The Witcher S2 |OT| Toss A Coin To Your Witcher (Netflix 12/17/2021, RT 96%) - Tag Spoilers for episodes

[Kain-Nosgoth]

Well this is completely a new story right here, almost everything there was different from the books.. And while i don't mind changing stuff, that was a bit too much, and it wasn't that interesting imo

Hopefully next season will be different... I wouldn't say it was bad, I enjoyed some of these episodes, just not very creative imo (especially the last one)

Also little nitpick, bu i laughed when yennefer was all "please geralt i can explain" like the last episode happened 5 minutes ago, even though they travelled on horse all the way from cintra to kaer mohren, lol

 

[Deimos]

Well this is completely a new story right here, almost everything there was different from the books.. And while i don't mind changing stuff, that was a bit too much, and it wasn't that interesting imo

Hopefully next season will be different... I wouldn't say it was bad, I enjoyed some of these episodes, just not very creative imo (especially the last one)

Also little nitpick, bu i laughed when yennefer was all "please geralt i can explain" like the last episode happened 5 minutes ago, even though they travelled on horse all the way from cintra to kaer mohren, lol

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They used fast travel. Blame the developers.

 

[Glass]

All the positives from the show are just as a result of the source material. The series doesn't add anything decent itself.

 

[henhowc]

The fast travel was jarring. haha

As someone else stated, you have no idea where these locations are relation to each other and how long it takes to get there. You're either a portal away or Roach is one fast mother lol

 

[Video Kojima]

They should show a world map whenever they travel.

 

[Lotus]

All the positives from the show are just as a result of the source material. The series doesn't add anything decent itself.

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I ain't a book reader, but I'm assuming the show is more diverse for one thing

 

[Mivey]

The fast travel was jarring. haha

As someone else stated, you have no idea where these locations are relation to each other and how long it takes to get there. You're either a portal away or Roach is one fast mother lol

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The show could have done a bit more work to establish that going to Kaer Morhen by horse from Cintra takes a ton of time. Like a week, or still days if you ride there all day and nearly all night. Would have made the portal magic also seem more impressive.
A montage or something that shows how big the Northern Realms are would have been nice.

I ain't a book reader, but I'm assuming the show is more diverse for one thing

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The books almost never describe skin colour, so it's really up to the reader. It certainly doesn't establish that this or that person is white or brown or black, but since the author just isn't very keen on visual details of people, outside of a few key characters and in key moments, it's mostly up to you.
I always felt it was a huge missed opportunity not to make the Nilfgaardian army very diverse in the video games. It's literally this huge empire spanning dozens of conquered realms. It should be diverse as fuck. But nope, all the same sea of whiteness.

 

[BloodHound]

The training episode was great! I was hoping that energy would stick around but Lambert and the others (Vesemir excluded, of course) started constantly giving her a hard time after that and that was when I started losing patience for them.

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Teasing her about wearing a dress is hardly "giving someone a hard time". Yelling at your baby sister when she isn't listening feels like a real familial relationship. They've always seemed like big bros since day 1.

 

[BloodHound]

The fast travel was jarring. haha

As someone else stated, you have no idea where these locations are relation to each other and how long it takes to get there. You're either a portal away or Roach is one fast mother lol

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Biggest problem with this show. Sense of scale, sense of direction and passing of time has been the biggest issues with this series thus far.
Second biggest problem is context around the conjunction. They should have spent like 10 min visualizing that and hammering that down to set the table for all the different races, species, political conflicts, etc.

 

[pust]

The show could have done a bit more work to establish that going to Kaer Morhen by horse from Cintra takes a ton of time. Like a week, or still days if you ride there all day and nearly all night. Would have made the portal magic also seem more impressive.
A montage or something that shows how big the Northern Realms are would have been nice.

The books almost never describe skin colour, so it's really up to the reader. It certainly doesn't establish that this or that person is white or brown or black, but since the author just isn't very keen on visual details of people, outside of a few key characters and in key moments, it's mostly up to you.
I always felt it was a huge missed opportunity not to make the Nilfgaardian army very diverse in the video games. It's literally this huge empire spanning dozens of conquered realms. It should be diverse as fuck. But nope, all the same sea of whiteness.

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I agree with you that the Nilfgaardian army should have been less white. There was a short story where two women guards were identified as outsiders based on their brown skin color, the obvious implication been that they lived in a world where default colors are a thing. I think that there is a such a thing as diversity, but there is also DiVeRsItY. A story is better off trying to be realistic and that if it succeeds at this then the diversity will be visible as a side effect of the realism. Your example of a mixed race imperial army is an example of the former, and what I saw in the wheel of time adaptation is an example of the latter. If a small remote village of people is only half brown, white, or black then that is just silly. So in summary it is well and good to see an imperial army of conquerers that are 50% chinese, 20% african and 30% aboriginal, but I can't quite stretch my imagination to expect that of a small and peaceful village on the edge of the world so I'm likely to think it to be bad writing. Diversity has nothing to do with good or bad writing though.

 

[RpgN]

Season 2 is definitely a huge step up compared to season 1. It might have felt rushed in certain parts but I have more faith in season 3 thanks to it. I mostly enjoyed it. My only reference is Witcher 3 though and apparently that is not considered canon. So I'm not too fussed about them being too faithful to the novels as long as the story is well told. With season 1, it felt predictable, had less story and it focused more on being edgy (naked women) instead focusing on other things. Though it still had some good moments. Season 2 focused more on the story, lore and seeing more characters I'm familiar with. It seems there was more to enjoy for casual fans of Witcher 3 at least.

One thing I always think about and it might just be me. In season 1, Jennifer was hyped for being powerful but it often felt like it wasn't earned. They hardly showed her do any fighting until the end. In season 2 she obviously couldn't. We don't really see her fight and move like Geralt. Maybe my expectations are too high for how everyone keeps saying how powerful she is.

Also thought that when reading this tweet



Nowhere in the show did it feel like it was disrespectful of Eskel to bring women to Kaer Mohren. All the witchers were actually pretty into it like it's just another Friday night, even grumpy Vesemir thought it was great that they could blow off steam. If the intention was to show that Eskel did something very untypical it didn't translate at all

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That's very true. I'm stunned to read this to be intention yet it's not the impression I got at all. Also Eskel acted more like a prick than out of character. That wasn't clear either.

I don't have a strong opinion about Eskel. I'm not necessarily as opposed as others with what they did to him but they didn't even do a good job making you feel anything for him or care at all. That episode definitely felt weird and rushed.

Eskel was actually really cool in Witcher 3. CDP treated him like someone who is just as good as Geralt.

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Agreed. It was refreshing seeing another competent witcher in the game. I would have liked seeing more of that in season 2.

As an aside the website Netflix has up for the show is really fucking good. Interactive fancy map, loads of extra info on events and characters and it's super well presented.

Netflix | The Witcher | Welcome to the Continent

Welcome back. New faces, locations and lore awaits. Uncover hidden mysteries and explore the expanding Continent.

www.witchernetflix.com

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Thanks for the link. I'll give it a look.

 

[Deleted member 9135]

I really did not like this as much as season 1 which I wasn't a fan of either. I just really dislike all these characters and find them uninteresting. The first two episodes were great and very promising but once the overarching story kicks into full gear, it feels like it falls apart.

 

[Anjin M]

I enjoyed season 2 quite a bit. It was wild how much it diverged from the book. But considering how boring Blood Of Elves is (sorry, sorry), I understood why they decided to add a more action-oriented plotline.

 

[Tovarisc]

https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1480993239264108545

Start of the thread about her Witcher fandom is affecting her children.

https://twitter.com/LHissrich/status/1481144443705061378

End of the thread

https://twitter.com/LHissrich/status/1481287299216601088

 

[BeeDog]

Just wrapped up season 2, and it's such a massive improvement over season 1 it's actually almost laughable. From the little I can remember of the books, the changes here I don't mind at all and overall I think they did a good job modifying or condensing events in a good TV-friendly way. And the budget increase, especially in scenes like those in the final episode, is so goddamn obvious, lol.

 

[Kinthey]

Interesting article contrasting how Wheel of Time and Witcher adapted their source material

Why "The Wheel of Time" succeeds as an adaptation (and "The Witcher" fails)

Not all adaptations are created equal

www.salon.com

 

[Tovarisc]

Interesting article contrasting how Wheel of Time and Witcher adapted their source material

Why "The Wheel of Time" succeeds as an adaptation (and "The Witcher" fails)

Not all adaptations are created equal

www.salon.com

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I think that is first time I have seen someone thinking that WoT was good adaptation. Seen even more hate towards it than Witcher.

 

[m4st4]

Season 1 was alright, with some truly magical moments that were beyond the writing imo, the main cast had chemistry.

Unfortunately, s02 learned the wrong lessons and, beyond episode 1, made me drop this entirely for the future. Terrible season in comparison, an exposition bore fest with some major book detours in both characterization and narrative. Beyond production design, effects and occasional spark between the og crew, laughably bad and amateurish season, I would say.

 

[StrangeADT]

I think that is first time I have seen someone thinking that WoT was good adaptation. Seen even more hate towards it than Witcher.

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I don't know if it's a good adaptation because I haven't read the books, but it's certainly a pretty awful show. I don't think I've ever seen such an epic face plant of a season finale - ever. Like holy shit it was bad. There were a couple good episodes but the way they ended it… oof. (To be very clear, I'm talking about WoT - I haven't even finished S1 of The Witcher).

 

[Tovarisc]

Wild Hunt concept art

https://twitter.com/witchernetflix/status/1481627106199101447

https://twitter.com/witchernetflix/status/1481627121508397056

 

[Clowns]

wrapped up seasons 1 and 2, i preferred the first. there was talk in the thread earlier that the monster of the week format fit the show better and i agree. it reminded me of those syndication adventure shows we got in the 90s/aughts, kinda miss those.

in regards to the narrative i have a question:

Spoiler

i was under the impression that the reason there are so few witchers left and more aren't being made is because 1, the world is safer from monsters in general so there's less need for them, and 2, that at least the school of the wolf agreed to stop making more. but the show says that the reason there aren't more is due to them losing the mutagens to create them? is this a change from the books/games lore or did i have a false understanding?

 

[H.Cornerstone]

I think that is first time I have seen someone thinking that WoT was good adaptation. Seen even more hate towards it than Witcher.

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Dont want to derail the thread but there are many people on reddit and here who really like the show

 

[Bazza]

wrapped up seasons 1 and 2, i preferred the first. there was talk in the thread earlier that the monster of the week format fit the show better and i agree. it reminded me of those syndication adventure shows we got in the 90s/aughts, kinda miss those.

in regards to the narrative i have a question:

Spoiler

i was under the impression that the reason there are so few witchers left and more aren't being made is because 1, the world is safer from monsters in general so there's less need for them, and 2, that at least the school of the wolf agreed to stop making more. but the show says that the reason there aren't more is due to them losing the mutagens to create them? is this a change from the books/games lore or did i have a false understanding?

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Spoiler

I don't know about the games never finished 3 and it's been a few years so the book details are a little vague in my mind but I think either Geralt or Vesemir explains to someone how Kaer Morhen was attacked and the majority of the Witchers were killed in the attack and knowledge of how to create the mutagens is lost.

 

[a916]

As someone who's only every played the 3rd game, it was quite a big step up from the back and forth nature of the first season.

Interesting article contrasting how Wheel of Time and Witcher adapted their source material

Why "The Wheel of Time" succeeds as an adaptation (and "The Witcher" fails)

Not all adaptations are created equal

www.salon.com

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Seems strange considering The Witcher has a much higher critical reception.

WOT looks severely underbudget (to what they reported spending on it) and that finale was oof, just brutal, absolutely horrible. Can't tell how much of that is due to the pandemic, or a combination of the pandemic and direction. The entire show is filmed poorly.

 

[Deleted member 8257]

As someone who's only every played the 3rd game, it was quite a big step up from the back and forth nature of the first season.



Seems strange considering The Witcher has a much higher critical reception.

WOT looks severely underbudget (to what they reported spending on it) and that finale was oof, just brutal, absolutely horrible. Can't tell how much of that is due to the pandemic, or a combination of the pandemic and direction. The entire show is filmed poorly.

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I sincerely tried to like Wheel of Time. It was just...ok. Rosamund Pike was the strongest actor in the show and the show is watchable just for her. Everyone else was subpar. Her Ward is decent as well I guess.. The story never really picked up until episode 3 or 4. Felt the white knight subplot was severely undercooked. And yes the fx looked bad at times.

Anyway, Witcher Season 1 was rough as well so I will give them the benefit of doubt. Hopefully they pick up the pace in S2.

https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1480993239264108545

Start of the thread about her Witcher fandom is affecting her children.

https://twitter.com/LHissrich/status/1481144443705061378

End of the thread

https://twitter.com/LHissrich/status/1481287299216601088

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Internet warriors are simply the worst. I dont doubt if it's that contingent of idiots that are bothering her that got pissed off about S2 being mostly about Ciri rather than Geralt.

 

[Deleted member 8257]

 

[Azai]

Loved it.
Especially that they went for a look simmilar to the games. Meaning Kaer Morhen or the overall look of the cities are very similar to the games rather than doing their own reimagination.

Only thing I missed is a bit more Witcher every day-life like hunting monsters for money and so on.
I know they were in Kaer Morhen during winter to rest so in this season it wasnt an option for the most part anyways.

Though I guess its hard to make this work alongside the main plot but I remember early Supernatural seasons also made it work this way. A new case in every episode but they often told parts of the main plot.

 

[Deleted member 24052]

Way better than first season. But not all the Netflix made stuff is good. Which is frustrating and i still dont know how the following happened if anybody knows ? :

Spoiler: ending spoiler

How the hell Voleth Meir became one of the Wild Hunt if she was a demon ???

Other than this it got better in every single way with season 2.

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I took it as:

Spoiler

she was originally a member of the Wild Hunt, and this was her home plane that she wanted to get back to. I'm not sure if this is in line with anything from the books since I haven't read them yet.

 

[Legio XIV Gemina]

I took it as:

Spoiler

she was originally a member of the Wild Hunt, and this was her home plane that she wanted to get back to. I'm not sure if this is in line with anything from the books since I haven't read them yet.

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Spoiler

Actually wild hunt have their own planet. And its not like this. So because you havent read the books im not going to say anything more. But despite huge improvement over season1, the writing for season 2 hase many flaws and this is one of the most annoying ones. It has no logic

 

[Kyle Rowley]

Loved it.
Especially that they went for a look simmilar to the games. Meaning Kaer Morhen or the overall look of the cities are very similar to the games rather than doing their own reimagination.

Only thing I missed is a bit more Witcher every day-life like hunting monsters for money and so on.
I know they were in Kaer Morhen during winter to rest so in this season it wasnt an option for the most part anyways.

Though I guess its hard to make this work alongside the main plot but I remember early Supernatural seasons also made it work this way. A new case in every episode but they often told parts of the main plot.

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Supernatural made it work quite well, but they had like 20 episodes a season to drip feed the main plot in.

 

[Deleted member 8257]

Loved it.
Especially that they went for a look simmilar to the games. Meaning Kaer Morhen or the overall look of the cities are very similar to the games rather than doing their own reimagination.

Only thing I missed is a bit more Witcher every day-life like hunting monsters for money and so on.
I know they were in Kaer Morhen during winter to rest so in this season it wasnt an option for the most part anyways.

Though I guess its hard to make this work alongside the main plot but I remember early Supernatural seasons also made it work this way. A new case in every episode but they often told parts of the main plot.

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I hope Season 3 explores this. From what I understand Kaer Morhen is no longer a safe haven. Ciri, Geralt, Yen (and Dandelion) being on the run means Geralt needs to make money. At least I hope.

 

[Hollywood Duo]

I felt S2 ended very strongly with the last 2 episodes. The middle of the season was maybe a bit drawn out but it really came together.

 

[PinkCrayon]

Improved production values with a strong start and end to the season but they really need to tighten up the dialogue. Characters just barfing up their motivations without any nuance or subtlety leaves the actors to just stand and deliver their dry, route lines. More showing less telling, let the actors act!

 

[Ambitious]

Is there any point in me watching S2 if I didn't really like the first season?
I haven't read the books or played the games and even after watching the entire first season, I don't really care about any of the characters. And the presentation as well as the humor just felt off to me.

 

[RpgN]

Is there any point in me watching S2 if I didn't really like the first season?
I haven't read the books or played the games and even after watching the entire first season, I don't really care about any of the characters. And the presentation as well as the humor just felt off to me.

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That's difficult to answer. It felt different compared to S1 and you might like it for that. The focus is more on the story, Ciri and less fights. It has a powerful ending. But if you haven't read the books or played any of the games, then the politics and the bit about the conjuction sphere might be lost on you. Even me playing the W3 and all its DLC I felt that some parts of the politics were a bit hard to follow.

 

[Poimandres]

Is there any point in me watching S2 if I didn't really like the first season?
I haven't read the books or played the games and even after watching the entire first season, I don't really care about any of the characters. And the presentation as well as the humor just felt off to me.

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Very different show to season 1. A lot more serious, definitely a bigger budget. Watch a couple of eps and see what you think.

 

[Scarecrow]

I think I missed something in season 1 on why Geralt and Yennifer can't be together. What was the explanation for that?

 

[Hollywood Duo]

Is there any point in me watching S2 if I didn't really like the first season?
I haven't read the books or played the games and even after watching the entire first season, I don't really care about any of the characters. And the presentation as well as the humor just felt off to me.

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If you don't care about the characters and haven't consumed any of the other media I'd say drop it.

 

[Sasliquid]

Just finished S2. Big improvement on S1 but still deeply flawed (the fast travel was bothersome) but excited to see where they now go. Hope S3 has Regis.

 

[GSG]

Loved this season, thought it was a lot better than season 1, even though I loved season 1 too. This season just felt a lot more tighter and focused.

Hopefully season 3 is not far off because I, like everyone else, forgot what happened in season 1 since it was released two years ago. The long gap from season 1 affected my wife's enjoyment of the show too because there's just so much to keep track in this show from season to season.

 

[Calabi]

I hate Season 2 what with, the

Spoiler

grown ups bullying a child and not much happening and the mind control bullshit and all the characters that are supposed to be friends turning against one another. I hate mind control bullshit in stories in general but here it's extremely annoying

. I won't be watching series 3.

 

[mancan]

How are people not pissed about what they did to ciri?

She looks like a barbie doll now. She was a young girl all of a sudden she looks like a love interest.

 

[Lotus]

How are people not pissed about what they did to ciri?

She looks like a barbie doll now. She was a young girl all of a sudden she looks like a love interest.

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Uh what, I didn't get that vibe at all

 

[OneTrueJack]

How are people not pissed about what they did to ciri?

She looks like a barbie doll now. She was a young girl all of a sudden she looks like a love interest.

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????

The actress is visibly two years older, they changed her wardrobe to reflect her new surroundings, and the makeup department filled in her eyebrows. Otherwise, she's exactly the same and definitely still framed as a child by the camera/direction.

It really is astounding that she's only five years younger than Yennefer's actor.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

I think I missed something in season 1 on why Geralt and Yennifer can't be together. What was the explanation for that?

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Very late on this. They can be together, but Geralt used his last wish to tie their fates together in order to save Yen from the Djinn...not quite sure how that works to save her...but it left Yen feeling like their love isn't real. Due to the wish, they'll never know.

 

[demondance]

That's very true. I'm stunned to read this to be intention yet it's not the impression I got at all. Also Eskel acted more like a prick than out of character. That wasn't clear either.

I don't have a strong opinion about Eskel. I'm not necessarily as opposed as others with what they did to him but they didn't even do a good job making you feel anything for him or care at all. That episode definitely felt weird and rushed.

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I'm not quite stunned by that interpretation, because once the episode wrapped, I sort of got what it was going for. Geralt sees Eskel enter and smiles broadly, right after being a bit more cold with the witchers in general (Vesemir aside). But that little moment is the only hint that this character we've never met is, in fact, acting out of character.

And when it happens in the episode you can read it in two distinct ways: either Eskel is normally a pretty great guy that Geralt would like... or Geralt himself was a bit more of a shithead before he went on his travels.

I appreciate not being treated like a total idiot by this series, but there's so much reading between the often unspoken lines, timeline jumping, fast traveling, and straight up odd moments that in aggregate it can overwhelm the basic story.

 

[mancan]

????

The actress is visibly two years older, they changed her wardrobe to reflect her new surroundings, and the makeup department filled in her eyebrows. Otherwise, she's exactly the same and definitely still framed as a child by the camera/direction.

It really is astounding that she's only five years younger than Yennefer's actor.

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Talk about picking your scenes....

The first episode of the season 2 she looks like she just walked out of a fashion show. Her hair is perfect. Her character also feels like she is far older. Alot of the innocence is not there.

 

[OneTrueJack]

Talk about picking your scenes....

The first episode of the season 2 she looks like she just walked out of a fashion show. Her hair is perfect. Her character also feels like she is far older. Alot of the innocence is not there.

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Almost like they were trying to make a deliberate visual contrast between Ciri before and after her time at Kaer Morhen.

I will agree that in hindsight they should have cast this role way younger considering Freya Allan has already aged out of it and they want at least three more seasons, but eh, whatcha gonna do.

 

[Bentendo24]

Am I dumb or is the story in this show kind of hard to follow? I like the self contained plots much more than the over arching one, kind of the exact opposite problem I have with Mandalorian

 

[eyeball_kid]

I've only played the second Witcher game years ago, which I wasn't terribly fond of, so I was reluctant to watch this series. It's definitely better than I thought it would be, with great production values (especially after trying to watch Wheel of Time) and some pretty good acting. The script was certainly several steps up from the wooden dialogue I remember the game having. (and frankly, that goes for the fights as well, which were very well choreographed) The second season really dragged though and I wasn't into Yennefer's arc there and her kind of evasive, wishywashy way she turned back from "the dark side". As far as the locations, I too felt like I didn't know where anything was in relation to each other on a map and some kind of visual guidance there would have been helpful. Despite the second season being a bit iffy, I'm looking forward to a third and hope we don't have to wait another two years for it.