Thoughts on Ciri/Mistle (unpopular opinion)
Okay, Iâm afraid Iâll be throwing a stone into a wasp nest, but talk has turned on a future Ciri/Mistle pairing. I really hope they wonât do that, because I have HUGE issues with this. Hereâs why.
This contains HUGE spoilers (book content!).
Their relationship starts with rape. As you know, Ciri comes to the rats on her flight - she doesnât know whether Yennefer and Geralt are still alive, all she knows is that she needs to get away as far as possible. Sheâs allowed to join the rats for dinner and is allowed to sleep there - one of the guys (I forgot who) tries to rape her, and Mistle chases him away. Ciri is relieved - and then MISTLE rapes her, doing just what the boy did.
Ciriâs reaction the next morning. Ciri wakes up and the first thing that she does is to run to the river and, paraphrased âtried to washed off what couldnât be washed off.â This is not exactly âI kissed a girl and I liked itâ for me.
Mistleâs reaction shortly before Ciri leaves. On the same night when Ciri is getting the tattoo, she talks to Mistle after they have gone to bed. She tells Mistle that she will go to Nilfgaard because of the wanted posts of here everywhere and that she will come for her and the others and help them. Mistle reacts by saying (paraphrased):Â âIs that why youâve been so good to me lately?â, meaning that this, apparently, hasnât been the case for quite some time and also implies that Ciri might have been doing this from a place of guilt.
For me, the whole time with the rats and especially Ciriâs time with Mistle has âStockholm Syndromâ written all over it. (Please note the sentence: âActions and attitudes similar to those suffering from Stockholm syndrome have also been found in victims of sexual abuse, human trafficking, terror, and political and religious oppression.â)
I have always read her time with the Rats as something that is super out of character for her. She forgets all of Vesemirâs and Geraltâs lessons. She wanted to use her abilities for something good, now she is part of a bandit group that instills terror in people. In my opinion, she stays, because she has nowhere else to go.
YES, she is shocked when the Rats are slaughtered by Bonhart and she has to watch - but first of all, everyone would be shocked by this, second, it probably shows that the time with the Rats, she is not her true self - Falka is a personality that she adopts during that time to cope. Also, these are - for all that happened - people whom she knew and she spent all of her time with. Lastly, her life is falling apart AGAIN, and now she is captured by him to God knows what, probably her death.
I know, I know, the game has a scene in which Ciri says âI prefer womenâ, which might be the case but which had me puzzled because for me, the relationship with Mistle wasnât portrayed positively.
If they invent another female Character for Ciri, cool!
But I really hope that they wonât turn Mistle/Ciri into a supercute pairing, because that is absolutely not what it is, and Iâd find it dangereous to portray it as such.
Tagging @jemimaaslana because I said Iâd explain. :)
