https://www.cybersport.ru/dota-2/articles/dota-krov-drakona-glazami-fanata-doty-posle-prosmotra-vy-srazu-zaidete-v-igru-i-piknete-mirana

In the first English-language reviews that appeared a few days before the release of the series, journalists unanimously spoke about the intricate storylines and the need to revise the series several times. In my opinion, these statements are at least controversial. The narrative in the series turned out to be quite intelligible, without an abundance of flashbacks, abrupt transitions between plot arcs and filler scenes. Therefore, to ask the question “What exactly is happening on the screen now?” I have never had to.

However, it is still very difficult to understand the global concept of the series. How the universe works, Invoker tried to explain to the audience. It turned out quite in the spirit of fairy tales: “The death of Koscheev is at the end of the needle, and the needle is in the egg, the egg is in the duck, the duck is in the hare, the hare is in the chest …”. Most of the laws of the universe remained in the shadows – after watching eight episodes, it will not be possible to compose a clear picture of the Dota world and its rules. That is, the very sequence of events is clearly structured and understandable, but their background and consequences are not. In the series, there are enough inclusions of esotericism and religious motives – in fact, the main storyline is built on the conflict between such Old Believers and Christians. The motive of the nature of faith, blind worship, the sinfulness of the gods themselves and the consequences of fanaticism, though not in the foreground, but often overshoots.

However, the main advantage of the series was precisely the characters, both well known to us from matchmaking, and completely new or only mentioned in the lore. The stories of Dragon Knight, Mirana, who, thanks to her charisma and charm, may well claim to be the main character, and Luna correspond to the description in Dota 2.

Dragon Knight, or Davion, turned out to be such a beautiful knight in shining armor. He is a little naive, shy at times, simple-minded and funny. However, he does not turn into “Ivan the Fool”. In addition, he was rewarded with a sense of humor and made that still a womanizer. In the first episodes, Davion reminded me of Geralt at all: he even has a squire who praises the exploits of his master in taverns. The inner world of Dragon Knight and the hero’s moral orientations were revealed through his tragic past, which led him to the brotherhood of dragons, and his romantic attachment to Mirana. The result is an extremely attractive, albeit a little comical character who wants to empathize.

Mirana turned out to be almost the perfect character within the anime: cute, attractive, ironic and courageous. Moreover, throughout the series, the hero experiences an internal conflict caused by a crisis of faith and a reassessment of values. Her inner experiences are best described by this dialogue with Davion:

“- Mirana, I’m on your side.

– If you told me what this side is, I would be grateful to you … “

Mirana also has a silent companion with inimitable facial expressions – she snores sweetly and skillfully beats enemies. Believe me, in a couple of days her face will be on the avatars of all your teammates in matchmaking.

Despite the fact that the description of Luna in Dota 2 says that she is a merciless and unwavering defender of the Silver Woods, I think many saw her as more of a positive character. In the series, this notion quickly collapses after several scenes in which the huntress, without a shadow of a doubt, arranges the genocide of the “Old Believer elves”. Luna has turned out to be one of the most controversial and controversial characters. Her fanatical devotion to the goddess Elune, internal dualism, preserved after the adoption of a new faith, a cruel beastly essence that is trying to break out, and at the same time a sincere desire to protect her people are forced to carefully follow every scene with her participation.

But, perhaps, the most curious hero of the series so far is Invoker. Here he is less arrogant and narcissistic than in the game. The authors humanized the image of Invoker, prescribed clear and strong motivation for him. Now this is not a cardboard great magician throwing Sun Strike, but a hero with his pain, a broken heart, a sense of compassion and the concept of justice.

The introduction of the first series talks about the formation of the universe, the struggle between Light and Darkness, which grew into chaos (a subtle description of any game in matchmaking). To get rid of chaos and remake the world “in its own image and likeness” (another biblical reference) is decided by Terrorblade. However, what this transformation means, what the hero wants to turn the universe into, in the first eight episodes, we never know. For the time being, Terrorblade was simply labeled a villain, which Valve had awarded him a long time ago: “The demon destroyed the fractal walls of the dungeon and broke free in order to instill fear into the entire universe.”

At the beginning of the series, Terrorblade is in many ways reminiscent of the Shadow Demon – an insidious tempter of human souls, playing on their weaknesses and desires. However, later, after 40 minutes spent in the forest farming creeps, he appears in a more familiar form of a killing machine. One cannot but add to the authors of the scenes in which Terrorblade uses the Reflection and Metamorphosis abilities – it looks spectacular. In terms of drawing style, the series is generally good at chamber scenes, dialogues or small skirmishes. However, epic battles look dull and somewhat cardboard.

There are few cameos and references in the series. In several scenes, for example, you can see an ogre, very much reminiscent of the one on which the Alchemist sits, or someone from the Elder Titan tribe, only he is far from being a titan who stood at the origins of the world, but an ordinary bandit. A small reference, for example, is the scene in the tavern where Mirana orders a pint of the “necessarily cold” ice-river – also called the ice-covered homeland of Tusk. But the most noticeable and, probably, important from the plot point of view, was the scene with the merchant – there is only one in the plot, but it immediately makes it clear that the knowledge and power of this character are almost limitless.

The first eight episodes of DOTA: Dragon’s Blood are unlikely to answer the many fan questions about the game’s lore. However, they have become a very interesting seed for the future. But the main thing now is that the series turned out to be spectacular and exciting. To be honest, already on the fifth or sixth episode, I felt a great desire to enter Dota 2 and play Mirana. It is difficult to say whether Dragon’s Blood will attract new users to Dota, but the love for the game of the existing audience will definitely increase.