‘The Witcher’ Premiere Recap: It’s Liam Hemsworth’s Turn

“And when all seemed lost, Geralt rose again,” says narrator Stribog in a frame device set 100 years after the events The Witcheropening the show's fourth season. This line makes sense in the context of the series, but even more so. outside this is a way to convince viewers that even the loss of lead actor Henry Cavill is not enough to end Geralt's journey from Rivia to its rightful conclusion.

There was a lot of drama surrounding Cavill's departure The Witcher and much nervous speculation about whether his chosen successor will be Liam Hemsworthwould be a worthy replacement. Having finally seen Hemsworth's big debut, I'm ready to give my initial verdict: He's… okay.

This doesn't mean Hemsworth improvementor even equal to Cavill's widely praised performance. It's probably unfair to compare Cavill's 24 episodes to Hemsworth's one, but overall I'd say I prefer Cavill's dark intensity to Hemsworth's looser and somewhat wry take on Geralt.

That said: Hemsworth (and his stunt doubles) are quite capable of doing most of what Geralt requires: looking good in a white wig, muttering cool one-liners and hacking away at monsters and people with a big sword. Hemsworth gets one big monologue describing a nightmare of Ciri happily dancing with Death, and pulls it off beautifully. The Witcher must continue – Netflix has spent, after all reported $720 million and rising. about this series and its various spin-offs – and it seems that this Good Enough Geralt will be a good enough replacement to keep the cameras rolling.

But even as “What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger” strives to help audiences feel comfortable with its new lead actor, it constantly reminds The Witcher has grown much, much more than any of the characters, including its protagonist. Season four starts off right where did the third season end?Geralt, Dandelion and new ally Milva head towards Nilfgaard, hoping to rescue Ciri from the clutches of the crusader emperor Emhyr var Emreis.

Ciri, of course, is not. When the impostor Therin assumes the role of “Ciri” at the emperor's right hand in the third season finale, Ciri stalks the countryside under the alias Falka (a name that has some troubling implications V witcher Universe). Also at the end of season three, we met Ciri's new allies: the Rats, an unlikely group of petty thieves who fall somewhere between Peter PanThe Lost Boys and Ocean's Eleven crew.

While Ciri (and the audience) are briefly introduced to the Rats through an exposition-heavy monologue, we likely would have gotten to know them better if Netflix had stuck to their original plan of releasing a spin-off miniseries about the exploits of the Rats before Ciri joined. This series ran into a creative problem. and remains unreleased, which may explain why this part of the story feels so half-baked—a particularly big problem when The Witcher also presents such a heavy topic. The audience had barely met Kaylie when he tried to rape Ciri. We're hardly more familiar with Mistle, who warns Kaylie and then moves on to Ciri herself. Their meeting is non-violent, but it still feels as if the traumatized Ciri is being coerced.

Whatever you think about Ciri new chosen family – and her decision to stay with them despite the difficult events of the previous night – it's safe to say that her old chosen family seems more reliable. Although Yennefer can no longer sense Ciri, she refuses to give up on her, jumping from portal to portal in an attempt to track her down.

Vilgefortz, the wizard who appeared as The WitcherLast season's main villain has other ideas. After he taunts Yennefer in the episode Criss Angel Mindfreak– like illusions, she is driven to use dark magic to penetrate the brain of one of his own followers – at which point Vilgefortz magically gouges out the woman's eyeballs, leaving Yennefer covered in entrails. This is where she comes to the conclusion that she will probably have to create her own army to fight Vilgefortz and save Ciri, and yes, that seems like a pretty good idea.

And this brings us back to Geralt, whose small army is known to witcher fans what's his name Hanseatic – grows, despite the fact that he insists on the purposefulness of his search. After a chance meeting on the road, the cheerful dwarf Zoltan Chivay (Danny Woodburn) unites his team with Geralt's team. Even Enemies Become Allies: The episode is punctuated by Geralt's meet-cute encounters with Cahir, whom Geralt rescues from Nilfgaardian forces and then returns to aid him at the end of the bloody battle. Geralt can want to go it alone, but it seems that fate – and his injuries – may require a compromise.

• While the framing device is used to ease the transition from Cavill to Hemsworth in the lead role, it serves another equally important function: setting the stage for The Witcherends. The fifth season, expected to air sometime next year, will be The Witcherthe latter, and fans of Andrzej Sapkowski witcher the books will remember Nimue from Lady of the Lakelatest novel in chronological order.

• As for the transition from Cavill to Hemsworth, it probably helps that Hemsworth hasn't yet had big scenes with Anya Chalotra and Freya Allan. It will be interesting to see if he can sell the close bond with Yennefer and Ciri that Cavill's performance created.

• One of the Rats talks about using fistech for fun, and yes, Ciri, you might want to escape this gang.

• Also returning from season three are King Radovid, still grieving the loss of his relationship with Jasker, and spymaster Dijkstra, who is secretly plotting to manipulate the newly crowned Redanian king.

• This is James Purefoy, HBO star. Rome (and often mentioned in “Who should play James Bond?” conversations) as high-ranking Nilfgaardian advisor Skellen.

• But best new character? This is clearly a parrot that Zoltan has taught to only say things like “asshole” and “damn.”

• The Witcher doesn't explain its world very well, but if you're wondering how all these similar-sounding fantasy kingdoms fit together, check it out this mapwhich shows how much land Nilfgaard has already raided and how dangerous it is for the Continent that they are moving into areas like Lyria.

• “The stories say that death followed in his footsteps,” says Stribog, the narrator at the beginning of the episode, indirectly referring to Geralt's meeting with Death in the work of Andrzej Sapkowski. Sword of Destiny.

• Jaskiers Half a century of poetrythe book that Nimue is obsessed with can be read in more detail at binding reference The Witcher World.