Netflix's The Witcher series

[HeyYou]

My favorite WELL ACKSHUALLY from alleged book fans about the games is when some of them were trying to sell the idea that the Wild Hunt being Aen Elle was a retcon. Wikifags. Not even once.

I still think Regis's story is better if he's dead but yeah they left an out in the books. As for the gamesin general...I can take some stuff and leave others. Some of the added stuff is really cool or even an improvement on the books. Some of it is just stupid or flat out retroactively ruins book moments...which to be fair is not something the books themselves entirely avoided with later volumes. It's not like Witcher 3 is the first time the nature of the last days was retconned.

I do hope they don't promote Triss's role too much because love triangles are almost always shit. At least the ones in the books tended to be mercifully short.

I just wish Eredin had more than 14 lines, his appearance and voice are so badass. The vision of Eredin that Geralt had in the cave was intimidating as hell. Also, the Wild Hunt's theme is genuinely incredible. I think it was more than an out with Regis, but I can't remember if the "only a Higher Vampire can kill a Higher Vampire" thing was from the books or not, sometimes I mix up what the books introduced and what the games introduced. Really the major problem I have with the games, the final game in particular, is Nilfgaard is portrayed way too fucking positively, and the North terrifyingly incompetent and/or nasty at times. Radovid had no reason to be THAT insane.

Like you mentioned, though, whatever problem I had with the writing of main story of the main game was rectified with Hearts of Stone. That DLC pretty much single-handedly proved to me that CDPR could add their own stuff to the mythos very easily.

 

[Your Weird Fetish]

I just wish Eredin had more than 14 lines, his appearance and voice are so badass. The vision of Eredin that Geralt had in the cave was intimidating as hell. Also, the Wild Hunt's theme is genuinely incredible. I think it was more than an out with Regis, but I can't remember if the "only a Higher Vampire can kill a Higher Vampire" thing was from the books or not, sometimes I mix up what the books introduced and what the games introduced. Really the major problem I have with the games, the final game in particular, is Nilfgaard is portrayed way too fucking positively, and the North terrifyingly incompetent and/or nasty at times. Radovid had no reason to be THAT insane.

Like you mentioned, though, whatever problem I had with the writing of main story of the main game was rectified with Hearts of Stone. That DLC pretty much single-handedly proved to me that CDPR could add their own stuff to the mythos very easily.

That we don't get to explore the Wild Hunt in a game called The Wild Hunt was a travesty and I blame the commitment to being an open world larger than Skyrim for marketing purposes. There was a ton of cut content including a series of missions where Geralt used his knowledge of the Hunt to infiltrate the retinue and follow them to different worlds. A cavalcade of super powered slave soldiers from all over the multiverse and we barely got to interact with them after all that build up. And yeah they really dropped the ball with the Radovid and Philippa subplot that was so promisingly developed in Witcher 2. But they hit Geralt and Ciri's relationship out of the park, and the Velen section of the game is fantastically written. So you take what you can get. Hearts of Stone feels just like something Sapkowski would have written at his best.

Vilgefortz basically melted Regis IIRC. The only a higher vampire can kill a higher vampire thing is definitely game only. That said no one was 100% certain if that actually would have finished Regis off or if it would just take him centuries to regenerate from that. No one really knew. If anyone could survive what Vilgefortz did, it would be a higher vampire.

I guess that means Geralt really dropped the ball in that sidequest in Novigrad. The vampire serial killer needed to be dumped in a weighted and chained coffin at the bottom of the harbor if they didn't want him just popping up again in a few months.

 

[HeyYou]

That we don't get to explore the Wild Hunt in a game called The Wild Hunt was a travesty and I blame the commitment to being an open world larger than Skyrim for marketing purposes. There was a ton of cut content including a series of missions where Geralt used his knowledge of the Hunt to infiltrate the retinue and follow them to different worlds. A cavalcade of super powered slave soldiers from all over the multiverse and we barely got to interact with them after all that build up. And yeah they really dropped the ball with the Radovid and Philippa subplot that was so promisingly developed in Witcher 2. But they hit Geralt and Ciri's relationship out of the park, and the Velen section of the game is fantastically written. So you take what you can get. Hearts of Stone feels just like something Sapkowski would have written at his best.

Vilgefortz basically melted Regis IIRC. The only a higher vampire can kill a higher vampire thing is definitely game only. That said no one was 100% certain if that actually would have finished Regis off or if it would just take him centuries to regenerate from that. No one really knew. If anyone could survive what Vilgefortz did, it would be a higher vampire.

I guess that means Geralt really dropped the ball in that sidequest in Novigrad. The vampire serial killer needed to be dumped in a weighted and chained coffin at the bottom of the harbor if they didn't want him just popping up again in a few months.

If I remember correctly, the vampire serial killer was one of the higher vampires, but not a Higher Vampire like Regis and Detlaff. He was a katakan, I think. That was CDPR's explanation at the very least. Personally, I didn't really care too much about Regis being back because he was definitely one of the main redeeming factors of Blood and Wine's main story and I really do like his and Geralt's friendship.

Speaking of Vilgefortz, he's one of the main characters I'm interested in seeing Netflix's portrayal of. For game fans, he's a whisper of being an incredibly difficult and powerful foe, and this is his first main appearance. If I remember from the leaks, though, he's a pajeet like Yen, so that's gonna be a shit storm too.

 

[Spatula]

Which is why I don't really care that Triss is an uggo. But pretty actresses are expensive.

Most wouldn't care, but in this case you have most of the characters blackwashed in a slavic setting.

 

[Your Weird Fetish]

If I remember correctly, the vampire serial killer was one of the higher vampires, but not a Higher Vampire like Regis and Detlaff. He was a katakan, I think. That was CDPR's explanation at the very least. Personally, I didn't really care too much about Regis being back because he was definitely one of the main redeeming factors of Blood and Wine's main story and I really do like his and Geralt's friendship.

Speaking of Vilgefortz, he's one of the main characters I'm interested in seeing Netflix's portrayal of. For game fans, he's a whisper of being an incredibly difficult and powerful foe, and this is his first main appearance. If I remember from the leaks, though, he's a pajeet like Yen, so that's gonna be a shit storm too.

I always figured he was supposed to be a capital H Higher Vampire but they didn't have the resources to make it a unique fight like Detlaff. Can Katakans appear normal to a bunch of people at once? I thought they had to hypnotize dudes to do that. There's too many kinds of vampires in this setting.

Interested in Vilgefortz too. Honestly I feel like the novels kind of dropped the ball on that one. He's much more intriguing in his first appearances than he ends up being later on.

I don't care too much about half-pajeets being cast if they actually look like who they're supposed to be. And even if they don't, if they're very good in the role I can overlook it. At least they gave Yennefer purple eyes. Suck it Emilia Clarke.

Most wouldn't care, but in this case you have most of the characters blackwashed in a slavic setting.

I don't think pretty actresses are expensive anyway. Tons of attractive women desperate to be cast in anything. How do you think Weinstein kept getting laid?

 

[HeyYou]

I always figured he was supposed to be a capital H Higher Vampire but they didn't have the resources to make it a unique fight like Detlaff. Can Katakans appear normal to a bunch of people at once? I thought they had to hypnotize dudes to do that. There's too many kinds of vampires in this setting.

Interested in Vilgefortz too. Honestly I feel like the novels kind of dropped the ball on that one. He's much more intriguing in his first appearances than he ends up being later on.

I don't care too much about half-pajeets being cast if they actually look like who they're supposed to be. And even if they don't, if they're very good in the role I can overlook it. At least they gave Yennefer purple eyes. Suck it Emilia Clarke

Yeah, the serial killer is officially a katakan, not a capital H Higher vampire. As far as I can tell though, it was a retcon because just like you I definitely remember the quest talking about him as one of the top vampires.

From what I remember of the leaks, which was just a few pictures, Vilgefortz's actor was definitely a bit of a pretty boy. So he does get that part down. I have no idea how he's going to act because outside of a few actors like Mikkelsen, Buring, Cavill, etc a lot of these actors are unknown. That's really the main problem, when you have a bunch of unknown actors who we can't discuss if they're good or not, of course people are then going to go to their appearance. Which, for several of them, do not match the book descriptions. Like, objectively, not just in an opinion or translation issue sort of way.

I really hope this series is good, but if/when they bring in Ofir and Zerrikania which is supposed to be full of more "PoC" people, there's going to be a serious problem explaining why fucking Nordlings and Nilfgaardians look like Ofiri and Zerrikanians.

 

[Your Weird Fetish]

I'm cautiously optimistic but my hopes weren't super high in the first place.

They're never going to bring in any one from the more distant places for that very reason I'm guessing. RIP Borch Two-Waifus.

 

[juwo]

A female showrunner and female writers bring us a show with an absolute hunk of a man in the lead role, while all shown women are ugly mutts. Really makes me think.

I'm not even going to bother watching this. I love the books and games, their cheeky and heartfelt tone, the character banter and genuine drama. The show looks like it's just a budget C-tier fantasy series with poor costumes and sets, bored actors and meh writing. Netflix shouldn't have given the whole project to some literally who women if they wanted to have their own GoT.

 

[Your Weird Fetish]

The showrunner was one of the writers for Daredevil so it's not like she hasn't been involved in a Netflix success before. And this Yennefer is cute, she just doesn't look like Yennefer. Triss and Fringilla are uggos though.

 

[juwo]

The showrunner was one of the writers for Daredevil so it's not like she hasn't been involved in a Netflix success before

Yeah, and also The Defenders. What a success that was.

 

[Your Weird Fetish]

Yeah, and also The Defenders. What a success that was.

Daredevil was really fucking good though so it still averages out to a B-.

 

[HeyYou]

Yennefer's actress is cute enough, and most importantly Ciri's actress at least looks the part. I do agree that the writing team outside of Hissrich seem very, very obnoxious, and the trailer wasn't particularly good. If the series ends up sucking or being mediocre, now you have to jump the hurdle that you're a racist fanboy who just doesn't want minorities in the Witcher instead of the show being bad on its own merits.

As much as it can be annoying, based on the trailer a lot of, if not all, the comments are from people who like the games, so I do hope the team behind this know they're a big chunk of the audience.

 

[Your Weird Fetish]

I think they're well aware.

Also while the other writers may be SJW retards (really, what writers aren't?) Hissrich at least won some points with me when she refused to play the sexist/racist/x-ist card when it was offered up to her on a silver platter.

 

[HeyYou]

I think they're well aware.

Also while the other writers may be SJW exceptional individuals (really, what writers aren't?) Hissrich at least won some points with me when she refused to play the sexist/racist/x-ist card when it was offered up to her on a silver platter.

I remember that, I think. A friend of hers very articulately explained why he didn't think it was right to racebend Witcher characters, but he'd give it a chance and she said "hey, it's fine if you feel that way, just wait and see how it turns out, if you don't like it that's cool". That was pretty neat, actually.

 

[Your Weird Fetish]

I remember that, I think. A friend of hers very articulately explained why he didn't think it was right to racebend Witcher characters, but he'd give it a chance and she said "hey, it's fine if you feel that way, just wait and see how it turns out, if you don't like it that's cool". That was pretty neat, actually.

That was an entirely different incident where she chose not to play that card then because I don't remember that one. The one I was thinking of was an article or a twitter checkmark spergout about all the racist and sexist hate she was getting and her replying that she didn't think it was about racism or sexism, just fans being really passionate and wanting the show to be good.

 

[HeyYou]

Yeah, I actually really don't mind her at all. You look at the image a bit further up and she has a pretty tame and kind of funny bio compared to the obnoxious ones of her cowriters. Really it's her that's making me wait to see if the show's good or not, despite my reservations. That and Cavill apparently being a huge fan of the books and the games. IIRC he actually read all the books and played the games before he was even cast.

 

[juwo]

I really don't know where you guys get this optimism concerning that Hissrich lass. She wrote 3 episodes of Daredevil S2, is that such a milestone of quality?
I agree, she's not as obnoxious as the patriarchy smashers of the writing team, but don't act like she hasn't had her fair share of bullshit.

 

[Azovka]

I really don't know where you guys get this optimism concerning that Hissrich lass. She wrote 3 episodes of Daredevil S2, is that such a milestone of quality?
I agree, she's not as obnoxious as the patriarchy smashers of the writing team, but don't act like she hasn't had her fair share of bullshit.

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That first tweet is pretty dumb though. The assumption that the characters are white doesn't come "from games" or "from the fans". It comes from the books themselves, which are set in the Northern Kingdoms reminiscent of Eastern Europe, and where "dark skinned foreigners" attract a lot of attention because they're exotic.
If there were many black & pajeets in the Northern Kingdoms, then why would the books emphasize how much people from Ofir and Zerrikania are different?

I don't know. While I think sperging about the trailer or sending the sjw writing team Twitter dms is unbecoming, I sincerely doubt that the Netflix adaptation will be any good. And yes, it will be entirely their fault.

Calling it now - they're going to demonize Nilfgaard as a patriarchal society, the sorceresses will be feminist icons and "strong independent women", the plot is going to be dumbed down like crazy for the sake of more epic action scenes, and I wouldn't put it past them to shove trans & gay characters aggressively down our throats (there are gay people in the books, no issues there. But I don't think those Netflix execs know the meaning of the word "measure").

 

[Kaiser Wilhelm's Ghost]

That first tweet is pretty dumb though. The assumption that the characters are white doesn't come "from games" or "from the fans". It comes from the books themselves, which are set in the Northern Kingdoms reminiscent of Eastern Europe, and where "dark skinned foreigners" attract a lot of attention because they're exotic.
If there were many black & pajeets in the Northern Kingdoms, then why would the books emphasize how much people from Ofir and Zerrikania are different?

I don't know. While I think sperging about the trailer or sending the sjw writing team Twitter dms is unbecoming, I sincerely doubt that the Netflix adaptation will be any good. And yes, it will be entirely their fault.

Calling it now - they're going to demonize Nilfgaard as a patriarchal society, the sorceresses will be feminist icons and "strong independent women", the plot is going to be dumbed down like crazy for the sake of more epic action scenes, and I wouldn't put it past them to shove trans & gay characters aggressively down our throats (there are gay people in the books, no issues there. But I don't think those Netflix execs know the meaning of the word "measure").

It's a bit of a cop out argument that she is making because it's expressly set in a political background that represents a lot of the Baltic and central European Kingdoms. The Nilfgard have a lot of commonalities with the Holy Roman Empire, and the Skellige in the books have a lot more in common with Baltic Swedes. The smaller Kingdoms where Geralt travels throughout the books are closer to the small Medieval baltic principalities, with Cintra being Polish culture expressly.

And then for characters like Triss and Yennifer, there is no way they can claim that they didn't look at the book material and work counter productively to what the characters are supposed to be.

I don't expect perfect recreations of the source material either way, but again it's just another example of Hollywood's almost stereotypical pandering at this point.

The irony is if they do paint Nilfgard to be this backwards patriarchy then at least it will give a few fans a chuckle. Nilfgard is the progressive empire of many different cultures, it's a multicultural society, and furthermore the Nilfgardians have at least some Elven blood in themselves as well. As well as not being specifically anti-elf anti-dwarf, and at points helping the Scoiatel.

The gay characters will be Elves probably, though honestly if you ever needed a better candidate then it should be the Dwarves, think about it, large group of squat little men living together in the woods. Away from the people who treat them like second class citizens, and don't understand their culture or their lifestyles.

 

[madethistocomment]

I really don't know where you guys get this optimism concerning that Hissrich lass. She wrote 3 episodes of Daredevil S2, is that such a milestone of quality?
I agree, she's not as obnoxious as the patriarchy smashers of the writing team, but don't act like she hasn't had her fair share of bullshit.

View attachment 851472

It's funny that she says "Doesn't everyone deserve to be represented??" Despite racebending a bunch of Slavic characters. Slavs have virtually no representation in the west, with what little they do have being pretty much "Evil Russian Mafia Man" and that's it.

So good job, Lauren, you're taking away the rep of a very underrepresented minority and giving it to a bunch of overrepresented ones. Very woke of you.