The Witcher franchise is a crown jewel of polish literature. Every single time there was an adaptation in the works, whether it was a Polish movie or a TV show from the 2000s, or a Netflix show, people were waiting to watch it. As of now, due to the backlash of the Netflix live-action series, every new project set in this universe, no matter live-action or animated is not that awaited before the premiere.
In the case of The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, which is the newest Netflix project and an adaptation of one of the short stories A Little Sacrifice by Andrzej Sapkowski, we can immediately see that it is a bold new entry to this universe. Yet for a franchise with such a dedicated fanbase, that is starting to find more “buts” and “nays” regarding the Netflix Witcher series, is this a good project? Does it do justice to Sapkowski’s original story, or does it lean too heavily on trying to do an original blockbuster spectacle? And perhaps most intriguingly, does it connect to the Netflix series? Let’s dive deep into the story, and let’s check it out.
[Warning: Spoilers from The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep are below!]
The story of The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep opens with a dark and mysterious prologue that sets the tone for the rest of the story. A fishing village is plagued by unexplainable disappearances of its inhabitants. The opening sequence is a fight scene between Geralt (voiced by Doug Cockle, a.k.a. voice of Geralt from The Witcher 3 game) and a monster called Allamorax. They fight and find themselves in a water cave, where there are Sirens who tell Geralt that this creature is not dangerous, but hungry, and it does not kill people, only their food. Geralt spares the beast, and the scene transitions to a nearby tavern where Geralt and Jaskier (voiced by Joey Batey) try to eat something, but they are too poor to since no monster was slain.
This prologue is meant to show that this movie is trying to set itself between episodes 5 and 6 of season 1 of the show. This is known from the books, but for the people who have not read them, it’s a nice clarification of what they should expect from the potential future appearances of certain characters. We can see a flashback to when Geralt arrives at some chief’s hut, we can see that Yennefer (voiced by Anya Chalotra) is already there, and they talk and do other things, but we quickly find out that Geralt doesn’t want to think about Yennefer anymore, and we go back to the tavern.
Geralt and Jaskier are in Oxenfurt, and they’re trying to make some money to have something to eat and drink. We can see them travel to a nearby show where artists play with fire and dance. There we meet Essi Daven (voiced by Christina Wren) who is Jaskier’s childhood friend.
We find out a little bit about their childhood, and to my surprise, they revealed that “Jaskier Alfred Pankratz, Viscount of Lettenhove” (as he commonly and humbly presents himself) is just a poor kid who tried to cut himself off from his past. After this revelation, Jaskier and Essi start to sing, as people start to welcome King Usveldt, Zelest, and Prince Agdoval. After this, we see that a poor villager gets to the party and dies. But before he does, he says that it was the creatures from the sea who did this to him. Which immediately leads to the suspicions about the titular legendary/mythical sirens.
Geralt wants to do everything in his power to prevent the war and let innocent people die. He agrees to help before it gets worse. He and Jaskier go to talk with the water creatures. But Geralt is attacked by Vodnik, and he almost kills him, yet he stops to use his escape to lead him to the people who hired him.
As the story goes on, we learn more and more about the mysterious sea creatures. We find out their motives and real quest in this whole prelude to war with humans. But nothing is as it seems. Some things are still mysterious, and I won’t spoil them for you. But when Geralt finds out what is going on, he confronts the real evil person and, of course, as in situations like this, he has to fight for his life and the life of his friends.
The whole story and true motive of everything that’s happening can be summarized in words love, treason, hatred, mistakes of the past, and poetism. In the end, everything is resolved in a very unexpected way. The conflict had to be resolved, as we don’t hear anything about it later in the books, games, and even in the show. But you’d be surprised about, for what and why everything that happened, happened.
It’s all very Shakespearean, and it all really fits this universe, but unfortunately, it’s not that interesting, and there are far more worthwhile stories to tell. Yet, I can’t say that I don’t appreciate the way this story was told and how well some aspects of it were interpreted.
Characters and adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s book
Geralt’s arc in Sirens of the Deep is one of the most interesting parts of this movie. While his stoic and iconic personality remains unchanged, his journey forces him to confront the moral problems of his work as well as his own demons. As for this animated portrayal of Geralt, it was nice to see both versions of him, the live-action one mixed with the one from the games. You can easily see that he is a good person who’s always in the middle of situations where there’s usually no good exit option.
As for Jaskier, his past and childhood “friends” he meets once again are a pretty worthy inclusion to the story as they are there for something. Both Zelest and Essi have their importance to the whole outcome of the story and the morality that comes with it. The sirens/water creatures themselves are bland and not that interesting. I wasn’t engaged in this part of this story as all we’ve seen were things that at one point didn’t make sense only to try to use them somehow to make sense in the end. That did not work.
Sirens of the Deep adapts Andrzej Sapkowski’s short story A Little Sacrifice, but the similarities are surface-level at best. The film uses the idea of sirens, romances, and interactions but does not explore them. They are sometimes cut out without context and put in the movie just to be there for the sake of the story. The plot compared to the book seems shallow. Some changes from the short story did not make it better for some characters.
Geralt’s short romance with Essi has been completely trivialized and made into one short sexual interaction without any emotional impact. Essi in this version is a local bard, but in the books, she was a legendary bard who could’ve been easily compared with Jaskier, when it comes to quality and popularity. It’s a shame, and it hurts me a little because all of it could have been done better, and when I think of it, animation is not the best way to adapt this short, yet complex and detailed story.
Final thoughts on Netflix’s The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep is an ambitious and visually stunning adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s story, although another 30 minutes could have made it so much better. It has beautiful landscapes/regions, beautifully choreographed fight scenes, it’s mythologically accurate (Slavic mythology) and it shows that it can stand on its own feet; barely and wobbly, but it can.
What do you think of Sirens of the Deep? Let us know on social media @mycosmiccircus or TheCosmicCircus.com on Bluesky!
The Witcher Book Review: Rozdroże Kruków (Ravens’ Crossroads) by Andrzej Sapkowski
Game Review: Mark of the Deep is a Captivating Pirate Adventure
