Dota: Dragon's Blood

Dota: Dragon's Blood
Book 1 promotional poster, featuring the lead character Davion
Based on	Dota 2 by Valve
Developed by	Ashley Edward Miller
Screenplay by	Ashley Edward Miller Steven Melching Ashley Halloran Mitch Iverson Amy Chu
Story by	Ashley Edward Miller Bryan Konietzko
Directed by	Park So Young Kim Eui Jeong Han Seung Woo
Art director	Kim Il Kwang
Voices of	Yuri Lowenthal Lara Pulver Tony Todd Troy Baker
Composer	Dino Meneghin
Country of origin	South Korea United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	16
Production
Executive producers	Ashley Edward Miller Ki Hyun Ryu
Producers	Hang Cheong Il Eugene Lee Steven Melching
Editor	Kim Jun Hee
Running time	26–28 minutes
Production companies	Studio Mir Kaiju Boulevard
Animation services	Production Reve (season 1)
Original release
Network	Netflix
Release	March 25, 2021 (2021-03-25) – present (present)

Dota: Dragon's Blood is an animated epic fantasy streaming television series. It is based on Dota 2, a 2013 MOBA video game developed and published by Valve. The show is produced by Studio Mir in association with Ashley Edward Miller's company Kaiju Boulevard. The series premiered on Netflix on March 25, 2021.

Plot

Set in a fantasy world of magic and mysticism, the story follows a Dragon Knight, Davion who hunts and slays dragons to make the world a safer place. In a battle between demon and dragons, an elder dragon merges his soul with Davion. Along with a moon princess Mirana, Davion pursues a journey to stop the demon Terrorblade who wants to kill all dragons and collect their souls.

Voice cast and characters

• Yuri Lowenthal as Davion: a Dragon Knight who hates dragons for massacring his whole family as a boy. His witnessing Terrorblade's evil forces him to ally with the Eldewyrms and aids Mirana and Marci on their quest.
• Lara Pulver as Princess Mirana: the exiled princess of the Nightsilver Woods, she goes on a quest with Marci, her mute bodyguard, to recover the stolen lotuses of her patron goddess, Selemene.
• Tony Todd as Slyrak the Ember Eldwyrm: one of the Eight Great Dragons, Slyrak is a proud and destructive dragon, using Davion as a host to stay alive and battle Terrorblade.
• Troy Baker as Invoker: a powerful magical Elven Sage who is pivotal to Mirana's quest. He hates Selemene for her role in the death of his child. Makes a deal with Terrorblade for his daughter's soul revival. Hidden antagonist manipulating everyone to kill Selemene and six of the remaining eldyrwyrm dragons.
• Freya Tingley as Fymryn: a young Elven girl who steals Lotuses from Nightsilver Woods because of a prophecy about her Moon goddess, Mene.
• Josh Keaton as Bram: Davion's squire, now serving Kaden in "curing" Davion of Slyrak's possessing him.
• Kari Wahlgren as Luna: once known as Scourge of the Plains, she commits war crimes upon the Elves who refuse to worship Selemene.
• Alix Wilton Regan as Selemene: the goddess of the Moon, she is an antagonist to the Elven Enclaves who refuse to worship her and declares war on them following Fymryn's theft of her Lotuses. Egotistical and sacrificial of her subjects with extreme prejudice on all who don't love her, even her own daughter.
• Stephanie Jacobsen as Drysi: leader of the Elven Resistance against the Dark Moon Order's colonization and conversion of her people under Selemene's zealots.
• Anson Mount as Kaden: the only Dragon Knight to survive fighting an Eldewyrm, he hunts for Slyrak who killed 29 of his friends in a battle 20 years; before the series and has successfully killed each type of dragon.
• JB Blanc as Terrorblade: The main antagonist of the series, a demon aiming to kill the dragons in a plan to reshape the universe as he desires.

Episodes

Series overview

Book	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
1	8		March 25, 2021 (2021-03-25)	start
2	8		January 18, 2022 (2022-01-18)	start

Book 1 (2021)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Screenplay by	Original release date
1	1	"What the Thunder Said"	Park So Young	Ashley Edward Miller	March 25, 2021 (2021-03-25)
After Dragon Knight Davion slays a dragon and finds the nest, he discovers the dragons killed each other in a mad fervor. Soon, finding a chasm made by an Eldewyrm, Davion instead heads into town to celebrate the dragon he slew and comfort the citizens. At the tavern, he encounters Mirana, who meets an Elf to direct her to her objective in the Hauptstadt Black Market. When the Elf is exposed, Davion pretends to kill him, surprising Mirana but relieving the tavern's patrons. The next morning, Davion's squire Bram informs him that Captain Frühling went to confront an Eldewyrm, so Davion races to stop him while Bram portals to HQ to inform the guild masters. Frühling slays the Eldewyrm, Uldorak, and consumes his soul, but Davion recognizes his demonic possession just as Ember Eldwyrm, Slyrak, appears. The demon, Terrorblade, possesses Uldorak's corpse to battle Slyrak to a stalemate before Davion slays Uldorak, but Uldorak's soul is lost to Terrorblade. The mortally wounded Slyrak asks for an honorable death and kills Davion in a blood-based ritual. Later, Mirana finds a naked Davion alive but passed out in the forest and decides to help him at her aide Marci's insistence.
2	2	"Princess of Nothing"	Kim Eui Jeong	Steven Melching	March 25, 2021 (2021-03-25)
With Davion being disoriented from the battle's aftermath, he was ambushed and robbed by bandits on the road, awakening the next day with Mirana and Marci. Unable to remember details of the night before, he identifies Mirana as the Nightsilver Woods' Princess, a sore subject for her. Arriving in Hauptstadt and rooming at a small inn, Davion regurgitates a ring identified by a bandit belonging to his compatriot who robbed Davion two nights earlier, slain along with his troop. As the bandit swears vengeance, Davion tries buying weapons, but none will sell to him given the threat upon him. When Mirana and Marci reach the Black Market, their Elf contact reveals he betrayed them, and they are captured. Escaping later, the Elf is coerced into naming their next lead, a Shopkeeper who gives Mirana a gem and directs them to a Sage in the Broken Peaks. As the bandits nearly kill Davion, he transforms into a humanoid Slyrak, regaining composure upon finding his Dragon Blade. Traumatized by his transformation, Mirana still helps him escape before city guards arrest him, and they set out seeking the Sage for answers. Elsewhere, Elf girl Fymryn reveals she stole the Lotuses.
3	3	"Neverwhere Land"	Park So Young	Ashley Halloran	March 25, 2021 (2021-03-25)
Davion is troubled by his hidden form, and continues to journey with Mirana to find the Sage. Fymryn and her friends find the sorcerer of the prophecy, but are cast out before being attacked by Luna. On a snowy mountain, Mirana is separated from the group and encounters cannibalistic zombie creatures controlled by a glowing red, evil power.
4	4	"The Monster at the End of This Book"	Kim Eui Jeong	Mitch Iverson	March 25, 2021 (2021-03-25)
Mirana and Davion reach a Dragon Knight fortress in the mountains. Dragon Knight Kaden reveals his quest for revenge against Slyrak which leaves Davion in a conflicted position. Invoker confronts Selemene, whose desire for control threatens to expand the conflict of the Nightsilver Woods.
5	5	"The Fire Sermon"	Park So Young	Steven Melching	March 25, 2021 (2021-03-25)
Following Davion's fight with Kaden, Slyrak goes on a rampage while Davion's consciousness is trapped in communion with the other Elder Dragons. Mirana and Marci reach the Mage's Valley, but must contend with attacks from Slyrak to reach their destination. They are able to locate the Mage's Tower by looking through the Shopkeeper's Gem, possibly referencing the Gem of True Sight of the Dota 2 game.
6	6	"Knight, Death and the Devil"	Kim Eui Jeong	Ashley Halloran & Mitch Iverson	March 25, 2021 (2021-03-25)
Luna serves as Selemene's weapon in the battle to subdue the rebel enclaves of the Nightsilver Woods and force the inhabitants to declare their loyalty to the Dark Moon. Mirana and Davion discuss their situations with Invoker, who tasks them with returning the stolen lotuses to Selemene.
7	7	"Speak the Words"	Park So Young	Amy Chu	March 25, 2021 (2021-03-25)
Mirana, Marci, Davion and Fymryn travel together to return the stolen lotuses, while their conflicting agendas cause tension. Under attack from dragons, they accept the need to work together for the time being at least. In flashbacks, Invoker's past connection with Selemene is detailed, and his obsession with finding a way to save their daughter.
8	8	"A Game of Chess"	Kim Eui Jeong	Ashley Edward Miller	March 25, 2021 (2021-03-25)
All forces converge as the heroes return the lotuses to the Nightsilver Woods, with Mirana preparing to return to her noble position and Davion contemplating them parting ways. The revelation of the lotuses unexpectedly results in the Dark Moon's power being blocked, leading to an uprising among the rebel elves, while at the same time, Dragon Knights appear to capture Davion. Selemene herself is attacked as Terrorblade makes his return in an attempt to seize control.

Book 2 (2022)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Screenplay by	Original release date
9	1	"Nothing with Nothing"	Park So Young	Ashley Edward Miller	January 18, 2022 (2022-01-18)
10	2	"My Sword, My Life"	Han Cheong Il	Steven Melching	January 18, 2022 (2022-01-18)
11	3	"The Lady of Situations"	Han Seung Woo	Ashley Halloran	January 18, 2022 (2022-01-18)
12	4	"Desolate and Empty the Sea"	Park So Young	Mitch Iverson	January 18, 2022 (2022-01-18)
13	5	"The Burial of the Dead"	Han Seung Woo	Ashley Halloran & Mitch Iverson	January 18, 2022 (2022-01-18)
14	6	"The Hyacinth Girl"	Park So Young	Amy Chu	January 18, 2022 (2022-01-18)
15	7	"The Violet Hour"	Han Seung Woo	Steven Melching	January 18, 2022 (2022-01-18)
16	8	"Unreal City"	Park So Young	Ashley Edward Miller	January 18, 2022 (2022-01-18)

Production

The series was announced by Netflix on 17 February 2021. It is a joint collaboration between South Korean studio Mir and American company Kaiju Boulevard. South Korean studio Production Reve provided the animation services for Book One while Studio Mir took over the animation for Book Two. The animation style is a blend of anime and Western animation.

Release

Dota: Dragon's Blood debuted on March 25, 2021 on Netflix. A teaser trailer was released on February 19, followed by a full trailer on March 1. A promotional video, titled "Basshunter Dota Revival", was released on YouTube alongside the show's debut. In it, Swedish musician Basshunter is singing "Vi sitter i Ventrilo och spelar DotA" while playing Dota 2, with scenes from Dragon's Blood shown in between. During The International 2021 immediately following a trailer for season two, a video with 2d animation from Studio Mir was shown revealing show original character Marci was being added to DOTA 2 as a playable hero. Marci was added to the game as a part of gameplay update 7.30e on October 28.

A second season was announced on April 19, 2021. Originally set for release on January 6, 2022, it is now scheduled to premiere on January 18.

Reception

For the first season, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 75% approval rating, based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 7.60/10. The website's critics' consensus reads: "While knowledge of the game isn't necessary, it might have been nice if Dota: Dragon's Blood had translated more of its narrative prowess to the small screen." The audience score is 85%, based on 253 ratings (as of 2022-01-29).

External links

• Dota: Dragon's Blood on Netflix
• Dota: Dragon's Blood at IMDb