This is a non-spoiler review for all eight episodes of The Witcher Season 4, premiered October 30 on Netflix.
The question everyone’s asking isn’t “Is Season 4 good?” It’s “How’s Liam Hemsworth?” After Henry Cavill’s departure sent shockwaves through the fandom, the Aussie actor’s takeover as Geralt of Rivia represents the most anticipated—and scrutinized—recasting since… well, since Spartacus swapped Andy Whitfield for Liam McIntyre (keeping the Australian actor tradition alive).
The short answer: Hemsworth is fine. The longer answer requires unpacking what “fine” means in this context, and whether Season 4 as a whole justifies the journey.
A Streamlined Story (For Better and Worse)
The Witcher Season 4 delivers another good-not-great entry in Netflix’s flagship fantasy series. Adapting Andrzej Sapkowski’s third Witcher saga novel Baptism of Fire (with tweaks, naturally), this season actually improves on Season 3’s sprawl by offering a more streamlined, focused narrative as we barrel toward the series’ conclusion.
The structure returns to Season 1’s separated-trio approach, following three distinct season-long adventures for Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri—though mercifully without the confusing non-linear Dunkirk-ian timeline gymnastics. It’s probably the simplest Witcher run yet: an injured Geralt trudges through the war-torn Continent searching for Ciri, Ciri adopts a new found family in “the Rats,” and Yennefer recruits magical women to take down Vilgefortz.
There’s a new framing device I won’t spoil, but beyond that, Season 4 is straightforward odyssey storytelling. These three narratives barely intersect, running parallel from episode one through eight. While a few chapters contain big or divergent enough elements to stand out as notable encapsulated episodes, Season 4 feels less like a complete season and more like Part One of a split final season—one big “TBD.”
The Hemsworth Question
So let’s address the Witcher-shaped elephant in the room: Do we have a Temu Geralt on our hands?
It’s not a lateral actor trade in terms of star power—that’s just reality. But several factors deserve consideration when I say Liam Hemsworth is fine, and yes, you need time to get used to him as Geralt.
That happens with any major casting change. You build a relationship with an appearance, no matter how much you tell yourself character matters most. Can a new actor nail all the Geralt-isms? Of course. Geralt is grim, gruff, and usually only emotes on micro levels. But that doesn’t erase the attachment viewers formed to how Geralt looked with Cavill at the helm.
The series does employ some, ahem, Peacemaker-style trickery integrating Hemsworth into the lore (for those who saw what they did with Peacemaker Season 2’s opening). More importantly, though, Hemsworth’s Geralt barely interacts with his “family” in Season 4. Instead, he builds a ragtag “hansa” of allies heading to rescue Ciri from Emperor Emhyr (even though we know she’s not with him).
We’re not immediately forced to accept Hemsworth in Geralt’s most loving, nurturing form—the version we found Cavill inhabiting at Season 3’s start. Geralt’s story here, plucked from Baptism of Fire, actually creates the best “break” spot you could hope for in an actor swap situation. Geralt’s playing hurt (after Vilgefortz dropped him), meeting new people, forming new relationships, and making drastic emotional realizations—fundamentally becoming a new version of Geralt.
Would it have been more rewarding watching Cavill make these shifts? Absolutely. But as the old adage goes: It is what it is. If there had to be a new White Wolf, this was an adequate transition.
Geralt Becomes One of Many
Another element to consider: The Witcher isn’t really on The Witcher much anymore. The show has always juggled dozens of characters, but it felt most ensemble-driven in Season 3, with Geralt occupying less screen time than ever. Season 4 continues this trend—Geralt’s not just one of three main questlines, but his own story amasses a full adventuring party.
Joey Batey’s Jaskier and Meng’er Zhang’s Milva are joined by Danny Woodburn’s Zoltan, Linden Porco’s Percival, the return of Jeremy Crawford’s Yarpen and Eamon Farren’s Cahir, and—cherry on top—Laurence Fishburne’s wise, amiable, vampiric Regis. Even in Geralt’s own Season 4 story, he’s but one of many.
Geralt’s path through ravaged villages and impromptu violence works well, shared nicely with cohorts old and new. They meet monsters both human and supernatural, experiencing triumphs and setbacks while Geralt opens up increasingly to his need for love and community. Fishburne’s Regis gives Geralt someone new to confide in and heed as he more readily accepts others as assets rather than burdens.
Yennefer’s Triumph
If Geralt’s story is solid and Ciri’s is messy (more on that shortly), Yennefer has the biggest and best adventure this season. Anya Chalotra shines as Yen aims to form a sorceress army against Vilgefortz, who now controls all magical portal travel.
Yen’s thread is crowded—Phillipa, Fringilla, Triss, Sabrina, Istredd, and more all participate in the season’s biggest and best set piece near the midpoint: the Battle of Montecalvo. It’s a blow-out reminding us that The Witcher excels at magical mayhem.
Even without this spectacular sorcery showcase, Yen’s goal is the most direct, dangerous, and earnest. She’s transforming into a trusted leader, embracing elements building her into a legendary figure (paralleling Geralt’s journey). Her perilous crucible dominates the sixth episode, “Twilight of the Wolf,” while Geralt’s best moments lie in the seventh, “What I Love I Do Not Carry.”
Ciri and the Rats Problem
Ciri has the messiest seasonal exploits of the trio in an awkwardly balanced adventure with the Rats—that shady thieving bunch who found her last year. Not only are there six more new characters to follow, but the push-and-pull of “them rejecting Ciri/Ciri rejecting them” grows tiresome.
Ciri, now going by Falka, is clearly going through it—trying to reinvent herself while being unsure who her old self was. Does she care about the Rats above everyone else now? Does she still know right from wrong regarding their nomadic plundering? Is she full of rage and hyper-violence frightening to the rest of them?
Instead of settling in with them, the season keeps her bouncing around too much, to the point where we stop caring about most of them. Christelle Elwin’s Mistle is the touchstone as Ciri bonds with her most (in sexual ways, even). Mistle becomes the “one we might care about” in this lengthy Rats journey that just doesn’t click as well as the Geralt and Yen stories.
It’s not bad per se, and neither is Freya Allan as Ciri, but for the first few episodes, if you don’t know the books, you’ll think, “Okay, when does the clearly superior Ciri ditch these fools?”
That said, the Rats story gifts us a delicious new villain in Sharlto Copley’s bounty hunter Leo Bonhart. He, like Fishburne, is a boon for the season—so vile and spindly you can’t wait for someone to take him apart. But he’s also the best fighter we’ve seen, so you fear for anyone stepping up to him.
The Incomplete Season Problem
The Witcher Season 4 has more successes than missteps, but as a season, it feels incomplete—just part of a larger tapestry for the show’s endgame. This is Netflix’s business model destroying the concept of episodic TV by wanting everything to feel like one ongoing movie.
We’ve gotten Netflix seasons that feel complete on their own; this doesn’t. It feels like we should get Part 2 a month from now.
There’s also clumsiness to the finale suggesting the season should have either ended sooner or sprung for a ninth episode to resolve moments that don’t land well as seasonal cliffhangers. It just doesn’t feel like a proper endpoint. Season 4 stumbles under the strain of being filmed back-to-back with the fifth and final season. The fifth season will now contend with all the leftovers here and settle things on the Wild Hunt front—whose wrath is totally absent this year.
Season 4 is also the most plain so far, lacking the visual flair and distinctive style that made earlier seasons memorable, even when they were messy.
The Verdict
The Witcher has faced many uphill battles: Book fans don’t like certain things; game fans dislike others. It ditched nudity after Season 1 and its lead actor after Season 3. Liam Hemsworth takes on an unenviable task here, but the results are good enough.
He’s not as physically striking as Henry Cavill, and while that’s not everything, there are times when Geralt is merely that: an imposing physical presence. It helps that story-wise, Geralt himself is off his game and going through changes of heart. Hemsworth is also aided by several factors: a game ensemble of sidekick adventurers, his travels only taking up a third of the season as we follow three character paths, and Yennefer having the best story this season so you don’t have to look to Geralt for that.
Ciri’s parts of Season 4 are the weakest, but they’re not enough to spoil what does work.
Season 4 is actually better than Season 3, though not quite good enough to warrant that full extra point. It’s another good-not-great season for The Witcher—completely serviceable fantasy adventure with credible action and compelling characters, now with a main story that feels more streamlined and focused as we barrel toward the end.
Just don’t expect it to feel like a complete meal. This is an appetizer for the final course, and whether that main dish satisfies will determine how we remember this penultimate chapter.
