what causes jennifer of wengerberg to be
born a hunchback and what does it take
to become one of the most powerful mages
alive it's easy to see why she's a
witcher fan favorite keep watching to
learn more about her
people can be cruel especially to those
who look different and this inhumanity
can have a lasting effect on the abused
while not a secret except to those who
meet her later in life being born a
hunchback is a formative experience for
yennefer as we see in netflix's series
she suffers abuse as a child at the
hands of her father and the local
villagers though her mother seems to be
squarely on her side woman's a witch you
know what they will do
she's our daughter she's no daughter of
mine
however in the books jennifer's father
abandons the family her mother who had
once been kind to her blames her
abandonment on yennefer and her
deformity due to the cruelty endured
throughout her childhood yennefer grows
up coveting beauty and power she never
wants to be pushed down on the ground
again she never wants to be that weak
young girl whose only option was to take
them as treatment dialed out to her she
wants power and jennifer is in luck
because she eventually becomes one of
the most powerful students at eratusa
in the netflix series jennifer is sold
to the sorceress tisaya by her father
for a poultry for marx embarrassed over
her deformity he doesn't think twice
about sending her away tessia then takes
jennifer to eratusa to be trained as a
mage in the books jennifer goes to
eratusa because her magical abilities
are discovered and eratusa is simply
where magically gifted people go in the
world of the witcher however being sold
to eratusa and the netflix series
emphasizes how little agency yennefer
has she's treated as a possession talked
down to denied love and sold for less
than the price of a pig it's no surprise
she becomes singularly focused on
attaining influence when she's accepted
her place to eratusa
when yennefer has taken to eratusa to
study magic she attempts suicide by
cutting her wrists with a shard of
broken mirror one would think being
taken away from a pig farm where you
were physically and emotionally abused
would be a relief but jennifer
demonstrates how sometimes the unknown
can be even more frightening than the
monster you know she shows us the pain
of her loneliness and her yearning for
understanding and kindness you should
have let me die
at least i had control over that oh
that's adorable piglet
it is clear that sasaya one of the
fiercest characters in the witcher
presents yennefer's attempt at taking
her own life thinking her weak despite
how tough desire is on her yennefer
comes to admire her even looking to
desire as a mother figure we repeatedly
see this theme through the series from
many different characters
many of whom long for a family and a
sense of place yennefer like geralt and
siri is alone in the world both blessed
and cursed with magical power
in the books tessia has yennefer's
hunchback repaired with magic after her
suicide attempt this is because all
students eratusa need to be in prime
condition so they can focus their energy
on the magical studies however in the
netflix series jennifer is only
transformed in a fairly brutal scene
when she is ready to graduate from
eratusa those in charge of the magical
academy dangle the possibility for
meaningful transformation beauty and
power before her like a carrot keeping
her focus on how her life will improve
when she has mastered her magical
abilities and is transformed jennifer's
desire for power and beauty can be
understandable regardless of when her
hunchback is fixed but in the netflix
series they double down on her
motivating factors by denying her
transformation until her studies are
completed by denying her what she
desperately wants they keep her hungry
for power which in turn helps turn
yennefer into a powerful mage
in the novels and video games jennifer's
mother is a half elf in the netflix
adaptation jennifer's biological father
was half elf with her hunchback being
blamed on her elven blood a tierra tusa
when arranging appointments accord for
the graduating mages her elven ancestry
is treated with disdain a symptom of the
overall contempt humans feel for elves
this eventually keeps her from receiving
her desired appointment
efforts and central prevent the
brotherhood from placing a mage with
elven blood in aidan's court
in the show we learn this part of
jennifer's story when she confines and
is tread her first love how her father
died in a mass killing of elves which
humans call the great cleansing she
tells him about this in the danube
temple ruins a place of great magical
power made of elf bones jennifer's elven
ancestry explains why some of her magic
is especially powerful despite her
struggle to control it she seems to have
a natural connection to chaos that other
students eratusa simply lack
in a gruesome scene in the netflix
adaptation jennifer trains her uterus to
undergo a magical transformation to
correct her spine and jaw
we witness how singularly focused
jennifer has become in her quest for
power and beauty she will do anything to
achieve her goals even giving up the
possibility of ever having children this
is a decision that israel resents her
for because in the world of the witcher
infertility is a common side effect of
practicing magic but not a typical trait
you make to attain power since the use
of magic slowly makes people infertile
it may explain why elves themselves can
only bear children when they are very
young despite their long lifespans in
netflix's version of the witcher there's
a transactional nature to jennifer's
decision she pays with a pound of flesh
to become more powerful beautiful and
ageless this is something yennefer and
geralt could bond over or fight about as
they do in episode 6 of season 1. the
mutations that the witches undergo to
grant them unnaturally long lives makes
them infertile as well it seems that to
be human and attain magical power one
must give up something valuable to them
after decades of serving as a royal
advisor to king via pharrell of edin
jennifer leaves his employ when he sends
an assassin warlock to kill the young
queen under yennefer's protection this
queen is given via pharaoh yet another
girl child and it appears she's run out
of time to give him a male heir after
both the queen and the child die
jennifer is forced to face her regrets
over the infertility that she chose with
her power and beauty she's dissatisfied
with a life that now feels empty and
lonely this might seem like a surprising
reaction to the situation considering
how little value she placed on the
queen's life but one can never guess how
the trauma of being hunted will make you
feel i gave you all i could give
what more do you want
everything
after this experience jennifer takes
charge of her own life setting up shop
as a freelance mage when she's on her
own jennifer devotes her time to finding
a cure for her infertility and giving
love potions to couples suffering from
poor performance between the sheets she
now has a seemingly singular devotion to
procreation and physical intimacy in the
netflix adaptation jennifer not only
hunts a dragon hoping to find a cure for
her infertility but she also attempts to
trap a gin hoping it will cure her with
a wish in the books jennifer also
searches for a cure at the temple of the
goddess melatella
all of us who have watched the netflix
adaptation of the witcher know geralt
and yennefer meet because of a nasty gin
the jinn injures the bard yaskiya known
as dandelion in the books and geralt's
unknowingly brings him to yennefer as
she's the only local mage yennefer
agrees to help yatsukiya because she has
a sightset on capturing the gin and
using the final wish to cure her
infertility in the books geralt doesn't
want yennefer to be harmed despite her
tricking him to get a hold of the jinn
and he uses his last wish to tie his
fate to yenifers he does this to save
her from the jinn's malice as jin are
unable to harm their master if geralt
and yennefer are bound the jinn by
default cannot harm them in the book
yennefer hears geralt's third wish and
is emotionally moved though she's
surprised he would do something so
foolish to save her and tells him that
he's damned himself in the netflix
series when yennefer learns of his wish
she's suspicious of gary ross linking
their destinies believing that her
feelings for geralt are only because of
a magical illusion jennifer becomes
dissatisfied with the merits of magic
she yearns for something real and a true
family this is the mental stage she
brings with her to conclave that mages
at eratusa and into the battle of sodom
hill
in the netflix series the battle of
southern hill is the centerpiece of the
season one finale jennifer draws power
from the fires the nilfgaardian army has
set of a bit of magic as tapping into it
consumes most wielders and unleashes a
brutal attack on the enemy in the books
jennifer was blinded during the battle
by fringilla vigo the mage attached to
the nilfgaard army and a former
classmate to eratusa frangella and
jennifer ceased being friendly when
jennifer usurps frangilla's appointment
to the courts of edin where jennifer
remains as royal advisor for decades
fringilla is subsequently deployed to
nilfgaard where she helps develop the
kingdom's power you also believe in
forbidden magic demonology necromancy
fire magic forbidden magic is one of the
ghost stories taught to us here
in the book yennefer becomes the
youngest member of the council of
wizards due to her bravery and display
of power during the battle of southern
hill the council magically restores her
eyesight but the trauma of the conflict
remains with her
at some point in the netflix series
geralt will ask jennifer to train siri
as he does in the books after learning
siri is a source a person born with a
natural affinity for using magic
yennefer is the only mage powerful
enough to train siri electing to train
her in the magical arts at the temple of
melatella in the books jennifer and siri
initially don't get along very well as
they have a bit of a power struggle and
some jealousy over geralt this conflict
exists even though siri shares a father
daughter bond with geralt while
yennefer's relationship with him is
clearly more intimate while training
together yennefer develops a maternal
bond with siri ultimately giving them
something they both need all three
characters geralt jennifer and siri are
orphans in their own way with all three
fearing they may be monsters while they
have spent most of their time alone in
the world they come together into a
family unit finding solidarity and
safety together at least for a while
in the books siri vanishes through a
portal during the thanet coup a bloody
insurgence between opposing factions of
mages after which jennifer is trapped in
a jade figurine in the lodge of
sorceresses for over a month when she's
released from the figurine she is
invited to join the lodge however she
ultimately declines the offer after
learning they want to arrange a marriage
between siri and thank red fissile of
kovia in order to create a northern
kingdom to oppose nilfgaard while at the
lodge jennifer shares information with
the sorceresses about siri's powers when
the lodge shares the story of the elven
sorceress lara doran who sirius
descended from yennefer realizes series
genetic link to the elder blood
ultimately yennefer does not join the
lodge of sorceresses as her intentions
do not align with her maternal need to
protect siri
yennefer's relationship with geralt of
rivia is pretty contentious in the
second book of the series the time of
contempt geralt finally admits his
feelings for yennefer their relationship
becoming more stable after his admission
considering how crazy their lives are
and the multiple political events they
are embroiled in these two can't always
be together but for a time ignoper and
geralts live together on the island of
avalon even cementing their love by
getting married since i've been
following them they've taken 23
individuals all between the ages of 10
and 20
all except for yennefer
in the acclaimed video game series the
honeymoon ends when the wild hunt
captures yennefer while being held
captive by the wild hunt as bait to lore
and capture siri yennefer becomes very
ill only recovering when geralt takes
her place unfortunately when jennifer
recovers she has amnesia yet another
complication that keeps her and geralt
apart but whether or not these details
will make it into the next season of the
witcher we'll have to wait and see
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