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The Ending Of The Witcher: Blood Origin Explained - Video học tiếng Anh
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The Ending Of The Witcher: Blood Origin Explained
The Ending Of The Witcher: Blood Origin Explained
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"The Witcher" nods to The Conjunction of the Spheres, Ithlinne's prophecy,
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and where Witchers come from, but doesn't explain any of it. The new prequel series
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"Blood Origin" answers many of those questions and raises more. Warning: Spoilers ahead.
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In the time of "The Witcher," the Continent is a hodgepodge of social, political,
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and religious groups, subject to an endless cycle of war and racial conflict. Much of that strife
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comes as a result of human machinations, as the many human nations of the Continent are prone to
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infighting just as often as they are to prejudice against Elves, Dwarves, and the like. One of the
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setting's most enduring and poignant features is the abundance of Elven ruins and artifacts across
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the land, over which humanity builds their empires and attempts to recreate old Elvish magics.
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"My elders worked with humans, and got robbed of all they had.
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And when they fought back, they were slaughtered."
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Yet in "The Witcher: Blood Origin," humanity has yet to arrive on the Continent, and in its place,
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the Elven empires prove themselves every bit as bloodthirsty as their eventual human successors.
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The series begins with three major Elven kingdoms uniting under one banner,
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with Xin'trea as its capital city. The unification is no feat of diplomacy,
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but rather the act of a few scheming, power-mad individuals, specifically,
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Balor and Eredin. The new, unified empire is built on a shaky foundation as a result.
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This period is known in canon as a golden age in Elven history, and yet even then it was a violent,
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tenuous time. By the series' end, the death of an empress, the shattering of dimensional barriers,
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and a peasant uprising all bring the so-called golden age to an ugly end.
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Though they've yet to properly arrive in "The Witcher" to hound Ciri and plague Geralt's dreams,
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the Wild Hunt is one of the greatest threats in the Witcher canon and is likely to end up
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as the series' overarching villains. In the Sapkowski novels, video games,
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and other media, the Wild Hunt is one of the primary groups responsible for Ciri's constant
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pursuit and nomadic lifestyle. They want Ciri's unique power that comes from her Elder Blood,
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a power that is prophesied to either end the world or save it.
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All of their efforts begin in the final moments of "The Witcher: Blood Origin."
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When Balor betrays Eredin and casts him out into an unknown dimension,
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the Elf seems doomed to a slow demise on a dead, alien world. But it's precisely that
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exile that causes Eredin, alongside his band of loyal soldiers, to begin transforming into
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the fearsome Wild Hunt. Eredin's singular determination allows him to survive exile,
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discover the secrets to interdimensional travel, and return to the Continent as the King of the
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Wild Hunt. Using advanced magic found only on other worlds, Eredin and his band evolve into
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something more than simple raiders. Wielding frost magic and commanding elemental beasts,
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they become terrifying figures who haunt the dreams of folk from the Continent and beyond.
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"The Witcher: Blood Origin" establishes the origin for several major moments in the franchise's lore,
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the biggest and most important are the Conjunction and the creation of the first Witcher. But
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the series also finds time to sprinkle in the origins of smaller characters that are destined,
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as more hardcore fans will undoubtedly know, to become central figures in Witcher lore. One such
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figure is Ithlinne, who appears in the series for just a few short scenes as a poor little girl who
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happens to have psychic visions. As it turns out, that little girl eventually grows into the most
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famous seer in history whose most famous prophecy points to Ciri as the cause of Armageddon.
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In the final moments of the series, Ithlinne offers
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Éile the Lark a prophecy regarding her child and its descendants. As ominous as its sounds,
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it's nothing compared to what she'll predict just a few years later. Unlike so many other oracles,
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an alarming amount of Ithlinne's prophecies end up coming true, and so her writings become almost
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sacred texts in the world of the Witcher. Many of the major decisions made by kings, queens,
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and mages in the time of Geralt come as a result of Ithlinne's words and their ever-present doom.
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Another minor character in "The Witcher: Blood Origin" who closes out the series in an impactful
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way is Avallac'h. For the vast majority of the series, the young Elf is merely a simple
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mage's apprentice, a stuttering lackey with no discernible importance beyond his meager
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station. His surprising rise to prominence comes after saving Empress Merwyn from a
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would-be assassin. Merwyn has no idea what events she's setting in motion by promoting
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Avallac'h and granting him access to higher-level magical research,
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nor how he will one day play a major part in the story of Geralt and Ciri.
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"I need you to learn how to open gateways to new worlds."
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"This is insane. I'm going to die."
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As fans of the novels and video games will know, Avallac'h is an ancient Elven mage with
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an unparalleled knowledge of interdimensional travel who eventually becomes Ciri's mentor and
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bodyguard. In the game, "The Witcher III," it's thanks to Avallac'h that Ciri is able
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to evade the Wild Hunt for so long, and it's only through him that she's able to understand
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the truth of her powers and finally master them. By awakening Avallac'h's potential,
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Empress Merwyn unknowingly sets in motion a series of events that culminate in Ciri's
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survival and therefore enable Ciri to play whatever cataclysmic role she's meant to.
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The world of "The Witcher: Blood Origin" seems harsh and violent enough for the series' first
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few episodes, but its finale takes everything to an extreme new level by ushering in the
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Conjunction of the Spheres. The Conjunction is perhaps the single most important event
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in the Witcher canon, and even when shown in the series, its full importance goes untold.
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The finale shows the Conjunction's first moments, describing it as a shattering of space and time,
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a tearing of the veils between worlds, but even that grandiose narration doesn't begin to cover
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it. Almost instantly, the Conjunction transforms the Continent from a place of relative uniformity
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and stability into a terrifying, savage land where dozens to hundreds of different species
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of monsters, humans and elves included, war with each other for supremacy. Gone
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are the days when a peasant's greatest concerns were taxes and blight. Instead,
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they are replaced with the existential terror of vampires, basilisks, kikimores, and leshys. The
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establishment of the various Witcher schools is a direct response to this sudden influx of monstrous
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beasts and without the Conjunction, there would be no Witchers around which to build a franchise.
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As any longtime fan of the "Witcher" franchise can tell you, the real monsters aren't the beings
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with sharp claws, stingers, and rotting flesh, they're the very people around us,
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the regular citizens who suddenly resort to ghoulish acts of violence and selfishness.
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That humanity is the real monster, is one of the central themes that guide every aspect of
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"The Witcher" franchise. In a clever stroke of world-building, Sapkowski chose to introduce
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humans to the Continent at the same time as the more obvious monsters, making the creation of
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the Witchers a dual necessity. In the latter half of "The Witcher: Blood Origin" finale,
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the Conjunction of the Spheres brings humanity to the Continent, forever changing its landscape.
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In the finale, an Elven fisherman stumbles upon a shipwreck whose passengers speak no
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Elvish and bear smooth, rounded ears. Those first human settlers, though unintentionally,
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start a process on the Continent that in many ways resembles an infection, spreading from nation to
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nation, tearing them down to continue feeding and increasing their numbers.
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One of the more curious new additions to the Witcher lore in Netflix's "The Witcher" is the
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presence of the monoliths, strange, black pillars of stone that harbor deep secrets relating to
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magic and the Conjunction of the Spheres. The video games have their own monoliths which seem
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unrelated, and the books have no mention of them at all, making them a novel invention for the
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Netflix series. They pop up again and again in "The Witcher," forming the basis of Istredd's
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research, interfering with Ciri's power, and even summoning several entirely new species of
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monsters. The mysterious structures return in "The Witcher: Blood Origin," and like other important
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facets of the universe, their true nature and origin are revealed more fully in the series.
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It turns out that the monoliths are Dwarven creations, only controlled by the Elves because of
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their conquest of the Dwarves and their territory. Their magic is ancient, predating even Elvish
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magic, and is intrinsically tied to the land and the underlying properties of the dimension itself.
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Just as the monoliths withstood the magical experimentation of the Elves and endured until
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the time of humanity, they also endured throughout the days of Dwarven dominion and Elvish conquest,
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making them some of the only unchanging features of the Continent's landscape.
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The world of the Witcher is chock full of fascinating characters, creatures,
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coalitions, and conflicts that make for excellent story material, but at the end of the day,
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the reason we're here is the Witcher himself, Geralt of Rivia. He and his fellow cat-eyed,
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sword-slinging brethren give the franchise its namesake and are Sapkowski's primary invention.
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"The Witcher: Blood Origin" is fully aware of this fact, which is why much of its story
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is dedicated to the creation, and eventual destruction, of the Continent's first Witcher.
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The first Witcher wasn't created by any organization in response to encroaching
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monsters, and it even predates the Conjunction of the Spheres. Instead,
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the first Witcher is made for killing one single monster. Although the process of mutating
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young boys into Witchers eventually becomes standardized, the first attempt is anything
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but. Fjall is laid on the dirt floor of a cave, given a mix of herbs, and infused with the blood
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of the most convenient monster. The transformation ultimately consumes him and leads to his death,
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and how the process was revived and eventually streamlined is still unknown.
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Bookending "The Witcher: Blood Origin" are prophecies from the young Ithlinne.
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The first prophecy centers around the Lark and her quest, but the second prophecy,
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the one that comes at the tail end of the finale, seems tailor-made for Geralt and
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Ciri. In particular, one invocation of a seed bears a great portent.
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"Carry forth the first note of a song that ends all times."
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This is almost certainly a direct reference to Ciri's Elder Blood
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and her eventual role in the ending of the world.
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This final prophecy of the series echoes the most famous of Ithlinne's predictions in the books and
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games. Known in Geralt's time as simply Ithlinne's Prophecy, it foretells the ending of the world,
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all centered around Elder Blood. Elder Blood flows through Ciri, which makes
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the girl perhaps the greatest asset to anyone in the Spheres who has a stake in Armageddon.
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Like Ithlinne's Prophecy, this prediction from the "Blood Origin" is likely what will set in
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motion the series of events that lead to future generations' fear of those with Elder Blood.
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As "The Witcher: Blood Origin" concludes, Seanchaí implores Jaskier to "sing the Song
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of the Seven," referring to the tale of Fjall, the Lark, and their five companions. She wants
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the famous bard to spread the tale far and wide, rekindling the fire of hope among
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Elvendom that the Lark and company first breathed to life over a millennium ago.
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Tasked by the mysterious and godlike Seanchaí to sing the Song of the Seven
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across the Continent, Jaskier emerges from the series with a new purpose,
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one meant to tip the scales of power toward the side of Elves. Seanchaí's
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nature and ultimate motivations are unclear, so it's difficult to determine exactly why
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she brought this tale back to life or what will come from it, but regardless,
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it will certainly mean more for Jaskier, the sect of elves known as the Scoia'tael,
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and therefore the state of the world for Geralt and Ciri, in future seasons of "The Witcher."
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Although the majority of "The Witcher: Blood Origin" is set long before the time
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of Geralt and Ciri, there are two brief sequences set in their era,
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one at the series' very start and one at its end. In those few moments, we're able
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to learn a little about the current state of the Continent and its warring inhabitants.
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For one thing, we know that the wars in the Northern Continent have for some reason
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attracted attention from extra-dimensional beings, hence Seanchaí's involvement. It's
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also confirmed that Seanchaí will be in more "Witcher" projects going forward. Both she and
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the Song of the Seven are likely to appear in "The Witcher" in future seasons. In addition,
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the scene in which we first find Jaskier says a lot about the current state of things. He
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is apparently regarded as a folk hero, the noble Sandpiper, Rescuer of Elves,
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and is even beloved enough to warrant his rescue from human capture by an entire
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company of Scoia'tael. It seems since we last left Jaskier and the rest of our heroes in "The
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Witcher" Season 2, the Continent has moved forward, elevating Jaskier along with it.
