Dec 29, 2025
Hot take: By the time they meet, Alina is the one too damaged for her relationship with the Darkling to work. She's physically incapable to relate to anything she herself haven't experienced, rigid in her worldviews including harmful believes, and from the day one she doesn't even consider the Darkling a human being with feelings (aside from the loneliness she feels).
Nurture is simply too strong in her case to be overcome by her nature, which is drawing her to her balance. Their Tether just a weak remainder of what could've been between them. Her grief for him mere echo of what's buried so deep within her, it cannot be fully uncovered.
#Grishaverse#Alina Starkov#The Darkling#Darklina#The Tether#grishanalyticritical#self centred and paranoid#Grisha trilogy#V#And what made the difference is their summoning.#The Darkling went through more and objectively worse#but stayed himself.#Alina haven't lost only her physical health by lasting suppression#she became a paranoid pile of issues so deep a herd of shrinks could've dined on that for the rest of her life.
