Castle Araluen, home sweet home

I just always loved this scene for the inclusion of Toscana and how visibly excited Will gets when he realizes Halt is there.

Will turned a wide grin in her direction as he carefully untied it. “It’s something Halt saw years ago, when I was an apprentice,” he said. “We messed around with it for days, trying to find some practical use for it. Looks like he’s finally found one.” He shook his head, laughing quietly.

Obvious reference to Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan by Ilya Repin aside, I guess it's Will Treaty and His Goddaughter Madelyn now, there is so much I want to discuss about this scene.

Will doesn't cry when he thinks Maddie is dead. If the narration is anything to go by he just... accepts it. He was screaming, yelling, thinking about how he could ever break the news of their daughter's death to Horace and Cassie and begging Maddie to stay alive a few minutes ago; yet when the unimaginable seems to happen, he shuts down.

This is a common trend when it comes to how Will handles trauma. He acts in the moment but stops expressing himself once it's done. Since he wasn't there at the time of Alyss' death, he can't cry after her. All he can do to let his emotions out is to go on his solo manhunt for Ruhl and his associates, because that's the only thing there is for Will to do. This way, he can let his pent up emotions out, as anger.

But when Maddie wakes, the relief Will feels is enough to finally break the dam.

He began to laugh. And somewhere, the laughter turned to tears and he was sobbing uncontrollably—immense sobs that racked his entire body and floods of tears that coursed down his cheeks. And he knew the tears were the ones he had never been able to shed for Alyss. They were for her. And they were for Maddie. And they were for him. Most of all for him.

This is years of pent up emotions being released and a vital scene for where Will's character is by the time or TRR. I see Will portrayed in the role of the sobbing widower sometimes and I think it's both a misunderstanding of his character and a total missed opportunity.

Will is miserable during the year and a half after Alyss' death, grief-stricken and depressed, but he isn't a sobbing mess. Will cannot cry for Alyss and he feels terrible about it.

Oh god, how I miss her. It's like there's a huge hole in my life. But I can't cry for her. I've never cried for her and that hurts so much. Why can't I cry, Sable?

That's why when he finally gets to let it out, it's an emotional explosion. He can't repress anymore and breaks down, he's weeping still by the time it's fully day and one of Ruhl's victims finds them.