aelsie

And then they grab each other and just let it all out.

now that’s an exercise of free will alright.

I was really hoping that we’d practically be done with the shipping wars after this interview but I’m left more confused and unsure about where this story could go!

First, with the reveal of this story being so long that it needs to be three PHYSICAL books, I can only assume she’s covering Elain, Lucien, Azriel and Gwyn. Plus other plot points like Eris and Mor! If it was just Az and Elain—I really don’t feel like there’s as much there, you could pull off a regular novel. Elain rejects bond and goes with Az who she’s currently thirsting for. The end. But NOPE—THREE BOOKS.

Second, the complications Sarah mentioned that’s getting in the way of Elucien was THEMSELVES—Elain specifically. You’re the one getting in the way of your HEA my boo. Their own trauma, their own shit. NOT a third party. Not some other dude. Not because she’s in love with someone else.

Third, thank god she finally said that Elain’s miserable and traumatized, she’s NOT happy gang, she’s not happy in the night court right now as some people say.

Fourth, Bryceriel or Brycriel (whatever the hell that ship name is) = DED.

So there we have it. And so the ship wars persist!! Oi.

I was there Gandalf, I was there 3000 years ago…..I was there before deathly hallows came out almost 20 years ago, I remember some of the OG online shipping wars and so whatever the outcome, I will be ready.

So what do all my eluciens and gwynriels think?

One question, do you allow translations of your one shots?

Addam: Oh hell—AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! *runs for his life*

Meleys: this old girl ready to kick some ass and go out like a boss bitch 👑

Vhagar: for gods sake I came out of retirement for this?! Let grams sleep! *whacks people with a large walking stick*

Sunfyre: omg bestie! yay! joyride! *flaps around in circles like a golden retriever* wait, why are you wearing an armor? why are we going this way?! what’s happening?! nooooooooo! 🥺

*westeros in all out dragon war, blood sweat tears death carnage corpses tragedy everywhere*

Meanwhile….

Tuesdays-Sundays: Ayeeee my crazy scheming incestuous unhinged couple is back at it again!!! Pop off sis!!! Be fcked up and chaotic!! Gimme the drama! Gimme the messy! You keep being my crazy meow meows! *drinks wine picks up cigarette and swishes dramatic cloak*

Zoya: YES! Time to kill—*looks over*

Darklina: *cuddles and snuggles*

Zoya: HELLO.

Alina, eyes closed: Tired. Just had a big fight. Now it’s time for cuddles.

The Darkling: go away, babygirl is sleeping

Zoya: Motherf—NIKOLAI, come here and fix this.

But he is able to make her understand it in his last moments as he grabs her wrist and he feeds his power into her, so she has both.

At first, I was like—WHAT WHY DELETE NO! MORE DARKLINA! More emotional Darkling! More scenes to show he cares about her!

Then I decided maybe it’s better this way? I wonder if they decided that it would be better that she gained those powers because she used merzost (obv), because she, and no one else, did something that caused her to take a step towards the dark side, if you will. This makes her path even more similar to the Darkling. It makes everything Aleksander said even more correct. That she IN TIME (very short time apparently) will also make the same decisions as him. That everything he’s been telling her had truth in it after all. And she grows to understand and empathize with him more.

We all know that he cares for her and wants her protected anyway, in his own twisted way just from the other scenes between them. He already expressed “let me be your monster” and “let me carry the hatred in this world” which is probably to ensure that she has an equal and a balance. So maybe, they said, yes let’s make the darkness come because of HER decision and no one else’s.

Now, they could decide to reveal otherwise. They could be like oop it’s because The Darkling gave it to her. She can take it as aw hubby cares even from the grave, he wanted me to be protected-ish(?) the only way to beat your enemy is to become them maybe? And take the darkness in? Or she could react with anger and blame him for leaving the darkness with her. Seeing how she’s been so self righteous this whole time, which sounds more Alina to you?

So maybe it’s better this way, because then sunshine has no one to blame but herself. Doesn’t look like she’s particularly upset about it so far though.

Anyway, so many possibilities! I love it! I’m ready for season 3! And I better get my Darklina angst!

We made out on a table once,

It was hot

Now back to fighting, my arch nemesis

Me: that means….

Ravka = the child suffering from their bickering and impending divorce, needs major therapy

Genya = the mutual friend who set them up, having a hard time deciding who to side with (at first)

David = their overworked accountant…he can only make so much magic happen

Nikolai = the dashing, shiny young new boyfriend, soon to be stepdad, who Alina, smirking, pulled up with at one of their proceedings

The rest of the Grisha = the assets and estates they’re fighting over

The Crows = Alina’s legal team, ready to win (Kaz = no time for your shit lawyer)

Mal = their pet do—….wait who?

Baghra = Baghra (yelling at them both)

They’re like one of those over the top rich married couples with their dramatic melancholias and flourish-y outfits and when they fight, they definitely overshare and make public spectacles and people look at each other like oh god, this again.

Spoilers! 🚨

I had very low standards for this season when it came to Darklina because I’ve read the entire Grishaverse and well….it was rough when it came to that ship. I was a little disappointed that they took out certain moments, lines and points from the books. They made up for it with some replacement scenes but most of all with that ENDING! Oof, the ending gave way more open doors than I expected!

I always knew that they wouldn’t end up together. My beloved Darklina ship was a Shakespearean tragedy from the beginning. And yet I was looking forward to watching one half of my ship kill the other half of my ship. What a very strange ship! And yet I rode it happily! The connection they had throughout the season was powerful, the strange trust Alina and the Darkling had, the magnetism, the undeniable pull between two people who really had no other equal but each other and in so many ways made the other their only refuge. It was as if they were fighting on stage but behind the curtains they were confiding in each other, no matter how angry they were, conversations between two kindred souls, or two people who KNEW that no one else could truly understand them but the other. A literal one of a kind connection.

Throughout the season, the way he talks about their powers and the darkness, he’s warning her, cautioning her about the dangers of it, and all the terrible things that come with it. He also flat out tells her that with him gone the nichevoya will hunt her, but she takes it as a threat instead of a warning. A very Darkling thing to do btw. In the end, he’s saying, be careful because you’ll end up like me and it’s not pretty, you’ll lose yourself and will lead an empty life. I wouldn’t want that to happen to you. When the nichevoya goes to attack her, he yells for it to leave her alone and boy, that just proves that he still has a kernel of humanity and that he does indeed hold affection (maybe love or as much as he can love) for Alina. And he doesn’t want her to end up in the place he has—filled with pain, rage, resentment, loneliness, heartbreak, loss of humanity and quite possibly no salvation.

One of the surprisingly emotional moments was when he talks about hope and there’s a flashback to their first kiss. He basically admits that when she came into his life, he started believing that he could have some salvation, he started having HOPE, hope in controlling the literal demons and darkness in him, in ultimately saving HIMSELF. The Darkling remains nameless in the books and he only reveals his name to Alina about 2/3 of the way in book 3 during a *cough* intimate scene. For the show Ben said in an interview that his incredibly vulnerable admittance of finding hope when Alina came into his life was their replacement scene for that scene. I think that just might be more impactful.

As The Darkling dies, he looks up at her and says “Blue skies. My little saint.” This is the one scene I wish they kept from the book. Alina was way more emotional about his death in the book, she cries and holds his hand as he’s dying. In the show, you can see a flicker of empathy and sadness on Alina’s face. It’s there but not enough in my opinion. Either way, it still tells us that now more than ever, after everything this season, she understands him and knows him even better. She has seen and been around that darkness well enough. Maybe a little too well, as we see in the end. She grants him his final wish which is to make sure there is nothing left of him (but not really, his hand is still out there, ooooh!) His funeral was strangely sad when technically he is the villain. He’s a fantastically complex villain.

Also, boy am I glad that she chose not to be with Mal and decided to stay in the palace with Nikolai because that means no losing her powers and no Malina (for now). Alina is tenfold better in the show than the books just for that and that crown looks GOOD on Alina. I do want my Zoyalai eventually. And we see flickers of that when Zoya looks at Nikolai, interested. I do think that they will be endgame at the end of the day. Which begs the question, what about Alina?

The show ends with Alina using the shadow cut and her looking shocked and then scarily pleased with herself. The darkness has creeped into her. Exactly what Aleksander warned her about and didn’t want to happen to her. He will come back (which does happen in the books, so don’t fail me Netflix 😭) and I wonder if he might play a role in getting rid of that darkness within her, an ultimate show of how he cares for her. Wouldn’t that be a crazy “redemption” arc? He does tell her in the show “let me be your monster” and “let me carry the hatred of the world” as if he’s saying I’ll carry the darkness and you the light and together we’ll balance out and create peace. At least, that’s what’s going on in his head. Either way, those were really heavy lines to say to Alina. In the books, we do see him make a sacrifice for Ravka, stopping the Fold growing again by willingly trapping himself into a tree—literally being a monster holding back the bad things in the world. Maybe he'll do some redemptive thing for Alina also. We never did see his body disintegrate in that last scene. Also, Zoya was shooing a bee off of her--bees being the sign of Sankta Elizaveta aka one of the Saints who resurrects The Darkling in KoS. Maybe Alina will suffer under the weight of the darkness and who knows maybe Alina will find some strange relief to see him again. The one other person who not only understands but KNOWS. At this point, I expect that they will become even more like equals and will meet halfway. Now that Alina has slowly, subtly but surely walked a similar path to darkness—use of manipulation, harsh words about taking everything away, becoming colder, leading the second army, working as right hand to a king, saving a loved one with merzost, and finally, gaining shadow powers.

It’s the best we could realistically ask for in this ship. Because yes, in many ways, they do have a romance—twisted, toxic, gruesome, and tragic as it is but it’s there in my opinion. It’s an undeniable connection, a temptation that can’t be taken away, and what happened between them is the definition of changing someone’s life completely. Even on Alina’s end when she talks about how he was the first to show her her true powers, her value, how she was meant for more. Of course Baghra says that those still remain true regardless of him but you know that as Alina is saying it a part of her still feels so betrayed and so hurt. Because she did feel something for him once and had HOPED for something more with him, even Baghra tells Aleksander that there was a time when he could have earned Alina’s love. At the end of the day, it’s a way more compelling pairing BECAUSE of its complications and tragedy.

I never imagined Alina to take a dark turn, that’s a ballsy but fantastic move for the writers but I am SO here for it. It was always a pipe dream for some Darklina shippers. But...well, here we are! It basically happened! She might not have joined the Darkling's dark side, but she's basically gotten her own dark side now. It makes her more interesting and complex and opens the door for more darklina. Maybe not endgame Darklina but just more of their angst and drama. I remain a darklina fan even if their romance is terrible and tragic but their pairing is so messy, complex, poetic and has so many layers. Let’s suffer with this ship together my friends 😈🥹

With that, can we have season 3 now PLEASE?