The found family trope is prevalent in the best films and TV across the decades. Everything from The Breakfast Club to The Mandalorian has some variation of characters coming together and connecting with one another in ways that they’re not able to with their birth family. But The Witcher season 3 family does the trope better than other recent examples of the trope in mainstream TV.
Please note: The following will contain many spoilers for The Witcher season 3 family elements, along with other plot points and the ending as well.
The Witcher’s Entire Premise Revolves Around Found Family
Despite Dominic Toretto’s insistence that the Fast And Furious movies are all about family, no one does it better than The Witcher season 3 family of Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri. And even the ancillary characters of Jaskier, Triss and The Brotherhood in general. But that was always the point of The Witcher.
The Witcher season 1 began with the story of three separate characters in three different timelines, who later come together. That was the entire point. Geralt’s (Henry Cavill) destiny was to be with Ciri (Freya Allen). And Yennefer’s (Anya Chalotra) search for a child was fated to end with Ciri, finding even more than just a child, but a family of her own. The season 1 finale saw the three characters intertwined across decades, and finally come together.
The Witcher Season 3 Family Abandons All Metaphor And Subtext
While season 2 of The Witcher put these characters through the paces, challenging the idea of them being together, at various points, the outcome was a foregone conclusion. While Geralt and Yennefer fought over their feelings for each other, Ciri had to find her place with Geralt, a monster hunter for hire. The culmination of all this in the season 2 finale saw the three together, realizing their strength lies with one another. Trusting each other, was another thing though.
So when The Witcher season 3 begins, the family aspect is glaringly obvious. Despite some strained mistrust between Geralt and Yennefer, they are a family for all intentions and purposes. And I don’t even mean as subtext or metaphor, they are like The Witcher version of a cliche hallmark family. Papa Geralt is off hunting, while Mama Yen teaches baby Ciri all about magic. The day ends with all three of them around a dinner table enjoying a typical family feast, laughing and enjoying each other’s company. Love even blossoms again between Geralt and Yen. It’s entirely too wholesome for a fantasy show with magic and monsters.
The Found Family Trope Isn’t Played For Conflict
So you would think this happy-go-lucky vibe would be a setup for the writers to make the characters go through the wringer even more, creating conflict and turmoil. But surprisingly, The Witcher season 3 family stays intact for all of season 3. After some hiccups, everyone ends up on the same page with one another, moving forward from a place of love and understanding.
The writers, thankfully, find conflict through other means, like the politics of the Brotherhood, the threat of the Elves and the entire Northern Kingdoms risking war. It’s a subversive thing that shows and movies often do; put the found family at odds for the sake of drama and tension. But instead, as the season progresses, all three leads grow and become an even stronger family and even go as far as proclaiming each other as so.
The Dad-Daughter-Mother Dynamic Of The Witcher Season 3 Family
While metaphor and subtext are all great and wonderful, characters actually admitting their found family dynamic as actual family is just over the top amazing. Like when Bo-Katan (Katee Sackoff) refers to Din (Pedro Pascal) as Grogu’s dad in The Mandalorian. It just hits that much harder.
Similarly, in the finale of The Witcher season 3, when Yennefer has to leave her new family to return to Aratuza and save her adopted mother Tissaia, she calls Ciri her daughter in her farewell! Tears of joy! And again, when Jaskier is trying to prove to Radovid how much Geralt cares for Ciri, he refers to her as Geralt’s daughter. It’s just understood at this point in the story that these three are a family, with no found or adopted elements to it.
And this spreads out to the extended members as well. After the amazing battle between the Brotherhood and Elves, Jaskier and Yennefer find each other in the chaos. Jaskier calls her ‘witch’ while she refers to him as ‘bard’, as they two frantically embrace in the destruction. It’s a heartfelt moment between the two who have always had a playfully contentious relationship. It’s in-laws who become close just by being forced to be around each other.
All episodes of The Witcher season 3 are not streaming on Netflix.
Let us know your favourite found-family trope from TV or movies in the comments below. Or reach out to me on Twitter at @theshahshahid.
