The Witcher season 2 changes Yennefer and Ciri’s story for the worse

[Ed. note: Spoilers ahead for The Witcher Netflix series and the novel The Blood of Elves]

The WitcherSeason 1 was all about destiny. Geralt and Ciri found each other in the woods close to Sodden, where they were supposed to meet. Whether you’ve read the books or not, it seemed apparent that the series’ other main character, Yennefer, was also fated to meet Ciri — and in the second season they finally do, at the Temple of Melitele. Geralt took Ciri to the Temple of Melitele to receive instruction from Mother Nenneke on how to manage her dangerous power. But that’s where the similarities between the adaptation and author Andrzej Sapkowski’s source material end.

Their relationship is immediately put at risk by the Netflix Netflix TV series. Yennefer shows up in Ciri’s place as a coincidence, while secretly planning to make a sacrifice for Voleth Meir. It’s a big departure (both the lost magic subplot and Voleth Meir were created exclusively for the show) and it sacrifices a maternal relationship for an antagonistic one.

Blood of ElvesThis is the third Witcher Book (and first novel), following two collections of short stories. The Last Wish The Sword of Destiny) is largely about Geralt’s struggles in parenting. After finding Ciri in the short story, “Something More” from The Sword of DestinyHe takes her to Kaer Morhen, where he trains her to be a Witcher. It’s not part of a grand logistical plan — that’s all he knows to do with a child. He realizes that Ciri needs to be more than just a swordsman. Therefore, he asks Triss Merigold, the sorceress, for help. However, she also finds she is not fully capable of teaching Ciri. Then it’s off to the Temple of Melitele and Mother Nenneke, a priestess and herbalist. Geralt, who realizes Ciri can’t fit into the child role, begins to look at every woman in his life, hoping that one will help him figure out the best way for Ciri.

Photo by Susan Allnutt/Netflix

In the show, most of these events still happen, but with a twist: Geralt’s motivations are altered, painting him as a more highly capable father figure where the books portray him a little ignorant and bumbling, something he has to grow beyond.

Ultimately, that failure on Geralt’s part is what makes Yennefer’s first meeting with Ciri so meaningful in Blood of Elves. Yennefer, in his Netflix TV series, is chasing down Ciri. Blood of Elves she’s invited to the Temple by Triss and Geralt. And after so many failed attempts to lead Ciri down one well trodden path after another, it’s Yennefer — a powerful and independent trailblazer in her own right — who finally connects with Ciri and helps her control her power. The book doesn’t climax with an epic battle, but rather with a child being seen and understood by an adult. Yen doesn’t talk down to Ciri and, at last, Ciri is able to see there’s a way for her to take control over who she is.

Season 2 is a different story. They barely remember the moment that they met. Instead it’s more about Geralt and Yennefer’s reunion, with the two exes stumbling through their first reunion in years. While Geralt was able to give Ciri and Geralt their chance at connection this season, Yennefer had to share hers. When their defining moments aren’t shared with Geralt then they’re tied to the machinations of unseen villains or the influence of magic and destiny.

It is disappointing that the much-awaited Ciri/Yennefer meeting was framed around action scenes rather than two women who are quietly bonded over shared struggles with conforming to society. Despite the best efforts of actresses Anya Chalotra and Freya Allan to imbue the set pieces they’re inexplicably thrown into with some depth, they’re given so little to work with that it’s difficult to believe in their bond. Scenes, such as one that Ciri uses her power to help them cross the river, are forced scenes and don’t create a bond. While Yennefer offers guidance it’s only when Ciri refuses to stop despite Yennefer’s protests that they are transported to the other side. In terms of the plot, Yen gets to see Ciri’s power, but it does little for their characters who have exchanged next to nothing. The emphasis is on the problem of crossing a river and Ciri’s powers, not on what these two women might find reflected in each other.

Image courtesy of Netflix

And so the changes leave both of them a little wayward: Already living with the trauma of one would-be kidnapper, barely able to sleep thanks to nightmares of being taken from Cintra by the Nilfgaardian general Cahir, how can Ciri so easily learn to trust Yennefer when she’s reopened that wound? It’s not something Ciri (or the audience) really gets to consider for long; they’re pulled along by plot and motives change as easily as Geralt suddenly appears to chop something’s head off.

While there’s always room for a new take on a character like Yen, it makes a powerful, independent woman desperate and pleading for forgiveness, exuding none of the control or confidence we got from her in the books. As she explains to Geralt how Ciri made her turn over a new leaf and see there’s more to life than accumulating power, it’s trite. Nothing we’ve seen communicates much of that feeling; they’ve barely had more than an episode together, and having the episode saying it aloud doesn’t simply make it so.

These modifications feel like a misinterpretation of the role of Yennefer in the books. We were given a sad backstory in season one that was not explicitly mentioned in the books. The way Yennefer carries herself was never something I needed to witness. Yennefer, the book’s Yennefer, was an unapologetic bitch. In a world where men wanted her to be used or ignored, she forged her own independence. The girlboss sorceresses wanted to make women feel inferior and she refused to follow their lead. So when Ciri, having been lead down the paths set by those people, meets Yennefer who stands apart from them, it feels like a chance for the sorceress to give Ciri the guidance she wished she’d been given when she was a child.

While in the first season Yen’s characterization seems somewhat tempered by these impulses, in the second they’re pretty much gone — and without it, her connection to Ciri is reduced to a slightly patronizing motherly impulse. This Yennefer doesn’t feel like a role model for the Lion Cub of Cintra, offering no encouragement to live according to her own identity, which sets the foundation for who Ciri will become in The Witcher universe.

The show may give more life to this dramatic change in season 3. However, with just two episodes and an incredibly fast-paced plot, the alteration is stale. It would have been great if it gave them the same amount of scenes as Geralt had with his horse.