Sometimes a monster is the only way to kill a monster. In The Witcher series, Geralt of Rivia is one of the few witchers left who were created to kill the monsters that infected the world after the Conjunction of Spheres. The type of warrior is feared and not easy to come by as the elixir used to create them was long lost. Declan De Barra’s The Witcher: Blood Origin dives into the creation of the prototype witcher and who was the first of its kind.
[WARNING: This article contains spoilers for The Witcher: Blood Origin.]
Syndril and Zacaré are responsible for the first witcher serum in ‘The Witcher: Blood Origins’
When Seanchaí comes to Jaskier to retell the story of the elven people in The Witcher: Blood Origin, she entices him with the story of the first witcher. In the first three episodes, the seven warriors come together to stop the new monarch led by Merwyn (Mirren Mack) and Chief Druid Balor (Lenny Henry) and seek revenge. To infiltrate Xin’trea and stop them, they must kill the beast brought from another world by Balor.
Fjall (Laurence O’Fuarain), Éile (Sophia Brown), Scian (Michelle Yeoh), Callan (Huw Novelli), Zacaré (LIzzie Annis), and Syndril (Zach Wyatt) meet Meldof (Francesca Mills) after narrowly escaping a monster from another world and see Balor’s horrid monster flying in the sky. In The Witcher: Blood Origin Episode 3, they try to find a way to kill Balor’s beast, and Syndril proposes a dangerous idea.
He proposes merging a particular magic with the heart of the monster from the gateway to “become one with it.” Éile does not understand what he means, and Syndril explains, “I merge the beast’s biological essence with mine to gain its strength and power.” But he explains he can not do it alone and looks to his celestial sister Zacaré. In The Witcher: Blood Origin, celestial twins are born in the same place, at the same time, under the same moon, and harbor unique magical abilities.
At Syndril’s request, Zacaré looks shaken and leaves. In a vague story, it seems that the celestial twins once tried to do the same experiment to save their mother. But they were forced to kill her. Later, Éile and Fjall tell Syndril a warrior needs to merge with the beast, not a mage. They propose one of them will do it, but Zacaré warns they will lose who they are. To make the serum, they need feainnewedd flowers, mandrake root, wolfsbane, corpse nettle, and the beast’s heart.
Fjall becomes the first witcher in ‘The Witcher: Blood Origin’
Fans notice that Fjall and Éile have developed a bond during their time together. Éile wants to do the ritual due to Ithlinne’s prophecy and to atone for her past. The characters decide to have a farewell party in case the ritual fails, and that night, Fjall and Éile kiss.
The following morning, Éile wakes up to him gone. Back in the cave, Fjall has Syndril and Zacaré begin the ritual. They give him two potions to prepare him for the ritual, and he withers in agony. The final potion is black and thick and begins the process. Zacaré uses her elemental magic to call mother earth for power using the monster’s heart. Vines emerge from the heart and strick into Fjall, turning his veins black, and he becomes white like snow.
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They believe the ritual failed and Fjall is dead. But he opens his eyes open to reveal bright yellow pupils, the trademark of a witcher. The Witcher: Blood Origin has made Fjall, a warrior of the Dog Clan, into the first prototype witcher. Seanchaí monologues the process is the Trial of Grasses. A changed Fjall tells Éile he can smell her blood and has trouble controlling a monstrous change.
When Fjall emerges from the cave, Seanchaí monologues that the air shifts in Fjall’s presence. He has heightened abilities and stops a dagger thrown by Scian in the blink of an eye. Like Geralt in The Witcher, Fjall’s eyes turn black when filled with immense power and rage.
What happens to Fjall in the prequel finale?
The Witcher: Blood Origin gives a backstory into why and who was the first witcher. But as Barra has explained, Fjall is only the prototype to a longer history of witchers. This begs the question of what happens to him in The Witcher: Blood Origin finale. The characters trick their way into Xin’trea, and Fjall goes after Balor’s beast.
While at a disadvantage, Éile throws a dagger into the beast’s eye to save Fjall. But when the beast knocks her away, rage consumes Fjall, and his body sei-transforms into a muscular beast. The beast is slain, but the effects of the witcher transformation in The Witcher: Blood Origin has made Fjall a rabid beast out for blood.
Éile sings her song to calm him, and it works. Fjall makes a choice. He tells Éile he will wait for her “in the great halls of Caer Aenwyn” before the beast takes hold again. Éile has no choice and kills him. In the present, Jaskier is shocked to learn an elf was the first witcher.
The Witcher: Blood Origin is available on Netflix.
