After a lot to do, and a cut up season to mark the event, Henry Cavill has hung up his swords as The Witcher’s Geralt of Rivia. The second quantity of the Netflix present’s third season started streaming this week, they usually’re a fascinatingly bizarre trio—however they will’t escape the context surrounding them.
That context, in fact, is that is the final time we’ll see Henry Cavill within the present’s titular position. Subsequent time Geralt wanders onto Netflix, he’ll appear to be Liam Hemsworth, and The Witcher makes the choice to not acknowledge this transformation within the course of—there is no such thing as a Physician Who-esque fountain of sunshine right here. As a substitute, it appears, we’ll keep it up regardless like nothing has occurred.
However even then, the final three episodes of Cavill’s tenure are an enchanting method to ship him out—or on the very least a perplexing selection. After spending the season establishing a battle between Geralt and the sinister turncoat mage Vilgefortz, the climax of season three sees that duel happen… and Geralt get his ass handed to him. It’s extraordinarily Geralt in some methods, however on the identical time, the depth of his loss is not like something the present has put its hero via thus far. Vilgefortz totally beats Geralt to the purpose that the overwhelming majority of the remaining runtime within the quantity is devoted to Henry Cavill mendacity down and recovering, after which often making an attempt to face up and failing. It’s removed from the “suitably epic” sendoff that was teased.
A part of the fallout of this devastating struggle is a frustration that season three had in any other case largely prevented—separating the present’s principal trio. Geralt is left to get better with assistance from a brand new ally, an archer named Milva (Shang-Chi’s Meng’er Zhang), whereas Yennefer offers with the surviving mages of Aretuza within the wake of Vilgefortz’s betrayal. Ciri, in the meantime, is forged to elements unknown when her highly effective magics randomly teleport her away to a distant desert land. It’s not that it’s wild that almost all of Cavill’s remaining hour as Geralt is spent in mattress, however that actually his time as Geralt ends in such a sedately weird method. After the Vilgefortz struggle, there’s little in the best way of battle to take care of; the banter that made Yennefer, Ciri, and Geralt such a captivating trio to look at is nonexistent, as new relationships and connections are made of their separation. We’ve been reminded for the final 12 months that this is Cavill bowing out of the position, and but the whole lot occurring within the present after this jolt of motion is so wildly underwhelming that it feels weird that there isn’t some type of momentous explosion of drama that ignites this new section of the collection’ lifespan.
And but, Cavill’s precise final scene within the collection is type of nice, and a becoming farewell to the arc he has taken Geralt on throughout these three seasons. Largely recovered from the injuries he sustained preventing Vilegefortz, Geralt and Jaskier (with Milva deciding to hitch them) start making their method to try to discover Ciri, navigating a Nilfgaardian checkpoint the place the troopers of the Empire are shaking down any refugees coming via. After the duo handle to bribe their method via, Geralt finds himself halting—the household within the queue behind them is being accosted, and one of many Nilfgaard troopers takes a small doll from the younger lady, threatening the household that in the event that they struggle again “she’ll go away right here an orphan.”
It doesn’t matter what Jaskier tells him—they should discover Ciri, they will’t afford consideration, they will’t save everybody—the Geralt of season three may be very totally different to the person we met in season one, the person who was at all times transferring, at all times on the run from any type of accountability that wasn’t preventing monsters and getting paid for it. This Geralt can not assist however assist, and assist he does, violently slaughtering the Nilfgaardians on the outpost whereas Jaskier leads the refugees to security. In distinction to the beating he took going through Vilgefortz, that is Geralt at his finest, a swirl of violence and brutality—however within the title of defending others, simply as he intends to maintain defending Ciri. The final sights we see of Cavill’s Geralt is him handing the doll again to the younger lady, getting his horse, and strolling off into the the space with Jaskier and now Milva by his facet.
For all of the weirdness that results in this second throughout these three episodes, that is the second that feels finest prefer it was maybe tailor-made as a goodbye to Cavill’s model of the character. It’s a enjoyable little struggle scene, nevertheless it’s additionally an necessary second to replicate on how a lot Geralt has grown as an individual—due to the folks the again a part of the season tears away from him. It takes its time attending to that second, and does so weirdly, however no less than it’s the next be aware than the rest that comes on this awkward batch of episodes.
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