The Witcher: Blood Origin review: This Netflix prequel could use a hell of a lot more witcher
Live-action miniseries has Michelle Yeoh and big teases for fans—but not enough beyond that

It’s been said many times before (on this very website, even), but the thing that makes the Witcher saga special in its various incarnations—the original books, the video games, Netflix’s live-action adaptation—is the eponymous monster-hunting “witcher” himself. Though he is very much a part of the high-fantasy world that birthed him, Geralt Of Rivia prides himself on not being a traditional fantasy hero even as the evidence disproving that argument continues to stack up. He’s clever and sarcastic and unpretentious in a way that takes the self-serious edge off of the fantasy genre, allowing the audience to be in on the joke, so to speak, when a Witcher story plays with fantasy tropes.
Netflix’s live-action prequel miniseries, The Witcher: Blood Origin, doesn’t really have any of that. It’s set thousands of years before the events of the main series, centering around an important lore event called the Conjunction Of The Spheres, but without the anchor that keeps the franchise grounded, it really is just a fantasy story without any of the things that make The Witcher special. It’s House Of The Dragon without the political maneuvering or family drama that makes Game Of Thrones so captivating. It’s Rings Of Power without the class and grandeur of Tolkien. It’s … The Witcher without the witcher.
Which is not to say that it’s unwatchable. Coming in at only four episodes, most of which feature the great Michelle Yeoh and a cast of surprisingly engaging (if not wholly fleshed out) adventurers, it doesn’t really require a big investment—and at the end of the day you still get to see someone become a proto-witcher and watch them destroy a big monster. The fight scenes are well done (even when a ton of CG is involved), and the costumes and general art design are both impressive and varied. It’s just that there isn’t really anything going on that you won’t find a better version of in the regular Witcher series or some other fantasy story.
The show centers on what can only be described as a fellowship going on a quest to avenge various betrayals. Each character basically fits into a kind of Dungeons & Dragons archetype, with one or two little quirks to make them memorable: The elf warrior who abandoned the life of bloodshed to become a protest singer. The swordmaster who has a reason to be pissed at everyone so you don’t really know if you should trust her. The magic guy who accidentally helped the bad guys. The dwarf fighter who gleefully rushes into battle with a hammer made from the ashes of her dead lover. The problem isn’t anyone in the fellowship; it’s that there is a fellowship at all. It’s the sort of obvious fantasy story beat that the regular Witcher would poke fun at—and book readers will know that the series does poke fun at the concept of this kind of D&D party, and it’s much smarter and funnier than anything that happens in Blood Origin.