rogue's lair (commissions open)

Debunking misinformation about Netflix's The Witcher (Part 1)

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7]

"Henry Cavill is a massive fan of the books and the games and he quit the show because the writers wouldn't stick to the books and he just cares about the source material so much."

Henry Cavill not only did not know that the books existed when he started pursuing the role of Geralt, but he actually thought that the books were based off of the video games (and he still didn't bother to read them) and he didn't learn that the games were actually based off the books until Lauren told him (even though the first thing in the game credits is that they're based off the books); as of 2021, he as only read the full series once — right before he was cast in 2018; while he has played TW3, he has only played a little of TW2 (and I've never found any evidence that he's played the first game); and he also has not played the DLC for TW3.

Henry Cavill also started heavily pushing the narrative that he's just such a massive fan of the books and how important adhering to the source material is to him during the press for S2 to deflect from how it was due to his acting choices of cutting Geralt's lines and either saying nothing or just grunting instead that Geralt's characterization — who is much more verbose in the books — was book inaccurate in S1:

He also lied about the situation and tried to act like Geralt was never originally written as being verbose and blamed the lack of dialogue on Yennefer and Ciri's prominence, which cannot be true as confirmed by Lauren:

And tried to act like the lines he was cutting weren't that important anyway so it wasn't really a big deal, which also cannot be true as confirmed by Joey:

He also started pushing the narrative that adhering to the source material is so important to him and it's 'tricky' to do that with Lauren's vision, but his definition of "Lauren's vision" is the show being an ensemble piece with Yennefer and Ciri at the forefront (like the books) and the show in general heavily centering around women (like the books):

So the idea of him caring so much about "book accuracy" is, in fact, not accurate to the books at all as his problems were the prominence of women in the show when Ciri is the main character of the main book series, which the show started adapting from S2 onwards (which is when Henry Cavill started to complain about wanting "book accuracy" in the first place), and when women are very prominent, central, key figures in the books and they often drive the plot forwards.

Lastly, S3 was the closest adaption of the books out of all the seasons so far, so the idea that he quit after S3 because the writers just weren't respecting the source material and the show wasn't following the books doesn't make any sense anyway.

"Henry Cavill is the only reason why the show was even close to the source material at all."

I've not only never seen any evidence of this, but if anything, I've seen the exact opposite: Henry Cavill was either directly responsible for or at least contributed in some way to a lot of things that went against the books or didn't happen in them.

As I already pointed out, he cut Geralt's lines in S1 and either said nothing or just grunted instead which is inaccurate to Geralt's characterization in the books. Here's another quote from Joey affirming that:

When Aranessa starts getting angry with Wick, and the tension in the room shifts, the FIRST thing Bolaire did was move to cover the kids. He didn't try and stop the conflict. He didn't send one of the hardened warriors over to intervene. He didn't even alert Hal.

Instead, he physically stood in front of Shadia and Hero to keep them safe. He wasn't asked. He wasn't forced. He simply acted, because he knows how much those kids mean to his best friend.

Hal's priority, first and foremost, is keeping his family safe. Liam has made it crystal clear that Hal's motivations are based on those he cares about most, but most of all, his kids. That's why when he sees Occtis lying on the ground at the Lloy estate, he briefly sees Alogar instead. His biggest fear in the world is losing them. Bolaire knows this. He has to based on all the time they've spent together.

I've seen a lot of talk on if Bolaire is manipulating Hal, but I just don't think he is. I think he's being a little vague on some of the details (more for his benefit than Hal's, though), but that's really neither here nor there.

If Bolaire was trying to manipulate Hal for some grander purpose, why would he spend 200+ hours with him, willingly? If Hal were some bargining chip, Thjazi's blackmail wouldn't have been as effective. I guess you could say that whatever goal he's working toward requires Bolaire to gain Hal's trust, but that's not the vibe I'm getting here.

Bolaire goes out of his way to spend time with Hal. More time than is required to gain his trust. If he really didn't care, and only needed Hal for some scheme, why would he go out of his way like that? Why would he protect the kids? Why would he check in with his friend?

Matt has played Julien conscientiously enough to show us examples of his obsession with duty and when he slacks off. It’s not just that he’s obsessed with obtaining status and lording it over others, but also that he’ll fuck right off to a brothel to avoid seeing his dad even though he’s supposed to guard Aranessa. He’ll sass to his father in front of soldiers and snatch a fairy by the wings just to talk down to her. All the little moments collectively show us that Julien views honor as currency to be earned. It’s only been 4 episodes! And we have a collection of character moments to show us why Julien is such a sourpuss.

But when it comes to any romantic interests, there’s been no hints whatsoever. Despite a bevy of opportunities for Julien to show any jealousy, possessiveness, longing, etc. toward Aranessa, Matt hasn’t played into that. There hasn’t been a single instance that could not be explained by Aranessa’s role as his charge and childhood friend. Even the moments of reverie and flashbacks have excluded it.

I entertained the thought that perhaps he’s just suppressing it, but we’ve been watching him “suppress” his disdain for Thjazi and jealousy regarding his father this whole time. Julien sucks at hiding his emotions. If we read a transcript of a conversation, we could argue, oh this polite young man is being treated so rudely by these commoners. But observing his physicality, hearing his tone, watching his face—his manners are a thin veneer over bitterness and selfishness.

I also don’t think there’s any interest in romancing Aranessa for purely political reasons either. To date, we have not yet learned how Aranessa ranks in succession or influence in her house. Regardless of her rank, marriage to a vassal house would be unwise from a political standpoint because it gains House Royce nothing; they already have the loyalty of a vassal house, and it would be better for Aranessa to marry someone outside the existing group. Further, the higher in rank she is, the higher in rank we would expect her spouse—which is also why the marriage to Thjazi was “ill-advised.” Even so, there’s no political gain for Aranessa or her house if she were to marry Julien, so that prospect as a way for Julien to gain status is simply a nonstarter. If Julien wanted a marriage for political gain, he’d probably be working with Aranessa to sway another house’s loyalty to the Royce family and formalizing it with a marriage to Julien as the eldest son of House Davinos. Of course, the likelihood of that happening was already low when Royce’s power was dwindling.

quick sketch of the two orcs because i'm afraid that they bewitched me, heart and soul