Yennefer of Vengerberg is the greatest hero of all of them in Netflix's The Witcher show, and the real protagonist of the journey of the first season.
Yennefer of Vengerberg is a central character in Netflix's The Witcher series, placed as the driving forces behind the plot alongside Geralt of Rivia and Ciri-but in fact she is the true hero of the show.
While White Wolf by Henry Cavill is the draw for fans of the other aspects of the series, once the show begins and Yennefer is introduced, it becomes painfully evident who develops the most and steps into their role as a hero.
While the adventures of Geralt and Ciri unite them and set the machinations of fate into motion, Yennefer's own emergence as a witch sees her struggle as a world thrown into chaos by both people and monsters.
Netflix's The Witcher handles Yennefer's journey with care, detailing her painful youth while providing the foundation for what will come to drive her in her adulthood as a sorceress. While Geralt is already a witcher during his time on-screen and Ciri spends the entirety of the series chasing after the shadow of the Butcher of Blaviken, making many mistakes along the way, Yennefer's story is given a lot more breathing room.
As a result, it's easy to make a case for her role as The Witcher's true hero, at least during season one, based on what viewers observe over the course of the eight episode first season.
Of course, by merit of her screen time alone, Yennefer is not just the true hero of Netflix's The Witcher series. She is also the character who best acquires herself in difficult situations, causes meaningful change beyond isolated incidents, and questions the parts of the world that she finds unjust or foul.
Her attitude is unique in the sense that she is not making peace with or blindly accepting many of the driving forces at work in The Witcher, such as the hang-up of the show on destiny. Here's a detailed look at what makes the hero of the series The Witcher's Yennefer, at least in terms of the first season of the show.
Yennefer's Character In The Witcher Grows The Most From Start To Finish
Over the course of a season, a series ' hero will traditionally show personal growth, usually coinciding with their rise to power or resistance to evil forces. While this happens with Geralt and Ciri in smaller doses, Vengerberg's Yennefer starts the series as a shy girl whose physical appearance has crushed her self-esteem.
Throughout several seasons, she is transformed into her dream of what the world's most powerful woman should look like - and she retains her eyes, her most striking attribute, and her hands, scarred from an earlier attempt at her own survival, to remember where she came from.
It isn't just appearance that changes with Yennefer, though. She also comes into her own as a sorceress and as a person, choosing to use her power for her own benefit and forcing herself into the situations she desires rather than letting people choose for her. While that arguably creates the Nilfgaardian invasion situation that drives the current timeline of Netflix's The Witcher, it also demonstrates just how much Yennefer evolves over the first season. By The Witcher episode 8, "Much More," Yennefer is the only thing that prevents complete defeat at the hands of Nilfgaardian forces, simultaneously routing an invading army while also forgiving Tissaia for the rector's earlier transgressions. The woman who thought her life was worthless becomes someone who others can depend on to save them, even if it means putting herself in danger.
Yennefer Is The Most Relatable Hero In The Witcher
It's hard to really find a lot in common with Geralt of Rivia, a mutant who has been trained his whole life to slay monsters and whose forced physical changes have also dulled his capacity for emotion. Ciri is young and experiences parts of growing up that are familiar, but she's royalty, and a child of destiny on top of that - not something that many people can lay claim to. In Netflix's The Witcher, Yennefer is a capable and talented sorceress, but she's also someone who has grown up with self-esteem issues because of her appearance, and who experienced trauma in her family that made trusting others difficult. During her education, she's a slow learner with a lot of promise, and a patient teacher eventually brings out her potential. Even after she is magically transformed so that her physical traits are no longer the target of ridicule, she gives up something in motherhood that is devastating to her, and the loss wears on her in such a way that it's similar to the painful losses viewers will go through during their own lives.
To see Yennefer succeed in spite of all of the things in her life that would have seen her fail is a heartening experience. Her struggles consistently stem from her past and her emotions, and her reactions often feel the most normal in a world filled to the brim with monsters, horror, and magic.
The Witcher's Yennefer Wants To Change The World
More than anything, though, what makes Netflix's The Witcher's representation of Yennefer the true hero of the series is her willingness to change parts of the world she doesn't agree with. Yennefer clearly displays a hatred for the patriarchal values that drive much of the world of The Witcher, especially with regard to royalty and authority.
Her decision to employ her physical appearance and exploit men's opinions of her for her own gain is a reclamation of agency that not many characters even grab at, let alone achieve. When Yennefer encounters something she feels is unfairly oppressive, whether it be a town's mayor discriminating against mages or a wish made by a witcher that could be influencing her own freedom, she rails against it and attempts to incite change. As far as heroic qualities go, that's a pretty important one.
It's even more jarring when Yennefer's willingness to fight for change is contrasted by the actions of others. Geralt is pretty content just killing monsters and collecting coin - until he meets Yennefer. She is the trigger in his own life that makes him interrogate his place in the world and what he really wants. Ciri is a child who is forced into hiding and spends most of the series running away, unable to change her circumstance and being subject to a series of terrible events because the world of The Witcher is an inherently cruel place.
Yennefer is the hero who is attempting to change it, even if a lot of her actions in the first season are changes that directly benefit her, and she seems primed to become an even bigger agent of change in the next season, which will unite Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer more often now that their narratives are beginning to overlap.
