“She gained another nightmare to join the babe in the snow and the faceless man. She sat on the Sun Throne, wearing the shawl of an Aes Sedai, and in the streets outside, the mobs were destroying the city.”

-Moiraine Damodred, New Spring

“Her uncle had died, and she had ascended the dais in his stead, a crown placed upon her head. Once, the nobility had tried to revolt. Once, Lord Galldrian of House Riatin had mustered enough support to march on the capital. Once, she had put whole towns to the sword. Once, she had lined the streets of the capital with the heads of traitors — one for every corner, for every street lamp. Once, she had stalked through Cairhien with saidar on her lips and blood soaked up the hems of her dress. Once, she had confiscated estates all across the countryside, throttling the flow of coin into those Houses who had forgotten the meaning of loyalty, who had forgotten their place, letting them die the slow death of obscurity and ruin.

Now, they are afraid to speak her name. Now, the Sun Throne is secure beyond all measure. Now, her rule is absolute.”

"Her uncle had died, and she had ascended the dais in his stead, a crown placed upon her head. Once, the nobility had tried to revolt. Once, Lord Galldrian of House Riatin had mustered enough support to march on the capital. Once, she had put whole towns to the sword. Once, she had lined the streets of the capital with the heads of traitors — one for every corner, for every street lamp. Once, she had stalked through Cairhien with saidar on her lips and blood soaked up the hems of her dress. Once, she had confiscated estates all across the countryside, throttling the flow of coin into those Houses who had forgotten the meaning of loyalty, who had forgotten their place, letting them die the slow death of obscurity and ruin.

Now, they are afraid to speak her name. Now, the Sun Throne is secure beyond all measure. Now, her rule is absolute."

Glorfindel. Before The Storm.

first of all, to watch the witcher you need to replace your expectation of “good” with “totally unhinged.”

the show is about henry cavill in extremely tight clothing, carrying around a broadsword, facing moral dilemmas, fighting monsters, and having sex. he takes a potion before every fight (which isn’t explained) and no one in the story ages (which also isn’t explained) so people’s parents and grandparents look the same age as their progeny. 

the witcher is not a monster of the week show, nor does it have a coherent ongoing arc. it is not told in chronological order. most of the things that happen are unrelated to everything else that happens. the timeline might happen over weeks, decades, or centuries, and none of that is explained. lore is told in fits and bursts and makes no sense at all. the first episode is absolutely useless and you should not judge the rest of the season based on it, but it has a great sword fight and geralt (that’s henry cavill in extremely tight clothing) talks lovingly to his horse. that’s it. that’s the show.

what is important to know is that the season is adapted from short stories set before the events of the book series. so it’s not season 1 as much as season 0, which is why it feels like nothing is connected or makes sense. it’s a primer to what i’m assuming the next season will be (and i think/hope the fandom will really take off). 

everyone seems to have boners for everyone else. most of the characters are women and they are all absolutely feral. the showrunner is a woman, and most of the eps are written and directed by women. it’s like watching a really wild fanfic come to life. what i love about it is that it’s just so fucking weird. every expectation i had going into it was shattered, and even the moments that were cheesy or boring or cringey or dumb i found somewhat endearing. now that i’m done watching it, i kind of want to watch it again, which is something i rarely do. after every episode i thought, “i really don’t like this, and i don’t want to watch anymore.” and after every episode, i clicked play on the next. 

if you like hot beefy men who are deeply misunderstood as being the bad guy but are actually good-aligned, you’ll like the witcher. if you like complicated, all-powerful, borderline-evil female characters who are greedy and heartless and have ample room for growth, you’ll like the witcher. if you like isolated men who are chased by endearing comedic relief sidekicks, you’ll like the witcher. if you like stories in which seemingly self-centered men are made to become paternal toward helpless beings, you will like the witcher. if you want to ship everyone with everyone else and be totally overwhelmed by attractive people doing attractive things, you will like the witcher. if you like catchy bops that will be stuck in your head for 87 years, you’ll like the witcher.

One doesn’t possess one, but one can employ one, if one has any monsters that need hunting.

They need coins to exchange for goods and services, just like everyone else.

The Witcher is entirely unhinged and I fucking loved it.

Also if the feral women and beefy men haven’t convinced you, try the adorable bisexual bard:

While the above posts are all incredibly correct, the thing that got ME into the show was that it’s the story of a man who refused to make a choice, and he’s been paying for his wilfull inaction ever since. And I love it.

You can watch it without watching/reading the source material, but it won’t be written to accommodate your lack of background. The world won’t be explained (for example: Geralt’s potions are never explained bc anyone with prior world knowledge already KNOWS what they are and what they do) and it will probably take longer to understand it–but you’ll still be able to enjoy the ride.

I can say this as someone who had ZERO knowledge of the books/games/etc prior to the Netflix series–luckily I had someone explain the concept of Witchers (and the potion), and the timeline prior to watching, and I know it would have been way harder to follow along without the heads up.

And yes, it’s still insane. It’s delightfully filled with damaged and extremely feral humans who are at turns funny, heartbreaking, bone-breaking, and indecently attractive, all living out narratives that explore hubris, choice, destiny, and the extremely human drive to be masters of our own fate, even unto our own detriment.

I just really wanted to see her in this outfit

HOUSE OF FINGOLFIN → FINGON THE VALIANT

WITCHER LADIES APPRECIATION WEEK

Day 2: Favourite Dynamic

Moria by Alan Lee