1 - The story is easier to understand
Many people roasted that the first season is difficult to understand.
The TV series and the game are inconsistent in terms of story structure. Andrzej Sapkowski, the author of the novel The Witcher, wrote several fragmented stories. Later, it was adapted into a linear narrative game The Witcher, which won the best game of the year 2015.
I think it is the best game ever.
Many loyal gamers are looking forward to the show, but to their surprise, the script retained the novel's narrative structure and is rather scattered. The game players feel incredibly strange about it.
The TV series and the novel are inconsistent in character arrangement. Due to the novel's story structure, Geralt is the main line. Yennefer, Ciri, and other characters appear later in the storyline of Geralt's adventures. Yennefer has been a mature woman when she appears and Ciri's life experience is mentioned briefly.
However, in the TV series, Yennefer and Ciri are two important characters, so they appear very early. The TV series details the past of Ciri's parents and Geralt, and the look of Yennefer has changed a lot. To novel readers, it is also confusing.
Season 1
In contrast, the second season is much better.
Although the second season is a multi-line narrative, the story is complete, and the clues are also clear. The main storyline of the second season is about Geralt and Ciri, starting after the Battle of Sodden Hill. It is interspersed with the dealings of Yennefer, Fringilla, and Francesca with the Deathless Mother, while briefly recounting the political intrigue between the kings of the Northern Kingdoms, and explaining the origin and influence of Ciri's Elder blood clearly.
The story sounds complex, but watching it is more like playing a game, with a main quest and side quests. The writers always guide the audience to understand the plot, sweeping away the confusion of the first season.
Scares the hell out of me.
2- new content is necessary
In the first season, the writers adapted the novel content because they fear that a huge adaptation would lead to dissatisfaction.
To sum up, the first season is like a mechanical combination of Geralt's adventure story, Yennefer's growth story, and Ciri's escape story, interspersed with the Nilfgaardian Empire's invasion of Cintra.
The second season partially adapted the original work and added many original new contents. Including the origin of Ciri's family, why Fringilla betrayed the Northern Kingdoms, and the consequences of the outbreak after Ciri avoiding from the Black Knight. As in terms of worldview, it still maintains respect for the original.
Anya Chalotra is beautiful, but does she fit Yennefer?
The long-lasting confrontation between the Northern Kingdoms and the Nilfgaardian Empire, as well as the arrest warrant for Ciri and Geralt, transforms the second season from a magical adventure story into a political thriller and also lays down infinite possibilities for the courtroom struggle, involving political and military confrontation.
As a sequel, the second season not only fills in many loopholes of the first season but also paves the way for the next season. The image of the Wild Hunt that appears in the last episode is a good prospect for the entire series.
Season 2 allows one to fantasize about the broad future of the show. I hope it will become the second Game of Thrones-level TV series. In season 3, we'll see what happens.
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