THE DARKLING: Why he deserved better- an essay
(Warning: Grishaverse trilogy spoilers. Don’t read if you haven’t read the books or even watched the show)
The Darkling died in the end (of the trilogy, not KOS & ROW): Fine. BUT I wished so bad he had someone who could tell him, “I see you, your feelings are valid. You have the right to be angry but you’re safe now. You can let the guards down.” I MEAN?? It isn’t so difficult, is it? He had an unloving, insensitive mother- emotionally absent and overexpectant, just look at how she teaches for example (I absolutely love Baghra, don’t misunderstand me). No dad in picture because it was her mother’s choice but it still leaves a cavity in someone’s life. Childhood plays a huge role in building someone’s personality/life long psychological state. Half of the time he had to live in fear and fight for his life and the ones he loved for just being different and half the time he was feared so much that even when anyone came close, they had ulterior motives.
Alina as a character was kind and self sacrificing but- and fight me all you want- she had a number of instances where she could’ve convinced Aleks that the fight is over. If he does any more then there won’t be any difference between him and the people that hurt him. She didn’t have to go marry him, but she could’ve been a friend. I don’t think people understand the significance of the line, “Fine, make me your villain.” Because it’s so easy to make him your villain, so easy to put it all on him- as humanity always does- if you can’t solve the problem, find someone to blame.
One of the most frustrating things when it comes to Alina is that she sees things, she can read between the lines but she always chooses the easy way out. Be it talking and sorting shit out with Mal, offering someone comfort, or all those times when she saw the hurting boy in Alexander.
He just wanted to be loved, to be understood, to be seen. He wasn’t hungry for power. He was yearning for respect, loyalty, safety and most of all love. He wanted the Ravkans to love him. To just have anyone to love him even, just one person. And that could’ve been Alina. Not that she was obliged to do anything, but she had the same power in terms of rarity, she had the same-ish struggles of being different, same eternity to live. There could’ve been people he loved in his backstory but none of them could hold on for eternity even in the best case scenarios.
So, if Alina can be attracted to him and have all those feelings, she could’ve been understanding and supportive too. If she couldn’t stop herself from reaching him telepathically or be angry at him or cry in front of him while HE held her- she could’ve made at least ONE attempt.
Alexander wasn’t making Alina a monster, it was her own conscience. Because there were various other factors who were also stopping her from succumbing to the darkness but Aleks had none. She could’ve helped heal him. ESPECIALLY, when he said things like, “You might make me a better man” so many times. Don’t you dare tell me there wasn’t hope for him. Alina may have all the circumstances and power to do it, but basically as person she was unfit for this and that’s the tragedy. All that hope finally after centuries of wait but in wrong hands. (I’m just saying she couldn’t live up to it. At the core, she didn’t have what it took, maybe she was too young with too much on her plate. I still adore her because when we love, we love them with their flaws as the Darkling should have been)
And the show stopper, Aleks did have kind in him because till the end he was there for Grishas despite his evil (like when he bluffed about putting the Grisha children in danger but obviously didn’t and wouldn’t do it) but Alina had darkness in her always because she would always sabotage anything or anyone as long as it meant Mal’s safety (for instance, when Aleks expanded the fold and she abandoned the skiff for Mal). What’s the difference between their morals then? If the power hadn’t been scattered from her, I bet you she would’ve been the next big bad villain. (Not that I wanted her power gone)
What affects me the most is that despite everything, whatever Alina could’ve done for Alexander, HE did it for her (in his twisted way sometimes). He told her he understood her, he told her he saw her, he held her when she cried, he gave that unconditional love and support because however it may have looked on the surface- he never hurt Alina. Physically at least. He did a number of absolutely horrible things, most of coming from a place of payback for betrayal.
(Also, you can sense I have a huge issue with ever loved and all cherished protagonists who are victims of circumstances- all kind and selfless and martyrs- but I can see they are just as flawed. Personally, Alina’s fine though, because she’s real. That’s human, that’s what could’ve happened. I’m just acknowledging the parts of her that are easy to overlook. Because again- as humans, as much as we want to blame someone to make things easy, we also put people on pedestals and all our problems on them expecting them to be the saviour.)
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