My Favorite Witch

I'm no stranger to witches.

I grew up a massive fan of fantasy books. Naturally, in those settings, witches (and magic) appear in various forms. Sometimes, they were the witches of common stereotypes; old women confined to hidden cabins in the woods, cursing children and gifting magical items to heroes on quests. Other times, known patterns of witches appeared in creative formats, such as women who integrated healing magic and modern medical technology to advance scientific practices. 

Hecate
The Heroes of
Olympus

Manon Blackbeak
Throne of Glass

Hypaxia
Crescent City:
House of Earth and Blood

While the witches were rarely the principal characters of my fantasy books, they were almost always the instigators, the rescuers, the ones who turned the tide. Perhaps pushed to the sideline, but nevertheless a vital part of moving the plot forward (or derailing it entirely). Though they practiced different magic across different fantastical worlds, I always found the witches enthralling and powerful. They felt like a reclamation of feminine power, however you define it. 

I've learned a lot from these witches, but Manon Blackbeak in particular has stuck with me over the years. The author of Throne of Glass herself has a twisted sweet spot for her. 

"Manon is my favorite [character to write] because she does all of the horrible things I wish I could do to people," Sarah J. Maas stated in a 2015 interview. "Manon is pretty unpredictable."

And the witch is objectively wild. She has iron nails and retractable iron teeth. She is brutal beyond imagining, a monster bred from blood and cruelty. She is the Crochan Witch-Killer. She possesses no magic beyond her cunning and her convenient beauty that never ceases due to immortality. It's easy to label her, at least in the beginning.

But as fellow readers know (and future fans will learn), Manon is more than who she was made to be. She taught me that while we may make monsters out of women, Iron Teeth witches or otherwise, our surface assumptions are rarely ever true. She's violent yes, but to be vicious is to survive. It's necessary to be dangerous enough to protect those you care for from danger.

There is plenty to explore about beloved witches beyond the fact that they are labeled so. Manon becomes defined by her actions, her leadership in her coven, and the unlikely relationships she forges in the hope of a better world where monsters are no longer made and women can practice strengths beyond physical prowess to thrive. 

In reflecting on Manon Blackbeak and her story, I remembered that characters and people evolve over time. Perhaps the witches we explore in class are remembered for a single accusation or a trial, but they had complete lives. They made decisions we may never understand because their stories were silenced. Unlike Manon, we rarely grasp the full scope of their emotions and thoughts. So it is easy to label them as so many did before. Hopefully, I continue learning how to redefine these women so their magic may stick with me as Manon's journey has.