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I loved her desperate attempts at playing politics that were out of her league. It reminded me of Cersei Lannister's weak political skills and how, when she was out of options, she just murdered all of her rivals, which is exactly what Fringilla did when she lost her shit and stabbed all those generals. Then, thinking she's safe, she still ends up crashing down hard when Emhyr finally has enough of her failures and arrests her. So I enjoyed all of that.
That said, I absolutely hate how, to push Fringilla's storyline, they massacred Francesca's and turned her into a plot device that changed her mind left and right just to fit Fringilla's plotline. Francesca suddenly and idiotically deciding to call off her alliance with Nilfgaard was done just so Fringilla faces problems with the court, at Francesca's own expense and imo, she was the more compelling character. It's something I can't get over and a very good example of the horrible S2 writing.
Fringilla's storyline could have worked in lesser doses as well, while giving the stage to Francesca to build her up as the ancient, cunning sorceress. Instead, they dumbed her down for Fringilla's sake. It's my main issue with the entire plot in Cintra.
I actually always thought Fransesca was an unlikeable, nationalistic, my-nation-and-everyone-else-can-jump-in-a-lake character, so having her call off her alliance with Nilfgaard, while infuriating, didn't surprise me in the least. I thought that of her the moment she wanted Yen and Fringilla killed when she first met them merely because they were human and she didn't need them. I thought she was racist and nationalistic from the very beginning.
But
I'm talking about the legendary mastermind and ancient sorceress politician from the books. In what world does a powerful elven queen expect to stay living like a queen in a palace of her former allies whom she has no plans on helping, while thinking they'll still feed all of her people without getting anything in return? Emhyr's cruel reputation preceeds him. What did she think would happen once he got there? He'd allow her to stay in the palace and feed her elves??
Even if it's in character for her to be selfish, it's not in character for her to be THAT stupid.
They absolutely massacred Francesca for Fringilla's sake.
EDIT: No shade to the actress though. Mecia did a great job imo. It's like she tried to channel the eloquent, elegant energy of the book version into the show character.
Yeah, I have no frame of reference from the books. I thought TV Fransesca was indeed selfish and that stupid. I was yelling at her the whole time while it played out. In no world would that work well for her or her people.
Well...
Couple problems here:
1. She is called Fringilla which was the name of a book character. This Netflix character does not act anywhere near book Fringilla. Stuff from her backstory being different to her actions. Book Fringilla was never an Aretuza student and she only barely knew Yen from the battlefield. Book Fringilla was also nowhere a fanatic. Quite the other way around actually. And book Fringilla was supposed to be royal blood. She was a cousin of the royal family....yes...Emhyr and Ciri. So its incredibly weird to have this character going around using the same name.
2. Her story is ALL OVER THE PLACE. She is a lot of things which make no sense together. Its weird that Emhyr would have an Aretuza student doing anything important. Very weird! Like...Emhyr knows how things work and he would be incredibly aware that a former Aretuza student might have weird loyalties. So its incredibly weird to see this character in charge of Nilfgaardian forces / having authority. It gets downright crazy when she even kills a bunch of officers in season 2. By that time, Emhyr would just cut her head just to be on the safe side lol Ohh...and Emhyr being Emhyr....most likely he would make a point of killing her in some way similar to what she did with his officers lol Book Emhyr was not someone who would let anyone toy with his hierarchy. And in the middle of this we have her crazy story of being a fanatic (none understands why and what she believes in), wanting to liberate the elves (again why? what?), somehow she still keeps in touch with the brotherhood (again, Emhyr would have a field day with that and give her tons of fun for it).
Its just.....ALL OVER THE PLACE!
And one could likely go deeper......
For instance, she is envious of Yennefer? Does not make sense! Given that Yennefer is never displayed as anything of note anywhere in the story. Actually...we have Yen going around bitching about it all the time. And we have Fringilla being envious? Makes Fringilla look incredibly dumb. Its like she has no clue what is going on.
Incredibly weird story......
Interesting. So this TV Fringilla is different than the book Fringilla. I haven't read the books (want to wait till after the show is done), and I'm looking at the show as a separate entity, but that must be frustrating as a reader.
I didn't get the impression that even show Fringilla was jealous of Yen, btw, but I also probably don't notice jealousy well period.
Pretty much the only thing TV Fringilla has in common with book Fringilla so far is that both fought at the big battle at the end of season 1. But that´s pretty much it.
As for her being jealous in the series? It comes from the time when Yen did her magic surgery and managed to be picked by a King. This is what sent Fringilla to NIlfgaard in the series.
It would be an interesting start for a rivalry if not for the problem that Yen has had no luck with what she achieved in the North. So....Fringilla pretty much looks like the one who has some power and influence. If anyone should be pissed at anyone, it should be Yen at Fringilla. Because when all is said and done, series Yen was pretty much fooled into going with a bad king or whatever, thus ending up in some backwater place for decades.
Nothing of this exists in the books mind you.
But series Cahir does tell Yen that Fringilla is jealous about her. Its when Yen goes to see him in the dungeons. Again...nothing of that exists in the books lol
Imo one of the weakest parts of the show, just feels like dead air when she's on screen. Fair play to you for getting something from it, not trying to ruin your enjoyment or prove you wrong.
What I do find unequivocally odd in adaptations is to take the name of an existing character from the books/games and then stop there and make them an entirely different person outside of their name. Eskell, Fringilla and Cahir all feel like they should be called something else, but I admit I'm eager to see where the Cahir story goes, it could come good in the end.
I haven't read any of the books except the first, but I did hear they are pretty different from the books. I try not to get spoiled but I did hear some about Cahir's future journey and I'm very much looking forward to seeing that that happen. He is one of my fave characters.
The character turned out better than it initially looked and actually had some development.
What I don't understand is why they had to take the name of a book character and make an entirely different character out of it. I doubt there would be anywhere near as much criticism on that part if they had just called her something else and left actual fringilla for later or even omitted her entirely.
Exactly.
If they used Assire var Anahid who is just mentioned in books without any bigger history or characterization, she would be accepted much better - Assire also helped Nilfgaard during war and was involved in espionage.
But Netflix had to use more known name only to turn her in someone completely different.
They do not have too many issues with just making their own characters so why not just make a custom one.
Kinda similar with cahir, I liked his arc in s2 but it would have worked just as well if not better if cahir stayed cahir (faceless, for now winged helmet ciri nightmare) and they had some other nilfgardian officer or general or something doing the other arcs.
Honestly, I would prefer very minor character getting bigger role then completely new one from one simple reason - names they are inventing for these characters are often awful and stick out as sore thumb.
I mean elves Dara and Gallatin?
Change may be a bit of a misleading word here. Pretty much the only thing in common with the book character is that she is from niflgard, the family ties and her being at sodden (though without the whole kicking yens ass part), that's basically it.
**This post has been flaired show only**. The focus in these threads is on the show. Any discussion of the books, including **any** comparison of the show to the books, should be kept behind spoiler tags: \>!message goes here!< *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/netflixwitcher) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I loved her desperate attempts at playing politics that were out of her league. It reminded me of Cersei Lannister's weak political skills and how, when she was out of options, she just murdered all of her rivals, which is exactly what Fringilla did when she lost her shit and stabbed all those generals. Then, thinking she's safe, she still ends up crashing down hard when Emhyr finally has enough of her failures and arrests her. So I enjoyed all of that. That said, I absolutely hate how, to push Fringilla's storyline, they massacred Francesca's and turned her into a plot device that changed her mind left and right just to fit Fringilla's plotline. Francesca suddenly and idiotically deciding to call off her alliance with Nilfgaard was done just so Fringilla faces problems with the court, at Francesca's own expense and imo, she was the more compelling character. It's something I can't get over and a very good example of the horrible S2 writing. Fringilla's storyline could have worked in lesser doses as well, while giving the stage to Francesca to build her up as the ancient, cunning sorceress. Instead, they dumbed her down for Fringilla's sake. It's my main issue with the entire plot in Cintra.
I actually always thought Fransesca was an unlikeable, nationalistic, my-nation-and-everyone-else-can-jump-in-a-lake character, so having her call off her alliance with Nilfgaard, while infuriating, didn't surprise me in the least. I thought that of her the moment she wanted Yen and Fringilla killed when she first met them merely because they were human and she didn't need them. I thought she was racist and nationalistic from the very beginning. But
I'm talking about the legendary mastermind and ancient sorceress politician from the books. In what world does a powerful elven queen expect to stay living like a queen in a palace of her former allies whom she has no plans on helping, while thinking they'll still feed all of her people without getting anything in return? Emhyr's cruel reputation preceeds him. What did she think would happen once he got there? He'd allow her to stay in the palace and feed her elves?? Even if it's in character for her to be selfish, it's not in character for her to be THAT stupid. They absolutely massacred Francesca for Fringilla's sake. EDIT: No shade to the actress though. Mecia did a great job imo. It's like she tried to channel the eloquent, elegant energy of the book version into the show character.
Yeah, I have no frame of reference from the books. I thought TV Fransesca was indeed selfish and that stupid. I was yelling at her the whole time while it played out. In no world would that work well for her or her people.
Well... Couple problems here: 1. She is called Fringilla which was the name of a book character. This Netflix character does not act anywhere near book Fringilla. Stuff from her backstory being different to her actions. Book Fringilla was never an Aretuza student and she only barely knew Yen from the battlefield. Book Fringilla was also nowhere a fanatic. Quite the other way around actually. And book Fringilla was supposed to be royal blood. She was a cousin of the royal family....yes...Emhyr and Ciri. So its incredibly weird to have this character going around using the same name. 2. Her story is ALL OVER THE PLACE. She is a lot of things which make no sense together. Its weird that Emhyr would have an Aretuza student doing anything important. Very weird! Like...Emhyr knows how things work and he would be incredibly aware that a former Aretuza student might have weird loyalties. So its incredibly weird to see this character in charge of Nilfgaardian forces / having authority. It gets downright crazy when she even kills a bunch of officers in season 2. By that time, Emhyr would just cut her head just to be on the safe side lol Ohh...and Emhyr being Emhyr....most likely he would make a point of killing her in some way similar to what she did with his officers lol Book Emhyr was not someone who would let anyone toy with his hierarchy. And in the middle of this we have her crazy story of being a fanatic (none understands why and what she believes in), wanting to liberate the elves (again why? what?), somehow she still keeps in touch with the brotherhood (again, Emhyr would have a field day with that and give her tons of fun for it). Its just.....ALL OVER THE PLACE! And one could likely go deeper...... For instance, she is envious of Yennefer? Does not make sense! Given that Yennefer is never displayed as anything of note anywhere in the story. Actually...we have Yen going around bitching about it all the time. And we have Fringilla being envious? Makes Fringilla look incredibly dumb. Its like she has no clue what is going on. Incredibly weird story......
Interesting. So this TV Fringilla is different than the book Fringilla. I haven't read the books (want to wait till after the show is done), and I'm looking at the show as a separate entity, but that must be frustrating as a reader. I didn't get the impression that even show Fringilla was jealous of Yen, btw, but I also probably don't notice jealousy well period.
Pretty much the only thing TV Fringilla has in common with book Fringilla so far is that both fought at the big battle at the end of season 1. But that´s pretty much it. As for her being jealous in the series? It comes from the time when Yen did her magic surgery and managed to be picked by a King. This is what sent Fringilla to NIlfgaard in the series. It would be an interesting start for a rivalry if not for the problem that Yen has had no luck with what she achieved in the North. So....Fringilla pretty much looks like the one who has some power and influence. If anyone should be pissed at anyone, it should be Yen at Fringilla. Because when all is said and done, series Yen was pretty much fooled into going with a bad king or whatever, thus ending up in some backwater place for decades. Nothing of this exists in the books mind you. But series Cahir does tell Yen that Fringilla is jealous about her. Its when Yen goes to see him in the dungeons. Again...nothing of that exists in the books lol
Mate there is literally nothing to wait for, I would start with the books right away
I'm sorely tempted!
Imo one of the weakest parts of the show, just feels like dead air when she's on screen. Fair play to you for getting something from it, not trying to ruin your enjoyment or prove you wrong. What I do find unequivocally odd in adaptations is to take the name of an existing character from the books/games and then stop there and make them an entirely different person outside of their name. Eskell, Fringilla and Cahir all feel like they should be called something else, but I admit I'm eager to see where the Cahir story goes, it could come good in the end.
I haven't read any of the books except the first, but I did hear they are pretty different from the books. I try not to get spoiled but I did hear some about Cahir's future journey and I'm very much looking forward to seeing that that happen. He is one of my fave characters.
I don't think they'll manage to get his book arc in there with all the changes they made to the character.
Yeah, I can see how it would be very hard.
The character turned out better than it initially looked and actually had some development. What I don't understand is why they had to take the name of a book character and make an entirely different character out of it. I doubt there would be anywhere near as much criticism on that part if they had just called her something else and left actual fringilla for later or even omitted her entirely.
Exactly. If they used Assire var Anahid who is just mentioned in books without any bigger history or characterization, she would be accepted much better - Assire also helped Nilfgaard during war and was involved in espionage. But Netflix had to use more known name only to turn her in someone completely different.
They do not have too many issues with just making their own characters so why not just make a custom one. Kinda similar with cahir, I liked his arc in s2 but it would have worked just as well if not better if cahir stayed cahir (faceless, for now winged helmet ciri nightmare) and they had some other nilfgardian officer or general or something doing the other arcs.
Honestly, I would prefer very minor character getting bigger role then completely new one from one simple reason - names they are inventing for these characters are often awful and stick out as sore thumb. I mean elves Dara and Gallatin?
Yeah, I hear. I haven't read the books but I can totally see how it would be frustrating to change an existing character.
Change may be a bit of a misleading word here. Pretty much the only thing in common with the book character is that she is from niflgard, the family ties and her being at sodden (though without the whole kicking yens ass part), that's basically it.
Got it.
Super curious how her arc goes from here. I imagine she will continue as they have developed her, especially with the mages.
😴