As The Witcher enters the final third of its first season, we're treated to one of the fantasy genre's greatest treasures: dragons. Not only that, but episode 6 is about as classic a Geralt story as can be told; a contract to kill a terrifying beast, with a moral dilemma right at the centre of it. "Rare Species" evolves the nuances in Geralt's Witcher code, revealing that not every monster is considered fair game. His discussion with the delightfully named Borch Three Jackdaws reveals a sense of kinship with fantasy's favourite beast, drawing parallels between them and the shunned Witchers. With a hunting party made up of boisterous dwarves, overly-proud knights, a dark mage, and an incessant bard, this is The Hobbit as re-told by a team of tabletop roleplayers. This is never more evident than in the dialogue, which is packed with sub-par banter and bad regional accents. Once again off-hand dialogue is used to reveal that many years have passed since he and Yennefer battled with the djinn, but now the show's timelines have been more concretely established this approach feels significantly more logical. While the spark between them doesn't feel fully genuine, there's definitely emotion here. It feels like a significant step beyond their last on-screen encounter. This helps set up the most pivotal scene of the episode, and of Geralt's story so far: the revelation that the Witcher and Yennefer have only been so deeply entwined because of Geralt's last wish to the djinn. It sets up genuine intrigue for future episodes, although the impact of it all is lessened due to the show's uneven pace.
Review of Rare Species
