#iola

While scrolling through twitter I found a post stating “Hamza is wearing the same jacket Yalina bought for him at the mall. If Yalina dies, we riot.” The comments on that post were interesting. One said she is definitely dying. One said she has to die so he can come back to India and remarry. Another said she died when she went to stay with him. Yet another person said Hamza might kill her himself.

Yalina is a 19yr old girl. She is a brat, brought up in a mansion and spoilt to a certain extent as most rich kids from influential families are. She fell for Hamza, a gang-member. But she didn’t discriminate. She never looked down on him. She actually loved him in her nibbi way. The only way she knew, because she is just 19. Yes, a smarter girl would never have looked twice at Hamza. What can he offer a princess after all? Most girls would hate his derelict home, his job, the company he moved about it. But she made do. Her love for him must have been greater than we give her credit for. Maybe she isn’t as shallow as we judge her for marrying a gang-member. But innocence, even in a 19yr old isn’t valued anymore. Naivete is now stupidity. If you can’t spot someone out to fool you, the one fooling you gets congratulated on a job well done while you are labelled foolish. That’s how it all works now.

When I first watched the movie, I too was certain she will die, I almost cheered for it as a way of highlighting Hamza’s sense of duty to his nation that he won’t let any measly girl come between him and his duty. And yes, I will still understand him if he needs to abandon her or kill her but I will still root for her innocent love. In the story I crafted in my mind she doesn’t die.

Andrzej Sapkowski’s portrayal of love in The Witcher saga is unflinchingly cynical. Rather than granting his characters the healing power of genuine affection, he binds them to cycles of trauma and longing they cannot escape. This dynamic is nowhere more apparent than in the relationship between Geralt of Rivia and Yennefer of Vengerberg. Their bond is often mistaken for passion or destiny, but closer inspection reveals that Geralt’s desire is driven less by Yennefer as a person and more by an archetype - a psychological imprint of what he believes he needs.

A revealing example appears in the frame story set in the Temple of Melitele in Ellander (The Voice of Reason) , in Geralt’s fleeting encounter with the priestess Iola. During the night they spend together, Geralt feels a deep attraction - not because of who Iola is, but because she becomes a blank canvas for his projection. Her reality differs sharply from Yennefer’s: she smells of chamomile, a scent of healing and calm, in stark contrast to Yennefer’s intoxicating lilac and gooseberries. Her hair is red rather than black, further distancing her from the sorceress. Yet none of this diminishes Geralt’s desire. In the darkness and silence, he imbues Iola with the very qualities he craves - confidence, initiative, and emotional enigma - the essence of the “sorceress” archetype that holds him captive.

This detail is crucial: Geralt’s desire is sustained not by physical resemblance, but by behavioral projection. The illusion collapses at dawn. In the morning, Iola’s natural shyness surfaces, the confident mystery evaporates, and Geralt’s interest fades. The woman before him embodies the peace and gentleness he claims to want - yet his psyche recoils. He is drawn back to the chaos, the volatility, the consuming fire that Yennefer represents.