Hemsworth isn’t the only one who’s going to have a tough time with Season 4.
Although Netflix has positioned The Witcher as one of its flagship series and expanded the franchise to spawn failed spin-off series and, conversely, successful animated films, a growing number of fans of Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels and CD Project’s video games have stopped following the series. Bizarre plot and directorial choices have alienated many, and Henry Cavill ‘s departure from the project has further turned off people who followed the series solely for his performance as the cold-blooded witcher Geralt of Rivia.
Nevertheless, Season 4 is approaching, and with it comes growing anxiety on the part of those who have remained loyal to the series. Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and her team will have bigger challenges than convincing audiences that Liam Hemsworth is a good replacement for Cavill. Let’s find out what major problems The Witcher needs to avoid so that Season 4 doesn’t repeat the mistakes of Season 2 and even, to some extent, Season 3.
3. Found Family Must Remain a Core Theme
One of the recurring themes in both the books and the TV series is the non-blood bonds formed through shared horrific experiences. Geralt was given to the witchers of Kaer Morhen, who became his family. Yen was sold by her own father but found comfort in other sorceresses. Ciri never knew her parents, and then her father, Emhyr, turned out not to be the good knight he originally was. Jaskier has been alone his whole life.
Neither is ready to jump into each other’s arms; their ‘family’ is quite dysfunctional. Still, the characters are on their way to becoming attached to each other.
While Season 3 conveyed this quite well with the reunion of Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri for a moment, Season 2 infuriated fans when Yen was literally ready to give Ciri away to Wild Hunt. The writers must not make the same mistake again, considering that Geralt will find new friends who will become his loyal allies.
2. The Witcher Should Not Repeat GoT’s Mistakes
Sapkowski is no less notorious than George R. R. Martin for the sheer number of characters, subplots, and behind-the-scenes shenanigans. Season 3 introduced no small number of new characters and their seemingly unrelated storylines, and the next season will introduce even more. The same was true of Game of Thrones, but many important storylines were omitted and the conclusion of some characters’ arcs sometimes seemed unfinished.
The writers of The Witcher have to find a balance between exploring major and minor characters without leaving annoying plot holes.
1. And the Main Problem: Not Staying True to the Source Material
Unlike Season 2, where fans were fuming over the creative liberties taken, including Yennefer’s betrayal, Kaer Morhen customs, and Eskel’s death, the next season was much more faithful to the original book. But it also had enough changes to set it apart from the Time of Contempt novel. Of course, changes are perfectly logical when adapting books, and some of them, to reiterate the previous argument, are sometimes even necessary. But some, like the death of Rience, who haunted Ciri for a long time in the books, or Radovid becoming King of Redania, turned out to be problematic.
Whether or not Season 4 is the final season, fans will not forgive the show if it takes a completely different course and fails to capture the essence of the books.
As already mentioned, the active pre-production phase of The Witcher Season 4 will reportedly start as early as January 2024. Considering that this phase usually lasts about 8–10 weeks, the start of filming could begin around March-April, which means that the release of Season 4 should be expected in 2025.
