The Witcher, Season 2

Having finally found Ciri (Freya Allan) in the finale of the first season, Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) intends to protect her.  On their way, they stop at the Sodden battlefield.  Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), the third main character of the first season, is missing and presumed dead in the wake of the battle.  Heartbroken, Geralt resumes his journey toward home, Kaer Morhen.  Kaer Morhen is the home of the witchers, a fortress where they train and heal.  There are fewer than twenty left and no means of making more.  As part of his plan to protect Ciri, he begins training her to fight.  The other witchers join in the project and Ciri proves an apt pupil.  Meanwhile, Yennefer is not dead, but she lost her magic at Sodden.  She is crushingly ordinary and now just a captive of Nilfgaardians and later elves.  However, she learns that she may regain her powers by setting herself against Geralt.

As with last season, there are political machinations among the various factions and dissension among the mages of Aretuza (this world's Hogwarts).  Though various kingdoms and their noble rulers appear, it is hard to tell one from another.  Every kingdom is this multicultural melange, that makes it difficult to pick out who is from where.  Even the clothing is indistinguishable.  The world's elves are equally multicultural and seem no different from humans except for having pointy ears.  The world-building is atrocious.  All too often, a keep, fort, or city has not a single cultivated field outside the walls.  How do these people eat?  At one temple, the head priestess lights hundreds of candles.  Unless these are being manufactured by magic, that's unsustainable.  Sure, it looks cool, but really?

The world is tiny.  Several times, characters teleport from one realm to another only to have their pursuers arrive on horseback.  With so big a lead, you still get caught.  Then there was the pure lunacy.  The Black Knight was captured during the Battle of Sodden and is due to be executed.  The monarchs of the alliance are all in attendance as are several mages.  Rather than hacking off his head, his would-be executioner hacks off his manacles and the two flee.  No one pursues them.  Literally, they are just outside the place of execution and ride off down a brightly lit path and not a single arrow nor a single spell is sent to impede them.  What?  The dialogue is weak, often nothing more than the expected cliches answered by more cliches.  Too much of the dialogue is delivered as deep insight rather than the run-of-the-mill pap that it is.

It is not terrible, but it isn't good.  Still, I will watch the next season when it is released.