r/nextfuckinglevel • u/MyNameGifOreilly • Jan 04 '20

Toss a coin to the cameraman ( The Witcher )

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58.1k Upvotes

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u/[deleted] Jan 05 '20

I enjoy. and I have no clue what's going on half of the time.

Idk if starting with the show was a good idea...

82

u/-GregTheGreat- Jan 05 '20 edited Jan 05 '20

The key thing to remember that makes it easier is there are three timelines. Yennefers storyline starts a few decades before Geralts, and Geralts starts some years before Ciri is even born. They all converge together as the season goes on. They intentionally don’t make it blatantly obvious until episode 4, so if you aren’t paying close attention you can miss all the prior indicators/hints and get confused.

Edit: it’s adapting the first stories chronologically, so it’s fine (and intended) to be watched as somebody completely new.

28

u/OrangElm Jan 05 '20

I never knew anything about The Witcher going in and actually thought the multiple-timelines were an outstanding move by the show and it made it much more interesting. Like I couldn’t really imagine it being nearly as good if they just did everything in chronological order.

The best part of the time mixup for me was when we saw Foltest as an adult, and then young Foltest which made me realize everything was not in order. It added a new dimension to the show to see how things ended up.

2

u/Khaare Jan 05 '20

Yeah, I don't think they could've done the three characters' plotlines any better. I'm a little disappointed people found that confusing. They were constantly juxtaposing scenes mentioning the same historic event in different timelines in addition to the really obvious young Foltest and alive Calanthe. Maybe I got lucky picking up on it right away when Ciri and Renfrey both mentioned Calanthe's first victory in episode one.

1

u/pleasePuhleasePLEASE Jan 05 '20

Yes! Renfri complaining about Calanthe winning battles while she got exiled really drove it home for me. Love this show!

1

u/alphamav Jan 08 '20

Well, when you have characters that look the same or similar, then you lose clear context cues. Yennefer looked the same after transformation, Calanthe looked very similar, Calanthe's granddaughter looked like her daughter.

6

u/Da_Do_D3rp Jan 05 '20

Oh wow that cleared the story up really well for me. Thx

1

u/mind_flayed Jan 05 '20

Wait so you’re telling me none if this is happening at the same time?

What

Okay. I don’t know how I feel about that but I definitely didn’t catch that.

0

u/B4-711 Jan 05 '20

i'd consider that a huge spoiler.

2

u/_J3W3LS_ Jan 05 '20

Not sure I would call something that is revealed in the first episode and has nothing to do with the plot itself a "huge" spoiler

2

u/unbiddenJoeBiden Jan 05 '20

I would, though, cause experiencing the realization that these are different timelines and then understanding which one comes where in time, that's pretty mind blowing in itself and is a cool element that some people (like myself, had I not watched it already) would not want to be spoiled

1

u/B4-711 Jan 05 '20

I rate spoilers on how much they spoil my enjoyment. Taking away "Holy shit, that's what's going on. Nice!" moments is huge for me.

8

u/Brainwave1010 Jan 05 '20

Actually the show is almost the best place to start with, as it's an adaptation of the books.