The Witcher – Intro

I frequently analyze episodes from television series using Story Grid’s 5 Commandments of a Scene. I hope that this analysis will help writers make better scenes for themselves. I saw the trailer for The Witcher and wanted to see if this story worked. The first episode comes out on Dec. 20, 2019.

Series Description

I haven’t played the Witcher games, which I know is where it is most popular. My son was very excited that the series is coming out and I watched the trailer, so I thought I might give it a try. I did read the first book of the series in order to have some comparison.

The series description from Wikipedia:

The Witcher follows the story of Geralt of Rivia, a solitary monster hunter, who struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts. But when destiny hurtles him toward a powerful sorceress, and a young princess with a dangerous secret, the three must learn to navigate the increasingly volatile Continent together

Wikipedia

The initial trailer and the final trailer are somewhat different.

Expectations

So, after reading the Wikipedia description and watching both trailers, this is what I expect as a viewer:

• Lots of fight scenes, at least one per episode, this will be the core
• a good character arc for the Witcher
• I’m not sure this is going to follow the book, at least not the first novel
• The series seems to have strayed a little from the books to where The Witcher is a killer of supernatural creatures, not a defender of princesses

I have some high hopes that they will make this good, we’ll see. Fingers crossed!

Update

We decided to do a 6 Core Questions analysis episode in our Story Grid Showrunners Podcast.

More Story Analysis

If you want to see more applications of the Story Grid methodology, below are links to my analysis of various novels and television shows in blog posts and podcasts:

Story Grid Showrunners Podcast – Parul, Melanie, and I analyze hit TV series using the Story Grid methodology.

My blog posts analyzing other Television series – my person take using the Story grid 5 Commandments to look at my favorite TV series – Jack Ryan, Batgirl, For All Mankind, Hanna, and more.

Novel analysis – I analyze some of my favorite books using the Story Grid 5 Commandments and 6 core questions – First Blood, Old Man’s War, Waylander, and more to come!