Is Yennefer Getting Too Much Screen Time in The Witcher?

Summary

• Recently, the actress who plays Ciri hinted that the new season of The Witcher will focus on her.
• Some fans have expressed that Yennefer takes up most of the screen time.
• However, Yen is a central character in the story, so her presence on screen is justified.

Although we still have about a year to wait for the fourth season of The Witcher, it is already in active production. Fans have gradually accepted the fact that Liam Hemsworth will play Geralt of Rivia, and now the audience is hoping that the new season will successfully adapt Andrzej Sapkowski's next books.

The cast is just as excited. Freya Allan, for example, recently revealed that upcoming events will be built specifically around her character. However, according to some viewers familiar with the book series, if any character has too much screen time, it's Yennefer. But let's get to the bottom of whether this is such a bad thing.

Season 4 Will Be the Season of Ciri

In a recent conversation with Elle, Freya Allan shared that 'the biggest shift we've seen' is coming for Ciri in Season 4.

'She has her first experience with romance, if you can even call it that, because it's not a good relationship. She goes into a very dark part of herself that I think is going to be terrifying to look at,' the actress said.

Ciri's screen time has really grown over the course of the series, as the character has evolved from a defenseless girl raised in the palace to a battle-hardened warrior in her own right, capable of standing up to monsters without witcher mutations.

However, fans have started a discussion after this, with some expressing their displeasure that all the screen time that could be spent on Ciri and Geralt will be spent on Yennefer.

Some Worry That There Would Be Too Much Yennefer

In Season 3, the Thanedd Incident separated Geralt and Yennefer once again — and although Yen helped heal the witcher in Brokilon Forest, she had to rejoin the other mages of Aretuza. In the books, however, Francesca Findabair transformed her into a jade figurine for over a month to protect her from the Nilfgaardians and to offer her the chance to participate in forming a quasi-governmental organization, the Lodge of Sorceresses.

Season 4 will be mostly based on Baptism of Fire, and the long-awaited reunion between the witcher and the sorceress in Andrzej Sapkowski's series only occurs in the final book, The Tower of the Swallow. However, it's unlikely that the writers will keep the characters apart for the entire season.

Even if Yen has enough sorcery-related tasks of her own besides finding Ciri, she will most likely eventually join Geralt and his gang on their journey.

In other words, while in the books Yen is more of a recurring character, who is not always in the epicenter of events, the writers will clearly try to change this in the series. And that's exactly what the fans are not happy about.

Is That Such a Bad Thing?

Still, we should keep in mind that not only in the show, but also in Sapkowski's The Witcher Saga one of the central themes is undoubtedly the slow-burning romance between the witcher and the lilac-and-gooseberry-scented sorceress. It's a tragic love story that often becomes a primary source of conflict in Ciri, Geralt, and Yen's misadventures.

So to consider Yennefer a mere side character is, first and foremost, disrespectful to Sapkowski's own vision. Yes, video games allow players to choose their own romantic interest, but the canon will always be the main trio's twisted family dynamic.

In other words, even if the show focuses more on Yen than in the books, there's nothing wrong with that as long as the sorceress stays in character (and doesn't try to sell Ciri to the Wild Hunt).

Source: Elle.