Stream It Or Skip It: ‘DOTA Dragon’s Blood Book 3’ on Netflix, a Fulfilling Continuation of a Video Game Fantasy

The world of >Dota 2 can be complicated, especially if you’ve never spent any time in the game itself. Valve and Studio Mir sought to untangle some of the more complicated parts of the narrative with Dota: Dragon’s Blood, and for the most part, succeeded with Book 1. Book 2 was a bit more of a confusing approach to storytelling, but now that Book 3 has arrived, it seems Studio Mir is working to correct the mistakes of the past. 

Dota: Dragon’s Blood Book 3 begins with an intriguing enough opening and should hook viewers who may have been ready to drop the show after an erratic second season. The Dota lore isn’t any less confusing, but as the series seems to be on the precipice of a final season, at least this last batch of episodes feels like the beginning of an appropriate sendoff. 

DOTA: DRAGON’S BLOOD BOOK 3: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: We hear a woman screaming in the distance as the camera pans over a cosmic void. A dragon breaks through what appears to be glass and angrily demands that the chilling Terrorblade return the Pillars of Creation to the way they were. Terrorblade reveals a large spectral army of soldiers and additional dragons as both sides are locked in combat. 

The Gist: The world of Dota: Dragon’s Blood follows a Dragon Knight named Davion (Yuri Lowenthal), who hunts dragons along with a series of other knights. After a brutal battle between demon Terrorblade (JB Blanc) and the Eldwurm Slyrâk (Tony Todd), the dragon ends up merging his soul with Davion’s. This affords Davion a massive amount of power as he works to defeat Terrorblade once and for all to keep him from collecting the dragon souls of the cosmos. His goal? Remake the world the way he wants it to be. 

Davion and his friends, including Mirana, the Moon Princess of the Nightsilver Woods (Lara Pulver), now the new God-Empress of the Sun, work together to keep this harrowing reality from happening. As of this episode, Terrorblade has become one with Drysi (Stephany Jacobson), the leader of the Elven Resistance against the Dark Moon Order’s continued colonization of her people. 

Davion continues to fight against the world’s dragons, who remain “crazy”, despite the events of Book 2. It’s been three months since Slyrâk has communicated with him in terms of any sort of dreams, predictions, or anything. And now it looks like remaining dragons are converging at a single point: the Broken Peaks. That’s where the story will begin to unfurl for this season. 

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Fans of Dota: Dragon’s Blood will undoubtedly draw comparisons to the other video game adaptation, Castlevania, as well as the Western fantasy series The Legend of Vox Machina. This series features far less humor than those two adventures, but it does retain plenty of gore, violence, and adult language. Those who have seen The Legend of Korra will also find the animation familiar, as Studio Mir handled that series as well. 

Our Take: There’s plenty to love about Dota: Dragon’s Blood Book 3, but much of that hinges on whether or not you’ve seen the other two seasons. This first episode is a direct continuation of what took place at the end of Book 2, and there is absolutely no attempt made at getting viewers up to speed. 

However, the stakes feel higher than ever, and it’s clear there are some extremely delicate battles to be fought this time around. Luckily, Book 3 combines plenty of character development with carnage, so there’s never too much of either thing to bore you. This is a dark and harrowing world where there’s a true sense of danger that permeates every scene. If you’ve been watching from the beginning, thinking about losing any one of the cast is going to sting. 

And while there’s a male protagonist at the center of it all, there’s no shortage of women making things happen and even fighting on the front lines. That’s part of what makes the Dragon’s Blood story such an intriguing one, especially when the fate of an entire world hinges on what four different women decide to do in the heat of the moment – dragon souls be damned. Now that’s refreshing. 

Sex and Skin: There’s no sexual content, but there are occasionally paper doll-like silhouettes of some female characters with their chests on display. However, they’re no more graphic than when someone in Sailor Moon transforms.

Parting Shot: The elf Fymryn (Freya Tingley) appeals to the aged, now dying goddess Selemene (Alix Wilton Regan), asking her to work alongside her instead of taking her Spark. Selemene passes away in her arms, whispering “Praise the moon of Mene.” Fymryn’s ask was all for naught as the screen fades out — will she finally be able to fulfill the prophecy she’s been working toward?

Sleeper Star: Michael Dorn of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame lends his booming, recognizable voice to Asar, one of Mirana’s guards. He lends the right amount of edge and caution to the intimidating character, who wants the best for Mirana and works to protect her, even when an acquaintance Mirana knows appears at the castle. He doesn’t have a lot of screen time in this episode, but his presence enhances the scene he’s in to a great degree. 

Most Pilot-y Line: When Mirana meets with Luna (Kari Wahlgren) to bring her into the fold as a knight, she consoles Luna with this simple line: “We will work to rebuild our home, then heal our broken world.” It’s clear this season will be a time of great war and loss, and then the restoration of all that was sacrificed will come. This episode feels as though it’s on the precipice of something huge for the series, but what will everyone have to sacrifice in return?

Our Call: STREAM IT. Dota: Dragon’s Blood Book 3 starts strong with an arresting continuation of the previous set of episodes. You’re going to need to have seen every single one if you want to make heads or tails of what’s happening, but if you catch up and go in fresh from the previous narrative threads, you’ll find plenty that’s satisfying here. It’s a great adaptation of the often confusing Dota story, and if you want it distilled into a digestible chunk you can take in when you have some down time, this series is the best way to do it. 

Brittany Vincent has been covering video games and tech for over a decade for publications like G4, Popular Science, Playboy, Variety, IGN, GamesRadar, Polygon, Kotaku, Maxim, GameSpot, and more. When she’s not writing or gaming, she’s collecting retro consoles and tech. Follow her on Twitter: @MolotovCupcake.