This is was really good. I mean its not perfect (ugly elves wtf) but its probably the best sword and sorcery fantasy show/movie Ive seen in a long while.
After watching this Im positive a Warcraft series could do very well. It would probably need to be animated and more dark/serious than silly but it could work.
I feel it’s important to mention that the series is based off the books, not the video game series. That said, I’m with the OP. It’s an excellent adaptation and Henry Cavill is a great Geralt.
OP, look at Netflix Castlevania as a model for how a Warcraft animated show could be done. Mostly dark and serious with a side of good character based comedy. And 100% not for the kids. If they’re still in elementary school, they’re too young.
I liked it, a few small issues for me like confusing wiverns and dragons but that seems to be 99% of fantasy shows these days. Other thing against it is the very disjointed timelines with nothing to indicate what’s happening when, book readers will understand but not average Joe.
It is based on the books but they did take a lot of visual inspiration from the games, just look at game Geralt and Henry Cavil Geralt.
I think Castlevania makes a better model for how a Diablo series could run than a Warcraft. It would need both a lighter and more epic tone for Warcraft.
The dragons are accurately portrayed as they are depicted in Witcher lore. There are wyverns and those were definitely not them. Just because Dragons & Wyverns have specific delineations in D&D doesn’t mean that’s the same case in all mythology. The D&D depictions are Nordic in origin anyway, whereas the Witcher is Slavic.
I mean they live a pretty rough, mean life in the Witcher universe. These are not Tolkien’s elves. Portraying them as pristine, elegant, and beautiful wouldn’t really be appropriate.
Henry plays the games a ton and I’m certain he modelled big parts of his performance off of in-game Geralt. The way he delivers lines, I mean you could close your eyes and think you were playing right then.
I think the swordplay is the best that’s been seen yet on-screen in Fantasy. It’s fast and visceral, and manages to be spectacular while remaining grounded in actual sword techniques. I give them a C+ in the armor realism department - you never see someone thrusting through a plate cuirass, but the unerring accuracy that everyone has for unarmored points…
To me the book describes this dragon differently. “It was sitting, arching its long, slender neck in a smooth curve, inclining its narrow head into its domed chest, wrapping its tail around its extended front feet.”
“Looking at them with its large, golden eyes, the creature unfurled it broad, golden, bat-like wings and remained motionless, demanding to be admired.”
“The dragon twisted, standing on its hind legs, and clawed Beanpole, tearing open the horses belly and the riders thigh with a single slash.”
He is also called catlike by that author. To me at least this sounds far more like the typical English 4 legged dragon. Also look up Smok Wawelski, a dragon from polish folklore that has 4 legs and separate wings.
Other than that I agree that the fight scenes are very well done and armour seems to work as it should when you hit it.
Off topic to the Witcher but, I think a WoW animated adaptation shouldn’t be afraid to go to dark areas. Now lighter than Castlevania, I see your point on it but epic? Like us, I feel it show start out small and build up to epicness. Kinda like the Isekai genre of anime, with the lewdness kept to a certain inn.
Both get a /swoon from me 
Yea the witcher tv series is awesome. Henry Cavill did his role perfectly. Ciri is perfect as well. Yennefer, Tissaia and Sabrina is ok. But the rest of the sorceress for me does not look that much the part. Triss is nowhere near the game or books although I love the actress.
For those not familiar with the story though you might get confused since they jump between three timelines to tell three stories of the three main characters. My tip is to treat Geralt as the main timeline, Yennefer as a prequel and Ciri’s as the future. All three will converge on Geralt’s timeline in the end. Don’t know why they did not put time stamps on the beginning of each character’s scenes to let ppl be more aware haha 
Cannot wait for season 2 but heard it will be 2021 before it gets released huhuhu 
I enjoyed it thoroughly
I liked it.
I read something that gave me a hint that it “jumped around chronologically”, so I was prepared.
It was still a really odd way to do it, but it made it a surprise later when you realized people were around each other at the same time.
I think it helped that I was not familiar with the game/books.
The jumping makes sense when you take the season as a whole and it brings the 3 main characters together while also fleshing out their back story’s and setting up for future seasons.
Hopefully that same level of detail and overall faithfulness to the source material continues.
Love the series but the Yennefer character confuses me. She agreed to have her female bits removed, she was even warned by that one dude that makes the mages pretty, but then she spends the right of the series whining about her reproductive choice being taken away. She also hates the mage tower thingy with a passion but they made her life 10x better than it was. The entire series she makes bad/dumb choices then blames the Brotherhood.
Is she supposed to be a crappy character? I’m at the point now that I’m hoping she gets killed off in season 2. The gold dragon did hint that Geralt was going to lose her. I don’t care about spoilers so spoil it for me.
I’ll admit that Yen’s motivations are a bit unclear on the first watch but after a couple times through its a bit clearer.
Yen was a deformed peasant hated or ignored by pretty much everybody. When her magic manifests and she is taken to the mage school she learns that her dream of being powerful and beautiful is now possible and she’s willing to do anything to achieve it. She’s basically dreaming of being a disney princess, but as someone once said the cruelest thing you can do to somebody is give them what they always wanted.
She learns her magic, she becomes beautiful and she get the position at court she wanted, she achieves her dream. Then we cut to 30 years later and the harsh reality of living her she dream has kinda broken her. She’s seen ugly truth of the ruling class and is disgusted by them. She fails to protect her queen and infant princess and that breaks her even more. As shes sitting there looking at the dead baby shes thinking about what living her dream cost her and her obsession with getting it back begins to form.
She abandons life at court, she abandons the brotherhood of mages, and she starts living a life solely for herself, something that she has never been able or allowed to do before.
Yeah I got all that but what you said doesn’t answer my question. Why does she blame other people for choices she made? Makes no sense.
Yep you got it. Yennefer’s only focus before was to be beautiful and powerful because that is something she never had a chance at and thought it is worth losing everything else including her capability to reproduce. But after acquiring all she wished for she realized that power and beauty is not as fulfilling as she once thought and after losing the baby under her protection started to think that having a baby or family is something that is more important.
Her anger at Tissaia and Aretuza for the most part are indeed misplaced though. Despite her age she is basically a child lashing out at her “parents” for the choices she herself made. Something Tissaia mentioned. Towards the last episode though she is beginning to mature and it will probably continue in season 2 like in the books when she finally becomes more responsible and more mature.
Nah, I binged watched the entire 1st season and was not impressed. It tries too hard to be like GoT but “darker and grittier” when there isn’t that much darkness and grit like GoT has. I find the dialogue wooden and the acting hammy.
You cannot really compare it to GoT. Even though it is also set on a medieval setting and kingdom politics features prominently especially in future stories. The main focus of the witcher is on Geralt and his companion and therefore more hero centric while GoT was supposed to be more kingdom centric (later seasons though began to be more hero centric as well hence season 7-8 is not as nice).
I think it is possible for the last 2 seasons to be hero centric and still be good, it’s just that D&D (Dan Weiss and David Benioff, the showrunners) just got lazy and ran out of book material to base on. I mean the books are hero centric, there was a sliver of kingdom centric with the effects of the character’s actions to society. Had GRRM finished his books a long time ago, we would see a better ending of the show.
GoT is about the game of thrones which means major characters from each kingdoms doing their own things for their kingdoms. Yes each kingdom has their own “heroes” and “champions” which technically are villains to the other side, but they are kingdom centric.
The Witcher is firmly about Geralt the mighty witcher and his supporting casts that he meets along his journey. Sure Foltest features prominently in some chapters and Radovid of Redania in some but their stories all revolves around Geralt not the other way around.
Season 8 of GoT they indeed got lazy and basically made it a sort of hero centric good vs evil battle which GoT was never really about. They made the story revolve around Jon Snow against the White Walker and Cersei which made it bland and boring unlike the first 4 season wherein each kingdom shows off each of their own “heroes”.
Yes that’s all true the above that is to say ^, anyway I don’t think the Witcher seems like a bad series but I haven’t tried it yet.
You need to try it 