The Witcher Season 4 Crashes to Series-Low Rotten Tomatoes Score as Liam Hemsworth Debuts as Geralt
Geralt of Rivia’s penultimate season lands with a thud, its blade dulled and its magic fading. For a saga built on monster-slaying thrills, this chapter takes more hits than it delivers.
Well, The Witcher season 4 finally landed on Netflix, and it just broke a record the show probably didn’t want: it’s now the lowest-rated season of the series on Rotten Tomatoes.
The score snapshot (and how far it falls)
As of now, season 4 is sitting at 53% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 17 critic reviews. That number can shift as more reviews roll in, but it’s a big drop compared to earlier seasons:
- Season 4: 53% (17 reviews at time of writing)
- Season 3: 79% (47 reviews)
- Season 2: 95%
- Season 1: 68%
Quick math: season 4 is 26 points lower than season 3, 42 points below season 2, and even trails season 1 by 15 points. Not the trend you want four seasons in.
About that major recast
This year was always going to be a litmus test. Henry Cavill exited as Geralt of Rivia, and Liam Hemsworth stepped into the armor. If you haven’t been tracking production news, that sudden swap can be jarring in the first episode, and critics aren’t exactly rallying behind the new-look White Wolf.
"Where Cavill brought a real presence to the role – managing to be gruffly funny in one moment and believably brutal in the next – Hemsworth is just an anchor around the entire experience."
— TheWrap
"Cavill's absence looms large over a story weighed down by uneven writing and tone."
— Radio Times
"The problem isn't that the show has a new lead actor; it's that it continues to be a bloated mess."
— The Verge
Not all doom and gloom
There are brighter takes out there. One 4-star review argues the show trimmed what wasn’t working and leaned into what does, calling season 4 more focused and, crucially, more fun. Expect strong action, bigger stakes, and a setup for season 5 that nods to the Empire Strikes Back playbook.
So…should you watch?
If you’ve stuck with the series this long, season 4 is streaming now on Netflix. The critical split is real, the early score is rough, and the recast is the headline, but if you’re curious how Hemsworth fares or you’re just here for monster hunts and political chaos, it’s worth a look. And remember: that 53% is based on a relatively small batch of reviews right now, so the number could move as more critics weigh in.