and qualities; no two are the same, nor are they even all that similar. Three seasons in, The Witcher continues to evolve creatively, ever surprising and delighting.
5. The Climax Goes in the Middle
Season three’s big show-stopping climax, where the myriad far-flung characters and plot threads come together in an explosive spectacle, doesn’t happen at the end, but in the middle. It’s a structurally creative and effective choice, giving time and space to explore the stark contrast between the Continent and its inhabitants before and after the fall of The Brotherhood. The impact of this event being so thoroughly explored makes the climax all that much more climactic, and it makes this fantastical world feel richer and more grounded. Putting the climax in the middle of the season may have been necessitated by the season being split into two parts, but it would’ve been just as effective if it hadn’t. This is just one other example of how The Witcher remains fresh and original even among it’s own franchise cohort of media.
In season one, as Geralt battled a different monster each episode, the audience was begged to ask, who is the real monster? The answers encompassed nuanced and thoughtful iterations of societal issues, like bigotry, poverty, loneliness, etc. Season three changes course as its characters are forced to look inward and struggle with the monstrosity inside themselves. While the scope and stakes have raised to apocalyptic heights, the themes have zoomed in, becoming more personal. Artful, thoughtful, and heartfelt, The Witcher is an enduring gem of a show.
