The Witcher season 3 part 1 review: Henry Cavill’s final outing mostly highlights his talents

In season 3 of The Witcher, Geralt and Yennefer strive to protect Ciri from mages, monarchs, and mysterious forces who threaten the future of the Continent. Part 1 is now streaming on Netflix.

Story

The chaos mage Rience is going after Ciri, and Geralt and Yennefer do their best to protect her while Yen helps Ciri train her magical powers. They soon find out that there is someone more sinister pulling Rience’s strings.

While Yen heads to Aretuza with Ciri to train her, Geralt tries to figure out who Rience’s master is. Francesca is after Ciri as well because she believes that Ciri will lead them to a new home away from the humans.

Emhyr continues his plans to take over Nilfgaard and have Ciri by his side. Dijkstra and Phillipa continue manipulate King Vizimir and rule over Redania by proxy.

The Brotherhood of Mages has a traitor in their midst and Geralt and Yennefer try to find out who that is to keep Ciri safe.

Performances

Henry Cavill leaves some huge boots to fill following this season and his performance remains magnificent. He can convey so many emotions with every grunt and sigh and doesn’t shy away when depicting the witcher’s warmer side while doting over Ciri either.

Anya Chalotra exhibits wonderful chemistry with her co-leads and is exemplary as ever in the role of Yennefer. Her intimate moments with Geralt and Ciri are extremely engaging.

Freya Allan is similarly charming as Ciri and has grown into her role quite admirably. Her character’s integral nature doesn’t phase Allan who embraces it with distinction.

There are a host of characters this season that play their parts brilliantly which enhances the experience of the season.

Positives

The series is visually stunning and this season is no different. The landscapes, the monsters, the costumes, and the cinematics are absolutely top-tier.

The way certain fight sequences are choreographed and captured is exceptional. The use of slow motion is also employed impactfully.

The final episode is a captivating piece of storytelling with the trope of different perspectives rounding out the truth magically. The mystery is successfully kept under wraps, making the reveal all the more effective.

The background score is also up there when it comes to technical brilliance. The various swells during conflict and the more hushed tones during the intrinsic moments blend together effortlessly.

Negatives

There is an overload of information throughout the first 5 episodes and the decision to be more faithful to the books, while noble, might push away some viewers due to the bloated nature.

All the cloak and dagger means there is a lot of exposition and that makes things a little bit dull and the viewer is likely to let things play in the background while they fiddle with their phone.

Verdict

Season 3 of The Witcher splits up Henry Cavill’s swansong into two parts and part 1 sets up quite the exciting finale to this “version” of Geralt of Rivia but the means by which it gets there will not be appealing to everyone. What it does do well is what the series has excelled in before and ensures that the season is not a complete bust.

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Also Read: The Witcher season 3 part 1 summary and ending explained