Why Witcher Season 2’s Yennefer Changes Are So Divisive?
In the Witcher Season 2, Yennefer has gone through some changes, which left her powerless for the majority of the season, which is very divisive.
The Witcher Series is based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels and witcher video games. The Witcher Series was released on Netflix in 2019, and its season 2 was released after a long wait in 2021 because of the global pandemic. The Witcher includes Geralt of Rivia, the leading Witcher, played by Henry Cavill, a monster hunter.
The other two important characters in the series are Yennefer of Vengerberg and Princess Cirilla of Cintra. Princess Cirilla, Ciri, is a child with the potential to end the world inside her, played by Freya Allan, and Yennefer actress is Anya Chalotra, who was shown with kyphosis in the starting but through magic became the most beautiful and powerful sorcerer on the Continent.
The Witcher Series is largely praised and has become the most-viewed show on Netflix. However, the Witcher Season 2 has made a lot of changes from the source material, which made the witcher books fans unhappy. The modifications especially done to the character, Yennefer of Vengerberg, are proven divisive.
The Witcher Season 2 starts compelling when Geralt and Ciri are on their journey to Geralt’s hometown, Kaer Morhen. However, the more it deviated from the witcher books, the more it went downhill.
While it suffers from too much explanation, it is given the credit that the witcher season 2 resolved the problem of complicated timelines compared to season 1. However, the modifications made to the Yennefer Witcher series will be affected by it in the long run.
The Witcher Season 2 begins with the assumption that Yennefer was killed in the Battle of Sodden Hill by her fellow mages. Yennefer was captured by Fringilla (another powerful mage) who was leading the Nilfgaardian Army. This was the first modification made from the source material, where Yennefer spends most of her time in recovery after being blinded by Fringilla’s fireball cast.
Nonetheless, in the witcher season 2, the capture of Yennefer leads to the Deathless Mother, Voleth Meir. When Yennefer meets Voleth Meir in the series, it is revealed that she can no longer use her magic. The reason Yennefer is not able to use magic wasn’t made clear in the series, as it follows its own rules of magic and chaos.
Yennefer Witcher 3
The modifications were done to the character Yennefer in the Witcher Season 2 resulted in the division of the audience and the fans of witcher books. For starters, in the majority of Season 2, Yennefer was left powerless. Another issue was that she promised the Deathless Mother to deliver Ciri to her, and Yennefer spent the second half of the season finding Ciri.
Yennefer of Vengerberg is shown as a character who carefully treads the line of morality. Despite all of this, Yennefer’s betrayal of Geralt and Ciri has become a controversial issue for the audience. This decision puts strain on the bonds between Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer, and it can change their story in the future seasons.
Although Yennefer does sacrifice herself to save Ciri’s life, it will be difficult to develop a meaningful bond between the three of them because earlier, Yennefer was willing to sacrifice Ciri’s life for her own good.
In the novels of Andrzej Sapkowski, Yennefer and Ciri’s relationship is shown as that of mother-and-daughter, where Yennefer (being the mother) helps Ciri control her powers. However, the same relationship won’t be possible in the series, as it all comes down to Yennefer willingness to sacrifice Ciri to Voleth Meir.
The Witcher Series on Netflix does make it clear that the series will take a different path because of the deviations shown from the source material. There is a possibility that writers may be able to make Yennefer more stronger in the next season. Yennefer, with her powers back, will be interesting to see Yennefer again as the powerful sorcerer teaching Ciri to control her powers.
However, not much has been revealed about the Witcher Season 3. In the next season, it is unclear whether Yennefer and Ciri are shown building their relationship or skip this part. But The Witcher series will have a better journey ahead.
