The main Netflix series has been criticized for not following the source material in the past, and now, it’s the prequel’s turn. We confirm if The Witcher: Blood Origin is canon and reveal which book it’s based on.
Blood Origin will not be returning for a second season due to its miniseries billing. The prequel’s narrative will conclude within its first season.
Created by Declan de Barra and Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and adapting The Witcher book series by Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher: Blood Origin is a prequel to the main The Witcher series on Netflix set 1200 years prior.
Is The Witcher: Blood Origin Canon?
Yes, Blood Origin is canon to the main The Witcher series on Netflix, since it is an official prequel to the narrative already conveyed in live-action.
The prequel is not, however, canon to the source material nor the games by CD Projekt Red, as Blood Origin – and the main Netflix series – has taken creative liberties with the narrative and lore.
It was also previously noted that Blood Origin was released strategically between Seasons 2 and 3 of the main Witcher series because the history of the prequel will be informative for the story in narratives to come.
What Book is it Based On?
Blood Origin is not based on any one book from Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher literary series, but instead, it’s based on “a few lines in the books.”
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Declan de Barra explained where he got his notion for the prequel:
“We were trying to understand what the world was like for elves right before the Conjunction of the Spheres. It’s very vague in the books as to what happened. I got out a whiteboard and sketched out this plan of what I thought: what elves wanted in this world and what the society was like pre-colonization. That kind of stuck.”
De Barra also explained why the team decided to call the prequel ‘Blood Origin:’
“The reason we call it Blood Origin is because we’re telling the tale of the first prototype of a witcher. This witcher is not the witcher we know who’s humanlike and, you know, can take potions and have powers. It’s 1.0. But it’s the origin of what enables witchers to exist in The Witcher world in Sapkowski’s books.”
Blood Origin Backlash
The prequel has unfortunately angered fans of The Witcher franchise for its continuation to besmirch the source material.
YouTuber Legacy Killa claimed Blood Origin was “garbage” and criticized Lauren S. Hissrich’s continued “destruction” of the source material.
Furthermore, The Hollywood Handle called the characters “forgettable and soulless”, claiming the whole series was a “waste of time.”
How Many Episodes are in The Witcher: Blood Origin?
Blood Origin only has four episodes within its miniseries billing, making the series one of Netflix’s shortest.
All episodes arrived on December 25 and the miniseries originally had six episodes, but this was later shortened into four installments.
Below, we have provided a brief episode guide complete with the titles we know so far:
- Episode 1: Of Ballads and Bloody Blades
- Episode 2: Of Dreams, Defiance, and Desperate Deeds
- Episode 3: Of Warriors, Wakes, and Wondrous Worlds
- Episode 4: Of Mages, Malice, and Monstrous Mayhem
By Jo Craig – [email protected]
The Witcher: Blood Origin is now streaming on Netflix.
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