In The Time of Contempt, the coming continental war reflects the internal breakdown of the continent’s most influential institutions. A “time of contempt” is more than a single event or era; it is a widespread loss of trust, restraint, and shared purpose. When people stop believing in the systems they inhabit, they begin acting against them from within. Allegiances narrow, shifting from broad identities like Redanian or Nilfgaardian to more specific and exclusionary ones, such as elven Redanian or human Nilfgaardian. The category of “us” shrinks, and the category of “them” expands to fill the rest. The novel traces this process through the Brotherhood of Sorcerers, the oldest organization of mages in the Northern Kingdoms. This organization, which was built on unity and supposed neutrality, begins to fall apart once its members chase personal power, splinter into factions, and show open contempt for each other. By the time open conflict erupts, the institution has long lost the cohesion that kept it together.

Despite Tissaia’s insistence to the contrary, the Brotherhood fractured long before the coup. Since the beginning of the series, there have been two governing bodies dividing authority within the Brotherhood: the Chapter of the Gift and the Art (the Chapter) and the Council of Wizards (the Council).