credit: The Witcher: Blood Origin
It might be that some folks haven’t bothered to check out The Witcher: Blood Origins yet, and to be fair there are bound to be those who won’t fully appreciate the manner in which it’s filmed, but the diehard fans might enjoy the tale since it tells of the world of elves before the Conjunction of the Spheres. There might be hidden messages within the narrative, or there might not, but the point is that this was a world that was unspoiled by humans and monsters. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a peaceful place since the main kingdoms were still at war, as the story goes. This limited series begins with a battlefield, which is familiar in The Witcher series, as men and elves continue to battle one another in the darkness, and blood flows as screams ring out in the night. In the middle of this, the audience sees Jaskier, the only familiar face at the time, as he’s covered in mud, blood, and is seeking a way out of this madness. Just as Jaskier is about to be slain, however, time stops, and a voice tells him that he is meant to tell the stories that have been forgotten. Jaskier, being who he is, doesn’t fully understand and begins to talk too much, but when he’s presented with the appearance of Seanchai, a storyteller that keeps the various tales of the worlds, he finally starts to listen. The funny thing about this is that in the original plan for this prequel, Jaskier was supposed to be the narrator.
credit: The Witcher: Blood Origin
One has to wonder if the story would have been different had Jaskier been kept as the narrator.
Leaving Jaskier as the only narrator might have been interesting, but it also stands to reason that the story would have taken on a slightly different feel simply because it would be a different point of view. Seanchai was essentially a timeless being that had gathered stories from the different worlds in order to keep them safe and secure until it was time to tell them again, which is an interesting viewpoint since it appears to harbor nothing other than the desire and need to keep said stories alive. Had it been Jaskier alone, the transition of the stories might not have been as smooth.
Minnie Driver’s part adds an element to the story that maintains a respectful distance between the past and present.
Going by what’s been seen and read in The Witcher it’s fair to say that the histories lean one way or another depending upon whose viewpoint is being used. But as Seanchai goes on to speak of the elves and how their world was changed by internal as well as external forces, it becomes a true narrative and less of an opinionated tale. In fact, the story becomes a little more interesting until it starts to include several common tropes that might cause many viewers to groan depending upon their outlook. But from a neutral perspective, this limited series did benefit from Minnie’s inclusion since her character acts as a fulcrum that rests easily between the past and present, and keeps them separated just enough to show that they were similar, but still very different. Plus, making it known that the first Witcher was a ‘badass elf’ was amusing since Jaskier was right, it might upset Geralt just a bit.
credit: The Witcher: Blood Origin
The series might suffer a little mild backlash.
There are elements of this series that might strike a sour note with some viewers, but that’s not bound to be anything new considering that many shows and movies have felt this effect over the past several months and even years. The need for many platforms to ‘go woke’ has been denied, embraced, and in some cases so overdone that their shows and movies have tanked in a very telling manner. Overall though, the series was fairly enjoyable if one ignores the various elements that aren’t so much an impediment as they are noticeable distractions from what is meant to be an explanation that tells of how the world of The Witcher came to be.
It does feel as though more prequels would be needed to tell the whole story.
This series was effective in showing the Conjunction of the Spheres, kind of, but the story could be deepened and given even more of a presence if more prequels were to be created in order to show how the world came to be what it was in Geralt’s time. It might not be a great idea to delve deeper into the world of the elves, but covering the gap between this series and The Witcher’s normal series might be worth the effort. Perhaps Minnie Driver would be up for the role of Seanchai again.
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