Here’s the thing: I watched this season as someone who’s dug into the earlier outings of the show (and, yes, the lore enough to be mildly nerdy about it), so I enter with expectations and this fourth season of The Witcher gives me a lot of smart stuff to praise, and a handful of “well, okay, we’ll take it” moments I couldn’t ignore.
Let’s start with the good. The decision to drop the entire season at once (no half-season cliff-hanger split) is a smart move. It lets the narrative breathe, and you feel the momentum build without being artificially stopped. The sprawling setting still impresses; muddy battlefields, battered kingdoms, dungeons, demons, large-scale war, and bleak magic all look and feel grand in a way that a lot of fantasy shows only hope to get. The cinematography and production design continue to deliver: you get grime, you get grandeur, you get the monster in the shadows, and you feel the weight of it all. Scenes where Geralt wades through war rubble or where Yennefer’s magic pulses in the dark, those land beautifully.
Character-wise, I was pleasantly surprised by how well Ciri (played by Freya Allan) is handled this season. After the gut-punch end of season 3, she’s cast into a desert, joins a band of outlaws called the Rats, and grapples with her identity and her powers. Her journey into becoming “Falka,” a mythic rebel figure, gives her agency and messiness that feels earned rather than forced. Then there’s Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), returning to her old roots in interesting ways. There are threads of her embracing community, sorceress sisterhood, and taking stock of her past that feel more satisfying than some of her earlier arcs. It’s the first time in a while that Yennefer feels less like a walking power fantasy and more like a person reckoning with her own legend.
Now let’s talk Geralt. Yes, the big change: Liam Hemsworth takes over the role from Henry Cavill, and that cast switch could have derailed the whole thing. But the show doesn’t pretend Cavill didn’t exist; it leans into continuity and pays respect to the old version. Hemsworth brings a slightly different tone—more dry humour, a quieter weariness, and a little more warmth around the edges. It’s a brave take, and while you can still hear Cavill’s gravelly ghost echoing through every “hmm,” Hemsworth grows into the role as the season goes on. The showrunners clearly knew the risk and did a good job of smoothing the transition. By the midpoint, you’re not comparing performances; you’re just watching Geralt again.
The storytelling also tightens up. Fewer tangents, more collisions of characters and storylines. The war-torn Continent backdrop gives everything urgency, alliances shift, kingdoms collapse, monsters are less of a threat than human ambition. Geralt hunts through chaos, Yennefer rediscovers purpose, Ciri blazes her own trail. Their arcs intersect in satisfying ways, and the writing balances personal stakes with political drama better than before. The addition of new characters, especially those who challenge the trio’s ideals, keeps things lively. The series finally remembers that it’s supposed to be fun amid all the tragedy.
But—it’s not all flawless. For every strong sequence, there’s a stumble. Some episodes feel padded with filler disguised as “mystery,” and there are scenes where the show clearly wants you to feel deep emotion, but the dialogue leans too heavily on exposition. For a series this ambitious, I’d hoped for fewer “wait, why are we here again?” moments. The pacing sometimes jerks between adrenaline-fueled battles and quiet reflection in ways that feel more mechanical than organic. It’s like the show got a new sword but hasn’t quite learned how to swing it.
And while Hemsworth’s performance is good, the recasting remains a mild distraction. Cavill’s version of Geralt was iconic—brooding, grounded, full of controlled rage, and losing that inevitably changes the tone. The show embraces it by leaning into a slightly lighter interpretation, but that means some of the emotional heft takes a backseat. Certain scenes that should’ve hit hard just don’t; it feels like the series is testing the waters of its new identity. It’s not bad, just different.
Another small gripe: there’s still too much story. The writers want to juggle war, magic, monsters, betrayal, rebellion, destiny, love, and found family—all at once. Ambition is great, but some arcs don’t get the breathing room they deserve. A few villains come and go too quickly, introduced with flair only to be dispatched in a blink. There’s so much potential for layered antagonists here, but often the show rushes to get back to the main trio. It’s like watching someone speed-read an epic saga; they technically cover everything, but you miss some of the flavour.
Tone-wise, this season feels heavier than the earlier ones. The jokes are rarer, the colour palette darker, and the emotional tone closer to a war drama than a fantasy adventure. That’s not necessarily bad—it fits the world’s escalation, but I did miss the mix of grit and humour that made the first two seasons sing. Jaskier, bless him, tries to inject levity, but even his songs sound like they were written during a midlife crisis. Still, when he’s around, the show feels alive again, and Joey Batey continues to be one of its secret weapons.
Despite the uneven pacing and tonal gloom, there’s a lot that works brilliantly. The production value is still top-tier, from the set design to the creature effects. The action choreography remains crisp, and when Geralt finally draws his blades, the camera knows exactly how to make it count. The desert scenes with Ciri are stunning, the magic sequences with Yennefer have a tactile energy, and the climactic battle in the final episode is one of the series’ best. The writing may wobble, but the spectacle and emotion carry it through.
What really stands out this time is the emotional throughline. For all the chaos and bloodshed, the season keeps circling back to family, the fractured kind you build, not the one you’re born into. Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri each wrestle with what it means to protect, to let go, and to grow apart. When they finally cross paths again, the payoff feels genuine. The show doesn’t need to shout about destiny anymore; it simply shows what these characters have become.
In sum, The Witcher Season 4 is a confident, slightly bruised return. It’s bold enough to reinvent its lead, ambitious enough to expand its scope, and self-aware enough to know it can’t please everyone. It stumbles, sometimes hard but never falls flat. If you’ve stuck with the series this long, there’s more than enough here to justify the next binge. The Continent is still messy, magical, and full of people making terrible decisions. And honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Final Score- [6.5/10]
Reviewed by - Anjali Sharma
Follow @AnjaliS54769166 on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times