Witcher (Netflix)

[S'mon]

Even Game of Thrones only got so far - it spent MUCH more effort (and money) on trying to convey the Stark Lannister civil war, and STILL ended up awfully vague and unexplained over and over again.

I thought early-season (roughly 1-4) GoT political intrigue was almost always really well done, mostly because the author Martin was taking so much from British history. The intrigue had a feel of versimilitude that the Witcher this season entirely lacked. Maybe it's not fair to compare them, but the Witcher did choose to play in a pool where it's clearly completely out of its depth. I agree they should have stuck to intimate monster-and-village storytelling, very much its strength.

 

[Argyle King]

Sure. Just that I didn't come to the Witcherverse for the parenting and relationship advice.

I understand many of you and perhaps many female viewers love the idea of such a dangerous man yet someone that is dependable and reliable; but to me, the core idea of the Witcher is that ultimately, he's the alpha wolf.

He's just not domesticable.

He will end up doing as he pleases, with everybody else just having to take it or leave it. And, to be clear, they (meaning chiefly Yen and Triss here seeing Ciri is underage) ultimately do take it.

Obviously that's just my 2 cents.

Isn't part of being an alpha wolf being capable of leading a pack?

A lot of leadership challenges require more than mindlessly swinging a sword. Even Conan had a learning curve when transitioning from carefree freebooter to leader and king.

Still, I can see your point. Obviously, I won't know until season 3 plays, but I feel as though season 2 was a lot like LoTR Twin Towers: still very enjoyable, but meant to bridge two other parts of the story and show the transformation of characters before getting back to the meat and potatoes.

 

[RangerWickett]

The real lesson is that if you're adapting an existing franchise, you ought to care about that original content, and if you change or add stuff, make sure you understand what made the original good.

 

[Ryujin]

The real lesson is that if you're adapting an existing franchise, you ought to care about that original content, and if you change or add stuff, make sure you understand what made the original good.

Sometimes that simply won't work in a different medium because of either practical concerns, or because it wouldn't appeal to a large segment of the possible audience (except those die hard fans of the original work).

 

[CapnZapp]

The real lesson is that if you're adapting an existing franchise, you ought to care about that original content, and if you change or add stuff, make sure you understand what made the original good.

Don't remind me of what travesty Altered Carbon season 2 was...

They took literally everything that was awesome about S1 and just dragged it through the shitter.

The first lesson they failed was to realize that Broken Angels is not only a much duller book, it also has diddly squat to do with Altered Carbon. Richard Morgan the author quite clearly experimented with changing genres for each book.

So instead of going with the strengths of their property, they doggedly and stupidly went with adapting a completely different story in a completely different genre, and still labeled it "Altered Carbon". (And then of course the changes to the story the slashed budget and so on sealed the deal, but lesson one remains "don't throw your strengths in the trash")

A true Altered Carbon S2 could have been nearly as awesome as S1. Stay in Bay City, and invent new wonderfully seedy cyberpunk stories and reasons to keep Ortega and Poe involved. Ditch the Quellchrist jesus nonsense entirely.

 

[CapnZapp]

Isn't part of being an alpha wolf being capable of leading a pack?

Since you see my point I don't want to be snide, but still - alpha wolves leave the relationship drama to others.

For instance, it would haven been awesome to see Yen, Triss and a grown-up Ciri struggling to handle a true alpha Witcher.

 

[S'mon]

Since you see my point I don't want to be snide, but still - alpha wolves leave the relationship drama to others.

For instance, it would haven been awesome to see Yen, Triss and a grown-up Ciri struggling to handle a true alpha Witcher.

Henry Cavill always seems just too nice to be a real 'alpha dog' type in the sense you mean!

 

[CapnZapp]

Henry Cavill always seems just too nice to be a real 'alpha dog' type in the sense you mean!

He's an actor, he doesn't have to be as nice as in real life. I actually like his portrayal. Would have loved to see more of him whoring, ruthlessly killing beautiful princesses, and generally not giving a crap

 

[TheSword]

Since you see my point I don't want to be snide, but still - alpha wolves leave the relationship drama to others.

For instance, it would haven been awesome to see Yen, Triss and a grown-up Ciri struggling to handle a true alpha Witcher.

I’m not sure where you’re getting this impression of Geralt as this testosterone-filled, macho, cave-man. In Wild Hunt Geralt spent most of the game chasing after Yennefer and Ciri.

He’s a leader to his kind but he’s not an animal. He’s actually pretty darn considerate to the women in his life but for the fact that there are several of them.

 

[CapnZapp]

He’s actually pretty darn considerate to the women in his life but for the fact that there are several of them.

So go with that then!

And who said he shouldn't be considerate? It's as if I suggested he wear a wifebeater sitting around drinking beer like Fat Thor...

Look, I'm just asking for a Witcher that isn't safely domesticated, like in the show's season 2. That's all.