The Witcher
The Witchertook witness to a fancy world where monster hunters , sorceresses , and various mythical creature co - exist – and yet one of time of year 1 ’s weirdest present moment was when Tissaia turned some of her Aretuza girls into eel . base on the book series by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski , The Witcherwas first released on Netflix in December 2019 , and it might be the streaming giant ’s biggest TV time of year ever . Netflix was mindful of the popularity ofThe Witcherand renew the serial for a 2nd season before the first one was even out .
The series throw Yennefer of Vengerberg ( Anya Chalotra ) a right backstory , leave viewers to pursue her journeying and transformation to become one of the most powerful sorceresses of Aretuza – but the road was n’t well-off , and she experienced and find some traumatic events , such as when some of her classmates were turn into eel .
Related : The Witcher ’s Deleted Yennefer Scenes Explained ( & Why They Were Cut )
Why Tissaia Turned The Aretuza Girls Into Eels
Netflix’sThe Witchersees Yennefer sell to Tissaia de Vries ( MyAnna Buring ) and train to Aretuza . Although she did n’t excel at her class , Yennefer passed a mental testing orchestrated by Tissaia , which give her hope of “ go up ” with the remainder of her classmate . Tissaia told her to “ hear for the knock , ” but she skipped Yennefer ’s door . Yennefer pinch out of her room to sight on Tissaia and those who were chosen to “ go up , ” only to find out that the ritual consist of turning the young woman into eel .
The Aretuza apprentices really serve a purpose as eels , as roughshod as this transformation ( and the whole “ ascend ” put-on ) is . By move around them into eels , Tissaia is taking aside their ascendance , but not their tycoon , thus serve as a conduit for Aretuza . Yennefer was n’t choose as Tissaia fancy her potential , and turning her into an eel would have been a real waste material . allot to theofficial site for Netflix’sThe Witcher , the consortium with lily-white body of water at the bottom of the tower is Aretuza ’s index source , and the “ mages not capable of harnessing chaos are transformed into eels , forced to live out their days in this pond and bring home the bacon business leader to the academy . ”
The measure for choosing which Aretuza apprentices will be turned into eel and which ones will have right founding ( and thus become sorceress ) seems to be the least gifted girls in the radical , though there might be a talented one among them from metre to time , chosen to serve as an eel as she ca n’t be trust .
Tissaia cite to Yennefer that their great power make them “ conduits of chaos ” and that there are two types of mages – those who control their emotions and those who allow their emotion see to it them . Tissaia move around the Aretuza apprentices into eel to help them to better control that chaos and plow it into magic . It ’s a unearthly practice , but it was n’t a random act from Tissaia , though it is quite cruel .
Why Tissaia Didn’t Turn Yennefer Into An Eel
As such , Tissaia spared Yennefer the fate of being turned into an eel due toYennefer ’s rapidly growing powers inThe Witcherseason 1 . While many of the Aretuza girls who were change state into eels had already hit the ceiling of their various effectiveness , Tissaia truly noticed Yennefer ’s burgeoning abilities , which ensured she did not match the touchstone of being transformed .
Furthermore , Tissaia ’s prevision allow her to see the formidable mage Yennefer would becomein future season ofThe Witcherand understood that turn her into an eel would lead to a darker time to come in which Nilfgaard acquire the battle of Sodden Hill . merely put , Yennefer was already far too valuable to Tissaia , even if the untested mage did not roll in the hay it herself at the metre , meaning Yennefer was never going to be turn into one of Aretuza ’s eel inThe Witcherseason 1 .
The Witcher Eel Scene Was Added To Make Aretuza Different From… Hogwarts
It ’s inevitable when a school that teaches magical skills in soda water polish appears , it ’s going to be compare to Hogwarts . That ’s genuine withAretuza in Netflix’sThe Witcheras well . The mind of immature masses in a boarding school scholarship to harness trick does conjure up persona of garbed figures and wands thanks toHarry Potter’shuge pop culture presence . Aretuza , however , is very unlike from Hogwarts , so Tissaia turning her students into eels is one more way of life to secernate the two .
The secret plan power point of charming students being turn into eels is n’t one present in the novels or video games that provide the source fabric forThe Witcher . ShowrunnerLauren Schmidt Hirsch hold toTV Guidethat the particular game stop was made to make a major point of difference between Aretuza and Hogwarts . Hirsch excuse that they did n’t desire Aretuza to simply be a wizardly blank space where , “ you go , and you get power , and you get anything you need . ”
Hirsch credit entry writer Jenny Klein with the addition of the eels , and notes that they ’re a way of life to still create conflict in an environment where young women might have believed themselves to have found a magical sept . Not all the woman get to have that family at Aretuza ; instead , some of the charming students end up as eel inThe Witcher .