After giving us three seasons of magic and monsters, Henry Cavill is hanging up his sword as The Witcher. His last turn as the White Wolf is the three-episode Volume 2 of The Witcher Season 3, streaming on Netflix.
As a farewell to Cavill, the heart and soul of the show, the three final episodes feel bittersweet. Yes, we get some epic fights — something that was missing in Volume 1 — but after the character journey that Geralt of Rivia/ White Wolf has been on over the three seasons, the final volume feels more like a disservice to Cavill than a fitting end.
Volume 2 of Season 3 opens with chaos at Aretuza with the mages under attack by both Redania, the leadership of Djikstra and Philippa, and by the Elves who have joined forces with Nilfgaard. Many people die, including one who spectacularly explodes into chunks of flesh. Fire engulfs Aretuza, razing it to the ground.
Our central trio of Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer are once again separated, with Geralt being seriously wounded in a battle with Vilgefortz, Ciri trying to survive a barren desert after being transported there because of lack of control on her power, and Yen trying to piece together what’s left of Aretuza.
All three arcs seem a waste of the journey these three have been on, both together and individually. Ciri’s journey through the desert and her internal monologues might have an impact on her future arc, but it seems unnecessary to dedicate almost one whole episode of the final three to it. Yen is left to pick up the pieces that again have no impact on the finale.
But the most disappointing is perhaps the treatment of Geralt, given that this is Cavill’s swan song as the White Wolf. We’ve seen Geralt grow from a grunting emotionless killing machine to a father figure. We see his pride in Siri when she kills her first monster, his softness towards Yen as he finds his way to forgiveness, and his slow journey from his famed neutrality to damning neutrality and getting involved anyway. Only to spend most of the final episode lying in bed, grunting and struggling to hold a sword again.
Cavill deserved better, not just because of how big a Witcher geek he is but also given how much of the character he embodied in his gruffness, his grunts, his body language and, not least, the sword fighting. We get a lot of sword fighting, true. First, when he faces off with Vilgefortz and loses, a vulnerability that adds another layer to the man we have followed over the last two seasons. Then there is the final sword fight where he single-handedly takes down a group of Nilfgaardian soldiers, breaking his stance of neutrality as he travels to rescue Siri from the Emhyr with Jaskier and new companion Milva.
Unfortunately, Cavill spends most of the last two episodes in the Brokilon forest recovering from the fight with Vilgefortz. Maybe it could have had an impact if his appearance was changed during the healing. Because, as it stands, there is no explanation given as to why his appearance will change to allow Liam Hemsworth to don the wig.
For many fans, Cavill is The Witcher and it is hard to imagine anyone being able to fill his shoulders, erm, shoes. Imagine if someone told you that Severus Snape would be played by anyone other than Alan Rickman, or, anyone other than Viggo Mortensen would be Aragorn? Nope. We just wish there was a little more fanfare to Cavill’s departure.
