The following contains spoilers for Vampire Academy Season 1, Episodes 1-4, now streaming on Peacock.
Vampire Academy's multi-episode premiere provides critical, world-building details from the second its prologue begins. The show gives viewers broad definitions of supernatural beings like the Moroi, Dhampirs and Strigoi, mostly in Rose Hathaway and Lissa Dragomir's words before the action begins. Not only does that tactic give the series a defined perspective through its most central relationship, but it also helps the audience gain a better grasp of the vast yet extremely detailed world it escapes into with Peacock's Vampire Academy.
Vampire Academy is the second adaptation of Richelle Mead's successful YA book series in the last ten years. So, the Peacock show's depiction of beings like the Moroi, Dhampirs and Strigoi, along with influential locations like St. Vladimir's Academy, is crucial to its ability to set itself apart from the 2014 movie. In addition, the intricacies within the Dominion's larger society and the political and personal relationships between the Moroi, Dhampirs and Strigoi set Vampire Academy apart from other YA supernatural shows.
The show describes the Moroi as vampires who are "mortal, sensitive to the Sun and do not feed to the death." If the Moroi go outside during the day, they usually shield themselves with umbrellas. The first episode shows that Moroi drink blood through human donors known as Feeders. In the opening, Rose -- being perfectly in character -- describes the Moroi as the "ones who make the rules." Royalty and non-royalty exist within the Moroi, and a King or Queen is chosen from the royal families, of which Dragomir is included.
Upon the untimely death of her parents and older brother, Lissa becomes the front-runner for the Dominion's next queen, but she struggles with elemental magic. This grounded magic is unique to the Moroi and manifests in the ability to manipulate water, earth, fire and air. By Episode 4, "Benchmark," Lissa discovers that she has the power to manipulate spirit -- a far less common occurrence. So much so, it's not included in the rite of passage known as the Specialization Ceremony, where a Moroi showcases their control of an element.
Lissa states that no one has challenged society's rules "in centuries" -- until now. One rule that the first episodes start to unpack is procreation protocols that are "established to maintain royal bloodlines." That sweeping definition ignores the unjust details of its enactment, including how Dhampir women are sent to communes to breed with Moroi men to create more Dhampirs. The show notes that Dhampirs are "originally half human, half Moroi." St. Vladimir's trains Dhampirs to become Guardians who protect royal Moroi from Strigoi.
Rose Hathaway is initially her best friend's Guardian, but her ability to do so is consistently tested by everyone -- from her mentors, like Dimitri Belikov, to her mother, Janine Hathaway. Plus, the threat of the Strigoi intensifies throughout the first four episodes. The Strigoi are defined as vampires who are "immortal, killed by the sun. Not born, they're made." Rose specifically describes them as "undead vampires who live to kill." Vampire Academy positions Strigoi as the main antagonist and horrific creatures, like on Netflix's Midnight Mass.
Despite that perception, Vampire Academy creates a sympathetic argument for the Strigoi through Christian Ozera when it reveals that his royal Moroi parents chose to become Strigoi. As disclosed thus far, Moroi can become Strigoi by killing the people upon which they feed, something Jesse Zeklos comes incredibly close to doing in "Benchmark." Ultimately, as Vampire Academy's debut season continues, these understandings of the Moroi, Dhampir and Strigoi will evolve in ways that align with the source material and veer from it.
New episodes of Vampire Academy stream Thursdays on Peacock.