Netflix’s The Witcher sees Geralt and Ciri at the heart of it. After claiming her under the law of surprise, completely unintentionally, Ciri’s family see Geralt as bound to protect her when Nilfgaard come for her and although Geralt initially refuses this responsibility, he comes to see a girl he’s never met as his pseudo-daughter who he’s bound to protect. The issue with him finding her and taking her under his wing is that, although there are many reasons Geralt might do an awesome job, he’s definitely not used to being a father and Ciri may just be more than he can handle.
Nevertheless, there are still some reasons he might be awesome. There are just some areas in which he may definitely struggle to have a teenage girl to protect and care for.
Great: Has The Ability To Defend Her
If anyone in the series has the unquestionable ability to look after Ciri, it’s Geralt. We see his fighting ability demonstrated many times in the series, using his swords and his signs to slice up enemies and rarely seeming to have any trouble with it — very few times are we actually worried about Geralt’s life, since he’s more than a match for his opponents.
Nilfgaard, of course, are a terribly powerful force, but if someone could go up against their soldiers, it’s probably Geralt.
Bad: Suppresses His Emotions
The thing about Geralt is that he’s not necessarily emotionally equipped to look after a teenage girl. Sure, he has the physical ability, but aside from that? He’s probably not going to do so well. The other characters are constantly calling him out on swallowing his emotions and refusing to actually show that he has feelings.
Great: Eventually Comes To Care About Her
Although he doesn’t meet her until the end of the season, he genuinely does come to care about Ciri. He becomes single-handedly consumed by the idea of tracking her down, ready to go to the ends of the earth to find her and when he does, they share a hug that shows just how relieved he is to have come across her.
Bad: Not Used To Having To Consider Anyone Else
The issue? Geralt simply isn’t used to having to consider anyone else.
Witchers live a solitary life and even when Geralt does make connections, they’re fleeting and don’t often show up again (with the exception of Yennefer and Jaskier). He isn’t used to having someone constantly by his side that he needs to consider and when even Yennefer or Jaskier needs his help, he seems confused and hesitant, unused to the idea of being selfless. It’s not that he’s a bad person — he’s just never been put in a situation where he actually has to make the constant effort to think about someone else.
Great: Has A Good Heart
Despite his selfishness that comes from his lifestyle, he does have a good heart. We see it time and time again — he comes to be fond of Jaskier, he falls in love with Yennefer, he doesn’t want to kill people who aren’t monsters (see Renfri for a great example), and he does seem to care for all his defense mechanisms tell him to suppress it. He’s unlikely to just up and abandon Ciri in the middle of the night if it gets too much for him because despite his protests, we all know Geralt will get emotionally attached.
Bad: His Lifestyle Isn’t Suitable For A Child
Geralt, however, just doesn’t live a lifestyle that’s suitable for a child. He runs around taking coin to murder monsters, and is constantly putting himself in danger — will he be able to give that up to take care of Ciri? It seems unlikely, and seems like she’ll have to slot into the life he already has.
Maybe she’ll do well, but it doesn’t seem like a life suited to a teenage girl growing up.
Great: He And Ciri Might Make A Badass Team
Ciri’s powers have thus far been fairly unexplored. We’ve seen random examples of them, and we know she’s good enough that Nilfgaard wants her — but we don’t know the extent.
It seems, however, that whatever they are, she and Geralt might make an awesome monster-hunting team despite her currently being a little too young for the lifestyle.
Bad: She’s Going To Need Emotional Support
Speaking of her being young, she is going to need some emotional support — that’s just not up for debate. She’s young and has seen horrific things, including her home being invaded and everyone she knows and loves killed. No one can go through that and not need a shoulder to cry on.
Does Geralt have the ability to be that shoulder? We’ll find out, but Ciri may need more friends than Geralt.
Great: He Has Allies He Can Call In To Help
There’s a potential solution to this, though — Geralt is slowly making more friends and allies he can call in to help. Triss seems pretty nurturing, and may be a potential figure for Ciri to lean on; Yennefer might be able to teach her things (if she’s willing to take Geralt back); and Jaskier could provide some much needed light-heartedness and comic relief in Ciri’s life, because Heaven knows that girl needs someone to make her smile. Geralt will have to utilize the few friends he truly has if he wants to keep Ciri happy as well as alive.
Bad: He’s Tactless As Hell
That means he may need to tone down the tactlessness too. Geralt is happy to call out Jaskier being a pain, Yennefer’s “fragile ego”, and the faults in anyone else — but that’s the last thing Ciri’s going to need at the moment. Someone may have to take Geralt aside and explain he can’t talk to a teenage girl who’s been through hell the way he usually talks to people. We hope he listens!
