The Witcher Gives Henry Cavill a Sendoff (of Sorts) in Season 3 Finale — Grade His Last Episode as Geralt of Rivia
Now streaming on Netflix, the third season finale of The Witcher marks Henry Cavill‘s final episode playing Geralt of Rivia before the role is handed off to Liam Hemsworth for further adventures. Of course, you wouldn’t know that simply by watching the season ender, which was pretty much business as usual for the swords-and-sorcery drama.
At no point is there any indication that Geralt’s appearance is going to change, at least not in a way that’s incorporated into the story. It would appear, at least based on the evidence in front of us, that Hemsworth will simply show up on screen next season and we’re supposed to accept him as the new Geralt. No questions asked.
Whether fans will embrace Hemsworth as the show’s new star will be determined when The Witcher returns, presumably sometime in 2024. For now, let’s focus on Cavill, who gave us one last memorable melee before disappearing into the mist on his quest to rescue Ciri from Nilfgaard. Mind you, he doesn’t know that Emhyr has the wrong girl in his possession, but that realization surely can’t be too far away.
Following his near-fatal brush with Vilgefortz in Episode 6, Geralt spent most of the season’s second half recovering under the care of well-meaning but largely unhelpful dryads. It wasn’t until Yennefer showed up with both good news (she can heal him!) and bad news (Emhyr has Ciri, or so they think!) that Geralt sprang back into action, making tracks for Nilfgaard.
So, how did Cavill leave us? He certainly didn’t give a wink to the camera, nor did he turn off the lights in his house and walk away wistfully a la Hannah Montana. (You know the meme.) Instead, he went out in a blaze of glory, beating up a literal horde of soldiers for abuses of power. Even with Ciri’s life (supposedly) on the line, Geralt made time to fight for the little people, because that’s just who he is.
Cavill isn’t the only actor who made one last appearance in this episode. The finale also claimed the lives of two key characters — Tissaia (played by MyAnna Buring), who sacrificed herself for the good of all mages, and Vizimir (Ed Birch), the victim of an inside job orchestrated by Philippa, who wasted no time placing his bloody crown atop Radovid’s head.
Witcher fans, have you fully processed the fact that we’ve now seen Cavill as Geralt for the last time? What did you think of his final hour, and how are you feeling about Hemsworth? Weigh in via our polls below, then drop a comment with all of your thoughts at this momentous juncture.
This season has been so good! So good in fact that I’m now nervous about how things might change with Liam in the titular role. Definitely worried about his chemistry with Anya, since she and Henry were such a powerhouse.
No MyAnna means I’m probably out regardless of the Geralt switch. She was brilliant (and criminally underused) in this show.
While Anya & Joey are always reliable, I’ve never felt Freya Allan had the experience to bring the required performance to Ciri, though some of the writing did her no favours.
Maybe Cavill could turn his other passion into a series or movie – let’s have some World of Warcraft!
I believe he’s attached to Amazon’s Warhammer 40K adaptation next.
Oh wow, that’ll do nicely!!
We’ll see if we ever see that adaption IRL. Some of the bigger, long term projects in this vein have underwhelmed.
Was my last time watching The Witcher. I will continue with the books but Liam Hemsworth just isn’t going to cut it. I predict this show will be an epic fail now.
All Hail Henry!!!
Henry’s last scene is MY last scene!!!
Henry is Geralt!
I shall not tune in again.
Sorry,Ciri this is really a sick law of surprise! You have been left to an imposter.
Farewell Witcher,I have loved you well!!!!!!
without henry your show is nothing
best Aricle ever
Will so miss Henry he has been exceptional playing The Witcher a total class act.
Really disappointed and sad at the loss of Henry Cavill going forward, but I will give Liam Hemsworth a fair chance. He and everyone else involved deserve that much.
I have to admit I am not a Superman fan so it was good that I didn’t recognize the Witcher at first. I did fall in love with the Witcher though so like everyone else I am sad about the change. However, I am raging mad at his last episode!!! The Witcher himself did a fine job with what he was given as a script but the script itself failed us all!!! I was thinking the episode would given us a reason for the Witcher’s face change for season 4! Really script writers couldn’t figure out a magic workaround at the very minimum??!! No wonder they need to recast with such sub-par script writing!! I may even be mad enough to give Superman a chance but my first love will always be Batman and the Witcher barely a bit less.
Why did the fight scenes seem much better?Yennefer made me scream WOW! I will be giving Liam a chance waiting for Cavill’s next project…..
Loved Henry Cavill as Geralt. And as Superman. Won’t watch Witcher’s next season.
I became a fan of The Witcher without knowing about the books. I have loved the show and the actors’ portrayals of these characters. I don’t understand why Henry Cavill would be replaced by anyone (no disrespect to Liam H). Unsure if I will watch moving forward.
I love the movie The Witcher but I hate the fact that they are going to change the main character cause of that I can decide not to watch it