The Witcher Fourth Season Review: Why the Magic Fades Away

Discover why The Witcher fourth season feels like a story without spirit or future, despite Netflix’s bold casting and visual flair.

The Witcher has never been the most successful production on Netflix. But even so, it has been the origin of a discreet expanding universe that already has a spin-off, a prequel and an anime. However, the story has never been solid, attractive, or faithful enough to the original saga to capture a loyal group of fans. A more than evident point in the fourth season. That fails to have coherence, with the addition of changing the actor who plays its protagonist. A bump that weakens the project in several different ways and turns its new chapters into a mediocre entry to the central universe.

In fact, the big problem with the installment lies in its inability to incorporate Liam Hemsworth as a version of Geralt of Rivia. That, despite the fact that the actor has charisma and does not try to compete with the memory of what Henry Cavill did with the role. However, comparisons are inevitable and especially become more complicated because of something that is noticeable during the first chapters. The series does not adapt its tone and rhythm to the personality of its new performer. Which would be a wise move. On the contrary, he focuses all his energy on a kind of run-over continuation.

A problem that affects solidity from its first chapter and that only worsens in the following ones. Henry Cavill gave the titular character a powerful and muscular presence. That is based on his enormous physical constitution and obsession with details about the saga, of which he is a fan. So one of the strengths of the series—especially in its first season—was to take advantage of the actor’s undoubted personality. Which allowed him to sustain the flaws of the plot.

But Liam Hems worth does not have the same passion, and for a good part of the first episodes, he seems to have real difficulties understanding his character. Not because of a lack of skills, but because of his attempt to explore a new dimension of Geralt of Rivia and offer him an inexplicable vulnerability. The actor’s Geralt is much more open and physically closer than his predecessor, but the contrast doesn’t do the story any favors. Especially because this time, it’s all about how powerful Geralt can become. At the same time, how much of that helps him to gain allies in a chaotic situation?

A superficial and lackluster adaptation of ‘The Witcher’ saga

Based on the novel Baptism of Fire, the third in Andrzej Sapkowski’s saga published in 1995, the series begins in a similar way to the original. So it shows what has happened on the continent after the events that followed the mutiny of Arethusa. Also, the events that provoked the conflict. Something that included the kidnapping of Cirilla (Freya Allan), Geralt’s recovery from his wounds in battle, and the great final confrontation. After which, the sorcerer walks into the mist. A symbolic farewell that explores the fact that, beyond that brief interval, there is a whole new adventure.

The fourth season does not explain a physical change in Geralt, so it presupposes that the audience knows what happened off-screen. In this case, it’s a smart move. The witcher returns to action desperate to find Ciri and overwhelmed by the supposed death of Yennefer (Anya Chalotra). But in addition, the monster hunter knows that the total destruction of Aretuza implies that there are few defenses against the evil that represents Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu). He now has a new position of power.

But it takes effort for the series to try to propose its map of conflicts, because it must also overexplain what has happened after a hiatus of almost two years. So the plot does not trust the audience to remember and wastes a good deal of time in explanatory dialogues and convenient summaries of events. The script is clumsy and messy and doesn’t seem to know what to actually do to put all the pieces together. In particular, when Yennefer, Ciri, and Geralt must reunite somehow while accumulating power and allies to face the various struggles that traverse the territory.

The premise never fully delves into its twists and turns. So for the third episode, the series returns to its usual rhythm of dazzling battles and little to no evolution. The fourth season of The Witcher goes back and forth, without finding a coherent way to carry forward what is supposed to be an epic feat. But the core of Geralt’s mission is so scattered—to confront demons, to seek out Ciri, to focus on the enemy who is chasing him—that everything is incomplete. Much more so when the episodes—with the exception of the first and seventh—have some filler in a plot that doesn’t advance anywhere.

Nothing fits in the fourth season of ‘The Witcher.’

Step by step and with difficulty, the Witcher struggles to keep up. And wisely, focus interest on other characters, besides Geralt. The strategy allows for the exploration of Ciri’s growth and a greater role for Yennefer. Both characters are, by far, the best of the series and, in fact, demonstrate all the possibilities of the production if it is better focused and has a more intelligent script.

Another of the great surprises of the season is Regis, played with ease, elegance, and mystery by Laurence Fishburne. Several of the best moments of the fourth season of The Witcher are starred by the character. The barber and surgeon, with many secrets to keep, soon joins Geralt on his long journey, and in some way, it is his presence that gives relevance to the witcher. Together, the duo—who inherit to a certain extent the chemistry of the books—turn their friendship—at times complicated and with an ironic touch—into a strong point of the story.

But the new installment faces a problem that does not allow it to reach a medium potential. The story is designed not so much to innovate or deepen the world, but to serve as a connection with the next season and finale. So a good part of the conflicts come to nothing, half-resolved or are the announcement of future alliances for the great final battle that awaits them later.

A risky move for ‘The Witcher’

With all of the above against it, it takes effort for the series to be more than just a set of events awkwardly linked together. There’s no interest in Geralt’s battles—much less spectacular than in any season—or Ciri’s growing abilities. In fact, the plot seems more interested in covering the terrain that the story should conclude on, without contributing too much to what it tries to tell.

For its final season episode, the series has a slight uptick without much to offer. And again, it all comes down to waiting for season five, in which the events seem to find an end once and for all. However, it is still evident, the way in which history is wasted and much more is left halfway. A kind of early farewell to a story without much to tell, which, from the beginning, did not interest anyone much.

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