Despite once being considered Netflix's very own Game of Thrones, The Witcher has reached a new low as its third season scored a measly 22% on Rotten Tomatoes, and sadly, this score will likely only get worse. The Witcher is a dark fantasy show based on a series of novels by Polish author Andrej Sapkowski and the adjoining video games of the same name. The show follows Geralt, a monster hunter whose life becomes mixed up in combat and intrigue with the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg and Princess Ciri.

When The Witcher season 1 was first released in 2019, it was seen as a success, earning an impressive 89% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Although the series wasn't entirely accurate to the source material, its fantasy world had plenty of riveting elements and Henry Cavill's Geralt charmed audiences. Then, The Witcher season 2 saw a stark drop in audience score: 56%. Fans disliked how far the show strayed from Sapkowski's books and the questionable choices it made for beloved characters. Finally, with The Witcher season 3, part 2 finally streaming, the series has reached an abysmal 22%. Now, considering Cavill's The Witcher exit, this will likely only drop more.

Why The Witcher Season 3's Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score Dropped To Just 22%

The Witcher season 3's Rotten Tomatoes score isn't entirely surprising given the incredible amount of controversy the show has seen in the last year. The first and foremost reason behind this is Henry Cavill's exit from the series. In 2022, Cavill announced that, after The Witcher season 3, he would no longer be portraying Geralt of Rivia. Worse than that, it was announced that the show would continue without Cavill, and would bring in Liam Hemsworth to replace him. Ultimately, this was a major disappointment for fans, and although Cavill is the star of season 3, ratings have gone down simply in preparation of the exit.

Related: Why The Witcher Season 3's Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score Is So Bad (It's Not Just Henry Cavill Leaving)

Furthermore, The Witcher's biggest problem remains its inaccuracy to the books. As the seasons have gone on, the show has moved farther and farther away from the source material, adding new characters and new arcs that don't make sense or counteract what was originally written by Sapkowski. For the most part, fans of The Witcher, and many critics, believe this season was too convoluted, carried solely by Henry Cavill's performance as Geralt, and lacked the strong worldbuilding and character development of past seasons. The dissatisfaction with the season clearly showed with the series' plummeting scores.

The Witcher Season 4 Will Likely Have Worse Rotten Tomatoes Scores

This sudden drop in The Witcher's Rotten Tomatoes score likely won't be the last. Now that Henry Cavill's time as Geralt is truly up, the series could continue its downward trend into The Witcher season 4. Fans are unhappy with Hemsworth's casting, and just in general, recasting a main role after three seasons can be a very rocky road. Plus, if The Witcher continues to ignore its source material and take its characters to unlikable places, it's likely that more and more viewers will fall away. Overall, The Witcher is on a dangerous path, and its most recent Rotten Tomatoes score is a bad omen for what is to come.