Top 10 Differences Between The Witcher Show and Books
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ธ.ค. 2021
- Netflix didn't adapt "The Witcher" series without making a few notable changes. For this list, we’ll be looking at the most significant deviations from the source material in the first two seasons of Netflix’s adaptation. There are a LOT of changes, especially in the second season, so we’ve tried to focus on just the most impactful! Prepare for epic spoilers for both the books and show! Our countdown includes Geralt's fight with Rience, the backstories of the female leads, Emhyr's secret, key battles, and more! What changes did you like? What did you dislike? Be sure to tell us BOTH in the comments!
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What changes did you like? What did you dislike? Be sure to tell us BOTH in the comments!
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Ciri looks a lot older!
I don't like any of the changes at all. I'm watching the show for the Geralt and Ciri stuff, and the other side stuff? I could care less bout them frankly.
None. Actually.. now I think about it I quite liked the first episode even though ciri wasn’t in the short story. That was a change well done. After episode 1 is where it goes sideways in terms of accuracy.. straight through a brick wall.
The end of Episode 7 was so ridiculous I almost couldn't believe it. A woman turning into fire and then the house grows legs and walks around for a few moments. Then the Deathless Mother turns into fire lights and flies out of the top of the house, through the forest, and possesses Ciri. Did a 7 year old write that part of the script?
@@StopForcingHandlesAsUsername you must not like the books at all… a huge portion is everything else…
Cahir and Fringilla are so very different it the books. They really were introduced way too early as well. Calanthe was never known as some Elf hater that led crusades against elves. Nilfgaard has their own academies for mages. Fringilla was not appointed to to Nilfgaard by the northern Mages, she never lived in the north and neither was her Uncle Atorious. And the entire thing about being turned into eels if you grades were bad in mage school, that was not at all in the books either. Cahir hated Emhyr because he had his father captive and was using him to blackmail Cahir to do his bidding. I also don't remember anything about monoliths and monsters being hidden beneath them. Geralt sent Ciri to the temp of Melitele in Ellander, Temaria to study under Mother Nenneke so she would have an education. She studied there for a while until Geralt persuaded by Triss, wrote Yennefer to begin her magical training. Triss was very busy and passionate about her political career as Foltest of Temaria's court mage at the time while Yennefer was more doing her own thing... thinking about babies mostly. Yennefer writes an epic letter back to Geralt which she begins "Dear Friend" sarcastically, as that is how Geralt ended his letter to her after having no contact at all with her in 4 years, but she agrees to train Ciri. After teaching the basics in Ellander, Yennefer takes Ciri to Gors Velen to enroll her in Aretuza. Geralt knows Reince is after him. He hires Codringher and Fenn to help find out more about who is hunting Ciri. Geralt's fight with Reinece doesn't happen at the Temple but back in Oxnefurt, Reince doesn't get close to Ciri until he shows up in Aretuza after having his people pay a surprise visit to Codringher and Fenn.
Thank you!!!!! A fellow individual who read the books. Personally my biggest let down right now is yennefer she's way too different and the vulgar lines no magic and tbh the tapping into fire magic was odd because in the books she's specifically warns ciri not to use it
jeez, I only played TW3 but from reading this.. yikes. The show really did not follow the books I see.
Fringilla was also described as a pale white woman, with sharp eyes and dark black hair, and then the show cast an afro actor (dont have anything against colored people but i oppose both white washing and black washing of character specifically described as being one race and then being played by a different one just to appease the political correctness of it.
@@matickills789 they could use that as a reason as to why she doesn’t want Ciri to ever use fire magic though, yennefer has now experienced the trauma/damage fire magic can cause
Ah yes. Turning girls into eels in Aretuza. Why would someone make up such a ridiculous scene?
I would say that biggest difference is whole second season :D
Yeah we need a reset button 🙄
i’m just genuinely curious. why do you want the show to be the exact same as the book? wouldn’t that be boring or would you find it more exciting? i’m not being sarcastic i’m just curious.
@@archosedyus I didn't say the same I'm ok with changes if it helps the show flow better but I feel they have fallen off that fine line.
To awnser your question
I would have rather a true remake of cowboy bebop and Lion king than the direction they went it.
For me if the ip has source material that fans know and love then that's your guide and you should stick to it as much as possible. Of course wpull have people who complain it's to similar so again it's a fine line
@@archosedyus the show is just bad, accept it, it misses the core of what the books are about, in other words it's not the witcher anymore and as a person from poland i'm mad that someting that poland is famous of got fucked up so much, netflix make it look like a typical european fantasy series, but it's so much more
@@archosedyus I'm genuinely curious: why would you prefer mediocre story rather than great story? Why wouldn't Netflix want to attract more viewers? And Nobody expects 1:1 adaptation! I am so tired of this childish argument. But if they changed everything why is it still called the Witcher? And why their story is full of mediocre scripts? If you want the story to be different why do you want it be mediocre at the same time? It doesn't make any sense.
Gonna need more than a top 10 list to cover all this. I know a lot of people will just say "TV will always be different." but they made such strange changes that, in my opinion, made no sense and didn't understand why they would change certain scenes.
I think I read that Henry Cavill too isn't too happy with the changes but he is under contract.
That's why I just doesn't care at all about all those changes, they are really minor and not important ones. I am kinda happy that not everything happens like in the books, for that would be boring because I read all of them, I don't want to get the same story with everything happening the same again. But I can see how big fanboys and ppl who like that thing are upset, for me it's very annoying to see everyone cry about the changes.
@@simple_playz
"they are really minor and not important ones."
Sorry, but either You didn't read the books or didn't watch the show.
In the book Yen, Geralt and Ciri love each other and would - therefore - never ever betray each other. It is especially the fact that she knows that she can trust Geralt, Yen and Vesemir that makes Ciri see them as her new family. Because nearly everybody else is trying to make use of her - either because she is heir to the throne of Cintra or because of her elder blood.
In the show Geralt uses her casually as cheap bait, Yen wants to sacrifice her to an evil demon to get her magic back and Vesemir sees in her his way to new witchers.
And the list of changes goes on and on:
- The Demon witch is not in the books. The whole storyline does not exist. Not anything of it
- The whole story of the monoliths is not in the books.
- Ciri is never possessed by an evil witch in the books.
- Next to nothing from the action events in Kaer Morhen in the show are in the books.
- There were never whores in Kaer Morhen - nor makes their appearance any sense (especially after Geralt emphasises that the witcher like Kaer Morhen to be remote and unknown to townpeople)
- 3/4 of the witchers at Kaer Morhen never existed in the book. But they kill (in a total unlogical way) one that survives the books.
- On the other hand nearly every key moment of the Book (Blood of Elves) is missing from the show: The blue dress moment, Triss trying to seduce Geralt, Triss getting ill, the journey through Shaerrawed and the attack, Yen meeting and teaching Ciri, Ciri calling her mother, Shani,...
These are neither "minor" nor "unimportant" changes.
Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, said during an interview with IGN “It would be a straight translation of the books… I think there's just so much material that I don't feel the need to start inventing my own to keep it going.”
And this simply is false advertising. If You promise the fans a close adaption and deliver a product that hurts every fan of the books out there, what reactions do You expect?
With the witcher show it is a blessing if You did know nothing of the franchise in advance...
@@uteausmunchen7235 I have ADHD so it's hard to remember most of the stuff, but I did read the books and watched the show. I appriciate the effort you put into the comment. But my point still stands, I don't want to get the same exact story twice, I don't care how much I liked the books getting the story again just not it for me. I am personally happy about the changes and for me it's still boring to see everybody complain, because altough I understand their pov, I think very differently and for me the changes are welcome.
@@uteausmunchen7235 And also I think things that work perfectly fine in books, wouldn't the same way in a Netflix series.
@@simple_playz The changes are very far from minor. You probably remember very little from the books.
And ofcourse book to tv will be different but the changes they made are insane.
On big difference: the books are actually good
go cry about it lol
@@elvin2514 Truth hurts I see 🤣🤣
@@tonistroke y’all are hurting in them comments not me😂😂😂 i am quite enjoying the show:))
@@elvin2514 What makes u think I didn't enjoy the show? it's a mediocre show not a bad one, that doesn't change fact that the books are far superior.
And what're u baffling about being hurt, you're literally the first one to jump on the defensive with a bad review of your favourite show that's so ridiculous 🤣🤣
@@tonistroke who said anything about you? i am talking about the ones crying their eyes off in these comments stupido😂 you seem quite hurt in ur second section of the comment tho ngl
My main gripe is the changing of the characters and their motivations. Yen would never act the way she did, vesimir actively protests the production of new witchers, and they totally screwed up emhyr (not enough build up among other things), in addition to screwing up so many other characters. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching, but I’m upset because I know it could be so much better.
Exactly! Like why change these? They did
Poorly in season 1 but more or less left the story able to continue properly, whatever the fuck season 2 is… it’s not the Witcher.
And I will neber forgive Netflix of how they butchered the character of Eskel
Not enough buildup is an understatement and that goes for most of these characters. I'm usually understanding when a show/movie changes a character or plot point to drive home more important parts of the story, but this show is doing a really poor job of that. I mean, Emhyr is one thing, no buildup, far too little delving into Ciri's backstory and the death of her parent's, which I'm hoping will be explored a bit more in the 3rd season. Then you've got Eskel...an important character and he's relegated to a few minutes of screen time and a quick death that doesn't do well to serve any other plot point (except maybe helping along the idea of Vesemir to use Ciri's blood) in any significant way. I could understand killing him to drive something bigger, but by the end of the season it felt like even the idea of using Ciri's blood to create more witchers is cast aside. I'll keep watching, because the show is entertaining and I definitely want to see where it goes, but I'm definitely not a fan of most of the changes thus far. Here's to hoping they don't have the Wild Hunt swoop in during the 3rd season and randomly murder Vesemir only to motivate Geralt for half an episode.
A lot of these felt like they were added for tension/drama. But at the expense of character-assassination😞!
For starters, Geralt met Ciri when she was ten (without knowing who she was), and when she chose to leave her she cries and begged her to stay. That would have made their ruin and subsequent scenes together in Season 2 a lot more tender and emotionally cathartic. Also, Geralt was far more warm to Ciri, and would hug her to help her fall asleep when she had nightmares. The rest of the Witchers also took responsibility for Ciri as they saw Geralt's destiny and part of their destiny as well. They also made Ciri her own sword, specific to her size, which I'm really annoyed they didn't include.
Also, Triss was never terrified of Ciri. She was rightly cautious after learning she was a Source, but that just made her stay even closer to Ciri and almost never left her side. Triss would protect her from being possessed, stayed with her while she slept and soothed her back to sleep when she had nightmares. She would continue to stay with Ciri as they traveled with Geralt to his old magic school to teach Ciri when it was clear they needed a more knowledgeable teacher than Triss. Still, she taught Ciri to speak the Elder language and helped her when she first got her period. Sure, Triss knew the danger Ciri possessed, but she was never afraid of Ciri herself. She loved Ciri like a little sister and was very protective of her, even going so far to continue traveling with them while seriously ill.
Speaking of which, Geralt wrote to Yen before then and specifically asked her to train Ciri, as Yen was more knowledgeable than Triss. Yen and Ciri initially didn't get along. Ciri hated what a cold bitch Ciri was and Yen would call her ugly and a pig (just like Yen was). She was also a brutal uncompromising teacher, even compared to the witchers. But she grew attached to Ciri and became very protective of her, while Ciri came to admire and respect Yen's strength, badassery and the genuine care she showed her - soon forming a mother/daughter relationship built over months together (not just one horse ride and a few brief magic lessons). Book Yen would have obliterated Netflix Yen for even thinking of sacrificing Ciri.
Another minor difference, Geralt visited Nivellen years before he became the Butcher of Blavikin, meaning Ciri wasn't even wasn't even born yet. They had just met, and Nivellen had a more bear-like appearance rather than a boar.
see, I don't really mind when TV shows take those kind of liberties to make the timelines fit better to not confuse the audience. That is not a large departure in my opinion. What bothers me is completely made up stuff and and changing characters personalities drastically
@@ReadR00ster1 Not everything has to be faithful to the source material. They're probably making these changes to make the story more interesting. Blade Runner, Jurassic Park, The 100. If they were more faithful to the books they were based on, they would be a lot more boring.
@@canaanzaghawski1478 you're spot on here they have to make a few changes for the sake of a full season of TV if they're completely faithful to blood of elves as a TV show tbh it would be very boring after what we got in season 1 there's no monster fighting and alot of the book is just ciri training until the fight in oxenfurt
@@ReadR00ster1 ye
@@Brentonius_III I disagree, blood of elves has so much political buildup with the kings deciding to find and kill ciri, The mages start pushing their political motivations. All of this is super important to the plot of the story but we don’t get anything .
Personally, I love Yen but I do not like how the show handled her and her story. In both seasons. Like, I was looking forward to Yen taking Ciri under her wing in the temple. How they basically became mother and daughter. Ciri warming up to Yen despite Mother Neneke never really trusting Yen to take care of Ciri and was always ready to butt in. But in the show, Yen not only did *not* bond with Ciri, but she went straight to leading her into the Deathless Mother. Yen basically betrayed Ciri's trust right off the bat. Whether they make up for it in a later season or not, it already left a sour taste. I literally had to open the book to read again.
Rather than getting heart-warming moments to show another side of her, this show seems to push Yen into unnecessary drama that constantly takes away that potential. I don't know. I enjoyed watching the show and will continue watching any new seasons. I don't hate it. But I slowly lose my emotional investment with every change.
I also feel like the way Yen is written is very inconsistent. In season 2 she made some decisions which pretty much entirely negated her season 1 agenda, not to mention personality changes - at one time she's sassy and bitchy, then pretending to be kind, then... genuinely kind? Keeping the source material in mind, it sometimes feels like a whole different character. Feels like her development hasn't been thought-out whatsoever. Even though Anya Chalotra pours her heart out in this role, but the script just sucks.
Yenn and Ciris scenes in the BoE book was probably my favorite part. I couldn't believe that they basically cut it and we never really got to see the bond develop between them.This season left me kind of disappointed and angry
@@bettygeorgieva7751 Pretty sure we're gonna see that bond between Ciri & Yen in season 3.
At least we better. Geralt said he was gonna let Yen teach Ciri about magic so they'll likely grow their relationship then...
@@HoYuPhat teah people also said "this will go better in next season" while watching season 1, and this went even worse, so... Hope is over now.
@@vikenlugaid That's your opinion. Guess what? You have the freedom to stop watching nobody is forcing you...
I never expected eskel would die that quick that is the worst decision they took
I knew the show was going to be BAD after watching the second episode
Maybe because of the recast and they don't like the new cast? 😅
How is he supposed to help defend Kaer Morhen against the Wild Hunt now?
@@AninoNiKugi Didn't like him either tbh. He didn't look like someone that would survive the trial of grasses, he looked like your typical out of shape frat boy.
Tbf, he is a pretty minor character in the books all things considered. W3 just expands on him more. Him dying I'm actually not too pissed about, I'm more pissed at how he died and how he was portrayed.
I would imagine Eskel going out holding a line or sacrificing himself, not being dumb and forgetting basic Witcher training. Also, Eskel is by far the more polite and reserved of the Witchers, not the douchebag he is in the show.
No wonder the people who read the books are saying season 2 is terrible... I can understand adding events that happened in the books off screen from important characters... but adding / changing plot points is almost never a good idea...
Mate you can change them a little bit but why the fuck did they change the writing when you have good writing you do not turn it into terrible writing like why the fuck did they do that
I really, really hate what they did to Cahir in the show. He was one of my favourite characters in the books and the show has completely ruined him.
What they did to Fringilla is totally abomination. I'm for equality, diversity or whatever but fuck equality and diversity if it destroy something that has nothing to do with equality and diversity.
Book Cahir was my boi, it brings me to tears seeing how they massacred his character arc
Can't wait for the "top three similarities" list.
1.- The names
2.- The places
3.- Uuuh... the names of the places
@@nestorreyes126 haha yeah was thinking the same - top three? best i can do is names
@@nestorreyes126 1. hmmm
2. fuck
3. No...
If you go specifically by the original polish story, the third similarity could be jaskier's name.
"Of course, I would love to work with the Witchers some more, but it all depends on how much the story allows. I'm a huge fan of the books and staying loyal to them, and it's about making sure that story happens without too much in the way of diversions or side things going on to muddy the waters." - Henry Cavill
Looks like if season 3 further derails the series Henry might just leave. Which is just unfortunate for everyone, but I would do the same in his shoes. Imagine campaigning for this role even before the show was greenlit and casting started only to see the "adaptation" get on a completely different track.
I feel sorry for him. He is a great dude, but these netflix fucks are sooo frreakin out of touch with the target audience. They creating a fuckin mess, and then they blame their fail on others.
I personally have some tolerance towards a show/movie/games that changes stuff from original source material.
I feel like if you're pulling it from a novel, you better adapt the story as close as possible, because I personally want to see all those texts comes to life, so to speak.
I'm okay with little changes as long as its purpose is to make the show flows better, or tweak minor things to make it looks more exciting, so cutting stuff out is okay if it causes pacing issues, just don't cut the important stuff.
But changing character's motivations, personalities, and fates?, or worse, lore?, Those are the identities of the characters and the series, changing those are not okay for me.
In short: the entire plot lmao.
Unfortunately. If only the changes were good. But they are horrible and badly written.
Correct. Season 1 was more or less on the money, and even did a good job of expanding Yennefer's backstory, but they may as well have been throwing darts at a board to decide the plot of Season 2.
10 changes! Everything has changed except the names of the characters!
yep
painful truth
Yeah it's pretty much a distorted reflection of the books. Like in the book Jaskier/Dandelion is tortured by Reince, but in a very different way. And Yennifer has full control of her powers and rescues Jaskier in a much more dramatic way ... and SHE'S the one who uses fire magic, not Reince. Same essential event, but totally different in how it unfolds.
Not true! The names of places are also the same hahaha
@@JanKowalski-th5re Holy f... You're SO RIGHT! My bad, man. My bad.
Thank you for covering this. I would go crazy how many differences and how many ruined stuff is in season 2. Dont get me wrong Im really happy as Witcher book fan to have my "world" alive but OH MY GOD what have they done :(
it would've been much easier and more inclusive to make a list of top 10 (probably less) similarities between the show and the books..
Character names, location names, ambientation (well, at least they are nor like in XX century New York, for example)... anything more? at least in the first season they adapted some plots of the books, season 2 is a disaster.
I've read the books. S2 of the Witcher felt like S6 of Game of Thrones.
What do you mean?
@@jayeightate7347 Thy are going off script and changed alot. That's not necessiarily a bad thing. But the show could get real dissapointing real quick.
Is a desaster...ciri made a dinosaurs? Wtf...witcher/jurassic park3?
@@darthiraecorpus, s6 isn’t even based on books though. It’s based on a very small amount of material from AFFC and ADWD but everything else is based on an outline of WoW
The difference is S6 of Game of Thrones is awesome. I wish I could say the same for Witcher Season 2. Maybe they can pull it back in Season 3, but they really had no excuse to stray that far from the source material when it's all there. The showrunners of Game of Thrones couldn't have known that Martin has apparently lost the ability to write.
You know what else is different?
Ciri's eyebrows from S1 to S2 :D
10. 1:00
9. 2:19
8. 3:29
7. 4:41
6. 6:00
5. 7:11
4. 8:00
3. 9:14
2. 10:30
1: 12:53
Don’t thank me, I’m just a humble hidden anime legend
Props to whoever wrote this; trying not to bash the show too hard. I don't hate the show, but while watching some of it I can't help but think, "what the fuck is this?"
Emhyr's secret wasn't revealed until book 7. How was that not at the top of the list?
I think it was kinda hard to keep the secret for all this time when you can actually see the actors face and name
let's be honest here 90% of the viewers have already played the games or read the books or both so they already knew who Emhyr was
keeping his identity secret is no problem in a book because we only "hear" him talk. In a tv series/movie you also see the character, not only "hear", and you really can not show his face for more than a few episodes or people will get frustrated. Revealing his identity right at the end was the best move for the show in my opinion
@@Spi00videos The fans might already know, but the characters didn't find out until book 7. Emhyr's men knowing that Ciri is his daughter changes a few things
@@tommyvercetti3263 The fans might already know, but the characters didn't find out until book 7. Emhyr's men knowing that Ciri is his daughter changes a few things
Yennefer, Tissaia, Vilgefortz, Cahir, Fringilla, Francesca, Nilfgaard as a whole, Vesemir, Eskel, Budget Baba Yaga
Aaaaand I'm already at 10 while Not even covering plot points :D
On the other hand the portrayals of Ciri, Geralt, Rience and Djisktra are really well done imo
I'm cackling at budget baba yaga 🤣
I think Trish and Yen of netflix are getting there like the Characters from the game version only the skin color and less hotness. I mean there are shots of Anya that looks like Yen from the games and same with Anna.
A top 100 differences still wouldn't scratch the surface. Sadly almost all of them are changes for the worse.
It's an adaptation lmao. You needa look that word up bud
@@filthyfrank.5 and I repeat, "Sadly almost all of them are changes for the worse."
@@filthyfrank.5 reinterpretation is the word your looking for
In both the books and the games Geralt frequently refers to himself or is referred to by others as “Geralt of Rivia” but it turns out that he’s not a native of Rivia. In the book The Witcher: Baptism Of Fire he explains that he chose the birthplace of Rivia to help him gain confidence with potential clients.
Ironically, he also actually becomes Sir Geralt Of Rivia after the battle of the bridge
He originally chose to be called Geralt Roger Eric du Haute-Bellegarde.. but Vesemir told him it was ridiculous so he just went with Geralt of Rivia 😂
It’s even revealed in the books as a nod to the changes sapkowski made since writing the short stories. In ‘The Witcher’ short story, Geralt has a Rivian accent. Later on Geralt admits he faked the Rivian accent.
@@KeytarArgonian Thanks for Sharing Olli 😂😂😂
That's my favorite book in the series.
Has he even been to Rivia?
You gonna need eventually more videos on this topic. :D
I believe Geralt never ever put his hands on Jaskier, never hit him
How many times has Yennefer saved the day? When did Yennefer, a very powerful sorceress, develop sword skills almost as good as Geralt’s after having lost her magic? In the TV show Merlin he has some basic sword skills because of Arthur. As far as we’ve been shown Yennefer has had no sword training. It’s show is entertaining to a degree but Yennefer seems to be the central character.
because of "the message"
It's an adaptation....
@@filthyfrank.5 a shitty one i might say
Yennefer is pretty good when it comes to melee.
She trained Ciri also.
But, yeah, no sorcerer can beat a witcher without his magic.
I don't believe Vilgefortz wasn't cheating back then.
@@filthyfrank.5 no that's a lie, it's actually a reinterpretation
Yennifer's hysterectomy. In the books sorcerers and sorceresses are commonly sterile but not because they had some kind of arcane elective surgery. It is the channeling of magical energy that causes it and it isn't always the case. Geralt's mother is a sorceress that wasn't made sterile by channeling this energy. Yennifer desperately wants to be a mother and throughout the story is trying to find a way to recover her fertility. The image of her having her uterus removed and dropped into a brazier was just weird and unnecessary.
at this point the show is merely inspired by the books...i'm not sure if i can forgive them for what they did to ciri and yen tho
Yes that is what an adaptation is...
@@filthyfrank.5 Calling it an adaptation would be an insult to actual adaptations. I just had goosebumps thinking of a Netflix adaptation of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.
@@filthyfrank.5 As everyone is pointing out, merely being "inspired" by something is NOT adapting it. When you change something so fundamentally that you break both the plot and characters, it's just not the same story anymore.
Nivellen story was such a wasted opportunity
In books we end up with "Holy fuck, that was true love from bruxa"
In the show we end up with "Nivellen's a rapist, he's bad"
And still it was the best episode of the season.
This "show" has literally nothing common with Sapkowski's work. So called "writers" of the "adaptation" did not understand a word from the books.
I think they introduced the Wild Hunt early so people had a reference like White Walkers so we know there is a bigger threat out there
No, it's more likely because a showrunner has to make difficult decisions, they do not have unlimited space like writers do.
@@callanrigg6179 And yet, she had all the space in the world to add some hardly meaningful stuff and those not-so-cosmetic changes which kinda distorted the main plot. For that she had time alright.
The only threat in this show is Lauren herself
You know why all these changes were made?
Because Voleth Maer is the big bad guy in Blood Origin… simply to set up Netflix’s spin off. That was the alter that all the brilliant writing of the book was sacrificed on.
So, just for money, what a surprise...
I've heard it already.
Where did you get this info may I ask?
I'll believe anything negative what people say bout this show cause I kinda hate it, but I'd like a prooflink or smth.
Can't believe what they did to my boy Eskel.
The actor couldn’t do the show so they killed him off in all honesty they should have just recast
MY BOY!!! LOOK HOW THEY MASSACRED MY BOY!!!
He's hardly in the books at all
@@Nick-dd2pe But he's still the most Badass Witcher in the Video Game besides Geralt
Yeah but the show is based on the books
Been waiting for this
Henry Cavill is a huge fan of everything Witcher. I’m surprised he was okay with the treatment of Eskel.
I will leave the show the moment i saw Fringilla characterization.
I bet his contract doesn't allow him to say what he truly doesn't like in the series. That must be painful :(
I've only read The Last Wish set of short stories. I thought it was really neat to see so many of the scenes played out pretty faithfully. Ciri isn't there when Geralt meets Nivellin, and that is their first meeting rather than a reunion of old friends. And some parts of The Lesser Evil which was the first episode of season 1 were different. But overall, I loved it!
Well if you would read other books you would see how many things they changed.
For example in the show Cahir is portrayed as a Emhyr's fanatic who admires he's leader.
But in the books it was whole different story, Cahir hated Emhyr, but Emhyr blackmailed him using Cahir's Father
I read all the books, but I have the unpopular opinion that they're doing a good job with the changes.
I love that they waited for Ciri to be present for the run in with Nivellen. It's such a beautiful vignette, but wouldn't really have a place in the narrative if you need it to feed the plot. By putting Ciri there, you get character development for her and Geralt's relationship while also adding another layer to the story by letting Vereena interact with Ciri & getting more of the "who's really the monster here?" themes (which admittedly, was a better fit for season 1, but I'm just glad it made it in at all).
I am nervous about all the Yen changes and how that will ripple into plot changes for the upcoming season/book, but I'm hopeful they already accounted for it and will just leverage it to make for a simpler, but thematically accurate adaptation of the political machinations to come.
@@melissam986 I mostly have problem with Monoliths plot and Baba Yaga (Losing powers, new monsters? Just... Just why?)
I actually really liked Grain of Truth, and putting Ciri there wasn't a bad idea. It was the only episode I watched with smile and without hurting my heart by pointless changes
Okay I thought I was going crazy watching season 2 thinking I missed EVERHTHING in the books. Season 1 I thought it was tolerable changes, but season 2 just left me scratching my head. Not bad just confusing.
I can't believe what they did with Eskel.
Yeah I know, Geralt's best bro Witcher. They turned in into a jerk of Lambert proportions and killed him.
@@ReadR00ster1 and replaced his role in the story with a black guy.
@@blakecollins3037 lol you just had to go there huh
@@TimDaGoof It's true, Coen is pretty much Eskel now, hell, he's more like Eskel than Eskel was. The show's writing is just so whack.
@@blakecollins3037 i hope they bring back eskel
Oh, sweet Watchmojo, perhaps a Top 30 will do this justice. I actually liked the series but as a fan of the books and the games, the changes disturbed me for the sake of the Witcher Lore and of the series itself.
A lot of "Blood of Elves" is about Triss getting diarrhea
@Logan Legend Blood of Elves - Love it, great story, Diarrhea part is really cool to read!
(I'm serious right now XD, that has better plot than new things added by Netflix)
@@diegostach9563 I completely believe this
You forgot Cahir. A noble hero who falls in love with ciri and betrays nilfgaard and dies to save her turned into a generic asshole evil bad guy who worships Emhyr. And I just know they’re doing this to make him into this show Jaime Lannister as if they’re in anyway similar characters.
Yep. Annoys the crap out of me
Maybe Cahir will change now, considering the ending to season two?
Plus, Cahir is not a nifgardian. He is from vicco
@@dragoonzen yep. The show wants nothing to do with Continent geography. Remember when they explained that the fastest way to get to Cintra, was to leave temeria, go to Oxenfurt then go down to Cintra. Lol
Also dont get me started on how fast apparently you can get from Cintra to Khaer Morhen
If I recall correctly, Cahir wasn't really changed untill traveling with Geralt for a bit. He only came truelly around somewhere between the battle of the bridge and the trek to Beauclair.
I wonder if their going to attempt an adaptation of the last book because it gets really weird
Nie Ryży. The cyberpunk 2.0 moment is comming...
Book and Game Eskel - Awesome brother figure to the other witchers, deep backstory, looks can be deceiving fan favorite
Series Eskel-Jerk who becomes a red shirt for the showrunner to try and be edgy killing off a named character ..again
The makers of the series are a fan of developing each and every side character, any storyteller would. But have you ever considered that to fit every side character's story into 8 episodes is just not possible?
The actor couldn’t continue
The witcher is not about Eskiel. That said, they could have easily made up a generic character to kill off.
He's hardly in the books. He shows up for three chapters of "Blood of Elves" and has a few lines in "The Lady of the Lake". He's become a fan favorite mostly thanks to the games
You say that as if an unamed character (Which was originally planned) would have been better for character development for vesemir and geralt. Even, if Eskel's arc is a lot different from the books, it is still compelling in it's own right for the impact upon Geralt and Vesemir.
I haven't read the book but it sounds better than the show, even though I like the show I wish they kept some storyline as it is in the books, specifically yennefer she seems more powerful and badass in the books
The books are a mixed bag. The characters and world are awesome. But the exposition can be clunky and the structure meandering.
@@Nick-dd2pe if that is the case then the showrunner missed the opportunity to make a show better than the source material, which is very rare, still, they can make this show better with the upcoming seasons
@@rresham The game for me it´s the non cannon better version of the story....MUCH better.
I still like the shows, but the amount of changes are a bit daunting. On the bright side, it makes reading the books a viable exercise. Not like you'll just be experiencing the same old thing but in print.
As someone who has read some of the books, i think they are a bit boring, they have a ton of politics and conversations and little action (except the short stories), if they had made the show fully based on the books, it would have turned boring to watch
Henry Cavill said that he hopes the next season sticks to the source material. I wonder how he's feeling about all of the major changes, since it only looks like the two mediums will only stray further.
In the episode where ciri is stuck in her imagination with her parents. when ciri's parents start to disappear when she's breaking free of the illusion. but her mother is the only one getting thanos snapped. hinting that her father is still alive. (I apologize if this is already discovered, i just started the 2nd season recently)
My opinion is that they changed to much. i liked the season for what it was but there were to many differences from the book PLUS THEY KILLED ESKEL........... that made me so mad and the eyes of the other witchers made me abit mad aswell.
The best thing about the show is that it is such a massive departure from the source material apparently, that I'm finally making myself read the source material. This way I get to experience the better story.
What I liked most about the book was, that around the core-story a wonderfully rich tapestry with some hundred other more or less loveable characters and their smaller life's (and death's) stories is woven: at least to me these 'unimportant' side-characters are more precious than the heiress on the run and the tragic love story of her fostering parents. (I take greatest joy out of halfling-grandmothers with a good aim, Avallac'h forging cave-paintings, the 'everettia maxiliosa pitti', Faoiltiarna's escape and the death of the Catriona-cat being avenged.) To betray the characters and the motives of these 'sidekicks' like Calanthe, Cahir, Eskel & Co, just to give the core-family more room and an additional reason to interact with them is probably a necessity of TV-adaptions, but moves the whole into the same category as the games: 'fanfiction'. (And I do love the games.)
After being somewhat disappointed about the handling of the timelines and completely underwhelmed by the Ciri-storyline in the first season and expecting nothing of the second season but a GOT-Finale-like disaster, I was rather entertained. The This-is-Not-Eskel-showdown made me realize I was mouse-clicking with my fingers to make the Avatar move to gather EP's and ingredients: it felt a bit like watching a - partially frozen - game, and sent me into player-panic-mode. The rising of the Baba-Jaga-Hut caused the same feeling and sent me searching for my inventory-button, if I had anything on me to burn it with. - But I'm completely fine with watching game-playthroughs, I don't need a tv-show for entertainment, nice if it continues, most likely I'm going to watch it, a shrug if it doesn't. (Cavill has a soothing voice, though: I might even fund his play-through or book-reading with a coffee, if he'd ever bother to put it out on patreon, it would really make a nice seria of good-night-videos. - Or did I miss something and he DID put it out on patreon?)
The Witcher series books tell a complicated story and adapting all this to TV has meant a lot of re-creation for the screen. Nit picking becomes wasted effort and we should enjoy both versions. However, #3 Emyr's secret, the reveal that Ciri is the Emyr's daughter is a huge change. Why did they decide to partially reveal this in only the second season?
what partially? They have full blown made the reveal that he is her father
To be honest they can make changes but when they have good writing why change the good writing at least keep the good writing why would you change the good writing into a terrible writing change the story a little bit or the plot little bit but don't change the writing i was ganna watch this 4 episodes in but I've seen Hollywood movies I know how this is was going to go I didn't want to waste my time so just came to see what happend and i was right the rest of the episodes were not good either i did like the first episode i did like the change they did with garelt knowing him and they were friends because in the book didn't know each other and of course the actor that played the cursed man was good
Just got into the Netflix series a couple weeks ago, which I’m now a huge fan of, but since I’m still a newbie to the franchise, this video is a HUGE help in knowing what the main differences are. Thanks WatchMojo!
I am Polish, and I feel bad that other people know about it more than I do.
Netflix could've brought home Emmy's if they decided to be a faithful adaptation
You can make top 100 differences and you will have a stuff to work with :D
When I heard of their plans to kill Eskel I dropped the series. Hollywood/weird ruins nearly everything and Cavill isn't strong enough to keep it right.
I think The Deathless Mother is a character made up to please the videogame fans, its Baba Yaga inspiration is the same used for the Crones in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
They would have appeased me more if they had put in the crone sisters 1-to-1
she's not even close to Crones
It feels like she came straight out of The Conjuring rather than TW 3
@@gigabilly1160 true 🤣
@@jaaydee93 facts
They’re about as similar as oil and water.
Answer: all off season 2
Still good tho
Deathless Mother reminds me the Crooks from Crookbag Bog
At least they were well written though
I found it quite suspicioous that the tomb was looked over by three skeletons. Perhaps she is the Old One the game mentioned, imprisoned in a tree. It explains the parallels. Perhaps she transformed into a black horse during the Wild Hunt scene too.
Toss a coin to your Witcher!
I read the books, played the games, I'm happy to see something different as long as its well done and coherent.
"Coherent" like the girls that find Kaer Morhen out of nothing, or like Eskel dying like tha
That's the point- it's not coherent or well done. Changes ? Why not. Changes which are painful to watch? Nope, thanks.
@@JanKowalski-th5re nah you're on an island there. Few will agree with you
Book two reminds me of The Return of the King, where in the books Aragorn united the garrison of the shore cities, which is an inspiring act of leadership. Instead in the movie they went with the dead men stupidity
“Significant deviations from the source material in Netflix’s adaptation” lmao
I'm glad someone made this video although there are tons of other differences, but these are definitely the biggest and most consequential.
And yeah, I'm salty AF to see the changes but will keep on watching because I love the Witcher games and books too much to not want to see even a bastardized version of them portrayed on screen. I still have my fingers crossed that the 3rd season will return more to the source material as I heard them promise.
That’s helpful.
I know Dettlaff is not on the books and is just a part of the expansion storyline in Witcher 3 but wouldn't it be cool to have one episode dedicated to the greatest monster in the whole game. Or at least some type of a higher vampire. Could be a longshot though especially now as Emhyr and The Wild Hunt are around too.
Would love too see regis fighting alongside geralt but yeah its a long shot
There is a really powerful vampire in the books... but seeing this season, I bet they will destroy that too.
Regis is cool.
So basically the whole second season was nothing even remotely close to the books. And my biggest disappointments in terms of character are Triss and Yennefer. In the show both are portrait as strong mages but way too emotional and well... weak. Yennefer asking Geralt for forgiveness? That is never going to happen. It is more likely that she would insist what she did was right rather than ask him to forgive her.
It is one thing to change the plot a bit in order to be more entertaining, but changing it in a way where it impacts a character so that it is more or less likeable by the public? That is not okay. That is, in a way, censorship.
The fact they revealed Emhry completely discredits this show and it’s writers
Only 10?;-) there are much more differences.
It didn't say all did it? It's also an adaptation bud
Ppl need to stick to the books if their bringing stories to life. Like follow Harry Potter nd you'll succeed
Harry Potter 3-5 were BAD book adaptations. the last three movies were better but still far away from the books. The first two movies have been the most accurate by far
The Azkaban movie was not so close to the book, but is the best, so you can go off the book if you can work with your material well enough
For someone who didn't read the books, I could tell the show story was all over the place
Gonna say I loved the first season. Most of their departures from the books were improvements, the exception being Cahir and the stupid fire magic thing. I loved Tseaea and Yeneffers expansion in season 1. As well as seeing the battle of sodden Hill and cintras fall
However season 2 just decided to do their own thing and I'm not that much of a fan.
Brokilon was a train wreck imo
@@poerk551 fair but to me it wasnt game breaking
It's a minor departure that I could understand. They wanted to give Ciri more to do than just showing up at the end of sword of destiny. In comparison to many of the other changes it minor and didnt effect much imo. However not saying it was good though, killed the pacing in season 1, lol
I'm with ya. Season 1 seemed like a liberal adaptation of the Witcher and I enjoyed it a lot.
Season 2 doesn't seem like Witcher at all. It reminds me of the later seasons of Game of Thrones.
Forced drama, characters acting irrationally and out of character, boring plotlines, people teleporting half way across the world and dialogue which takes you out of the show.
The writer really screwed up Season 2 and it doesn't forebode well for Season 3.
@@bakersmileyface pretty much my exact thoughts as well. Lol
I literally cannot watch this show! Way too many differences it just upsets me 🤣 poor henry doing the best to carry the show! I feel like they done him wrong lol
i got the witcher 3 game a year or so ago just bc of this
and imagine my surprise- im safe to say im a huge fan of the games
and i just started the books
At least they fixed the Nilfgaardians awful armour from Season 1
The difference is in the whole structure of the plot and characterization
Not every remake is a carbon copy of the original. Its okay for it to be different as long as its still good
@@rexibhazoboa7097 of course, but since we were talking differences
A lot of "Blood of Elves" is about Triss getting diarrhea
@@Nick-dd2pe And yet these are my favorite chapters from all of the series. Conversations that Ciri have with Yarpen are phenomenal for me - these are genuine and smart commentary on many issues that are still relevant nowadays - racism, prejudice, media propaganda etc.
@@rexibhazoboa7097 and it's not still good
I think you should have made a video on top 10 similarities between the witcher show and the books cause the show was poles apart from the books. There was hardly any similarity.
Since Henry cavil is on the verge of playing video game protagonists, he should play the Dragonborn in a Skyrim tv series
I hope he goes to somthing like a Warhammer TV show i hope they will follow the source material they can add good changes but i hope at least they don't fuck up the good writing to turn it in to a terrible writing
I blame the blatant changes to the fact that the showrunners have to live with the fear of Netflix suddenly axing the show. They assume some shortcomings based on the fact that they don't have the amount of time the books have to tell all of the stories.
But they have enough time to show characters. Why did they butcher them, their motivations and behaviour?
the wild hunt is the name ot the witcher 3 video game. don't forge that the witcher has been made in video because of the game, not the book. so they always try to please everybody but can't by definition
I would t say “head to head” with Rience more like rience casted one shotty spell, it got blocked by Geralt and then he panicked and tried to run away
Netflix needs to get a new showrunner for this project
netflix is the showrunner
@@jaredrobinson7071 that's the problem
For a show with great ratings.. yeah that makes sense.
@@Matkatamiba No you see. I a book reader, do not like it, therefore these filthy casuals need to be as miserable as I am. I will make sure people believe that no one is actually enjoying it despite viewing figures saying otherwise.
@@tomzknight7412 people who like this will love literally every other garbage show Netflix releases, as long as there is enough blood, violence and CGI
It's interesting how sapkowski uses Irish for the elves dol blathanna for instance, bláthanna means flowers in Irish.
Yeah, I wonder if the elvish language has any basis off of J.R.R. Tolkiens creation of Elvish. Probably not the same, but saves time in creating a new language.
@@Daramouthe did he use irish ? :o
@@markdillon9588 You know I'm not sure, but he was a linguist. So possibly he could've borrowed some of and use that to help in the basis.
@@markdillon9588 I think he's used Finnish, which is why Elder Speech is so different from Sindarin.
Rience, should have been Vilgafortz. Seriously look at him. He has all the signs and markings for the Character as described in the book.
Ngl didn't like the ending that much, expected more
season 1 was amazing, season 2 was still great, even with all the changes. I'm just worried that the show will go so outside the books they'll mess up, basically. But a least Henry Cavill is such a witcher nerd that he should be able to steer them in the right enough direction to keep it all going strong.
they went off the rails in the second season, good for casual viewers only
Out of the three fantasy TV series(Game Of Thrones, Wheel Of Time, Witcher), Witcher TV show is the most unfaithful to the Books. This adaptation has very little resemblance to even call itself a witcher story. That doesn't mean I don't like adaptation or anything for example Game of Thrones also had many changes from the book specially after season 4 but the first 4 seasons are mostly faithful to ASOIAF similarly Wheel Of Time season 1 might not be book accurate but the changes they made make sense and somehow enhance the book experience. But Witcher adaptation doesn't give me that feeling. This adaptation is bombastic Hollywood version of the original source material. The show looks good for a new audience and probably sell very well but book readers can skip this as Books and games are far better.
But didn't they kill the dark one at the end of season 1 is It same in wheel of time books
@@devilmaycarebutGODdonot Rand broke the seal. Ishmael was freed by Rand not killed by Rand in the finale of season 1 of WOT show. Please rewatch the scene You will understand what I am saying.
@@abhishekdas2352 but he didn't turn to dark side then how does Ishmael used that power to break the seal
@@devilmaycarebutGODdonot If you are aware of the TEOTW ending I guess you know it is confusing and contradictory to later books. The logic behind why Rand didn't fell into the dark side is Rand didn't use "True power" to break the seal( like He did in the last battle using Callandor) In the show He used a ter'angreal which amplified "One power" which He channeled to break the seal. As He didn't used true power He didn't become addicted to dark power like Ishameal. If you read The gathering storm (book 12) then you will understand the logic behind it. Dragon reborn can break the seal with one power( Like Lews Therin did in Age of Legends) but One power cannot touch a dark one unlike True Power can because True Power originates from Drak One itself. Rand did the same mistake LTT did thousands of years ago in both Eye of the world book and show. Rand will understand this fact in later books so as We are watching 1st season revealing this fact will be too early for viewers. That's why many people are confused with the ending but it is intentional, Season 1 is building up for later revelations.
@@abhishekdas2352 ok thanks dude
2nd series after 1st episode, everything!
Season 1: many things are different
Season 2: all of it are different
I think I'll finish the audio book set before bothering with the show. which I will consider an extreme Alternate Universe, with no similarities beyond some events and names.
Voluthmere(?) gave me serious “Ladies of the Woods” vibes. I’ve read the books, and while I’m ambivalent about the changes, I just hope the writers don’t pull a GoT season 8.
GoT season 8 is The Godfather compared with The Witcher series.
Top 10? Make it a top 100 😂😭
As someone who played the Games, then read the books, then watched half the first season of the show.....play the Games! They are the best source, seriously. Yennifer is way too tiny. She's like taller then Geralt in heels!
Apparently the small & weak is now the new big & strong ;)
Why would anybody care if she is taller or shorter than him lmaoo nerd
@@szymonbaranowski8184 no?
@@filthyfrank.5 If you don't get it, I don't know what to tell you.
@@jenitoten2212 oh no I understand that you're lonely
I didn't read the books and just watching the second season you can tell that they are not following the books, the narrative it's so bad and fast almost as if they want to end the story in 3 seasons people making portals here and there, moving from locations like if they were next to each other, and the ridiculous fights, oh god, using the witchers to make a shield and lock ciri was the worst for me. All that for nothing because they left. The witchers are the best fighters and have the best equipment not just some weird wizards, use your imagination !!!!
After Watching season 3,I have to laud the Makers and writers, The way they let the story take turn as the books,Like the return of Yennefer to Aretuza even though she wasn't welcome there.Sorry Watchmojo,Seems u were wrong in this one🤣
How I see was Witcher show budget: actors - $40m, CGI - $40m, script - $3k