Henry Cavill is leaving The Witcher after season 3, and these 5 epic moments to come will be worse without his portrayal of Geralt of Rivia.
The Witcher series will soon say goodbye to Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, and without him, these 5 epic moments from the book series will not be the same. So far, The Witcher has covered events from several of Andrezj Sapkowski’s Witcher short stories, and parts of the first book in the main series, Blood of Elves. The Witcher season 3 will presumably focus on book 2, Time of Contempt. The series has taken some flack for straying too far from the source material, but these 5 moments, which take place after Time of Contempt, are probably too epic to be left out.
Henry Cavill is leaving The Witcher after season 3, and though his replacement, Liam Hemsworth, is a notable actor, it is difficult to imagine another person encapsulating the role of Geralt of Rivia as well as Cavill does. Cavill seems almost born to play the role of Geralt, and it will be difficult for Netflix to gloss over the departure of the most popular member of The Witcher cast. Hemsworth will undoubtedly put in a good performance, but he will likely struggle to satisfy the audience as Cavill does, especially in these 5 epic moments.
5 Geralt Fighting At The Battle For The Bridge
The first epic moment that will be worse without Henry Cavill as Geralt is the Battle for the Bridge on the River Yaruga in book 3, Baptism of Fire. Geralt and his companions get caught up in the battle between Queen Meve (Rebecca Hanssen) of Lyria and Rivia and the invading Nilfgaardian force as they fight for control of a bridge that crosses the mighty River Yaruga in the Northern Realm of Lyria. Geralt and his friends join the Lyrians and Rivians against Nilfgaard and Geralt helps them achieve victory over a much larger force. Geralt fights ruthlessly on the bridge, where the close-quarters combat makes his superior strength and quickness invaluable.
Geralt awes those around him as he slaughters the Nilfgaardians with apparent ease, running along the rail of the bridge and cutting the soldiers down as he goes. Geralt is unstoppable on the bridge, and he turns the tide of the battle, helping the smaller guerilla force prevail against the superior Nilfgaardian army. He is knighted after the battle by Queen Meve, making the title Geralt of Rivia legitimate at last. The Witcher seasons 1 and 2 have shown how well Henry Cavill portrays Geralt’s incredible skill with a sword, and this scene will inevitably be worse without Cavill swinging the Witcher’s blade.
4 Geralt Hunting Monsters In Toussaint
Geralt travels to Toussaint in the next book, The Tower of the Swallow, where he spends some time contemplating his next move and taking on witcher contracts to keep him busy. He fights some epic beasts in the wilderness of Toussaint – a location that fans of The Witcher 3 game and its DLC, Blood and Wine, will also familiar with. After watching Henry Cavill fight monsters for three seasons, it will be difficult to accept another actor swinging Geralt’s sword against a monster. Geralt takes on some easy contracts in Toussaint, but he is challenged as well, and those challenges are unlikely to be as good without Cavill’s pre-established monster hunting performances.
Toussaint is also where Geralt will locate the Nilfgaardian coroner, Steffen Skellen, an associate of Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu), and from him discover the location of Vilgefortz’s lair. This is what leads to the entire series’ climax at Vilgefortz’s castle. Geralt rediscovers his purpose when he locates Vilgefortz, and that emotional moment will also be worse off as a result of it not being able to fully capitalize on Cavill’s arc as the witcher.
3 Geralt’s Final Fight With Vilgefortz
After locating Vilgefortz in The Tower of the Swallow, Geralt and his companions travel there and battle to free Ciri (Freya Allan) and Yennefer (Anya Chalotra). There are a lot of epic individual battles during the conflict in Vilgefortz’s castle, but the best of them is Geralt’s duel with the evil sorcerer, Vilgefortz. Geralt and Vilgefortz fight here for the second time after Vilgefortz shattered Geralt’s leg in their first conflict on Thanned. The result is much different this time, with Geralt possessing an essential magical amulet he received from Fringilla Vigo that helps him defeat the sorcerer.
This is perhaps the most epic fight in the entire series, especially when it comes to Geralt’s own considerable selection of battles. This fight can still be an awesome scene with Hemsworth playing Geralt – however, it may be further complicated by the fact it’s likely Cavill’s Geralt will face the first battle with Vilgefortz, given it takes place in Time of Contempt. As such, the second round with Hemsworth may end up feeling more jarring than cathartic, due to the actor swap between fights.
2 Geralt And Ciri Fighting Together In Vilgefortz’s Castle
Another of the book series’ best moments comes at Vilgefortz’s castle, when Geralt and Ciri fight their way down the stairs after defeating Bonhart and Vilgefortz. Geralt and Ciri are exhausted and heartbroken by this point, and when Emperor Emhyr arrives with an army, they are resigned to die fighting rather than give in to him. They are cold and uncaring in their slaughter, as their spirits are nearly broken.
This scene is powerfully sad and incredibly epic at the same time. Geralt and Ciri take on a massive number of soldiers while exhausted from hours of fighting and take them all down coolly and methodically. They are almost machines of death at this point, slaughtering the soldiers almost on instinct. Both of them are long tired of killing, yet their only choice is to go on doing so. This scene capitalizes on Geralt’s bond with Ciri, which would mean that Cavill would’ve had more impact, as his version of Geralt is the first to meet a young Ciri and bond with her.
1 Geralt’s Final Fight In The Rivian Pogrom
The last epic moment that won’t be as good without Cavill comes at the very end of the series. After the main part of the story has been concluded, Geralt travels to Lyria to see his Dwarven friends. A pogrom breaks out with humans slaughtering non-humans and Geralt is forced to take up his sword again. He is stabbed by a peasant with a pitchfork, and the story ends with him and Yennefer sailing into the mist after a unicorn saves his life and sends them away. This final scene in The Witcher series is powerfully emotional, and notably reflects the various bonds Geralt made over the course of his life – bonds that would eke back to season 1 for the show, which naturally connects them to Henry Cavill’s performance.