Season 4 of Netflix’s The Witcher has been struggling through production. While filming has wrapped, The Witcher has recast two major characters — Henry Cavill as the titular Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, and also Kim Bodina, who played Geralt’s mentor and fellow witcher Vesemir in season 2. Former Hunger Games star Liam Hemsworth has stepped into the Butcher of Blaviken’s armor, but we still don’t know who will be replacing Kaer Morhen’s most formidable monster hunter.

Yet the cast still being in flux even after seven months of shooting isn’t the show’s only problem. The Witcher has consistently had pacing problems that obscure the plot, especially with how season 1 is anything but chronological. Shooting may have wrapped on The Witcher season 4, but resolving these story problems is even more central to the show’s future success than any casting issues could ever be.

The Witcher Season 4 Needs To Fix The Show’s Storytelling & Pacing Problems

The Show Needs To Be More Accessible

The Witcher has had issues with pacing since the beginning. Season 1 initially confused audiences by weaving together the events of a handful of Andrzej Sapkowski’s first short stories (found in the anthologies The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny) with very little context to help audiences understand the relative timeframes, which helped season 1 have the worst Witcher rating so far on Rotten Tomatoes. Netflix eventually had to release a full annotated timeline explaining season 1, which is now defunct, but you can still access the timeline via The Internet Archive.

The Witcher Seasons 1-3 Rotten Tomatoes Scores

Season
Rotten Tomatoes Score

1
68%

2
95%

3
79%

Season 2 was a clearer success, as it mostly drew from more cohesive source material, namely Blood of Elves, the first standalone Witcher novel. Season 3 followed suit, continuing with the novels by adapting the second book, Time of Contempt, as well as some elements from book three, Baptism of Fire. While the second and third seasons definitely have fewer of the pacing concerns that plagued season 1, season 3 still managed to fall short of critical expectations, and that means season 4 has to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time.

Slowing Down Is Even More Important After The Witcher’s Major Recasts

A Few Filler Episodes Could Make All The Difference

Pacing is always a problem with streaming service-backed shows, as episode counts per season rarely go higher than 12. The Witcher has continually had to convey an exceptional amount of world-building and prophetic shenanigans with only eight episode-long seasons, which has likely been a major contributor to the show’s problems with pacing.

Even anime-style beach party filler episodes serve a valuable purpose in narratives.

It’s hard for a fantasy world to feel genuinely lived-in when the pace of the action constantly propels characters from one crisis to the next. While some consider character-driven episodes to be a waste of time in dramas, even anime-style beach party filler episodes serve a valuable purpose in narratives. So-called “filler” episodes give the viewers a chance to see characters interact in surprisingly genuine ways, often to the benefit of our understanding of their relationships. Shows that speed through that kind of character development often come unstuck.

When you add in the two major recasts of Liam Hemsworth replacing Henry Cavill as Geralt and the still-open role of Vesimir, The Witcher season 4 is starting off at quite a narrative disadvantage. Hemsworth is under particular scrutiny, having some particularly large and brooding shoes to fill as Geralt. With only eight episodes to not only sell the change in casting but also advance the hitherto chaotic plot, the show could easily repeat its season 1 mistakes, with serious potential repercussions for how the show will end.

Season 4 Of The Netflix Series May Not Be Able To Address These Story Issues

Death And Endings Come For Everyone, Even Major Franchises

We already know that season 5 of The Witcher will bring the Netflix series to an end. That means that between seasons 4 and 5, the show will have to cover the events of three novels — Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow, and The Lady of the Lake. These books cover some of the biggest twists in the entire Witcher Saga, and sixteen episodes may mean the pacing issues only increase as the show reaches a climax.

In an ideal world, The Witcher would get a sixth season and so be able to tell its complete story with appropriate pacing, rather than being rushed to a swift end. Unfortunately, the realities of modern streaming production require shows that consistently deliver viewers, and with The Witcher in such a precarious position in the lead-up to season 4, it’s no surprise that it’s getting a swifter end than it deserves.