Because I haven’t owned anything more advanced than a PS2, I’ve never played the Witcher game series. I’ve also never read the novels they’re based on. I only watched the TV series because it was conveniently on Netflix, and I was only interested in watching Geralt of Rivia kill scuzzy Lovecraft beasties. I made it through the first two seasons and found them entertaining enough. When the new season popped, I watched a few episodes. After the third episode, I got bored. I don’t want to watch any more.

Apparently, lots of people feel this way.

To be specific, the viewership of The Witcher season 3 went down 15% from what it garnered during The Witcher season 2. While this may seem like a narrow number, it actually gets worse. The Witcher season 3 also dropped in viewership 60% over the course of the show’s first five episodes. Because the season was split into two parts, there is a chance that the statistics could rise, however, the current bottom line is that the latest installment of The Witcher is suffering and there are plenty of reasons why this could be happening.

“It’s Not Just Henry Cavill: 7 Reasons The Witcher Season 3’s Viewership Dropped So Badly.” -Screenrant.com

The linked Screenrant article is the definition of Limited Hangout: they admit that Henry Beefcake leaving the show had an effect, but say there are OTHER REASONS AS WELL. Such as:

• There’s another half-season, so people may wait.
• Veering too far from source material.
• Netflix stopped password-sharing.
• Um, Summer?

These are all Cope. Breaking Bad and Mad Men both finished with two half-seasons without losing viewership. The Witcher novels are not that well-read; most people came to the show from the video games. The other two are not worth addressing: if the show is good enough, people will watch. It’s Netflix, it’s right there. You sit on your couch, and push two buttons and binge until you fall asleep.

This leads inexorably to the Real Reason: Witcher is not that good. It never has been. Three seasons is as much as anyone cares about. It’s always been a dungeon-crawl with Henry Beefcake. No one cares about the Plot:

• Destiny Girl is Girl of Destiny. 80% of Witcher Season 2 amounted to Geralt of Rivia on an escort mission. He’s got to protect this girl, because she is the Girl of Destiny, who will do Destiny Things that she is Destined to do. It doesn’t matter that she has the personality of a crumpled sock, she is DESTINY. You care about DESTINY, don’t you?
• Elves are Persecuted Minorities. Sure, elves are just humans with pointy ears, but all humans hate them, because reasons. Elven characters being no less obnoxious, fractious, and violent than humans is also irrelevant; they’re the victims, pity them most pityingly.
• The Goth Army are Religious Psychos. Any medieval-feudal world would have its religious traditions at the center of it, as that’s what binds the community together (religio is Latin for “to bind”). You would think that religious life would get explored more in fantasy, as the ready availability of magic is constant proof of the supernatural. But no, there are no priests or priestesses in Witcher, only crusaders killing people in the name of the White Flame. What is the White Flame? Whatever, religious violence bad. The bad guys are bad. They have black armor and everything. What else do you need to know?
• Mages are Endlessly Insufferable. Every scene involving these smug dorks sucks the life out of every episode they’re in. They never resolve anything; they never DO anything; they just argue and piss and moan and backbite and spy and sneer. I have zero sympathy for any of them, including Yennefer of Uglyborg, who lacks the capacity for gratitude and introspection that the Good Lord gave a paper wasp. Even the venal kings are less irritating. If Nilfgard is their implacable foe, I’m on #TeamNilfgard.
• Something something Conjunction something something. The recurring theme through all of this is a cavalier attitude towards establishing Stakes. One is constantly under the impression that Something Majorly Huge is About To Happen, yet somehow ever episode feels the same, even when there is a big set-piece battle. The backstory feels meaningless: if all these worlds are just planes of existence that slammed into each other in the distant past, why does everything just look like Croatia?

So yeah, the fact that the main character, played by the only established star, is already out the door, will kill viewership faster than a longsword through the brainstem. There’s nothing else to come back for. Wrap this pig up, pay the author, and try again with something else.