re: Witcher season 2 middle ground thread. Now full book/upcoming season spoilers

Solid 2nd Season.

Yen's gifts not displayed, though they were still prominent.

Definitely glad I watched Nightmare of the Wolf or some of this would not have been as impactful.

Thought it was a good season 2, hated to see it end at only 8 episodes though

PSA::

there's a teaser trailer for The Witcher Blood Origin after the credits of Episode 8

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Another thing that struck me was Ciri’s arc with the other witchers. The obstacle course episode was a clinic in character development. The viewer (and the witchers) learn a shitload about who she is without her even really having to speak.

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Agreed. In so many other properties these days, we see under-developed female protagonists instantly be able to outclass their male peers (who have been doing said activity their whole lives) and expect the audience to root for them.

Ciri jumps in and gets knocked on her arse over and over again until she figures it out. We see her struggle, and are able to get invested in her because of it. She clearly has raw power and potential, but she still has to learn to control it and struggle to unlock that potential. As a result, we see her go from being a social outcast (you don’t belong here) to someone whom the gang really respects and cares about, and it’s all done in a way that feels perfectly organic in the story.

They don’t hate her because of sexism, they resent her for basically being somewhere she didn’t earn the right to be. So, what does she do? She does the work. She practices long after they tell her to get some rest. She takes on challenges she’s not ready for and takes lumps until she can overcome them. As she does that, she earns her place and earns that respect that was lacking at the start. She even volunteers to go through the trial of the grasses knowing that there’s a more likely than not chance it will kill her.

This is how you develop your mcguffin female protagonists, Hollywood!

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One of the things that struck me is how authentic the relationship between Geralt and Ciri feels. Considering it’s an 8-episode season and they didn’t even meet until the end of season 1, it’s impressive that you can easily accept Geralt as Ciri’s surrogate father after like 4 episodes. A lesser show would have struggled to get the viewer to buy into that relationship.

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With as much as it worked with Gerald, I thought Yen's motherly feelings weren't given time to properly develop. It feels like that arc only spans few days unless I missed something. That was one of my few complaints on the season.

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With as much as it worked with Gerald, I thought Yen's motherly feelings weren't given time to properly develop. It feels like that arc only spans few days unless I missed something. That was one of my few complaints on the season.

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Yeah, I also thought that the Geralt & Ciri relationship was definitely well done, as was her training and gaining the respect and brotherhood of the other witchers by being relentless in pushing herself with her training.

And I also agree that the Yen & Ciri relationship seemed a little forced, but it didn't bother me that much mainly because of the focus they put on Yen's desire for motherhood last season. They probably could've used one more episode to build their relationship, but it still wasn't annoyingly forced like a lot of tv shows can feel.

I was already kind of spoiled about the ending scene reveal with his relationship with Ciri, but luckily I wasn't spoiled about him being the one that ordered the elf baby's murder, and turning on both Cahir and Fringilla. And speaking of Cahir, I thought they did a good job of character building with him, and I think they've set that character up nicely to continue to grow going forward. It'll be interesting to see how him being thrown into prison by his beloved The White Flame will affect him going forward.

I also liked how they built up Tissaia's motherly love for Yen, only to be the one to basically sign her death warrant in the end. I think she'll struggle with that decision next season. And I liked the focus on the politics this season, and now with all sides gunning for Ciri, the politics should only get better next season. I thought the show did a really good job of building to the point where all sides are now in a desperate scramble to find Ciri, and built up their reasons for doing so.

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With as much as it worked with Gerald, I thought Yen's motherly feelings weren't given time to properly develop. It feels like that arc only spans few days unless I missed something. That was one of my few complaints on the season.

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I think you have to look at her arc in the context of the previous season, though. She wanted a child more than anything, and was willing to go to any length in order to make that possible. Geralt, on the other hand, didn’t care at all about having children.

So it makes sense to me that she would fall into that mother role when Ciri needs a mage to teach her and Geralt, of all people, is acting as the father. I think part of it is also related to her feeling of guilt over tricking Ciri in the first place.

It wasn’t perfectly done, but I didn’t think it seemed out of place. I kind of liked the fact that they let the irony of Yen trying so hard to have a child, then finding out Geralt basically adopted one, go unsaid. Again a lesser show would have beaten you over the head with that.

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Maybe I missed it but I’m not sure Tissaia even knows Yen is with Ciri.

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obviously not or she wouldn't have suggested they put a bounty out for anyone who helps Ciri.

This will be a conflict next season with Yen and Tissaia

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I think you have to look at her arc in the context of the previous season, though. She wanted a child more than anything, and was willing to go to any length in order to make that possible. Geralt, on the other hand, didn’t care at all about having children.

So it makes sense to me that she would fall into that mother role when Ciri needs a mage to teach her and Geralt, of all people, is acting as the father. I think part of it is also related to her feeling of guilt over tricking Ciri in the first place.

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Also take the dream she had of her and Geralt having a baby. It was pretty obvious that she would have a change of heart and was never going to go through with giving Ciri to the deathless mother because, like Geralt said later, Ciri was their "something more".

Although I would have taken more episodes, they really didn't need more time with Yenn and Ciri to sell their relationship because she was so ready for it. Her mentoring Ciri through that first spell was like watching your baby take it's first steps. They also reinforce this with the way Tissaia is so motherly to all of her former students.