In The Year of the Witching, vengeance is portrayed as a destructive and cyclical force that perpetuates suffering for both the oppressor and the oppressed. The novel explores the origins and consequences of retribution, ultimately arguing that while vengeance may be a justifiable response to injustice, true progress requires breaking the cycle through an act of mercy. The desire for vengeance in the novel is born from interlocking cycles of profound personal and historical trauma. The cycle begins with Lilith and the other witches, who were violently murdered along with hundreds of other women in Bethel’s founding Holy War. After their deaths, the witches established a personal vendetta against the first prophet, David Ford, that eventually stretched to all of Bethel. In order to enact revenge, Lilith devises a series of escalating plagues: Blood, Blight, Darkness, and Slaughter.

In order to enact these plagues, the witches prey on the trauma of Immanuelle’s mother, Miriam, falls into debilitating grief after the Prophet executes her lover. Sensing Miriam’s anger and the power of the Ward blood inside her, the witches manipulate Miriam into trusting them before cursing her unborn daughter. The novel suggests that Miriam’s thirst for revenge on the people of Bethel is so consuming that she unwillingly binds her unborn daughter dark magic. This decision links Miriam’s trauma to Lilith’s, ensuring the cycle of violence will continue.

Immanuelle serves as the final vessel for this generational vengeance, and the final plague, Slaughter, is its intended climax. However, Immanuelle twice rejects offers to continue the cycle of violence. First, she rejects Lilith’s offer to destroy the coven and take vengeance on the people of Bethel for their crimes. She refuses, explaining that the people of Bethel are worthy of mercy. This pattern repeats when she is given the opportunity to kill the Prophet and take his power for herself. With the crowd chanting for “Blood for blood” (351), she recognizes that killing him would only perpetuate the very violence that has defined Bethel’s history. In a climactic act of agency, Immanuelle drops the gutting blade, choosing mercy over slaughter. This decision does not absolve the Prophet but instead shatters the cycle of retribution. Henderson ultimately suggests that while the impulse for revenge is a powerful and natural response to oppression, it is a self-defeating force. Immanuelle’s final choice advocates for a more difficult but necessary path: ending the cycle of violence to create a future not built on retribution, but on the possibility of justice and systemic change.