I'm not sure about this episode. The premiere seemed better. Even though it was a slow start: and had only a tiny bit of story progression. This episode had more progression, involving Geralt and Cirilla arriving at Kaer Morhen; and whatever the sections with Yennefer, Fringilla, and Francesca were about. Yet, it felt tedious. Almost. Something to do with that. Regardless of that, this episode was still entertaining to watch.
Here are some of my minor beginning thoughts:
- At the start of the episode, I noticed that, in her dream, the room Yennefer was in looked like Cirilla's room in Kaer Morhen. They could merely look similar, but I'm guessing that they were both the same set-piece (?) or actual castle-type room. I found that interesting.
- I had a feeling that it was elves at the end of the premiere, but I'm a little mad that I didn't bring that up in my review. Elves are always depicted alongside archery, and I found it doubtful that Tissaia/the Aretuza mages would be using harpoon-like weapons to shoot. Two plus two equals four.
- Even though I haven't read the books, the casting choice for Francesca is a bit dubious, appearance-wise. I think she was said to be the most beautiful woman in the world. Yet Mecia Simson doesn't seem to reflect that. Considering she's part Jamaican, her looks emanate somewhat of an "other-worldly vibe."
- cont.) But Anya Chalotra, MyAnna Buring, Jodhi May, Emma Appleton, and Anna Shaffer all look "more attractive" to me. It's all relative, though: isn't it? And she does look somewhat otherworldly; I feel like everyone else doesn't have that factor. At least to the extent that she does, so I guess the casting choice for the character was, in actuality, pretty decent.
Here are things that I liked:
- It was nice to see Kaer Morhen in live-action. Everyone involved in bringing it to life did a great job. The first shot of it from the inside, as Geralt and Cirilla were coming in, looked very much like in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Since Cirilla will probably begin training more seriously in the next episode, I wonder if something big will happen at the end, like in the game. Or maybe the equivalent of that was leshy-infected Eskel.
- I liked Eskel's character, despite the very little of him there was. Basil Eidenbenz did a good job with the tiny bit of material he had to work off of. His death was disappointing, even though I haven't read the novels. That should be a testament to how killing him off wasn't a good decision.
- The fight sequence against leshy-infected Eskel was much better than the one against the Bruxa in the premiere. Henry Cavill's movements were pretty smooth; although, I wish more was done by Eskel. But maybe that would've cost a lot more to do, as well as being harder to film/coordinate.
- The score during the end credits was super good. I liked it a lot. The beginning of it was reminiscent of scores in Assassin's Creed games, specifically the ones with Ezio Auditore da Firenze: and then it started sounding reminiscent of scores in the Modern Warfare trilogy. Very nice.
Here are things that seemed iffy to me:
- Having prostitutes at Kaer Morhen was weird, given how Cirilla never heard of Kaer Morhen in the premiere and how Geralt told her it's because they like it that way. Bringing any outsiders to there would be risky, given that what almost wiped them all out was because the attackers knew where it was. The writers seemed self-aware regarding that based on the dialogue by Vesemir to Geralt after the latter asked him about the party. But that doesn't make it any better.
- cont.) Maybe it was only fanservice for those who've played the games. In the games, I think some moments considered iconic involve parties. But they may not have taken place in Kaer Morhen. This series is based on the book series. There probably were parties in the books and probably in Kaer Morhen, too. But something about how it happened in this episode is iffy.
- How did Danica, the prostitute from the first season, know about Cirilla? Geralt seemed taken aback, so I was expecting him to ask her. But he didn't. I guess one of the other Witchers brought it up to her. Pretty stupid if you ask me. I can't think of how else she would've known that Geralt "has a daughter now."
- I remember the leak/rumor a while back that Eskel was killed; people were pissed. I wonder if they're more pissed now: because it was correct. Seemingly, there was no point in doing that. His death didn't seem to serve a purpose. Supposedly, it was never said in the novels or even the games that someone can be infected/turned into a leshy. And even Vesemir said that's not possible to Geralt when the latter told him that the leshy infected Eskel.
- cont.) In the premiere, Nivellen did say that the world is acting of its (own) strange accord these days. He also mentioned the Wild Hunt. Maybe Eskel getting infected was done to coincide with that. If so, that counts as a purpose behind killing him, I guess. Still, his death could've been done better. Or better yet, no need for that if he wasn't off-ed.
In short, the premiere was better. But this episode was still somewhat entertaining. The first ten minutes up to the title sequence was good, so was the second half and everything in Kaer Morhen; that had the best parts. The plot with Yennefer and Fringilla, while necessary: to introduce Francesca and bring the elves back into play; as well as revealing that Yennefer is having a magic problem; was the weakest. The ending with Cirilla's training starting was nice, too.
I was going to give this episode a seven out of ten. I did, initially. But after getting to this point of writing all of this, I decided to change it to a six. It's still close to a seven, but I think a seven would be an overstatement. It had its perks, though.
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