Thoughts on Emhyr var Emreis and Peter Evertsen
Since I am firmly settled into the game canon of the witcher, I was today year's old when I learned of Peter Evertsen. And let me tell you that it changed my view of Emhyr var Emreis - although to which degree I cannot tell yet.
The Wiki says this about Peter Evertsen, as cited from Time of Contempt:
Evertsen, Peter, b. 1234, confidant of Emperor Emhyr Deithwen and one of the true authors of the Empire's might. The chief chamberlain of the army during the time of the Northern Wars (q.v.), from 1290 imperial treasurer of the crown. In the final period of Emhyr's rule, he was raised to the rank of coadjutor of the Empire. During the rule of Emperor Morvran Voor he was falsely accused of misappropriation of funds, found guilty, imprisoned and died in 1301 in Winneburg Castle. Postumously rehabilitated by Emperor Jan Calveit in 1328. Effenberg and Talbot, Encyclopaedia Maxima Mundi, Volume V
What struck me here the most was the first sentence:
"confidant of the Emperor Emhyr Deithwen and one of the true authors of the Empire's might."
Does this mean that Emhyr actually was acting out whatever Evertsen told him to? That Evertsen was kind of the "Grey Eminence of Nilfgaard"? Now this should be taken with a grain of salt of course, since the Encyclopaedia Maxima Mundi is considered Nilfgaardian propaganda. But why does a Nilfgaardian piece of propaganda take away the fame from Emhyr var Emreis and put it onto a simple chamberlain/treasurer?
I don't have the answer to that. But I'd like to have a look at the passages in Time of Contempt, where we can see Petersen acting as the chief chamberlain of the army:
First, he contemplates coldly the numbers of soldiers:
"The tactical company combines ten ordinary companies and numbers two thousand horse. Although the Winneburgians will probably not take part in any large battles now, no fewer than a sixth of their number will fali in skirmishes. Then there will be camps and bivouacs, rotten victuals, filth, lice, mosąuitoes, contaminated water. Then the inevitable will come: typhus, dysentery and malaria, which will kill no fewer than a ąuarter. To that you should include an estimate for unpredictable occurrences, usually around one-fifth of the total. Eight hundred will return home. No morę. And probably far fewer."
He's clearly lacking any empathy for the soldiers, handling their numbers as if he was counting grain.
Then, just before the fights in Aedirn and Rivia we have this:
"Evertsen pondered for a moment and wiped his forehead.
‘“War to the castles, peace to the yillages,” Coehoorn said to his commanders yesterday. You know that principle,’ he added at once. ‘You learned it in officer training. That principle applied until today; from tomorrow you’re to forget it. From tomorrow a different principle applies, which will now be the battle ery of the war we are waging. The battle ery and my orders run: War on everything alive. War on everything that can burn. You are to leave scorched earth behind you. From tomorrow, we take war beyond the linę we will withdraw behind after signing the treaty. We are withdrawing, but there is to be nothing but scorched earth beyond that linę. The kingdoms of Rivia and Aedirn are to be reduced to ashes! Remember Sodden! The time of revenge is with us!'"
What strikes me here is the sentence:
"The battle cry and my orders run..."
His orders. Not the Emperor's. It seems an innocent enough mistake. Barely an omission. No-one bats an eye at it. The Emperor's orders and Evertsen's seem interchangeable. It doesn't have to mean much, but it got me thinking. It's barely 5 years or so after the the battle of Cintra. Surely Evertsen had the same position and thus the ear and trust of the Emperor back then, too. But you know what Emhyr did just after the massacre of Cintra?
Henselt describes it in Blood of Elves:
"Because we broke their spine at Sodden. We broke them militarily, and above all we broke their morale. I don’t know whether it is true that Emhyr var Emreis was, at the time, against aggression on such a scale, that the attack on Cintra was the work of some party hostile to him – I take it that if they had defeated us, he would be applauding, and distributing privileges and endowments amongst them. But after Sodden it suddenly turns out he was against it, and that everything which occurred was due to his marshals’ insubordination. And heads fell. The scaffolds flowed with blood. These are certain facts, not rumors. Eight solemn executions, and many more modest ones. Several apparently natural yet mysterious deaths, a good many cases of people suddenly choosing to retire. I tell you, Emhyr fell into a rage and practically finished off his own commanders."
So, what I'm thinking now is: What if Emhyr var Emreis was indeed against violence on such a scale but Evertsen ordered it anyway? The soldiers wouldn't have questioned the orders. And later Evertsen put the blame on the commanders, causing Emhyr to finish them off and eliminating all the witnesses in the process.
So, was Emhyr forced to invade Cintra? Did he want to invade it but didn't endorse the killing? Was Evertsen the man behind it all? We will probably never know.
In any case, this has put the thought in my head that Emhyr in the books isn't per se the strong and cruel leader we see in the game but instead a man that is guided and led by at least two forces: Petersen (who he even later makes treasurer and coadjutor) and Vilgefortz (who even calls Emhyr his "tool" at some point).
I don't want to excuse Emhyr's actions. He does some despicable and vile deeds (even though I, as a writer am working on making these decisions a little bit understandable). But I'm forced to consider that, in the book canon, he isn't as much of a clearly painted villain as I thought he was made out to be. Instead he seems to be human, even prone to weakness at some points, sometimes a victim of his own emotions (a very bad thing for someone in his position), who in the end decides against doing the worst that he could do by letting Ciri go free.
I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with all of this, especially considering that Petersen's influence over Emhyr seems to have grown over time with his rise in rank. If we look at Morvran Voorhis' reaction to Petersen after Emhyr's death, I think we can assume that he was not considered the best of influence.