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The Witcher Season 4 Review: A Divided Return, a New Geralt and the Rats

Season 4 brings Liam Hemsworth in as Geralt and splits its heroes across separate paths. Reviews praise some later episodes and fight scenes, but find the opening and quieter Geralt scenes less assured.
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The Witcher Season 4 is a divided proposition: Netflix’s setup gives Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri separate journeys, while the available reviews suggest an opening that can be hard to follow before finding stronger footing later. Liam Hemsworth brings convincing physicality to Geralt’s fights, according to PC Gamer, but that reviewer was less persuaded by his quieter scenes early on. The season is best approached as both a new chapter and a bridge to the confirmed final season—not as a guaranteed return to the show’s most focused form.

What Season 4 is about

Netflix’s character guide describes Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri as separated at the start of the season, each facing a different route through a Continent at war. Geralt assembles an unlikely fellowship as he tries to reach Ciri; Yennefer works to rally mages; and Ciri encounters the Rats. That structure broadens the show beyond a single hero’s quest, but it also asks viewers to keep several groups and conflicts in mind at once.

The setup comes from Netflix’s official framing, not an independent assessment of how well every thread is executed. For a viewer deciding whether to start, the practical expectation is a multi-strand fantasy season rather than a tightly centered Geralt adventure.

Does the season find its footing?

TechRadar’s October 30, 2025 review identifies a sharp divide between the season’s halves: the first four episodes are difficult to follow, in that reviewer’s view, while episodes five through eight may rank among the franchise’s strongest. That is one critic’s judgment, not a settled consensus, but it points to the season’s central trade-off. A viewer who values immediate orientation may find the early stretch frustrating; someone willing to wait for the separate paths to develop may find the later episodes more rewarding.

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The contrast also raises a useful question about the show’s ensemble design. Multiple journeys can make the war and its consequences feel wider than one protagonist’s experience. They can also diffuse momentum when the plot is still establishing who is where and why. The available reviews suggest that Season 4’s payoff may depend on tolerating that early complexity.

How does Liam Hemsworth do as Geralt?

Hemsworth takes over the role from Henry Cavill, with Anya Chalotra and Freya Allan returning as Yennefer and Ciri. PC Gamer’s review offers a more specific appraisal than a simple verdict on the recast: it praises Hemsworth’s physicality in the fight scenes, while saying the reviewer remained unsure of him in non-action scenes through the first four episodes.

That distinction matters because Geralt has to work both as a fighter and as a character within quieter scenes. On the evidence of this review, Hemsworth’s action presence is the clearer strength; whether his less physical scenes settle into place is a more mixed question, at least early in the season. One reviewer’s response cannot stand in for every viewer’s, and it does not establish how the performance develops across the full run.

What is the Rats storyline, and should you watch the special?

The Rats are the young gang Ciri falls in with. Netflix describes them as part of her path in Season 4 and presents a companion special as a prequel to their encounter with her. According to Netflix’s synopsis, that story follows the gang’s formation and a heist at Dominik Houvenaghel’s fighting arena that goes wrong.

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The special is therefore optional context rather than a prerequisite established by Netflix’s season description. Watching it first may provide background on the group before Ciri meets them; the available information does not say that viewers must see it to understand the season. The real test for the Rats material within Season 4 is whether it gives Ciri’s choices more dimension and earns space alongside Geralt’s and Yennefer’s stories. The synopsis alone cannot settle that question, and the reviews cited here do not provide a sufficiently detailed verdict on the gang’s full arc.

Does Season 4 work as a season, or mainly as setup?

Netflix confirmed on April 18, 2024, that Season 5 would be the series’ final season. Netflix says the final two seasons adapt the remaining books, naming Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow and The Lady of the Lake. That makes Season 4 part of a planned ending, but it does not by itself prove that the season delivers a satisfying standalone resolution.

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Rotten Tomatoes’ critics consensus says the show is beginning to grow stale and is more focused on setting up the endgame than having fun. That is the site’s summary of its critics’ reviews, not a universal verdict. It does, however, frame the question viewers should bring to the season: are its character journeys and conflicts rewarding now, or are they chiefly laying track for Season 5? Netflix’s confirmation establishes the plan for a conclusion, not whether Season 4 balances setup with payoff.

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What do the ratings say?

As accessed on September 27, 2026, Rotten Tomatoes showed a 61% Tomatometer from 28 critic reviews and a 19% Popcornmeter from more than 2,500 audience ratings. These are live-page figures from different respondent groups and methods, not permanent scores or a formal study. Their gap signals sharply different reception in that snapshot; it does not explain why viewers disagree or establish that either group represents all audiences.

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The detailed perspectives cited here are also limited: TechRadar emphasizes the difficult opening and stronger later episodes, while PC Gamer focuses on Hemsworth’s contrasting action and quieter scenes. Together they offer useful ways to assess the season, not a complete map of critical opinion.

Verdict: who is Season 4 for?

Season 4 looks most promising for viewers willing to follow several storylines through an initially confusing stretch and interested in a larger ensemble, a new interpretation of Geralt and movement toward the planned finale. It is a less certain recommendation for anyone seeking an immediately clear, Geralt-centered season or a performance verdict that is uniformly positive across action and dialogue. The available review evidence points to a season with potential later payoffs, but the divided ratings and attributed criticism make those payoffs a matter of taste rather than a safe promise.

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