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He came from the north on horseback, with white hair and a frosty face, walking between the fog of reality and legend.
In the last lecture, we analyzed the fifth episode of the first season of the American TV series "The Witcher". The focus is on the first encounter between the white wolf Geralt and Yennefer.
In order to save the bard Dandelion who was injured by the lamp god, White Wolf met Yennefer by accident.
The sorceress wanted to take this opportunity to recover the lamp god, and took the opportunity to help herself restore her fertility, but she couldn't fight the lamp god at all. In the end, Yennefer survived with the help of Geralt, starting a long love-hate relationship.
This story is also a classic chapter in the original volume one "The Rise of the White Wolf" - "Three Wishes".
Not only let everyone read it, but also have the visual sense of watching Aladdin's lamp in "The Arabian Nights" . The first meeting occurred. Well, by the sixth episode of the first season, we'll find that the timeline has moved forward by several years.
On the edge of the world, White Wolf and Yennefer started an adventure about slaughtering dragons, which gave birth to more possibilities for the construction of characters.
And Ciri continues to flee all the way, waiting for the fateful encounter... Now, we will start the story evaluation of the sixth episode
Compared with the first few episodes, it has always been a situation where the three protagonists have three arrows and equal roles. The American drama "The Witcher" actually makes us feel different from the fifth episode...
The roles of Geralt and Yennefer are advancing rapidly, while Ciri's storyline has gradually slowed down after the massacre.
After all, the story of White Wolf and Yennefer spanned at least 50 years; and Ciri's story line, at best, advanced a few months.
So it gives the impression that Geralt and Yennefer finally meet, and then quickly chase the timeline forward.
And Ciri, who should have fled in a thrilling and fast way after the massacre, walked slowly in front, waiting for the other two to catch up.
This sense of pause in the rhythm also reveals that the screenwriter wants to highlight the status of the three protagonists too much, which causes the narrative to be unsmooth and a sense of rupture. This sense of rupture is also reflected in the relationship between Geralt and Yennefer when they meet again in this episode.
White Wolf and Yennefer were still living and dying together in the last episode, so you and I, Geralt's nickname "The Sorceress Piledriver" lived up to its name. However, in the next second, they will meet again after a long absence in the sixth episode, and they will quarrel all the way.
This made many viewers bewildered.
In fact, this is what I said, the screenwriter did not take care of the mild audience when arranging the plot , so it brought a certain sense of rupture.
Another reason that needs to be explained is the timeline of the story of the sixth episode of the Dragon Slayer Squad. Judging from the timeline of the original book, this story happened after the Princess Paveta election meeting in "The Problem of Price".
That is to say, if we restore the correct timeline of the fourth, fifth, and sixth episodes, it should be the year 1251. In the fifth episode of "Three Wishes", Geralt and Yennefer met for the first time through the encounter with the lamp god.
Then the two separated, and the fourth episode of "The Problem of Price" happened in the second year , Princess Paveta's election meeting.
Finally, in the sixth episode of "The Realm of the Possible", Geralt and Yennefer meet again in the Dragon Slayer. In other words, White Wolf and Yennefer met for the first time in the fifth episode "Three Wishes". Then, the white wolves went through the fourth episode of Princess Paveta's marriage selection meeting, and they met Yennefer again in the sixth episode a few years later. This is the correct timeline, and my smoothing it like this may help everyone understand the whole story. So, the story of this episode revolves around a dragon slaying drama.
Let's take a look at the background of the story first: in Holopol, one of the city-states of the northern kingdoms, there was a green dragon rampant here, which brought great chaos to the city.
As a result, a wise shoemaker filled the dead body of a sheep with poison to lure the green dragon to eat it. After the green dragon finished eating the poison, he was seriously injured and hid in the cave and did not dare to come out.
In fact, this story is also taken from a Polish folklore: a brave shoemaker apprentice, who cleverly set traps to trap and kill dragons and kill the villagers.
Even Krakow, now the second largest industrial city in Poland , is named after this legend.
So, unlike the folklore that sings about the bravery of the shoemaker and creates the image of a civilian hero , the dragon slaying story in The Witcher is darker.
Originally, the seriously injured green dragon was dying, hiding in the cave and could no longer harm others. However, there are several forces that have chosen to form a dragon slaughter team to drive out the green dragons.
On the one hand, it is because there are rumors that the cave where the green dragon is located has a large number of treasures, as long as the green dragon is killed, the stolen goods can be divided, which obviously attracts a large number of people who are greedy for money.
On the other hand, the act of slaughtering dragons even involved the political struggles of the northern countries. At that time, King Niedamir of the Kingdom of Kangon was planning to annex the neighboring Principality of Mariul. In order to prevent his invasion, the dignitaries of the principality insisted that the prophecy of the country had said that "only those who conquer the dragon will gain the throne."
So in order to stop the mouths of the powerful, let yourself send troops smoothly. Niedamir desperately decided to recruit a dragon hunting team to slay dragons for him.
You see, a simple dragon slaying story,
It combines the Polish folklore that spreads positive energy;
It also reflects the greed and desire of the bottom hunters in the world view of the witcher;
It also highlights the surging political struggles in the upper classes of the northern countries.
The author Anjay's ability to kill three birds with one arrow is really good.
The news of killing the dragon and getting the treasure was brought to Geralt by a handsome curly-haired man, Borch.
At the time, Geralt was exterminating a petrified lizard in the cave. Because he entered the cave for a long time and did not come out, several local residents wanted to snatch Geralt's belongings and escape. As a result, the curly-haired man guarded the property for Geralt.
When Geralt returned from the cave with the petrified lizard's head still on the ground, the curly-haired man had one of his female men kill one of the citizens who tried to steal Geralt's belongings at lightning speed. . Geralt was also interested in the man and his two beauties.
The man reported his home, his name is Bolch, nicknamed "Three Jackdaws".
The three jackdaws in the TV series are an elderly uncle. The two Zerekan girls under him were also fierce black female fighters.
But in the original book, Three Jackdaws are actually very young and handsome. The two female subordinates are also first-class beauties.
Actually, I don't quite understand why the casting director should deal with these three people like this. Could it be that he was afraid of taking over and stealing Geralt's limelight?
It was this Three Jackdaws who told Geralt about the dragon slaughter, and tried his best to invite White Wolf to go with him.
Originally, Geralt had no interest in this kind of dragon slaying adventure.
However, he unexpectedly discovered that in the dragon slaying team, there was actually the figure of the sorceress Yennefer. So, he immediately joined the Dragon Slayer team.
And Yennefer is willing to join the team of this dragon slaying. Thinking about it, she hopes to see if there is any magic weapon that can help her and restore her fertility from the treasures guarded by the green dragon.
In this way, with the addition of Geralt, the formation of the Dragon Slayer team was completed and the expedition began.
This scene always reminds me of the seventh season of "Game of Thrones", where Jon takes the expedition team to hunt ghosts , and the plot in "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug".
However, obviously in the world of The Witcher, we care more about the relationship between White Wolf and Yennefer.
Because she couldn't bear Geralt's separation from her in the past , Yennefer was very cold to Geralt during this meeting. There was even a personal knight with him, I don't know if it was to make Geralt jealous.
However, the knight was obviously not good at brains, and he kept talking with his teeth blank, which made everyone feel disgusted. He also killed an innocent goblin inexplicably and baked it for dinner, which made everyone despised.
In the process of moving forward, there are several dialogues that are more important:
In the first paragraph, the bard Dandelion asks Geralt: Does the green dragon really exist? Geralt replied, yes.
In the witcher's worldview, green dragons are the most common; red dragons are rare; black dragons are the rarest.
At this time, Three Jackdaws interjected: "No, the rarest one is actually the Golden Dragon."
Geralt was unimpressed. He said that the golden dragon was just a legend, and even if it existed, it was still a mutant. It is a man-made product, and it is impossible to have blood.
One more thing to say here, in the world view of the witcher, all creatures that come from mutation do not have the ability to reproduce.
For example, a witcher who became a mutant because of the grass trials. And those ghosts and monsters that pass through the celestial sphere and are left in this continent are also infertile, because they themselves do not belong to this world.
Three Jackdaws saw Geralt say this, and did not say any more. On the topic of Jinlong, it ended without a hitch.
But this is actually a foreshadowing that the author buried in this story. In the end, we will find that the golden dragon not only really exists, but can also be transformed into other forms.
Then the second important information is that we can find out according to the dialogue: Geralt and Yennefer are currently on a timeline that is a little further behind Ciri's timeline.
Because at this time, the Nilfgaard Empire has not invaded Sintra.
But at this time, Nilfgaard's rightful heir had returned to his homeland. He began to rectify the imperial guidelines, developed rapidly, and had initially revealed his ambition to attack the northern countries.
Readers who are familiar with the original novel must have mixed feelings by this time. Because the mysterious heir of the Nilfgaard Empire has actually appeared in the past stories, and his relationship with Geralt and Ciri is inseparable.
Of course, the question of who this Nilfgaardian king is, runs through the Witcher's seven volumes until the answer is revealed at the end. Let's go back to the story of the Dragon Slayer.
During this process, the relationship between the white wolf and the sorceress has been very tense. When the white wolf knew that the reason why Yennefer was willing to join the dragon slaying team was actually because he wanted to use the dragon's heart to restore its fertility, it was very strange.
On the one hand, he thinks this idea is too absurd to believe; on the other hand, he also thinks that professions like witchers and sorceresses are destined to have children and make a mess of themselves.
However, in desperation, the white wolf actually revealed to Yennefer that he had a child with unexpected law.
Yennefer got angry when she heard it. You persuaded me to give up the idea of having children, and I ended up having an accidental son of the law.
Moreover, you obviously have a child related to your destiny, but you do not answer the call of destiny and take it away.
However, Geralt said that it was precisely because of his own slaying of demons and demons that he could not take care of the children. I don't even want my accidental son of the law to become a witcher.
After this conversation, the relationship between the two is still very tense. But soon, because of an accident, things turned around. On the way to the destination, several groups of people started to split up because they all wanted to arrive early to share the spoils .
In addition to the three jackdaws, Yennefer and others mentioned just now, there is also the dwarf team led by the dwarf leader Alpanzigrin. In the process of climbing the shortcut, the Dragon Slayer team encountered a sudden landslide.
Geralt tried his best to save Yennefer, and his recklessness made Yennefer re-examine the relationship between the two. But at the same time, Three Jackdaws and his two beauties fell off the cliff and their lives and deaths are uncertain.
The next day, the crowd reached the cave after chasing after me.
As a result, they were surprised to find that the two Zerikander girls who fell off the cliff before were actually alive.
In the cave, the green dragon was dying, still desperately protecting the dragon egg in his arms.
It turned out that the so-called treasure guarded by the green dragon was his own dragon egg. At this time, something even more surprising happened: a dark shadow flashed in the sky, and a golden dragon descended from the sky to the cave.
The legendary golden dragon actually appeared, and what was even more surprising was that the golden dragon could speak, revealing the truth to Geralt and others. It turned out that it had sent an invitation to Geralt to slay the dragon before, and had been in the dragon slaying team. Later, during the landslide, the mysterious knight whose life and death are unknown - Three Jackdaw Bolch.
In fact, there are many details mentioned in the original book: First of all, it is the tavern where the Three Jackdaws and Geralt first met, called the Dragon of Contemplation.
Second, when talking about dragons on the way, Three Jackdaws corrected Geralt and said: There are golden dragons in this world, but they are relatively rare. Finally, in the original work, there is an old ballad that mentions that the golden dragon has the ability to change its form.
These two foreshadowings seem inconspicuous, but in fact they all point to the ending: Three Jackdaw Bolch is the Golden Dragon himself.
In fact, the golden dragon and the previously injured green dragon are a pair. When he knew that the green dragon was dying of poison by the shoemaker, he hurried over to protect the green dragon and dragon eggs. This scene, if you haven't seen the original book, may be very shocking, and this reversal is overwhelmed.
But for the original party, the surprise of reversal is missing. The rest is to pay attention to the degree of reduction. I have to say that it is not enough in the TV series.
The golden dragon in the TV series can't stand up at all in terms of image. Compared to "Game of Thrones" and "The Hobbit", the majestic dragon is completely incomparable. It is more appropriate to say that it is a chicken rather than a dragon.
Moreover, the post-production team is obviously not careful enough. If you look closely at the sub-shots, you will find that when Jin Long is talking, his mouth is actually closed.
Think of the dragons in Game of Thrones armed with teeth, fine to every pore. I really don’t know if Netflix has limited funds and can only do it to this extent. Then Jinlong said that through the contacts in the past few days, it believed that Geralt must be a man who hoes the strong and helps the weak, and will definitely fight for the weak.
And Yennefer's maternal instinct was also activated at this time, and of course she stood on the side of the Golden Dragon.
The three worked together to defeat the rest of the people who came to slay the dragon in search of the treasure.
Originally, Geralt and Yennefer shared weal and woe and should have a better relationship.
However, Geralt actually told Yennefer at this time that the third wish he made was to be tied to Yennefer's fate.
Yennefer was furious as soon as the news broke. Because at this time, even she herself didn't understand: the entanglement between her and Geralt was because the two truly loved each other and went through ups and downs together?
Or from the beginning to the end, it was because Geralt granted this wish that she had to be connected to her destiny.
In this way, the two broke up and returned to their respective modes of advancing the story. What they don't know is that because the war in the north is approaching, their fates will meet again, and they will never be separated from now on.
The story of this episode is taken from the first short story in Volume II of the original book "The Sword of Fate", called "The Realm of Possible". Many readers may not understand what this "possible world" means. Are you saying that in the Witcher worldview, there are infinite possibilities, and even a dragon can become a human? In fact, this is not the case at all. The TV series has retained the basic setting of the plot in this story. However, some content that seems to have little impact on the main storyline, but is easily valuable, has been cut off.
In fact, when the Three Jackdaws first met Geralt, at the Pensive Dragon Tavern, they discussed the issues of chaos and order. We can talk more deeply about the relationship between Geralt and the Three Jackdaws. When they first met, Borch and Geralt discussed the issues of chaos and order at the Pensive Dragon Tavern .
Borch believed that chaos represented aggression, and the opposite of order was order. But Geralt believes that the boundaries between chaos and order are very blurred and there is no clear definition.
In this conversation, we can see Geralt's personality and choices more clearly. He is happy to accept commissions to hunt down creatures that are harmful to humans. But he would never accept slaughtering a dying dragon for wealth.
Likewise, when he understands the relationship between the golden dragon and the green dragon, and that the golden dragon wants to protect the cubs, he will naturally stand on the weak side against humans. At the end of the story, Three Jackdaws also expressed his expectations to Geralt, and he believed that the value of the witcher was more than that.
Perhaps in the human world, the witcher has always been the object of revulsion; but in the world of monsters, monsters need a protector like a witcher. He sincerely wished Geralt that one day he could break the realm of possibility and find a chance to survive in a different world.
This is the core value of the story about the Dragon Slayer "The Realm of the Possible": a person who is often unpopular in his own circle may become a hero and master in other fields.
This is the helplessness in the world of witchers, and it is also a story that often happens in real society. I don't know if everyone realizes it, but the existence of the Three Jackdaws to the dragon actually corresponds to the witcher's position in the human race. As we said just now, although the golden dragon is the strongest and the rarest among the dragon clan, it is an outlier and a creature that cannot reproduce. And the same is true of the witchers, they are also mutants who changed their lives because of the trial of green grass. Infertile and hated, loathed and spurned by humans.
Therefore, these two creatures in different populations actually have the same fate.
Secondly, from the fate of Jinlong, we can also read something that hints at the future: in this story, in order to save the green dragon and the young dragon, the golden dragon chose to go to war with humans.
This also indicates that at the end of the story, Geralt may also choose the same as the golden dragon - in order to protect the weak against humans. Well, let's introduce the story of the sixth episode of the first season of the American TV series "The Witcher" here. To sum up, in the story of this episode, the white wolf and Yennefer meet again, and they share adversity but separate again. On the surface, it is an adventure about slaughtering dragons, but in fact, we found that "The Realm of Possible" is the title. In this story, it not only looks at Geralt's situation from the perspective of the golden dragon, but also hints at the fate of the white wolf after that. Then, after the dragon slaying adventure, the timelines of the three protagonists will finally coincide. Want to know what the three protagonists are doing during the Sintra massacre and the Northern War, and how to move the story forward?
Everything is exciting, and it will be in the next lecture, so stay tuned!
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