When Game of Thrones ended its eight-season run final Could it left behind not one void, however two. The HBO sequence started in 2010, three years earlier than Netflix’s House of Cards ushered in a brand new period of streaming sequence. The phenomenon of bingeing a season unexpectedly would chip away — first a little bit then quite a bit — at dwell TV, marking the start of the top for watch-in-real-time shared cultural phenomena. The Recreation of Thrones finale felt like the top of the top. It would very properly be the final sequence that might unite so many viewers directly.
That greater void would possibly by no means be stuffed, however the smaller void, a need for extra fantasy sequence, has been filling up rapidly. Amazon’s ambitious Lord of the Rings series stays someplace within the unknown future, however Netflix has had great success with The Witcher, which, like Thrones, is full of not-for-kids intercourse and violence. The Letter for the King hopes to be the subsequent huge fantasy hit, however for the junior high-and-younger crowd (or actually anybody who likes their fantasy tales with a decrease physique depend, zero beheadings, and solely the tamest form of sensuality).
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The sequence’ title will seemingly be unfamiliar for many English-speaking viewers however that is as a result of the English-speaking world is late to the social gathering on the subject of the Dutch author and illustrator Tonke Dragt. Launched in 1962, The Letter for the King grew to become a phenomenon within the Netherlands and elsewhere, however did not obtain an English translation till 2013. (Now 89, Dragt stays energetic. She launched a ebook in 2017.) The primary of two novels set in the identical fantasy world, The Letter for the King was beforehand tailored right into a 2008 Dutch movie that attempted to squeeze its story right down to characteristic size. Operating six episodes, this new sequence stretches out the story and takes some liberties with the supply materials, enjoying very very like an old style fantasy story refitted within the mould of a streaming-era sequence aimed on the YA crowd. That largely works within the sequence’ favor, nonetheless, from the interesting forged to the suspenseful endings that defy viewers to not play the subsequent episode instantly.
The sequence’ first moments drop us right into a long-ago world during which the northern kingdoms of Unauwen and Dagonaut are winding down a struggle with their southern neighbors in Eviellan because of the pitiless efforts of the Unauwen prince Viridian (Gijs Blom). Eviellan, we quickly study, has designs on strengthening his energy, designs that coincide with an ominous gathering darkness that threatens the land. It is going to take a particular hero to fight this darkness, a narrator reveals early on, one which’s but to emerge.
Amir Wilson, The Letter for the King
Created by William Davies (a veteran author/producer whose credit embrace the whole lot from Johnny English to the primary Find out how to Prepare Your Dragon film), the sequence leans into acquainted fantasy tropes. It is a Chosen One story full of quests and dire enemies and it makes no apologies for it. However it additionally subverts a few of these parts, together with throwing in a little bit of narrative sleight of hand in a later episode designed to tug the rug out from beneath viewers.
The tinkering with system begins even earlier. Its unlikely hero seems to be extraordinarily unlikely. The likable however decidedly unimposing Amir Wilson stars as Tiuri, a teen attempting to develop into a knight and never discovering it simple. Born in Eviellan and adopted by a Dagonaut noble, he looks like a complete washout in comparison with different squires, and just some well-placed bribes from his father permit him to move onto the subsequent spherical. That features spending a solemn, silent evening in a spooky, distant temple among the many different squires, an evening interrupted by the arrival of a web page serving the legendary, however badly wounded, Black Knight with the White Defend. Along with his dying breath, the Black Knight prices Tiuri with taking a letter to the king of the land warning of Viridian’s plans.
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Tiuri’s journey offers the sequence its focus, however a number of different subplots unfold round it (and ultimately converge upon it). He is hunted by the dread Purple Riders but additionally the previous squires who served alongside him, a enjoyable bunch of characters who discover their loyalties starting to shift as they study extra of Tiuri’s story. Alongside the best way he meets the spirited, roguish Lavinia (Ruby Ashbourne Serkis, in a profitable efficiency), who turns into a reluctant ally as he makes his means by harmful terrain, together with a monastery that is dwelling to (possibly) reformed criminals.
With out shedding the adventurous spirit of traditional youngsters’s fantasy writing, Davies makes some good selections to provide the story a recent spin. The Eviellans, Tiuri amongst them, have darker pores and skin than the northern conquerors and the scripts discover notions of otherness and cultural variations, misplaced assumptions, and misunderstandings with out letting these themes get in the best way of the journey. Largely, nonetheless, it clips alongside from one memorable location and motion scene to a different as first Tiuri, then Tirui and Lavinia, face perils that vary from the relentless Purple Riders to a touring magician who senses the presence of actual magic when he nears them — a component that turns into more and more essential because the sequence heads towards a finale that leaves the door open for future installments.
In the event that they match this season, they’d be fairly welcome. The Letter for the King will not supply many surprises to veteran fantasy followers, however they’re more likely to be received over by the charismatic forged and spectacular manufacturing values. (It may’t match Recreation of Thrones, however the New Zealand and Czech Republic areas supply loads of sweeping vistas all the identical.) And newcomers to fantasy sequence ought to be spellbound by all of the clashing swords and misty mountains. It is a great, unthreatening gateway to larger, darker, fictional worlds.
TV Information Score: 3/5
The Letter for the King premieres Friday, Mar. 20 on Netflix.
Gijs Blom, The Letter for the King