Why I Could Never Get On Board with Azriel Being with Anyone else but Elain and Viceversa
Note: This is my point of view and you can dismiss it if you want. I'm not looking for counterarguments or a debate. I simply wish to explain why, in my view, Elain and Azriel is the only logical endgame based on the way SJM has written the story for them since ACOMAF. P/S this will be long.
1st Let Me Show You Why I Became an Elriel
People usually ask "but have you read the bonus chapter?" And my answer to them is "well yes. Have you read the books?"
Why I'm so steadfastly elriel it's because I read the books AND the BC. Perhaps because I read them all back to back, and without the influence of internet fandom. I saw the romance before the romance. That's why I was flabbergasted when Lucien claimed Elain as his mate at the end of ACOMAF. Mind you at that point, Azriel was supposedly still pining for Mor and Elain was still engaged with Greysen. Lucien just didn't fit in with Elain for me.
Perhaps because I'm used to slow burn romances, friends to lovers, soft girl/broody guy type of tropes that I saw the potential before something tangible happened? In ACOMAF it was plain to me they were pretty compatible personality and preferences wise, specially after Feyre said how Elain would like it in Velaris and would cling to Azriel for some peace and quiet. And cling to him she did, just like he gravitated towards her in the subsequent books.
ACOWAR pretty much cemented my thought process that SJM was setting up a complicated forbidden romance between Elain and Azriel. Yes, even before the BC and Rhys's orders, it was clear that them being together was problematic because she has a declared mate and mating bonds are revered as gifts from their God (the Cauldron). Even when she was clearly still mourning Greysen and in the throes of depression, she had this sweet connection with Azriel, and his gentleness with her was everything we want in a romantic hero. Then, SJM upped the ante and broke the war scenes, and more Feyre and Rhys sexy time on the battlefield to give us the epic rescue scene of Elain. Right there, I knew Lucien was toast. You don't give the romantic "I'm getting her back!" and the rescue of the girl to someone like Azriel instead of her mate, without a clear purpose of telling us... You guys, these two belong together; this is the mate behavior people talk about. He went on a suicide mission to get her. He didn't say platitudes like "we will get her" or "you go get her back"... no, he said I'M GETTING HER BACK (emphasis on I'm is not a coincidence). Then she "devoured" the sight of him, fought the hounds off his back, then gave him a kiss on the cheek... and that's when Elriel became tangible, not just foreshadowing.
But SJM was not done... oh no. She followed that with the epic TruthTeller scene, where a still-injured Azriel pushed Cassian aside to place his trusty beloved ancient dagger (which he had never let anyone touch EVER) in the hands of sweet Elain, who admitted to not even knowing how to use it. Then, SJM doubles down and has Feyre picture them as a painting where Light blends with dark in her mind. After that, there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that those two were heading for an epic romance, despite her mating bond. And I was a convert. And then our sweet Elain used Azriel's dagger to kill Hybern, saving Nesta and Cassian in the process, virtually ending the war. It was not lost on me that it was Azriel who explained the Nephelle philosophy as well.
Then I read ACOFAS... I mean, it was as much an Elriel novella as it was a Feysand novella. Here we have them being super cute and nervous around each other, potentially already realizing that there was interest on the other party's part and that the feelings were not one-sided. We have everyone in the inner circle notice their attachment. Then they stay together talking late into the wee hours when Feyre goes to bed. And this is the novella SJM said was a setup for the upcoming books. Yeah, it couldn't be more obvious. Nesta and Cassian were loud and overt in their fiery, antagonistic attraction. Elriel was sweet and subtle because that's who they are in front of people, but anyone who says they see no chemistry is just lying, missed these scenes, or equates "chemistry" to irksome banter. Guys, chemistry is simply two people who enjoy each other's company and are drawn to one another despite everything that stands in their way... Elain and Azriel have much more chemistry and a deeper connection than Nessian does at this point. They had become good friends and were on the verge of falling in love.
Then in Nesta's book ACOSF, we see that Azriel is literally tortured by having to stay away from Elain, because you know, SHE IS THE LITERAL FORBIDDEN FRUIT TO HIM. He moved to the House of Wind and is mostly miserable and broody throughout the book because he just can't have what he wants. What do we learn in ACOSF? That he cares so much about Elain that even the mention of her having a fight with her sister makes his eyes darken, and his shadows swarm him. He and his shadows are ready to strike when she is publicly insulted by her own sister. That he wants to protect her from the darkness of the throve. And most telling: He can smell Elainâs bond with Lucien, and it makes him sick! (That should not be possible when the bond has not been accepted). He is so distraught and in so much pain, seeing her with Lucien and smelling their bond at solstice, that even self-absorbed Nesta noticed and comforted him, because she knows his secret and why he had to stay by the door the entire night. Ah, my heart! He is so in love, and he can't have her! Because she has a mate. đĽşđŤ
Holly hells! He is REALLY into Elain. Confirmed! I mean he is so down bad he keeps the headache powder she gave him on his nightstand to look at every day he goes to sleep there... that he can't sleep because he wants her so much,.. that he can only dream of having her. But what's even better, Elain is just as much into him. The desire for each other is so strong that our sweet Elain said "to hell with propriety" and made the first move. She WANTED him to touch her, and asked him to put the necklace on her immediately, she pivoted into his touch, moved closer to him, and said "yes" , offer and permission. And Azriel, who was held together by a thread of restraint atp just couldn't contain himself. Despite the self-doubt, feelings of unworthiness, and that he felt it was wrong for him to want someone else's mate, he fought for just giving her and himself that one moment of weakness. This was essentially THE hottest almost kiss ever written. Anyone who says otherwise or paints it as something else is lying!... those two are going to devour each other once external obstacles and his self-esteem issues are worked out.
We all know what happens with Rhys in his office. It was just more fodder for the Elriel forbidden romance. Even the Gwyn part, is more fodder for additional angst and conflict with Elriel, if Gwyn in fact did receive that necklace, which didn't get mentioned after chapter 58, (this is where the BC goes). Instead we have Azriel still sad and aloof. Essentially they were left like Nessian were left off in ACOFAS, pissed and separated.
Why I Refuse to Even Entertain The Possibility of Azriel Ending up with Gwyn or Anyone Else?
If you're still with me, then you must know I'm not a fan of Gwynriel or Elucien. I have no hate in my heart for Gwyn or Lucien, but I can't see them with Az or Elain respectively. Let me start with why Gwynriel would essentially ruin the series for me.
Anti Gwynriel â Anti Gwyn
Gwyn is a sweet character, and she served a great purpose in Nesta's healing journey. What she isn't is Azriel's second-best love interest. Even if the Gwynriel stans were correct in their mate theories (I think it is absolute hogwash, and it has been explained better by other people than me), that would make Azriel THE worst possible mate to ever be written. What male finds his mate being brutally attacked, saves her from a worse fate, then leaves her to someone else to deal with and never seeks her out in 2 years? What is worse, he sees her in training again and has no reaction except awkwardness (oh shit, yeah, she's the chick I saved). Then proceeds to be in close contact essentially daily for months and never shows any interest besides professional camaraderie, and he is still down bad and dreaming of another female. Yeah, no. This is not a strong basis for an epic love story.
What is worse for me, and why I wouldn't read a Gwynriel book: Azriel's character is essentially ruined. Why, you ask? Because it means Azriel is not who we were led to believe he was. He is no longer the romantic, tortured, self-loathing hero that would go on a suicide mission to rescue the girl he is down bad for. No, he is this fickle, terrible person, who led our sweet Elain on for shits and giggles. He only wanted to fk her, he thought he would just claim her for himself, ruin her for her mate, to then turn around and leave her for his supposed mate. It makes him the disgusting incel, alpha hole, his detractors paint him out to be. So that's it, I'm out. I'm not reading that. I can't reconcile that with his actions and gentleness toward Elain throughout 4 books.
Anti Elucien â Anti Lucien
And then there is Lucien. The embodiment of "if he wanted to he would" or "he is just not that into you". Listen I'm not the biggest fan of Lucien, but I do not hate him. I think he is kind of a wimp, and has done nothing to deserve our sweet girl. This goes directly to the anti-Elain aholes in this Fandom that say (Elain doesn't deserve x male). No mam is the other way around these males should be on their knees begging her for her love and affection. That's what Romantasy is for. The males should be obsessed and doing everything to be with the girl they want. What has Lucien done? Nothing. He said he wanted to see if she was worth fighting for, then proceeded to say she's nothing like his dead lover, that she was "thrown" at him, then he apparently realized she's not worth fighting for because he up and left to go find another woman, who he is now cozyly living with, away from Elain... then to add insult to injury he goes to Velaris and says he is not always there to see his mate, with absolute discomfort. I'm sorry, how I'm I supposed to even like him for my Elain? He DOES NOT deserve her, Azriel is absolutely right in that.
My girl is not obligated to pity accept the bond, because "poor baby Lulu" deserves his mate (read above again, no he doesn't).
Most of all, Elain's acceptance of the bond is acquiescence with the status quo. She loses herself in that bond. She is not growing outside the boundaries society expects her to abide by. There is no leap in her arc. Meh!
You know who would fight for her? Even fight a duel to the death? You guessed it... Azriel.
So, to Ms. Sarah J. Maas: I'm not reading anything you put out unless it's Eriel, because you made me believe they are meant for each other across multiple books and a bonus chapter. I would think that if you wanted to "end Elriel," all you had to do was give more romantic scenes between Elain and Lucien in ACOSF instead of more awkwardness, in addition to giving the charged glances between Az and Gwyn, and show Elain and Azriel interacting as friends instead. The BC didn't need a hot, almost kiss, and instead, you could have made it entirely about Gwyn.
To me anything that doesn't end with Azriel sweeping Elain off her feet, begging on his knees for her love and forgiveness is not just a massive let down, but a complete betrayal in my eyes. Why lead us on about their potential endgame to take that away and pull a switcharoo. Again it would ruin the series for me.
Thank you for reading if you got to this point. I just wanted to vent. Gwynriels and Eluciens are so fkn annoying inserting themselves on every Elriel post. So I thought let me counteract it with some of my thoughts.
