The Witcher Season 2's Most Controversial Plot Twist Fans Still Not Over
The first two seasons of Netflix's The Witcher have been met with high regard critically and commercially, but fans still have a few gripes with the show.
Diversions from the source material – both the books and video games – led to division among fans. Yennefer's betrayal in Season 2 was particularly controversial, with many fans calling it out of character.
Yennefer, recently stripped of her magical powers, faces execution. In desperation, she summons the Deathless Mother, who says she'll inundate Yennefer with the magic she's lost in exchange for a child. Yennefer agrees, but the child in question turns out to be Ciri – the young girl Geralt had taken in at the end of Season 1.
It's a pretty significant change in characterization from the books; that version of Yennefer was far more motherly to Ciri, even teaching her the ways of magic.
One fan understood that people make rash decisions when desperate, as Yennefer was. She also didn't yet know Ciri in the show.
But it sets up a very different dynamic between the characters going forward, and most fans would have preferred the original version.
Other fans push back, saying that it is somewhat in Yen's character to act rashly.
"I'm not accustomed to sitting and weeping, holding my head in both hands," fans quoted Yen from the books. "I act!"
More importantly, this action gave Yennefer more room to grow. The Witcher isn't a love story; it's a complicated show with tragic themes. Much of the show is based around the idea of the "in-between," with little being perfectly good or perfectly evil. Yen in particular straddles that line.
The show has been accused of adapting a popular franchise to draw in established fans before changing the story as they see fit, instead of staying faithful to the concepts that made the games and books famous in the first place.
While it could be justified, most fans agree that Yennefer's actions were certainly out of character.
This change in the plot is exactly the type of issue that prompted star actor Henry Cavill to leave the role of Geralt, a role about which he'd been outwardly passionate. After the upcoming Season 3, he will be replaced by Liam Hemsworth.
Season 3 will drop on Netflix this summer. Cavill's departure likely means they will continue to diverge from the source material, much to the dismay of its fans.