The Witcher Season 3 is Closer to the Books as Promised (It Didn't Help Though)

Since its premiere on Netflix in 2019, The Witcher has consistently faced criticism for straying too far from Andrzej Sapkowski's books. However, one aspect that kept the show afloat and millions of people watching, despite the subpar scripts and low-quality CGI, was Henry Cavill's performance as Geralt of Rivia.

Fans loved it that Cavill had taken the time to read the original books to better understand his character, while the writers seemed to do everything in their power to further infuriate the fans of the novels.

With Cavill departing the show after the current third season and Liam Hemsworth taking over the role, the whole world expected Cavill's farewell episode to fix most of the mistakes of the previous chapters. Both writers and actors continuously reassured fans that the third season would align more closely with the books, leading even the show's harshest critics to believe that the third season could be exceptional. But is it, really?

Sadly, it seems that fans are still quite upset with the way the writers are handling the original story. While acknowledging that this season made use of a lot of the stories found in the source materials, fans point out that the show's writers have butchered them by rewriting important scenes from the books and adding new characters for no apparent reason.

'I think you guys have been reading different books... There are few scenes – who are all changed and the best dialogue is cut. Two best scenes are 20% of what they were in the books, because they needed to show Fringilla getting drunk, and Stregobor for completely no reason. But I now understand why this show is so mid and unoriginal – the writers just don't understand the books,' a fan pointed out on Reddit.

Nonetheless, some fans are commending Netflix for paying more attention to the books, arguing that the show has finally managed to strike a balance between new and original material.

'But these first episodes of season 3 are good. I know it's not 100% similar to the books, but the mix of book and original content is quite balanced now. I love the changes they did to hair and costumes,' another fan argued.

The second part of The Witcher Season 3 will be released on Netflix on 27 July 2023.

Source: Reddit.