Summary
- The Witcher season 3 continues the trend of having a confusing timeline, which has been a problem since season 1.
- Despite being the most book-accurate season, The Witcher still has underdeveloped characters and plotlines.
- The show's timeline is unclear, with events happening at a rapid pace and discrepancies between characters' perspectives that are not explained.
The Witcher season 3 has a confusing timeline, continuing a troubling trend that began in season 1. The third season of The Witcher has been lauded as the most book-accurate of the show thus far, but it is not free of the other mistakes that have haunted the adaptation since its start. Along with having a confusing timeline, The Witcher has often been criticized for crafting underdeveloped characters and plot lines.
Despite the show's shortcomings, The Witcher season 3 has received relatively positive reviews. In many ways it has been the strongest season of the show thus far, making it a fitting send-off for star Henry Cavill. Unfortunately, the show still falls well short of its potential, and with Cavill's departure from the role of Geralt imminent, The Witcher may never restore the hype that surrounded its initial release. One of the main things that has held The Witcher season 3 back is that it sets up another confusing timeline.
The Witcher's Triss Calls Out Season 3's Timeline
Triss Merigold unwittingly called out the show's timeline at the end of The Witcher season 3 by saying “It’s hard to believe so much has happened in a week." This line emphasizes the difficulty The Witcher has with conveying the passage of time. The events in The Witcher season 3 move at a rapid pace, especially toward the end, and it is difficult to know how much time actually passed without this line. The Conclave of Mages and the coup that follows happen in quick succession with little explanation of how much time passes in between.
Things become even more foggy after the coup. The timelines between different characters' perspectives do not seem to add up, and no explanation for that discrepancy is offered. For example, Dijkstra returns to Redania and has made significant progress in healing from the broken arm and leg he suffered on Thanned, implying at least a month has passed for him. Meanwhile, in Geralt's timeline, his lack of progress in his recovery implies only a few days have passed. Then the show jumps to Triss, and she mentions that it's been one week since they arrived at Thanned. All of this combines to form an utterly incomprehensible timeline.
How Much Time Passed In The Witcher Season 3 (& How Long Is It Since Season 1)?
Considering the vague nature of The Witcher's timeline, it's hard to say how much time passes during season 3. However, given the amount of travel that happens off-screen, it must be at least several months. Ciri and Yennefer's journey to Gors Velen would have taken a couple of weeks at minimum, and Geralt has time to visit Vilgefortz's castle and work with Jaskier to save the girl he finds there. Moreover, Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer's travels in the first episode of season 3 seem to last a month or two. All in all, there are probably around four to six months between The Witcher season 3's first and last episodes.
The Witcher season 3 leaves a lot of questions unanswered, including how long it's been since the show started. That question is further complicated by the disjointed nature of The Witcher season 1's timeline, which spans nearly six decades. Fortunately, the books provide some clarity. Geralt found Ciri in the year 1263, which happens in season 1. The Thanned coup happened in 1267, so Ciri's story spans about four years between The Witcher seasons 1 and 3. Geralt's timeline spans about 36 years, and Yennefer's spans about 61 years.