There aren’t too many bright spots in The Witcher‘s fourth season. Yennefer of Vengerberg’s transformation from egoistic, conniving loner witch to fierce, caring mother and leader of a sisterhood is one of them.
In the first season, Yennefer killed some of her fellow sorcery apprentices without blinking to enhance her own power. She threw away her ability to have children in order to look more beautiful. By season four, she’s had a brief, patchwork but wonderful family life with a man and her adopted daughter Ciri. She’s fought time and again to protect what’s left of the shrinking school of witchdom. And when she seeks revenge on the dark magician Vilgefortz, the source of all the mages’ problems, including her own, she mainly does it to save the people she loves.
Just before Vilgefortz is about to take the fight once again to Yennefer’s doorstep, she turns to one of the many allies she’s asked for help. “Can we win this fight?” she asks the oldest witcher, Vesemir, who’s survived more battles than Yennefer could even count. “Can I tell you a secret?” he counters. “Leaders never really know—but they keep their doubts from their people.”
There are many ways to lead. You can do it quietly, from behind, or even by being an early follower. But sometimes, life calls on us to stand in front. To point to a place we don’t know how to get to, and towards which the road looks dangerous. And yet still, we’re expected to say, “Let’s go! I believe we must reach this destination, and I think we can.”
Choosing doubt over certainty is half of what makes a leader worth following. For better or for worse, the other half is knowing when to express your doubts and when to swallow them.
No matter which one Yennefer will pick, the future remains unknown—but if we can all walk towards it together with less fear and more confidence, it’s likely we’ve placed our faith in the right person.
