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). The Chapter is the main governing body, consisting of five members, including Tissaia and Vilgefortz. These sorcerers set the rules and guidelines for all magic in the Northern Kingdoms. The Council is the secondary governing body, also consisting of five members, including Philippa and Yennefer. The Council manages the day-to-day magical regulations, while the Chapter manages the overarching policy. In theory, these groups function cooperatively, but in practice, they reveal early divisions within the institution itself.

The first signs of its weakening appear when the Northern kings stop trusting their magical advisors. Sorcerers once acted as reliable counselors who communicated across long distances, yet the kings now rely on mounted messengers like Aplegatt. Philippa remains a royal councilor to King Vizimir of Redania, but he no longer trusts her with his private communications, raising questions about the limits of that trust. The “us” in the Northern Kingdoms starts to exclude the sorcerers, many of whom have lived and served in these kingdoms for generations. This shift to a slower and more vulnerable communication method highlights the growing rift between the sorcerers and the Northern Kingdoms. The kings no longer see the Brotherhood as a steady, neutral body. They view it as a set of competing individuals. This shift mirrors the Brotherhood’s own internal troubles, where competing loyalties have replaced any sense of shared purpose.

This loss of shared purpose becomes visible at the banquet at Aretuza. What should be a formal gathering turns into a surveillance operation, with each faction preparing to act against the others. Philippa’s group plans to arrest those they believe aligned with Nilfgaard, while Vilgefortz secretly aligns his followers with Nilfgaard. As Dijkstra observes to Geralt, “everyone else is here in a professional capacity” (120). The Brotherhood becomes a field of competing interests wearing the appearance of a unified body.

The Thanedd coup is not the cause of the Brotherhood’s collapse; it is the symptom. Philippa arrests Vilgefortz and Francesca Findabar as traitors to the Brotherhood. Her actions are aggressive and destabilizing, but her suspicions prove correct. Tissaia, however, believes that these actions threaten the integrity of the institution itself. She removes the anti-magic blockade in Garstang because she wants to restore order. She condemns Philippa’s factional tactics and tries to force the Brotherhood to act as a single body again. Instead, her act of faith allows the fighting to erupt. Her actions reflect a commitment to a principle that no longer aligns with reality. Once the blockade falls, Vilgefortz and his allies show their strength, and the mages begin killing one another. Tissaia’s attempt to revive the Brotherhood makes its destruction complete. Her decision shows how misplaced idealism, when disconnected from the conditions around it, can accelerate collapse rather than prevent it.. 

The contrast between Philippa and Tissaia reveals how morality becomes unstable in a time of contempt. Philippa acts outside the institution’s rules but responds correctly to the political reality, while Tissaia upholds those rules in a context where they no longer function. What is “right” in principle produces the wrong result, and what is “wrong” in method nearly prevents collapse.