The Glaring Witcher Problem Some Fans Can't Help But Notice

Fans on Reddit have made it abundantly clear that they absolutely despise the CGI dragon featured in the episode "Rare Species." The episode sees Geralt, Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), and Jaskier (Joey Batey) joining a group of traveling adventurers on a quest to slay a dragon. Things take a turn when Geralt and Yennefer discover that the dragon they're searching for is dead, but that it was carrying the egg of a golden dragon named Villentretenmerth -– who appears before them and asks them to help protect the egg.

Fans of the series have asserted that the CGI dragon not only looks horrendous but also completely misses the mark on what Villentretenmerth should look like. "The special effects are great, except in that episode," wrote u/TheRealWonkoTheSane on Reddit. "The dragons look stunted." Another Redditor also observed that, in their words, "the dragon looks and sounds terrible."

Others emphasized how the dragon's design makes it seem unoriginal and bland, and not at all how the golden dragon from the books was described. "IMO it's more of a design problem than a CGI one," wrote u/GunterOdim. U/Vierdix expanded upon this, lamenting, "the worst part about it is that it looks like random wyvern rather than proud golden dragon like he was described in books which is very sad." 

It's clear that fans have a serious problem with the CGI dragon in Season 1, not only because it looks bad, but because it misrepresents the pride and grandeur that made Villentretenmerth so powerful in the book.