Favorite Ficton: The Witcher: Blood Origin

My thoughts on the new miniseries prequel as a lover of the books, the games, and even the original Witcher TV adaptation. There is a lot of controversy over this recent addition to the Witcher world and for good and not so good reasons. But I can only speak for myself.

Unfortunately, it took me two episodes to really get into it. Nothing felt as though it should have existed in the Witcher world, even the one created by the Netflix showrunners themselves. The set design, costumes, and even makeup gave me the impression of generic YA high fantasy. These are not necessarily bad but certainly didn’t fit the overall feel of the dark, gritty tone fans enjoyed from the books, games, or original Netflix series. My point of interest came in episode three and the beginning of four. I personally loved seeing another witcher at work who wasn’t Geralt and that’s because I love the fascinating and complex world that Sapkowski created.

In the beginning, I really liked the Lark an ex-warrior turned bard who not only had a beautiful voice but like Jaskier rooted for the underdog. Her lines to Merwyn in the end were nothing short of moving. In short, the lowborn were given back their voice and were not only able to speak for themselves but sang songs of freedom. But aside from this moment, the character otherwise felt flat, though she seemed to be one of the two main protagonists. By far, the most round and fleshed out character was Meldof. Her eccentricities, wittiness, and banter carried many parts of the show. However, when she bludgeoned an inn full of elves, I thought instantly of George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones. Martin writes of the many difficulties that Tyrion faced throughout his novel, and I can see why some complain of impossible characters for this show. However, as a player of dungeons and dragons, I say it’s fantasy let the people have their fantasy. Meldof was an absolute badass bent on justice!

Honestly, in the end, most of the characters didn’t feel fleshed out at all. But it is a miniseries and only the greatest of greats can build in dept back stories and form beautiful relationships with such little time. While the acting wasn’t entirely void of talent, more passion or direction would have filled in the characters where the story failed. One such instance was the relationship between Balor and Fenrik. Only in the final moment between these two did it reveal their relationship. The writing failed to express this fact and the acting failed to portray it. She felt like more of a plot point for Balor and came without story of her own despite that fact that she had an important role for the story.

​My favorite moment is likely to be when Fjall is undergoing the trial of grasses but ending before introducing the monster’s heart or when he is fighting Balor’s beast. But they serioulsy lost me when he hulked out and looked like David Banner laying there in only torn capris. My favorite character is of course Meldof but my favorite actor is Samuel Blenkin who played Avallac’ h. I know he was a small character, but I found him believable.

So, did I enjoy the show? Sure. I liked that they gave history to the monolith’s, even though that is the showrunner’s invention and not part of the world that we purists love. But would I watch it again? No, even though it only took a handful of hours to watch. Would I suggest it? Maybe. If you like Hissrich’s adaptation, then yes. But if you are a purist and that’s okay, most book/game lovers are, then no. I wouldn’t unless you watched The Last Kingdom and want to see the infamous Finan without his beard!