The Witcher: Blood Origin Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Of Warriors, Wakes, and Wondrous Worlds

At the risk of sounding trite, The Witcher: Blood Origin Season 1 Episode 3 proves that no matter how the mission to kill the Empress turns out, the real success is the friends we make along the way.

Having passed the series’ halfway point, we finally have our entire company, but seven — even The Seven — cannot stand and defeat the Golden Empire’s army. It’ll take a clever mind to gather the resources needed.

Meanwhile, the birth of the first witcher is just as messy, terrifying, and painful as we expected. It just wasn’t the person we were led to expect.

I’m not sure that any of us really believed that Éile would transform.

The character has spent the entire series connecting with others. In contrast, Fjall has been burning bridges.

Meldof warning the group about Balor’s beast is a delightful way for her to connect with them. TBF, the reference to Terminator is a little jarring but not wholly inappropriate.

Come with me if you want to live.

Meldof

She also shows us how the stories of Éile and Fjall have grown and taken root in the hearts of the lowborn.

It’s probably a shock to Éile that her exploits have become legendary.

Meldof: I’m not usually one to gush over elves, but it’s an honor to feed the lot of you. Heard you killed a hundred soldiers in Daédwóde after those Golden Empire wankstains burnt down a Dwarven bank.
Fjall: Somethin’ like that.
Meldof: Mighty stuff. And the Lark herself, no less. Thought you’d be shorter. Still, it’s not your fault. Your exploits are becoming more famous than your songs. They say you killed a four-score of empire assassins sent to kill you in Inis Dubh with just your bare hands and teeth. [pauses] You killed more. Hah! Knew it!

The wake party is a convenient way for the characters to spill their truths.

Meldof’s story of how Gwen, her lover, became Gwen, her hammer, is beautiful and poignant.

However, the emotion in Huw Novelli’s voice as Brother Death explains how he and Zacaré fell in love is sublime.

One day, you fall into a mage’s mists, and she sees all that you have done, all the evil that you’ve torn into the world. And somehow, somehow, she sees good in you. And she starts to heal your soul with a gentleness that you don’t deserve.

Brother Death

And then, of course, Fjall decides now is a good time to admit there is no secret way in XIn’trea.

A helluva thing to admit, but necessity is the mother of invention, and Scían’s inventiveness really knows no bounds.

Every time I think I’ve suffered the last fool, another lands in front of me.

Scían

And I think we need to be forgiven if we fell for Scían’s betrayal charade.

She has every reason to turn on the company. She’s been lied to, nearly died, and REALLY wants Soulreaver back.

But Scían’s not the only one negotiating with the enemy.

When Avallac’h can’t open the monolith gateway, Merwyn is forced to ask for Balor’s help. This is complicated by the fact she’s just had him thrown in Syndril’s old cell.

I had this dimeritium cell built to hold recalcitrant mages. To suppress their magic. Make them feel like they were naked and powerless. And now here I sit. Naked without my power. By the grace of a recalcitrant empress.

Balor

Her plea is impassioned and sincere. She wants to appeal to him based on both being victims of being born who they are — him, lowborn; her, a woman.

She flatters him, too, but it’s not disingenuous. She sincerely admires him for what he can do to further her vision of conquering and civilizing new worlds in the name of elfkind.

Merwyn: Why do we find ourselves so far apart?
Balor: It’s a matter of respect.
Merwyn: Respect? Balor, you see me as a princess to be kept on a leash until the time comes to trade me, use me, or get rid of me.
Balor: And you see me as a lowborn raised far above his station.
Merwyn: This is how you see yourself. I see you as a singular genius capable of so much more than the box my father put you in. I only ask that you see me the same.

And that’s the crux of Merwyn’s insanity.

She is the apex colonizer, never imagining that other worlds won’t welcome being made over in the image of the Golden Empire.

Her certainty is so total, her confidence so delusional, that she cannot fathom others not wanting what she wants.

Even the idea that Fjall would return to her side to father her children is one she doesn’t see as problematic.

While things have moved quickly in the series so far, Merwyn’s madness has been subtly hinted at throughout so that when she’s full-out bonkers, the only response is, “Oh, right, that makes sense.”

Knowing how her mind works, she’ll never see Scían’s triple-cross coming.

Scían’s approach is flawless. Everything she asks for sounds legit as a way to fulfill her contract with the throne.

Scían: Éile of Raven Clan, meet Uthrok One Nut
Uthrok: It’s just a nickname. They’re huge. Like two enormous, swollen pomegranates. Go on, ask her.

My only question here is when she contacted Uthrok One-Nut to set up the box canyon ambush.

The situational double-reversal is so quick and unexpected the rest of the company is set back on their heels.

Uthrok: That was a work of art. Look at them all. Like little bloodied hedgehogs.
Scían: Never doubt my plan again, Uthrok.
Brother Death: Do you know him?
Syndril: They’re on our side.
Zacaré: Did we just win?

So as we march into Xin’trea, the odds are looking better for our would-be regicidal killers.

They have their sellswords. They have the witcher Fjall. That has the element of surprise.

And even though Meldof only joined to die in glorious battle, she’s bloody effective at dispatching enemies.

Brother Death: Why would you want to help a gang of elves?
Meldof: Between yourself and myself and the skies above… because I’m empty? I’ve hunted down and killed the last of the ones who defiled Gwen. There’s nothing left for me now. One last quest to take me to her. End my breaths in a glorious fashion.

She’s also incredibly enthusiastic about the prospect of messing with the most powerful elves in the world.

Right, then. Let’s go fuck up an empire.

Meldof

If any of these characters get to have further adventures, whether, in another spin-off or limited series, or a new literary form, I have Meldof at the top of my wishlist.

I guess we should address Éile and Fjall’s post-transformation love-making.

Knowing what we know about Geralt’s generation of witchers, sex isn’t an issue, but procreation isn’t possible.

However, Fjall isn’t like any witcher we’ve seen before.

Zacaré’s magic looks a lot like the monster vines that terrorized Kaer Morhen on The Witcher Season 2.

So what will be the fallout for their intimacy?

Will they be able to reverse the transformation and have them reunite?

Fjall: I’d die for you, Éile.
Éile: You already did.

I’ll say it again: relationships on The Continent are doomed.

I’m also wondering what exactly happened with Zacaré and Syndril’s mother. They brought her back as something other than who she was when she died. Did they kill her, or is she wandering around the world?

As the finale looms, will the Song of the Seven segue into The Witcher Season 3?

Will there be crossover characters, references to the lowborn uprising, or maybe an anthology album of Lark songs that Jaskier can’t bear to play?

With the number of names they’ve dropped — Eredin, Avallac’h, Ithlinne — I image we’ll be learning more about them.

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