#*nyx

i do—and i think that nyx himself is probably the biggest advocate for it. he grows up surrounded by illyrian warriors and valkyries who are either carynthian or oristian, both of which are pretty mythologized on multiple levels. he has illyrian blood in him and thus that sort of pent-up pressure to illyrian power that rhysand describes, which he would need to be taught how to manage so that it doesn't drive him up the wall. not to mention that training and physical defense are also huge aspects to the culture of the inner circle. even if he wasn't intentionally informed to have these ideals, his exposure to them through his family would instill in him those same aspirations.

then we have rhysand who canonically views his own training as a net positive despite the conditions he was exposed to. he was able to attune to an aspect of his personhood that he otherwise would have been barred from as half-high fae and half-illyrian, he met two of the closest people to him through his training, and he values physical fortitude enough to teach it to tamlin, then feyre as well. he would absolutely want his son to have that training. what i could see is rhysand and feyre maybe advocating that his training just be handled by themselves, azriel, cassian, and the valkyries, since nyx already has access to the best of the best. no need for him to be exposed to the rough and tumble ways they look down on.

but i don't think nyx would stand for that. i think he would want the full, genuine experience of being an illyrian warrior, and i think he would resent what he would see as coddling him and giving him preferential treatment because he's the heir. honestly could be what finally gets rhysand to actually effect change amongst the illyrians. or could be what sort of radicalizes nyx and brings him to effect that change after seeing that his family doesn't want him around his own people but aren't doing the most they can to improve illyrian conditions.

He would definitely think Eris is doing this with Ophelia and go to kidnapping.

oh my god your mind........cuz since rhysand had this mentality himself surrounding elain and lucien, he absolutely assumes eris—cruel, callous, cunning eris—is withholding ophelia from nyx for exclusively the same reason: to keep the night court on a short, docile leash. and while eris fully recognizes that as a benefit to this truly abysmal situation his family has found themselves in, it isn't his motivation here. his motivation is keeping his daughter firmly out of night court clutches, especially because she has no interest in being in them.

i do think rhysand would consider high lord eris too much of a threat to pull trig on full kidnapping. if not out of respect for his power/capability, then at the very least out of disdain for how spiteful and relentless eris can be. it would be an extremely bold move to steal away the daughter of a high lord, even if she's mated. rhysand would be hard-pressed to find a single ally for that course of action, even amongst the ones he's established—even more so because ophelia has expressed disinterest in her bond. (i think he could make the case specifically to helion that he had to liberate ophelia from the autumn court and vanserra abuse, thereby preying on helion's own experiencing with amalia, but even then, helion could never publicly back rhysand on this. it would set a very dangerous precedent.) if rhysand tried it this way, eris would bring the full might of autumn into night—and holy shit, milo would unleash himself. milo doesn't have the same sense of restraint eris does, especially not so young, but he does have the same sense of entitlement and unequivocal protectiveness. hell, he might challenge nyx to a blood duel over this. overall, i think rhysand is unwilling to court such a big risk.