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Was quite annoyed at how the show hammers in the ineptitude of the leading mages. I get that some are already established as the guys who hinder the protagonists if not outright conspire against them. But this is hitting you over the head. Stregebor especially. Se01E01 at the end of the Butcher of Blaviken scene I thought they gave the lines to dude to show that he was a fantastic orator if not able to magically charm others around him. Something like Saruman's voice in the books. And it certainly took a powerful witcher to pin him as a rat. Then this season he just menacingly promotes a view we know is ridiculous. Like Saruman in the Hobbit films. The way Yennefer escapes with Cahir is also cringe.
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Dec 19, 2021 04:53
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MOVIE MAJICK posted:Can someone explain the last scene Because of who the Emperor is. It's Duny. The hedgehog knight from the banquet. And Ciri is his daughter. It's barely a spoiler but I'll put the tag up.
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Dec 19, 2021 04:55
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MOVIE MAJICK posted:Oh poo poo. That's sort of a random connection. He was the emperor of Nilfgard even in season 1? Haha. Not too random. And nope. His father had been the emperor before The Usurper (who may or may not be related) executed the reigning monarch and had Duny cursed. At the banquet in Cintra he was the long-lost son of a disposed ruling house to a backwards part of the continent. Judging by how Ciri's grandmother treated a high noble from Nilgaard he might not have a very improved case if he had been emperor. Other than the Law of Surprise... On that note, he has dark designs on his daughter that may not even be explained in the TV show. The only reference in the video games unless you piece lore together yourself is Ciri saying she doesn't want to talk about what he offered her. There may even be bigger brained reasons for writing it this way than I can see on first glance. But at the minimum it explains the motivations the new emperor has and had when reforming the empire and invading the North. Plus it gives him and Geralt a backstory that explains their familiarity and Geralt dismissing the religious claims of the White Sun beyond him just being grumbly when it comes to the gravity of princes. And it ties into the thread of destiny by weaving a pattern of Surprise Children. Could Duny and the emperor have been two different persons? Sure. Maybe. It'd be only a tad more difficult to write the latter in as Ciri's father. But it doesn't really change the story too much.
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Dec 19, 2021 05:25
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Chef Boyardeez Nuts posted:It's a bit underwhelming because The White Flame Dancing Like No One's Watching isn't super memorably cast. The show has to invent a personal connection for Fringilla to be in awe of him because he's just a young dude in gilded armour. The throne scene itself is unwherlming. I know he's moving into Cintra and in game he isn't hge on ostentation but you'd think they could design a better set piece than he slowly moving towards a chair with a handful of guards in attendance. Make some iron throne deal they conjured up for his arrival. With the shields of all the Cintran knights they killed. Or have Cahir and Fringilla meat him on a flagship which could be huge.
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Dec 19, 2021 05:32
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Anybody know who the monarchs in attendance at Burning Man 1245 AKA the ruins of Sodden Hill are meant to be? I see Foltest and the Redanian. Perhaps to the left of the screen is a young Henselt. Not sure about the young lass (who doesn't look like Queen Maeve). Far right might be the ruler or ambassador from Ofir I guess?
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Dec 19, 2021 05:34
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In case you were wondering whether Ciri will always be "Let me do it dad!!": No idea about the show but in the books tween Ciri gets in a whole heap of trouble. Just loads. If you thought Princess Renfri was followed by a trail of destruction you'll enjoy our blond little bairn. She does become a badass in the game though if you want to see a more mature version.
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Dec 19, 2021 05:39
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nine-gear crow posted:I got a little chill There was just something missing from the feel of this season and it was neither jumps back and forth in time (good) nor Nilfgaard armour (bad). It was the Cintran and Nilfgaardian theme mix that played in pieces during certain moments. It was the definitive element aside from Hot Geralt. Also apologies for heaping on negatives but I dislike how mages have to telegraph them casting a spell by muttering some fantasy sounding syllables. As opposed to only a few odd spells requiring an inchanment. Or the concentration of Break Break Break. Now all little feats of chaos need an Alor Maya Nagi, Alor Maya Nagi before anything happens. Except when it interferes with pacing and they fast-cast using the mod. Bright Bart fucked around with this message at 07:11 on Dec 19, 2021 |
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Dec 19, 2021 07:08
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Thorn Wishes Talon posted:who cares. it's way easier to portray that person A is training person B on magic when it is "alright, now repeat the words after me..." as opposed to "alright, now think exactly what im thinking..." Maybe but the latter is cooler. And I could be mistaken but I don't remember portals needing any magic words spoken on the first season, anyways. You "just" open them. In fact the only scene that jumps out at me is Triss with the fungi. That's it. Compared to a whole lot of telegraphing in se02. I am also a sucker for incorporating magic into media in ways that aren't the stock man in cap doing anything and everything using words like Harry Potter. Been addicted to this since Saruman and Gandalf fought and the battle between the two most powerful wizards was them throwing each other through the air. A consistent system that has its own logic is pretty cool as well. Being able to toss a fireball through concentration but needing ever changing magic phrases to light a lamp takes away from that. Bright Bart fucked around with this message at 08:13 on Dec 19, 2021 |
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Dec 19, 2021 08:09
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roomtone posted:i really wish it was just 8 standalone episodes of geralt and ciri fighting monsters along with some kaer morhen training stuff You know this wouldn't even be terrible and might work. Not all plotlines need to races. You could have had a break from Nilfgaard and mages for a season. Re-build tension by making it ostensibly safer for Ciri as someone forgotten about or thought lost. A Geralt & Ciri adventure show would be p chill. One of the nice things about early GoT seasons was when plot threads kept being weaven even though you didn't see them on screen for a year or more. Instead here in order to be kept up on everything we end up seeing almost all major and minor events.
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Dec 20, 2021 02:59
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Kaedric posted:In the games (books too? Don't remember), I think Eskel is actually the 'witcher's witcher' of the group. Always making sure to practice and meditate etc. I kind of liked that compared to how they're just trying to portray Geralt as Better Than in the show. Same thing with Yennefer being 'the most powerful witch he's ever met'. Etc. Not everyone has to be superman to be a main character :| They did a reasonable job with Geralt not being a Mary Sue. He is superhuman, but he does get his behind handed to him several times. Actually I am thinking a number of the written stories take place when he is recuperating from a fight. So it's like yeah he'll usually win. But he might get *real* hurt. Yennefer's climax in SE01 is also making her stand out. Her teacher has this look on her that's not just "I didn't know she could do that" but "I didn't know ANYONE could do that". And lol at Leo (who we haven't seen yet) being called the stereotypical murderhobo from MMORPGs except from the point of view of the other world inhabitants. But yes our story is about the most powerful people who live or have ever lived. It doesn't really try to make them fit in anywhere.
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Dec 22, 2021 01:00
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latinotwink1997 posted:Is Jaskier Nilfgaardian? The only thing I really know about him is he’s a bard. If Jaskier is who he's based on in the books he's a Redanian lording scholar who happens to play instruments and rhyme real well.
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Dec 22, 2021 01:03
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Wondering how far along they'll get and if they can show some of the machinations in the northern kingdoms. SE01E01 makes it seem that they can pull off some battle scenes. Would be nice if they could continue doing this without just fading to the outcome like in later GOT. Because while it was not incredible or anything the fact that war sucks seems to be integral to the themes of the series. Even just reenacting the second invasion would be cool. Even if they haven't built up the rest of the world well enough that seeing the carnage in Velen would be emotional. Plus I want Vernon Roche. Other than game Foltest he is the only character who can steal scenes from Geralt.
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Dec 22, 2021 02:42
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nine-gear crow posted:The only time I ever felt it was "too much" from Jaskier was the stuff in the prison cell with Geralt, but you can see Cavill is visibly struggling to keep from to keep from grinning like an idiot as Batey is doing his thing, so I can forgive it in a way. Already mentioned most of this but my gripe isn't with lack of adherence to the books I just find it less interesting because: 1. Lack of jumping in time means fewer cool moments in Geralt's past. He is what, 100 years old? He has plenty of stories to tell. 2. No set-piece battles. 3. World seems small at a time when they could be expanding what the North means. 4. While the characters don't know what Ciri is we do and have to be drug through scenes of them finding out. 5. Magic is saying special words. 6. Magicians can't stop being incompetent. 7. Emperor is just a dude. Overall my life is in shambles at the moment and maybe it's okay I can save some quality entertainment for future seasons when I'll hopefully be in a position to understand cool and fun things. For this same reason I would be okay if Euphoria's second season takes a dip and picks up in the third. Bright Bart fucked around with this message at 02:49 on Dec 22, 2021 |
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Dec 22, 2021 02:47
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The Witcher Season Two: Now With 99% Less Ballsack Armor
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Dec 22, 2021 03:04
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For a show about the shades of grey (that the games did even better than the books) most characters are pretty black and white. They're flawed. But either on the side of good or bad. Other than a particular mage the minor exception might be the council of mages where the reveal will be "Haha you thought they were bad but they're just pretty bad at their jobs".
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Dec 22, 2021 04:02
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thotsky posted:It is a bit weird that in the show, especially as Yen is the romantic interest, that Yen looks and acts like a young girl, and Triss like an adult woman when it was the other way around in the games, but that's really my only complaint. Shani a bad bitch with an MD and a PhD. Doesn't mind getting dirty but can glo up without the aid of magic or expensive dresses. She's the only one for Geralt in my story. Though it's fun to have seen people who have t read or played ship Geralt and Renfri in the first part of the first episode and then... oops.
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Dec 22, 2021 05:02
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Dawgstar posted:It would have been worth keeping Renfri around just for the outrage from the 'GIRL GOOD AT SWORD FIGHTING HOW DARE INACCURATE' people. Honestly the first episode raised a lot of expectations and implied there would be a lot of thought put into every detail. Wouldn't be surprised to learn that 2/3 of the first season budget was put into the first episode and that it relieved the most attention from writers as well. RIP Mouseack. You looked nothing like what we expected but killed it before they killed you. e: My one easily forgotten gripe is how Geralt goes about his business later on without much emotional baggage from either Blaviken or the fall of Cintra. The latter may have been the only time that even the White Wolf paused like "gotta get out of THIS". Bright Bart fucked around with this message at 06:13 on Dec 22, 2021 |
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Dec 22, 2021 06:10
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Vilgefortz can stick his magic sword in me any day he likes.
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Dec 22, 2021 06:14
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Tender Bender posted:This is a boring train of thought and not even accurate. Some of the wholesale additions to GOT from the start were beloved by fans (like the Cersei/Robert conversation in season one, or the Hound and Brienne fight in season four). The show turned to poo poo but that wasn't BECAUSE they veered too far from the source material. If all you want is the exact same thing with nothing changed then just close your eyes and have your mom read the books to you. I've done it in this thread but I'm not sure how fair it is to compare the Witcher to GOT. Latter was HBO and had a huge budget. That when you go out and say you are making changes to make it more entertaining you are kind of responsible for the results. There is no fall back to "but the books themselves are kind of boring at this point". And both book series varied in pace, quality, and the degree to which things paid of. Have you read the Cersei chapters from later GOT? Third person Cersei is a brilliant schemer everyone underestimates. First person Cersei is a joke.
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Dec 23, 2021 06:49
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Arc Hammer posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlkzcreCKrU Naah. I want to play Cavill and watch him lose his mind when a horde of Boyz wrecks his Custodes with lucky dice rolls.
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Dec 23, 2021 08:48
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Deathless Mother wasn't even as bad as it was funny. Oh that? That's Voleth Meir. Forgotten for so long it tricked two of the most powerful mages and an ancient Elf mage into believing she was something else. But that's it alright. Phew. Almost wrecked our shite. But thankfully she's only this seasons problem so we don't have to worry anymore as it's presumably gone?
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Dec 23, 2021 14:20
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skasion posted:But he would really like her back because you know. He’s her dad and all. Nothing weird about that I mean he wants her back for a weird purpose. And there isn't all that much fatherly affection on display. Which is kind of odd since he is seemingly capable of normal human emotion. He had no idea Pavetta would break his curse and so his wooing her was presumably out of genuine love. Maybe the loss of his wife and years of being the White Flame have left him jaded. :shrugs: Actually I am a bit wobly on whether his belief in the prophecy is ridiculous or not. On the one hand he's been convinced by a sorcerer that he needs to keep the bloodline pure to save the world. And he doesn't even trust sorcerors all that much. Then again he lives in a world where monsters are real, magic is real, and fate is both real and demonstrated to him.
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Dec 23, 2021 16:31
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Mandrel posted:they should age up emyrh and have Charles dance play him like in the game. i don't care if they're not doing game poo poo, when you have the chance to get Charles dance you do it I guess what we're seeing takes place 12-16 years after the banquet (there is an official timeline but I can't be bothered to check) and still if being Emperor ages you the same way as being POTUS then Tywin Lannister for sure could be the White Flame. Not sure about long hair on Charles Dance but I'd roll with whatever. Actually this reminds me indirectly of how I am missing the nations in game have their counterparts in European nations. Not sure if the books go as far apart from some national symbols. In the show even Nilfgaardians speak with much the same accent as everyone else. Where is Polish Redania, French Temeria, Scottish Kaedwen?
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Dec 23, 2021 18:55
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latinotwink1997 posted:Did Ciri’s mother also have Elder blood and everyone just missed out on that the first go around? I mean, she did? Or do you mean they missed it when she was younger? In that case it being a reflex without training and only coming up during a crisis it's reasonable for a pampered princess to go 15 years before it became obvious. Ciri was also in the double digits because again pampered princess life.
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Dec 24, 2021 01:33
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Strategic Tea posted:I'm hoping we get a later reveal that the kings aren't quite as gormlessly taken in by the mages as they seem though. They definitely aren't. Mages are powerful but rather common compared to monarchs. They have a job to do and it's just expected they do it like any underling. Calanthe specifically had a druid to avoid a court mage. Radovid had a personal grudge. Herself treats his kind of like Tywin treats The Mountain. And the Emperor treats them as common foot soldiers (apart from one he oddly seems to listen to and hint it's not Fringilla). Foltest might be the exception. Didn't Triss say he's not the brightest or most cultured, but he at least listens to advice sometimes? Actually in the show so far they don't have all that much reason to respect their mages. Unless you count Sodden. Yennefer failed to protect her charge. Rience built up debt. Fringilla failed to accomplish all her tasks and wasn't 100% truthful. At least Triss saved Foltest's daughter if only by finding him the right Witcher for the job.
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Dec 24, 2021 01:45
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nine-gear crow posted:They work for him in the books, so yeah, it stands to reason that it's him they're trying to hide. Wondering if they can give him motivation that doesn't pale in comparison to the betrayal and effort involved. Hopefully it's not something like echoing Saruman: "You did not seriously think that a mage could contend with the will of Deithwen Addan. There are none who can." !! I just realized if they're making changes it would be baller if Vilgefortz was a pawn of the Wild Hunt and not the White Flame. Not gonna happen but it would show the Hunt have been players in the action since way before they show up for real. Bright Bart fucked around with this message at 05:26 on Dec 24, 2021 |
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Dec 24, 2021 05:22
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I watched again before complaining to be sure my first impressions were correct. There is no reasonable excuse for portraying the Wild Hunt as seen in the end of the last episode. I get that they wear silly putfits to scare the humans, elves, and dwarves of the Continent but when you combine it with the dialogue it's something straight out of Power Rangers. Zero tact when trying to get someone to come along. Also very poor in terms of tactics since it basically enabled the terror-driven teleportation. Bright Bart fucked around with this message at 16:28 on Dec 24, 2021 |
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Dec 24, 2021 10:54
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Geralt being handsome is okay. It adds to the idea that people distrust and dislike witchers when they roast the beautiful man.
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Dec 27, 2021 02:23
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I like that Yen's reason for disliking Nilgaard has nothing to do with what they did in Cintra or massacring her friends. It's that their beer sucks.
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Dec 27, 2021 02:25
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Too early to tell but it could be like the GOT model with the second-to-last episode getting all the show's attention except it's the first episode of every season. If it keeps this up and runs for a while you will have a REALLY good show where you can watch every E01 and kind of skip the rest.
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Dec 28, 2021 06:17
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I'm a tad interested in how much better reviews are for this season. The first, early reviewers made it out to be a flaming pile of gar age. Now they're almost universally positive to one degree or another. Sure there are some changes to fix bad production quality but this wasn't what the negative ratings were about. So what happened in a year's time? Did the press get nerdier? Were they put on Netflix's naughty list? Are they full of bs? I would almost suspect they decided to give good reviews since the fans will like it anyways and the poor scores perplexed people. But wouldn't it make more sense to take the contrarian position to maximize engagement?
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Dec 28, 2021 12:12
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El Grillo posted:Wheel of Time has got like 80% on RT despite being really quite badly made, with generally bad dialogue and writing all round. I think maybe fantasy series get a lot more leeway from reviewers than other series, or maybe this is just how TV reviewing works now so if you're not a total dumpster fire you get 70-80% of reviewers giving you 4/5 stars? Perhaps it has to do with a general decline in the quality of writing in streaming content or whatever. Well the first series of the Witcher really made reviewers gag for some reason. But yes there are plenty of shoes you wouldn't expect to be Certified Fresh (Eat Fresh) but everyone gives it a half-hearted pass of 3/5. Also yes unless I am just getting old and yelling about 'music these days!!' to clouds we are now well over the Golden Age of Television. Right now I'm super looking forward to Euphoria SE02. Is there a thread for that show?
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Dec 28, 2021 13:21
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Strom Cuzewon posted:I also like how he's friendly and reasonable, but still an absolute monarch who could totally have you executed if you piss him off. Something the second game absolutely nailed in a really short space of time - he's by far the best King in the Northern Kingdom, but Kings are still awful. Game Foltest is the bro and the intro to W2 where you're bodyguarding him is probably the finest opening in any video game.
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Dec 28, 2021 21:53
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Open Source Idiom posted:It sucks, but what are you gonna do? Improve material conditions among the working classes? Remove the commerce impulse behind mass media? That's a lol from me because my favourite TV show had a negative review amounting to 'well it depicts all these problems under the idea of being realistic but what is the point of showing these things if the show can't do a single thing about them?'
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Dec 29, 2021 13:09
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Next time on The Witcher: Geralt, the hundred year old mutant supersoldier, has an actual nervous breakdown and full-on panic attack at the realization of how difficult parenting a young teenager can be. Shani has to reassure him that he did not suffer a heart attack but G is still out of action. Will he ever be back to his normal confident self? In the comedic B-plot Jaskier tries to hold down the Fort at Kaer Morhen but cooking and cleaning is not this nobleman bard's forte.
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Dec 29, 2021 13:18
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Niwrad posted:Stregobor is a punk and Geralt should have gutted him in the first episode. Correction: Show Stregobor is a punk. Book Stregobor is a punk you do not want to tangle with.
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Jan 1, 2022 10:42
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Real Witcher Rates Kar Morhen Frat Scenes
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Jan 2, 2022 10:01
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If the show was more in line with the books Geralt would get absolutely wrecked by some monster and tell cool stories while recovering.
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Jan 7, 2022 17:51
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Funny because I was just thinking that the Fall of Cintra sequences were some of my favourite since True Detective Season One and almost made me want to re-watch the series before going "naah"...
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Apr 9, 2023 11:48
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Today I went to an amusement village for Polish leprechauns that doubled as a place to learn about Balto-Slavic mythology. (Side note on that latter: gold was considered malevolent and should never be removed from the Earth; the Polish word for 'gold' means 'bad' with a suffix for 'that thing'. So none of the crew should be accepting payment in bullion.) edit: It's pointed out by macabresca that the word for gold thing isn't true I learned a lot about leprechauns who lived between the Elbe and the White Tower Forest from the Baltic to the Carpathians. For instance: They are not gnomes (who wear different hats, you see). Also they are mad smart. Even brighter than already clever gnomes. And you won't find them because they are good at hiding (again, smart) and they want nothing to do with the folly of other rates. They will, however, happily sit on the shoulder of a witcher (preferably female but it's an edge preference). Now I'm thinking that the show or even books might have been well served if Geralt had a four inch bearded man in a red cap on his pauldron giving him advice and tsk tsking at the idiocy of regular humans. Jaskier kinda, sorta serves this function but yet again leprechauns are smart and I think Jaskier's appointment as professor of literature at Oxenfurt was honourary. Bright Bart fucked around with this message at 11:13 on Sep 3, 2023 |
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Sep 2, 2023 23:41
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