Netflix’s The Witcher series released to popular acclaim, but even die-hard fans of the show have to admit there are some pretty confusing aspects to the story. The timeline is a jumbled mess of disparate narratives that only awkwardly come together, and actual character development is few and far between.
To say that The Witcher relies on a viewer’s past knowledge of either the original books or game adaptations is an understatement. And we haven’t even gotten to the glaring plot holes. Read on if you want to know about the major plot holes The Witcher Netflix show is riddled with.
The Cost Of Using Magic Changes
Early on in the series, we learn there’s a price for using magic. During Yennefer’s time learning at Aretuza, we see a girl’s hand wither and dry for attempting to levitate a small rock without first holding a flower from which to drain energy. However, this rule is never strictly adhered to ever again. The cost of using magic is wildly inconsistent in The Witcher. Sometimes moving a large fog over a wide area can kill a person; at other times, teleporting from one place to another does nothing to hurt them.
Cahir Tried Leaving Cintra With Ciri Alone
In the first episode, we see a black knight attempt to whisk Ciri away from Cintra as the city falls. We later learn this knight is Cahir, an envoy from Nilfgaard. However, if this is the case, why was he trying to ride away from Cintra on his horse with Ciri alone? He commands entire Nilfgaardian legions. Shouldn’t he have kept her in the city, guarded by his own soldiers? Was he planning on riding all the way to Nilfgaard on his lonesome? Cahir basically handed Ciri an opportunity to escape on a silver platter.
Borch, Téa, And Véa Surviving Their Fall
We understand that Borch is a dragon and presumably has the ability to fly. As such, when Borch falls off a cliff-side with his henchwomen, Véa and Téa, we can more or less swallow the fact that they survived the perilous plummet. But it’s a major stretch.
The three fell at separate intervals, and the transformation time for Borch to turn from human to dragon is unclear. It would’ve had to have been incredibly quick for the three to survive.
Pavetta And Ciri’s Abilities Differ
Netflix’s The Witcher assumes that most of its viewers have either read the books or played the video games. If you are without that knowledge, the exact abilities that Pavetta and her daughter Ciri possess are mystifying. At first, these powers seem connected to them screaming and being in danger. But when we get a glimpse of the past, when Pavetta and her lover Duny meet in Cintra’s castle, the abilities take a turn for the inexplicable. This inconsistency remains for as long as they go unexplained.
Vilgefortz’s Actions As A Turncoat
In an attempt to leave viewers with a bit of a cliffhanger, The Witcher revealed that the mage Vilgefortz was secretly against his fellow sorcerer compatriots. His betrayal of them goes unexplained, but that’s not the major issue at hand. If Vilgefortz was working with Nilfgaard the whole time, then there are so many ways in which he could have assisted them better during the Battle of Sodden Hill. Instead, he chose to fight with Cahir (leader of the Nilfgaardian forces), fake his death, and then traitorously kill a sorcerer.
Yennefer’s Knowledge Of What She Would Lose
Part of the detriment of jumping across time so much in The Witcher’s narrative is that huge chunks of a character’s development go missing. Instead of being shown how a character grows, viewers have to be told in order to catch up to the current episode’s story arc. One aspect of Yennefer’s development became inconsistent as soon as it was revealed she wanted a child. No one in Aretuza beat around the bush that she would be giving up her fertility for magical power, and Yennefer herself showed no inclination to bear a child. Fast forward a few episodes later, and she’s risking her life with a djinn in order to try having a baby.
Geralt’s Fame As “The Witcher” Of Legend
Thanks to Jaskier’s beautiful singing voice, people across the land learned of what Geralt could do. And when the two of them visited Cintra, it became clear that Geralt was this witcher that everybody should be tossing their coins to.
If Geralt’s name had become so renowned at this point, wouldn’t it stand to reason that Ciri, even as a child, would have heard of him? Unless Calanthe barred Jaskier’s song from the city, Ciri should most likely have known of Geralt before his name was whispered to her.
The Parasite Only Infected Three People
At some point during the Battle of Sodden Hill, Fringilla (using an associate) released a box of worm things into the fort. We later find out that the worms made their way into the ear holes of some people defending the fort, causing them to betray their allies. How these magical worms accomplished this, we’ll probably never know. What is more perplexing is how only three people got this parasite in their ears. The box Fringilla sent was jam-packed with these squiggly black worms. And yet, only three people got these worms inside them. And to add insult to injury, it isn’t even show how the worms made their way into these ears.
The Doppler’s Reasons For Turning Into Ciri
A nefarious doppler is sent after Ciri to bring her back to Cahir after she escapes. At one point in the series, the doppler successfully locates and captures her. However, at this point, instead of delivering Ciri to Cahir, the doppler chooses to adopt her form and get himself kidnapped by Cahir’s forces. The doppler could have very easily delivered Ciri to Cahir and then gone about his merry way.
The Hug Between Geralt And Ciri
Granted, the whole series was building toward this moment. Geralt and Ciri finally meeting was a scene that viewers looked forward to. However, their finding each other is so incredibly contrived, it really drives home the point that the theme of the show seems to be “fate.” Ciri was initially heading in the opposite direction when she ran into Geralt. And for them to hug each other makes no sense. While we as the audience have gotten to know each character fairly well, they know absolutely nothing about each other except their names. And given their pasts, they have no reason to trust each other.
