What is she then, if she's so misunderstood? The characters that are 'judging' her have known her for almost as long as Geralt has and they've been warning him of her for almost as long. Is there something about her you know that they don't? Are you sure you're not just fabricating an excuse for her behaviour when this isn't the intended portrayal of her at all?
She's meant to be prickly and difficult to deal with. Her intentions seems pretty evident, as far as the game has revealed thus far there are no hidden motives that justifies her doing what she has. I'm not saying she doesn't have any good intentions, but all her goals can be achieved by simply being more personable and amicable.
Could you provide an example of this, please? I don't mind spoilers in this instance. I would love to have any reason to like her.
The problem with trying to convince someone of something is that if they already have their mind made up, it's usually pretty difficult of convincing them otherwise. That being said, you don't
have to like her. This is perfectly acceptable. As Willowhugger said in another post, it is Geralt that likes her.
This is one of the issues between character development in games versus character development in books. In the former, you actually have a hand in shaping someone's character and decisions and can thereby role play them more as yourself rather than being railroaded into acting exactly like them. In a book, a character's personality, tendencies, and characteristics are
told to you. You don't have a hand in crafting them. It may make the reader angry, disappointed, upset, etc. but ultimately it is being told to you. I'm sure you know all of this already, but I feel it warrants being mentioned.
So what is she? Well, let's first examine a few 'surface level' characteristics: Yen is blunt in certain respects though secretive in her plans. She can tell you exactly what she wants you to do without ever telling you her hidden motivations behind the decision to do that. She can seem to be singularly minded, that is she will do what she feels is right without caring about the consequences. She can be jealous (like almost all people). She can come off as insensitive and demanding (how she acts while at Kaer Morhen drawing the ire of your fellow Witchers). There are more instances, but since I am not a book reader (yet), these are the examples I have go to by.
Now let's look a bit deeper at each of these 'surface level' characteristics. She's cold to you in the beginning of the game because she knows that you have cheated on her and she's hurt. She knows you had amnesia and explains how she was able to overcome her own, but she's still hurt. Given that it was a rather traumatic experience, i.e dying, the memory of that moment combined with the events that followed (her trying to save you), it's a rather traumatic thing either way (even if you get back with her).
Put yourself in her shoes, the man she loves dies, and she tries to save him, they both get whisked away and each choose their own personal sacrifices for the other...fast forward and you are hooking up with her sorceress friend and she knows about it. Empathize a bit and you will see that her reaction is quite normal. Now she's fast forward to Skellige, she's still upset and it isn't until you go on the quest with her that she begins to let her guard down. But you've also probably noticed something else: she seems hellbent on finding Ciri, even going so far as to use the mask knowing the potential consequences, and you can even see they have an argument over it. Prior to her use of the mask, in obtaining it you notice that she's lowering her guard a little, a guard that she has chosen to adopt because what is the alternative? She was an abused child with deformities and ridicule and wanted nothing more than to have a child, which she now has in the form of Ciri, the child she never could have had on her own.
In a world of intrigue and lesser evil, catastrophe and betrayal, you can't fault anyone really for retreating into themselves and prioritizing their own needs before that of others. You even see this in the real world as people get older, they prioritize their own personal relationships and spend less time with larger goals and more on their own, so you could also speculate that it is a product of her age. But back on topic...so in the beginning she is upset because of the past, in Skellige she lowers her guard in certain moments but you will also notice that if you get closer to finding a clue for Ciri, she tenses up, her personality 'quen' is restored, and her singularity of mind returns. It isn't until you follow those leads and she has some semblance of certainty in a very uncertain situation that she begins to let her guard down and allow her real feelings to be felt.
The necromancy scene, oft-quoted by forum people as a perfect example of her cold and calculating ways is, in truth, an act of desperation. All of their leads point to this guy who is dead. They needed him, and he is a corpse. This, again, shows her devotion to Ciri and her desire for her safety at all costs. This could be perceived as being cold, calculating, insensitive, and even
evil to some, but to others it could be the actions of a devoted mother, but this is the beauty of the Witcher world. There is no simple action, no clear-cut decision that says: this is the perfect choice without any recourse. It was a desperate mother doing a desperate act to ensure the safety of her child. This moment is perfectly illustrated by her comments to the villagers while interrupting their funeral rites when she talks about wanting to save someone who is still alive. Culturally insensitive? Yes, but seen as an act of desperation and the more ethical course (i.e focusing on the saving on someone who is alive over those that had already passed) seems not only logical but plausible.
Now let's move forward a bit to the Kaer Morhen scene. She is being intolerable. The other witchers are pissed and are being ordered around. Even Vesemir is upset. But what did we learn before going there with UMA? That there was a possibility that UMA was, in fact, Ciri. Imagine if your kid was wrapped in a complex, potentially irreversible curse, imagine the emotions you would be feeling combined with already having a singularity of mind in the devotion to your child, a child you could have never had by any other means and that was a distinct priority in your life. Again, the desperation was plain as day to me. She was a desperate woman willing to do anything that was necessary to save her child, and remember...no one knew that it
wasn't Ciri until the Trial, so it all added to the tenseness of the moment. In addition to this fact, she is also reminded, due to the bed scene, of Geralt's recent decisions from the Witcher 1/2, i.e hooking up with Triss. So you are reminded that the person you love cheated on you after what I described early on, the death of Geralt, etc. etc. combined with the certainty of Ciri and the fact that UMA could be Ciri.
She also knew the reaction she would get from other Witchers in regards to the trial. The Trial of the Grasses is a horrific experience to put anyone through given the mortality rate, and just the general history and feelings that each of the Witchers have about it. Look at Lambert's reaction...hell, even look at Vesemir's reaction. The sadness of recollecting all of the moments of seeing young boys go through the torture of the trial..but what are we told? That there isn't really any other way. You think this creature could be your daughter, and you know the potential treatment to lift that curse could kill her, what emotions would be felt by someone in this moment? She was being so difficult because that was her only coping mechanism for the uncertainty of the moment and her understanding (which she already knew even before telling anyone) that UMA could potentially die from this and that it could also be Ciri, her daughter.
Now, I take it you didn't choose her as a romance option, so you wouldn't have seen that everything that followed post-Kaer Morhen, Yennefer was a different person, because Avallach
knows the location of Ciri, and he also knows that she's safe. So suddenly all the frantic searching, dead ends, clues, the rollercoaster of having to find your child finally results in some certainty: certainty in both the fact that you know she's safe, at least for the time being, and that you actually know for the first time where the hell she is. Yennefer, as a result of this, lowers her guard, the facade weakens, and you actually see a much softer side of her that most people wouldn't know unless they chose her. This is brought to a crescendo when you bring Ciri back from the Isle and the reunion that follows. That mostly wraps that up with the final farewell from the docks.
Let's discuss a bit Geralt and Yennefer. I don't know their backstory outside that of the games, but it was clear to me that they have a complicated relationship, but that Geralt actually likes her for who she is. He likes that she can be fiery, unrestrained, and she knows all about the facade, and he also, probably, knows that she is one of the few people that knows he can see through it and see her for who she is. This is something she was probably deprived of her entire life.
How often do you meet someone who truly sees you for who you are, beneath the facade and the shield you put up due to the circumstances you've been through? The abusive past as a child? The ridicule from her parents? (I am cheating a little bit here having read some Wikis) The longing for a child? The crazy global events that could have resulted in both of their deaths multiple times. Geralt knows of her devotion to Ciri, and also knows that it was Ciri, or at least it seems so, that allowed them to overcome their trivial squabbles and bickering, that it allowed them to share a singular purpose together as Geralt himself cares little for politics but is often thrust into it while Yennefer is surrounded by it in her role and has become cynical because of it. They are able to put all of this aside and see beyond trivialities to the core of their relationship and feelings for one another. Sometimes it takes a jarring moment or something larger to allow characters to see beyond their petty squabbles and differences, their personality quirks and past difficulties, for the both of them this was Ciri. It brought them together in a way they never knew it would and it effectively allowed them to truly embrace one another as two people in love rather than as pawns of fate, doomed to irreconcilable differences, spats, and infidelity.
Anyway, I could go on and on but I think it's unnecessary. I am just trying to elucidate her character a bit and show that behind every "bitchy" moment, and behind every "seemingly immoral" act, is a mother's love--plain and simple. You can see she so desperately wants to go back to having some semblance of peace (as much as can be had in the Witcher Universe) with Geralt and Ciri as a family unit. Again, you don't have to like her, at all. But you should try to understand her and her motivations, and even if you do and you still dislike her..well, to bring back Willowhugger's comment from before: It is Geralt that likes her after all, loves her even for who she is and everything she represents. And I would also say that those feelings are reciprocated. After all. Lysander was right: "The course of true love never did run smooth".
Peace.
