For everyone — from the 5th century, post-Romano Celts in Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany, to Henry VIII, J.R.R. Tolkien, and even JFK, to writers who’ve given the legend some necessary updates (e.g., Mike Barr, Tracy Deonn, and Kiersten White) — Arthur has come in a different form, fought for a different cause, and served a different set of ideals. The revolutionary, meta version of “Arthur” offered by “Blood Origin” is what most sets the series apart, connects it to its source material, and frees it from the expectations and confines of traditional fantasy TV. Or at least, it should have.
In “Blood Origin,” it isn’t a king, a warrior, or even a more modern, reluctant hero that comes to humanity’s rescue, but story itself. And it’s the power of storytelling — not an individual, a fabled table, or a holy grail — that serves as the legacy of our various “knights” and their mutual quest. Hence the bounty on their heads and repeated references to the danger their very existence poses to those in power: “That’s a heroic folktale waiting to happen,” as Lenny Henry’s Balor says.
Let’s not forget that “Blood Origin” isn’t the story of a group of bickering outcasts who band together to defeat an oppressive evil against all odds. It’s the story of Minnie Driver’s Seanchai telling the long-forgotten story of a group of bickering outcasts who banded together to defeat (etc., etc.), so that our “contemporary” bard, Joey Batey’s Jaskier, can use the power of that story to inspire hope. This story-in-a-story technique is extremely important, for several reasons.
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