Grand Lotus Tea Room

With the formalities over, Hakoda bade the pair to come eat and rest before they began what was bound to be the first of several long conversations. Zuko was aware of being closer than ever to seeing his uncle again, and the relief of him had him nearly dizzy. Still, as he and Katara trailed behind the men towards their camp, one thought hit him as he finally processed the last few minutes. He froze midstep, and Katara stopped beside him.

“What’s up?” she asked him quietly. 

“Chief Hakoda?” Zuko rounded on Katara, his eyes wide in shock. “Chief?”

“Yeah?” Katara’s brows drew down. “What about it?”

“What about it?” Zuko whisper screamed. “What about it? When, exactly, were you going to tell me you’re a princess.”

“A what?” Katara laughed incredulously. “I’m not a princess.”

I might be the wrong person to ask since I don't hate either character. If I had to make a guess about why people seem to hate Taryn more than Madoc, it's probably because they (or we, I guess) felt betrayed by Taryn, too. Jude is the one who's POV we followed. We understood that she had a complicated relationship with Madoc, Cardan was an ass, but Taryn was one of the people she loved- and more importantly trusted- most. We saw that Jude was willing to sacrifice herself for Taryn's sake...and then we saw that Taryn was willing to accept that sacrifice and throw a bit more in for good measure. I'm sure I've said this before sometime in the last year, but I think the fandom would have had an easier time forgiving Taryn if her main (and until the last novel, her only) victim wasn't Jude. Like, if the person she hurt the worst was Nicasia instead. But no. Whenever Taryn needed to throw someone under a bus, it always seemed to be Jude who was on hand.

Madoc's biggest crime against Jude (aside from the obvious one) was that he underestimated her. Had he taken her into his confidence, well...the story would have been a lot different. (I think she still would have betrayed him, though). Madoc wasn't trying to hurt Jude by keeping her out of the loop. He was trying to protect her in the first book. Yes, he turned on her in the last book, but he wasn't betraying her by fighting her. He was meeting her as an opponent who was a real threat to his plans, which in its own twisted way was a show of respect. He also never set out to hurt Jude, which is more than I can say for Taryn. Or Cardan.

Speaking of Cardan, he never betrayed Jude either. Oh, sure it seemed like he did at the end of TWK, but it was a trick he meant for her to see through, and he did it for her protection, too. Before that, he was mean to Jude. He did some truly awful things to her (the worst of it was because of Taryn even though, she let Jude go on thinking it was her fault), but he didn't have her trust. Jude knew he was going to be cruel. We all knew he was going to be cruel. And so when he was cruel, it wasn't a surprise to any of us. I'm not saying what he did was okay, but Taryn's betrayal hurt more for both Jude and the audience. It makes sense for the fans to be quicker to forgive the Cruel Prince than the beloved sister who let her sister get played while believing she was protecting Taryn.

Another reason that I think people are okay with Madoc and Cardan (and I've definitely said this before) is because Jude got her get back with both of them. She beat them at their own games, and she made it look easy. She made them kneel. Madoc, specifically, was punished severely (I don't think that people appreciate the psychological aspect of him in particular never being able to wield a weapon again). If Taryn had faced some sort of consequence for how she treated Jude, I really think people would be less critical of her, but it really seems like she got rewarded for everything she did to Jude. She got the guy (and then got to be the one who killed him, which I will die on the hill of her not deserving the honor). She got the guy's estate. She gets the privileges that come with being the queen's sister (even thought the king is decidedly not a fan of her). Then she got another guy because...reasons?...I don't know. On top of that, she's clearly very cunning, but she seems convinced that she's the victims in everything, as confirmed by her novella. Madoc and Cardan, on the other hand, are who they are. They didn't pretend anything, and Jude knew where she stood with them both (for the most part, but Cardan's feelings for her are for a different post).

I know I'm not making a great case for my love of Taryn, but I do love her. My thing is that my loving her doesn't make me want to make her a victim of circumstance. I don't think that's fair to her. Taryn was not a mere damsel; she was as cunning as Jude, and it's also true that Jude was the most frequently harmed by her plots, or participation in other people's plots.

I hope that answered your question. I did my best not to meander too much. Also, this is just my thoughts on it. Someone else might have a different reason for why they're so critical of Taryn.

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Are there any popular fan theories and headcanons on this?

The girls were wary of Madoc, and for good reason. I think Jude knows that Madoc loves them, but she also doesn't think that his love would protect them if he decided they were in the way. As for Taryn...I don't know man...maybe? She probably has a similar understanding of Madoc. It's not as if he makes a great big secret of caring for them. Even Oriana points out how he dotes on the girls. Jude loves him, and I don't think she would have gotten to that point if he didn't show her love, too. We don't hear Taryn say it, but it's not going too far out on a limb to say she loves Madoc, too.

The thing is they thought Madoc's patience with them had an extremely short limit, but I don't think that's true. Vivi outright disrespects him to his face and does whatever she feels like, and I know Jude thinks its because she's the only one of them who is related to Madoc by blood, but she's not great at reading people. Look all the things she got away with, after all. Okay, yeah, Madoc ended up stabbing her, but you also have to remember he's a Fae with a finely honed instinct for battle. Him treating her as an equal on the battle field was a show of high respect, and doesn't necessarily mean he didn't love her. Later he goes on to try to give her legitimate guidance for acting as the sole ruler of Elfhame. He also never intended for Jude to be bound to the Jorel and Nore, and if they had succeeded with their scheme, I think he would have sworn violent and bloody vengeance on them. Madoc is for all intents and purposes, an actual, natural born, boogieman-story monster. Of course his version of love is going to look crazy.

There was a scene in the first book where Madoc and Balekin promised Jude a boon if she helped them bring Cardan to his coronation feast. I assumed Madoc also promised Taryn the same boon for agreeing to help him at the end of book 2. Which means he is indebted to her and she could call in his debt by asking for his protection for the trial. But if Taryn believed Madoc didn’t care for her like that, it doesn’t make sense for her to go along with his plan no questions asked. Do you think she was just being a dutiful daughter? I don’t believe she has that kind of loyalty to him. Sorry for the shade but I think it’s quite clear from how she had treated Jude that family doesn’t mean much to her. Like this is your war general of a father. He is asking you to accommodate him steal the high king’s army and free him from his vow to the crown. That’s a huge ask. So I’m wondering how do you think Madoc got her to comply with his demands? Do you think she agreed purely out of fear of him?

Aw! Thank you!😊

I get the impression that Taryn was just going along with it because Madoc asked. Nothing that she said or did after that makes me believe that she put any thought into it. She had to know that Cardan would find out what she did, but she didn't act like she thought there would be any consequences for it, let alone think of turning to Madoc for protection. Heck, she stayed in Elfhame after Jude's banishment, but she had no reason to think that Cardan wouldn't have been upset with her.

I'm sure that Taryn was afraid of Madoc. She probably had the same complicated feelings for him that Jude had. That being said, I doubt Madoc went up to her and told her to either do what he said or he'd run her through with his sword. He probably just asked her to do it, and she didn't have too many follow up questions for him. You have to assume that whatever exchange happened between them happened quickly, because Taryn needed time to go get clothes from Jude's room, change out of what sounds like a very elaborate gown, probably by herself and get to Cardan's room and leave before Jude came back, so Taryn clearly didn't spend too much time trying to figure out what Madoc was doing and why. Taryn very much gives "I was just following orders" here. I think that was literally the extent of her thought process. And once again, she didn't consider the potential consequences for Jude.