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Following the overall positive feedback and Henry Cavill's portrayal of Geralt in Netflix's series The Witcher, I look forward to start watching it. However, I haven't read the book on which the series is based off of, nor have I played the game based on it.

What are the minimum requirements to watch The Witcher?

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    You'll need a TV, electricity, an Internet Connection and a subscription to Netflix. Chair and nibbles are optional but suggested.
    – Valorum
    Commented Dec 23, 2019 at 10:04
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    You'll probably want to watch The Whatter, the Whenner and the Whooer first to get the basic facts down.
    – Paul D. Waite
    Commented Dec 23, 2019 at 10:05
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    @Valorum Netflix *cough* subscription *cough*..
    – Shreedhar
    Commented Dec 23, 2019 at 10:15
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    @TheLethalCarrot - You are correct, Sir.
    – Valorum
    Commented Dec 23, 2019 at 10:39
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    They seem to be following the books quite closely so far, with some changes for brevity and flow. They've adapted the first two (short story collection) books so far in the first series, along with some bits that were presented in flashbacks in later novels. You don't have to know anything about the books to watch the series, because it's more or less a direct adaptation.
    – Gallifreyan
    Commented Dec 24, 2019 at 9:15

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I haven't read the books or played the games, just generally aware of the basic idea. Watched the whole series with no problem. The only helpful fact (you can figure it out as you watch, but are never expressly told) that people who have experience might know is that the 3 main storylines are taking place at different times. They meet up eventually, but start in different decades.

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    My problem with this answer is that if you haven't read the books/played the games, how do you know what you were missing when you watched the show? For all you know, there may have been important references whizzing over your head constantly.
    – Valorum
    Commented Dec 23, 2019 at 10:55
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    @Valorum Isn't that true of ANY adaptation? I'm sure there are bits in the games that reference the books, but that doesn't seem to affect their popularity. I never read Stardust & have read The Fellowship of the Ring. I enjoyed and understood both movies--though I'm sure I missed easter eggs in Stardust. I never read the Planet Hulk comic but watched the animated movie. I enjoyed the bits inserted into Thor: Ragnarok, but so did my wife who knew nothing of either. Just saying, from personal experience, you can understand and enjoy The Witcher show without any prior exposure.
    – eshier
    Commented Dec 23, 2019 at 12:02
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    Any issues of not understanding are covered by masses amounts of exposition, sometimes characters or scenes existing for no other reason then to spout a ton of dialogue that has no bearing to the scene but is just a handy way to let us know what is going on and why.
    – Richard C
    Commented Dec 23, 2019 at 15:07
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According to the showrunner, the series is designed to be accessible to viewers who're entirely new to the world of the Witcher, but enjoyable for existing fans. There's also been some substantial changes to the plotting (which is based entirely on the books, rather than the video games) to inject interest for book fans.

Q. The Witcher games and books are very popular, and yet there are still many people who are unfamiliar with this world. How do you make this accessible for new audiences?

LH: The most important thing that I set out to do was the make the show surprising enough for existing fans but also I didn’t want to dumb it down for fans who have never experienced this world before. I am a firm believer in challenging audiences and I think that they can keep up. Audiences are incredibly savvy. One of the very early decisions we made is that we don’t subtitle anything, we don’t add chyrons in, we don’t tell you where you’re at every moment. I think it’s much more fun to watch the first few episodes and not realize you’re on two separate storylines until someone who is dead is alive again and much younger. To me, it’s just about telling the story in the best way and having faith that people are going to hang in and be there for it.

'The Witcher' Showrunner Explains Biggest Twist: "I'm a Firm Believer in Challenging Audiences"

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  • Also, plot of video games happens few years after when book plot ends. So, you will never see any game events in the show.
    – user28434
    Commented Dec 23, 2019 at 11:38

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