Fuck it. I decided to compile a list of every change between Season 2 and Blood of Elves
Heavy spoilers for the books and Season 2!
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This is not all-encompassing. I'll forget some changes--Heaven knows the writers made enough changes. I'll also preface this by saying: This isn't a commentary on the quality of the season itself. It is simply a collection of the differences between the novel and the show.
**Characters**
* Voleth Meir is not in the books. Completely new character.
* Geralt wouldn't use Ciri as bait in the books. Nor did he.
* Ciri is never possessed by a witch.
* Yennefer does not lose her magic in the books.
* Yennefer never considers sacrificing Ciri for power. Nor does the opportunity ever arise.
* Yennefer is not captured by Niilfgard in the books.
* Instead, she is blinded following Sodden after taking a fireball to the face from Fringilla. She then spends lots of time in recovery, then--on Dijkstra's orders--tails and saves Dandelion from Rience.
* No one ever thinks she's dead in the books either (Geralt worries that she died after Sodden, if I recall, but finds out rather quickly she's still out there after talking to Triss at the Sodden memorial)
* Later in the series (Post Time of Contempt/Late Season 3 or early Season 4 by comparison), people suspect Yennefer of being a Nilfgaardian spy. But at no point does anyone suspect her of being a spy following Sodden.
* The Stregobor stuff isn't a thing in the books. He's there, but plays no important role.
* Vessemir wouldn't try to use Ciri's blood to create more witchers in the books. Nor would he ever allow Ciri to undergo the Trial. Nor would he let Eskel bring a bunch of hookers to Kaer Morhen
* In the books, Dandelion is actively working with Djikstra and the Redanian Secret Service. ~~This is removed in the show~~ It is implied that Djikstra is funding Dandelion's sandpiper activities, though Dandelion doesn't seem to be aware of who he is working with. This is speculative on my part though.
* Also in the books, Dandelion is not nearly as comedic as he was in Season 2. He is funny, but they seemed to lean into that aspect of him for Season 2.
* This is more my interpretation, but in the books, Dandelion is far wittier than he is in the show. He certainly doesn't come across as the type to talk to rats in the book.
* Djikstra is not a rambling drunk in the books (although I didn't find that to be a bad change. It was pretty interesting IMO).
* I don't believe Istredd even appears in Blood of Elves
* Francesa Findabar is *not* with the Scoia'tael in the books. By this, I mean she's not in the field with them, acting as their leader.
* She is a member of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers, though she does harbor sympathies for their cause and occasionally meets with Scoia'tel leaders (Filavandrel, as an example). This relationship becomes relevant when she aids Niilfgaard during the Coup at Thanned
* Fringilla Vigo does not become de facto leader of Cintra in the books. Instead, she fucks off to Niilfgard
* Cahir is not captured by the Brotherhood following Sodden in the books. I don't even recall if he was at Sodden. As far as I recall, he traveled back to Niilfgard following the Fall of Cintra, and was imprisoned for failing to capture Ciri. We don't see him again for another two books after Sodden.
* His execution plot-point never happened in the books.
* Book Cahir is also not nearly as mustache-twirly-evil-villain as he is in the show. Cahir fans will know what I mean.
* Tissaia is hardly a significant character in the books.
* Rience is not a magical bounty hunter in the books. He's an almost fanatical follower of Vilgefortz in the books.
* Rience is scarred in the show and books, but in the books, it's because Yennefer uses her magic to wound him as he's interrogating Dandelion.
* Lydia Van Bredevoort does not develop her scars from sniffing a vial of elder blood in the books. Instead, her scars are a result of magical experimentation on Vilgefortz' orders, and her wounds are hidden with an illusion.
* Eskel is not turned into a Leshen and then killed (as far as we know. He's not in the books for long.)
* Vilgefortz and Tissaia are not a romantic thing, as far as I could tell. Nor are they really even partners. Vilgefortz is also the genuine champion of Sodden in the books. He does this to gain more authority in the Brotherhood.
* Vilgy is also way stronger and smarter in the books then how he is depicted in the show. Also, Vilgy never says his classic line. This is a cardinal sin, imo.
* Nenekke is an old and religious lady. She doesn't go around dropping f-bombs in the books.
* Emhyr kept the fact that Ciri was his daughter a big secret in the books. Understandable, given his plans for her (**cough** Imperial Incest **cough**)
* Jarre in the books is a bit of a geek, who is very clearly awkward around girls, and has a crush on Ciri. But he's also smart, and good-intentioned. The show reduces him to a dick joke.
**Plot Points**
* Except for Ciri's training, there is not a single fight at Kaer Morhen. Never. There is no Leshen, nor is there the centipede thing with the claws. There is no possession.
* There are only four witchers at Kaer Morhen (Vessemir, Eskel, Lambert, and Coen)
* At Kaer Morhen, Ciri trains and exercises. Eventually, Triss arrives (on Geralt's request) and instructs Ciri on the basics of magic, as well as the Elder language.
* The plot point with Ciri's blood being able to make more witchers is not in the books.
* Vesemir never collects her blood either. The thought of making more witchers is only ever entertained in the context of Ciri being raised as a girl vs. being raised as a witcher. But the mutagenic process itself/Trial of Grasses is never brought up.
* In the book, Triss travels with Ciri and Geralt to the Temple. In the show, she doesn't. We don't see her get sick.
* On the path to the Temple is when they run into Yarpen Zigrin again. This doesn't happen in the show. As a result, Ciri doesn't visit Shaerrawedd, and there is no fight with the Scoia'tael.
* There is no fight at Melitele's Temple in the books. Never.
* Yennefer does not travel to the Temple to kidnap Ciri and sacrifice her in the books.
* In the books, Ciri and Yennefer stay at the temple for a while. Ciri learns more magic.
* Yennefer is invited to the temple by Geralt after Geralt has already left. See the 'Dear Friend,' bullet point further down.
* There is no reunion between Geralt and Yennefer in Blood of Elves. They reunite outside Gors Velen in the next book.
* In the books, Rience does not find Ciri at the Temple. Instead, Geralt leaves Ciri in Nenekke's care to find Rience at Oxenfurt.
* There is no Shani in the show. >:(
* Phillipa does not help Geralt find Rience, nor does she help Rience escape: as she does in the books.
* In fact, Rience doesn't meet Ciri till the Time of Contempt, which is the next book following Blood of Elves.
* Dandelion doesn't sing at a tavern in Oxenfurt. He sings at Bleobheris, a sacred tree.
* His Sandpiper plot is not a thing in the books.
* Dandelion is not arrested in the books.
* The elf and Cintra plot is not in the books.
* There is a non-human uprising in the North in the books, led by the Scoia'tael, but they are not given Cintra as a place of refuge by the Niilfgardians. Instead, Niilfgard is suspected of funding and arming them behind the scenes to stoke instability in the North.
* Francesca never gets pregnant. Nor does Emhyr commit infanticide against an elven baby in the books.
* The notion that a pure-blooded elf hasn't been born in decades is also a Netflix invention. Elves have a much smaller window of time to get pregnant, but it still happens in the books. Avallach and Geralt talk about this in Tower of Swallow.
* The magical politics is a thing in the books, but is very different from the magical politics in the show. Stregobor does not interrogate or harm Yennefer, and neither do Tissaia/Vilgy use that as an excuse to seize Council seats.
* Instead, the magical politics in the book are concerned with the growing distrust between the Kings and their magical advisors
* The meeting of the Kings at the end of Season 2 is the meeting of the Kings in BoE that puts the Mages on edge, and is used to justify the Conclave in Time of Contempt. However, Tissaia is at the King's meeting in the show, which is not the case in the book. No mages were invited to the meeting in the books.
* When the Kings of the North meet, they do conclude it best to kill Ciri--so as to prevent her falling into Emhyr's hands (they don't want him to have a legitimate claim to the Cintran throne). However, the show cut the King's talk of war with Niilfgaard.
* In the books, they believe a quick strike across the Yaruga could recapture Cintra, and deal a blow to the South. This conversation paves the way for the Second Great War, but does not happen in the show.
* The show also leaves out the politics regarding Cintra's throne. Cordhingrer is visited by Geralt in the books, and they develop a plot to--essentially-- smear Calanthe's name and ruin her claim to the Cintrant throne, thus making Ciri's claim to the throne illegitimate. Thus, protecting her from the kings who want her dead for her political power.
* Again, the Voleth Meir plot is not in the books at all. Instead, Blood of Elves focuses on Ciri's training and planting the seeds for future conflicts.
* I.e. the Second Great War, the Coup of Thanned, Character's motivations to capture Ciri, etc.
* The Monoliths are not a thing in the books.
* The 'Dear Friend,' bit is in reference to letters exchanged by Yennefer and Geralt while Geralt is in Oxenfurt hunting for Rience. Geralt asks Yennefer to travel to the temple to train Ciri. Again, Geralt and Yen don't actually meet though.
* In the books, Niilfgardians are depicted as something more akin to the Romans or English (Highly centralized government with progressive and aristocratic traditions and legal codes). In the books, they are not religious zealots. Though they are also not necessarily 'good' either.
* Yennefer and Cahir never have a team-up in the books.
* Tissaia does not recommend that Ciri be captured, nor does she suggest that anyone protecting her be captured as well. In fact, Tissaia's role in the show is dramatically overblown.
* Ciri is not with Geralt when he meets Nivellen.
* Istredd does not meet with Cordringer and Fenn in the books. Geralt does meet them to find information about Rience and Ciri.
It's not an exaggeration to say that the *majority* of this season is different from the books. And not just sort of different, but drastically different. Hell, the last four or five episodes are fictitious (relative to the book canon (yes I know it's all fiction, please stop reminding me)) in nearly every way. At this point, I'm not certain where the story will go. For example, how will the Coup play out on Thanedd if Ciri won't be able to attend it? And if Ciri isn't at Aretuza for the Coup, then how will she be warped to the desert? And if she isn't separated from Geralt and Yennefer, then how will she meet up with the Rats?
Obviously, they can still work these plots in, or at least, work in the *effects* of these plots, but the story will take a drastically different turn than the one the book tells.
Note that this isn't necessarily a good or a bad thing, so long as it's done well. But there has to come a point when the adaptation is so drastically different from the source material, that I start to wonder whether it's truly an adaptation, or if it's a reimagining.
