History YMMV / TheWitcher2019

** Vereena, though her human form is that of a beautiful, young woman, her expression, the way she speaks, and the way she moves is deeply unsettling and inhuman, proving that she is a thoroughly alien being.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: In first season, during a heated conversation with Yennefer, Geralt tells her he'd rather use his Child Surprise as bruxa bait than subject it to his witcher lifestyle. Come Season 2 what does he do? Tells Ciri to get away from the bruxa and not put herself in danger, and tries to protect her from the bruxa.

* ItWasHisSled: The show itself is an adaptation within a well-established franchise, so a moderate portion of the viewership is already familiar with the whole story. The Season 2 finale reveal that [[spoiler: Emperor Emhyr var Emreis is none other than Ciri's father Duny]] however has already been treated as a ForegoneConclusion in ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'', which is one of the most successful video games of the 2010s, turning the big twist into a mere formality, even for many viewers who haven't played the game themselves.

** This also factors into some receptions towards casting, in regards to game appearances over the original books and their descriptions. For example, various fans have reacted to [[spoiler: Philippa]] as being inaccurate to how she looks in the books -- however, there she is only ever vaguely described as looking in her mid-30s and having black hair. Thus the so-called “accurate” appearance being referred to, is actually a game specific creation.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: In first season, during a heated conversation with Yennefer, he tells that he'd rather use his Child Surprise as bruxa bait than subject it to his witcher lifestyle. Come Season 2 what does he do? Tells Ciri to get away from the bruxa and not put herself in danger, and tries to protect her from the bruxa.

* ItWasHisSled: The show itself is an adaptation within a well-established franchise, so a moderate portion of the viewership is already familiar with the whole story. The Season 2 finale reveal that [[spoiler: Emperor Emhyr var Emreis is none other than Ciri's father Duny]] however has already been treated as a ForegoneConclusion in ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'', which is one of the most successful video games of the 2010s, turning the big twist into a mere formality, even for many viewers who haven't played the game themselves. This would fall under PragmaticAdaptation, as TheReveal as it originally appeared in the books did not occur until late into ''Literature/LadyOfTheLake'', so it would have been pointless to try and conceal it until the show's final season.

* CompleteMonster (Season 2): The "Voleth Meir"--[[OneBadMother Deathless Mother]]--is an [[AncientEvil ancient being]] who was trapped by the first Witchers. [[EmotionEater Feeding off despair and misery]], the Mother [[DealWithTheDevil sows bargains that lead people to death]], ruin, and pain while she gluts herself upon it to eventually escape. Bringing about the ambitions of Nilfgaard and also arranging events so the baby son of elven sorceress Francesca Findabair is murdered, the Mother also feeds on the pain when Francesca furiously murders every newborn in Redania in vengeance. Possessing Ciri, the Mother murders numerous Witchers before fleeing the sphere and taking her place with the monstrous [[TheWildHunt Wild Hunt]].

** This also factors into some receptions towards casting, in regards to game appearances over the original books and their descriptions. For example, various fans have reacted to [[spoiler: Philippa]] as being inaccurate to how she looks in the books - however, there she is only ever vaguely described as looking in her mid-30s and having black hair. Thus the so-called “accurate” appearance being referred to, is actually a game specific creation.

%% Per Administrivia/NoRecentExamplesPlease, do not add season 2 until one month after the release.

* ItWasHisSled: The show itself is an adaptation within a well-established franchise, so a moderate portion of the viewership is already familiar with the whole story. The season 2 finale reveal that [[spoiler: Emperor Emhyr var Emreis is none other than Ciri's father Duny]] however has already been treated as a ForegoneConclusion in ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'', which is one of the most successful video games of the 2010s, turning the big twist into a mere formality, even for many viewers who haven't played the game themselves. This would fall under PragmaticAdaptation, as TheReveal as it originally appeared in the books did not occur until late into ''Literature/LadyOfTheLake'', so it would have been pointless to try and conceal it until the show's final season.

* LostInMediasRes: The show has a bit of this for the first half of Season 1, more so for viewers who aren't too familiar with the books. It drops the viewer in the middle of not one but ''three'' separate stories and dishes out exposition sporadically. For example, the same episode we're introduced to the kingdom of Cintra and its royal family, it gets invaded by Nilfgaard and most of the characters are killed or PutOnABus. The viewer may not even ''realize'' until three episodes in that Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer's stories are [[AnachronicOrder taking place in different time periods]], until they notice that some characters who are dead or older in some storylines show up younger, alive or not even born yet in others, and so forth. It gets easier to follow later in the season when the characters all start meeting up and their stories merge. There's a timeline on this very wiki (and others around the internet) to help clear up the confusion. Season 2 hangs a lampshade on this where a dockworker confronts Jaskier about one of his ballads which covered the events of season 1 and notes that the first four verses had a confusing timeline, mirroring what many said about the show's first season.

** [[TheReliableOne Eskel]] and everything about how [[EnsembleDarkhorse his character]] is handled in Season 2 was this, diverging greatly from his book appearances and games depiction due to the AdaptationalPersonalityChange, AdaptationalJerkass, AdaptationalAttractiveness, DemotedToExtra, and [[spoiler:DeathByAdaptation]] treatment his character was given.

** [[TheReliableOne Eskel]] and everything about how his character is handled in Season 2 was this, diverging greatly from his book appearances and games depiction due to the AdaptationalPersonalityChange, AdaptationalJerkass, AdaptationalAttractiveness, DemotedToExtra, and [[spoiler:DeathByAdaptation]] treatment his character was given.

** Jaskier of course, could he not? He is a PluckyComicRelief and self-appointed hero's hype man in a LowFantasy with terrible yet funny songs, follows Geralt everywhere and chances are that most of ''The Witcher'' memes are about him. "Toss A Coin To Your Witcher", his creation, is the most well-known part of ''The Witcher'' in- and out-universe. By now, he is almost universally considered the SeriesMascot by the fandom.

** The show's [[AdaptationalWimp depiction]] of [[TheAce Vilgefortz]] has also not been well-received by those familiar with the books. One egregious example was his performance at the Battle of Sodden Hill, which was what secured his political standing in the books. In the show, he's reduced to a bit-player soundly defeated by Cahir with Yennefer taking his role instead. To twist the knife even further, Season 2 reveals that Vilgefortz's political position was because he took the credit for Yennefer's role. Many pointed out that these changes would hurt the eventual payoff of Vilgefortz and his role in the future.

** In Season 2, Ciri's immediate infatuation with Triss, to the point she dresses in a more feminine manner in an attempt to impress her and lights up when Triss compliments it. This was apparently intended to be a more explicit PrecariousCrush on Ciri's part as a hint to her bisexuality, but due to [[DawsonCasting Freya Allan's age]] they decided to go a different route, but even still it comes off as a young closeted queer kid developing their first same-sex crush and trying to impress their subject.

** The show in general, for some, with it ping-ponging between a dark, mythological tone and a decidedly post-modern ironic detachment in their view, often in a way that undercuts the drama whenever it does try to make viewers care about something. But the overall effect, especially with the help of the charismatic actor performances, is oddly funny and personable. Like ''WebVideo/HonestTrailers'' put it, it tries to be the new ''Series/GameOfThrones'' but succeeds in being the new ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess''.

** Some online commenters and reviewers have expressed annoyance that the second season put more focus on Ciri than Geralt, seemingly unaware that this is ''kind of the point'' of the books the show's based on, as Ciri's origin and destiny is pretty much the franchise's central MythArc, and so the show is only following the trajectory that the books they're based on went.

** Mousesack's line in [[Recap/TheWitcher2019S01E04OfBanquetsBastardsAndBurials "Of Banquets, Bastards and Burials"]] -- "Geralt of Rivia, the mighty witcher! I haven't seen you since the plague!" -- took a darkly memetic status when, three months after the episode's release, [[UsefulNotes/Covid19Pandemic there was, in fact, a worldwide plague]] that had barely begun to wind down by the time of the second season's release.

** This also factors into some receptions towards casting. For example, various fans have reacted to [[spoiler: Philippa]] as being inaccurate to how she looks in the books - however, there she is only ever vaguely described as looking in her mid-30s and having black hair. Thus the so-called “accurate” appearance being referred to, is actually a game specific creation.

* CriticalDissonance: [[https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_witcher/s01 Based on Rotten Tomatoes]], the first season's critical reception was generally mediocre, with a rating of 68% based on 91 critics, while viewers have rated it at 91% based on over 20,000 users. [[https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2019/12/23/the-witcher-is-already-netflixs-highest-rated-original-series-on-imdb/amp/ Similarly]], it boasts the highest score for a Netflix series on imdb.com and has a similar gap in review scores on Rotten Tomatoes to Metacritic. Many fans believe that the discrepancy is due to the [[AnachronicOrder the show jumping between three different time periods]]. Critics, who were given only the first five episodes to screen, missed out on the eventual payoff. Furthermore, the time-jumping plots are easier to follow for people who are familiar with the franchise from either books, games, or both.

* CrossoverShip: Unsurprisingly, the biggest ship outside the show is Geralt and [[Series/GameofThrones Daenerys]]. There were already shippers even before the ''Witcher'' had aired, but after, it gathered a decent amount of fans. The ship became popular for various reasons like the uncanny physical resemblance between Dany and Geralt, Daenerys' infamous demise, Geralt refusing to kill dragons, but the biggest reason is probably the fact that Creator/HenryCavill himself apparently is a fan of Khaleesi, as he declared half-jokingly on the ''Series/JimmyKimmelLive'' show that he made people call him ''Khaleesi'' or ''[[Creator/EmiliaClarke Emilia]]'' on the set, and modeled his acting a little bit after her.

** Eskel and everything about how his character is handled in Season 2 was this, due to the AdaptationalPersonalityChange, AdaptationalJerkass, AdaptationalAttractiveness, DemotedToExtra, and [[spoiler:DeathByAdaptation]] treatment his character was given.

** Eskel and everything about how his character is handled in Season 2 was this, due to the AdaptationalPersonalityChange, AdaptationalJerkass, DemotedToExtra, and [[spoiler:DeathByAdaptation]] treatment his character was given.

* MalignantPlotTumor: [[spoiler: The Deathless Mother storyline in Season 2. The Voleth Meir demon is [[CanonForeigner not a part of the books]], was supposedly [[SealedEvilInACan sealed in its hut in the woods]] by the original group of witchers, yet inexplicably can telepathically communicate with and teleport anyone across the continent, and she ultimately takes over the plot of the second season when she escapes her prison and possesses Ciri in the last episode.]]

* LGBTFanbase: ''The Witcher'' has a strong queer following from Geralt x Jaskier shippers and those who watch the show because they find Yennefer sexy. Many trans people also find Yennefer's story (early rejection, having to go through major changes to be accepted, but having many leftover insecurities[[note]]especially with regard to having children[[/note]]) very relatable, too.

* OlderThanTheyThink: Critics have gotten a lot of mileage out of comparing (sometimes [[TheyCopiedItSoItSucks derisively]]) the series to ''[[SmallReferencePools Game of Thrones]]''. The majority of the original Witcher books were published ''before'' any of the ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' books.

** Some reactions to the RaceLift given to various characters with reasons ranging from claiming it "impractical" for non-whites to appear in one of the only representations of Polish culture (albeit a fantastic one and there were canonically other non-white cultures/people too within the setting such as those from Zerrikania), to it "ruining the iconic appearances" of characters such as the redheaded Triss (although she was [[OlderThanTheyThink not actually red-headed in the books]]) and green-skinned dryads (who also did have “assimilated” members in the books with completely human skintones). There are also those with solely and overtly racist reactions as well, with their vitriol regarding the presence of non-white characters even in the [[UpToEleven background]].

* DieForOurShip: Yennefer is often on the receiving end from Jaskier/Geralt supporters.

** Some reactions to the RaceLift given to various characters with reasons ranging from claiming it "impractical" for non-whites to appear in one of the only representations of Polish culture (albeit a fantastic one and there were canonically other non-white cultures/people too within the setting such as those from Zerrikania), to it "ruining the iconic appearances" of characters such as the redheaded Triss (although she was [[OlderThanTheyThink not]] actually red-headed in the books) and green-skinned dryads (who also did have “assimilated” members in the books with completely human skintones). There are also those with solely and overtly racist reactions as well, with their vitriol regarding the presence of non-white characters even in the [[UpToEleven background]].

* DieForOurShip: Yennefer is already on the receiving end from the Jaskier/Geralt supporters.

** Despite Yennefer being cosmically linked to Geralt as his love interest, Geralt/Jaskier is more popular by a wide margin. For reference, at the time of writing this, Geralt/Jaskier has 13,875 publicly available fanfics on [[Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn AO3]] to Geralt/Yennefer's 1,779.
** Season 2 elevated Yennefer x Jaskier from one of the smaller ships, which was usually only in the context of [[OneTrueThreesome Geralt x Jaskier x Yennefer]], to a widely appreciated one -- especially because [[AbandonShipping many began to dislike Geralt.]] Add moments like Yennefer posing as Jaskier's wife ("fake dating/marriage," a trope that's catnip to shippers) and the "good luck, goodbye, good riddance" scene (which some find romantically charged). Despite the flurry of negative and mixed reviews for Season 2, even non-shippers tend to agree that the [[PortmanteauCoupleName "Yennskier"]] content was good.
** Although Season 2 made some Geraskier or Yenralt shippers dislike Geralt, plenty of fans still ship Geralt x Jaskier x Yennefer as a OneTrueThreesome.