La Ron S. Readus
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What Makes Vesemir the BEST WITCHER? (VIDEO SCRIPT)
🕑 Added 2021-08-25 20:01:00 +0000 UTCBe honest; you were just as disappointed as I was when a “Toss A Coin To Your Witcher” instrumental didn’t play during the title card.
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Trust me, Readers; I was just as psyched to hear that we were getting a Witcher anime movie between seasons of the live-action Netflix show as you were back when it was announced.
Then when the trailer for The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf was released, I initially got hype for it just from the animation alone.
Not gonna lie, though; I wasn’t expecting it to be a MONDAY release on Netflix. Watching it definitely gave off Friday release vibes, but that’s just me.
Now if you’ve seen either the trailer or the actual movie and you’re in my bandwagon regarding the animation quality, that’s because it was produced by the Korean animation studio, Studio Mir; the same animation studio that worked on Netflix’s DOTA anime series, which I also highly recommend and might make a video on if people want it.
/However, what makes me so impressed with Nightmare of the Wolf outside of the animation quality, is just how much storytelling they were able to fit in its 83 minute runtime. Including how its plot and narrative points hit real-life parallels that surprisingly hit very close to home for me./
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Now, before I continue, I think its obvious that in order for me to explain this point, I’m going to be treading into heavy spoiler territory for The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf. So if you have a Netflix subscription and haven’t seen it yet, I highly suggest you watch it before continuing this video if you care about spoilers. Cool? Cool.
Nightmare of the Wolf tells the story of Vesemir, Geralt’s mentor that Mark Hamill really wanted to play in Season 2 of the live-action series despite knowing nothing about him.
It takes place during his younger years -- Y’know, around 70-ish years old -- while also providing flashbacks to before his mutation and what drove him to want to become a Witcher, because he was one of the few that willingly wanted to.
/It’s a pretty straight-forward rags to riches storyline that drove Vesemir to become a Witcher. Tired of being under the servitude of a village lord only being awarded enough to get by, he ran away to become a Witcher after aiding one in removing a monster from a noblewoman’s body and saw the amount of coin he made for his services. But that meant abandoning his father -- also under servitude for the same lord -- and his childhood crush Eliana, who within that 60 plus year gap would become Lady Zerbst, honorary council member of the kingdom of Kaydwin./
By the time we see Vesemir at his prime as a Witcher, he’s living his best life; fighting monsters, getting paid, living free of the servitude of lords and houses. But of course, it comes at the cost of prejudice.
/When he was a child, he was too enamored with the Witcher’s abilities and the rewards for their services in comparison to his own life to really pay attention to how society really tends to depict them as./
So if you’ve played the CD Project Red games or saw season one of the Netflix series, you know that said prejudice regarding Witchers ranges from the unnatural ways they receive their abilities resulting in common folk and higher ups using the word “Mutant” as a slur...
And generalizing them with the stereotype of being con artists ala Walter Peck from Ghostbusters by saying that they’re the cause of monster activity in order to swoop in, save the day and get paid for it.
/As a matter of fact, it’s that angle regarding the world’s overall prejudice of Witchers that the plot of the anime film is based on. Tetra Gilcrest, a purist mage of Kaydwin’s court, immediately suggested this upon the beginning of the movie after Vesemir’s initial confrontation with a lishen/ (Monster species have dwindled under their sorts. They need coin)
/So, of course, the moment she is challenged by Lady Zerbst by asking her to provide proof, what does she say?/(It’s in their nature, my lady)
Gee, it’s like the movie really wants us to get the point across that she’s going to be a problem.
Now it’s not like the non-biased point she first brought up wasn’t true; there IS a lack of work for Witchers by the time the movie happens.
/Vesemir’s fellow Witchers are feeling it, and some have quit the trade to find something that’s more sustainable. Vesemir however is in enough good spirits that he believes monster hunting work will pick back up during the spring and summer months./
So when he’s ordered by the kingdom of Kaydwin to investigate the source of recent murders with Tetra and finds out that his mentor Deglam is involved in a plot surrounding creating monsters for them to hunt during said low season based on the same magic used to make Witchers, of course he’s going to feel betrayed.
Of course the watcher is going to see this revelation and realize that if Vesemir was just as in the dark about this, then his other Witcher companions were just as ignorant to it
/And some people who saw this play out would probably hope that Tetra would come to the same conclusion after seeing the two interact; that the decisions made by Deglan don’t represent the entirety of Witchers, and that Vesemir’s actions in trying to right this wrong establish that/
Because upon this revelation, those who are knowledgeable of the extent some would go to seek judgement based on biased and prejudiced hearsay -- especially those with a superiority complex -- could tell that Tetra was capable of going above and beyond to prove that Witchers are beneath the mage purists and aren’t worth being looked at as equals.
They could see that she was going to use said discovery to further prove her point about Witchers, especially since it's revealed that the murders have been caused by one of Deglam’s first failed mutations
/An elf named Kitsu, who, in The Witcher universe, is a race that experience the same type of persecution and prejudice as Witchers./
Then we learn that despite Vesemir's conviction in learning about Deglan’s role in both the creation of monsters and Kitsu’s mutation, that she already knew everything.
/She already knew that it was a select few that caused Kitsu’s mutation and created the monsters, yet continued to condemn all of the Witchers anyway. Even so far as to use the “discovery” of Kitsu’s den as a way to convince the king of Kaydwin to allow a siege of the Witcher’s keep with the intention of slaying every last one of them./
And let me tell you. As a queer black man living in America, this portion of the story resonated with me DEEPLY.
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I’ve grown up with and witnessed the rhetoric about how we shouldn’t expect others to look at us with decency and like-mindedness regarding equality if we’re quote-unquote “constantly proving white folks right about us.”
Bringing up things like the existence of black-on-black crime being a justifiable excuse for white folk to treat us the way that they do, or to keep enacting systemic racism on us and other POC that “don’t meet their standards”
Believing that if one presents their sense of queerness in a way that isn’t overtly flamboyant, femme, or doesn’t question-slash-challenge the dogmatic taboo of societal heteronormativity and the superiority of masculinity, then you won’t have to worry about society constantly challenging your right to exist.
It’s variations of the philosophy of “how can we expect the standards of societal supremacy to respect us if we can’t even respect ourselves first” that a lot of members of older generations and even a percentage of Gen X’ers believe to this day.
The thing about that type of indoctrinated level of respectability politics, is that those who believe in it as the way to actually operate don’t know that it’s actually right, but are enforcing it for the wrong reasons.
/When Vesemir confronted Deglan regarding the experiments and mutations, it wasn’t to gain favor with the prejudiced Tetra or the fear mongered citizens of Kaydwin. It was because he saw that someone within his own community -- someone he trusted and respected -- was responsible for something truly horrendous and outrageous and sought to end it, even if that meant coming down to trading blows because of it. There’s no respectability politics involved when it comes to holding someone accountable for their actions, even if said individual is part of your community./
That’s why I respect the way Vesemir handled the situation. Not only did he not initially do it in order to save face with regular humans, but he also realized that what Deglan was doing was wrong first and foremost and chose not to be silent about it.
Because just like there are people who go out of their way to want to save face with those who claim to be superior, there are also people who are quick to want to dissociate, thinking that doing otherwise is a betrayal to the culture and community they belong to.
Well, I’m telling you right now, Readers. It’s NOT.
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We have to hold our OWN accountable. We have to not turn a blind eye to their deeds in the name of the community and the culture, especially if its members of the community and the culture that end up being the victim.
And I mean EVERY member of the community and the culture; not just the ones that have a sexuality or a gender you agree with.
Because, trust me; modern society has proven that people like Tetra not only exist, but don’t need reasons to justify their hatred of people they think lesser, or don’t deserve rights, or question our existence.
/They don’t need to weaponize our own communal misdeeds in order to justify unleashing monsters at our doorstep; they’re going to do whatever it takes to do that anyway./
So why even try? What’s the point of holding our own accountable for their actions if those bred in supremacy are just going to do whatever? Because by choosing to do nothing, you’re choosing to ignore the victimized; the ones that need your help and support.
By ignoring the perverted actions of your brother, you choose not to care about the trauma he bestowed upon your child.
By ignoring the actions of your insecure cis male best friend -- regardless whether or not they’re dealing with internalized homophobia -- you choose not to care about the umpteenth black trans woman that has been killed this year just for existing.
/The Tetra’s of the world don’t need any of this gasoline to help fuel their fire of resentment against us, but we owe it to those who we call brothers and sisters to not let their voices be lost when its those of us within our communities that are snuffing them out./
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Am I saying that you should take absolute responsibility to critique and chastise the actions members of your community make? Absolutely not.
You shouldn’t have to be the lowly sentinel that’s willing to protect your community from both outside and within; it would be foolish and inconsiderate to put that burden on just one individual.
Ideally, everyone should do their part to make sure that what is right and true is enforced and allowed to thrive both inside and out.
Not because we need to be without a spot or a blemish in order to appease those who already think less of us no matter what we do to try and save face. But because it's the right thing to do.
But, I digress, Readers. Your homework assignment for the day:
Write in the comment section below what you thought of The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf if you’ve seen it
Or, if you feel like sharing with the rest of the class, a film or television series you’ve seen that similarly addressed the moral decisions Vesemir had to make when confronted with holding his own accountable in the midst of prejudice.
Whichever you decide to answer, I’d love to know your thoughts.
