The Witcherseason 3 has been released on Netflix and there are various huge events happening in the show this year. Of course, with Henry Cavill moving on and Liam Hemsworth taking over as Geralt, massive changes are to come within the show itself. However, there have already been changes made to the show from the source material.
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Many fans have already seen some of the events ofThe Witcherseason 3 through both the gaming franchise and the book source material, so they will be well-versed in howThe Witchershow is setting itself apart in the story and character terms from either of those previous versions of the Continent and Geralt of Rivia, before changing their version ofGeralt over to Liam Hemsworth.
WARNING! Spoilers ahead for The Witcher season 3, part 1!
6The Family Dynamic
Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer spend months at the beginning of season three in constant flux as they move around together across the Continent, attempting to stay happy and safe together while Yennefer begins training Ciri in magicas she becomes more the protagonist. While this is a fairly sensible transition from some of the events of the book series, there are significant changes.
In theWitcherbook series, these three characters are almost never together. They each dream individually of being able to find such joy as a true family but are never able to accomplish it, leaving that as something which spurs all of them on. Geralt also isn’t present for Ciri’s magical training with Yennefer, which mostly happens at Aretuza.
5The Battle of Shaerrawedd
Shaerrawedd is the location of the fallen Elven Palace which is seen during the first episode of season three. While Geralt and Ciri are traveling undercover among the dwarves of Yarpen’s caravan, they are set upon by the Scoi’tael who are searching for Ciri. The dwarves eventually win the battle, and cheer the victory, including screaming in rage as they murder their non-human brothers.
This, unsurprisingly, happens quite differently in the books. In the books, the dwarves were greatly saddened by the need to kill the elves and dwarves of the Scoi’tael, as killing other non-humans seemed a senseless act of violence to them. Additionally, the Scoi’tael weren’t searching for Ciri among the caravan in the books, they were merely attempting to steal the supplies from the dwarves for their own needs.
4Radovid
Prince Radovid wasone of the new characters introducedin season three ofThe Witcher. While he has had a fairly significant role thus far as a layabout prince of King Vizimir who is much more capable than he lets on, the most fascinating aspect of his role in the series thus far has been his burgeoning relationship with Jaskier.
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However, his role inThe Witcherbook series is quite a lot different. While the book character of Radovid is quietly cunning, he is actually the son of King Vizimir who becomes King later. He also has a great hatred for mages in the books, prompting him to hunt them down as opposed to the way he has worked alongside them so far in the Netflix series,making him a much darker characterin other versions of the story.
3The Elves Subplot
Francesca and her elves have their own storyinThe Witcherseason 3, as Gallatin tries to find a way to stop her from dragging the elves too deeply into the search for Ciri. While the story is an interesting subplot in the Netflix series, it is quite far apart from anything that Francesca and her elves were doing at that point in the books.
Firstly, in the part of the books whichThe Witcherseason 3 draws from, there is barely anybody looking for Ciri. Secondly, Francesca and her elves are never hunting for her and aren’t doing anything even remotely involved with Geralt and his loved ones. The entire subplot has been invented by Netflix separate from anything that has ever happened in the books.
2The Thanedd Ball
In the concluding episode ofThe Witcherseason 3 part 1, Yennefer organizes The Thanedd Ball for the mages and various other guests at Aretuza. It takes place before the Conclave and ends with the major reveal that Vilgefortz is behind everything that’s been going on and working against Ciri. However, all of this is handled in quite a different fashion in the book series.
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The Thanedd Ball takes place in the books, but it happens at the behest of Emhyr, who wanted vengeanceon the Brotherhood of Magesdue to their involvement in the Battle of Sodden Hill. This led to a bloodbath and the destruction of the Brotherhood as it is known, while this may yet happen it hasn’t taken place yet inThe WitcherNetflix series asGeralt continues attempting to avoid war.
1The Fake Ciri
One of the most shocking moments inThe Witcherseason 3 is when Geralt finds a young girl who has been experimented on and made to believe she is Ciri. This is a hugely complicated matter that shocked Geralt and later Ciri to their cores, as it likely involved horrible kinds of torture. However, while there is a “Fake Ciri” in theWitcherbooks, her origin is much different.
In the books, Vilgefortz was not involved at all and there were no girls being kidnapped from Aretuza, which is one of the major plot points throughoutThe Witcherseason 3. Instead, Rience kidnaps an orphan girl and made her pose as Ciri to give to the White Flame. Either method probably ends with similar results, butThe Witcherseason 3 concocted a much larger plot behind this aspect of the story than the books.
The WitcherSeason 3 Part 1 was released on Netflix on June 29th, 2023,The WitcherSeason 3 Part 2 will be released on July 27th, 2023.
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