The Witcher: 10 Unanswered Questions We Still Have About Aretuza

In The Witcher, Aretuza is the magical academy where Yennefer studies with Tissaia. On the Netflix show it is also where failed mages are transformed into eels to act as a power source for the more powerful and skilled sorcerers in their midst.

The academy only accepts girls. And in the books, a family can pay for a child to attend, they don’t need to display a penchant for magic in advance of their admission. Yet, even between the books and the first season of the television series, Aretuza still remains a bit of a mystery as an institution. Here are a few questions that remain about the magical academy.

10 Why Change the School’s Location?

In The Witcher series of novels by Andrzej Sapkowski, Aretuza is located on the island of Thanedd. In the television show, however, the academy is located near the island of Thanedd, but on the main land.

The Witcher has only been on Netflix for one season thus far, so it remains to be seen if the change was made to assist with a plot twist particular to the TV series, but for now it’s a mystery as to why it was so important to move the location of the school for it appearance on screen.

9 How Do The Teachers Get Away With Name Calling?

Tissaia, Rectoress of Aretuza, gets away with quite a lot at the academy. She is not particularly warm to any of the students and doesn’t exactly treat them with kindness or respect. She even gets away (on the Netflix show) with turning some of her charges into eels.

Less dramatic, though a much more constant abuse, is how she name calls students, and Yennefer in particular. How she gets away with calling Yennefer “Piglet” for so long is mysterious, and unethical.

8 Why Are the Lessons so Cruel?

When Tissaia brings all her new recruits together for their first lesson in magic on Netflix, she conveniently forgets to explain “the balance” before instructing her pupils to make a rock levitate. While Fringila successfully gets her stone to hover this also causes her hand to shrivel and clench.

A warning about what can happen to the hand, the body in general, when magic is misused might have been just as effective as the visual Fringila provides, and yet Tissaia is allowed to abuse her students as she sees fit.

7 What is So Powerful About The Tower of the Gull?

The Tower of the Gull is the oldest part of Aretuza. The tower is where Yennefer meets Istredd and where the lightning trial takes place with Yennefer and the other Aretuza initiates.

The tower is usually off limits because of the power it possesses, but what those powers are is not made clear to viewers or Yennefer and her cohort of mages in training. Perhaps it will be explained in later Netflix seasons.

6 What Do They Tell the Families of the Eel Girls?

Even more disturbing than the shriveling of Fringilla’s hand is when Tissaia transforms some of her less successful, but still trusting students, into eels that are then used to enhance the powers of the remaining students and mages.

While Yennefer’s family likely does not care what happens to her, some students must have caring families who will, eventually, wonder at their absence. So what do Aretuza faculty tell the families of the students who will spend the rest of their lives as eels?

5 Why Did They Murder The Elves?

Aretuza may be used by mages in Geralt’s time, but in the long history of The Witcher series, Aretuza originally was the property of the elves, and was in fact build by the elves themselves. Why did men think it was so important to possess Aretuza that they murdered the elves to get their hands on it?

Aside from the mystery of the Tower of the Gull, what other power does the location possess that it made murder necessary?

4 How Does it Stay Open?

In The Witcher novels, anyone can study at Aretuza for the price of 1,200 crowns. However, on the Netflix show only students that have shown a penchant for magic are asked to attend and, like Yennefer herself, some don’t have to pay an entry fee at all to take classes.

So how exactly does Aretuza, the ultimate magical academy in The Witcher world, stay open to continue to serve magically gifted girls from across the world?

3 Why Doesn’t it Train Boys?

In both The Witcher television series and The Witcher books, Aretuza only serves female students. Why this is the case is never explored or explained. Ban Ard has yet to be mentioned on the show, but it is the academy that trains boys to be mages.

Why girls and boys with magical gifts have to train at separate academies is not addressed in the show or in the books. Why Aretuza, with the powerful Tower of the Gull, is for the ladies, is unclear. 

2 Why Aren’t Students Allowed Visitors?

When in training at Aretuza the female students are not allowed visitors. Why the girls have to be hidden away during their early training (on an island in the books) is never explained.

Of course on the Netflix show viewers do get to see some of the danger that comes with untrained mages attempting magic, but planned visitors outside of lesson times are still not allowed and again Aretuza’s seclusion from the rest of the world remains mysterious.

1 How is the Rector Chosen?

Tissaia is the current rectoress of Aretuza in both The Witcher television series and novels. How the rector/rectoress of Aretuza is chosen, exactly how Tissaia was raised to the position, remains a mystery to viewers and readers alike.

It obviously doesn’t have anything to do with her kindness or love of teaching, but it’s still a very powerful and well respected position. Some politics must certainly surround the position, and Tissaia seems to know how to play the game.

About The Author