Since everyone is throwing their two cents at it, might as well toss in my opinions as well. For context, I came into the series through Witcher 2 and 3 years ago, and only recently started reading the first book. Heavy Spoilers ahead just sayin. Phone is glitchy so I’ll have to flake this later on pc.

Some of the good: At first I was enjoying the development between Ciri and Geralt at the beginning, finally basking in the character growth they were hinting at all that time in the first season. We got to see Ciri grow from a helpless child to something akin to a young Witcher without any terrible writing shoehorning her to be a natural without ever trying. Geralt’s softer side was more expressed as we saw him act as a surrogate father for Ciri. It was also nice to see they got rid of the stupid ballsack armor for Nilfgaardians. The costume and set designing was great. I also enjoyed some of the small references they made like the Witcher 3 medallion hanging on the tree of medallions in Kaer Morhen, Geralt’s in-game sword designs in the artifact room, and the Berserk Brand of Sacrifice sigil at the end with the babies (this one is speculative but it’s a pretty fitting accidental reference at worst). Last random thought, loved Jaskier’s Burn Butcher Burn

The Meh: I don’t know what it was, but it seemed like outside of the actors were unmotivated in scenes or just generic characters in a mid-2000’s dark fantasy. Given how short these seasons are, I have no interest in being side-swept to see the world building and politics. It felt like the writers were trying to shove so much in such little time that it ended up being mediocre. For instance, “FireFuck” and his contact felt like wasted scenes that should have been saved for a later season. Also, I’m not one to be prude but the fuck bombs got old real fast after awhile- it just felt disjointed from the flowery dialogues to candid reality. They also just kept referring to the Leshen as Leshy, which I know is a nitpick but it seriously just felt way too casual for it to not be properly referenced once. Another gripe I had with the current plot was how much focused on Fringilla and the elves- just kind of goes back to it being a short season unnecessarily focusing on world building and not giving it the proper time it needed. From what I’ve seen in the subreddit, it also didn’t do Blood of Elves justice either. I think it would have been better if they had kept it to how the characters responded to the world: eg. Jaskier smuggling the elves, Yennefer learning about the persecutions, etc. The audience sees the world building itself through the characters rather than political exposition through Fringilla and Francesca who felt more like a side story.

The WTF: What the hell was the up with all the character assassinations? Eskel is dead on arrival, Vesemir is less of a mentor and more of a wounded boomer who constantly needs Geralt’s guidance, Yennefer arguably was kneecapped this entire season for some reason, Triss still just felt like she was there despite the actress doing her best with the material, and Lambert’s a prick (ok this one is normal). And then there’s was the basilisk fight- a hall full of around 20 witchers and most of them were just killed off like they were regular villagers fighting a pack of wolves? These guys train to kill monsters and it seemed like only Geralt could actually do the job. Sure it might have been a beast they’ve never encountered but it just seemed like a waste to even have that many in the first place if they aren’t gonna utilize them at all. There also wasn’t that much of monster hunting either- would have been way more interesting to see how Geralt or the other Witchers handled contracts while training Ciri.

Final Thoughts: The show did a lot of good, but felt like the same mid-tier result anyone who experienced the anime Overlord had with the lizard men arc. Still hoping for season three to pull out a better result.