#fowlday

Holly teases about keeping an eye on him and Artemis laughs it off; he's already got his parents and Butler doing that. And then Holly says something utterly profound and compelling: "Well then, maybe it's time you let them."

I have always seen The Eternity Code as Artemis' key turning point from villain/criminal to hero/anti-hero. I was wrong. While it was undoubtedly a big step in the right direction, Artemis does not fully embrace the new direction -he did, after all, make that massive charitable donation irreversible in case he became weak later and decided to steal it back. Before he could try embracing it, the mindwipe robbed him of further improvement in that area. Basically, his development in The Eternity Code was the foundation for the actual key turning point of his character that we see in The Opal Deception.

When he tells Holly that he already has two parents and one bodyguard trying to keep him on the straight and narrow, it's got a weight to it; I picture him sort of scoffing at it, implying they're efforts are not only unsuccessful, but a wasted effort. Useless. Holly's reply is so profound and so obvious I expect it hit Artemis upside the head. "Well then, maybe it’s time you let them."

Up to now, Artemis has paralleled the patterns of every villain he's faced to some extent. Ever since the first book, our favorite genius has been stuck in the same vicious cycle, maybe learning new lessons and strengthening his conscience each time, but always falling victim to the same basic flaws and cycling through the same mistakes, despite the helping hands and watchful eyes of his loved ones. So far, every villain Artemis has faced has been a friendless, ambition-at-all-costs kind of bad guy. And so far, Artemis has been the same way himself. But what if he wasn't anymore? What if he came to value friendship above greed and ambition? What if he took the chance to become the hero? What if he let Butler and Holly and his parents help him?