#oomen

Well... I'll let these passages talk for themselves:

He was hurt that he had to do this to his mother. He didn't take any pleasure from it.

Kaz

He was ambushed by Oomen, a man that is portrayed as frightening and disgusting, and who tried to kill the woman Kaz was secretly in love with.

The punishment? He plucked out his eyes. No reversing option in that. 🤷

How did he feel about it?

Uhh...nothing?

Now the differences are the following:

1) Baghra is seen as a frail, old woman that helped the MC not fall into the jaws of the bad guy. While Oomen is seen as cruel, strong and dangerous:

and he tried to mess up with the MC's love interest.

2) The relation the victims have with the offender. Baghra was the Darkling's mother. So the fans ask "How could he do such a thing to his own mother?!?" While Oomen is nothing for Kaz. He was a character that came and went from this book.

3) The way the perpetrators are seen and "painted" by the narrative and author ('cause readers almost always get affected by it). The Darkling was seen as a terrifying figure that inspired fear and respect since the beginning of the book. Also, the fact that he was "revealed" to be a "manipulative, bad guy" by Baghra herself in the middle of the book did nothing to give a good light on him. On the contrary, it only enhanced the conviction of the reader that "Yes, he must be an evil bastard to do such a thing to his mother. Baghra was right and the people were right". On the other hand, we have Kaz who is seen as a frightening figure too but!

A) We have his POVs, so we can glimpse his actions and feelings first handed (the Darkling never had that chance. And THAT is why POVs are important!) and it's easier for the reader to see his own side of the story (with the Darkling we don't have his side of the story throughout the trilogy).

B) he's a bad guy that is secretly in love with a girl. And YA readers eat that shit up every time. They naturally act like: "Oh he's a bad boy that has a secret crush! He killed for her! So romantic! 😍😭". While with the Darkling, the readers think he did it because he's a jerk. And, as we all know, the majority of antis think he wasn't in love with Alina. So he only punished his mother because of his "evil fury" and for the fact that she took away his chance to gain more power.

So Kaz has the advantage because he had the opportunity to show himself through his POVs and is "painted" by the author as cruel but badass and in love with a girl. While poor Aleksander never had one POV from that trilogy so we don't know his own side of the story and the author mostly "paints" him as an evil mastermind.

Oh! And let's see the aftermath of what happened after Oomen got thrown overboard!

Aha... He threatened one of his gang members to shut up otherwise...

And let's not forget how Kaz promised Oomen two things!

*five minutes later Oomen gets yeeted*

*five seconds later Kaz throws Oomen's ass to the depths of the black sea*

Kaz didn't feel anything while for the Darkling it pained him to do this to his mother. He didn't want to but she turned out to be a traitor who took away his hope, his joy and the girl he loved. In R&R he even offered to take her back home and I bet he felt even more regret for what he did to her after she committed suicide.