The Witcher

What’s it about?

Separated by war and betrayal, Geralt leads a ragtag band while being drawn into a political conflict, Ciri—now calling herself Falka—falls in with the outlaw Rats, and Yennefer rallies mages to battle Vilgefortz.

The facts

• Directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, Tricia Brock, Alex Garcia Lopez, and Jeremy Webb
• Starring Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games), Anya Chalotra (Wanderlust), Freya Allan (Gunpowder Milkshake), and Joey Batey (Knightfall)
• English language
• 46 minutes per episode, on average
• Season four is the penualtimate season of The Witcher series.

Why did it get this rating?

This series was self-rated by Netflix. You can find out more about self-rating by streaming providers here.

Graphic violence and cruelty

Battle violence and sword fighting is highly graphic and frequent throughout the show with many monster and human characters killed in excessively brutal and gory ways. There are scenes that involve torture, execution, and trauma.

Some of the strongest moments of violence include:

• An arrow is shot through a man’s chest, showing the arrowhead in closeup with bloody pieces of body matter and organs hanging from it
• A witch tries to “bend” a woman's mind, causing the victim’s eyes to bleed and explode with blood and body matter and graphic squelching sounds.
• During a large battle, a spear is impaled through a man’s face, exploding it into a gory mess.
• A masked character slices a young female character’s neck causing blood spray, with her sister watching her die. Another stabs a woman and kills her for crying over her dead husband too loudly.
• During a flashback in the style of a comic book cartoon, a male vampire recalls when his human wife was eaten by vampires in front of him and he was buried with her, waking up to her bones. This may be emotionally impactful for some viewers.
• A teenage boy is cut deeply and slowly across the chest with a sword, causing blood and intestines to protrude from it, before a bomb is placed in his stomach exploding him. This happens whilst he is blocked by another character, but we still see his blood spray in the background.

Horror

This season surrounds a man who hunts and kills monsters, many of which have menacing and strange appearance that may frighten viewers.

Scenes where witches and wizards wield magical powers to cause harm and kill others can be frightening, such as when two characters are bent backwards until their back and limbs break and blood pours from their mouths, killing them.

Drug use and concerning behaviour

During episode four, a group of characters play a game where they rapidly stab a knife on the table between each of their fingers. They laugh and the game is depicted as being fun, however this is a dangerous game that is likely to cause harm by viewers if they decide to replicate it in real life.

A group of young thieves are seen snorting a white powder, implied to be a fictional version of cocaine, before drinking excessive amounts of alcohol and partying together.

Sexual violence

Three male characters drag a distressed woman into her home, implying they intend to rape her. As they try to hold her still and pull her clothes off, another character enters and kills them all. Afterwards, another character says she was almost “brutally raped.”

A female character recalls how her stepfather would rape her. We see a disturbing flashback where she is lying on a bed, shaking and crying, as he undoes his pants in the background.

Content that may disturb

A wizard manipulates a woman, forcing her to grab a knife and slit her own throat to death. Though it was against her will, this scene still involves self-harm imagery.

During episode 6, a cruel, horrific procedure is briefly depicted as a character has a vision. It depicts a woman strapped to a table, screaming, as a villain extracts blood from her body as well as a tiny, gory, undescribed body piece.

An entire group of young friends are brutally murdered in front of each other. Later, a man saws off each of their heads one by one in front of their last remaining friend. This is likely to be impactful for viewers, especially as they are quite well-loved characters.

Sex scenes

There are two sex scenes in this season, depicting thrusting, moaning, and partial nudity.

We see two fully clothed characters kissing passionately before the man moves downwards out of frame, implying oral sex, but this is only implied.

Episode five contains a flashback in the style of a comic book cartoon, depicting male and female vampires having sex in various positions.

Offensive language

This series contains the use of offensive language, with words like “f*ck,” “sh*t,” and “b*tches” used frequently. A trained parrot says words like “a**hole” and “f*cking hell.”

There is a crude reference to the air being “tighter than a Gnome’s ass.”

Helplines:

The sexual violence could be upsetting for some viewers, especially for those who have gone through similar experiences. If you are struggling with what you have seen on-screen please reach out for help. If you or someone you know needs to talk:

• 1737
• Safe to talk
• Lifeline
• Youthline

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?
• Brain development – how it works, why it matters
• Supporting young people in a changing online world