per ardua ad astra

*This post contains spoilers obviously, so don’t read below this if you don’t want to be spoiled!

I mean, it is still a possibility that he will be a villain, but I’ve been thinking a lot about it (thanks, book hangover!) and come up with 3 reasons why I didn’t think Julian would be a villain :

1. Firstly, it would be too predictable! I’m pretty sure everyone who has read LoS will think that Julian is going to be a villain. But guys, it’s Cassandra Clare we’re talking about. She’s probably the queen of surprise. And if Julian does cross the line, then there’s only 2 paths left for him : either he died or he became something like Darth Vader.

2. “The wound is the place where the Light enters you” Familiar with this quote? It was mentioned not once, but twice in LoS–once in dedication page, and once in the scene where Emma was looking through photographs in London Institute (if I remember correctly). Okay, maybe the one in the dedication page doesn’t have anything to do with the plot, but I feel like this quote will describe Julian in QoAaD. Maybe Livvy’s death won’t bring the worst of him, but rather change him to be better? It seems unlikely, yes, but again, it’s Cassie we’re talking about. I also want to point out that Cassie write that quote again in her answer when someone ask how QoAaD is compared to LoS (it’s pretty recent, I think, just scroll through her tumblr).

3. Remember, Livvy is not the only sibling that Julian has. It would make sense for him to go desperate if Livvy is all he has, but he still has 5 other siblings whom he loves dearly. He’s not exactly in the position of “have nothing to lose”. Julian isn’t an idiot, he would know that if he does something, it wouldn’t just impact him, but it would impact his family too. They all could be punished for something he did, and I don’t think he want that.