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Elves are renowned by humans for their beauty, even as humans take their land, their culture, and ultimately their freedom. In Iorveth’s case, a human succeeded in taking his beauty, too. Beneath the covering on his face is hideous scarring from a wound that only an eternal elf might suffer and live. Iorveth’s foul temper has become as legendary as his scars, as he leads the Scoia’tael commandos in raids and acts of terror against the hated humans. He has become the symbol of the Aen Seidhe’s hatred of the human race, immortalized in story and song as something of an elven boogeyman.

It is not hard to imagine why Iorveth might wish to slay the kings of the north, for they are humans like any others, but it is puzzling why he’d work with a witcher to do it. Iorveth is not a man prone to explaining himself, and his first encounter with Geralt and Roche ends in a barrage of arrows. To men like Roche, Iorveth is and always will be a simple thug who accomplishes little more than slaying humans, without mercy or discernment. It is certainly true that Iorveth is a dangerous man with no love of humans.

The world is too complicated a place for a man like Iorveth to be exactly what he appears to be, though. Few elven freedom fighters are content merely to slay humans all their lives, and Iorveth is no different. He knows the Scoia’tael cannot hide in the forests eating nuts forever. He has a grander plan and a purpose in mind for Letho’s regicides, though it is one that will inevitably put him at odds with Letho. It would not be impossible to become Iorveth’s ally in his fight for freedom, though it seems any such alliance would be brief at best.