The Witcher Season 2 (Mini-Review)

The Witcher Season 2 picks up shortly after Season 1. After the Battle of Sodden, Yennefer of Vengerberg is left without her magic and a prisoner of Nilfgaard. Princess Cirilla of Cintra yearns to become powerful enough to fight those that would seek to harm her. Geralt of Rivia deals with having to be a father and finds the task straining. In the midst of their struggles, the fate of the Continent hangs in the balance. The Witcher Season 2 was released on Netflix in 2021. Lauren Schmidt Hissrich is the showrunner. It stars Henry Cavill, Freya Allan, Eamon Farren, and Anya Chalotra.

Like the previous season, this season sees the source material changed to make it more action oriented. This is a very good thing as this season adapts Blood of Elves. While the book is good, it isn't very action oriented. In fact the book seems to be more about building things up than providing actual payoff. So there has to be changes so that it fits the structure of a show.

Yennefer has one of the most intense struggles this season. In the previous season she built up her whole identity around being able to use magic. It was with magic that she finally gained some control over her life. It was with magic that she made people fear her. So when a magical being offers her a way to regain her magic, it is more than a little bit tempting. Yennefer does make mistakes but for very understandable reasons.

Triss Merigold's hair color changed to one closer to her trademark red color. This was clearly due to the fact that many Witcher fans loathed her hair color in the first season. The explanation in the show is that the hair color change was due to her involvement in the Battle of Sodden. One thing that I found annoying in Blood of Elves was how thirsty she was for Geralt. Maybe their relationship becomes more interesting in later books, but in that one it just made her character less interesting. Luckily in this season while Triss is still thirsty for Geralt, it isn't as annoying as it was in the book.

The first episode of the season takes its premise from "A Grain of Truth", my favorite story from The Last Wish. I love it because of the twisted nature of the bruxa's true love for Nivellen. The twist that she truly loved him just hit so hard. So I was excited to see it adapted for the show. The show did a good job at adaptating "A Grain of Truth". The show, of course, changed it to be more action oriented instead of the slow paced story. I read online that there were also some elements from the episode taken from the video games.

What Ciri actually is is explored in this season. Viewers know that she is extremely powerful but isn't yet in full control of her powers. In simple terms it comes to light that she holds the fate of the Continent in her hands. Which means very powerful people will come looking for her. Even those not aware of what she is will be interested in her because she's the Princess of Cintra and thus needed to secure political control.

I would recommend The Witcher Season 2 to those fans of the first season. I would also recommend The Witcher Season 2 to those who like fantasy.