Something that stuck with me in ACOSF for no damn reason:
When we find out Feyre is pregnant, Cassian and Azriel discuss whether or not they want children one day.
“Of course I want children.” He’d contemplated it often, what manner of family he’d build for himself, how he’d make sure his children never spent a moment thinking they were unloved and unwanted; never, ever spent a moment hungry or scared or cold or in pain.
At this point, Cassian and Nesta aren’t an item, but they have established they have feelings for one another. They have their whole interaction in ACOWAR about not having enough time together and then in ACOFAS the emotional gift exchange.
But no female had ever come along who’d tempted him enough to fight for that future. He supposed, deep down, that was what he was holding out for: the mating bond.
Nesta hasn’t reciprocated his passion to pursue what they have. He wants a healthy relationship like what he sees with Feysand first. But regardless, he has put a lot of thought into what would make him want children. He’s put a lot of thought into how he wants to raise them.
Now let’s look at Azriel. His response to the question about if he wants children is:
“I don’t know,” Azriel said.
“It doesn’t matter what I want.” Distant words—ones that prevented Cassian from prying further. He was still happy to be Mor’s buffer with Azriel, but there’d been a change lately. In both of them. Mor no longer sat beside Cassian, draped herself over him, and Azriel … those longing glances toward her had become few and far between. As if he’d given up. After five hundred years, he’d somehow given up. Cassian couldn’t think why.
Cassian’s inner dialogue here leads us to believe that Azriel has moved on from Morrigan — albeit reluctantly. And we know that he has his sights set on Elain, because in the bonus chapter we get that gift exchange/almost kiss/Azriel’s thoughts on what comes next.
Regardless, even with someone new in the picture for him, Azriel has no idea what type of future he wants. He decides that it doesn’t matter what he wants.
SJM has laid out something here.
Two characters who have prospective love interests.
One has a future in mind for himself with a nameless/faceless person.
The other doesn’t even know.
It’s very clear to me that if Elain were Azriel’s endgame or if he was as serious about pursuing her as people like to believe, then this scene would have featured Azriel pondering his future in a more positive light. With cautious optimism rather than this sort of hollow uncertainty we see.
I usually don’t psychoanalyze this closely, but the parallels between him and Cassian who, at this point, have the same relationship status is staggering.
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