They make an overnight pitstop at the creepy mansion of an old friend, played by GoT’s Kristofer Hivju (the red-haired guy, whose doleful performance manages to shine from beneath layers of imaginative creature-design). The meatiest plot of the first episode finds Geralt and Ciri heading to what they hope is safety. In fact, the episode manages multiple novel spins on what seem like old horror tropes, from a horrifyingly visceral method of interrogation to the uniquely unsettling movements of a critter who seems to regard gravity as a mere unhelpful suggestion. With slightly more colorful clothing, the scene would not be out of place at the start of a mid-season episode of Buffy the horror is finely-crafted, with a creative twist on familiar scares. In the opening moments, we see a group of doomed travelers wander into an abandoned village, where I don’t think it’s spoiling anything to say that the eerie silence does not bode well for their survival. The mages are all a-bustle, their grasp on the continent’s rulers slipping away and spooky monsters would very much like to drink as much warm human blood as possible, please.īut first, we need a cold open. Geralt and Cirilla have found each other, though neither is quite sure what they’re going to do about that. An invading army has been repelled - just barely - by Yennefer’s forbidden fire magic, and she’s thought dead.

The witcher season 2 review