How Did Geralt Become a Witcher?
One of the things that we know about Geralt in The Witcher is that he is the strongest of his kind and is the most notable Witcher on the Continent. Of course, the Netflix version of The Witcher was able to allow us to have a glimpse of his mother and his early life. That means that we have a good idea of who his mother was and what kind of life he lived when he was still just a boy. But how did Geralt become a Witcher?
Geralt became a Witcher when his mother abandoned him and left him with the School of the Wolf, which was stationed at Kaer Morhen. As such, he was subjected to the Trial of the Grasses, which allowed the Witchers to see that he had an unusual tolerance to the Mutagen. And that was why he was subjected to more mutations.
The fact that Geralt was an abandoned child was the very same reason why he became a Witcher, as the Witchers of Kaer Morhen needed to increase their numbers. Of course, Geralt himself was strong enough to survive the process of becoming a Witcher, and that was why he eventually became the strongest of his kind. And it all started when he was an unwanted child that his mother abandoned.
How Did Geralt Become A Witcher?
If there’s one thing that we know about The Witcher, it is that this series revolves around the titular character named Geralt of Rivia, who was taken straight out of the pages of Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels. Of course, some fans are already familiar with Geralt, considering that he is the main character of The Witcher games, which were also adapted from the same source material as the Netflix series.
But while we do know that Geralt of Rivia went through many different adventures as a Witcher that hunted monsters for a living throughout the Continent, what we don’t know much about is his past. Of course, season 1 of The Witcher actually allowed us to see some of the early portions of Geralt’s life, especially when he was still the Butcher of Blaviken. But his childhood years were never really touched a lot by the series or the book.
We also learned that the Witchers are mutants and aren’t necessarily ordinary human beings. That’s because they undergo an experimental procedure that allows them to transform into powerful mutants with enhanced physical abilities and limited magical capabilities. So, with that said, how did Geralt become a Witcher?
It all started with a sorceress named Visenna, who was presumably impregnated by a warrior named Korin. Of course, Geralt didn’t get to spend a lot of time with his mother because, shortly after he was born, he was immediately left at the School of the Wolf, which was one of the many different schools of the Witchers during the height of the power of the Order of the Witchers. The School of the Wolf was stationed at Kaer Morhen, which is currently the only keep that the Witchers reside in before the Witchers dwindled in number, as this event was shown in The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.
We also learned in Nightmare of the Wolf that almost all of the Witchers had died, except for Vesemir and a few children that ended up becoming Witchers. That’s why, during the events of The Witcher series, the only old Witcher around was Vesemir, while all of the other Witchers were comparatively younger and were still at the prime of their lives.
Geralt was one of the children that Vesemir kept safe during the events of Nightmare of the Wolf, as he ended up raising him and the other kids to become the final remnants of this ancient order of monster hunters. We can presume that Geralt and the other kids were subjected to the Trial of the Grasses, which is the process of turning an ordinary human being into a mutant through the use of the Witcher Mutagen.
However, because Geralt was not only able to survive the Trial of the Grasses but showed amazing tolerance to the Mutagen, he was subjected to more experiments that allowed him to become stronger than any other Witcher. As such, he was an unwanted and abandoned child that was left to the care of the Witchers, who turned him into a Witcher as well. Of course, it was Vesemir who acted as his father figure and mentor, as he was the only older Witcher alive after the events of Nightmare of the Wolf.
Why Did Geralt’s Mother Abandon Him?
Of course, while we do know that Geralt became a Witcher after he was abandoned by his mother, the fact of the matter is that he was an unwanted child that his own mother had to leave to the care of the Witchers. So, why did Geralt’s mother abandon him?
During the events of season 1 of The Witcher, we actually saw Geralt’s mother. We saw that she abandoned Geralt as a child, but we don’t know a lot about the true reason for abandoning Geralt. That’s because not a lot of things have been written about Geralt’s days before he became a Witcher, but we do know that his mother, Visenna, was a sorceress that lived a long life.
Of course, in season 1, Geralt suffered a terrible wound that forced him to enter into a fever dream wherein he saw his mother for the first time in his adult years. She was the one who helped him heal due to the fact that she was always known as a great healer. During that time, he tried asking her why she left him and if she understood how dangerous it was for a child to be subjected to the mutations that would turn him into a Witcher.
However, Geralt’s mother didn’t give him any clear answers. But we do know that there is a chance that she actually cared about Geralt because she helped him heal from his wound. Season 2 also didn’t give any explanations regarding why Visenna left her child to the Witchers.
Of course, the first thing that we could think of is the possibility that Geralt himself could be a child of surprise that Visenna probably had to give up due to the Law of Surprise. It is possible that a Witcher (probably Vesemir) did something for Visenna in the past and that the only thing that she could offer him was the Law of Surprise. Of course, that surprise might have turned out to be Geralt, who she probably didn’t know she was pregnant with at that time.
As such, it is possible that she left him with the Witchers because he was a child of surprise. Of course, we all know that the Law of Surprise needs to be honored because of the bad luck that is tied to people who don’t honor it. In that regard, she had to leave the child to Vesemir and the other Witchers to honor the Law of Surprise.
There is also a possibility that Visenna simply knew that she couldn’t raise Geralt on her own because she didn’t have a husband that could help her raise Geralt on her own. Considering that Visenna was always known as a wandering sorceress and healer, she had a life that wasn’t fit for a child. As such, she knew that raising a child on the road without a father to help her was something that she couldn’t do, and that’s why she must have left him with the Witchers, who could raise him to be a strong and powerful boy in the safety of their stronghold.’
Then there is also the possibility that Visenna always knew what Geralt’s destiny was and how important he was to the life of Ciri. As a sorceress, she must have seen a vision related to her son’s own future, and that was the reason why she probably left him to the care of the Witchers because she knew that he would become a Witcher. Of course, she understood how dangerous the process of turning a boy into a Witcher was, but she also knew that her son was going to survive the process anyway, and that’s why she wasn’t too worried about whether or not Geralt was going to live through the Trial of the Grasses.
Of course, while we do know that the books and the games don’t offer any explanations for Visenna’s life and why she gave Geralt up, there is a possibility that the series will try to explore this. After all, the series is already going to explore the days before the time of The Witcher through The Witcher: Blood Origin, which is a prequel story that happens 1,200 years before the main storyline. As such, there is a good chance that future seasons of The Witcher will try to explore Visenna’s life and the reason why she left her son to the care of the Witchers of Kaer Morhen.
