Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Witcher’ Season 4 on Netflix, where Liam Hemsworth takes over as Geralt and everybody’s searching for Ciri
Season 4 of The Witcher finds our heroes scattered across a scarred, war-torn Continent. Liam Hemsworth has replaced Henry Cavill behind the white wig and yellow contacts of Geralt of Rivia, but the monster killer’s gruff voice and swordsman’s prowess are still hallmarks of the character, and everyone across this land, from Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) and her fellow sorceresses to freshly scarred-up dark mage Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu) are searching for the “Never Lost, Always Found” magical princess herself, Ciri (Freya Allan), who’s fallen in with a band of thieves. A lot of hot take havers are hating on or dismissing The Witcher on TV – many who are fans of the original books or additional video game adaptations. But at least for us, this series still scratches a dark fantasy itch. Laurence Fishburne and James Purefoy also join the cast.
Opening Shot: A wizened storyteller sits with a group of children. “The medallion on Geralt’s neck twitched in the moonlight, he begins, and it’s fitting that a show based on a book series would begin a season of change inside the pages of its own history. This round of The Witcher draws from Baptism of Fire, the third novel in author Andrzej Sapkowski’s saga.
The Gist: It’s a kind of revisionist history lesson the old man delivers. But we’re soon in the show’s present, and dropping a pin on where everybody’s ended up since last season. Or as that storyteller puts it, “Just when it seemed all was lost, Geralt rose again…”
Not without aches and slow-to-heal new injuries, though. You’ll recall the Witcher’s battle with Vilgefortz, where he took a few shots and broke his sword to its hilt. Now, as he travels toward Nilfgaard with trusty bard buddy Jaskier (Joey Batey) and brave archer Milva (Meng’er Zhang), Geralt is feeling a wound in his leg and some serious separation anxiety from Ciri. He dreams of her, something he’s not known for. Dreams where Ciri is shadowed by death. They are bound by destiny. But right now, Geralt of Rivia and the Princess of Cintra couldn’t be further apart.
Yennefer’s searching for Ciri, too, a search made more difficult by frequent run-ins with Vilgefortz, who seems to be in control of the Continent’s network of fantastical portals, as well as a contingent of rogue mages. For Yen and her sorceress allies like Triss Merigold (Anna Schaffer), finding and protecting Ciri is crucial to stopping Vilgefortz from running amok. Yen speaks to Ciri in her mind. “I fear for you. Something is shifting on this Continent. Something dangerous. Something dark.”
For Ciri herself, she feels called, both to her people and to a place she might not yet know. She’s also wondering about the state of her magic. But for now she’s cosplaying as “Falka” and rolling deep with The Rats, an enjoyably shifty criminal bunch that includes Mistle (Christelle Elwin), the elven Iskra (Aggy K. Adams), and Giselher (Ben Radcliffe).
Wherever our heroes are on the Continent, war is with them. The armies of Emhyr (Bart Edwards) are rampaging while Radovid (Hugh Skinner), once prince and now king of Redania, sulks over his breakup with Jaskier. There is a lot to sort out this season on The Witcher. And it seems like there’s gonna be a lot of bloodshed on the way to a resolution. “I thought we were resisting the urge to be savages,” Jaskier offers his whitehaired warrior friend on the road to Nilfgaard. But it feels like the Witcher man’s about to go beast mode. “Not anymore.”
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Over at Prime Video, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is set to return for a third season, itself full of war. Witcher’s also still got moments that reflect the Game of Thrones legacy, like whenever we’re plunged into the scheming of Emperor Emhyr’s court. And 2026 will bring a new GOT spin-off to HBO, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Our Take: So the main Witcher crew’s gonna be separated this whole season? Or most of it? Some of it? As we begin Season 4, the path to how Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri will find each other is really murky. And we’ll admit it: we wish they could just get on with it, because the chemistry’s great when they’re together. But in the meantime, as Witcher settles Liam Hemsworth into the role, it’s doing so with a few real nice battle sequences, against both monsters and men, full of blood spatter on the camera lens and creative ways to remove heads from shoulders. And maintaining that stuff – the dark fantasy action and creature features; also some of the spicier stuff, why not? – is honestly more important to us than whether it’s L-Hems or Caville in the suit.
Joey Batey as Jaskier is also still as funny as ever. And with some new characters on the scene, we like that there’s more to look at and engage with than just the central trio’s yearning to be together. We only half-trust a few of Ciri’s new friends, for example – gotta keep an eye on them. (Not to mention her personal connection with Mistle.) And the early going of this season is already plotting out how a few major characters from the books will emerge. When The Wheel of Time was cancelled earlier this year, we wondered if it was a bellwether for the state of fantasy on television. You know, dense storylines with big effects budgets and streaming execs without a lot of patience. But even as it experiences change, The Witcher returns with its general vibe intact. We imagine there will be gripes in certain corners of the internet. There always are. But sometimes we just wanna watch a sorceress do cool magic, or a guy do backflips while driving his broadsword through many-limbed monster bodies, and trust that everything else will fall into place.
Sex and Skin: Sure, some. A literal roll in the hay here, a moment of “if the carriage is rocking, don’t come knocking” there. Shared baths. Shit gets lusty on the Continent.
Parting Shot: “Let’s go.” The separate but spiritually linked journeys continue for Geralt, Yennefer, Ciri, and their respective groups.
Sleeper Star: We really like Meng’er Zhang as Season 3 addition Milva, the archer who’s as deadly with her arrows as she is with a clapback. And the Witcher’s traveling band has another new member: Danny Woodburn, who you’ll remember as Mickey from Seinfeld, plays the funny, wise dwarf Zoltan Chivay.
Most Pilot-y Line: Geralt on Emhyr: “If he’ll destroy the Continent to control it, what will he do to Ciri?” The Witcher can’t locate his destiny daughter fast enough.
Our Call: Stream It! We feel like Liam Hemsworth fills the boots of Geralt of Rivia just fine, and are quite enjoying the action sequences and touches of humor as The Witcher returns for Season 4.
Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.
