The Witcher Season 3 starts strong with its premiere episode, “Shaerrawedd,” and the first part ends with a fascinating showcase. Yet, unfortunately, the last three episodes are narratively questionable, convoluted, and inadequately paced.

The series shines best when it ventures toward quiet character excavations amidst the lore. Though the last three episodes feature this to a degree, the narrative loses itself entirely by tying up loose ends in all the wrong ways.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Henry Cavill would depart as Geralt of Rivia, with Liam Hemsworth set to replace him in Season 4. However, with very little information on the transition, the season’s last episode gives the audience nothing substantial to hold onto. Cavill’s arc as Geralt feels woefully reduced in the final few episodes, making it the most perplexing send-off after a few episodes of solid character work.

The Witcher Season 3 could’ve been one of the show’s strongest seasons—it starts as so, but the trenches we fall through don’t do enough to merit further investment. For a series based on video games, it’s been challenging to follow from day one, differing it from the monumental success that HBO’s The Last of Us achieved earlier this year. Still, even if we save the show from unfair comparisons, it remains unclear what The Witcher wants to be. Is it a series about monsters and those hunting them, or is it an exploration of a found family cloaked in a fantasy spectacle?

Perhaps those who prefer the former will argue about the latter, but The Witcher is as great as it is because of the characters and their dynamics with one another—lose that, and it’s weeding through one blight after another trying to get by.

The first half of the season succeeds entirely because of the small family’s loyalty to one another and everything they achieve in their short time together. Cavill and Anya Chalotra’s dynamic chemistry will be hard to replicate because when the series’ romantic arcs are good, they’re great. What we see in the first episode and later in the fifth is nothing short of warm and intimate in the best way, creating a labyrinth of storytelling that’s easy to stay in.

Yet the odd changes from Season 3, Episode 5 to all that transpires in the finale are clunky, deviant, and all over the place. It completely loses the familial intimacy that Episode 6 cements (with beautifully enamouring performances), and it bounces from one plot to another without ever showing the audience why or how they got here in the first place.

Sure, one can argue that there are more stories to tell in Season 4, but cliffhangers that exist solely to propel viewers toward returning don’t feel earned or necessary. The end leaves too many unanswered questions from rushing important beats and overstuffing narratives.

Where The Witcher Season 3 could’ve been an excellent send-off for Cavill, it’s a cluttered, questionable wreckage instead. Still, there are certainly highlights and the quiet familial moments between Geralt, Yennefer, Ciri, and even Jeskier are moments fans will hold onto. It’s unfortunate that peculiar plot devices camouflage stunning and picturesque moments. It’s also regrettable that the costume department’s fumbling this season makes it very unclear what period we’re in—based on which episode you show someone entirely unfamiliar with the series; they’ll have different responses, to be sure. The Witcher Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix.

Boluwatife Adesina
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Boluwatife Adesina is a media writer and the helmer of the Downtown Review page. He’s probably in a cinema near you.