The world of Andrzej Sapkowski’s “The Witcher” books is one that we frankly can’t get enough of. Whether you’re a fan of CD Projekt Red’s amazing games like “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt” or Netflix’s series starring Henry Cavill, we can all agree that we can’t get enough of the adventures of Geralt of Rivia across the Continent. That’s because it’s never just about the titular Witcher himself. The man always seems caught between schemes and machinations of warring kingdoms, powerful rulers and opposing factions. Then, of course, there’s the ever-present danger of the monsters and creatures that stalk the world of the Continent in the wake of a cosmic event known as the Conjunction of the Spheres. Have you ever wondered the world of the Witcher came to be this way? Well, come December, you’ll wonder no more!
Enter “The Witcher: Blood Origin”, a miniseries set over a thousand years before the events of Netflix’s “Witcher” series. One that explores the beginnings of the human kingdoms, the fate of the elves, the arrival of monsters and the creation of the Witchers.
The Rise and Fall of the Elves
Throughout the second season of “The Witcher”, we see that the elven race is not in great shape. Many live their lives under the oppression of the human kingdoms, namely Redania. This eventually led the leader of the Filavandrel aén Fidháil elves, Francesca Findabair to cast a spell to murder every Redanian human child as revenge for the loss of her own child. One who represented the hope of the elves finally finding a home of their own, or Dol Blathanna. Little did she know, it was Emhyr var Emreis, Emperor of Nilfgaard who had the child killed so that the elves would weaken the Northern Realms for his arrival.
Long ago though, this was not so. The elves and the other elder races of dwarves and gnomes ruled the Continent. Then, the humans arrived through the Conjunction of the Spheres, an event that brought creatures and species from other worlds into the current world of “The Witcher”. At first, the elves greeted the humans as friends and equals…until mankind decided that they wanted to expand. According to the creator of “Blood Origin”, Declan De Barra and executive producer Lauren Hissrich, the miniseries will explore the Golden Age of the Elves and the events leading to the arrival of the humans via the Conjunction of the Spheres.
This era of history has yet to be fleshed out or really explored in Sapkowski’s books or the video games, so we’re curious to see how Netflix will handle such a pivotal part of “The Witcher” universe. The history of the elves at their height before their great fall.
The Creation of the Witchers
While humanity would eventually take over the Northern Realms, they still had to deal with the various monsters that stalked the land. Beasts like Ghouls, Myriapods, Leshens and Basilisks are just some of the creatures we’ve seen pop up in the Netflix series. To deal with such threats, the Northern rulers tasked their mages and sorcerers to create an army of mutated humans capable of using magic with enhanced strength, the Witchers. The secret to creating Witchers would be eventually lost forever during the Siege of Kaer Morhen as seen in the epic animated film “The Witcher: The Nightmare of the Wolf”.
Well, it won’t be lost to us because “Blood Origin” will also be exploring the story of the first prototype Witcher, which is exciting seeing that so much of their history has been shrouded in mystery. We’re also going to learn about who exactly were the ones responsible for creating the Witchers at Rissberg castle and why they were banished and shunned by society. The identity of the very first Witcher has yet to be revealed in casting but we’re keeping a close eye out on who it might be. We’re finally going to pull back the curtains on the creation of Witchers!
A Fellowship of Elves
While “Blood Origin” clearly has a lot going on, the main plot of the series, according to the official description on Netflix, the miniseries will primarily follow the story of seven elven outcasts joining forces in a “blood quest against an unstoppable evil”. We’ve already seen three of them in the teaser trailer. The first one is Scian, the very last member of the elven tribe of the nomadic Ghost Clan. Her skills with the blade are unparalleled and she is driven by the desire to find a sacred blade stolen from her people. Scian is played by the Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh.
The second one is Éile, described as “an elite warrior blessed with the voice of a goddess”. She abandoned her post as the Guardian to a queen and now she is a wandering musician. When a great reckoning happens on the Continent, the former warrior is once again forced to return to battle on a quest for vengeance and redemption. Éile is played by Sophia Brown. The third known member of the seven outcasts is Fjall, an elf from a warrior clan sworn to protect a king. He lost a loved one in battle and like Éile, is on a “path of vengeance across a continent in turmoil”. Fjall will be played by Laurence O’Fuarain.
Now, here’s the really juicy and interesting part. An official post on Netflix’s official companion site, Netflix Tudum, states that Scian, Éile and Fjall will become “entangled with the creation of the first prototype Witcher”. This means that the evil they are facing is within the timeframe in which the human kingdoms are already on the rise, seeing that the Northern rulers commissioned the creation of the Witchers. So based on that fact, it’s very well possible that the evil the elves face is of human origin, namely that of the mages and sorcerers. After all, the humans are the ones that brought about the fall of elvenkind collectively, so it makes sense that quest that these elves of different clans unite against their common enemy.
The Main Villain of Netflix’s The Witcher Series Revealed
While the antagonists of “The Witcher: Blood Origin” has yet to be revealed, we certainly caught a glimpse of the future main villain of Netflix’s “The Witcher” series. The Emperor of Nilfgaard isn’t the only one after Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, also known as Ciri. No, there are far darker forces that would seek to abduct Ciri for her magical Elder Blood, a power that allows her to traverse different worlds. Remember those spooky-looking riders riding towards Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri in the second season? To some they are known as the Wraiths of Morhogg, the fans of “The Witcher” games, they are better known as the Wild Hunt.
The humans of the Continent believe them to be ghastly spectres that abduct humans in the night while riding atop undead horses. Their presence in the night sky is seen as a sign of war and ill times ahead. In reality, they are actually an army of Aen Elle elves that come from a world in which elves dominate all other sentient races, unlike their elven cousins living on the Continent, the Aen Seidhe. In the world of the Aen Elle, humans are slaves to their elven masters and it is the Wild Hunt’s job to kidnap more slaves, including humans, from other worlds. The one who leads the Wild Hunt is an Aen Elle general called Eredin Bréacc Glas.
In the final game of CD Projekt Red’s trilogy, “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt”, Eredin serves as the main antagonist who seeks to capture Ciri and use her Elder Blood to mate their Aen Elle King (gross) so that their child can open a gate for the Aen Elle to conquer all worlds! Throughout the book series and games, Eredin has posed the greatest threat to Geralt and Ciri. So when we learned that Eredin will be making an appearance in “Blood Origin”, we lost our minds! The Lord of the Wild Hunt will be played by Jacob Collins-Levy.
We’ll get to see Eredin’s arrival on the Continent and how his Wild Hunt would soon terrorise the human population and steal them as slaves. Unlike mortal men, the elves age far slower and so Eredin and his Red Riders will live to plague the Continent from the events of “Blood Origin” all the way to the era of the current series. His role in the miniseries could have major implications for the third season of Netflix’s “The Witcher” series, so be sure to pay attention to this guy.
You can unwrap the entire miniseries, “The Witcher: Blood Origin” when it arrives on Netflix on Christmas Day this year!
