The Witcher Season 3 Casting Detail Poses The Same Problem As GoT

The widely popular Netflix Original series The Witcher recently revealed its casting for the upcoming season. The announcement stated the introduction of the character Radovid.

By Soniya Hinduja
May 9,2022
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The widely popular Netflix Original series The Witcher recently revealed its casting for the upcoming season. The announcement stated the introduction of the character Radovid. This new entry could apparently risk the show following the missteps of Stannis Baratheon from Game of Thrones. The similarities between both the characters is that they came with a background of vengeance and they undertake despicable actions.

In addition, there is a string of balance in their appreciative qualities. This resemblance may create a rift in the audiences, and they might convey dissatisfaction towards the show. Some fans are considering the repercussions of having a stern king in The Witcher. Mainly because the second season already received a lot of backlash in the way it handled the character of Eskel. As well as the overall structuring and storytelling. And the several resemblances with HBO’s flagship fantasy series.

Who Is King Radovid In The Witcher?

Ciri And Witcher
Ciri And Witcher

King Radovid V “The Stern” is a calculative man as well as a merciless leader. He inculcates values of honesty among his followers. In comparison, Stannis Baratheon has the same values. Both Stannis and Radovid have a history of vengeance to get even for their murdered family members. The two men are ruthless in their empire. And yet, they motivate their followers to be honest by being confident and running a sustainable statecraft. They are indulged in war crimes and horrible actions in politics throughout their various campaigns. Both GoT’s Stannis and The Witcher’s Radovid treat their subjects and enemies with a feeling of common dread.

In addition, the Game of Thrones series killed Stannis Baratheon before the novels. And there were two key reasons for this. Firstly, the king was devoted to an evil religion that ultimately led to the demise of his daughter. And secondly, there wasn’t enough material in the novels to execute after the battle against the Boltons. Similarly, Radovid has a tendency for burning living creatures at the stake with a devotion to “The Eternal Fire”. In essence, the two follow exactly the same ideology when it comes to running a state. And this leads to the show creating an utterly despicable character. 

Resemblances With Stannis Barateon 

Stannis & Selyse Barathon at Shireen’s Sacrifice

In Game of Thrones, the depiction of Stannis Baratheon created a feeling of misdirect appraisal. His character started off as a huge supporter of Ned Stark as well as the practical alternative to the very enjoyable character of King Robert. But soon, his path divulged into an unlikeable craziness because of falling into desperate circumstances. His actions were in some way unforgivable, as he killed loved ones and doomed his followers. Thus, Stannis’ character arc shifted from admirable to villainous. And it is a very challenging way to carry out a character if the show’s creators want the audience to be invested. Sometimes, such figures cause the viewer to feel uninterested and often easily displeased.

With The Witcher Season 3 under the works, fans are assuming Radovid to turn out the same way because of the character’s similar nature. This leads them to worry that if he falls down the same rabbit hole, it is pointless to get attached and root for the character when ultimately he is going to turn out to be fruitless to the overall show. The Witcher has already received much criticism surrounding its casting choices and writing. And audiences are wondering if the addition of Radovid will be worth it or not.

Also Read : New Witcher Season 3 Detail Suggests The Risk Of Geralt And Ciri Parting Ways

How The Witcher Justifies Its New Character 

jaskier and geralt
Jaskier and Geralt

Meanwhile, the showrunners are countering the character to work in their favor as they are trying not to repeat their previous mistakes. Not only that, the character’s backstory has been completely turned into a reality in The Witcher source material. This allows the writers plenty of information to divide the parts that are compelling and necessary to the main storyline.

This point is something that was lacking for writers Weiss and Benioff. They unwantedly had to kill off their character as they couldn’t decide his future without the source material. This resulted in Stannis Barateon becoming a badly portrayed character. But The Witcher showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich is already taking notes from Game of Thrones. In fact, she has even made remarks on certain plot problems. With Game of Thrones, everything was basically uncertain as George R. R. Martin has yet to finish Winds of Winter, the final installment in his series A Song of Ice and Fire.  

Will Radovid Be A Success?

The Witcher
Witcher S2 Ciri

But the Netflix series, The Witcher seems to be combating that problem head-on. While many continue to make inevitable comparisons with Game of Thrones, the creators are unshaken by the mistakes. In fact, they take it as a lesson learnt in time and to take advantage of. Radovid has been cast for the upcoming season, and he will begin his journey as a prince. Not long after, he will be sucked into Dijkstra’s plan for Redainia, being played by Hugh Skinner for the third season.

There is yet a lot to be determined before we see whether or not the writers of The Witcher will be able to create a masterpiece out of a potentially hateable character. And whether or not the inclusion of King Radovid The Stern into the highly acclaimed show was a good idea overall.

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