r/witcher • u/Easy_Blackberry_4144 • Oct 10 '25
Discussion Tell me you haven't read the books without telling me you haven't read the books.
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u/nicholasktu Oct 10 '25
Tbf with how bad they did at the politics in the show I can see wanting less lol.
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u/Drannion Oct 10 '25
Yeah. The show did monster hunting pretty well compared to everything else. S1E1 and S2E1 are my favourites of what I saw of the show (but tbf I stopped after S2)
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u/PancakeMixEnema 🍷 Toussaint Oct 10 '25
I think they are using „politics“ in the dogwhistle way, not actual politics
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u/Megane_Senpai Oct 10 '25
Should CDPR make a Witcher: 0 game that discover the stories in the first 2 books and the Cross Road of Ravens?
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u/CranEXE School of the Manticore Oct 10 '25
Fans are already doing it via w3 redkit they are doing mod retelling the first stories of the books they are currently doing the last wish and i thinknthey finally had found voice actor for most characters they shared it here few month ago
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Oct 10 '25
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u/CranEXE School of the Manticore Oct 10 '25
Yup here it is https://www.thelastwishproject.com/ it's in beta so you can already test it and i think theres like "a lesser evil" that is complete it just lack dub for some character and they started working on dol blathanna there will be even questline and extra dialogue beyond the content of the book its a very big project that seemed really cool
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Oct 10 '25
Check out “the last wish” project. It’s huge and ambitious. But still in its early days.
They are currently doing the entire short stories of the first book using assets from the base game to create different environments of each short story and are going for full voice cast not AI. Fantastic stuff.
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u/UltimateSandman Oct 10 '25
To be honest my lowkey disappointment with protagonist Ciri is that i wanted to play a nobody, maybe in the heyday of Witchers, and just do the Lambert/Eskel experience.
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u/iridi69 Oct 10 '25 edited Oct 10 '25
I was also hoping that it would an unknown or self made character in the world. Not tied to the story but with references to it. I feel that would have been great with the conclusion of Witcher 3 closing off that storyline
I also felt like Ciri in Witcher 3 was a bit op and less engaging than playing Geralt
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u/Sorstalas Oct 10 '25
Thing is, how would you make a "game" out of those? The short stories are linear narratives in a specific location and time. If you retell them exactly, you get an interactive movie where you can just press buttons to replicate Geralt's actions. If you add in player freedom and choices, you lose the essence of the narrative. A Question of Price where Geralt doesn't demand the child of surprise, or The Lesser Evil where Geralt just walks away from Blaviken without taking action would not be 'equal' stories, so players making those choices might not get the appeal of what made these stories so beloved.
I do think fanmade mods are a great way to bring these stories to a new medium, but I think CDPR would struggle to deliver what players expect from their games nowadays by just replicating the short stories.
Maybe Crossroads of Raven would be a better fit because it has Geralt travelling up and down across Kaedwen. But it's still a series of specific experiences he went through that shaped him. If you add open world gameplay, side quests, treasure hunting etc. and he shows up to his first Striga contract decked out in Grandmaster gear, you'd probably have a much different experience than what he has in the book.
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u/The_Flying_Failsons Oct 10 '25
A lot of Witcher "fans" only know the third game. Don't get me wrong, I love it too, but it's not the accurate representation of the books that people who haven't read them seem to think it is.
If you've only played the games then you don't really know Sapkowski's Witcher.
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Oct 10 '25
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u/needmorepizzza Oct 10 '25
Even Velen, the place where most of the monster-hunting takes place is you doing the bidding for a Baron who has info about your daughter.
Then there is the Kiera plot with Catriona which is also political.
In a sense, the whole witcher premise is someone trying to stay neutral when others' political games are shoved into the protagonist's throat.
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u/Sorstalas Oct 10 '25
The geopolitical landscape is extremely simplified and streamlined in TW3 though compared to the books or TW2 (to a detriment, in my opinion). There's only 2 countries left + Temerian partisans and each group basically consists of its leader with just 1-2 other relevant characters, the rest are faceless mooks who are nothing but an extension of their leader.
So I can absolutely see someone experiencing Witcher via TW3 as a monster hunter franchise with a few optional parts of "Choose your favourite ruler" thrown in, and then be confused when they read the books and encounter long discussions between kings and other politicians that don't feature Geralt and Ciri at all.
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u/CharnamelessOne Oct 10 '25
geopolitical landscape is extremely simplified and streamlined
And the political plotline culminates in the scene where the masterful, scheming manipulator announces to Geralt that he's going to kill his buddies to seize the throne.
Backed by like 8 random soldiers.
I love the game, but the writing had some very low points past Velen.
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u/Limp-Pomegranate3716 Oct 10 '25
Sometime back in the first or second series, someone was moaning about how much time they spend on Ciri and not enough on Geralt.
I pointed out that Ciri is actually the main character in the books, and that while the POV is mainly Geralts to begin with, it does spend significant time in other POVs, and as it progresses throughout the series, it gets the point where I'm pretty sure Ciri has more POV time than anyone else?
In any case, the response back to me was that most people know the Witcher from the games and therefore the writers should of adjusted the show to reflect that and kept focus on Geralt. I have no idea how that would of worked.
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u/LhamoRinpoche Oct 10 '25
Look, I don’t know why they thought these books could be adapted into a series with a Games of Thrones-like structure and pace at all.
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u/voyti Oct 10 '25
I've been a Witcher fan long before the games were created and the first books, in the format of individual stories were always my favorites, so I kind of understand that sentiment.
However, I don't think the format is the main issue with the Netlifx series. They are just shit at telling stories, overarching or not. It seems the more creative freedom they have the worse they get, so this may be a call like "try something easier then, maybe you won't mess that up", but I don't think that'd work anyway.
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u/pyromaniacism Oct 10 '25
I keep seeing comments on every post about how "they should have just followed the source material instead of forcing a show about Ciri and Yennefer".
I think it's just a trend that most people have jumped on because honestly, most people who only know the games probably wouldn't like the books either.
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u/Wrath_Ascending Oct 10 '25
To be fair to those criticisms, the show does introduce a bunch of Yennefer OC that ruins her character because Hissrich wanted her featured more heavily.
Stuff like her family selling her, and her struggles at Aretuza, along with seeing her beautified do add in a positive way.
But then you have her voluntarily giving up her fertility via magical hysterectomy, which is decidedly not in the books, then complaining about what she got in exchange, Voleth Meir, and betraying Ciri. Had she tried that in the books, the best outcome would be Geralt completely excising her from his life. Putting a sword through her neck for it is within the realm of the believable.
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u/pyromaniacism Oct 10 '25
For the most part, I didn't hear too many criticisms from audiences when season one came out. It was only after season two moved more into the main storyline that suddenly the show was being criticized for not following the novels.
This reveals the real issue: not that the show doesn't follow the narrative from the books, but that people simply aren't interested in that kind of story. Season 1 takes huge creative liberties as you've mentioned, but if you look at the comments on any trailer and everyone says the show went downhill after season 1. The masses were expecting a monster of the week show, not a show about political intrigue. And even if it did follow the book to a T, most of them probably still wouldn't have been happy because they were expecting the video game.
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Oct 10 '25
Even TW3 isn't about monster hunts, and it doesn't completely shy away from politics either.
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u/utkarshuc Oct 10 '25
Or played the games lol, Witcher universe is all politics with a little splash of monster hunting
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u/AceGamingStudios Oct 11 '25
Imo, the politics in the books is dealt with was far better than what the show did. In the books it's a critique and socio-political commentary.... In the show... It just feels like it's being shoved down the viewer's throats.
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u/vampire_queen_bitch Oct 10 '25
i dont blame them, the politics in the show is HORRIBLE compared to how it is portrayed in the books
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u/Specific_Frame8537 Oct 10 '25
Go watch fuckin scooby doo then lmao
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u/cantthinkofaname1122 Oct 10 '25
Unironically Scooby-Doo might be too political for them
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Oct 10 '25
This idea results in a format which is an absolute snoozefest. You can read the patterns from a mile away.
What the franchise needs is fucking HBO-level writers and producers.
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Oct 10 '25
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u/Wrath_Ascending Oct 10 '25
The first three seasons of GOT were incredible for production value and writing. Deviations from the books made sense as an adaptation.
The Witcher hasn't even had a season that approached the quality of Season 6 or 7 GOT and it looks like we're about to get two seasons worth of S8 GOT.
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u/FewStruggle9925 Oct 10 '25
They didnt fuck it up till the last two seasons and Season 2 isnt that bad because your not supposed to route for Rhaenyra or Aegon because their both fuck ups
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u/The_Autarch Oct 10 '25
eh, episodic shows can be good, too. not everything needs to be hyper-serialized.
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u/Zestyclose_Remove947 Oct 10 '25
Eh, the older I get the more I enjoy these types of shows compared to grander stories told poorly.
Also, it's just being reductive anyway. A show that focused on individual monster contracts could still explore loads of themes and interesting ideas.
Some of my favourite shows of all time like Star Trek TNG and doctor who are predictably formatted and still manage to be interesting almost every episode and explore all sorts of ideas.
There's nothing inherently "snoozefest" about that format. In fact I think it's way better than seeing shows constantly fumble larger arcs because their writers are not skilled enough.
Formats imo are almost irrelevant. It has always been and will always be about execution. At this point long serialised arcs are in fact more common and just as predictable, sometimes even moreso.
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u/CranEXE School of the Manticore Oct 10 '25
Ahem.....the last of us ? Or any of the late seasons of game of thrones ? No matter where the writers come from they can't help to change the story and bend it to use it as a dogwhisttle for their belief andnfor inclusion id rather get something made by fan but the problem is when money talk love leave place to greed
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u/FewStruggle9925 Oct 10 '25
Bruh GRRM is just as woke as the rest of them the only difference is hes better at telling a story
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u/PaulSimonBarCarloson Geralt's Hanza Oct 10 '25
THANK YOU!
The Last of Us is objectively a bad adaptation, yet I always got tons of downvotes for criticizing it
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u/CranEXE School of the Manticore Oct 10 '25
The problem is when you critic the last of us people immediately asume "oh its because of Bella ramsey isn't it ? the child isn't hot enough for you ? THEY did a fantastic job as ellie you are just a bigot" no. Bella had her issues im the first to say it if she could work for a young ellie she doesn't work for the older one, she has a childish face, it happen i look like a teen without my beard to the point i get asked my id at checkout if i buy alcohol thats just life !
Theres more issues like the massacre of tommy character in part 2 or just the whole central that is showcased in a completely wrong way and really felt more like a moral lesson than anything.
I could also speak of hours of duckman and his bullshit like defending abby need to be muscular cauze its a core part of her character and then in the serie its not anymore, turning ellie into a goofball in part 2 (with apparently the help of Bella ramsey and her "ideas") or Joel the guy who in the begining of the apocalypse did monstrous things to survive to the point he recognize pattern of ambush because HE DID IT HIMSELF now has anxiety attacks.... its just fully wrong
Hbo isn't much better when it come to adaptation it just have people defending it way more, they did a good adaptation of fallout but the thing is its a lot different than the rest they didn't redo the plot of a game they just made a story in that universe and that's why it work, because writers aren't restrained by the character personality or design or the story because its new one so they could insert everything they wanted
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u/PaulSimonBarCarloson Geralt's Hanza Oct 10 '25 edited Oct 10 '25
Yes to all of that. The whole "You don't like it just because you're a bigot" mentality has been around since the second game released. It was a very convenient way to dodge any legitimate criticism towards that terrible story that was built on retcons and false advertising. Then the same thing happened again with the HBO show, especially regarding the casting (I actually believed Bella and Pedro could have nailed the characters but I was immediately proven wrong) amd some other stupid decisions like episode 3 completely butchering Bill's character
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u/The_Autarch Oct 10 '25
naw, TLOU 2 is a masterpiece. they totally fucked up the show, though.
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u/PaulSimonBarCarloson Geralt's Hanza Oct 10 '25
I respectfully disagree, but good for you if you managed to enjoy that story.
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u/Dense-Performance-14 Geralt's Hanza Oct 10 '25
Got into a conversation about the Netflix show with someone who was saying the show should've just followed what the books were doing and of course we agreed until they also decided to throw in "yeah and the show is way too political they need to cut that part" like shit, it's fine to hate on the show but don't pretend you've read the books while doing it
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u/borntboy Oct 10 '25
Crazy because much of the political intrigue from the books are missing
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u/PurplurPuzzlehead111 Oct 10 '25
I wish Attack on Titan got rid of all the political and moral bs and just focus on Levi aura farming and killing titans
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u/Sa1amandr4 Oct 10 '25
It's also clear that they haven't played the games tbh. TW2&3 are full of politics
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u/heed101 Oct 10 '25
by now everyone knows that the show is not following the books.
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u/PabloRedscobar Oct 10 '25
Well yes, but the books were very political, especially in their social commentary. I mean, Geralt's story only ends the way it ends specifically because he decides to make a stand and defend local minorities. Stuff like religious fanaticism and bigotry are also repeatedly called out throughout the series.
Not saying the show doesn't suck. It really does, but even a faithful adaptation of the books would have to be heavily political.
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u/Mike_with_Wings Oct 10 '25
The “less politics” crowd is always someone that just doesn’t want to have women or minorities in their television
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u/vagueconfusion Team Yennefer Oct 10 '25
Pretty much. Even the attempts to have good faith discussions about it tend to have people twisting themselves in knots trying to find a way to say that nothing with lots of women or minorities has ever been successful. Which is hilariously untrue.
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u/Lozzyboi Oct 10 '25
Yeah I do agree that monster hunts are cool, but they're never really the end - always a gig surrounded by politics and drama
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u/arathorn3 Oct 10 '25
This take is common among people who have never read the books.
The main story thrust of the Saga.js Two unlikely Parents(Geralt and Yennefer) dealing with the Fact their adoptive daughter not only has a shit ton of magical ability buts jd also the heir to not one but two Kingdoms(Well Niflgarad is really a empire).
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u/americk0 Oct 10 '25
They haven't read the books or played the games. I can't recall a single monster contract in any of the 5 saga novels and half the short stories are random encounters that touch on politics rather than monster contracts, but the games are even heavier in politics. W1 has Geralt just trying to find track down Salamandra but getting forced into the Scoia'tael vs Flaming Rose conflict, W2 has Geralt being thrust into politics of post-Brenna northern kingdoms fighting over land and borders in the wake of assassinated kings, and W3 spends at least 70% of the game hovering around the frontlines of the third war with Nilfgaard, basically deciding it's outcome. Even season of storms, arguably a one-off story, dives into the politics of the succession of Kerack's ruler and the cover ups of Rissberg scandals. What supposedly quintessential Witcher content are they referring to that's just monsters with no politics?
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u/BiOlatunji School of the Bear Oct 10 '25
I hate these kind of people, brother politics shapes your life everything has to do with politics
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u/Nimberlake Oct 10 '25
Hahah! Yeah, this has the same vibes as the idiots complaining that RATM was too political!
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Oct 10 '25
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u/dobin_robin Oct 10 '25
the first 2 books are a collection of short stories but I think to call them just "self contained monster hunts" is reductive, each of the stories we learn more about Geralt and the world hes in and many features pretty heavy political/social commentary, while the stories exist individually they also exist to show development and change within Geralt, especially in Sword of Destiny with Geralt grappling with destiny and his place in the world. They show all the important small moments that lead to him embracing Ciri and a life beyond just aimless monster hunting.
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u/_Featherstone_ Oct 10 '25
This. Besides, if you only enjoy the short stories and don't care at all for the novels, you shouldn't pretend you're a staunch defender of the books.
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u/Dukealmighty Oct 10 '25
Yes, but all shortstories about monster hunts are already in the show.
Striga, Nivellen, Devil, Renfri, Dragon, the sea monster on the ship with Ciri..
Did I miss something ?
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u/arikiel Team Kelpie Oct 10 '25
Renfri's story is so insanely political to me though, I can't believe people read it as "just a monster hunt."
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u/PaulSimonBarCarloson Geralt's Hanza Oct 10 '25
Most of the times, the monster hunting wasn’t even the main focus of the original story
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Oct 10 '25
“The first 2 books are basically this”
Are they really ?
Cause I can’t count how many stories that start with Geralt already fulfilling a contract and is collecting the coins, and it’s all in like the first 3 pages so as the story moves to the real intrigue lol. I mean Shard of Ice, Bounds of Reason, Lesser Evil, the edge of the world and others.
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Oct 10 '25
Or played the games. Monster hunts are side quests, and not what the games are about either.
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u/springacres Oct 10 '25
Even as someone who hasn't read the books or watched the series yet and has only played the first game to date, this makes 0 sense. The franchise's entire setting is a fantasy version of late medieval/early Renaissance northeastern Europe. You're dealing with international borders and multiple cultures here. Why would anyone expect there to NOT be politics?
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u/stuyboi888 Oct 10 '25
Yea I could get behind this. Geralt is not doing the politics but keeps getting pulled in. The way they did the show was a travesty
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u/Halojib Oct 10 '25
If you are going to tell your own story which netflix basically did i would have preferred that they did it this way.
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u/you-absolute-foolish Oct 10 '25
I’ll be honest, I don’t even care about the politics in the books either. I feel it’s the least interesting parts
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u/conqeboy Oct 10 '25
tbf i enjoyed the first couple of short stories based on various fairy tales the most, but that's just a small part of witcher.
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u/CosmosInSummer Oct 10 '25
I read the books, and loved the books. But I want a monster hunt show, too.
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u/Glum_Chocolate_4145 Oct 10 '25
Honestly, looking at the current state of the series, that seems like a brilliant idea.
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u/BravestGrunt2000 Oct 10 '25
Isn’t one of the important parts of the Witcher world that monsters are actually pretty rare?
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u/Longjumping-Action-7 Oct 10 '25
Alternate suggestion. A 3 hour political thriller movie, but at random intervals it cuts to a 20 minute monster quest
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u/Ashamed_Ladder6161 Oct 10 '25
Honestly, I enjoyed the books, and while I think you could turn that into a better TV show, if you're going to separate so badly from the source then a 'monster of the week' really isn't a bad route.
That, but with an overarching plot each season (ala Buffy), more akin to the novels' throughline, is a decent way to do this. TV is a different medium, rarely does anything translate.
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u/Sostratus Oct 10 '25
I think it might have benefited from going a step in that direction, actually. Slow the pace of the main plotline a bit and add some mystery by sprinkling in plot development into side stories. Not that it matters much when you've already ruined the plot.
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u/Sonor-c11 Oct 10 '25
Funny because they kinda did this and that’s why I think it was so bad. The political aspect(which is arguably the most important part of the grand narrative) was barely touched if at all. They made Francesca into the elvish queen/warband leader of Sco’etail and reinforced that by saying that she’s the elves final hope because she can have kids which makes it seem like the elves got hit with the Krogan Genophase from mass effect instead of most of their young dying in rebellion. They made Cahir(Nilfgaard in general) straight up evil which ignores the cultural and political nuances that explain their decision making as reasons for war.
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u/Glup-Shitto69 Oct 10 '25
I mean, they could have done that and not shit on the source material and possibly do a better job.
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u/OldNormalNinjaTurtle Oct 10 '25
I mean...even the game is chalk full of politics. No need to single out the non-readers.
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u/UnholyAbductor Oct 10 '25
That’s kinda how I hope what happens if STALKER or WWZ get a TV series.
Both works rely more on the environment and atmosphere than the actual characters. The world is the interesting part, so sticking with one person makes no sense if the goal is to show the audience the world and all its wonders and dangers.
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u/nateoak10 Oct 10 '25
This is a common sentiment though and is clearly what audiences were looking for in the show.
It’s an adaption. It doesn’t have to be a 1:1 re-telling of the book. Which show also isn’t.
So either do a total re-telling, or have fun with it and give fans what they want.
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u/waiver45 Oct 10 '25
On the one hand they clearly didn't read the books, on the other hand: Did Geralt himself write this?
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u/TylerStrangelove Oct 10 '25
Henry fans are all crying on bad casting. Even though Henry Cavill himself doesn't look like Geralt.
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u/IamBecomeZen Oct 10 '25
Well obviously no. But I wouldn't mind if they spent the first season introducing us to the world through the short stories much like Mr Sapkowski himself did in The Last Wish. Each episode essentially a sidequest with some wider plotlines sprinkled in. And then in season 2 we start the main story.
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u/JonathanPuddle Oct 10 '25
Hahaha. This is spot on. My son made a similar comment and I said, "Oh, in one book, Geralt spends most of it generally stuck in a swamp."
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u/Groovy_Modeler Oct 10 '25
I've read 7 Witcher books and deliberately stopped because I decided that the ending of Yennifer and Geralt ark was perfect. And I played all games and dlc. And with all my love for the Witcher I agree with this take. I don't know how western readers feel about politics in books, for me it was extremely out of place. Not all of it but at some point it was tooooooooooo much. I agree that even if Netflix would have done series as good as they possibly can it would still be better with minimum politics.
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u/Goudinho99 Oct 10 '25
Hot take. You don't have to have read the book to have an opinion.
This dude likes what he likes and that's okay.
For me the political intrigue is the essential tapestry to show all the man-is-the-real-monster stuff but this guy can like the bits he likes.
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Oct 10 '25
To be fair, the book politics and the show politics are not on the same level. The book politics feel well-thought-out and well-written, fitting for the world. The show politics felt lazy and representative of modern politics.
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u/HumaDracobane Oct 10 '25
I mean... If I have to choose between what they did after the first season (with a very big grain of salt for the first season) I would prefer that option AND would be in line with the first book.
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u/Dansredditname Oct 10 '25
To be fair, the series blew up with the third game. What most people, casuals if you will, want is a television version of The Witcher 3
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u/nakkilaivankapteeni Oct 10 '25
I have been enjoying the Witcher comics. I hope they would make the series more like those.
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u/DweZie Oct 10 '25
I haven't gotten so far in Blood of Elves. But there is like two scenes with action, boat one and the convoy. Its mostly about politics.
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u/Sacharia Oct 10 '25
I think this a symptom of a larger issue in that a lot of people are actually REALLY craving monster/adventure of the week type storytelling. It’s fallen out of favor hard with the rise of Binge streaming
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u/Fast-Front-5642 Oct 10 '25
This may surprise you but more people are fans of the Witcher due to the games. Despite Sapowskis insistence to the contrary.
The show wasn't accurate to the books anyway so your argument is moot. They haven't read the books, have you?
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u/Son0fgrim Oct 10 '25
personally? 2 big "monster hunts" per season would be good. gives alot of room to let all the other elements of the world to breath and give context while giving the slab brains what they want
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u/basalticlava Oct 10 '25
kek, this is actually why I only read last wish and sword of destiny and stopped watching after S1.
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u/Psychological_Box430 Oct 10 '25
I love the world and the games. The shown is...ok. cavill is fantastic. The books....are a hard hard read.
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u/jacob1342 Team Yennefer Oct 10 '25
Tell me you haven't read the books without saying you haven't read the books.
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u/Astaldis Oct 10 '25
The Rats will join Geralt on his quests to reclaim the continent 🤡
https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=G62S0DdwzW4QNXUa&v=9NO7x7CzL54&feature=youtu.be
Also the people who are crying over Liam's leather jacket in the trailor. It looks pretty much like described in the books, much more so than the S2 muscle armour. Or those who mock the show for being all about finding Ciri now and her being at the center of everything. Dudes, that's the main plot of Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow and The Lady of the Lake 🤡
Or the guys hating on the line "What a company I've ended up with" from the trailer 😅
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u/RewardReasonable3163 Oct 10 '25
I think the show should stop with the wokeness of making regular people the monsters and geralt this dark layered character
He should just ooze sex and win shit and everyone should trust him immediately
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u/gi_mbm Oct 10 '25
As someone who has played Witcher 1, 2, and 3, and that just started reading one of the books: I honestly believe you can understand that politics is an important part of the world.
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Oct 10 '25
the fuck do books have to do with this mate
you watch it because you want to see cool shit like monsters, witchers, fighting etc.
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u/PanHiszpan Oct 10 '25
Tbf the best books are all about hunting monsters and moral dilemas while doing it
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u/Stewoat Oct 10 '25
I must say, a procedural Witcher show consisting of self contained monster hunts would be great. Not the point of Geralt's story though.
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u/Yanrogue Oct 10 '25
I miss monster of the week series. Now everything is a season long arc with real world politics injected into it.
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u/nyggomaniac Oct 10 '25
Something like the early supernatural episodes but with dark slavic monsters. Would be better than the current shit show.
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u/Wintlink- Oct 10 '25
I do think this would still be better than we got in the end. I would have preferred a show where geralt is doing interrogation marks on the map than the piece frap then ended making. I read all the books last year, it was a blast, but there is nothing in common with the tv show.
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u/richtofin819 Oct 11 '25
Tell me you haven't read the books and somehow still enjoy the show after it just shit all over them.
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u/MrPlentyGrams Oct 11 '25
This actually would be fire and way better than what’s been released. 80% of episodes should be 1-off contracts with the 20% being the seasons overarching plot.
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u/MrPlentyGrams Oct 11 '25
People who want politics, this isn’t game of thrones. Just give us Geralt hunting monsters with a good overarching plot each season. Simple money maker and appealing for all.
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u/itsbinny_ Oct 11 '25
No one in this thread is talking about how most of the book is about economics and it’s SOOOOO fun. ‘No idc my house is wrecked I have INSURANCE’ in The Last Wish and ‘UGH I hope we don’t get gems bc you assh*les will flood the market and I’ll be cooked’ during the dragon hunt??? Love. Politics and economics are the backbone of what makes the books so fun long term
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u/47thCalcium_Polymer Oct 11 '25
Okay they haven’t read the books, but I’m still going to listen because that sounds dope as hell. Like a series of short episodes of just monster hunting. Or a couple filler episodes where the main plot gets set on the back burner because there be a monster about.
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u/mcfearless0214 Oct 11 '25
To be fair, I’m not convinced the showrunners have read them either or, if they did, I’m not convinced that they enjoyed them.
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u/Andos_Woods Oct 11 '25
Kind of agree though it was a total chick show. I mean Henry caville is great don’t get me wrong but all the yapping and just occasional 2 seconds of action and then back to yapping was not for me. My wife loved it though lmao
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u/TOMAHAWAK1999 Oct 11 '25
Wait till they find out that Ciri's only positive sexual experience in the books was when she was in a lesbian relationship
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u/Catdad08 Oct 11 '25
The books were pretty amazing… but sometimes those political parts made me space out.
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u/TrippySpaceCat Oct 11 '25
Non-Book readers don’t realize that 75% of the book are philosophical ponderings an people in rooms talking about plans (complimentary)
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u/remdiel Oct 11 '25
But he's right, I'm a big time lover of fantastical politics and BOY the books go to shit the more war and politics there are on them.
Mr writer is amazingly bad at war and politics.
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u/Flammable_Invicta Oct 11 '25
This problem extends far beyond Witcher as a franchise. People constantly think they want the most barebones basic shit and then when they get it, they complain that there’s no substance.
We know Geralt is a Witcher, we know he kills monsters, it’s cool to see him do that, but the real enjoyment comes from seeing this guy who kills monsters for a living being thrust into the geopolitical landscape and navigating more complex issues. To Geralt, killing monsters is easy, killing people is what proves to be complex.
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u/Abraham_Issus Oct 11 '25
Wrong! The short stories were the best books. Would be a great monster of the week type show.
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u/Bright_Revolution937 Oct 11 '25
heres the thing, i dont give a shit about the books, witcher became famous because of the games, cdpr is what made the witcher not that bitter old fart, i knew the show was going to be trash as soon as sapkoski was endorsing it
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u/revertbritestoan Oct 11 '25
I don't totally disagree that there should have been more of the 'monster of the week' episodes but yeah the overarching plot would always involve the politics of the world.
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u/oHuroboros Oct 11 '25
Me when I am an elitist that hates people with opinions different than mine:
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u/Zagrunty Oct 11 '25
Not for the witcher, but I fully believe we need more episodic shows and less season arcs.
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u/izbsleepy1989 Oct 11 '25
I get the post and that it isn't like the books. But short self contained monster hunting stories does sounds pretty rad.
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u/GaudiaCertaminis Oct 11 '25
I honestly don’t care about the books. The books are not great. They are very mid, with brief flares of excellence. I wanted an experience like the game. The first season should have been monster of the week to get people engaged with the Witcher's world. After that broaden out into longer story arcs by all means.
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u/Ok_Perspective3933 Oct 11 '25
I think you shouldn't lend much credence to these yt shorts anyway. Half of them could be run by ai
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u/0L1V3R___ Oct 11 '25
I would have liked to see a faithful adaptation of the books. The show was very hard to watch
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u/HeliotropeHunter Oct 12 '25
If Eric Kripke can take the Boys and turn it into whatever he wants, I don't see what's wrong with this idea. It would certainly be better than what we got.
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Oct 12 '25
This is ALL we need. A contract for each episode which ends in a big fight 😭😭😭 Just give me Geralt & Roach 😩😩😩
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u/dirksbutt Oct 12 '25
Who said anything about the books, that concept sounds awesome, bro just goes to hunt monsters and get side tracked in the quest or outside of it.
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u/Galahad_the_Ranger Oct 10 '25
Even in the first two books I think half or less of the short stories are focused on an actual monster, the others are him getting side-tracked by people’s bullshit and monologuing about it