The Witcher: Blood Origin, Netflix's prequel to The Witcher, has provided a significant Wild Hunt fix ahead of The Witcher season 3. Blood Origin has received several harsh criticisms since its release. However, it has provided some much-needed context for one of the main series' most important villains. This could help The Witcher season 3 avoid a similarly underdeveloped plot that hurt Blood Origin.
The Witcher season 3 will be critical to the long-term success of this series. Netflix has been left reeling with the departure of Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, and the negative reception Blood Origin has received has left The Witcher franchise in a particularly precarious position. Netflix's Witcher problem could be somewhat mitigated if the series takes advantage of the Wild Hunt backstory provided by Blood Origin.
Eredin's Blood Origin Backstory Can Make Him The Witcher's Biggest Villain
The Witcher: Blood Origin helped The Witcher season 3 by creating a relatively sympathetic backstory for Eredin, the leader of the Wild Hunt. Fans of Andrezj Sapkowski's novels will know that Eredin and the Wild Hunt are critical figures in the story moving forward, yet they have hardly appeared in the show up to this point. Providing context around Eredin and his path to becoming the leader of the Wild Hunt will make his and the Wild Hunt's emergence as overarching villains more interesting and meaningful.
In The Witcher: Blood Origin, Eredin, the founding member of the Wild Hunt, appears as a partner to the evil sorcerer Balor and the deluded Empress Merwyn. While it is unclear if Eredin's motivations in helping these two are for obtaining power or breaking down the social hierarchy that restricts his relationship with the low-born elf, Brían, both work to build depth around Eredin's character. Ultimately, it is both of these factors motivating Eredin that fleshes out his character.
Eredin is a high-ranking elf with too much ambition. He ends up overstepping and losing everything, including his beloved. This neatly explains how Eredin becomes evil and gives the audience a better understanding of one of The Witcher's biggest villains moving forward. When Eredin and the Wild Hunt are officially introduced to the main series, the audience will already have a reason to care about them, and they won't simply be two-dimensional villains.
Why The Witcher Needs The Wild Hunt To Properly Appear Soon
Blood Origin set up The Witcher season 3 in several key ways, but the leg work done to set up the Wild Hunt may be the most important. That being said, The Witcher needs to take advantage of the momentum by introducing the Wild Hunt. While the Wild Hunt does appear briefly at the end of season 2, they have not yet been explained in The Witcher. Netflix should take care to tie them into the main series quickly while Eredin is on people's minds.
Moreover, the story demands the Wild hunt be introduced soon. The Wild Hunt is an important villain in the source material, and they need to appear soon or risk being underdeveloped antagonists. The Witcher: Blood Origin did The Witcher season 3 a favor with Eredin, and it needs to take advantage of it.