#yonnis

"After Darkness" was brutal, but I loved it. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I want a Sunfire spinoff aimed towards an older audience (and a prequel series), that could be described as a "GOT: Lite".

It shows off Karim's motivations, and makes me feel really bad for him, but it emphasizes all of the flaws we've been calling him out on, things that would make him a horrible king for the Sunfire to have; especially right now.

He's too impatient.

He's single-minded and shortsighted.

He's overconfident.

He can't let go of the past.

He gatekeeps.

He lets his emotions (more specifically anger and grief) run away with him.

(Before I say this, I would be willing to write this incident off as shock and grief [BECAUSE IT WAS], but he does show the same behavior with the candle incident, so I'd like to mention it).

He wants to stay longer than what would be safe, ignoring Tijana's warning that it's too late for the corrupted elves. Luckily she did get through to Osato, and he could actually convince Karim to flee (meaning her logic was sound, it just came from the wrong type of person).

Tijana saved his life, but he's not grateful, he's just angry that she made a joke. She saved his life again, the purification spell failed to save Osato, but he insists that he could have saved him and accuses her of murder. He tries to take away her right to mourn him. Because Osato was HIS friend. Her friendship doesn't matter because HE decided it didn't.

It's the same in the show, the humans are GUESTS, they should not get comfortable, or have any official ties to Xadia. They are welcome to visit, but only if they meet HIS standards. Amaya can even stay because she makes Janai happy...as long as they both agree to HIS conditions (that they never actually get married).

Not long after we see this mentality, we see him ignore the fact Yonnis could have burned down the city of tents (possibly killing many people including elves without a heat-being mode, not to mention destroying their food and shelter which could lead to more death), because a human extinguished the Soul Candle.

Which in some way is sympathetic, it's very easy to see why Karim would be angry, that's someone's soul who can't make it to the afterlife (whether 'lost' means destroyed or doomed to wander, I don't know). But at the same time, he's so hyperfixated on his anger, he can't look at the whole issue.

Janai, however, does. She doesn't focus so much on that fact 'the human committed a sacrilegious crime' that she can't see the problem 'we need a place INSIDE the city where we can preform the sacred rituals safely'.

Karim would have executed Lucia on the spot and been done with it, but the problem that created the situation in the first place would remain unsolved. The next time someone lit a candle, no one would dare snuff it out, and the whole camp could go up in flames.

Miyana constantly tells Karim that overthrowing Janai would not be easy, that it will take time. He ignores her warnings, because he's so sure that he knows everything; Janai will back down. And on the SLIM chance she doesn't, he's a great mage, he can win and everyone will side with him. The exact opposite happens, but he doesn't let himself be humbled, choosing to be stubborn instead.