Yennefer is one of the star characters in Netflix’s The Witcher, one of the most powerful sorceresses on the continent — if not the most powerful. Her conventional, unarguable beauty came at a price though, when she had to give up the ability to create life. Although she chose to do so, determined for beauty so she could enchant people and work her way to the top in politics and through social networks, she later came to regret this choice and did everything to claw back her ability to make a baby.
Her attempts failed and by the end of the season, it seemed certain that what she had chosen to do was irreversible — she could simply never become pregnant. Is this for the best or not? Maybe. There are many reasons Yennefer would have made a great mother, but also many she wasn’t cut out for a maternal life.
Good Mother: Ability To Protect
As a powerful sorceress, Yennefer would have more of an ability to protect a child than most. Although witchers and other sorceresses in the season are also extremely powerful, Yennefer’s magic seems to stretch further than most and it’s obvious that it’d be extremely difficult to harm anyone under her care. She even manages to single-handedly defeat Nilfgaard during the Battle of Sodden, something none of the other sorceresses could do.
Wasn’t Suited: Always Traveling
But the simple fact of the matter is, a child isn’t cut out for a life of traveling. Children need a stable home environment and a place to grow up. Although Yennefer does have a home (Vengerberg) and has settled in multiple places for years at a time, she always seems to grow restless and move on.
It’s difficult to say if even a child could tie her down to one place. Yennefer is very much a free spirit who proves herself difficult to contain by a single location.
Good Mother: Genuinely Cares
Yennefer often tries to paint herself as a cold figure, one who isn’t brought down by emotion or care for others — but we often see a softer, more vulnerable side to her.
It’s brought out by Geralt when they fall for each other. It’s brought out when she tries to save the queen’s baby, under an assassination attack from the king, and fails, leaving her to bury the corpse on a beach. Every mother needs empathy and compassion and although Yennefer tries to bury hers deep, she never seems to do so successfully for long.
Wasn’t Suited: Many, Many Enemies
Yen doesn’t suffer fools gladly, nor does she seem to care about the mess she leaves in her wake. Wherever she goes, she leaves a trail of enemies behind her, and that means there are people who may want to take revenge on her.
The world of The Witcher is dark, and the more evil characters and groups on the continent would most definitely stoop as low as hurting a child to get back at a mage they disliked or that they felt had wronged them.
Good Mother: Her Magic
Yennefer would be good at protecting her baby, but her magic could also see to other needs. We see her heal Jaskier when he’s dying and perform other amazing tasks with her magic, so it’s not just the protection from enemies that a child of hers might have benefitted from. What she lacks in stability, she might have more than made up for with her amazing magic.
Wasn’t Suited: Can Be Over-Emotional
Although Yennefer would like others to think she’s immovable, as cold as ice, she actually has quite the temper and finds it hard to control herself — something that was always problematic when becoming a mage.
She was supposed to control chaos, and always ended up letting it fly free instead.
While this eventually worked for her and was what defeated Nilfgaard, it’s probably not good to be emotional around a child, equipped with hard to control magic. Children are known for being endlessly frustrating, and mothers must have patience.
Good Mother: Would Always Be Present For Her Child
The child would never have to worry about Yennefer dying of old age and being left alone in this world though. Yennefer’s enchantments mean she doesn’t age, so there would never come a time where she was too old or frail to look after a child, or a time where she’d have to leave them behind.
Of course, this makes one think about what that would mean for the child. Would they also remain young forever? Would she enchant them to make it so?
Wasn’t Suited: No Constant Support System
A mother — especially one raising a child on their own — could benefit greatly from a support system, and it’s one Yennefer simply doesn’t have. She doesn’t often see the mages she trained with, has very few friends, and even ends up leaving Geralt due to a fear that she’s only bound to him because of the last wish that the Djinn granted him. There’s no one to take the child for a few hours when it’s becoming too much, no one to rub her back when she’s losing patience. She’d be doing it entirely on her own.
Good Mother: She’s Wanted This For So Long
But maybe, despite all the potential pitfalls of Yen as a parent, she’d be a great one. She has, after all, wanted this for a long time — she’s lived “two or three lifetimes” by the end of season one, and seems to have made it her mission in life to find a cure for her infertility.
Wasn’t Suited: It Was Wanted For The Wrong Reasons
But despite how desperately she wanted motherhood, it wasn’t because she dreamed of bringing a life into the world and bonding — it was because she had never felt important to someone, and wanted to.
When she confesses this to Geralt, it’s a sign that she might be able to find that connection in other ways that might leave someone less dependent on her.
