One Controversial Scene in The Witcher Season 4 Shocked Viewers

The Witcher’s fourth season has faced a rocky start, as new data shows a noticeable drop in viewers compared to previous seasons.

While the latest season drew 7.4 million views globally in its first three days on Netflix, this is far below season 2’s 18.5 million and season 3’s 15.2 million during their early runs. Part of this difference can be explained by timing: season 2 premiered on a Friday, giving it fewer days to rack up views, and season 3 was split into two parts, which affected early-week totals.

Critics have also been less than impressed. Season 4 currently holds a 56% score on Rotten Tomatoes from 25 reviews, while audience approval on Popcornmeter sits at just 19% from over 1,000 ratings.

Much of the early criticism focused on Liam Hemsworth’s portrayal of Geralt of Rivia, though recent backlash centers on a particularly controversial scene rather than his performance.

The scene involves Ciri, played by Freya Allan, and her growing bond with a street gang called The Rats. In the first episode, Ciri shares a kiss with fellow gang member Mistle after a tense encounter with another character, Kayleigh, who attempts to se**** assault her.

Many viewers criticized the moment, finding it poorly framed given the preceding assault threat. On Reddit, one user wrote, “Oh my god, when I say I was thinking please please don’t go that direction and they did…sigh. When would a woman be in the mood after that? So bizarre!” Another commented, “Cringed me out so bad I had to turn to Reddit to vent. WTF.”

Freya Allan addressed the controversy in an interview with TVLine. She explained that the complexity of Ciri and Mistle’s relationship was intentional. “I knew there was a lot of discussion about this relationship between Mistle and Ciri. It’s kind of a controversial one online and there’s a lot of conversation around it. I actually felt like it was really important to maintain some of that,” Allan said. “I wanted it to be complicated and I didn’t want it to be perfect. I didn’t want it to be a fluffy little romance.”

Allan also highlighted what Mistle’s character brings to Ciri’s story. “Mistle is a character that enables us to see parts of Ciri we haven’t seen and really shows a different kind of vulnerability in her. There’s also a big part of her saying goodbye to her childhood. There’s a push and pull there, and I think we really get to see how desperate Ciri is to not be alone.”

Unfortunately, Ciri and Mistle’s story ends tragically in the season finale, where Ciri survives a violent confrontation that claims the lives of the other Rats, including Mistle. Despite the heartbreak, Allan believes the relationship teaches Ciri important lessons about her past and identity.

“Mistle is the one who’s confronting Ciri with the fact that Ciri’s trying to run from her past, push it all away and become this different person. But Mistle comes in and says you can’t just run away from who you truly are. In order to find out who you’re going to become, you can’t just run away from that past.”

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