SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for season 3 of The Witcher.
The Witcher may be a show about fighting monsters, but it’s also about family. Against all odds, the main characters that don’t have traditional families band together to form their own support group. Yes, I love a good found family trope. At the end of season 1, Geralt (Henry Cavill) and Princess Cirilla (Freya Allan) were united. During season 2, he officially became an adoptive dad as he trained Ciri in combat.
Season 3 of the Netflix series really cemented the bonds between Geralt, Yennefer, Ciri, and Jaskier. During a chaotic moment, Jaskier pointed out that he needed to “find his family” which showed how much these characters have bonded. Out of everyone, I never expected Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) to grow as much as she did this season. Her journey so far has been painful and heartbreaking, yet this fierce sorceress always makes it through. But this season, she’s lowered her walls and finally admitted that she is a mother. When she told Ciri “I love you, my daughter,” it hit me in all the feels.
Yennefer’s complex relationship with motherhood
Yen accepting Ciri as her daughter and openly proclaiming her love shows how far she’s come as a character. Since the first season, Yen has had a tough time with mothers and motherhood. To begin with, her actual mother allowed Yen to be sold to the powerful sorceress Tissaia de Vries (MyAnna Buring). Although this led to Yen becoming the great mage, it’s still a horrible thing for her mother to have done to her child. Naturally, it would be devastating and difficult to recover from.
Once Yen began her chaos magic lessons at Aratuza, Tissaia became her surrogate mother. Tissaia saw the potential Yen had and used every trick in the book to draw her power out. This included some pretty messed up tactics. I know I’m not well-versed in sorcerer training, but Tissaia came off as abusive more than once. They only started to have something like a healthy relationship after Yen became a full mage. Tissaia admits in season 3 that she saw Yen as her daughter, which makes me question her choices even more.
Even with her toxic examples of motherhood, Yen longed to be a mother. During her sorceress’ graduation, she had to give up her uterus to become her “ideal form.” Yes, I know, there is a lot to unpack with all of that. While her fertility may be gone, Yen never doubted her magic and figured she would find a way to have a baby. When she met Geralt and Jaskier she offered to help them with their djinn problem, just so she might use the creature’s magic to aid her in her quest. It almost killed her and Jaskier, but she was desperate to try anything.
Even Yen can heal
Sadly, everything she tried failed. Realizing there was nothing she could do, Yen became bitter and built up walls to keep from caring about anyone. In season 2, she lost her magic, the only thing that made her feel alive anymore. After being told she could offer up Ciri in exchange for her powers back, Yen went after the orphaned princess. Right before the deal was sealed, Yen realized how horrible it would be to sacrifice Ciri. She ended up regaining her powers and saving Ciri.
The beginning of season 3 found Yennefer, Geralt, and Ciri on the run from pretty much everyone on the Continent. Geralt’s trust in Yennefer was nil, but he still wanted her to train Ciri. As Yen taught her how to harness her magic, Yen and Ciri grew close. They ice skated together and shared meals. It was all very adorable. When Yen took Ciri back to her old home and showed her how she used to live, I knew Yen had accepted Ciri. It takes a lot for someone like Yennefer to lower her walls and open herself up to getting hurt again, especially by someone she always wanted in her life—a child. Telling Ciri “I love you, my daughter,” showed just how much Yen has healed. And now that she is a momma bear, well, she’ll cut down anyone who tries to hurt her cub.
(featured image: Netflix)
