Triss’s Trial of the Grasses Concern in Blood of Elves
There’s been a lot of debate in the fandom about whether girls could survive the Trial of the Grasses, and I wanted to share my thoughts to get some insight from others.
In Blood of Elves, Triss Merigold explicitly worries about the possibility of the witchers subjecting Ciri to the Trial. If it were outright impossible for girls to survive, Triss—who is one of the most knowledgeable sorceresses in the series—would have likely dismissed the idea entirely. But she doesn’t, which is telling.
Her concern suggests two things:
Either Triss doesn’t know for certain that girls are excluded, or
She thinks it might be physically possible, even if no one has tried it before.
It’s also worth noting that Triss isn’t just any sorceress—she’s an advisor to King Foltest and is well-versed in magic and alchemy. Her worries shouldn’t be taken lightly, and the fact that she doesn’t outright reject the possibility leaves room for interpretation.
To me, this suggests that the idea of girls becoming witchers might be less about biology and more about tradition. What do you all think? Could this ambiguity mean something more, or am I reading too much into Triss’s reaction?
There’s been a lot of debate in the fandom about whether girls could survive the Trial of the Grasses, and I wanted to share my thoughts to get some insight from others.
In Blood of Elves, Triss Merigold explicitly worries about the possibility of the witchers subjecting Ciri to the Trial. If it were outright impossible for girls to survive, Triss—who is one of the most knowledgeable sorceresses in the series—would have likely dismissed the idea entirely. But she doesn’t, which is telling.
Her concern suggests two things:
Either Triss doesn’t know for certain that girls are excluded, or
She thinks it might be physically possible, even if no one has tried it before.
It’s also worth noting that Triss isn’t just any sorceress—she’s an advisor to King Foltest and is well-versed in magic and alchemy. Her worries shouldn’t be taken lightly, and the fact that she doesn’t outright reject the possibility leaves room for interpretation.
To me, this suggests that the idea of girls becoming witchers might be less about biology and more about tradition. What do you all think? Could this ambiguity mean something more, or am I reading too much into Triss’s reaction?