‘The Letter for the King’ is Essentially ‘The Witcher’ For Kids

Netflix’s new fantasy series The Letter for the King is essentially The Witcher, but for kids.

To be clear, The Letter for the King doesn’t have any of the rampant nudity, incessant profanity, or hellacious gore that made The Witcher a hit. However, it does have a lush medieval setting, convoluted world-building, magical rituals, sassy damsels, stern swordsmen, and yes, a bard. So if you’re looking for a good escapist binge that you can enjoy with the teens, tweens, and very well-adjusted kiddos cramped up in your house, The Letter for the King might just be it.

The Letter for the King is an adaptation of a popular Dutch novel of the same name (which is De Brief voor de Koning in Dutch). In that book, a young aspiring knight named Tuiri breaks the novices’ vigil to help a man in need. He then gets caught up in a heroic quest to carry a letter across the land to the king. Along the way, he meets a number of fascinating characters and teams up with a kid named Piak, but none of that matters because the Netflix series is a super loose adaptation of author Tonke Dragt’s novel.

In Netflix’s adaptation of The Letter for the King, Tuiri is indeed an aspiring knight. However, the show adds a whole extra layer to his background: he and his mother are refugees from a southern kingdom called Eviellen. The kingdom has a rich history of magic and recently was conquered by the nefarious Prince Viridian of Unauwen. There’s a whole thing about a prophecy and Tuiri has magical powers, and yeah, it’s all slightly less straightforward than Draght’s book. However, what doesn’t change is the choice Tuiri makes. Rather than stick to an overnight vigil with other novices, he breaks the rules and answers a call for help. He then finds an honorable knight being felled by rival soldiers and finds himself entrusted with the delivery of a mysterious message to the King of Unauwen, Prince Viridian’s father. Thus starts an epic quest full of magic, mayhem, and hard-to-spell names.

The Letter for the King also deviates from the book in terms of bulking up its female characters. A character named King Dagonaut is replaced with Queen Alienor (Emilie Cocquerel), his daughter, a sly, canny leader trying to figure out the best way to work and the most interesting novice is a scrappy young woman named Iona (Thaddea Graham). However the biggest change might be that Lavinia, the maiden who briefly helps Tuiri on his quest is turned into his partner-in-crime. Cynical and bent on her own survival, Lavinia is the opposite of Tuiri’s trusting innocent. Together they become a team, and it’s honestly one of the best parts of the show. Lavinia is played by Ruby Serkis, daughter of Andy Serkis, who pops up here as her hilariously opportunistic father. There’s also a couple of huge twists in later episodes that might reframe how you see all of these female characters.

The Letter for the King strays from its source material, but in doing so, creates a richer, wilder world full of wonder and magic. However that also means it’s kind of hard to follow. As a newcomer to Dragt’s work, I found it hard keeping track of all the different kingdoms and characters. In that way, it reminded me a lot of The Witcher, another lavishly produced fantasy series that works best if you just go along with it for the ride.

The thing about The Letter for the King is it’s got the production value of Game of Thrones, but without the NSFW flourishes. That means it’s easy for adults to sink into and totally fine for its adolescent audience. The show itself is rated PG for some violence and what Netflix calls “fear.” It’s dark and thrilling, but not overtly sexy or gory. The sexiest moment in its run might be when Queen Alienor flirtatiously takes off her dress and jumps in a pool, but she’s still wearing a shift.

The Letter for the King is the rare fantasy series that is focused on kids, but adults will want to watch, too.

The Letter for the King is now streaming on Netflix.

Watch The Letter for the King on Netflix