#reading row

“Here it comes.”

“Build me an altar, so that I may be remembered.”

Zoya scowled. “As a tyrant? A killer?”

“As the Starless One. Give me a place in your books. When night comes, let there be one more candle lit for one more Saint. Can you agree to that, merciful queen?” he drawled.

The Darkling seemed almost disinterested, but the demon in Nikolai sensed it was a pose.

“He means it,” Nikolai said in disbelief. “He’s willing to die.”

“It is not death,” said the monk. “Death would be a kindness.”

Genya tilted her head to the side. She was watching the Darkling closely.

“But it’s not death you fear, is it? He’s afraid he’ll disappear.”

Nikolai remembered what Genya had said. All the Darkling ever wanted was to be loved by this country. He knew that feeling well. He’d had to face it when he’d stared down his demon. There were few men Ravka loved. Saints were another matter.

This man sacrificed hundreds of years for Ravka already, and he’s willing to suffer for eternity, but still it’s not enough for our dear protagonists. He already paid for his crimes. He lost everything, he was killed. There are already people who follow the Starless Saint, and Grisha who remember their General who saved them and protected them. To erase him from history would be not only cruel, but also stupid. ‘Those who do not know the history are doomed to repeat it,’ or however that quote went.

“Do we let him play the hero?” Zoya asked.

Genya nodded once. “Let him do it. Let our suffering have meant something.”

Zoya stood framed by red blossoms and thorns, a queen who needed no crown. “It will be done.”

I swear to-- Is Genya’s only personality trait being the king’s victim? not even a survivor, just a victim. no agency of her own.

Zoya pinched the bridge of her nose. “No. I wish I did.”

“Because he always fought alone. He let his power isolate him.”

I'm sorry - HE let HIS POWER isolate him?????

no no no no no, did we forget everything we’ve learned about Aleksander? AGAIN? ARE THERE SOME GROUPS OF MEN IN BLACK ROAMING AROUND RAVKA, JUST CLICKING PEOPLES MEMORIES AWAY????

He was alone, because everyone he let close betrayed him. 

Baghra was his abusive, manipulative mother who didn’t give two shits about anyone but herself. 

Alina, trusting the word of Baghra, deserted her post and betrayed Aleksander, nearly causing the doom of all Ravka.

Zoya and Genya are also deserters, and betrayed their General.

“The choices the Grisha are presented with are impossible ones. The power the Taban government wields is too absolute.”

“So it’s not a choice at all,” said Genya. Tolya shrugged. “It’s the same way the Darkling built the Second Army.”

Zoya bristled at that. “The Second Army was a refuge.”

“Maybe for some,” said Tolya. “The Darkling took Grisha from their parents when they were only children. They were taught to forget the places they came from, the people they knew. They served the crown or their families suffered. What kind of choice is that?”

“But no one experimented on us,” said Zoya. And some of us were perfectly happy to forget our parents.

“No,” said Tolya, resting his huge hands on his knees. “They just turned you into soldiers and sent you out to fight their wars.”

“He’s not wrong,” said Genya, looking down at her wine. “Don’t you ever think about what life you might have led if you hadn’t come to the Little Palace?”

excuse me what.

what.

Did Genya magically forget about everyone in the 2nd Army that was there because the Darkling saved them? Because their parents would be targets for having Grisha children, or didn’t want a ‘freak’ in their household, were nowhere near equipped to handle a training of a Grisha. Not to mention everyone who was orphaned because of the prosecution against Grishas, or was sold into indenture, slavery, etc.

It’s rich of Tolya to say Sasha turned them into soldiers, like, what choice did he have? The Tsar needed to see Grisha as useful, otherwise they would be in the same place as pre-Fold, meaning full-on witch hunts for Grisha in Ravka. If they were anything but soldiers, he wouldn’t be allow to train them how to fight. It would be viewed as a coup-in-the-making, or that he’s gathering his own army to take over the throne. But, if it’s the army for Tsar... This way, Aleksander could teach the Grisha to defend themselves without raising suspicions. Could ask for funds, and use it to educate the children, to give the parents an incentive to send the kids to him, and not to Fjerdans, Shu Han, Kerch, or leave them in the woods to die.

Not to mention, cLEARLY NOT EVERYONE ENDED UP AS A FUCKING SOLDIER, DID THEY, GENYA. How many Fabrikators just spent years in the Little Palace, instead of active service? How many Grishas were just teachers, for the young ones?