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Oh dear. The Witcher season 4 has finally arrived on Netflix, and it's set the wrong kind of record for the show. On Rotten Tomatoes, this is now the lowest rated season thus far, and by some margin.
The fourth season of the fantasy TV series is sitting at 53% on the review aggregator, based on 17 reviews at the time of writing. For comparison, that’s 26% below season 3, which has a 79% score based on 47 reviews, and 42% below season 2, which sits at 95%. Ouch.
Neither of those are the second worst, though. For that, we have to go right back to the first season, where Henry Cavill's debut as Geralt of Rivia managed to garner 68%. That's just 15% higher than the latest episodes of the grumpy monster hunter's misadventures.
Season 4 marked a sea change for Netflix's The Witcher, as the lead role changed faces, going from Cavill to Liam Hemsworth in a highly prolific switch. He had big shoes to fill, and alongside giving some viewers a little shock if they weren't paying attention to news around production, Hemsworth's performance hasn’t won over many reviewers.
"Where Cavill brought a real presence to the role – managing to be gruffly funny in one moment and believably brutal in the next – Hemsworth is just an anchor around the entire experience," says TheWrap, while Radio Times unequivocally states: "Cavill's absence looms large over a story weighed down by uneven writing and tone."
Some outlets are kinder to Hemsworth, but still aren't too inspired. "The problem isn't that the show has a new lead actor; it’s that it continues to be a bloated mess," states The Verge's review.
Our own four-star The Witcher season 4 review, however, was kinder. "By ditching the aspects that didn’t work and keeping what did, The Witcher Season 4 is a better, more focused, and most importantly, more fun season of the show, with some great action, big stakes, and an Empire Strikes Back-style setup for Season 5. Bring it on," it reads.
The Witcher season 4 is on Netflix now, if you'd like to toss a coin his way and check it out for yourself.
Once you're done watching, have a look at our breakdown of The Witcher season 4 ending explained, and we have a guide to The Witcher season 5 for what's coming.
