Betrayer Moon
Episode 3 Betrayal Moon adapts the short story The Witcher from the second book in the franchise, The Last Wish. But this story is actually based on the very first original short which Sapkowski penned starring Geralt of Rivia. He later reworked the story when assembling the second book. Furthermore, the events of the Striga hunt were also adapted with utmost faithfulness by CD Projekt Red as promotional material for the first witcher game. It was also brought to screen by an episode of the 2001 polish series The Hexer, but we will continue to pretend that adaptation never happened.
It’s safe to say that since The Witcher has been through so many iterations and adaptations, the Netflix show could not simply regurgitate what has already been done. It was imperative that this particular story present a unique and worthwhile take. While delivering an engaging series of events, the episode unfortunately fails in this regard.
The story starts off with a nice self-contained horror sequence that serves to set the mood of the entire episode. The star of the show here is definitely the monster itself, which works pretty well as long as it remains unseen. Having another witcher make an appearance helps the world feel a bit larger. The starting narration delivered by the dying dude brings a great eerie atmosphere to the entire sequence. The meat locker scene felt a bit like a cliché monster movie from the 80s, but delivered a good setup for the rest of the plot.
This episode places a heavy focus on Geralt’s adventure while also progressing Yen’s plotline. Ciri is even more sidelined here in favor of the two other stories. Luckily these two arcs feel a lot less rushed than previous episodes, and both tell coherent and almost satisfying stories. With a few exceptions it is 60 minutes of an entertaining fantasy romp, but still lacking the quality I would expect from the Witcher label.
The Witcher
Geralt begins his quest in a rather pleasant scene that finally meets the sexpostion standards set by GoT. There are some genuinely good story beats hinted at through Geralt’s interaction with the post-coital harlot. It is quickly established the bard succeeded in his marketing overhaul of the white wolf’s image. There are some callbacks to Renfri as well. The plot frequently reminisces of the supposed emotional attachment Geralt had with the warrior princess. It would almost be believable had we not been witness to the absolute lack of connection the pair had. The callbacks do add a good sense of continuity to the show’s events. Cavil truly owns the role by this point as he can expertly switch between cynical romantic and menacing brute.
The setting of this monster hunt, Temeria, is again generic fantasy material. The entire kingdom feels tiny being composed of a quarry, a fort, and an abandoned castle. Geralt walking everywhere also does no favors for the supposed scope. There are only so many angles you can frame a single fortress before establishing shots start blurring together and the setting loses the little sense of identity it had to begin with. I beg the series at this point to just give me a single second of showing people actually existing in this world. A non-deserted village street or the miners just going about their day would add tremendous substance to the production.
Unfortunately, the audience is deprived of such treats in favor of each scene singlemindedly churning the plot forward with artificial precision. Almost all conversation scenes feel surgically measured in the worst ways possible. When someone interrupts a dialogue or reveals a plot detail, it strikes preordained instead of illuminating.
The miner’s initial discussion gives some good exposition on the socioeconomic context for both Nilgard and Temeria. Some smart setup that would make even Sapkowski proud, sadly, it’s glossed over as the storytelling barrels towards disappointment.
The episode suffers from the disease of late Poirot plots. If there are only 2–3 actors with speaking parts introduced, it’s not overly difficult to figure out one of them is secretly the asshole. Well it’s not Triss and it’s not Foltest, maybe the culprit is the other guy who has been acting increasingly slimy throughout the episode. From the very first moment, when Lord Ostrit appears to break up the miners, he is already highly suspect, robbing all mystery from even beginning to unfold. At the same time, the character is so ignored and one-dimensional, we only learn his name 50 minutes into the episode. Entirely a glaring oversight by the production.
This episode introduces one of the fan-favorite characters of The Witcher saga, the sorceress/witch: Triss Merigold. Not only is she a shadow of her book self, but she presents almost no character at all. She has none of the grace or charm the sorceresses possess from Yen’s arc. It’s like she comes from a different story altogether. This further detracts from the already shakey cohesion of the parallel plots. Her looks are also a problem that must be addressed. I would not critique her appearance under normal circumstances, but with such an explicit emphasis being put on how sorceresses look this episode, Triss felt out of place in this regard as well. Even her costume choices paint her as more of a high-end fortune-teller than a user of magic. Speaking of, aside from needlessly euthanizing two soldiers, she displays no magical ability at all in this episode, again giving us contradictory depictions of mages in the world. Triss’s competence is never well established, one moment she is schooling Geralt on Vukudlaks, the next she is just as clueless as the audience.
Now I must be clear I actually endorse Anna Shaffer’s casting as Triss, I think she had the innate potential to bring a good version of the sorceress to life. My gripes concern exclusively the abhorrent choices that were made in presenting the character.
The book version of Triss is naive, bubbly but obsessive, the show’s version however is empty of nearly all characteristics and is barely more than a plot device. I cannot imagine how this interpretation of Triss could fulfill her later role in the series. One of the main issues is that she is supposed to be a type of little sister to Yennefer. Yet here she looks and acts twice Yen’s age while portraying none of Triss’s signature features.
The character of Foltest is another unfavorable deviation from the books. Instead of a flawed but intelligent ruler, we are presented with a weak-willed and greasy fool. My complaints are significantly lessened though by the great performance Shaun Dooley provides as the king of Temeria. He fully commits to the intensity and grunting delivery of the persona and his later scenes even infuse some surprise sincerity. This dedication saves Foltest from becoming a run-of-the-mill spoilt king and lends legitimacy to this interpretation. His Denethor impression could use some work though. The small scale of the setting that permeates the show, strikes again as the character’s kingly presence is never believable without the required pomp and circumstance. As is, he could maybe pass for a lower rung noble of a remote county at best.
Geralt’s insistence on saving the princess is about as well motivated as Mario’s similar ambitions. The “detective work” he undertakes this episode feels out of place, always perfectly jumping to accurate conclusions without a shadow of a doubt. The investigative side of the witchering profession is completely lost in the rushed plot and only serves as a bit of a stopgap before the action starts. Geralt always being 5 steps ahead robs the audience of participating in the unraveling of the plot and instead turns us into passive observers of it.
Once Ostrit is confronted the acting takes a turn for the worse. It’s almost like watching a parody of the last 10 minutes of a Columbo episode, where the culprit is cornered and hopelessly tries to justify his actions. The reveal itself is also anticlimactic. While Geralt could deduce Foltests’ secret through subtle social cues, smelling Ostrict whacking it on the sheets is a decidedly less sophisticated reasoning. Seeing the slimy sucker eventually get his comeuppance tied to the very same bed does deliver some satisfaction. The only thing that continues to work in these scenes is Gerlats menacing and wholehearted delivery
The tension rises as we approach the much-touted showdown against the Striga. The setting of the brawl, the abandoned castle is a cartoonish horror house. Littered with skeletal remains and covered in cobwebs, it tries too hard to re-establish the eerie atmosphere. An inexcusable offense here is the lack of preparation the Witcher goes through. The most important aspect of the witcher’s modus operandi both within the books and the games is how he uses preparation and knowledge to balance the scales against seemingly insurmountable odds. Here Geralt just divines the key to defeating the Striga, hastily chugs the same potion he always does, and gets down and dirty. He wastes all opportunities for improving his situation and comes off as the last thing any witcher should be: unprepared.
The Striga
Much like for Geralt, it is time for us too to tackle the Striga herself. The presentation of the monster works surprisingly fine while we only catch brief glimpses of its body. The umbilical cord is a nice flavourful touch and the sound design is also properly unnerving. Regrettably, all sense of horror instantly dissipates once we get our first full look of the creature. Initially, in the woefully short segment of it disemboweling Ostrit, the creature looks nothing more than a cardboard cutout. Later as it faces Geralt, the Striga ends up looking like a latex-bound gimp who was forgotten in a moldy basement. The entire creature just looks thin and frail, a sad contrast to the muscle-bound beast of the games/books. It carries no threatening presence with its skinny arms and much too familiar humanoid shape. In fact, as the fight goes on, it gets abundantly clear that the Stiga is just a dude in a monster suit. I appreciate the use of mostly practical effects, but not when they do such an unsatisfactory job of hiding the technical performance behind the monster. The few times the Striga does leverage CG animation, its movement and general looks change visibly. I can pinpoint frame by frame when we see a dude on a costume versus when the monster has been digitally added. A clear giveaway is that the practical getup has an obvious problem moving its elongated arms to almost comedic effect.
The fight itself does have a few good moments. The use of witcher signs ramps up the cool factor mainly due to the effects not looking cheap this time. The silver chain and wolf head knuckles are great additions to the witcher’s arsenal. The use of the environment as the fight progresses is also a nice touch, finally adding some tactile nature to the setting. The crucial plot point of Geralt not being allowed to kill the Striga is never a visible consideration as Geralt struggles to just contend with the monster. It’s a missed opportunity to add a layer of depth to the combat.
The editing obviously tries its best to hide the cheap nature of the Striga, but the closeups, weird angles, and frequent cuts end up detracting from the experience. The decision to inter-cut Geralt’s fight with Yen’s magical plastic surgery is a bad choice. The visual parallels between the 2 scenes have artistic merit but are self-serving. The interweaving of the two sequences splits our attention and detracts from the impact of both plotlines.
The entire ordeal with the Striga is underwhelming when taken on its own, but when compared to the promise of action sequences established by episode 1’s marker brawl, it becomes a grave disappointment.
The ending of the fight presents an accurately gruesome portrayal of human Adda, and finishes with a great moment of peril for Geralt, tying a nice bow on an otherwise uneven spectacle.
The epilogue to Geralt’s adventure feels rushed. Triss delivers some hocus-pocus of Destiny and Vortex of Fate. Words that have been overused to the point of losing almost all meaning. It just doubles down on the sorceress’ gypsy fortune-teller aesthetic. The cover story of Ostrit being the hero is a perplexing choice since the defeat of the Striga is what gives Geralt most of his recognisability and reputation in the books.
The use of Renfri’s broach in this episode also feels out of place, as it is the first time we get a close look at the item, fresh viewers might not be able to immediately identify it.
Overall Geralt’s exploits present a wistfully underwhelming take on the Striga story. Plagued by the one-dimensional characters of Ostrit and Triss as well as by the cheap monster design, the plot quickly squanders any ambiance it struggled to create. It should have been the quintessential monster-hunt the witcher undertakes, yet ends up feeling like a run-of-the-mill monster of the week outing.
Yennefer
Yen’s plot this episode revolves around her final transition into a proper sorceress. While misguided and overdramatic at many points, the story does deliver in establishing a strong character for Yennefer.
The initial smash-cut to the Istredd plus Yen sex scene is one of the single most offputting things I have ever witnessed. Since we skipped the development of the already perplexingly unfounded relationship, all interactions feel surface level and without any stakes. Yen’s newfound confidence and shift in personality also holds unearned without seeing its gradual progress. Anya Chalotra carries most of the weight in selling this more experienced yet vain version of Yennefer and her performance remains a highlight of the series.
Yen’s scenes of anticipating her transformation give the plot much-needed momentum. The enchantments being a one-time procedure done to the sorceresses is a departure from the book version, where each mage maintained their own dazzling appearance. It seems to be a change explicitly made to manufacture conflict for the episode. In my opinion, it would have been much more meaningful of a character moment if Yen was the one responsible for remaking herself. Instead, we are introduced to what seems like the magical equivalent of a metrosexual hair-dresser turned plastic surgent.
The scene of the mage council is an absolute bundle of missed opportunities. The conniving mages were a personal highlight for me in the books, yet this interpretation lacks much of the political intrigue and complex plots I liked in the first place.
Aside from the already established Tessia, a welcome return from Stregobor and the addition of Fringilla’s uncle, all other council members are completely forgettable. A missed opportunity to introduce any mages actually significant to the future plot of the series. The absence of Vilgefortz was an especially painful omission since the character held such a strong presence in the book version of the council, and the show could have used some setup for introducing the character.
None of the political intrigue attempted hits in any meaningful way. Cintra, Adern, Temeria, Nilfgaard all get thrown around without the audience learning anything significant about either place. The focal point of the conversation being Yennefer’s placement makes the entire council seem petty and small-scale. Not to mention the whole conflict reeks of a manufactured nature, hardly justified by the loose political webs it attempts to cast.
On a side-note: The reference of Cintra using druids makes no sense. At this point in the timeline, the Cintran royal family has not intermixed yet with the Skellige rulers who employed the druids, making their mention completely unjustified. This is the type of oversight that clearly shows the neglect the writers have for both the source material and their own established chronology.
Istredd betraying Yennefer’s confidence is utterly unimpactful as their relationship never felt authentic to begin with. The entire argument scene only serves to make Yen seem erratic and unlikable. Vanity is a cheap character motivator and lessens the sense of empathy we might feel for this stage of Yen’s arc. This might be intentional here, but it does undermine the viewer’s investment in the plot. The fight with Istredd oscillates between edgy teen drama and attempted Shakespearean rebuttals. Although both actors provide sound performances, as the argument escalates to the point of their break-up, it resembles a Mexican soap opera more than a high-budget Netflix production.
Yennefer’s much-anticipated transformation is a tremendously macabre sequence in the best way possible, producing a great sense of squeamish unease through a solid use of body-horror elements. The necessity of giving up fertility in exchange for looks is a transparent and clumsily delivered metaphor and a faulty deviation from the books. The extremely heavy-handed symbolism of the woman having to give up family for professional success is already an unoriginal take on a very tired trope. The actual image of seeing the torn-out uterus being grilled is a befuddling choice.
Yen having to stay awake without any magical anesthetic is also a piece of manufactured conflict but it does facilitate the gory atmosphere of the scene. This would be all fine and well except we LITERALLY saw Triss using magic to put someone to sleep in this very episode! Why can’t that be done here? This is a good indication of how the central mechanic of Yen’s story: magic, is woefully underutilized at every turn. Aside from the alienating voyeur crowd illusion, we don’t see Yen leverage any of her supposed magical powers in this episode.
The mage’s ball appears more of a cultish dinner party than a royal gathering, again missing the production value to sell its sophistication. Yen’s fellow sorceress trainees lack any visible change from their enchantment aside from Sabrina’s slightly larger tits. The inclusion of Young Foltest and Adda is the first time the Dunkirk Fuckery™ adds to the cohesion of the episode, giving some nice shading to the characters while also expanding the world’s scale.
Yennefer’s entrance is incredibly “Mean Girls” style in both its framing and delivery. It is a nice change to see her without all the hunchback accouterments and her beauty is appropriately exaggerated. It’s just less of a confident and powerful aesthetic and more a high school heartbreaker style hotness. Anya being a bit young for the role only serves to exaggerate this out-of-place presence. Yen asserting her prowess and achieving her goal is a satisfactory conclusion to her arc that while skipping most of the character developments, ultimately manages to give a vibrant portrait of who the sorceress has become.
Final Notes
- Ciri sleepwalking into Brochelon is more of a trailer for the next episode than an addition to this one.
- Overgrown Abortion would be a great name for a metal band.
- Finally some good armor in this episode on the Temerian guards.
- Speaking of Temerian guards, the few attempted slapstick comedy moments delivered by them only undercut the horror-inspired atmosphere of the episode.
I rate this episode a single medium-rare charcoal-grilled uterus.
