While fans of Netflix’s The Witcher wait for the release of season 4, there’s a huge update on the show’s fifth and final season that shows the streamer never learned from one of its biggest mistakes. The world of Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher novels expanded to video games years ago, expanding the fanbase of this unique universe, and in 2019, it got its first English-language adaptation thanks to Netflix. The first season of The Witcher was a big success, but this quickly changed with season 2, and the show hasn’t really recovered since then.
Although The Witcher season 3 was a big improvement, there are still some issues that the show will need to address in its fourth season. The ending of The Witcher season 3 set up some of the books’ darkest storylines, which is already a challenge, but season 4 has an even bigger one with the debut of Liam Hemsworth as Geralt of Rivia. Hemsworth will continue to play Geralt in season 5, confirmed to be the show’s final season, and the latest update on The Witcher season 5 proves that Netflix never learned from one of its biggest mistakes.
The Witcher Season 5 Has Begun Filming Before Season 4 Comes Out
No Word Yet On When The Witcher Season 4 Will Be Released
The Witcher season 4 wrapped filming in October 2024, but at the time of writing, there’s no word about when it will be released. Netflix hasn’t even released a trailer or plot details yet, with the only teaser being a short video that showed Liam Hemsworth in full Geralt costume. However, according to Redaninan Intelligence, production on The Witcher season 5 has now begun, and though the show normally begins production in England, season 5 is filming in Cape Town, South Africa. According to this report, production will continue in Cape Town until mid-March and move to London after that.
Redanian Intelligence also reports that The Witcher season 5 is using sets created for the spinoff The Rats, which was meant to follow the title group and Ciri. At the end of The Witcher season 3, Ciri was rescued by the Rats and joined them, introducing herself as “Falka” to not give her real identity away. However, there haven’t been any substantial updates on The Rats, with the last ones saying it was being reworked as a standalone episode for season 4. Either way, the sets are serving a purpose in season 5.
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Netflix Never Learned From Its Biggest Witcher Mistake
The Witcher Has Made Some Big Mistakes
Netflix has made mistakes with its adaptation of The Witcher, mostly the changes it has made to the source material that ended up completely changing some characters and storylines. The Witcher season 2 is the prime example of this, as the show turned Yennefer into an antagonist with the storyline of her loss of powers and her deal with the Voleth Meir. This led her to trick Ciri and Geralt with the purpose of giving Ciri to the Voleth Meir, but she redeemed herself by sacrificing herself to save them.
The Witcher season 3 fixed some of season 2’s Yennefer mistakes and finally gave her the mother/daughter storyline with Ciri that should have started in season 2, yet it still felt rushed. Although season 3 was more loyal to its source novel, it continued to repeat past mistakes, which went on to show that, although the team behind The Witcher knows what they’re doing wrong and what the audience wants, they haven’t actually listened. Now, season 4 is the show’s biggest risk to date with the new Geralt and darker stories, and the former hasn’t had a good start.
Netflix isn’t waiting to see how season 4 is received and what works and doesn’t before jumping into season 5.
The news of Hemsworth’s casting sparked some strong reactions among fans of The Witcher, as did the first look at him in full Geralt costume. The reaction to season 4 could be equal or worse, but it could also change to a more positive one once the audience gets a full look at Hemsworth’s Geralt, his mannerisms, voice, chemistry with the rest of the cast, etc.
However, Netflix isn’t waiting to see how season 4 is received and what works and doesn’t before jumping into season 5. This only risks season 5 repeating the same mistakes of the past seasons, which could lead to an unsatisfying ending for a show that never recovered from its initial mistakes.
What The Witcher Season 5 Needs To Be A Good Ending To The Show
The Witcher Season 5 Has Some Challenges To Overcome
The Witcher season 5 can still give the show a good ending despite jumping into production before season 4 is even out. The mistakes of The Witcher are not new, as they go all the way back to season 2, so the production team could take notes and fix these mistakes in season 5 (and four too, hopefully).
Season 5 could be a lot more loyal to its source material (which might be two novels instead of one), the characters’ stories, and the tone of these, but most importantly, it has to give closure to all its main characters, as leaving loose ends would only make The Witcher’s problems even worse.
The Witcher
6/10
- Release Date
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December 20, 2019
- Showrunner
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Lauren Schmidt Hissrich
- Directors
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Lauren Schmidt Hissrich
- Writers
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Lauren Schmidt Hissrich