Problematic because: "Heβs a gang lieutenant whos built the βDirtyhandsβ name on making people believe thereβs nothing he wonβt do. He breaks Geelsβ wrist during the parley at the Exchange, has Big Bolliger shot and left bleeding for betraying the Dregs, threatens Geelsβ girlfriend Elise to force the Black Tips down, and generally rules through fear. Ketterdam is brutal, but Kaz is extremely good at using it. After Oomen helps ambush the crew and Inej is badly hurt, Kaz cuts Oomenβs eye and then gouges it out, to the point that even Wylan is retching, then throws him overboard after getting what he wants. Itβs partly rage over Inej, yes, but itβs also Kaz sending a message - hurt his people, betray the job, challenge Dirtyhands, and heβll make the punishment memorable. He kidnaps Alys Van Eck, Jan Van Eckβs pregnant young wife, to trade for Inej. He uses Wylan as leverage from the start because Wylanβs connection to Van Eck makes him useful. He runs cons around the auction, manipulates the Merchant Council, and destroys Pekka Rollins by making him believe his little son has been buried alive. The child is safe, but Kaz wants Pekka to feel the terror anyway, because Kazβs revenge isnβt just about winning itβs about making Pekka understand helplessness in the most personal way possible. He has an extremely sympathetic reason for becoming what he is - Pekka scammed him and Jordie, Jordie died, Kaz survived the Reaperβs Barge by using his brotherβs body to stay afloat - but the trauma made him controlled, vengeful, and creative about hurting people back. He can buy Inejβs freedom and still send her into dangerous work. He can love his crew and still lie to them constantly. He can be a victim of Ketterdam and still become one of the people who makes Ketterdam terrifying."
Propaganda: 1. "I love him. Obviously. Heβs clever, dramatic, disabled, traumatised, stylish in that very severe little Barrel way, and every scene with him feels sharper because heβs already planning three betrayals. He is a gang lieutenant who keeps teenagers in his orbit, sends Inej into life-threatening jobs, withholds plans from his own crew constantly, and reacts to being hurt by becoming a calculated nightmare. I donβt want Kaz softened into harmless book boyfriend material. I want the version who buys Inej her freedom and also threatens a child to destroy his enemy. I want the version who can be painfully gentle in one paragraph and then do something so cold you remember why grown men in the Barrel are scared of him."
2. "Kaz is actually a very likable character. Somehow, his morally gray acts are endearing and his joyful moments (of which he has few) are even more so. He's witty, he's a genius, he's got a hell of a self-preservation instinct, yet he's still impulsive, he's traumatized, he's tragic, and he's a child, yet he refuses to be pitied. He's deeply broken as a character, to the point that I think that he's not going to ever fully heal, and he's like a marred, broken up pig carcass that was reanimated halfway through being cooked and wreaked havoc amongst the chefs. He is the fury of the people, he is the anger of the peasants reanimated to take revenge against the upper class, but he is still human. He loves, he pities, and he desires, however much he tries to suppress it. And I think that the way he shows his humanity while it being extremely clear what a monstrous existence he is, is extremely fascinating. I'm not one that finds his kind, softer aspects as fascinating as his rougher ones, but he does have those. Like how he had started this entire thing, the murder, the hurt, the crime, it was all for the wrong that he faced as a child, the love for his brother that was ruined for him, and he keeps his cards close to his chest and the things he cares about closer to his heart."
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