The âgwyn is a tertiary characterâ argument always makes me giggle tbh because it immediately tells me you have no idea what youâre talking about lmao
The book in which gwyn is introduced, she is present or mentioned in 44 chapters (not including bonus chaptersđ). Shes introduced in chapter 9, and after that is brought up in 62% of the book. The only characters more present in acosf than Gwyn are Nesta and Cassian (obviously) and Feyre and Rhys (again, obviously).
Gwyn also impacts multiple main plots in that story. She is pivotal to Nestaâs healing journey. Yâall scream lightsinger from every rooftop so by your own logic she plays a crucial role in finding the dread trove, by helping Nesta find the harp. She is the sole reason the Valkyrie revival plot line exists (literally where the section titles in the book come from). She also now has a tie to the fuckassery that is the multiverse plot which started in SF but really was solidified in CC, a series Gwyn is also mentioned in by name. The only plots I can think of in SF she doesnât tie into are the baby plot, the romance, and the stuff going on in spring.
Gwyn is a secondary character
You know who else is a secondary character?
Azriel, Lucien, Elain, Mor, Emerie, and Amren. Cassian and Nesta were secondary characters and then got a promotion. Good for them.
âBut she wasnât in the original trilogy and doesnât know Feyre! So sheâs tertiary!â They cry.
Thatâs not how character hierarchies work. The conflict in the original trilogy (Hybern invasion) ends in acowar. There are some carried over minor plots form the og trilogy (koschie, briallyn, the threat of conflict in autumn) but thereâs also new plots that are introduced that arenât present in the first three books (the dread trove, the Valkyrie rebirth, the fact spring is fully dying, the illyrians being on the brink of a major shift). The books that follow have been clearly branded as spinoff. They connect to the events and characters from the main book, but the main characters from the old books take a back seat for new characters to deal with new things.
A characterâs position in a hierarchy isnât stagnant. Look at Tamlin. He is a main character (at worst an insanely important secondary) in the first book, then very much becomes a secondary in the rest of the trilogy, and by SF is fully an actual tertiary character that only ties to one sub plot. Nesta is a tertiary character in acotar (her only function is as an origin story for Feyre, she holds no sway over the plot) and now sheâs a main character. Weâre likely to see similar progression for Elain. Az isnât in the first book at all, and again is on his way to being a main character. Manon wasnât in the first 2.5 books of ToG, and she ends the series as a main character. Same as Rowan. And Manon was a main character before she ever met Aelin. Iâm not even gonna bring up chaol and yrene. I love Feyre and Rhys, too, but this is no longer about them. Feysand specifically had to avoid getting involved in a bunch of the main conflict of SF because Sarah has plot armored them with the if-you-die-I-die bargain. They will undoubtedly continue to be present in the series, but theyâre no longer the main focus. Look at the fact that Feyre wasnât the one present for almost 20 chapters in CC3, Nesta and Az were. The story going forward is no longer hers and like. thatâs okay? Let that girl have her HAE.
And the only people sidelining Vassa for Gwyn is you guysđ¤ˇââď¸ I think Vassaâs most likely path forward, as a character that ties to one plot, is to become a very important character in an Elain/Lucien book. Pretending to be outraged on the behalf of a character who has two personality traits so far (brave but kind of stuck up queen) is fun, I guess. You can continue with that song and dance if you want. I have no need to pit female characters against each other to try and make some asinine point because the books prove my point for me. Gwyn is not tertiary by literal definition, and she is well poised to take a front seat in a coming book. Sorry that pisses you off. ig
