The Weird Introduction of Thorn and the Outclaws
Thorn's introduction is so weird, especially compared to how she's characterized for the rest of the series. Like the first time she was introduced, I was fully convinced she was running the equivalent of the Sandwing mafia.
Like the first thing said about the Scorpion Den, where the Outclaws reside, is this:
Which, fine, they are Nightwings so obviously they'd have baised information. But when they go to meet the Outclaws, they're not allowed in without some sort of offering:
Okay, they are grown Nightwings, so I suppose a contribution might make sense since they'd probably not come because they're in need of something. Whatever. But he specifically said "no one" gets inside.
Anyway, Six-Claws finds Sunny hiding behind them and escorts her inside the city. She's approached by an assassin-for-hire and given his card and Six-Claws says this:
Mind you, Six-Claws is essentially Thorn's right-hand man.
Then we're introduced to the fact that the Outclaws feed dragonets:
This is something that's clearly meant to make them seem like good guys in both Sunny and the reader's eyes. But also, it's mentioned that most of the dragons here are starving or injured so they're likely impoverished. Which really begs the question, what were they giving to the Outclaws to get them to let them in? Isn't it kind of fucked up to demand something in exchange from a desperate dragon?
When they come across the Oasis the city is built around, we have this exchange:
You guys see how this sort of thing is a problem, right? Like this would read as villainous?
It would be one thing if this was prevention from any one group taking control of the water, but no. They control it because then they can control the city. Granted, guarding any sort of vital resource is automatically very suspicious regardless of how good your intentions are. But hey, they are intended to prevent crime and this is a very effective way of controlling the territory. Fine.
Anyway, we're introduced to Thorn and she kills Preyhunter. It would be one thing if Preyhunter had attacked her, but that's not at all what happened. I'll just put here the full excerpt:
This is not at all a reasonable reaction on Thorn's part. Generally, in any media, when someone kills the messenger, they're the bad guy or at the very least not the greatest pillar of morality. Because killing the messenger is a disregard of someone's life and a show of lack of emotional control considering you lashed out not at the person causing you harm, but the one who had the unfortunate job of telling it to you.
Hell, Preyhunter was the more reasonable one here. It takes Thorn grabbing him by the neck and throwing him on the ground, then threatening him with her tail, and then nearly burning him with fire for him to fight back. And does he use his built in throat flamethrower? No, he uses his claws instead. The way it's written heavily implies even this is just a blind panic reaction. And Thorn kills him.
The book never goes into how messed up this whole situation was. A few paragraphs later, we have these thoughts from Sunny:
Ah yes, murder is okay as long as you feel bad about it and the person attempted to defend themself.
Also she 100% did not have to do that. There's genuinely a level of insecurity you need to have to feel the need to prove to someone who is very clearly at your mercy that you have power over them.
It is later explained that Thorn does this because she thought Preyhunter was lying, but when Fierceteeth confirms that Morrowseer is in fact dead and the Nightwing Kingdom was destroyed, we have this:
Sunny is fully convinced Thorn intends to kill Fierceteeth for telling her a fact she doesn't like in a tone she also doesn't like.
If this were any other book, hell if this were any other character, they would be a villain. I actually genuinely can't think of a single villain in WoF who has killed some sort of messenger or bystander because they didn't like something that was told to them. Like, that is villain behavior 101.
When Sunny and Thorn mention killing Preyhunter, all she says is this:
"Yeah, sometimes you gotta show your gang your teeth by throwing down and killing a random dragon who let you know that the guy you hate is dead because you thought he was lying but as it turns out he wasn't lying and pretty much died for nothing, Beetle"
Am I tripping or is the sudden shift in conversation weird? After this Thorn is presented as being level-headed, kind, wise, and, in general, a good leader.
You must give something to the Outclaws to be allowed into the Scorpion Den
Said Scorpion Den is full of impoverished and injured dragons likely fleeing the horrors of the war
It's implied Six-Claws at least has hired the services of enough assassins to recognize that the one here is "too expensive" and "barely competent"
The Outclaws feed dragonets up to the age of 8 for free every day
The Outclaws control the only water supply in order to control the town
Thorn kills a guy who tells her a message she doesn't like and dismisses this action as "showing your teeth" essentially
Please, I need to know it's not just me. Like this reads as some sort of desert mafia, right?
It would be one thing if just Sunny herself was idealizing Thorn because she was her mother and realized she wasn't as good as she thought she was, but no. All of the Outlcaws' and Thorn's actions are not only justified, but seen as a necessity in the narrative.
Thorn is basically divinely blessed to rule the Sandwings. This introduction to Thorn and the Outclaws doesn't really line up with the rest of the book(s). Am I saying Thorn or the Outclaws are villains? No. But I am saying the way they were introduced implies that they are or at the very least are morally grey. But they're not. It makes me wonder if they were original meant to be more villainous, but Tui changed her mind? Idk