Warning: There are spoilers ahead for The Witcher: Blood Origin!
The Witcher: Blood Origin, the prequel to The Witcher, is set 1,200 years before the events in The Witcher. The series explains the beginnings of the ancient Elven civilization and the genesis of the first Witcher. Fjall (Laurence O’Fuarain), a Seven warrior, was revealed to be the prototype Witcher. However, series creators Declan de Barra and Lauren Schmidt Hissrich told Collider that the original plan for the first Witcher in Blood Origin involved Fjall’s fellow Seven warrior, Éile (Sophia Brown).
“It [the prototype Witcher identity] shifted around a lot…once it was going to be Éile and then the idea of sacrifice. Witchers are always sacrificing themselves, or someone is sacrificing an innocent essentially to become a Witcher, [there] is always this element of sacrifice and sacrifice them,” said de Barra. “The idea of sacrifice between two lovers where someone co-opts, or steals, the other person’s sacrifice because they love them, without admitting that they loved them, that was something really strong. When we hit on that, that’s when we realized there’ll be a flip.”
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However, as the story began to take shape, plans changed from Éile to Fjall. Because of his love for Éile, Fjall volunteered to be the first Witcher to save her from torment and sacrifice. The surprise twist was one of the reasons why the creators went with Fjall over Éile.
“You’re kind of playing it, so the audience believes it’s going to be Éile and Éile believes it’s going to be Éile, everybody believes it’s going to be Éile, but then he can’t let her die because he sees that she’s got this power in her music that’s going to have a massive effect. And he doesn’t see anything other than himself, other than a killer,” said de Barra. “And for him, it’s better that he sacrifices himself even though it’s going to piss her off because she will live on. And whether he admits it at that point or not, he’s sort of fallen for her. It kind of wrote itself once that idea of sacrifice came up.”
The Witcher: Blood Origin is now streaming on Netflix.
Do you agree with the decision to make Fjall the first Witcher? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: The Witcher Boxed Set: Blood of Elves, The Time of Contempt, Baptism of Fire
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