Henry Cavill or Not, Netflix Doomed to Fail The Witcher's Book Ending
Whoever plays Geralt of Rivia, the fantasy series is headed for its biggest clash with the fandom yet.
Many fans were disappointed to see Henry Cavill replaced by Liam Hemsworth in the Season 3 finale of The Witcher, which debuted on Netflix in July. Cavill seemed to be the perfect embodiment of the original character created by Andrzej Sapkowski, and fans are now worried that Geralt will lose his appeal with the new face.
However, the truth is that even if Cavill didn't leave The Witcher, there would still be an inevitable backlash from the public, especially towards the finale. You see, Sapkowski's ending poses a huge problem for the series.
How the book story of Geralt of Rivia ends
While it is always best to end a long-running series on a high note, the original ending in the fifth and final novel of The Witcher Saga does not offer such an option.
The book series culminates with the Rivian Pogrom, an epic battle that leaves many dead and Geralt seriously injured. But the story doesn't just end with the death of the protagonist on the battlefield. It continues to follow and wrap up the arcs of the main characters.
When Yennefer passes out from exhaustion and fails to save Geralt with a spell, Ciri takes their bodies to a lake and has them transported by Ihuarraquax to the idyllic island of Avallach, where they wake up and spend their days in love and peace.
This is certainly an open ending, leaving many readers wondering if the island is a metaphor for the afterlife. And it works quite well in the books, where readers are happy to follow their beloved characters for a little while longer. But for a show, such an ending can be a real disaster.
Showrunners caught between a rock and a hard place
Repeating Sapkowski's ending word for word would be too anticlimactic for the majority of viewers. Dragging out each character's story would do them justice, but eventually become boring.
On the other hand, ending the series with the Rivian Pogrom or another major battle from the last book would provide a perfect action-packed finale. However, such a choice would deviate too much from the source material and make the protagonists dirty, something the show has already been criticized for.
So it looks like the showrunners are stuck between an impossible choice: go out with a bang or be faithful to the source material to the extent of the audience's interest. Both options leave room for plenty of criticism.