The Witcher (TV Series) Redanian Intelligence (2021) User Reviews

A bunch of bangers

[orgrinrt · 9/10 · 18 December 2021]

Yes, yes and yes!

Episode starts strong with one of my favourite characters, Dijkstra. It was a great scene too, almost perfect. They did great job with the casting; I immediately recognized who it is, though in my head I somehow imagined him bulkier, on the fat muscular side. Not that the actor here looks small by any means.

And then, I'm really pumped that we get to this side of Cahir this early in the show. It took so long in the books and he is, with all his faults, one of the best characters, up there with Dijkstra in my books. The show really did him dirty in the first season. I really really hope we don't go back to that.

The scene with the elves and relieving was so good too. The actor playing the Temerian soldier had a very tiny role, but oh my god how well that scene played out. It's tragic, of course, but the actor really was fantastic there.

And Batey as Dandelion is as strong and exciting as ever. In the books he makes most things he's involved in just that much more entertaining. The same is true for this show, which I really do appreciate. The meta commentary with the song with multiple timelines was such fun. I just wish they did the book's sequence with the trap door and all, but that's a minor complaint. This elf arc really fits the overall tone of this show and in this episode, it is well executed and tied together. And the moments towards the end of the episode felt really real. Great acting from all.

Triss arriving at Kaer Morhen, too. It played so well, very faithful to the books in the atmosphere of it, even if a lot of the actual content was based in different things. While I liked the Triss in season 1 too, I do have a soft spot for lighter orange hair and it just makes the actress shine and somehow resemble the image of Triss I had when reading a bit better. Though I never imagined Triss this redheaded. I must have missed some detail somewhere or just mistook words (I read in English, though it's not my native tongue), because the games went this way too as I understand.

And Geralt teleporting was a hilarious scene. They really outdid themselves here, everyone involved.

Also, getting more of Vesemir is great, in this episode it actually works so well too. This whole mutagen restoration idea seems like an actually great branch for the story (if done well, mind you).

All in all, this episode had a bunch of bangers and I think they maybe should have spread all this greatness across the two previous episodes a bit. But I won't complain. This was really a fun and entertaining episode.

Great but with another headscratcher

[finnschneider-25831 · 8/10 · 18 December 2021]

Really great episode and I would like to give it more points but there are two major flaws.

The first one is an insult to the books and the games. How can you breakt the lore in such a unrespectful and completely incoherent manner? There is one rule and one rule only in the witcher universe and they brook it! Seriously, I had to stop watching for a minute, drink a shoot, calm down and then get back to it. How could they dishonor Geralt that way. There is no way possible that he would ever say no to sex.

Okay, jokes aside. I actually liked the Triss scenes this time and I don't know why, but she looks far more recognizable than last season. Even though I would have wished for a prettier actress, but it's alright.

A really great cast was Dikstra, who may not be fat, but is still badass and really recognizable. His scenes were some of the highlight and show a bit more of the political side from the Witcher world, not through the eyes of the magicians.

But the last scene was a bit off again. It seems the writers really don't have good ideas how to create a decent escape. The whole scene how the refugees got on the ship was weird as hell and didn't seem realistic or even plausible at all. Like seriously, Dandelion how did he do that more than once already?

But besides that great episode.

Burn Witcher burn!

[ha77y73ad97 · 8/10 · 11 January 2022]

A turn of pace to the series, and im not sure if i can say a fun episode but certainly lighter overall tone but some very dark and disturbing context to the episode

Through out this episode it all comes back to the prescusion of the elven people being hunted through the sewers along with Yennifer after escaping with the knight. But seeing our friend Jaskier was just great to see. Playing such a major role as well instead of being the comedic relief, he was certainly that again but progressing the story as well. This is where i say it had a lighter tone with his return, arguing again with Yennifer, back and fouth banter, putting things right when his song choices are called upon!

Overall still a strong showing from this series. This was where things may have got confusing for some last time but this is keeping everything in line!

Dijkstra, Triss and Jaskier

[jaqmeister · 9/10 · 20 December 2021]

Dijkstra, Triss and Jaskier = All done very well.

McTavish and Batey are really good casting.

Anna Shaffer got a lot of material to do. Got a massive upgrade.

Fate

[aboalhyjaa · 8/10 · 17 December 2021]

Finally, after 4 episodes i can say that this season actually have a purpose.

Not seeing any progress in the scenario yet the writers throwing one story after another kinda made me didn't want to binge watch this season and that is a big conflict with the whole Neflix idea.

But, the last 15 minutes kinda gave good idea's about the second half of the season.

Part of this is my favourite part of season 2

[Flippo9204 · 9/10 · 20 December 2021]

The part with Triss is my favourite part of season two, too bad it gets brought down by the part with Yen and Cahir. It just didn't feel right somehow.

Love this series a lot

[moviesfilmsreviewsinc · 10/10 · 1 January 2022]

Dara figures into this episode's C Plot, which introduces the titular Redanian Intelligence and Djikstra, a towering figure in both the books and the games. Played by a glowering Graham McTavish, Djikstra personifies the Witcherverse's often brutal realpolitik. He makes his entrance into the show by throwing a knife through one noble's throat and forcing another to drink poison, whereupon he begins laying out his plan for Cintra. As establishing character moments go, it's pretty good. Despite the episode title, Djikstra doesn't figure prominently into this week's plot, his only other big scene involving him striding back and forth and rambling animatedly to an owl. Still, it's good to have him. As I discussed in my Episode 3 review, this Witcher adaptation's politics haven't really landed to this point, mainly because they tend to be related in the abstract. Djikstra is just the sort of backroom schemer that this show needs, and McTavish's energetic performance makes him an immediate standout. With Djikstra enacting his plans in the background for now, the plot picks up this season's two main threads: Geralt's continued training of Ciri, and Yennefer and Cahir's flight from Aretuza. The former gets a nice shakeup with the arrival of Triss Merigold, who is immediately concerned about Ciri's treatment in the all-male Kaer Morhen. Their rapport is reflective of The Witcher's generally strong handling of female friendships, encouraging Ciri to shed her training rags in favor of what looks like Zelda cosplay from Breath of the Wild (I like it!). She's jeered by Lambert and Coen, now the stand-ins for basically every Witcher in Kaer Morhen. The Witcher's scope continues to expand in an episode that whipsaws between light comedy and dark violence. The oppression of the elves takes center stage in this episode, sending The Witcher into occasionally tasteless territory. It also sees the welcome return of multiple Season 1 character, as well as a figure who fans have been waiting to see for a while. It's a packed episode that encompasses almost everything that has defined The Witcher to this point, both for better and for worse.

Why?

[gkzffc · 6/10 · 17 December 2021]

Cast fringila big mistake, I hope the character will soon disappear. Line yenefer growth catastrophe. How can someone ruin an entire series with their invention if they already have everything in the book template?

Toss a coin

[Calicodreamin · 7/10 · 27 December 2021]

This episode was a bit confusing, a lot going on and a lot of concepts introduced. However, what I did understand was pretty good. One great reference to season ones dual timelines.

Jaskier could write good 4 u but Olivia Rodrigo could never write Burn Butcher Burn

[TheCorniestLemur · 6/10 · 12 January 2022]

Maybe I only rank this a bit higher because Jaskier was in it, but it is nice to see him again either way.

I do also like what seems to be building up with the king of Redania, and what Triss adds to Geralt and Ciri's plotline (even if both of them themselves are still quite dull), but if you took Jaskier out of Yennefer's part of this episode, suddenly it doesn't look all that good anymore.

Fortunately, he is in Yennefer's part of the episode, but someone who's also there is those two people in the sewer, one of which is dropped in an almost comic way, and the other adds almost nothing to anything.

So, you know...certainly better than the last episode, but...eh, also certainly still not exactly lighting Netflix on fire.

Introducing Dijkstra

[alexxxlibra · 4/10 · 25 December 2021]

Graham McTavish as Dijkstra is one of the few things that are enjoyable to watch in this season. He's damn good actor and an interesting character. This's the case when I do not care if he correspondes to the one from original books as I haven't read any.

Yet as for the second season, it still sucks.

Geralt and Ciri go rock-climbing and then they go running in the forest where they have been recently attacked by unusual mutant monsters - no wonder, they're both unarmed as they can be sure no other beasts will come to get Ciri, can't they?! No, I'm wrong - once wild boar appears, Geralt kills it with his paper knife.. or was it his throwing knife? Who cares - Geralt is a witcher after all, he could have done it with his bare hands! Then Ciri meets Triss who has become noticeably "redder". (Netflix has definitely done a brilliant job trying to make their Triss resemble one from the games - how did they manage to make them look so much alike?! Just by changing the hue of her hair dye - an ingenious solution!) I guess I'd better stop now or I'm gonna believe in what I've just written.

What's next: Yennefer saves an experienced warrior Cahir from a Nilfgaardian guardsman knocking him out with.. a box (?!). (Men always need help, don't they?!) After that, they fall into the sewers, where they meet dumb Rastaman elf and his speaking friend and, eventually, come across Jaskier. Joey Batey is pretty good too, but the problem with his character is that showrunners have made him too comical and foolish (He sometimes reminds me of Donkey, Shrek's best friend). I really doubt such kind of person could be successfully performing such a dangerous and difficult thing as smuggling elves to Cintra. But I kinda liked the song. Toss A Coin To Your Witcher was definitely better though.

Finally, I like the way Geralt and Istredd met. It was fun.

Almost better than the premiere.

[LegendaryFang56 · 7/10 · 28 December 2021]

Once again, the best parts were in Kaer Morhen. As much as I like Yennefer and also want to like her plotline, it hasn't delivered as much as the plotline in Kaer Morhen has. But it does seem like it'll become interesting soon, maybe even in the next episode.

This episode also delved more into the political aspect of everything and set up more threads to weave into each other, which is probably an important part; of the novels, but it doesn't seem to be landing right in this season so far. Maybe it's just because that sort of stuff isn't interesting to me, or it could be because of not being written compellingly enough for me to be interested in it.

• Dijkstra was introduced. He seems somewhat intimidating so far, and I'm pretty sure that's a huge aspect of his character in the novels/games. Ha! Get it? Huge? Eh, who cares. And I thought his character and involvement in this episode was one of the good things about it, even though all of his scenes had a political aspect.

• cont.) And that owl, too, was introduced. I know what "it" is. I'm not sure if there was a big reveal in the novels concerning it. But I think those who've read them would probably consider it a huge spoiler to those who haven't. Well, I know. I don't know anything more than that, though. I'm interested to see what part Dijkstra and the owl will play in the story.

• I'm not sure what the monster in the sewers' purpose was. It's like it was only to kill Dermain. It was stupid because Yennefer doesn't have her magic at the moment, but I was expecting there to be a battle, and it gets killed. That can't be the first and only time it shows up. Maybe it'll attack the boat in the next episode.

• cont.) And I find it a little weird that Yennefer was dragged down then came back up. She couldn't have broken free while Dermain didn't. It had to have let her go. Am I missing something? Either that, or it was good ol' plot convenience.

• Jaskier's back, and I'm neutral towards his return. I know people love him considerably: I, for one, was neither happy nor mad that he's back. He's an alright character. And I'm sure people love his new song, as proven by the number of views it has on Youtube, opposed to the scores in this season's soundtrack. It was alright. I think I liked "Toss a Coin to Your Witcher" better. "Burn, Butcher, Burn" wasn't bad.

• cont.) I have no idea what his role will be in the following episodes or moving forward. But I imagine his character ended up being somewhat important in the novels. The show feels like it's reaching points where the story starts picking up. I'm interested to see where everything is heading.

• I don't know if it's because of Anna Shaffer's acting or what it is, but Triss putting Lambert and Coen in their place for having "a bit of fun" with Cirilla wasn't convincing. I'm pretty sure something similar happened in the games/novels, as Triss is the only other woman in Kaer Morhen. It just didn't come across as convincing or "natural" in this episode. I don't know.

• Damn! The writers went meta and did us all in. I mean, they're still doing a questionable job sometimes, but that exchange tells me that they must at least "care." And that they're self-aware of the writing being questionable sometimes. I liked that exchange.

• cont.) Yes, the first season was a bit complicated. Yes, that magic kiss between Geralt and Yennefer was a bit "cheap," although I'd use the word "ridiculous." I don't think I spotted the dragon reveal before it happened, but in hindsight, it makes sense how you'd spot it; it's obvious. Fair play, writers. Fair play.

• Something tells me Vesemir wasn't in-line with his character in the novels by his seeming desire to use Cirilla to make more Witchers. In the show, I assume his motivation to do so is because of Eskel's death; the thing is: Eskel never died in the novels. I wonder how people felt about that.

• Not just Jaskier, but Dara's back, too. I already knew he'd be back because of that promotional photo with Filavandrel, Francesca, and him. I think his character is exclusive to the show, so it's interesting that being used as a spy for Dijkstra is how he was brought back into the story. And Wilson Radjou-Pujalte looks a little bigger than he did in the first season. Hard to believe he's 19 years old, or maybe I'm blind.

I still think the premiere is the best episode so far, but I think this episode was the closest to the premiere. I seem to be more invested in what's happening; most of it seems to be interesting: as well as getting more interesting. I hope that doesn't cease to be the case.

Slow episode but not a bad one

[851222 · 7/10 · 15 February 2022]

Greetings from Lithuania.

4th episode of "Witcher" was a slowly paced. Not much happens in terms of action, but story did moved a bit forward. Yet this episode is another proof that season is a significant improvement over season 1 - in my opinion Everything is better here - most important writing, directing and storytelling. Given this fact even slower episode like "Redanian Intelligence" was way better then most of the instalments in previous season.

[6.7] The broken heart out there

[cjonesas · 7/10 · 8 April 2022]

Episode 4: Nothing that catch the eyes in this episode besides Ciri and Triss arcs and (too) emotional representation. The score "Watch me burn" was also very good, sad and deep, from the heart, from a broken heart maybe.

Aside those, action is lacking, pace is lacking and we are faced with basically 45+ minutes worth of fillers not doing justice to the books.

Par for the Course

[xxJamalxx · 2/10 · 19 December 2021]

The most exciting thing about this episode was the cameo by the boom mic around 19 minutes into the episode (at the top of the frame when Geralt and Triss start walking down a hallway in Kaer Morhen, right before she propositions him). Otherwise, this installment meets the usual standard set by the show of insipid plot points and reducing characters to one-note puppets. Jaskier's song is pretty good, though.

Story - broken

[giridharidas · 1/10 · 18 December 2021]

Netflix just hates on witcher fans, I swear.

• Cahir with Yen, he was NEVER with Yen in ANY story from the books.

• Geralt talking to Triss about Eskel's death, about some creature he recently killed, THIS NEVER EVER HAPPENED!

• I don't even want to talk about Triss's look...

• So the fire took Yen's powers? The writers never read the books.

• That dark elf, which was never in the books, is going to do something insane to the story? Insane...

• Lambert and Coen are making fun of Ciri's look? Incredible, because I don't remember this happening.

• Making Dandelion not use his brain, so that the elf which did something wrong goes and sacrifies himself, OMG BRILLIANT!!! No.

What I liked in this episode? Dandelion's song.

Horrible!

[detlic · 1/10 · 24 December 2021]

What the actual... That's it, I stop watching this garbage after this episode and automatic one star for the rest... The butchering of the original continues, according to "writers"!

This is starting to be so bad that it literally makes no sense to watch!

At this moment, I'm really having trouble not to use some vulgarities and curses for the writers and Netflix in general! Another show ruined!

The only positive is - it is visually better... But as for the story and character development? Total disaster!

Atrocious

[Kale72BY · 1/10 · 13 February 2022]

The show is departing more and more from the books and from the games alike. The story in itself, the events, the actions, personality and motivations of the characters not only that are different from the books but are outright absurd.

Getting a bit boring.

[forpassord · 5/10 · 17 April 2022]

I am no fan of Netflix and usually find their movies flawed with plot holes, bad manuscripts and other annoyances. And this episode was barely OK and a letdown after the first season and this seasons first episode! After the first episode of this season this series have become more and more disappointing to me.

I have played the three The Witcher games, but not read the books. But too much of this episode feels "off". Several of the characters seems to me to behave out of character, and that ruins much of the immersion for me.

In a series about The Witcher I expect action and at least a scene with a monster being fought. In this episode there was just barely a glimpse of a monster, and no real monster fight! I really hope that this episode at least is a part of a build up for something large, because except for the first episode, the second season have been a disappointment so far!

Other than that, the acting, some of the characters, the CGI, the music, were..................................good ;-)

the spider web

[Kirpianuscus · 11 August 2022]

Triss and Janeker as a sort of compensation for an episode who seems difficult crafted.

Sure, the origin of Cirri and the chance for witchers but the big problem remains the large spider web having the episode as victim. Yennefer is too far by novels image and the story itself seems like a talk in too late night.