The Witcher season 4 has finally arrived, returning viewers to a world of magic, monsters, and backstabbing politics. The arrival of The Witcher season 4 is also the introduction of Liam Hemsworth’s Geralt of Rivia, as he steps in for Henry Cavill after his departure in season 3. That’s certainly played a part in reviews and reactions from fans, and now the series has broken 2 records in its season 4 debut on Rotten Tomatoes.
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The Witcher season 4 currently holds a 58% amongst critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and an 18% audience score, and both have set records for the series. With the 58%, season 4 is now the lowest critics’ average of all four seasons, as season 1 was the previous low point with 68%. Season 3 holds a 79%, while season 2 holds the series’ highest bow at 95%. The audience score is also the lowest amongst seasons, and in both cases, Cavill’s departure seems to be a consistent through line.
Right now, season 4’s 18% is just 2% down from season 3’s audience score of 20%, and both are down substantially from season 2’s 54% audience score. Season 1 actually had the highest audience score with 88%, and which is interesting since it is the second lowest critics’ score. It’s interesting to see how critics and audiences have been so far apart over the course of the series. Season 2 is the highest critical rating, and yet it holds just a 54% with audiences.
Neither of those records are great records to break, and it’s unfortunate, since some of it feels directed towards the change in Geralt as opposed to the quality of the show overall. In the full review of season 4, I highlight how it feels like all three main character journeys feel compelling on their own merits as opposed to being overly reliant on one central star, and when you have a property that has such rich and layered lore as The Witcher, you want to spread that out a bit and explore several sides of it. Season 4 does that better than any previous season when taken as a whole, and when the stories do weave together, it feels important and like a real payoff as a result.
Cavill’s departure was always going to be a hotly debated topic, and Hemsworth was never going to win unanimous praise for his turn from those who already wrote off the series after Cavill left. That said, from this side, Hemsworth did a great job of putting his own spin on a character that was already well defined, not going so far as to make it feel like someone else entirely, but also not just going for an imitation of Cavill. It’s a difficult balance, and while everyone will clearly have their favorite person in the role, Hemsworth successfully stepped in and picked up the baton pretty effortlessly.
There will be some who can’t see the show without Cavill’s Geralt at the center of it, and that’s unfortunate, but not unprecedented. The show has had to battle similar backlash from those who only see the video games as their version of the franchise, and then you have fans who adhere only to the canon from the books, and any veering from that story is seen as throwing out the entirety of Andrzej Sapkowski’s work.
Then there were those who saw Cavill in the first images of The Witcher and balked, taking shots at the wig before then taking more shots at the show’s costuming and monster battles. This is old hat at this point, and all of it deserves more nuance and context than it’s getting, and it will likely still be the case when season 5 eventually hits and closes out the series. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see how that all plays out.
The Witcher season 4 is now streaming on Netflix.
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