Ep. 32 — Chapter 2 from "Blood of Elves" (Part 2)

Lindsay Fawn from the US and Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye join Alyssa for Part 2 of our discussion of Andrzej Sapkowski’s first Witcher novel Blood of Elves, Chapter 2. Very important bits include: The “Uncertain Dad” trope, The Four Horsemen of the “Perfect Woman” trope, ways we’ve gotten back on the literal and proverbial horse, the presence of femininity in the series, a mother’s perspective on the living quarters at the keep, Witcher-induced ASMR tingles, and “The Best Bed in Kaer Morhen”.

This episode is available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher.

Episode Sponsor

This episode of Breakfast in Beauclair is brought to you by Modern Muckracker. Modern Muckraker is an upcoming investigative journalism podcast answering pop culture questions no one has dared to ask. With the help of actual, overqualified experts, host Mike Schubert will apply over-the-top research methods and far-too-intense scrutiny to get to the bottom of these seemingly unanswerable questions. He will tirelessly pursue the truth of mysteries from films, music, books, and more, including, “When should Spider-Man take the subway instead of web-swinging?” and other hard-hitting questions.

Modern Muckracker is currently fundraising on Kickstarter! Help bring this show to life through donations or spreading the word. Visit modernmuck.com for more information.

In this Episode

[00:00] Cold Open
[00:53] Introduction
[03:37] Discussion
[32:07] “Tidings from Toussaint”
[38:03] Episode Sponsor: Modern Muckracker
[39:17] Discussion
[57:32] Outro & Credits

Relevant Links

Transcript

Cold Open

ALYSSA: I think everyone has been guilty of making assumptions like that in the past though. Uh, over thinking for sure—

LINDSAY: No, never.

ALYSSA: —for sure.

ALYSSA: [Laughs]

CHARLOTTE: [Laughs]

LINDSAY: No…

ALYSSA: “Who? Me?” Yeah.

LINDSAY: Psh. No, I’m completely rational.

ALYSSA: …Okay. [Laughs]

[Breakfast in Beauclair theme music by MojoFilter Media]

Introduction

ALYSSA: Welcome to Breakfast in Beauclair, a global Witcher Podcast. My name is Alyssa from GoodMorhen, and I’ll be your host as you, I, and our international hanza accompany Geralt of Rivia and his destiny, Cirilla of Cintra, across the Continent.

[Raffle Winners]

Thanks again to everyone who joined our Instagram Live yesterday! Head over to Breakfast in Beauclair on Instagram for a conversation with Lale from Mahakam Workshop and the selection of our giveaway winners.

Big congratulations to our grand prize winner, Daan from the Netherlands, who will receive the “Griffin v. Geralt” manuscript poster from Mahakam Workshop! As well as to the winners of the Breakfast in Beauclair pin packs: Mieke from Belgium, Madi from the US, and Bo from the US; and the winners of the Breakfast in Beauclair sticker packs: Kim from the US, Andrej from Slovakia, Kaitlyn from Canada, Aibhlinn from the UK, and James from Australia.

[Quarterly Donation]

Each quarter, I donate $1 per patron to an organization that is making our world a better place to be! Paul Bullion, who will play Lambert in Season 2 of the Netflix adaptation, recently led fundraising efforts for Refugee Women Connect in conjunction with his upcoming athletic events. Refugee Women Connect is a Liverpool-based organization that provides support for women refugees and asylum seekers including pre- and post-natal women and their babies, victims of sexual violence, trafficking, domestic slavery and human rights abuses. Their current activities include an extensive outreach program and weekly drop-ins where women can access a range of emotional and practical support and activities. At the time of donation, we had 50 patrons on Patreon and donated £50—or $68.97—on behalf of “the Hamza.”

[Patron Announcements]

Speaking of our community on Patreon—this episode, we welcome Andrej and LunaWinter, who join our producer-level patrons: Luis of Kovir, The Owner of The Churlish Porpoise, Arix the Godling, Katie (The Redhead of Toussaint), Jacob B., Julie, Ayvo of Gulet, Bee Haven of the Edge of the World, Jacob Meeks, Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye, RedKite, The Original Roach, AerialKitty, Dustin, Libby, The Castel Ravello Sommelier, Clare Odell, Jennidy Mundilovitch, Katrin from Austria, Brett from California, Wolf, Corey from the US, and John of Ryblia.

If you’d like to explore becoming a patron of the show, head over to patreon.com/breakfastinbeauclair.

[Episode Details]

As for this episode, Lindsay Fawn from the US and Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye join me for Part 2 of our discussion of Blood of Elves, Chapter 2. Join us as we discuss the “Uncertain Dad” trope, The Four Horsemen of the “Perfect Woman” trope, ways we’ve gotten back on the literal and proverbial horse, the presence of femininity in the series, a mother’s perspective on the living quarters at the keep, Witcher-induced ASMR tingles, and “The Best Bed in Kaer Morhen”.

In our mid-episode news segment, “Tidings from Toussaint,” Lars from Witcherflix shares casting and production news for Season 2 of Netflix’s The Witcher and The Witcher: Blood Origin.

Without further ado, let’s begin our discussion of Blood of Elves, Chapter 2.

Discussion

[Breakfast in Beauclair stinger by MojoFilter Media]

ALYSSA: At this point, Geralt comes and greets them as do some of the other witchers. So, Triss meets Coën, who's there for the first winter with them. She sees Lambert, Eskel. Ciri runs off. And Geralt goes to take Triss’ stuff to the stables and Triss goes with him. Things get super shady here—

LINDSAY: [Laughs]

ALYSSA: —because, at this point, uh, Triss takes advantage of the opportunity. And she flings herself toward Geralt and kisses him. The excerpt itself here, because it's from Triss’ perspective, has a lot of emotion and a lot of passion associated with it. And then acknowledges that Geralt has little to no response about the whole thing. So, we don't learn a ton about why this has happened at this point, uh, we will in the next section. But it does seem very sudden. And then the moment is quickly interrupted. Yep, that's kind of the end of that section.

LINDSAY: Yep! I don't know if this is strange. I kind of got this almost jealousy of, like, we're just meeting Triss. Like, why does she seems so familiar with Geralt? And why is she so familiar with Kaer Morhen? And, and how has she been here before, and in what context? And why haven't we heard anything about it? And yet she's throwing herself at him and she's, clearly, very enamored with him. Then she's staring at him. She's studying his features. She's studying – she mentions the way he looks like he's aged, but not in a way that it's, like, a physical aging but, like, a mental aging. And, like, he's just seen more since the last time she saw him. And I'm just like, “What last time? What have – what is happening between these two? And, like, why don't I know about it?” I felt a little excluded from the club. She gets dropped into it. Like, we should know what's going on and we have absolutely no idea what's going on.

ALYSSA: Yeah.

LINDSAY: And I was like, “This is not fair.” I don't know. Do – did either of you kind of get that that feeling when you read it for the first time?

CHARLOTTE: Oh, yeah. You know, when I read it, I was just like, “Okay. Who are you?” Like—

LINDSAY: Yeah, like, excuse me. You don't – you don't just run up to Geralt and kiss him. Like, you don't do that.

ALYSSA: [Chuckles]

CHARLOTTE: This is Yennefer’s territory. Like, what are you doing?

ALYSSA: You know, to be fair, I think Sapkowski does this with a lot of his characters. He just kind of, like, introduces us to somebody who, like, in the grand scheme of things, may or may not matter, but we learn more about the world through their firsthand interactions.

CHARLOTTE: Yeah.

ALYSSA: And that's kind of what we're getting here with Triss—

CHARLOTTE: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: —where we're not told this, like, 30-page epic about, like, her previous relationship with this person or with anybody really. We just hear about it through these brief and intimate firsthand moments. So, whether that's from her dialogue with Geralt here, or her dialogue with Vesemir when he alludes to the fact that he kind of saw her grow up.

CHARLOTTE: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: We just got little bits and pieces and it's up to us as readers – as Sapkowski’s readers, specifically—

CHARLOTTE: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: —to piece everything together.

LINDSAY: Mhmm. I think that's, that's a great point because we don't – we don't know who she is. But, by the things that she does, we learn a lot about different things. Like, the magic, we learned – like, we learned that magic might not be as straightforward as we think it is. Or there's something going on with that where it's not just as simple as this. Or, oh, look at this everyday use of magic. And it just kind of happens. And it doesn't draw attention to it. But we have to pick up on that as readers to kind of piece things together and, and add some puzzle pieces to this universe that he's creating. And then I realize it, it kind of makes me laugh because one of my first thoughts was, “Gosh, Geralt, like, how many sorcerers are you going through?”

CHARLOTTE: [Laughs]

LINDSAY: Like, like, how many? Like, why, why sorceresses? And, and how many? And what is your thing there with them? Is it because you both – you know, you have some sort of, like, shared view on the world because of, you know, your magical nature? And, Geralt, like, pick one and just, you know, leave it at that.

ALYSSA: Yeah.

LINDSAY: But I think that also might just be, you know, my attachment talking.

CHARLOTTE: So, I, I really – I really enjoy this whole, like, entrance into Kaer Morhen scene. You know, obviously, there – it, it's described as having these dramatic snow-covered sharp peaks everywhere. In my mind, I kind of view it as like a little view of the Himalayas because, you know, “Oh, well, that's where the warrior monks train. And, oh, look, it's Kaer Morhen. And who's training there?” Of course, you know, it's – there's this, this image of, you know, the stoic, super-trained warrior monk training in the mountains and, like, you get that from the landscape as they're approaching the keep.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

CHARLOTTE: But my favorite – one of my favorite parts of this is you get your first intro to the Witcher fam!

ALYSSA: Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: You know what I’m saying? You get like Uncle Vesemir. You get Coën. You get – oh, god.

ALYSSA: Lambert and Eskel.

LINDSAY: Lambert and Eskel. Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: Lambert. Lambert and Eskel. And, like, we haven't met them.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

CHARLOTTE: You know what I'm saying? Like, these are the bros. Like, these are them. Like, these are the last ones. They're right there. They're all right there, you know, at least as far as we know. Oh, my god, like, when, when they enter – like, when Triss and Ciri come in and, you know, all the witchers are, like, standing there, you know to welcome her, you get this really strong sense of this, like, brotherhood family dynamic. You know, like, Vesemir, you know, grabbing Triss’ bottom—

ALYSSA: Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: —in this – in this part, like, Vesemir is a naughty old grandpa and, like, he knows it. You know what I'm saying? Like, “Oh, I can no longer bounce you on my knee.” And she's just like, “Vesemir.”

LINDSAY: “I forgot you weren't a child anymore,”

CHARLOTTE: Yes.

LINDSAY: It’s just—

ALYSSA: No, you didn’t.

CHARLOTTE: “Vesemir, please!” Like, oh, my goodness. You know, you get these, these beautiful little portraits of, of The Witcher brothers and, like – and Daddy Vesemir.

ALYSSA: [Laughs]

CHARLOTTE: And it's like it's great. And, and you know, when, when Triss is interacting with Geralt and having her little moment of loss of self-control, you sort of get a portrait of why it is she's kind of into witchers. When he touches her, she gets this like – I, I want to, like, try to – I want to equate it to, like, what happens when a physical sensation is triggered by ASMR? I don't know if you guys—

ALYSSA: Yeah, tingles!

CHARLOTTE: Yeah. Do you know what I'm talking about? Okay.

ALYSSA: I'm all about ASMR.

LINDSAY: I don’t know – Alyssa, do you – do you – do you like ASMR? I haven't. I've never asked you that, I don’t think.

ALYSSA: [Whispered] I love it.

CHARLOTTE: Okay. Yeah. So, so, you know – you know what I'm talking about?

ALYSSA: Yes. I'm—

CHARLOTTE: You know exactly what I am talking about.

ALYSSA: I'm on the ASMR train. Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: Mhmm. Yeah, me too. So, like, you know, I imagine, when Geralt, you know, touches Triss, that that is very much like the sensation that she gets, except, you know, from physical touch.

ALYSSA: Personal attention ASMR, it’s a whole genre.

CHARLOTTE: Oof. Yeah. Right. So, one of the other things that was nice to see, as he's describing the witchers, through Triss’ eyes – like, through her learned, you know, sorceress’ eyes – which one was it? The youngest one. Who's the youngest one?

ALYSSA: That is Coën.

CHARLOTTE: Is it Coën?

ALYSSA: Coën and Lambert are the two youngest ones.

CHARLOTTE: So, like, with Geralt, you know, the Trial of the Grasses caused his hair to turn white and, like, all these other things happened to him. But, you know, for the most part, the transition into a witcher went relatively well. He and Vesemir seem to be like these, like, grand successes. You know what I mean? Like, with the experiment of the Trial of the Grasses. Whereas Coën seemed to have trouble and Triss can see that. Like, she can see on his face that he had trouble going through the trial. And she's like, “There's indications in his eyes that are, like, constantly bloodshot.” He seemed to have scarring all over his face from the pox, which was very – I think it was the pox. It was, like, unusual because witchers are supposed to have a very strong natural immunity to illness. So, I just thought that was interesting to see the comparison between, like, successes in these experimental mutants.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

CHARLOTTE: It's like, “Here they are. Here’s, here's the last of them. Pick your favorite.” Yeah.

ALYSSA: I wonder if Coën would have had the pox before he was turned or it would have been really possible that somehow he happened to get it after he became a witcher?

CHARLOTTE: Yeah, it, it raises questions about their backstories, their childhood, and their development, which—

ALYSSA: Never get answered.

CHARLOTTE: Yeah, never get answered. I'm hoping that – isn't there some kind of like – is there a show or a game coming out that's supposed to be like the old world where they talk about the original witchers?

ALYSSA: There are two Netflix spin offs: Blood Origin, which talks about the Conjunction of the Spheres and the creation of the first witcher. And then there's also Nightmare of the Wolf, which is the animated series about Vesemir.

CHARLOTTE: Yes.

ALYSSA: Not too much is known about those spin offs, but—

CHARLOTTE: And, you know, Triss, Triss makes a note of, you know, telling the reader that, like, Vesemir is, like, an artifact. Like, Vesemir is unbelievably old. Like, he's old even for a witcher. Like, what is Geralt? Like, 90 or something? Like, Geralt’s, like, 90 years old. And, so, Vesemir is, you know, on, on the timescale of, of sorceresses and wizards who live hundreds and hundreds of years.

ALYSSA: Mhmm. Lindsay, were you gonna say something as well?

LINDSAY: Yeah. Umm, when she was talking about the pox and, and I think that Triss, I think, at some point, says that she, she thinks that they're trying to develop more witchers. And they're – like, they're not picking from – like, they have slim pickings, essentially. Doesn't she mentions something like that in this chapter? Where she like observes—

CHARLOTTE: Yes. Yes. Yeah, I think she does. It's like the, the children that were – that began to be abandoned with the witchers or something were, like, sickly or weak. Is that – is that what you're referencing?

LINDSAY: Yeah, I think so. I, I mean I don't have the book in front of me, but I just – I kind of vaguely remember her saying something about – noting about the type of people that they started to try to turn recently because they haven't really done it in a while. I guess I didn't realize that. And this is the first time we're seeing other witchers, correct?

ALYSSA: Yes.

CHARLOTTE: I believe so.

LINDSAY: Did we see one more prior to this, or, like, in passing, or they mentioned someone in passing?

ALYSSA: No. So, in the Netflix series, they did have a previous witcher open up “Betrayal Moon”, which was Episode 3.

LINDSAY: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: But, at this point in the series, I think, throughout all of the short story books, we only hear Geralt reference Vesemir once throughout “The Voice of Reason”, which was the in-between chapters of The Last Wish compilation. However, I think this is our first time meeting any other witcher.

LINDSAY: Especially if you watch the show first, there's a little bit of that. “Which one am I thinking of? Am I thinking of the show? Am I think of the books?” Especially, it's been a long time where you’re – you're removed from it. So, when I got to this part, I'm like, “Wait a minute. We, we've seen other witchers, haven't we? Or, no, maybe we haven't!” And that kind of just makes this moment really big because you also get this feeling like that Geralt is like – if he doesn't say it, you, you, at least, get the feeling that there aren't too many witchers left. And I think people, even in passing, kind of, like, say, “Oh, yeah, there aren't really witchers left,” things like that or, or, “One day, we're gonna run out of monsters. There's – you know, we're not going to need you guys.” And, so, you kind of really do get this small world feeling of, you know, witchers aren't – you're not just gonna find one here and there. And then you get to see them. So, I think that—

CHARLOTTE: Yeah.

LINDSAY: Yeah. The way you described it as a kind of, like, a brotherhood—

CHARLOTTE: His little wolf pack. The wolfie the boys, you know.

LINDSAY: Yeah, a little wolf pack. Exactly.

CHARLOTTE: Mhmm.

LINDSAY: Like, they're, they're just standing there in the gate with all their weight on their left leg all ready to pounce and stuff.

CHARLOTTE: “Here we are. We're the witchers.”

LINDSAY: It’s a generational portrait.

CHARLOTTE: Yeah, like, Coën through Vesemir. You know what I'm saying? It's like, that's it.

LINDSAY: Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: It’s all we got.

LINDSAY: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: I think it does a really nice job of continuing to build the world and for us to learn a lot more about girls, specifically, just because we only saw him in these specific situations, but we didn't learn a lot about his backstory. So, I think it's nice to have a little bit more context for why he is the way he is.

LINDSAY: Yeah, I think the show takes – I don't know if the show is referencing something we learn later that I haven't learned yet. But I think the show, when it – when Geralt is having those visions of his – of his mother and he's kind of delirious and all that, are they taking some artistic liberties or some creative liberties when they're describing that scene? Because we get a lot more in the show of that than we do in the actual book when that scene is happening. He does see – he has, like, hallucinations of his mother and all that. But I don't think we actually get to see anything of him being a child or his mother leaving him in the way that the show kind of depicts that.

ALYSSA: No, we don't really get flashbacks in the same way.

LINDSAY: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: We do hear a little bit more about his childhood in, as I said, in the Voice of Reason when he's talking to I think Iola.

CHARLOTTE: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: It must be in one of the earlier—

CHARLOTTE: Yeah.

ALYSSA: —earlier parts of The Last Wish.

LINDSAY: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: But, yeah, not, not quite in the same way that it happens in the Netflix series.

LINDSAY: Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: Yeah, you get an idea of what his childhood was like when you get into the keep. And this is a first glimpse of how he was raised. As we watch Ciri scampering about the parapets and stuff, you actually – you can imagine Geralt doing the same.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

CHARLOTTE: It's that whole generational reflection thing. It's like, “All right. We thought Coën was the last one and the youngest, but there’s was fresh blood now.”

LINDSAY: Yeah. And I think, especially – I guess, I’m kind of the, the motherly perspective in all of this. It’s kind of, like, my role at this point. But I think that, seeing this, as a parent, it's very sad thinking of all these children who didn't have – their parents abandoned them, or they were taken from their parents, or something like that. And they're living in this castle. The beds aren't really beds. And, you know, there's no – there's no love, except for the love that maybe Vesemir has given them. But that's not the same as having parents. It makes me really sad. This whole chapter, I think, was very, very hard for me to read when looking at it from that perspective.

ALYSSA: And I think that you alluded to this earlier as well as, like, Ciri has bonded so closely with Geralt. We'll see it grow throughout the rest of the series, but it definitely builds here in this chapter.

LINDSAY: There is a part that I found interesting where Triss, like, takes her hat off and her hair comes flowing out of it.

CHARLOTTE: Oh, yes.

LINDSAY: So, just, like, Ciri, like, was looking up, like, and admiring her hair.

ALYSSA: Yeah.

LINDSAY: I was like, “What?” Like, Ciri doesn't seem like the kind of girl who, you know, would admire something like that. But then they kind of explained that, that Triss’ hair is natural. It's not done up in curls and stuff like a noblewoman. And it's not – you know, it's not all, like, covered and stuff.

CHARLOTTE: Oh, yes. Sapkowski, he was like, “The only people that wear their hair in the manner, you know, that Triss does are sorceresses and whores.”

ALYSSA: Yeah. [Laughs]

LINDSAY: And then, like, maybe Ciri – maybe Ciri is looking up at her and being like, “She's allowed to do that? She's allowed to have her hair like that? I want to be a woman who can just know how to—”

CHARLOTTE: It’s Ciri’s – it’s her first real glimpse of femininity—

ALYSSA: Hmm.

CHARLOTTE: —in months. You know what I'm saying? Like – and that – like, goes back to that—

LINDSAY: That surprised me that somebody like Ciri—

CHARLOTTE: Yes.

LINDSAY: —would kind of look at femininity as far as we know so far and kind of, like, cling to it.

CHARLOTTE: Of course, like, she's in a developmental stage of her life. Like, she's about to go through puberty. As far as we know, like, she's, she's still prepubescent—

ALYSSA: Right.

CHARLOTTE: —and, like, to the reader at this point. And it's just like she's been raised by these dirty old wolf bros for, like, the past, you know, few months. And, like, all of a sudden, she sees this, like, gorgeous vision and she's like, “Oh, my god, like, woman, femininity, mama, beauty—”

ALYSSA: Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: “—you know, gentleness.” Like – but then that goes back to Sapkowski’s, like, writing women, you know, like, “Only, only Sorceresses and whores with a hair like – oh, oh, this is gonna imply some things. Yes.”

LINDSAY: So, which one – does that mean that I am?

CHARLOTTE: Yeah. Right.

ALYSSA: [Laughs]

LINDSAY: Right.

CHARLOTTE: “It means freedom,” you know. Like, okay.

ALYSSA: It's definitely interesting. And it actually reminds me of, like, the opening to Blood of Elves, in which Dandelion serenades a bunch of people under this great tree. And we learn more about everybody on the Continent. Sapkowski is able to take this very universal characteristics; just hair and hairstyles, and then actually detail, like, yeah, different classes and what it means in the Northern Kingdoms and in their society. So, super interesting weird stuff in there. But—

CHARLOTTE: Yeah, it's, it's the dichotomy. You know, it's the dichotomy of the dark, dank stone, cold animal skin, steel and blood to the feminine, silky, shiny, soft, smells good, pretty [laughs] thing going on there.

ALYSSA: Yeah, it is noted that she takes off her hat before she goes to try to hit on Geralt as well. Yep. So, that – [laughs] As we'll learn in the next section, Triss doesn't really understand her reason for being in Kaer Morhen. So, she's pretty much free to make assumptions, and guesses, and, and hopes as to why she might be there. So, at the end of this, Vesemir tells Triss that he has prepared and found the best bedroom and the best bed in all of Kaer Morhen for Triss.

LINDSAY: [Laughs]

ALYSSA: Triss says all this stuff about, like, “Hmm. If this is just for airs, then, fine, I'll stay on the best bed. But the best bed isn’t the one in the tower. It's the one with Geralt.” And it's just like, “Oh, god.”

LINDSAY: Down, down, down girl.

ALYSSA: [Laughs] And, in the next section, we then see her in the best bed of Kaer Morhen. Alone, Triss contemplates the reason for her presence amongst the witchers. You know, she spends this whole section kind of thrashing about in bed, tossing and turning, thinking about why she's been summoned there. We learn a little bit more from her perspective about her relationship with Geralt and her seduction of him. It answers a lot of the questions that we had about why they had the interaction that they did in the stables. Apparently, you know, Triss had kind of gone the way of all sorceresses had that cycle of, like, amusement and delusion when it came to intimate relationships with other people and came across Geralt at a point when he and Yen had parted. It details her fascination with their relationship and then talks about her seduction of Geralt with the help of some magic. She didn't want to steal Yennefer away from Geralt, but she wanted to experience his emotion and the depth of his pain and fear or something like that. I don't know. The whole situation about this kind of rubs me the wrong way. Because, at least, to me, it reads as being fantastical and very predatory at the same time.

CHARLOTTE: Yeah, sort of, like, an emotional vampire a little bit, you know—

ALYSSA: Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: —if those exist.

ALYSSA: A lot a bit.

CHARLOTTE: Yeah.

ALYSSA: A lot of it.

CHARLOTTE: I think my note here is, “Triss thirsty.”

LINDSAY: [Laughs]

CHARLOTTE: “Wizards don't do it for her. Witchers give ASMR tingly time satisfaction. Lol.”

ALYSSA: [Laughs]

LINDSAY: [Laughs]

CHARLOTTE: Like, that's what – that’s what I have written here.

ALYSSA: I don't see any lie there. So—

LINDSAY: Like, my first thought about that was that sounded a little coercive. Like, this is not really kosher. Like, Triss, did you really do that using magic? So, how much of that is, is coercion and how much of it was consensual? Did you have any sort of say in this situation?

ALYSSA: I mean this is the reason why I'm not really on the Triss boat. CD Projekt RED certainly took the route where players can decide who they'd like to romance. You know, I'm not really about Triss is a romanceable option just because, you know, things like this.

CHARLOTTE: I was Team Yennefer forever, baby.

ALYSSA: Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: Team Yennefer forever.

LINDSAY: Yeah, I'm not – I'm not really sure how onboard you can get when the relationship begins in such a coercive manner. But it's clear that Geralt kind of, you know, over time, just was like, “Hmm. I'm not really into this.” But Trish got – Trish – Triss got, like, more into it. You know, she's been through all these men. And she had a spell with women and all of this. And she kind of just wanted to check this out, see what it's about, and didn't anticipate getting so deeply involved in him emotionally. And she clearly has and he doesn't appear to have done the same.

ALYSSA: No, he doesn't reciprocate at all. But, because we're with Triss throughout the entirety of this chapter, we're kind of seeing her internal monologue about like, “Why won't he come visit me?” All of her thoughts revolve around Geralt. Yeah. So, after we learn about Triss’ relationship with Geralt, she starts to make assumptions about why she's in Kaer Morhen. And she comes to the conclusion that, “Oh, she must be here for Ciri.” So, at first, she thinks that she might have been brought here to conduct the Trial of the Grasses, which is how human boys are turned into witchers. And then she's like, “Oh, no, they probably saw what I had seen where Ciri began to prophesize or enter a daydream of sorts and they didn't really know what to do. And they knew they needed a magician for it.” This is where we kind of end this section with Triss, you know, sexually frustrated, but also kind of resolved to help Ciri and kind of help the witchers navigate the changes in her.

LINDSAY: Her first thoughts is, like, Geralt. And it's so clear that, like, she's so enamored with him. And all we see from Geralt, at any point, is, is you know, shrug or, like, he picks her, like, by the shoulders and kind of, like, moves her away. Like, hmm – like, someone's coming or there's just no feedback whatsoever. And she's just going on and on and on in her head and her heads going a mile a minute thinking about all these, these things. And then it turns out that, like, yeah, they were here for that, but her role ends up being so much different than any of these things. Her role ends up being almost a mother kind of role.

CHARLOTTE: And I think she also mentions he could have asked Yennefer, but he didn't. And that's, like, really fucking with her.

ALYSSA: Yeah.

LINDSAY: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: She’s like she doesn't know.

LINDSAY: Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: She's like, “Why? He could have asked Yen. Why didn't he ask Yen? Oh, my god, he asked me. Oh, my god, we rolled around in my sheets. Hahaha.”

ALYSSA: [Laughs]

CHARLOTTE: You know, just like, “Oh, my, girl, calm down.” When they're walking through the keep, she's watching Ciri in training and realizing how dangerous it all is for this child to be, like, participating in these witcher training exercises. And I just found that there were some, some similarities that I drew between men writing women in novels, which is, like, you know, the women that are respected by men have to be, number one: beautiful, number two: powerful, number three: deadly, and number four: with skills men respect. And, like, that's Ciri. You know what I'm saying? Like, she’s a princess. She powerful. She deadly. And she has all these skills that the men, the witchers, the wolves… respect. So, like, it's just it's interesting. You see – you see these tropes, you know, played out and, like, I'm all for it. You know what I'm saying? Like, as a – as a young girl growing up, I needed – I needed powerful girl role models that could do stuff, you know. But it's just like you – when you start seeing it through this other lens, it just kind of starts to get a little bit, like, “Oh, that's, that's not a character for girls.” Like, you can make it. You can make it for girls. Like, you can make it a strong role model. But, at the same time, like, you really have to – when you look into it, it's like, “Okay, well, who, who is she trying to impress?” You, you know what I'm trying to say, though?

ALYSSA: Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: And Triss, Triss is all like, “Oh, my god, she could slip. She could break her ankle.” And Geralt is just all like, “Don't tell me how to raise my child,” basically. He’s like, “My culture is different. This is my culture. This is my house.” You know, he gets all grumpy about it.

ALYSSA: [Laughs]

LINDSAY: I think it's cool that this, this chapter specifically – is, is all about, you know, like, the gender norms and kind of—

LINDSAY: —dichotomies between those.

CHARLOTTE: Oh, yeah.

LINDSAY: And, and it's funny that you bring that up because the witchers do seem to respect Ciri in that way. They don't think like, “Oh, she can do this, you know, but we'll give her, like, the easy girl version of it.” They don't do any of that. You know, they, they give her – they train her in the exact same way they would probably train a young boy witcher—

CHARLOTTE: Mhmm.

LINDSAY: —which, at first glance, is, like, kind of cool. But then you bring that up where she's all these things and then it kind of makes you like, “Well, why does she have to be so hyper competent to get that respect?” Yeah. She shouldn't need to. That, that says a lot about women in stories.

CHARLOTTE: Yeah. And it's a social commentary for sure. Like, especially from Sapkowski’s viewpoint. You know, this is how he's writing. This is, you know, things that are, are prevalent in his culture leaked out into the books. You know what I mean? Like, then that's, that's part of it. It's, like, the only women that are really respected in these books, what kind of women are they? And what kind of women are not, you know?

LINDSAY: And, yeah, that makes me kind of reflect on my own life and think – I don't consider myself hyper competent in anything at all. Do I not deserve that kind of respect? It's, it's nice to see women depicted, you know, in books and in movies and things where they're, they're a person and they have, you know, faults and normal human qualities. And they still deserve respect. I don't think – it's not really, like, a poorly written character. I think it's just a commentary on how people are viewing Ciri in the way that culture kind of is around her.

CHARLOTTE: Yeah, that, it's that same dichotomy. It's, like, you could look at it this way or she could be a phenomenal role model.

LINDSAY: Mhmm. Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: She could be a terrible trope that makes girls feel like they have to overachieve in everything in order to be respected. Or she could be something to strive for. You know, something, like, a light at the end of the tunnel. You don't have to, you know, live a certain way. You can – you can do the non-gender normative thing. You know, like, you can do that.

LINDSAY: Yeah. Yeah, you don't have to let society, like, ‘girlify’ your, your life.

CHARLOTTE: Exactly. Exactly.

LINDSAY: And, also, you were talking about that with your perfumes. Like, don't let somebody decide that, like, this is for men and this is for women. Especially, like, young girls need to hear that, young boys as well. Boys don't need to have things masculinized to be suitable for them and girls don't need to have things “girlified” to be suitable for them. Yeah, you can look at that both ways here. It's either. You know, I look up to her and I want to kind of be like Ciri or, like, kind of disappointed that I'd have to be so perfect for people to like me. So, yeah, it's like seeing it both ways is really interesting.

CHARLOTTE: Yeah, the, the lenses of perspective can make you dizzy sometimes. [Laughs]

LINDSAY: [Chuckles] Yeah. Oh, yeah.

ALYSSA: And, I think, just to add in, like, a little bit of commentary on Sapkowski, if I can find the interview or the article in which it was mentioned, I’ll, you know, certainly link it in the show notes. But I believe he's on record as talking about the women in The Witcher as being influenced by his mother who – Sapkowski is from Poland.

CHARLOTTE: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: And, you know, during World War II, while the men were on the front, all of the women were at home. He's spoken about growing up in a very matriarchal society and having that influence and that experience color the way that he's written the women in The Witcher.

CHARLOTTE: I think that a lot of what I see in his books is that Sapkowski, clearly, respects – he respects women, but he writes about them through the lens of a man.

LINDSAY: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

CHARLOTTE: So, it's, like, there, there is respect there. You know what I'm saying? It's not disrespectful writing. It's, it's, it's beautiful writing. The characters are multifaceted. And you can see them in many different ways, but there's still that, that, that lens. It's like you're still – you know, there's still that lens that, that he views it through. Only really outsiders can really, you know, comment on. You know what I mean? Like—

ALYSSA: Yeah, I mean he spent so much time talking about breasts throughout the series. [Laughs]

CHARLOTTE: Oh, god. [Laughs]

LINDSAY: [Laughs]

ALYSSA: And this specific chapter is no exception because he, you know, squeezes that in.

CHARLOTTE: I mean, you know, everybody loves boobies. Okay. Can you blame him? Boobies are great, you know.

ALYSSA: Oy, dear.

CHARLOTTE: Sorry.

LINDSAY: A little segue there.

ALYSSA: [Laughs]

ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Before we continue with the episode, we're gonna hand it over to Lars from WitcherFlix for recent news on the Netflix show. When we come back, Lindsay, Charlotte, and I will continue our discussion of Blood of Elves, Chapter 2.

“Tidings from Toussaint”

[“Tidings from Toussaint” theme music by MojoFilter Media]

LARS FROM WITCHERFLIX: Hey, it's Lars from WitcherFlix and this is "Tidings from Toussaint". Welcome back everybody! It's over, it's done. The filming for season 2 has finally finished and post-production has begun.

On April 2nd, Netflix wrapped filming and celebrated it with a nice, little behind-the-scenes video where showrunner Lauren Hissrich revealed some little tidbits about the filming process. She said that the Witcher production for Season 2 involved 15 locations, 89 cast members and 1,200 crew members. All in all filming lasted for 158 days and they shot in one to three units at the same time. Moreover the video confirmed that season 2 will definitely air in 2021. It was a big production and a big step up from Season 1. In a Variety article, Lauren Hissrich talked about the filming for the new season too: "It has been fantastic to shoot The Witcher here in the U.K. We have filmed at some incredible locations including Fountains Abbey, Blea Tarn, Hodge Close, Frensham Ponds, and of course, our comforting home at Arborfield Studios. We’ve assembled the best British talent and crew who have been passionate, professional and brilliant partners through such a complex and unprecedented filming experience. Now we can’t wait for everyone to see all of the hard work that has gone into this production". And now the big process of post-production starts. For Season 1, it began in May/June of 2019 and the final episodes were released on December 20th, 2019. If the production time is similar or slightly longer, we can expect Season 2 in October or November 2021.

In casting news Redanian Intelligence posted about several new, quite important characters and their actors and actresses that will appear in season 2 of The Witcher. First, Redanian Intelligence has learned that a flashback scene will have a young Geralt and a young Vesemir. They will be played by actors Alexander Squires and James Baxter. This flashback scene will also include actor Tamer Hassan who will play a non-book character named Deglan. We already know this character from the official synopsis for the animated Witcher spinoff movie about a young Vesemir called "Nightmare of the Wolf". Here is what is says: "Long before mentoring Geralt, Vesemir begins his own journey as a witcher after the mysterious Deglan claims him through the Law of Surprise." So, it is very likely that Deglan is also a Witcher.

In other casting news, a bunch of book characters and show-only characters have been cast. After Redanian Intelligence revealed the appearance of the Wild Hunt two weeks ago, they now add that British actor Sam Hazeldine will play the role of Eredin, the leader of the Wild Hunt. Hazeldine appeared in shows such as "Peaky Blinders" or "Knightfall" before. Two historical characters from the Witcher's history will appear, almost definitely in flashback or vision sequences. The legendary elven sorceress and Ciri's ancestor Lara Dorren will be played by Niamh McCormack, the elven oracle Ithlinne, who prophesied the end of the world, will be played by actress Ann Firbank. The scribe Jarre who lives and works at the Temple of Melitele in Ellander will be played by actor Joseph Payne, actor Ed Birch (known for roles on "The Last Kingdom" or "Wonder Woman 1984") will be King Vizimir II of Redania. Moreover two newly created, mysterious characters in Season 2 have also been cast. Polish-British actress Ania Marson will portray a character named Voleth Meir. She is described as a "very old white haired woman. A demon, who roams the land bargaining and preying on people’s deepest and darkest desires." A character named Aylne will be played by Emily Byrt. It is likely that she will play a "sex-worker who joines a group of soldiers that she isn't afraid to boss around". Last but not least, the Witcher Season 2 was visited by a special actress in its final days: According to Redanian Intelligence a barn owl was present and will appear in Season 2. I think we all know that the owl will play a very important sorceress when she is shapeshifting.

There is also some not so great news to report about the Witcher spinoff miniseries "Blood Origin". A Netflix spokesperson talked to Deadline.com and had the following to say: "Due to a change in the production schedule for The Witcher: Blood Origin limited series, unfortunately Jodie Turner-Smith will no longer be able to continue on in the role of Éile." This is sad news, but due to the pandemic delays and conflicting schedules are simply inevitable. How much the production has been delayed is currently unknown. Moreover it unfortunately means that her character needs to be recast. As a reminder, here is Éile's character description: "An elite warrior blessed with the voice of a goddess, who has left her clan and position as Queen’s guardian to follow her heart as a nomadic musician. A grand reckoning on the continent forces her to return to the way of the blade in her quest for vengeance and redemption." But to end on a more positive note, thanks to a post by Blood Origin show runner Declan de Barra, we know now that the show will have six episodes. Redanian Intelligence also found some interesting pieces of news on the industry website Production Weekly. They revealed that filming locations will include the UK (which isn't the biggest surprise), but it is planned to film on the Canary Islands, too. We already know this shooting location from Season 1 of the main show. Lots of scenes were filmed there, for example the Valley of the Flowers with Geralt and Jaskier, parts of the dragon hunt in "Rare Species" and Yennefer's spectacular fight against a mysterious assassin and its insect monster.

Anyway guys, that's it for me for today. I hope you all stay safe and well. We'll talk again in the next episode of Breakfast in Beauclair. Until then, thanks again for listening and good luck on the path!

[“Tidings from Toussaint” theme music by MojoFilter Media]

Episode Sponsor: Modern Muckracker

[Breakfast in Beauclair Holiday theme music by MojoFilter Media]

ALYSSA: It’s not an exaggeration to say that without the precedence and inspiration of Mike Schubert’s work on Potterless, there would be no Breakfast in Beauclair. Mike and I have known each other for 24 years and in that time he’s grown to become a force in podcasting with knockout shows that I love such as Potterless, HORSE, Meddling Adults, and appearances in both conversational and scripted shows. Now, he’s bringing his expertise in areas like podcasting, engineering, and comedy to a new venture: Modern Muckracker. If you’re a fan of Breakfast in Beauclair’s analysis of the Witcher series—or the Hanza Discord’s weekly Marvel teardowns—this will be the show for you.

Modern Muckraker is an upcoming investigative journalism podcast answering pop culture questions no one has dared to ask. With the help of actual, overqualified experts, host Mike Schubert will apply over-the-top research methods and far-too-intense scrutiny to get to the bottom of these seemingly unanswerable questions. He will tirelessly pursue the truth of mysteries from films, music, books, and more, including, “When should Spider-Man take the subway instead of web-swinging?” and other hard-hitting questions.

This is a show that I need to hear and you and I can help it come to life! Modern Muckracker is currently fundraising on Kickstarter for its first season. Visit modernmuck.com for more information.

Discussion

ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Hey, everyone! Welcome back from the break. When we left off, we had discussed Triss’ meeting with the witchers in the keep and her first night in the best bed in Kaer Morhen.

ALYSSA: In the next section while mending Ciri’s clothes, the witcher girl confides in the sorceress. We open the section with Triss going downstairs to have breakfast in Kael Morhen with the witchers. While there, Triss take Ciri aside and asks to fix her hair and her clothing, criticizing both in the process to a little bit of shame from the witchers. Triss takes Ciri up to her room where she notes, you know, the décor and this enormous rat skin that is hanging on Ciri’s wall and sees more of the bruises and the injuries that Ciri has. This section ends with a surprising request from Ciri as well. Do you guys have any thoughts on the first part of the section?

LINDSAY: I, I had a lot of thoughts when I read this section. A lot – a lot of things were happening. First, she obviously killed a rat, and skinned it, and hung it. And, yeah, I get it. There's a difference between wild rats and, you know, beautiful fancy rats, but still it makes me really emotional. So, that has nothing to do with the book and everything to do with me.

CHARLOTTE: Oh, rat mom.

LINDSAY: Yeah, I was very sad. But, also, human mom side of me was also pretty sad. The description of this room is just very, very bleak. Her bed was not a real bed. There was nothing personal, nothing comforting. And then you think of Geralt had the same kind of room. This is what he grew up in. This is the atmosphere he had. This was the, the nurturing safe space that he had. And, and, when you're a kid, your bedroom is kind of, like, that safe space for you. All of your familiar stuff is in there. And, here, Ciri is – she's been ripped from her home. You know, her grandmother is, is dead. She doesn't have her home anymore. And, now, her room is this, you know, stone, dark, cold, colorless place. And I'm wondering if that affects her, if she thinks about that, how that plays on her emotional state as a child because she, she's a child when it comes down to it. And, and children need certain things in their life. Having personal items and familiar things around you is one of those things that children need. And that just makes me really sad knowing that there's just so many children over the course of however long witchers have been witchers who have had to live in these sorts of conditions. And it's, it's upsetting.

CHARLOTTE: This is like the morning after they arrive if I'm not mistaken. Right? They come downstairs to have breakfast with the witchers. Triss, if I recall, notes that Ciri is asking for a specific type of juice.

ALYSSA: [Chuckles]

CHARLOTTE: A blue – a blue kind of juice and the salad that they had last night. So, Triss is watching this. And, you know, she, she asks to take Ciri upstairs to, to tend to her. And she does this because she wants to get a look at her because she's real suspicious of the things that the witchers have been – have been feeding her. And she, she comes to the realization that Ciri – what Ciri had for dinner last night was a “salad” with “mushrooms.” And she realizes that the, the mushrooms that they've been feeding her are a very specific type of mushroom that are – that they use, I guess, to enhance their performance. It's kind of like a mild performance enhancing drug. While she hasn't gone through the Trial of the Grasses, she is being fed specific things to help her, I guess, develop a little faster. I'm not – I'm not really sure what it's all for. Like, stimulants or something. I think that's what she said it was.

ALYSSA: Accelerants. Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: Like, a form of stimulant. Yes. Yes, an accelerant. So, like, watching her eat, watching her ask for these things, she suspicious. It's also stated in this section that, when Triss wakes up, she, she does herself up. She puts on expensive scents, which, by the way, are not described by Sapkowski at all. She does not have a scent in the books. You know, we have to make one up for Triss basically. It's also noted that she uses very expensive, non-magical cosmetics. So, like, she's not using Glamarye. She's not using magical cosmetics, which I found interesting because, like, you know, you heard – you heard this prophecy just a few pages ago about how, you know, she should be dead. So, it's just like, “Okay. Like, this is interesting,” you know, considering what we just heard that she, she's not using any magic cosmetics at all. I just thought that was interesting because that's, like, my whole deal. So, I was like, “Oh.”

ALYSSA: Yeah, two things; one, we heard previously that Triss doesn’t really like using magic. And, also, she seems to have very specific priorities. And a lot of them seem to revolve around her appearance, at least, where we are in the series right now.

LINDSAY: Actually, when you bring that up, the fact that she doesn't use magical products, it kind of reminds me of when she healed Ciri’s leg and then her hand, like, starts itching. And I'm wondering if they have some sort of effect on her body that she just is not – you know, she doesn't like. She finds it unpleasant.

ALYSSA: We'll definitely get to that and what importance that has for Triss and how magic seems to affect her despite her status as a sorceress. Triss, in order to, you know, update Ciri’s clothes asks her to undress and put on something else for the moment so Triss can work on her new little uniform. And, once Ciri does this and she undresses, Triss sees all of the bruises that Ciri has received from training. They're super, super severe. Triss is kind of getting angrier and angrier asking Ciri where all these fresh injuries came from. And Ciri is just very nonchalant about everything. She's like, “Oh, yeah, that one's from the windmill. This one's from the pendulum. Those ones are from the comb.” It's very matter-of-fact to her. Like, this is the way that she's been living for six months to a year. There's a few cute quotes from her:

“Geralt says I'm already good at the pendulum. He says I've got flair. I've got flair.”

And then there's another little quote about her being on the comb:

—and Triss asking her, “Do the comb wallop you?” And Ciri says, “How can the comb wallop you when it's buried in the ground?” Triss asks like, “When you fell off of it, did you lie there for two days in pain?” And Ciri says, “No, like, that’s silly. Coën rubbed it and put me straight back on the comb. You have to, you know. Otherwise, you catch fear.” And Triss is like, “What?” [Laughs] And Ciri says, “You catch fear. Didn't you know? Even when something bad happens to you, you have to go straight back to that piece of equipment or you get frightened. And, if you're frightened, you'll be hopeless at the exercise. You mustn't give up, Geralt said so.”

It's kind of cute, but, also, of course, speaks to her training as a witcher here in Kaer Morhen.

LINDSAY: The boys, I'll call them—

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

LINDSAY: —they don't make any special arrangements or any special – they don't take it easy on her. Anyone with half a brain and I – excuse me for saying that in regards to these boys. But anyone with half a brain would see a young girl covered in bruises and be absolutely horrified. But, to them, it's kind of just – you know, it happens. Maybe she shouldn't have been so slow and gotten thumped by that windmill and she wouldn't have that bruise. And the fact that Ciri now also thinks that's completely normal. She's like, “Oh, yeah, I got that from this. I got that. from that.” She's obviously picking up on some of these weird thoughts that – I don't want to say clueless. I feel like I'm gonna get so much shit for this. And these kind of, like, clueless things that these boys – I mean that's kind of what they are. They're a little bit clueless. And, now, Ciri is kind of like, “Yeah. What's wrong with that? They’re just bruises.” I don't want to relate that to gender, but I'm finding parallels in my life in regards to how men and women view, like, their children. You know, a bruise is a bruise. Oh, they fell over. It's fine. And then, you know, Triss as, as the woman is like, [gasps] “This is unacceptable.”

CHARLOTTE: And Geralt is like, “Don't tell me how to raise my child. Don't talk to me about my child!”

LINDSAY: [Laughs] Yeah, again.

ALYSSA: There's like a huge canon of, like, this just like the “Incompetent Dad” trope or the—

LINDSAY: Yeah. Yes.

ALYSSA: —the “Uncertain Dad” trope. Like, you see this with, like, Full House—

LINDSAY: Exactly.

ALYSSA: —for example. Like, The Rock has done, like, a bajillion movies in the same trope. So, I think it does play into an idea of incompetence that is already embedded in society, which kind of is a shame because you have a lot of very competent fathers. What Triss steps into definitely follows that literary norm.

LINDSAY: Yeah. Yeah, that “incompetent father” trope and then get really upset about it and rightfully so because it's very much, you know, not – it's not a universal thing. It's not even probably a common thing. Men are much more competent. And, and they are just as skilled caregivers as women are. But there's a reason this trope exists. And it, it comes from experiences even if those experiences are just from, like, female perspectives and how we view things. And, you know, if they're not doing it the way we want them to do it, then it's obviously not the right way. So, I think that has a lot to do with how that trope came about and less to do with, you know, them actually being incompetent. But that's definitely what's coming out here. And I'm curious as to whether or not what you're talking about with Sapkowski’s upbringing if the way he's playing with these gender norms with that trope has something to do with it, you know, being raised by a mother who did everything and the fathers were, like, not there. I'm wondering if that plays into the dynamic that exists between Triss and, and Ciri, and, and the witchers.

ALYSSA: It's a good question to pose Charlotte, do you have any thoughts?

CHARLOTTE: Well, I definitely – yeah. Yes, I do. Uh, just give me a second. When, when they're up in Ciri’s room and Triss is, you know, under the guise of getting her new clothes, Triss actually did want to see the state of Ciri’s body just in general to see, like, where she was in her developmental process, either, you know, as a witcher or as, as a source, which I don't know if she's – has she hit on that yet?

LINDSAY: I think, when she's sleeping in the – in the best bed in Kaer Morhen, she kind of, like, says like, “That's why they want to talk to me because she's a source. Yeah.”

CHARLOTTE: Yeah. And I remember – I think while she was having that little, like, internal monologue in her bed, she even says to herself like, “I need to get a good look at her. You know, I need to see how she's coming along.” So, you know, she gets her to disrobe and she's, you know, fixing holes in her jacket with magic. It's this really cute little, like, girl time bonding moment that they have where Triss is fixing your jacket and Ciri’s like, “Oh, my jacket’s magical now. This is awesome,” you know. And Triss is talking about, you know, sewing her some new clothes with a bewitched needle, asking Ciri about her upbringing. Ciri has a bit of a bad flashback to having to, to do, you know, menial labor stuff when she was, I guess, on the run. But I thought that was kind of cute, this little bonding moment. And Triss’ shock at Ciri’s injuries was interesting to me because I think that – I think that it is implied that the witchers didn't even know that Ciri had those bruises. Because I don't think that the witchers disrobed her and checked her at any point. Because, as, as Lindsay was saying – again, not to be insulting to anybody, but, like, if they are as clueless as they seem to be about, you know, raising a kid, especially a girl, they don't know what to do with the girl. That, that's clear. They don't know what to do with the fact that she's a girl. I don't think that they've checked her. I don't think that they've seen her bruises. They might not be comfortable checking her like that.

LINDSAY: That's a – that's a really good point.

CHARLOTTE: So, Triss, of course, is the first one to see her completely naked and, like, to see the damage that has actually been done. But, yeah, of course, she's really not – you know, Ciri doesn't really care. She's like, “Whatever. You know, it's just bruising.” One of my favorite little parts in this is that Triss is just, like, swearing in Dwarvish—

ALYSSA: Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: —like, as she's looking at, at Ciri’s, you know, battered, bruised, you know, hematoma-laden body. The section about catching fear, that threw me right back to my childhood as well because that is a, a rule. I don't know if, if that – if you guys are familiar with that. Are you guys familiar with that statement?

LINDSAY: No.

ALYSSA: No, not really.

LINDSAY: No, not at all.

CHARLOTTE: The statement itself isn't necessarily “catch fear”, but it's, “If you fall off, you have to get back on.” I, I used to ride horses when I was younger. Like, I, I rode for a few years as a kid while my family could still afford it. And that's a rule in horseback riding for the most part. The first time I fell off a horse, it was awful. The horse bolted out from under me. A hornet had stung it under the saddle while I was riding it. It, it bolted. It was at full gallop. And it was in an enclosed ring so that it was a fenced-in ring. And I had to do an emergency dismount and, basically, try to fall off the horse carefully at full gallop. So, I did that. Long story short, I fell off. I survived, but I couldn't breathe when I hit the ground. My spine had been sort of, like, compacted when I hit the ground. I, I should have just been taken immediately to a doctor. But, in horseback riding, the rule, apparently, is that you have to get back on the horse immediately.

LINDSAY: Oh, my god.

CHARLOTTE: It, it has to do with the horse’s training. You cannot allow them to think that they can do that. But it's like the horse got stung. You know what I'm saying? It's not like – you know, it's like this whole weird – it's a weird – it's a weird mental power dynamic thing. That's another reason why I don't really like riding horses anymore. Just like the whole power dynamic things really throws me off. But, like, they made me get back on that goddamn horse. And I couldn't even – like, I, I felt like I was paralyzed from the waist down.

LINDSAY: Wow.

CHARLOTTE: And I – they made me get back on the horse. They, they, they picked me up from the ground and put me back on it and just walked me once around the ring. And then I was allowed to go. But it had to do with, like, the horse’s training.

ALYSSA: Mm.

CHARLOTTE: Like, not really so much mine. But this reminded me so much of that. It was just like, “You got to get back on.” You know, like—

ALYSSA: Yeah.

LINDSAY: That's really upsetting.

CHARLOTTE: Yeah.

ALYSSA: I mean, as we were talking about that, it did bring back – I've never really been told that in so many words, but I grew up as a cheerleader. And I was – I was the flyer. I was the girl up top that they would chuck.

LINDSAY: Oh, my god.

ALYSSA: Because I’ve – I've always been really tiny. There's actually really hilarious pictures of me and how genuinely small I, I was compared to my peers. I was like a full head or two shorter than everybody else. But there were times where, you know, you're on two people's hands. Two people have your feet. There's a back spot and, sometimes, a front spot holding their wrists. So, there's very little keeping you from the ground if you're – if you're up there. And there's definitely been times where, you know, you fall and it's the responsibility of your bases and your back spot, everybody on the ground, to catch you and to break your fall. But there was one time in particular that I remember in high school where I was attempting to do a twist. So, you get chucked up and then, on the way back down, you have to, you know, twist a couple of times and then you get caught. Well, that specific time, I either flailed or something happened where I just fell straight through their arms and nobody caught me. So, from being thrown up, like, 15 feet in the air, I just hit the mat. Like, straight on my back. And I was fine. Like, that, that's the thing. It's like I just stood up and that – like, they told me to lay there for a while. And then my bases and all of my team had to all go do laps because they dropped me. But I was like, “This is silly.” I was like, “I'm okay.” But, yeah, it's like that, that kind of, like, fearlessness and just kind of going for it and just getting back up and doing it again. Cheerleading was something that just really forced me to do that.

CHARLOTTE: Yeah, there's that whole mindset of you have to do it because it scares you.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

CHARLOTTE: Like, the, the job I had for the past eight years in my life. I was working at height. The height is over 200 to 300 feet, 80 to 90 feet up in a tree that, that kind of thing. There, there were times when I just had to be like, you know, the reason I want to do this is because it scares me. And that was like the only way – it was the only way that I could go through it. It was the only way I could get through it at all. But, yeah, it's, it's something that's been repeated to me. So, again, I was like, “Oh, Ciri, like, throwing me back to these moments of strained trauma in my childhood, girl.”

ALYSSA: [Laughs]

CHARLOTTE: Like, oh, my god.

ALYSSA: Yeah. So, at the end of this chapter, Ciri asks Triss, “Oh, if you're a magician and you can do all this stuff, you can enchant needles to make my clothes, could you make me a boy?” Triss just, without hesitation, says no. The section closes with Ciri making one additional request of Triss. And, in the section, we don't hear what it is, but she asks Triss to come closer and then whispers something in our ear. Triss ends the section with saying like, “What? Now?” And then she continues cursing emphatically.

ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Before we discover what Ciri has told the sorceress, we’re going to end our discussion here. Join Lindsay Fawn from the US, Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye, and I in the next episode of Breakfast in Beauclair for our continued discussion of Andrzej Sapkowski’s Blood of Elves, Chapter 2.

Outro & Credits

[Breakfast in Beauclair theme music by MojoFilter Media]

ALYSSA: Thanks for joining us at the breakfast table! For show notes, transcripts of each episode, and a complete list of our social platforms and listening services, head over to breakfastinbeauclair.com.

Breakfast in Beauclair is created by Alyssa from GoodMorhen. It’s hosted by Alyssa with the “Tidings from Toussaint” News Segment by Lars from WitcherFlix. The show is edited by Alyssa with music by MojoFilter Media.

Breakfast in Beauclair is produced by Alyssa in New York City with Luis of Kovir, The Owner of The Churlish Porpoise, Arix the Godling, Katie (The Redhead of Toussaint), Jacob B., Julie, Ayvo of Gulet, Bee Haven of the Edge of the World, Jacob Meeks, Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye, RedKite, The Original Roach, AerialKitty, Dustin, Libby, Clare Odell, Jennidy Mundilovitch, Katrin from Austria, Brett from California, Wolf, Corey from the US, and John of Ryblia.

Special thanks to Lindsay and Charlotte for joining us for this episode and our international hanza for their support.

Transcriptionist: Rachelle Rose Bacharo
Editor: Krizia Casil

Share With

Podcast EpisodeAlyssa EstebanApril 15, 2021Blood of Elves