Young Henry Cavill ❤️

Young Henry Cavill ❤️

The Witcher's first season came out in December 2019, it was right before we stepped into a full-fledged pandemic that would mark the beginning of our new normal life as we call it with our masked existence. When I first saw Henry Cavill's Geralt during one of my many binge-watching escapades in the pandemic, he seemed relatable in more ways than one given how his level of grumpiness wasn't far from what I was experiencing during the lockdown. Just as Geralt of Rivia would use a curse word at the drop of a hat and avoid any social conversation, I was no different except while he slayed monsters, I was just fighting my inner demons.

While going into the first season of The Witcher, I wasn't well-acquainted with the work of Polish author, Andrzej Sapkowski who built this fantasy world, neither had I been indulgent when it came to the video games based on the series. As a newbie to The Witcher world, the first season turned out to be a fairly difficult watch, having to keep up with the timelines with a string of characters. Although by the end of the series, the show did get me hooked enough to thoroughly enjoy the Battle of Sodden, the aftermath of which is now explored in Season 2.

The second season of The Witcher picks up from right where it left off. Geralt (Henry Cavill) and Ciri (Freya Allan) have now found each other but are unaware of Yennefer's (Anya Chalotra) fate. Geralt believes that Yenner died in the battle of Sodden but she does in fact survive and finds herself dealing with the aftermath of the battle of Sodden in the most painful way and it also seems to serve as a reminder for her how becoming a mage comes with its own gifts and perils. The focus of the second season remains mainly on Geralt and Ciri's relationship.

There's something significantly different about the second season of The Witcher and it's visible right from the first episode. Having watched the same as it spreads itself to an hour-long introduction to what lies ahead, it seems safe to say that the makers seemed to have paid attention to all the feedback from the first part and hence there's an interesting change of tonality this time around. Henry Cavill, who also mentioned it in several media interactions ahead of the series' release, there is definitely a focus on making the characters more three-dimensional than what they seemed the first time we met them.

Geralt of Rivia may be a witcher but that doesn't make his existence any less different from other folks who suffer from serious bouts of emotion and the character who has already proved how badass he can be when it comes to slaying monsters, gets to show his tender side here. Geralt's bonding with Ciri and him taking on the role of guardianship with all its bearings is a character trait that certainly gives his character more edge. The same goes for Ciri's character who gets a stronger representation this time as young woman tapping into her fierce side and learning to deal with her fears. The missing depth in Yennefer's character also seems to find a way in the second season at least there's a beginning of it.

If The Witcher's first season left us gory fight scenes, ample steamy exchanges between Geralt and Yennefer and the best of Jaskier's (Joey Batey) songs including, "Toss a Coin To Your Witcher”, the second season has a more heavy tone in terms of its dialogue. Even as Geralt claims to have lived through it all saying, "I’ve lived through a whole dark age and three supposed end of days. It’s all horseshit." It's evident how it's all coming out of his broken heart that believes he has lost Yennefer forever. It's moments like this one that changes the show's overall vibe which has been dark and gloomy with more VFX monsters than humane characters in the past.

The first episode titled "A Grain of truth" also introduces us to Geralt's boisterous beast friend Nivellan (Kristofer Hivju). The whole sequence involving Nivellan's house where Geralt and Ciri take refuge amid the cold makes for an interesting start to the new season. There's also an interesting parallel drawn between monsters who look evil and those who've done far greater evil deeds but may have more human looks during the Nivellan sequence and it is handled quite well. The whole fight sequence between Geralt and vampiric bruxa will turn out to be a great highlight for those who may have felt the first episode began on a somber tone.