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 Mr Morden wrote:
Is Renfri in the game - my fav character so far.

no because she's dead. the game takes place after the events of the books. However another girl whom is cursed under the black sun does apper in the game

 Mr Morden wrote:
Is Renfri in the game - my fav character so far.

Her death is decades in the past by the time the events of the games take place. The short story in which she appears is one of the first that Sapkowski got published.

Incidently the short story is worth reading, it's MUCH MUCH better then the netflix version

 Mr Morden wrote:
Is Renfri in the game - my fav character so far.

Nah, the games take place long after the Blaviken incident. There are references to it; in one of the games you can intimidate someone by revealing that you (Geralt) is the Butcher of Blaviken.

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:

 Mr Morden wrote:
Is Renfri in the game - my fav character so far.

Nah, the games take place long after the Blaviken incident. There are references to it; in one of the games you can intimidate someone by revealing that you (Geralt) is the Butcher of Blaviken.

Geralt getting that "Butcher..." title always made me scratch my head - I mean he took out a half dozen murderous thugs in Blaviken for pretty good reasons so what was the big deal especially in such a dark and gritty setting. Also when you are playing the games and have probably slaughtered 1000-odd humans in the countryside and elsewhere who stupidly are hostile to you and you have no choice but to kill. Its like "GRRR IM THE BUTCHER OF BLAVIKEN.. FEAR ME" and also hey I just took out like 30 morons in that bandit fort about 100 feet away five minutes ago lol.....

petrov27 wrote:

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:

 Mr Morden wrote:
Is Renfri in the game - my fav character so far.

Nah, the games take place long after the Blaviken incident. There are references to it; in one of the games you can intimidate someone by revealing that you (Geralt) is the Butcher of Blaviken.

Geralt getting that "Butcher..." title always made me scratch my head - I mean he took out a half dozen murderous thugs in Blaviken for pretty good reasons so what was the big deal especially in such a dark and gritty setting. Also when you are playing the games and have probably slaughtered 1000-odd humans in the countryside and elsewhere who stupidly are hostile to you and you have no choice but to kill. Its like "GRRR IM THE BUTCHER OF BLAVIKEN.. FEAR ME" and also hey I just took out like 30 morons in that bandit fort about 100 feet away five minutes ago lol.....

It's humans vs other.

Some mutant killed a dozen humans in the middle of the town of Blaviken. The humans remember that something that was not them killed a bunch of people.

BrianDavion wrote:
Incidently the short story is worth reading, it's MUCH MUCH better then the netflix version

Thanks - I might well check that out.

Some mutant killed a dozen humans in the middle of the town of Blaviken. The humans remember that something that was not them killed a bunch of people.

I thought the bunch of people (bandits) were lead by a much feared killer and possible mutant/harbringer of the aploclypse if you believe dodgy wizards.

 Mr Morden wrote:

BrianDavion wrote:
Incidently the short story is worth reading, it's MUCH MUCH better then the netflix version

Thanks - I might well check that out.

Some mutant killed a dozen humans in the middle of the town of Blaviken. The humans remember that something that was not them killed a bunch of people.

I thought the bunch of people (bandits) were lead by a much feared killer and possible mutant/harbringer of the aploclypse if you believe dodgy wizards.

She was a human doing bad things. The dodgy wizard told Geralt about it. The wizard didn't go around telling the whole town about it. Especially clear when he threatens Geralt.

Well, watched it a second time (kinda, was painting) and I’m fiending for season 2.

Also at the previous recommendations of some posters that I generally agree with and respect, I started playing Witcher 3. I’m not sure what I was into when it first dropped, most likely a Total War game had my full attention, but holy feth have I been missing out. Loving it. Its grabbed ahold of me like how I wished Red Dead Redemption 2 did.

And in game, seeing Nilfgard armor portrayed there and how its portrayed in the show boggles my mind further. It was weird to look at and I just said ‘fantasy world- doesn’t have to make sense’, as well as assumed it was just a visual device to portray them as the “outsiders” or some such. But it would have been so much better if they followed the games lead. What a weird decision to make.

 nels1031 wrote:
Well, watched it a second time (kinda, was painting) and I’m fiending for season 2.

Also at the previous recommendations of some posters that I generally agree with and respect, I started playing Witcher 3. I’m not sure what I was into when it first dropped, most likely a Total War game had my full attention, but holy feth have I been missing out. Loving it. Its grabbed ahold of me like how I wished Red Dead Redemption 2 did.

I am so jealous of you! The first time was so magical...
In the end, I felt I was cheating on my wife a bit, because I was longing so much for Yennefer to appear again in the DLC.

petrov27 wrote:

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:

 Mr Morden wrote:
Is Renfri in the game - my fav character so far.

Nah, the games take place long after the Blaviken incident. There are references to it; in one of the games you can intimidate someone by revealing that you (Geralt) is the Butcher of Blaviken.

Geralt getting that "Butcher..." title always made me scratch my head - I mean he took out a half dozen murderous thugs in Blaviken for pretty good reasons so what was the big deal especially in such a dark and gritty setting. Also when you are playing the games and have probably slaughtered 1000-odd humans in the countryside and elsewhere who stupidly are hostile to you and you have no choice but to kill. Its like "GRRR IM THE BUTCHER OF BLAVIKEN.. FEAR ME" and also hey I just took out like 30 morons in that bandit fort about 100 feet away five minutes ago lol.....

Because the villagers didn't know they were bandits. They thought they were just ordinary people.
If you lived in a small village and you saw some mutant brutally kill 6 people, you'd think he was a monster.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 nels1031 wrote:
Well, watched it a second time (kinda, was painting) and I’m fiending for season 2.

Also at the previous recommendations of some posters that I generally agree with and respect, I started playing Witcher 3. I’m not sure what I was into when it first dropped, most likely a Total War game had my full attention, but holy feth have I been missing out. Loving it. Its grabbed ahold of me like how I wished Red Dead Redemption 2 did.

And in game, seeing Nilfgard armor portrayed there and how its portrayed in the show boggles my mind further. It was weird to look at and I just said ‘fantasy world- doesn’t have to make sense’, as well as assumed it was just a visual device to portray them as the “outsiders” or some such. But it would have been so much better if they followed the games lead. What a weird decision to make.

Yeah, I dunno why they the showrunners had Nilfgaard armor look like that. It doesn't look like metal, it looks plastic.
In the games they wore proper black plate.

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:

petrov27 wrote:

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:

 Mr Morden wrote:
Is Renfri in the game - my fav character so far.

Nah, the games take place long after the Blaviken incident. There are references to it; in one of the games you can intimidate someone by revealing that you (Geralt) is the Butcher of Blaviken.

Geralt getting that "Butcher..." title always made me scratch my head - I mean he took out a half dozen murderous thugs in Blaviken for pretty good reasons so what was the big deal especially in such a dark and gritty setting. Also when you are playing the games and have probably slaughtered 1000-odd humans in the countryside and elsewhere who stupidly are hostile to you and you have no choice but to kill. Its like "GRRR IM THE BUTCHER OF BLAVIKEN.. FEAR ME" and also hey I just took out like 30 morons in that bandit fort about 100 feet away five minutes ago lol.....

Because the villagers didn't know they were bandits. They thought they were just ordinary people.
If you lived in a small village and you saw some mutant brutally kill 6 people, you'd think he was a monster.

Ordinary medieval people don't carry swords or wear armour - especially special blades like the leader guy had.

Sorry but if you live in a small village and a bunch of well armed killers turn up you have a pretty good idea of what they are, they can be little else in a medeival world - they are not retainers and mercenaries and bandits are pretty much the same thing. What else could they be?

Watched it again tonight and it does look like the dodgy wizard is influencing the actual villagers - they follow his directions pretty quickly - almost as if its scripted and the young girl warns Gerit not to return to the village.

There are a lot of real world styles of armor. Nilfgard could easily just used a different cultures style of armor as a influence in their design. More scale mail or ring mail would have been good.

 Mr Morden wrote:

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:

petrov27 wrote:

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:

 Mr Morden wrote:
Is Renfri in the game - my fav character so far.

Nah, the games take place long after the Blaviken incident. There are references to it; in one of the games you can intimidate someone by revealing that you (Geralt) is the Butcher of Blaviken.

Geralt getting that "Butcher..." title always made me scratch my head - I mean he took out a half dozen murderous thugs in Blaviken for pretty good reasons so what was the big deal especially in such a dark and gritty setting. Also when you are playing the games and have probably slaughtered 1000-odd humans in the countryside and elsewhere who stupidly are hostile to you and you have no choice but to kill. Its like "GRRR IM THE BUTCHER OF BLAVIKEN.. FEAR ME" and also hey I just took out like 30 morons in that bandit fort about 100 feet away five minutes ago lol.....

Because the villagers didn't know they were bandits. They thought they were just ordinary people.
If you lived in a small village and you saw some mutant brutally kill 6 people, you'd think he was a monster.

Ordinary medieval people don't carry swords or wear armour - especially special blades like the leader guy had.

Sorry but if you live in a small village and a bunch of well armed killers turn up you have a pretty good idea of what they are, they can be little else in a medeival world - they are not retainers and mercenaries and bandits are pretty much the same thing. What else could they be?

Watched it again tonight and it does look like the dodgy wizard is influencing the actual villagers - they follow his directions pretty quickly - almost as if its scripted and the young girl warns Gerit not to return to the village.

also keep in mind Geralt had prejudice working against him as well. Witchers are the subject of prejudice, they're seen as emotion stripped monsters, less then human etc.
Consider some of the gross miscarriages of justice we've seen in real life due to prejudice (such as any number of events regarding black people in the deep south in the 30s etc) it's suddenly a lot easier to belive that the townsfolk thought Geralt was the party in the wrong here doesn't it?

BrianDavion wrote:

 Mr Morden wrote:

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:

petrov27 wrote:

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:

 Mr Morden wrote:
Is Renfri in the game - my fav character so far.

Nah, the games take place long after the Blaviken incident. There are references to it; in one of the games you can intimidate someone by revealing that you (Geralt) is the Butcher of Blaviken.

Geralt getting that "Butcher..." title always made me scratch my head - I mean he took out a half dozen murderous thugs in Blaviken for pretty good reasons so what was the big deal especially in such a dark and gritty setting. Also when you are playing the games and have probably slaughtered 1000-odd humans in the countryside and elsewhere who stupidly are hostile to you and you have no choice but to kill. Its like "GRRR IM THE BUTCHER OF BLAVIKEN.. FEAR ME" and also hey I just took out like 30 morons in that bandit fort about 100 feet away five minutes ago lol.....

Because the villagers didn't know they were bandits. They thought they were just ordinary people.
If you lived in a small village and you saw some mutant brutally kill 6 people, you'd think he was a monster.

Ordinary medieval people don't carry swords or wear armour - especially special blades like the leader guy had.

Sorry but if you live in a small village and a bunch of well armed killers turn up you have a pretty good idea of what they are, they can be little else in a medeival world - they are not retainers and mercenaries and bandits are pretty much the same thing. What else could they be?

Watched it again tonight and it does look like the dodgy wizard is influencing the actual villagers - they follow his directions pretty quickly - almost as if its scripted and the young girl warns Gerit not to return to the village.

also keep in mind Geralt had prejudice working against him as well. Witchers are the subject of prejudice, they're seen as emotion stripped monsters, less then human etc.
Consider some of the gross miscarriages of justice we've seen in real life due to prejudice (such as any number of events regarding black people in the deep south in the 30s etc) it's suddenly a lot easier to belive that the townsfolk thought Geralt was the party in the wrong here doesn't it?

Its not quite the same - I agree that they see him as evil - but this is well used by the wizard, whose powers of suggestion seem potent - they quickly obey his every word - the lesser evil again may come into play.

BUT - he is not just some poor oppressed minority, he is a fully armed and armoured "Monster" who has just slaughtered likely the only armed people in the village or at least those who have any notable skill with them. He did it in moments and they likely watched. I doubt they would have done anything after that until the Wizard pushed them. If he had been less "conflicted" that mob would have been disperesed in moments with more bodies littering the street.

Anyway lookng forward to watching some more - just hoping that more people I like survive - the piece in the court with the royal family knighting people was well done.

so watched the 2nd episode and it was..........dull. The magic training stuff was not bad but the rest ......ugh.unconvinicing haffling elves and fauns, do they have budget problems?

Shanara was so much better than this

Gerald did not WANT to kill all the villagers. The whole theme of the episode comes to a head in that scene.

 Easy E wrote:
Gerald did not WANT to kill all the villagers. The whole theme of the episode comes to a head in that scene.

Er yeah I know that but the predujiced villagers who hate mutants don;t know that - they saw him slaughter a band of well armed men without breaking sweat - it was only the girl who even cut him.

I noted the evil wizard is part of the magic school as well, guess it makes a change for cutting up girls and having princesses raped in woods...

I saw an accurate statement that called the Witcher Fantasy Noir.

That is a very good way to look at it. It's a world filled with bad people and the hero isn't really a great person themselves they are just the least worst person you see.

Seems a pretty standard fantasy world so far, and with a world weary reluctant hero - its a well used trope.

 Mr Morden wrote:

BUT - he is not just some poor oppressed minority, he is a fully armed and armoured "Monster" who has just slaughtered likely the only armed people in the village or at least those who have any notable skill with them.

The townsfolk tried to get rid of him right in the beginning of the episode, long before he killed the bandits. The dude said something along the lines of “get out, we don’t want your kind around here” when all he wants is directions to the alderman.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 Mr Morden wrote:

BUT - he is not just some poor oppressed minority, he is a fully armed and armoured "Monster" who has just slaughtered likely the only armed people in the village or at least those who have any notable skill with them.

The townsfolk tried to get rid of him right in the beginning of the episode, long before he killed the bandits. The dude said something along the lines of “get out, we don’t want your kind around here” when all he wants is directions to the alderman.

With the initial backing of the Bandits....until their boss overules them - and then they just give him dirty looks. He wonders through the village with the girl t the Wizards.

No villager dares do a thing to him. Cos he is a dangerous magic using mutant with a big sword and then he slaughters the bandits. No one does anything in the last scene until the Wizard tells them to.- you can see they just follow his instructions - almost like .....magic.

Four episodes in and enjoying it so far. Most deviations from the books were done in an understandable / good enough fashion. If the rest of the episodes are as good I'll be happy.

One minor nitpick I disliked from episode 4:


With all this talk on Blaviken, I just kind of want to pipe in:

The Show:


The Book:

I just read the Renfri fight in the books

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
I just read the Renfri fight in the books

Spoiler:

It seems like she is basically committing suicide, she knows at that point that killing the villagers won’t get Stregabor to come down, but it also seems like she knows she isn’t going to beat Geralt in a fight and chooses to fight anyway, even though Geralt gave her plenty of opportunity to walk away.

But yeah, in the book it clearly happens with the townsfolk watching and Stregabor doesn’t have anything to do with the crowd turning against him.

I did like the actress that played Renfri, shame we likely won’t see more of her.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
I did like the actress that played Renfri, shame we likely won’t see more of her.

Sterling191 wrote:

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
I did like the actress that played Renfri, shame we likely won’t see more of her.

Spoiler:

She's already come to Geralt as visions more than once. No reason that cant happen again. She's been established as one of the voices his subconscious takes, so I'd personally argue its more likely than not.

Spoiler for last episode:

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

Spoiler:

It seemed the visions mostly related to meeting Ciri, which has happened now so I'd be surprised if they keep going back to Renfri visions in the next season/s.

\m/

Sterling191 wrote:

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
I just read the Renfri fight in the books

Spoiler:

It seems like she is basically committing suicide, she knows at that point that killing the villagers won’t get Stregabor to come down, but it also seems like she knows she isn’t going to beat Geralt in a fight and chooses to fight anyway, even though Geralt gave her plenty of opportunity to walk away.

But yeah, in the book it clearly happens with the townsfolk watching and Stregabor doesn’t have anything to do with the crowd turning against him.

Spoiler:

Its mostly about her inability to let go of her white whale (her vendetta against Stregabor). For better or worse it consumed her life, and she has to see it through, even if it means her death. There's certainly some subtext about Geralt being the first person to treat her like an actual person, despite all the dark deeds she's done, and that by dying at his hand she finds a release she couldnt consciously choose for herself, but I personally dont see that as her primary motivation in choosing a fight she knows she cant win

Renfri was a great character (in both the books and series) because there's no question she was not exactly a good person, but the question was, was it her nature or was it the gak life that donkey-caves like Stegabor forced on her for simply being "born under a bad star" CDPR seems pretty fascinated with that question too having tackled the subject on two seperate occasions. (once in a module for witcher 1, and once in witcher 3's blood and wine DLC)