By Frankie-Robin Cooper
“Magic is, in some people’s opinion, the embodiment of Chaos,” Yenneffer says to Ciri in the Blood of Elves.
That sentence alone does a lot of work for Yennefer’s story.
Magic is also an artform and a science, as Yennefer further explains in this passage, but she first and foremost teaches Ciri the relationship between magic and chaos. That is because Yennefer has spent her life mastering magic, and attempting to master chaos.
Yennefer’s story is one of the most unusual tales that I have ever come across in fantasy literature. It is a story of a woman with tremendous arcane power and influence who seeks, above all else, the ability to have a child. Sorceresses in the world of the witcher are sterilized as a rule, so Yennefer seeks tirelessly for magical procedures or elixirs that can reverse the damage that magic has done to her body. It is a story of painful irony and strange beauty: there is almost nothing in the world that magic does not allow Yennefer access to, but it denies her the one thing she truly wants.
To some of my girls, this story is regressive and boring. I get it. We read fantasy for the magic, the dragons, the big swords. We love female characters who take on roles of warriors and heroes, who defy gender stereotypes and tell us that we can be as strong, brave, powerful, and edgy as Chad down the street. To read a story about a woman who is all of these things yet seeks to have her own child of all things seems besides the point. We live in a world where motherhood is idealized as the best and only thing a woman should aspire towards. We would much rather read about the sexy-warrior-queen than the stay-at-home-mom.
Firstly, this mindset itself is rather restraining and boring. Being a mother doesn’t affect a woman’s ability to be badass. This is Yennefer of Vengerberg we are talking about. She can be whatever she wants to be, and has proved it several times over. If she wants to be a sexy mom, she’s going to gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss her way to being a sexy mom. But I’m speaking too much to a point made in my previous article. https://wordpress.com/view/thepathwitcher.blog
Secondly, Yennefer’s story isn’t just about mourning infertility. It is about accepting circumstances that cannot be controlled and moving with that current rather than fighting it. It is about welcoming chaos. For Yennefer, welcoming chaos looks like welcoming Ciri as her adopted daughter.
“Child of surprise,” is a very telling title for Ciri. No one expected her. Not Geralt when he invoked the Law of Surprise, and certainly not Yennefer when she was sent to instruct Ciri by Geralt’s request. “Surprise,” is Yennefer’s nickname for Ciri during their early days together, along with “ugly one.”
“She’s not your rival, Yennefer,” Nennecke says to Yennefer, sensing her initial disliking for the child. The fact that Ciri is Geralt’s child doesn’t win her any favor with the enchantress. Ciri, like magic, represents the embodiment of chaos. Not only is she unexpected; she’s not beautiful in the conventional way that order and expectation usually is. She’s an unpleasant surprise.
“Chaos cannot show you what it really is,” Yennefer teaches Ciri during their time together, “So it is showing you the future. It wants you to be afraid of the coming days.”
Chaos takes the form of what is least expected and most feared. In this instance, chaos takes the form of love. In the most random and least likely twist of fate possible, Yennefer and Ciri begin to grow together. Yennefer, who values beauty and perfection above all else, takes to the clumsy, rude, and tomboyish Ciri. And Ciri finds a mother-figure in Yennefer. Yennefer embraces chaos by embracing Ciri as her child. Though their relationship starts out rocky, Yennefer teaches and empowers Ciri, eventually attempting to bring her into her fold by paying for her enrollment at Aretuza, although Ciri ultimately rejects this decision. Ciri also empowers Yennefer in many ways. The solidarity between these two women as feared and powerful outcasts is strong. They keep each other company in a world that cannot understand them.
“I’ve searched so long. Fought so long. Hurt so many,” Yennefer says in season 3 episode 6 of Netflix’s The Witcher, “And it was all worth it. No matter where you go or where you hide, we will never be apart. Destiny brought us together. Never lost. Always found. I love you, my daughter.”
Yennefer acts as Ciri’s found mother, just as Geralt acts as her found father. Although Ciri is not what Yennefer initially wanted, she is what she needed, making this arc emotional and satisfying.
All images in this article credited to Netflix