The Witcher 4 with Ciri is a story that CD Projekt Red has proven it can do
Lore has always been a tricky subject for fans when it comes to adaptations: stick too closely to the original text and you end up with a smaller version of something you already love; adapt too loosely, and suddenly your favorite series becomes unrecognizable. I’m pretty upfront about saying that as far as Netflix TV shows go, The Witcher fans have had it tougher than most when it comes to having their franchise tainted by poor decisions. So it’s no surprise that when CD Projekt Red unveiled the first trailer The Witcher 4in which Ciri is the main character and seemingly a full-fledged Witcher, some fans (albeit a minority) were skeptical. However, with three Witcher games already under its belt, CD Projekt Red has earned the presumption of innocence.
The most understandable concern of these fans seems to be related to how The Witcher 4 fits into the world and canon of Andrzej Sapkowski’s books. For example, Ciri after the events The Witcher 3: Wild Huntwould be older than normal to take the Trial of the Grass, and in the books she had most of her magic taken away from her when she saved Ihuarraquax – however, in the trailer she uses magic freely. What’s confusing about these concerns among fans, however, is how unaware they seem to be of the connection between CD Projekt Red’s games and The Witcher canon. It’s not that the two necessarily grew apart, but that they were never closely connected to begin with.
The Witcher games have never been strict adherents to the books they are based on. Instead, they were always more intent on capturing the spirit and themes of Sapkowski’s series than on giving virtual life to his words. And as a fan of Sapkowski’s books, I think this is one of the greatest assets of CD Projekt Red’s game series. The rich complexity and detail of the world and characters Sapkowski created always felt like it could be expanded beyond the pages of his novels and short stories, and in CDPR’s capable hands we were able to see that expansion. peace.
That’s part of what makes The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt perhaps the best entry in the entire Witcher franchise. This game goes beyond the established canon of Sapkowski’s novels by presenting a slightly non-canonical story set several years after the books’ story ended. This is an expansion and continuation of the stories of Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri, but it reflects the essence of their characters and the entire world of The Witcher, as well as everything related to the history of the series.
Through The Witcher 3Geralt’s mission to find Ciri and then rescue her introduces him to the strangest inhabitants of his world. And while the game gives you the choice of how to deal with them, CDPR’s script does an excellent job of keeping you on your toes, constantly giving Geralt’s quests an unexpected and often tragic outcome despite his best intentions, while maintaining their thematic resonance with Sapkowski’s best work. short stories. In other words, this is everything the Netflix series failed at; So far, the show’s creative team has adapted the plot of Sapkowski’s novels fairly closely, but seems completely uninterested in its themes.
But what’s even more confusing to self-proclaimed fans is The Witcher 3 who now express skepticism about Ciri’s evolution into The Witcher 4 is that her transformation was first introduced in Wild Hunt. Depending on the choices made by players throughout the game, Ciri could either end up The Witcher 3 dead as the Queen of Nilfgaard, or on her way to becoming a witcher. The question is how she got from this path to where we see her. The Witcher 4The film’s cinematic trailer looks less like a plot hole and more like an accurate plot The Witcher 4 itself, which was confirmed on Friday by CDPR studio head Adam Badowski.
And the truth is, as a fan of Ciri and Sapkowski’s books, I’m lucky that CD Projekt Red intends to continue her story and give her a narrative future. Given the studio’s history of expanding Sapkowski’s characters and world, it’s hard to imagine it being in better hands, including those of its original author. The only real downside is that it may be quite a few years before we actually see her story unfold.