Talk:Yennefer/@comment-27334094-20160607173719

About the Geralt/Yennefer relationship.

by pommeverte3 :

Since I read yet another post saying that the relationship between Yennefer and Geralt is toxic and that they don’t belong together, I feel the need to write yet another rant to explain why this is wrong (sorry long post ahead as usual :) )

First, please stop saying that Yennefer is the ultimate evil! I know she is a difficult character, I know not everyone will like her. I understand if you don’t. I know she has a lot of flaws and I fully understand if these flaws make her someone you would hate if you were to meet her in real life. Maybe she would be your worst enemy, your personal nemesis, I get it, that’s alright, one cannot please everyone. Maybe you wouldn’t want to be involved in a romantic relationship with her for the world. I get it! But thing is, these flaws don’t make her evil, they make her human. Yes, she has a lot of great qualities as well, yes some people can like her. Maybe they can even like her for the very reasons that make you hate her! And thing is, the character called Geralt of Rivia, the one written by Sapkowski loves her, chooses her, with all her flaws and great qualities. I’m sure you have lot of friends and acquaintances involved in relationships you don’t understand or you wouldn’t want if you were in their shoes. And then what? As long as it makes them happy. Because yes, Yennefer makes Geralt happy. Sure their relationship is not always easy, or perfect, but in the end, she makes him happy. And the way Sapkowski writes their relationship leaves no room for any other woman in Geralt’s life, it leaves no room for doubts regarding his feelings for Yennefer either.

Actually the way Sapkowski writes their relationship is unique. See, there is one thing story tellers (whether they are authors, scenarists etc) are afraid to write about, and that is established relationships. They usually write about two people who fall in love….. And then about all the issues they can imagine to get in their way in order to prevent them to be together (even though they really want to be). And in the end of the book, the hero will have gotten through all these problems and as his ultimate reward he will be able to be with the woman he loves. And you won’t even get to see them really be together. You will have to trust that, since the author has told you that they would be perfect together, then it will be this way. That is the usual pattern with fantasy books.

In tv shows things are a bit different, usually you have to wait 5,6 seasons for the two characters to finally get together. Then at some point the scenarists will have to give it a try because it has been so long already. And usually that’s the moment when everything goes to hell. Why? Because suddenly the scenarists don’t know what story to tell anymore. The hero got his reward after all, so there can’t be any problems right? The hero can’t have doubts about this relationship because, yeah, he wanted this (for 5-6 seasons if you recall correctly), so there can’t be anything wrong about it. Saying that the relationship is anything else than perfect is taboo. Usually how does the scenarists deal with it? Two ways, either they will close this story line completely, meaning break them up and not going back, or they will ask this question : can the hero get something even better? And then enters the famous thing called “love triangle”. The hero still loves the woman he first fell in love with (not touching that of course) but suddenly he wonders if he couldn’t love also someone else. If you ask me, neither of these two solutions are satisfying.

Sapkowski however once again does things in a very different way.

First because he puts his characters in an actual relationship from the very beginning of the saga. In fact in the first short story, Yennefer and Geralt meet and a few pages later they are officially together already. By the time the actual saga begins with Blood of Elves, the characters have known each other for years. And even though they are not together at the beginning of this book, they are long past the flirting and getting together phase.

Second because Sapkowski deals with the established relationship thing in the right way (yes, it can be done!). He isn’t afraid of showing that the relationship is not perfect, that there are issues. The characters will have doubts, about almost everything, their own ability to love, to be loved, the possibility for them to be happy together etc… But there is ONE thing they will NEVER have doubts about. And that is the fact that they are made for each over. For Geralt, there will only be Yennefer. For Yennefer there will only be Geralt. They will never find something better. They will never even think about being happier with someone else.They have chosen already, from the very beginning. And Sapkowski clearly tells us this early in the saga.

''She leant over him, touched him. He felt her hair, smelling of lilac and gooseberries, brush his face and he suddenly knew that he’d never forget that scent, that soft touch, knew that he’d never be able to compare it to any other scent or touch. Yennefer kissed him and he understood that he’d never desire any lips other than hers, so soft and moist, sweet with lipstick. He knew that, from that moment, only she would exist, her neck, shoulders and breasts freed from her black dress, her delicate, cool skin, which couldn’t be compared to any other he had ever touched. He gazed into her violet eyes, the most beautiful eyes in the world, eyes which he feared would become….''

'Everything. He knew.'

--Andrzej Sapkowski - The Last Wish

That is what Yennefer is to Geralt, and what she will be for him during the whole saga. Everything. He will doubt that what he is feeling for her is really love, he will doubt his ability to make her happy. At some point he will even think that she betrayed him, and he will try to be happy without her, he will sleep with other women. And he will ALWAYS come to this conclusion : they are not Yennefer. They are not everything. Yennefer is. Only Yennefer. No other woman can compare with Yennefer, not Essi, not Fringilla, and yep, not Triss either.

Villentretenmerth stood up and looked at her, and his expression was very serious.

''‘Forgive me my frankness and forthrightness, Yennefer. It is written all over your faces, I don’t even have to try to read your thoughts. You were made for each other, you and the Witcher. But nothing will come of it. Nothing. I’m sorry.’''

''‘I know’ Yennefer blanched slightly. ‘I know, Villentretenmerth. But I would also like to believe there are no limits of possibility. Or at least I would like to believe that they are still very far away.’''

--Andrzej Sapkowski - Sword of Destiny

In my opinion, Yennefer goes even further than Geralt. She KNOWS that they are meant to be together, despite all the issues that seem to prevent it. She knows that she will never find someone else and unlike Geralt, she will not even try to. At some point she is considering marrying Istredd, because it seems to be the reasonable thing to do, but in the end she decides against it because she knows she would never be happy, she knows it wouldn’t be right. And she wants to believe she can get things right with Geralt. At some point Geralt leaves her, without even an explanation. And even though she pretends that it doesn’t affect her, she will not even try to get over him, she will still be there for him when he needs her, always.

So yes, their relationship is written in a way that doesn’t allow the existence of love triangles in the witcher saga. Writing that Geralt would struggle to choose between Yennefer and Triss (or any other woman for that matter), is like writing a Harry Potter story in which Harry is a muggle. Or writing a Lord of the Ring story in which Sauron is good and only wants to make peace with everyone else.In fact, it’s like writing a fanfcition about any story and completely changing the spirit and goal of the original thing.

So yeah, CDPR did it anyway, and the games ARE great, and in the games you can choose Triss if YOU prefer Triss, and that is totally ok. It doesn’t change the fact that the Geralt Sapkowski originally wrote CHOSE Yennefer. He wasn’t forced into a relationship with her, HE CHOSE YENNEFER, a loooong time ago, long before he even met Triss actually. Choosing Triss in the games is ok, and maybe it leads to a nice story but it will always be YOUR choice as a player.