The Witcher: Blood Origin aims to answer many of The Witcher’s biggest questions, and its ending has massive repercussions for the franchise going forward.
Netflix is investing significant time and resources into developing The Witcher as its next major franchise. The Witcher: Blood Origin, a four-episode limited series that premiered on December 25th, serves as a prequel aimed at answering some of the series’ biggest questions. Following Henry Cavill’s highly publicized exit from The Witcher, the streamer took measures to ensure the franchise’s future, including casting Liam Hemsworth as Cavill’s replacement and continuing to build the series’ expanded universe, of which Blood Origin is a crucial part.
Starring an ensemble led by Sophia Brown and Laurence O’Fuarain, The Witcher: Blood Origin takes place during the Golden Age of elves on the Continent. The limited series tells the story of seven strangers who unite against a despotic and blossoming empire and features the origin story of many prominent aspects in The Witcher‘s lore. Mainly, the series features the Conjunction of Spheres — a seminal event in the series world — as well as the creation of the first witcher and the origin of the show’s version of the Wild Hunt.
Although Blood Origin feels a tad by the numbers and rushed, the show still serves as an effective and occasionally riveting expansion of The Witcher‘s mythology. Episode 4 fills the gaps to many of the main show’s lingering questions while setting up new mysteries, surely to be addressed in the upcoming third season and beyond.
The Witcher presents a world where elves lie at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Reduced to a mere shadow of their former selves, elves on the Continent live in hiding, hunted by humanity while secretly plotting revenge against those who wronged them. Blood Origin presents the circumstances that led to the elves’ downfall, featuring the race as the mighty rulers of the Continent, separated by a thousand-year war that ravaged the land.
Following the coup that merges the three elven kingdoms into one new empire, the seven — the show’s main characters, who’ve been wronged by the new empire and seek revenge against its empress, Merwyn — successfully infiltrate Xin’trea and begin their plot to overthrow Merwyn.
After a rousing speech by Éile, the show’s de-facto lead, the elven smallfolk revolt against the empire, taking over the city.
