The Witcher Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

2. The Timeline Can Be Confusing

Likely to be the biggest complaint from those who haven't read the books is that this show makes virtually no attempt to hold the viewer's hand during its often jarringly sudden time skips.

The nature of the narrative structure means that it regularly jumps back and forth between time periods, often literally decades at a time, and if you miss a sliver of dialogue indicating this, you're likely to be left incredibly puzzled at what's going on.

Subtle storytelling isn't a bad thing, but given that this is a broad, epic fantasy show, it probably should've made a greater effort to convey the passage of time visually.

Ultimately, it's just a bit of a headache for those new to this world, and making more of an effort to point out the time jumps was clearly possible without condescending viewers.