The Witcher is an adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s prose, the reception of which in Poland has a completely different overtone than in countries with less attachment to the source. What does it look like and why have there been so many changes in history?
There is no work of culture that would appeal to all audiences. Even more so, there is no perfect adaptation that would avoid mistakes and transfer the source material in such a way that no one could say a bad word to it. By the way, there is something absurd about thinking that the screening should be the most accurate transfer of the original, because I just don’t understand the idea of ​​duplicating a given work. Criticism of the series The Witcher , pointing to numerous departures from the novel, emphasizes, however, that it is not about a meticulous transfer of books to the screen, but about greater respect for Andrzej Sapkowski’s prose. Of course, literature has its rights and you have to make some concessions. But did there have to be so many of them in the second season of The Witcher ?
I watched the new season of the Netflix series twice and I must say that the second time around, the series gains a lot when you no longer have expectations when it comes to specific moments from the adapted book. I looked at the writers’ choices more favorably, and even appreciated a lot of them. Deviations from the literary original are necessary, and blood of the elvesit is a very difficult volume when it comes to an attempt to adapt it precisely, because simply the structure of this novel would not work on a small screen. Take, for example, the beginning of the book and Ciri’s training in Kaer Morhen. It is quite an idyllic moment in the life of the young heroine, who sleeps in the best bed in the witchers’ stronghold, receives hot meals and only has to slide with a wooden sword along the obstacle course. The heroes spend their time talking. I imagine the audience would at some point give up watching a show where the characters are just talking. Introducing the monster to the habitat provokes certain events, gives viewers an attraction and builds up the stakes. Sure, the viewers were hurt to kill the witcher from the fifth set of the books’ stories. I agree that killing Eskel in this way is not the pinnacle of screenwriting,
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The witcherhe would not have had any stake in the second season, because viewers would only get Ciri’s last, but still idyllic moments in Kaer Morhen and in the Melitele Temple, and the only major concern of witchers would be to remember about the women’s matters of an adolescent girl. Yennefer would train Ciri in the arts of magic, and Jarre could give her butter eyes at the end of the season. Let us be clear – I would watch such a series, but we know very well that an expensive commercial series cannot afford it. A production of this kind needs action, it must fill the episodes with a series of attractions drawing the viewer to the screen, ready to click “next episode”. And this is the advantage of books, because stories written in a colorful language did not need an action every five pages. In the visual medium it doesn’t work that way.
Grasping at change doesn’t make much sense, but it is more legitimate to criticize wrong and unsuccessful choices. Let us juxtapose two threads added and changing Sapkowski’s heroes – Yennefer losing her magic and Dandelion acting as a Spruce and saving the elves from slaughter. The first situation causes teeth grinding, a character that was very well written in the first season was undone in development. On the other hand, the second change deepens the character of Dandelion and directs it to new, very interesting regions. We see an emotional artist, indifferent to harm, whose social commitment is inscribed in his character. He was given a new purpose, motivations; he’s been made not only to be a comedian and song guy, but to do more in the continent.
Simple and effective, right? The situation with Yennefer is much more complicated because heroin had to be on screen most of the time, and that required something stronger. Loss of power is a cliché, and it is also very ineptly presented in the case of the Netflix series. The worst are changes reminiscent of the themes drawn from Riverdale. Westerning the tropes, following the clichés of Hollywood mush, makes it humanly sorry for the brilliant source material, which has to make concessions due to the desire to please the mass audience. Something for something? Maybe so, but any artistic decision can change the source material with benefit and does not have to distort the canon or change the character of the character.
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The criticized finale has nothing to do with the book, but that’s not its biggest problem. The possessed Ciri reminds us aloud that we have already seen it somewhere. Mother Immortal is a concept responsible for tying threads, but this is just a missed idea and you could have done something much more interesting. Again, in my opinion, it is not the idea that should be criticized here, but the execution. Each series needs a climax, a spectacular finale, and Blood of the Elves does not. Only the second volume, Czas Pogardy , offers much more in this regard, and with this formula the writers had the right to fly away with the last episode into their own fantasy. It is not the change itself, but the idea that is part of my criticism.
I am also not a fan of monoliths, ideas of adding more meanings to monoliths, but these are not the worst decisions that were finally made in the second season. The fact is that Blood of the Elves is not an extensive book and there are few monsters in it, politics is just getting started and the whole thing is really focused on training Ciri and searching for Rience by Geralt and Dandelion in Oxenfurt. For eight episodes, this could not be enough material, and the creators had in their hands heroes that could be developed in the new season, regardless of the source material. This is the case with Istredd, this is the case with Tissaia and it is also with Cahir.
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In fact, there aren’t even too many monsters in the witcher cycle. It’s the show’s formula that forces the monster to the episode. Viewers like and get excited about every confrontation between Geralt and a new monster. The games also contributed to this state of affairs, because the bestiary was full there and it was difficult to take a few steps forward without a drowner or other nightmare. For these and other reasons, the series The Witcher needs numerous, frequent changes, and some things simply have to be taken briefly. Ciri’s accelerated training is precisely due to the fact that prolonged themes in such a large world could evoke a feeling of communing with a soap opera, and this is a dynamic fantasy. Many, many things could have been done better and the writers do not always have good ideas on how to build this world.
