Geralt ended up with Yennefer in the books

As a long-time fan who has eagerly traversed the Continent across both novels and games, I can definitively say witcher Geralt of Rivia ends up with sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg by the climax of Andrzej Sapkowski‘s book saga. But their path to ultimate destiny is beset by profound passion and raging chaos alike.

Fireworks at First Sight – "The Last Wish" Sets the Tone

From their explosive first meeting in "The Last Wish", where a shirtless Geralt trades verbal barbs with the swaggering mage-advisor to King Foltest, the heat between them leaps off the page. Even as they trade threats, each sees through to the kindred spirit underneath the prickly facade.

We feel that immediate pull just as they do – something beyond basic attraction draws them together like opposite poles of two magnets. Their romance that will blossom, suffer storms, and finally reunite just as forcefully over the series.

Table: Key early encounters establishing explosive Geralt/Yennefer dynamic

As seen in this abridged timeline, their early days set the tone – high passion and risk mixed with sudden loss and abandonment. Let‘s explore how this continue to play out.

Breaking Up and Making Up: A Lifetime of Drama

Over the five core Witcher books, Geralt and Yennefer continual circle between fiery reunions and months or years apart. Even as the loves of each other‘s lives, their self-destructive tendencies and unconventional lifestyles make it impossible to fall into domestic bliss. Their personalities clash like tectonic plates – both too stubborn to truly change.

What tears them apart?

• Petty jealousies around suspected infidelity
• Months away on hazardous witcher Paths or political intrigues
• Bitter arguments stemming from their fundamental differences
  • Yennefer‘s thirst for power and luxury grates against Geralt‘s simple Path existence
• Impulsiveness and abandonment – Yennefer repeatedly leaves without a word

Yet as many times as they shatter, they also heal together.

What reunites them?

• Shared history over decades no one else can touch
• Seeing past masks into each other‘s secret hopes and wounds
• Uncanny mindreading and unspoken communication
• Simple joy of each other‘s company
• Their almost parental love for adopted daughter Ciri

No doubt, both damage the other at times. But even in the worst disputes, an unbreakable thread still tethers them.

Table: Overview of relationship arcs throughout the five Witcher novels

Triss and Others: Momentary Diversions, Not Destinies

Across the tumultuous decades covered in the books, Geralt does have romantic interludes or trysts with other women during times away from Yennefer – most notably his fellow sorceress Triss Merigold, the healer / magician Shani, an elf named Lytta Neyd, and the messenger-spy Vérène Coral.

So do these brief affairs ever threaten his ultimate destiny with Yennefer? A resounding no – and their brevity compared to his epic history with Yennefer shows why. No momentary passions can outweigh or unravel the depth of experience and soul-bond tempered by years together with Yennefer.

Table: Geralt‘s Other Romances Lack Longevity or Significance

We‘ll focus on Triss as she plays the most extended role. In early books, she and Geralt share some intimacy but nothing suggesting destiny. After Geralt loses memory, they rekindle a romance – one likely amplified by Triss admitting she took advantage with magic. But even then, once cured, Geralt returns to Yennefer. His time with Triss proves but a temporary detour when disconnected from his full identity.

Two Halves of One Soul

Stepping back, Why does Geralt keep coming back to Yennefer, despite initial reservations about her powerplays or bouts of frustration when she jetsets away on political errands?

Quite simply – even witchers blessed with extended lifespans recognize when they meet their soulmate. And one cannot untwine two halves molded over lifetimes together.

Their similarities draw them together – pride, introversion concealing secret sensitivities, desire to live freely outside the judgy gazes of courts or commonfolk. Likewise their differences – Yennefer‘s thirst for influence, Geralt‘s simple pleasures on the Path. They soften one another‘s sharp edges.

When united, they feel most complete in who they are. And this metaphysical perfection goes beyond transient happiness – it signals destinies interlinked.

Love Beyond Destiny: "Something More"

This sentiment echoes in one of the English translation‘s most famous passages:

"Their love could not continue to exist on an official footing or on permanently legal terms. And yet it existed, a total contradiction, unstable, made up of irrational, absurd components, finding justification only in its eternity."

Here Sapkowski summarizes why Geralt and Yennefer persist despite lacking elements of a conventional relationship – they meet not as individuals but as mythic archetypes playing out linked fate.

Another translation phrases it beautifully as well – their bond remains:

"Something more than temporary passion, more than false and delusive obsession. Something which could never be described adequately enough for someone else to understand."

No flowcharts or formulas can map their journey. One must simply accept it as fable, parable, poetry.

This hints at Sapkowski‘s frequent theme – a chaotic world where humankind struggles and fails to impose order upon fundamentally irrational destinies. Fated things unfold with or without our consent.

The Triple Goddess Symbol

Sharper-eyed lore buffs may also note how Yennefer‘s raven locks and violet gaze align her with many goddess archetypes…often manifesting in three aspects tied to the phases of womanhood.

Maiden – Mother – Crone.

In Celtic myths, we see triple goddesses like Morrígan or the Gaulish deities called the Matres or Matronae. Norse lore honors the Norns or Valkyries. Greek myths venerate the Fates, Moirai sisters, or Furies.

Far from coincidence, Sapkowski was hugely inspired by myths where gods descend into human affairs. And in Yennefer, etched large as a goddess figure, we discern her triple aspects – innocent before transformed by magic, then court mage, finally adoptive mother to Ciri.

So she embodies far more than a love interest – she is Geralt‘s fated idol, his worshipped dark Madonna. And across a choppy sea of years, through the Triple Goddess does destiny guide the lover to his eternal mate.

Wedding Bells and "Happily Ever After" Hints

Though their entire history plays out over the five novels, more astute readers note the climax suggests but never confirms or depicts their marriage.

The hints come at the end of Lady of the Lake during the mythic "Isle of Avalon" sequence where Ciri leaves her world to embark for the magical land alongside Galahad, the noble knight from Arthurian myth.

As they depart, Ciri spins an impromptu fable of Geralt and Yennefer celebrating in royal fashion:

“She claims the tale ends with Yennefer and Geralt getting married and living happily ever after, but cries as she says so.”

Why might the newly appointed empress shed private tears envisioning her former protectors finding fairy-tale bliss? Likely sensing she‘ll never see them again once she steps between worlds.

For despite vague imaginings, we receive no concrete wedding scene. The witcher saga concludes just as Ciri vanishes from sight. Geralt and Yennefer’s fate lies open and subject to our imagination.

But reading symbolically, doesn‘t Ciri hereby bless the union? By transporting Geralt and Yennefer into myth, she signals her faith that destiny finally unites them.

Signature Couple Joined the Pantheon of Fantasy Love Stories

In final tally, over hostile external forces and self-sabotage alike, Geralt and Yennefer‘s bond proves unbreakable across the sprawling Witcher saga. Despite the toxicity of their more explosive arguments, they remain far better together than apart in bringing out their core nobility.

As an iconic fantasy couple, they now frequent lists alongside the likes of:

Classic Fantasy Couples:

• Beren / Lúthien (Tolkien’s Middle-Earth stories)
• Aragorn / Arwen
• Faramir / Éowyn
• Samwise Gamgee / Rosie Cotton

I’d rank Geralt and Yen among the all-time greats based on:

• Passion – telemetry-breaking sensuality repeatedly reignites
• Duration – decades together through thin and thick
• Destiny – love that shapes kingdoms and magic itself
• Pop culture footprint – multi-game and Netflix adaptation

So while I‘ve teared my hair out whenever Yennefer teleports away without a farewell, I‘ve never doubted she and Geralt belonged together. Their names now ride forth to legend as guideposts for those navigating the treacherous straits of love, loss, and reconciliation in their own lives.

Over years reading, I’ve come to realize – that’s how a real adult love story unfolds. Withstanding the battering winds and still sailing forward.