Sex and Power in “The Witcher”
In Netflix’s The Witcher, magic is a realm of chaos to be channeled, controlled and used for political purposes by the mages of Aretuza. But as much as the show is about magic, politics and adventure, it is about sex. Sex, sexual discovery and control feature prominently from the show’s beginning, where the titular Geralt of Rivia sleeps with the cursed princess Renfri before they battle the following day. Sex is reflective of the magic which shapes the world, and is wrapped with conflict around gender norms throughout the series, in need of as much control and purpose as chaos.
Enter Yennefer of Vengerberg, powerful mage and exemplar of sexual symbolism in the show. We meet the young witch as a peasant girl in possession of uncontrollable magical powers, deformed from birth with a twisted spine and skewed jaw. She is abused by her parents, and is unsure of her identity or place in the world. By her mistreatment, it is clear that she is not viewed as a girl by her parents, but as an abomination and aberration. She lacks a concrete identity of any sort.
Taken from her home shortly thereafter by Tissaia de Vries, a powerful sorceress from academy at Aretuza, Yennefer manages to find mission and purpose through magical training and a relationship with a young man at the academy, Istredd.
It is here that she succeeds in taking command of her feminine identity, and becomes a woman. Still, her life is chaos and uncertainty, and it is only after she has completed her training that we glimpse motive and power flowing not from her instruction but from her desire.
The connection between sex and politics is beyond debate. Whether seen as an escape from the rules, regulations and norms of the professional world through role play or as a reflection of the dynamics in everyday life through domination, sex cannot be divorced from ambition, place and power.
In The Witcher, Yennefer makes her ambitions clear soon after she learns to control her magical powers: she craves political power in the Brotherhood of Socerers — masculine symbolism if I’ve ever seen any — and she desires recognition for that power. Yet, though she has learned to control much of the chaos around her through magic, she has not been able to fully command her identity and image.
As a result, Yennefer seeks to command and own another aspect of her identity: her sexuality. By the third episode in the series the young witch is a budding dominatrix and exhibitionist.
“Can they do something? They’re just watching,” Istredd asks his lover as she straddles him, gleefully fucks him and answers his question with silence. In a wide erotic shot Yennefer and Istredd are watched by a crowd of conjured onlookers, expressions not only of Yennefer’s mature magical abilities, but her desire to be seen as the powerful woman that she is. The scene pulses with raw energy and potential, Yennefer’s complete control of the spectators and command of Istredd giving viewers a sense of what she seeks from the world. The elements together — her exhibitionism, authoritative position on top of Istredd and silent direction of the affair — allow her to take control over both her body and her identity in a world rife with chaos and disorder.
Sexual control is a theme for Yennefer’s character throughout The Witcher, and it critical to her development as an independent, political character, yet despite continuities her sexual journey develops to accommodate her changing identity in surprising ways.
By episode five, Yennefer has been transformed, having sacrificed her female fertility for (symbolically) male power. She retains much of her desire for control and domination, but she has also realized the fruitlessness of the power politics she once craved.
Frustrated that she has in essence exchanged her femininity for a disappointing masculinity, Yennefer tells her mentor Tissaia de Vries that she will accomplish what Tissaia “couldn’t,” implying that she intends to claim both her feminine birthright and ostensibly masculine command at the same time, something, it seems, that female mages have been unable to accomplish in the world of The Witcher. It is an ambitious goal, and is reflected in Yennefer’s sexual choices in the episode.
When Geralt and Yennefer meet she is maintaining a magical orgy for the townspeople, perhaps attempting to satisfy her motherly cravings vicariously, or perhaps building on her exhibitionism with voyeurism. Whatever the case, her power is tangible, and in the hazy room she appears to take pleasure and gratification in the pleasure of others.
At the same time, however, it is obvious that this is not enough: her face is stony and commanding while hundreds fuck before her. She is unable to shake the masculinity she has purchased, and unable to regain the particular femininity that goes beyond simple desire which she so quickly cast away. Can she instead find a way to unite them?
Yennefer’s sexual journey tells the story of this question, and by the end of episode five gives us an answer.
After Geralt rescues Yennefer from a genie by uttering a third and final wish, she is furious. Though he saved her, he took away her control, the one thing she desperately wants. While the show doesn’t tell the audience what he wished for, I believe in binding his fate to hers he granted her the ability to bear children again. If that is the case, then halfway through the series Yennefer has regained what she lost, though she doesn’t know it yet.
In the following sex scene, then, Yennefer’s two wills are united, and through her is channeled both the chaos of masculine command and feminine potential. She mounts Geralt, again taking a commanding stance in sex and controlling the scene, expressing her dominion both over men and over destiny. This is Yennefer as she truly is: powerful in her own right.
Sex is a channel for Yennefer, that much is clear. Mirroring the chaos of the magical world, the uncertainly of Yennefer’s identity compels her to shape herself and take control, tasting both male and female domination before realizing she craves both.
The Witcher subtly challenges gender norms in this way, showing through sex — an act common to people of every identity — a path to control of self and identity, and suggesting that it is a false choice between feminine power and masculine power. Yennefer, it is clear, craves power in any and every form, but ultimately needs her own identity through which to wield that power.
