The Witcher: Blood Origin

Blood Origin is a new limited series prequel to The Witcher Netflix television show.  Set 1200 years before, it tells the story of “The Seven”, a group of warriors brought together whose destiny changes the world and chronicles the creation of the first Witcher. The four-episode series explains the arrival of humans in a world inhabited primarily by dwarves and elves.  The plot is somewhat complex with the waring clans of the elves coming together to sign a treaty that would end the war that has been raging for a thousand years, but they are all betrayed and things do not end up good for the low born elves who face starvation. A group of outcasts lead by Lark / Elle (Sophia Brown) and Fjall (Laurene O’Fuarain) devise a plan to save the people and take revenge for the murder of their families.  Can a group of seven misfits with amazing fighting skills, a bit of magic and a hammer named Gwen free the common people from starvation?  Watch and find out!

Lark Season 1. (L to R) Laurence O’Fuarain as Fjall, Sophia Brown as Éile, Michelle Yeoh as Scian in Lark Season 1. Cr. Susie Allnutt/Netflix © 2022

With there being only four episodes, this is a perfect series to binge watch over the holidays without a huge time commitment and it is pretty entertaining.  There is plenty of adventure, lots of swordplay with some blood and gore, music, magic, dimensional portals, and a gorgeous cast with some romance thrown in.  Sophia Brown does a great job as the bard who gave up fighting to become the traveling minstrel known as Lark.  This disgraced her mentor who was banished because of it.  Brown has a wonderful voice that you can feel the emotion through when she is singing.  There is also an edge about her that lets you believe that not only is she a beautiful artist but could also kill you in a heartbeat. Laurence O’Fuarain is amazing as the disgraced warrior who fell in love with the princess and was disowned by the clan because of his love.  His smoldering good looks and fighting skills are accompanied by some good acting that rings of a kind of truth.  Mirren Mack, as princess Merwyn, is beautiful with a kind of innocent naivete but also devious and treacherous at the same time. The incomparable Michelle Yeoh as Scian, the swords master does what Michelle does best, kick some ass with a ballet like grace.

The series isn’t perfect, I did feel that the expedited running time meant less time to get to know some of the other characters.  Huw Novelli as Callan and Francesca Mills as Meldof don’t get enough screen space, although they do make the most of their time while on screen making their characters intricate and interesting with deep rooted feelings, I would have liked to see a bit more of them. The romance that blossoms between Lark and Fjall I felt was also a bit rushed which lessened the emotional impact their story has.  Just in general, the series lacked much of the depth that the original Witcher series features which I attribute to the limited number of episodes. I did like how sexual orientation and skin color in this universe is a non-issue.  There is still discrimination, but it has more to do with birthrights and social status rather than who you are attracted to or outward appearances.