In Stanisław Lem's "Fables for robots" there's that one story, "Tale of the Computer That Fought a Dragon", and it goes more less like this: on one planet's moon appeared a dragon that noone could defeat, so the Computer suggested creating another dragon, a superdragon, more powerful than the dragon that lives on the moon right now. The superdragon will defeat the current dragon, and there will be no more dragon! But, a monarch of the planet asked, what will become of the superdragon? How will they then get rid of him? And the Computer's answer was, that they will have to create a super-superdragon, that will defeat the superdragon, and so on.
I remembered this, when I read how Alina needs all three amplifiers to become stronger than the Darkling in order to defeat him, and how Zoya needs to claim the Dragon's power in order to defeat Elizaveta.
Bardugo's solution for dealing with tyrant is creating a new, super one
“The young king prayed to all of the Saints who would hear him, and the next day, a group of monks arrived at his door and offered to fight by his side. They were not ordinary monks. When they went into battle they could take on the shapes of beasts. [...] The monks agreed to fight for the king. They asked for neither gold nor land but only that one of them would always remain at the king’s side so that Ravka would forever be devoted to the worship of the Saints. The monks plunged into battle and sent the enemies of Ravka scattering, pushing them back and forming the borders that would hold, more or less, for thousands of years."
King of Scars, chapter 9
"Aleksander had marched south with the king’s soldiers, and when they’d faced the Shu in the field, he’d unleashed darkness upon their opponents, blinding them where they stood. Ravka’s forces had won the day.
But when Yevgeni had offered Aleksander his reward, he had refused the king’s gold. “There are others like me, Grisha, living in hiding. Give me leave to offer them sanctuary here and I will build you an army the likes of which the world has never seen.”"
For Nikolai, a problem had always presented an opportunity no different than the one offered by a Fjerdan engine. You stripped it down to its parts, figured out what drove it, then used those pieces to build something that worked for you instead of against you.
The demon disagreed. The demon wasn’t interested in problem-solving or statecraft or the future. It was nothing but hunger, the need of the moment, what could be killed and consumed.
King of Scars, chapter 4
Oh, the subtlety!
A part of Darkling's power, a part of Darkling's very being is descripted as something illogical that only hungers and craves chaos? Who would have thought!
I saw that you mentioned that the Grisha are fashioned after Jewish people? Is that something Leigh Bardugo said herself?
Because if that is so, the resemblance of the Grisha with court Jews is not accidental.
Yep! Leigh has explicitly stated that they are based off of Russian Jews, specifically those who fled to the Americas and developed weapons during World War II. But also Ravka is aesthetically based off of Russia and not America but...
Nonetheless, yes that does probably mean the resemblance of Grisha with court Jews is intentional. I'm not an expert on that subject though if you could enlighten me further!
The court Jew was the rare Jew who had a special relationship with the ruler - usually because of money lending. And he could be a trusted advisor with privileges that gave him a special status - even entering the nobility. Sometimes he could use his position at court to help other Jews but his position was also fragile because it depended completely on the benevolence of the ruler. At the same time the privilege also could lead to this court Jew being even more despised than 'ordinary' Jews.
So, the position of the court Jew was dependent on the ruler, it was a position of privilege earned by hard work that existed at the same time as anti-Semitism and the court Jew for all his influence could not really improve the average situation of Jews. His ambiguous position between trusted and privileged and detested and used means that he is not a powerful person, not really. He still suffers many prejudice.
I think that the Darkling is a parallel. He is part of a discriminated minority who gets an influential position at court despite of that. Because he has a certain asset that other people don't have. He strives to be indispensable and influential but is dependent on the ruler backing him. The Grisha are not the most powerful in that scenario and therefore the whole spiel of 'Alina needs to lose her power because otherwise she'll be corrupted by her privileged position' really makes no sense. Grisha are only safe in Ravka as long as they are useful. And this means that they are in a position of privilege and in danger. I think this gives the 'corrupted by power' another aspect.
I wonder if Leigh Bardugo has read 'Jud Süß' a novel from the 1920s about a court Jew of the early 18th century.
Funnily enough, the Grisha parallels with Jews make a lot of sense once you consider the age-old question and it's actual answer:
Why are/were there so many Jewish bankers?
You see, medieval and renessaince era christians believed that it was a sin to lend money for high interest (I believe the term in english is "usury"). However, they still wanted to do it, because it made a lot of money. So, they got the Jews to do it, since they were (according to the beliefs of the christians at the time - and today) going to Hell anyway, so what's one extra sin.
The Jews in pre-modern Europe were also often not allowed to hold land and practice most trades, which left them with only a few allowed professions. They were also a lot of rules about where they could settle.
But rulers (king, emperors and nobility) wanted the money that came from usury and they wanted access to Jewish religious leaders, who were believed to have all sorts of mystical powers and deep insights into the bible. So, they would section off parts of cities (so called "Jewish towns/quarters") where Jews would be allowed to settle and live in (relative) peace.
They were ghettos, really, but they were also relatively nice on the surface (both because of Jews just being less nasty and unwashed than the average medieval/renessaince christian, which meant that places with high jewish populations were less likely to have massive plague outbreaks - which definitelly didn't help the Jews' image- and also because the jobs they were allowed to hold(trade and banking, mainly) were pretty well-earning.). And they also would get regularly attacked by the people from surrounding areas because they were actually still very hated, even if they were technically under the king's (ruler's) protection.
I'm not going to dive into the Golem/Nichevoy'a parallels in there, but they seem pretty obvious to me (though that might be because Czech pop-culture loves the Prague Golem almost as much as the watermen and dorky demons and I was briefly obsessed with it when I was like 6).
Anyway, one thing that also existed behind the "Court Jew" (which is actually the first time I'm hearing about that, though I might just not know the term specifically) was a closed off community, that was technically the king's property (a lot more than other cityfolk, anyway), had a fairly good, if limited, livelihoods, were often believed to have mystic powers (including immunity to disease), had distinct culture and beliefs from those around them, and were generally hated by the people around them, to the point of suffering not-infrequent attacks.
So, yeah, the Little Palace is a fantasy version of a Jewish ghetto.
nelly dean voice: you see catherine was a bit of a cunt always. and now im a very kind and gentle person so of course i still treated her with all the love in my heart. ahem. except for maybe when she kind of didn't deserve it. have i mentioned she was wicked and had a foul temper that arose with the slightest provocation? so you cannot fault me if i was a bit curt with her at times. for she was SO annoying. and i disliked her. god bless her though. she's surely up in heaven now! good thing too, then she can't annoy me on earth! don't mind me having said multiple times that she's probably going to hell by the way.
Was Aleksander power-hungry or wanted power to use it for the protection of his people?
This question is one of the most hotly debatable in this fandom and I decided to clear this out not by analyzing his words through the POV of other characters (who don't believe him and therefore the reader finds him a liar) but through his own perspective in "Rule of Wolves".
So let's take an objective look inside his own thoughts and find out.
His very first thoughts were how could he reclaim his powers, describing the whole experience as somewhat painful and confusing to him. His second were about Alina.
And these are his third ones. He explains how utterly worthless Nikolai and Zoya are to save Ravka. How immature and weak. Aleksander finds himself to be the only one able for this task. His powers, experience and general abilities are testament to that.
But note how he calls Ravka "his country". From the carved woods decorating his bedroom to his knowledge of "every pebble and branch" of it, this country is special to him. He loves it, feels a connection to it and wants to protect it.
(You just can't call the Darkling "unpatriotic")
He displays bitterness for his loss and Ravka's new state just verifies to him that his plans would only prevent this decaying fate.
Yuri: "Sankta Alina who gave her life for Ravka"
Aleksander: "Am I a joke to you?"
And indeed is he?
Aleksander displays a very strong resentment for the lack of recognition he has gained. His statement: "I gave my life for Ravka" probably doesn't only allude to his death from Alina's hands but also his total commitment in the protection of the Grisha and Ravka that lasted for centuries. He gave his life away by pushing his personal happiness and well-being aside and wholly dedicating his life and skills to a selfless goal. He wasted years, allies, soldiers, endured otkazat'sya Kings that rule him, a bitter mother and his own immortality only for others to hurriedly erase any memory of him once he's gone.
So it seems that his desire to be seen only stems from his long-awaited and secret wish for his actions to be recognized.
Based on the last screenshot, he views his actions as justified not because of a "power-hungry nature" but out of his efforts to help others. Whether these actions are justified or not depends on the reader.
I believe this is one of the most concrete evidence that Aleksander truly cared about the Grisha.
He felt intense anger for those who were ignorant and apathetic towards the Grisha's fate and he himself cared about who was gonna sit the Ravkan throne.
No matter how much humanity he shed as the years passed, it seems that he didn't shed all of it by the time of these books.
Apparently Aleksander had two main goals in this book:
- To protect his people and country as he always strived to do.
- For others to finally give him some credit and have their acknowledgment that yes, he has done something for this country all these years.
In order to help the Grisha and change their fates he needed to be in a position of strength, hence his desire to take the throne. He views himself as a fatherly figure towards his people. A protector and guardian.
But he also wants to become a Saint and king. For people to look up to him. So many Saints had done less than half in comparison to Aleksander and they still won people's love. Now it's his turn and he thinks he deserves it.
I'm adding a short parenthesis here.
His concern didn't only extent to the Grisha but to his blind, otkazat'sya followers as well.
He cared about what would happen in the battlefield and seemed ready to create nichevo'ya to protect them. Merzost is extremely painful but this "selfish" villain is ready to use it to protect his naive but innocent army.
A hundred of years ago Aleksander refused the King's gold as payment for his services. Instead he opted to plead for the construction of a palace. A home and haven for all the Grisha that were hiding out of fear from the persecution against them.
He saw his chance and took it to make the lives of his people a little better.
So this whole "the Darkling created the Fold out of his desire for power" was bullshit after all.
He wanted power but only to use it to end the wars. Ironically, the result of it (aka. the Fold) only aggravated the problem.
And the Darkling's dream never came entirely true. He gave them a home but never a safe life. Ravka was almost always at war, Grisha were never accepted, the Ravkan kings never paid much attention to the Grisha's problems regarding their role in society which placed them almost at the bottom of the food chain.
All these things worried Aleksander and pushed him to action both when he created the Fold and when he started the Civil War.
The Darkling has a very different mentality than those who don't have the burden of immortality on their shoulders.
Aleksander uses time as an advantage and has a remarkable patience. He bides his time and strikes when he sees the opportunity, leaving other people to die since they're only just a part of a whole. He probably thinks: "Well, I'll meet plenty more new otkazat'sya in the future so why should I be concerned for this bunch here?"
But the bleak future of the Grisha make him stop and think. They're the only reason why he stays and fight and why he proclaimed Zoya a Saint.
So it's obvious that Aleksander only used power for the benefit of his people and country.
- When king Yevgeni offered him a handsome reward, Aleksander turned it down and chose to appeal for a better future for the rest of the Grisha.
- When the wars didn't stop coming and Grisha were again getting killed, he tried to use merzost to augment his powers and put a stop to it.
- When he tried to use the Fold as a weapon with Alina at his side, he did it to place Ravka in a stronger position in comparison to his enemies.
- He viewed Nikolai and Zoya dangerous to the rest of the country.
- He was concerned of what would happen to the Grisha if Demidov became king.
- He was determined to save Ravka and lead it as their king and protector.
- Even though he thought of leaving, he stayed out of concern for the Grisha (again).
Contrary to the people who say that the Darkling began selfless but by the time of these books became selfish, it seems that he never lost his selflessness. He still kept thinking about others and his last moments he was unrepentant for his crimes since he did them for others not for himself. It's true that he had pride and an ego but rightfully so. No one else was as powerful or as capable as him to make a change and, honestly, no one else made a decent effort but him.
He also displayed a strong bitterness for the fact that others were so quick to forget him and his actions. He felt wronged that after all he had done, none wanted to acknowledge his own part in the protection of Ravka. He wanted to be seen and appreciated. His anger and indignation came from a place of injustice as he saw it. Whatever he did was labeled as wrong and people only feared him, never feeling gratefulness or love towards him. The Darkling wanted others to give him his due for what he went through, did and tried to do. Recognition after so many years of feeling invisible and hated.
It was something that even his enemies admitted about him:
The strongest evidence of his yearning to shield his country is how he willingly gave his life for it at the end. He would be tortured forever but at least his people wouldn't forget him and he would have fulfilled his desired role as a protector of his country.
Grisha are people whose survival and well-being wholly depends on them using their powers, but using their powers "corrupts them"
They are feared, and excluded from wide society, because their powers are oh-so-scary, and they could do so much harm, when in reality Grisha powers aren't even enough to keep them safe from non-magical random villagers aggression
Their abilities should allow them to built highly advanced society, but their hands are tied not only in-universe, by non-magical people's oppresion, but also by the very author herself, because she must somehow elevate her non-magical characters
Their skills, that again are crucial for them to survive, are constantly weponized aginst them, and at worst make them being viewed as monsters comsplaying humans, and at best a valuable objects, that can be easily exploited
They're doomed from their very birth, to either live in fear, always knowing that they can be murdered, sold as a slave, or kidnapped to be experimented on, or die slowly from not using their powers, and the option of joining the Second Army to gain at least a bit of security is now not exactly the win it used to be. Also let's not forget about the Grisha who will be born in Fjerdan breeding camps already addicted to parem, never knowing life, never even knowing they're alive, who will grow up and die as weapons
And then the narrativ treats it as if it was Grisha's own choice to alienate themselves from otkazatsya
The case of how exactly Aleksander managed to get away with the Darklings being always a father and a son is absolutely underexplained, and even the books themsleves acknowledge on how thin of a thread the lie was holding on.
No king ever demanded to meet the current Darkling's son under a threat of some serious consequences?
No one ever tried to investigate where the Darkling's family lives, who it consists of, who are the children raised by, and what are they doing before the son comes to take up his father's position?
Darklings were arriving to Os Alta already fully pepared and trained, which means, they had Grisha teachers in that house wherever it was, which means, there is a possibility of a whole another group of strong, educated Grisha living Saints-know-where, under Saints-know-whose supervision. If that doesn't look like a threat to the Crown, I don't know what does.
Especially that is's very hard to believe the Darkling's... hard to say wife, but just a mother to his child, will always have one kid, and it will always be a son. No one ever started question the probability of it all? Never started to ivestigate it? Or someone has, but found nothing? But then that's even more suspicious. How were the Darklings not eradicated yet?
I like to imagine the Darkling alternating the role with a sister or niece with a similar power, although that's the least likely scenario.
It'd be nice if an author could write these details.
Who's paying for these caretakers' salaries, and where is that money coming from? How is the king not concerned? Who are the mothers? What would happen if there were only girls? Did anyone ever try to find where the Darklings lived? Did the Darkling have a Mock Family? Does the King know the name of the 'Darklings'? Does the King even know when the Darklings are 'born', or do they just turn up one day? Why do the Darklings look so similar? Why why why why
The Darklings are like grimwalkers from The Owl House, they pop up from their place of creation alredy fully formed, and for the sake of our circumstances here also alredy trained, because they are all connected and what one learn, the next knows. Darklings are believed to have no soul, they're still deemed unnatural, and for other (or at least some) Grisha are "not like us", it would suprise no one if they turned out to be creatures of mud, leaves, and magic, not flesh and bone.
Obv there are still questions of where are they kept, who guards them/looks after them, who and how wakes them up, who pays off such person, where they got qualifications for that, and again how much do the kings know!! But this way at least the family matter can be wave-of-hand-ed away.
God I have so many feelings about Kirigan's treatment of David
Because like. Idk about the books but Show!David is autistic-coded as hell. He may be something of a genius inventor, but he's weird and awkward and different. We see that he's uncomfortable in social situations, especially with people he doesn't know well - the only time he seems to relax when he's sent to give Alina the gloves is when he's explaining how they work, a safe topic he's knowledgeable about. He frequently misses or avoids social cues - he has no idea how to respond to Genya's compliments, so he acts like he didn't hear them, and even though her question about seeing him at the Fete invites an answer, he doesn't give her one. But it also doesn't occur to him to wave off her very complimentary introduction, because he doesn't understand false modesty. Yes, he is one of the best Durasts in the Little Palace. Why would he deny it?
Interestingly, David has very clearly not spent much time around Kirigan, even though he's done work - like the gloves - for him in the past. He has no idea how to behave in the General's presence. Is he staying here? Is he coming with? Can he speak freely? He doesn't know. This is an entirely new social situation, for which he has no pre-existing protocol to follow.
So, exactly like I do in unfamiliar situations, he's falling back on behavioural patterns that have served him well in the past. Case in point: putting his hand up to get Kirigan's attention.
David is 100% aware that you do not normally put your hand up to speak to another adult. He doesn't do that at any other point in the series, with anyone. And Ivan, right in front of him, is talking to Kirigan perfectly normally. But David has no idea how to speak to the General - is he supposed to salute? Not speak unless he's spoken to? Join their conversation without asking? - and he knows, as everyone who grows up autistic learns experience by painful experience, that choosing the wrong interaction with someone who has power over you can go very, very badly. That shit is what gets you bullied by the popular kids. It gets you ostracised by your boss, or mocked by your teacher. In those situations, the safest thing to do is behave in a way you know is socially acceptable in another, similar situation, and hope you fly under the radar.
David isn't military, not really, so he doesn't know how to speak to a commanding officer. But Kirigan is an authority figure, and David is an academic, so he has had plenty of those throughout his life. Teachers. He puts his hand up because that's what you do in class. Put up your hand and wait to be acknowledged. Close enough, right?
And. I love Kirigan's response in this scene. He's in a bad mood already. He's had a shit day. A street rat from Ketterdam just threw a bomb at him, nicked his carriage for good measure, and he's just found out his almost-girlfriend has ghosted him of her own accord rather than being kidnapped. It would be very easy for him to take his temper out on awkward, socially-anxious David - mock him, or be snide, or a dozen other ways normal people make Other people feel like they don't belong. But he doesn't. Aside from being fucking baffled for a second, which honestly, fair enough, he takes the weird behaviour in stride.
I love this because. This is a world that probably still has no word for someone like David - not a word that would be socially acceptable nowadays, at least. This is a world where Kirigan is called a dangerous extremist for wanting his people to have the same rights, protections and freedoms as the otkazat'sya, where human experimentation on Grisha and burning them at the stake are still openly endorsed by Ravka's neighbour countries. This is a world that is viciously opposed to The Other, and David is more Other than most. This guy has probably grown up being hyperaware of how much he doesn't quite fit in, even among his own kind. Kids are cruel, and even marginalised communities will turn on the outsider in their midst.
But in the few seconds it takes to have that interaction, we see that Kirigan not only accept David's David-ness, but encourage him. He starts to automatically correct the behaviour - "No, you don't have to -" - and then stops himself. Because all a correction is going to do is make David feel that he did something wrong, that he broke a rule he doesn't even really understand in the first place, and he didn't, not really. He's a bit weird, but that's okay. So instead, he just acknowledges the gesture for what it was - David pointing out that he'd like to speak - and listens to him. And when you look at David's face...he looks relieved.
And. That says so much about who Kirigan has been all these years before they dunk him on the Evul VillianTM slide, for the rest of the season and for season two. He's a good leader. A good General. He understands how to win and keep his men's loyalty, make them feel seen and valued. And he treats oddballs with kindness and respect. And GOD that makes me feel things
He is just as awkward, and he talks with his hands a lot. Alina calls it "like he's physically grasping for words", but I love how the show adapted it being effectively the same motions he does for his Grisha powers. It's self-soothing, stimming, really, in a way that is probably the most familiar and safe.
It's also why Alina is such an asshole for guilt-tripping him about the collar in both versions.
Given the Fabricators we get to meet in the books (and show), it also seems like some forms of neurodivergence (especially autism and/or ADHD) are actually relatively common in Materialki.
Now, IRL it is absolutely the result of the "autism coded inventor/genius" trope, but in-universe it has some interesting implications. Like, if there is any sort of language around neurodivergence in the Grishaverse, there's a decent chance it's going to be seen as a Fabricator thing.
It would also probably go a long way to explain, why so few Fabricators do field work, even though telekinetics would be extremely useful there. No place like the battlefield to get sensory overload.
What I'm trying to say is, while Aleksanderis absolutely fond of David on his own, his ability to handle David's particular brand of weirdness isn't just about knowing David. A lot of Fabricators are Like That and he's dealt with a lot of Fabricators over the years centuries.
Nikolai had stopped on the gravel path, halfway down to the lake, and I joined him there. He pointed to a strip of beach on the far shore, a short distance from the school.
“I want to construct a pier there,” he said.
“Why?”
“So I can rebuild the Hummingbird.”
Feel free to call me out if Im being too picky, but really there is no other lake around Os Alta but the one right next to Grisha's home? Where the Etheralki train? And near the school? There's no better location to build a small dockyard than near a place where little kids hang out regularly. The only place where they can hang out.
I think I prefer this version of the revelation. It's such an innocuous, innocent gesture. Aleksander wants to be friendly so much he forgets himself, triggering chain reaction of all the horror that follows.
He didn't choose to save the girls from falling to their deaths. He didn't give himself away by conscious decision- he only wanted to accept Annika's thanks.
Something something about how his humanity is being punished so he learns to not be human, to go against his nature something something
... and then he's hated and judged for NOT being human enough even though it's what his life depends on, and his attempt to unlearn the toughness is what destroys him, because he picked the wrong person to rely on to help him.
Yet even after being forced back to life, he seeks what's left of her out- among other reasons because she makes him feel ~human~.
The case of how exactly Aleksander managed to get away with the Darklings being always a father and a son is absolutely underexplained, and even the books themsleves acknowledge on how thin of a thread the lie was holding on.
No king ever demanded to meet the current Darkling's son under a threat of some serious consequences?
No one ever tried to investigate where the Darkling's family lives, who it consists of, who are the children raised by, and what are they doing before the son comes to take up his father's position?
Darklings were arriving to Os Alta already fully pepared and trained, which means, they had Grisha teachers in that house wherever it was, which means, there is a possibility of a whole another group of strong, educated Grisha living Saints-know-where, under Saints-know-whose supervision. If that doesn't look like a threat to the Crown, I don't know what does.
Especially that is's very hard to believe the Darkling's... hard to say wife, but just a mother to his child, will always have one kid, and it will always be a son. No one ever started question the probability of it all? Never started to ivestigate it? Or someone has, but found nothing? But then that's even more suspicious. How were the Darklings not eradicated yet?
Darkling antis like to call Darklina an abusive relationship, and I, a Darkling stan, have to agree with them.
Okay, maybe not straight up abusive, but toxic for sure.
Because what other word would you use to describe a relationship where one person would bring the world to the feet of the other one, knows that the other one is a final solution for his country's, and his people's problems, believes that she is the only person with whom he finally could form a long-lasting, meaningful relationship that would allow him to distance himself from the abusive one he's currently in, again and again bears insults and suspicion from her never saying word in his defence, and instead tries to reason with her, even after she tries to murder him, still hoping she will come to her senses and opens her fucking eyes for how the world actually works
While the other person never thinks the first one human, treats him like an unfeeling monster even after she herself names glimpses of emotions he didn't manage to hide, insults him straight in his face, and reassures herself that this is alright, because he's not human, and therefore couldn't be hurt or offended, and actively works with his enemies on the goal of putting him down, while destryoing everything he achieved in his life?
And then, after the second one at last murders the first one, the first one comforts her, beggs for one last kindnes (which he shouldn't have to, because granting someone a proper burial is a basic human decency, not a favor), and the second one not only not manages to grant him that, which results in him being subjected to torment, tortures, and a lot more of torment, but also at his funeral performs a substitute of grieving, still managing to mischaracterize him further while she's at it.
or more specifically, how she's not able to recognize them, and when she does, she's remaining absolutelly indifferent to them
I rubbed my arm where Mikhael had punched me. Sticks. I hated that name. You didn’t call me Sticks when you were drunk on kvas and trying to paw me at the spring bonfire, you miserable oaf, I thought spitefully.
[...]
But the girl standing next to Genya in the glass was a stranger. She had rosy cheeks and shiny hair and… a shape. I could have stared at her for hours. I suddenly wished good old Mikhael could see me. “Sticks” indeed, I thought smugly.
I bit my lip, hesitating, and then decided to take what might be my only chance. “Genya, if I could get word to the King. I'm sure he doesn't know what Darkling's planning."
Shadow and bone, chapters 1 & 13, 20
Even though Alina called herself "vain" for not hating how she looks, being happy with how you look widely tends to be considered a good thing - and in a moment of rare self-appreciation Alina's mind immediately goes to a man she barely knows, doesn't like, who doesn't like her, and who tried to do something with her, when she was not willing. This is the person she seeks appreciation from. And the narrative treats it as if that's normal.
About Alina's absolute lack of empathy to ask a girl to go ask her abuser for help against a man who "did more than [Alina] knows" to help her, other people wrote posts much more coherent than what i could come up with.
Nikolai sighed. “Maybe I just wish I could go with you. The Countess kept squeezing my knee under the table at dinner, and I hate playing cards.”
“I thought you were the consummate politician.”
“I told you I have trouble keeping still.”
“Then you’ll just have to ask the Countess to dance,” I said with a grin, and slipped out into the night air.
Our audience in the throne room had left me jittery, and I was still a little taken aback by the anger I’d felt toward the King, though Saints knew he deserved it. He was a filthy old lech who liked to corner servant girls, to say nothing of the fact that he was a rotten leader and had threatened to execute both me and Mal in the space of a few minutes. Even thinking about it, I felt another jab of bitter resentment.
“Do you think the Darkling had to deal with unwanted advances from wet-lipped royals?” I asked glumly.
Mal snickered.
“What’s so funny?”
“I just pictured the Darkling being cornered by a sweaty duchess trying to have her way with him.”
I snorted and then I started to laugh outright.
The King rarely attended. He preferred to spend his days hobbling after serving maids and sleeping in the sun like an old tomcat.
The Queen sat at one end of the table looking like a crumpled flower in pale rose silk. At the opposite end, Vasily sat next to the King, pretending not to notice as his father ogled an officer’s young wife.
Siege and storm, chapters 11, 13, 16, 17, 22
Even beloved Nikolai is not safe from being dissmised as a victim. He's a man, and a politician, so suggesting him to ask to a dance a woman who was inflicting unwanted touch on him, the kind that carries sexuall undertones is absolutely allowed. A move worthy of an empathetic, carring herione Alina's supposed to be, truly. I don't even know what this passage was for exactly, since no one ever thinks about it again.
The king's a filthy old leech, who likes to corner servants girls, but his worst crime is threatning to kill Mal. Who's suprised? And "I was taken aback by the anger I felt toward the king" *proceeds to list things normal people would want to skin him for*. Alina's monarchist mindset's showing.
If we were not supposed to believe those events were true, the text wouldn't direct readres' thoughts towards them. Nikolai, a pricne is sometimes forced to bear an unwanted touch, Alina the Sun Saint just a second ago was again cornered by Vasily, but the Darkling, a general, but still a serf, who has a whole palace of highly vunreable people to protect, and who we know literally everyone is horny for, would never be taken advantage of? One wrongly worded rejection of a noble with more fragile ego could lead to some serious accusations. We know Darkling is proud, and I'd imagine him advocating for Grisha rights will more often than not be an inconvinience for the monarchy, who couldn't just exploit Grisha as they wished. Most rape is about control, establishing dominance - humiliating the ambitious general, "putting him in his place" of sorts by forcing him to participate in sexuall activities (or rape him, more straightforwardly) seems very plausible to me. And a man who at age thirteen already knew that sex is a weapon would most certainly let other people use him if it meant he could get something out of it. And only because in this case it would technically be his decision to do this, does not make it a great subject for a joke.
Alina acknowledging King's persistent harrasment of people who can't protect themselves, but never condemning him, and never giving it another thought is a commentary on itself.
I have to admit, there is one instance, where Alina seems taken aback by insinuations of taking advantage of people in worse social and financial situation
“Don’t get greedy, Ekaterina,” Luchenko said. “We aren’t ambassadors or diplomats. The bounty on that girl’s head will buy us all passage through the border. Maybe I’ll catch a ship out of Djerholm. Or maybe I’ll just bury myself in blondes for the rest of my days.”
The unsavory image of Luchenko cavorting with a bunch of curvy Fjerdans was driven from my mind as we entered the clearing.
Ruin and rising, chapter 5
But of course the man we're to comdemn for having sex with prostitues is some random ahh soldier.
There can be a lot said about Alina, but not that she is inconsistent.
What happens to Grisha in each of the different countries we’re introduced to in the books:
Fjerda:
Grisha are not considered human in Fjerda, they’re viewed as witches. In teh most basic terms, being Grisha is considered a crime in Fjerda.
There is state-sanctioned and funded persecution going on, which bears striking resemblance to the Holocaust, including mass murder, forced labor and experimentation.
One of the branches of the Fjerdan military is basically a cult which believe Grisha genocide to be their holy duty and they also regularly travel to other countries to capture foreign Grisha as well.
While killing Grisha for anyone other than Drüskelle is technically illegal, this law is rarely if ever enforced.
Shu Han:
There is state-sanctioned and funded persecution going on. Grisha are being captured and subjected to gruesome human experiments.
Their Grisha hunters can recognize the signs of a Grisha supressing their powers. They’re so effective it’s rare for any Grisha to escape the country.
Kerch:
Vast majority of the Grisha living in Kerch (or at least those who are open about their powers) are in indentured servitude. If that is the case, they are considered expensive goods, rather than people.
Even already indentured Grisha daily face the threat of being captured and sold into more open slavery (because much of Kerch indentures appear to be slavery under a different name).
In Kerch, Grisha are only protected by their owners, and that is the protection of being very expensive property.
While slavery is technically illegal in Kerch and the government is known to make a show of enforcing this law, majority of slavers and slave-owners are rich and powerful enough to avoid prosecution.
The Wandering Isle:
Because of their natural resilience to illness, Grisha blood is believed to be basically a panacea.
The Kaelish government appears to tolerate this tradition and murders of Grisha for their blood.
Novyi Zem:
The Zemeni term for Grisha is zowa, meaning “blessed”.
It does appear that the culture is accepting of Grisha, however, there don’t appear to be any legal protections from hate crimes or capture by Drüskelle or slavers, so most Zemeni Grisha hide who they are.
Southern Colonies:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Ravka (pre-Fold):
From what we know about this era, it appears that for most of it, Grisha were viewed as witches.
It’s likely witch hunts would happen and they were most likely tolerated by the government at the time.
Towards the creation of the Fold, the Grisha were actively hunted and killed by the King’s forces.
Ravka (pre-series):
The Grisha form Ravkan Second Army.
Military service is mandatory. Grisha are drafted in childhood and spend their childhood and portion of their teen years studying and training their powers. Most join the active service at the age of 16 (which also appears to be the draft age for non-Grisha), while a small group of them goes into basically officer training, which includes a mandatory second language.
It’s heavily implied that the education Grisha recieve is on par with the education of nobles and royals, and they are taught combat by the best fighters in the world.
They live in luxury compared to the average Ravkan (probably on par with wealthy merchants or lower nobility) and their families are given a lot of money, when the child is taken for training.
All of this thanks to one man (officially, one family), who had built these protections for Ravkan Grisha.
Despite how much Ravka relies on the Grisha (for crossing the Fold and as a weapon to help balance out Ravka’s technological inferiority), they are generally disliked and distrusted by the population and their greater resources compared to the First Army breed resentment within the non-Grisha soldiers as well.
It is not uncommon for people to not consider Grisha true Ravkans and prejudices are rampant.
Many Grisha are not in contact with their non-Grisha family members and consider the other Grisha their family and the Little Palace their home.
Because of the safety system set up and despite the cultural prejudices against them, Ravka is a place of refuge for foreign Grisha.
Ravka (after TGT):
There is portion the Ravkan Armed forces, called the Second Army, which consists of Grisha. They are led by three leaders (The Grisha Triumvirate). At the time of their appointment, none of the named members were over 20, two of the original three members were non-combatants and the only member with combat experience was in the field for presumably less than two years. The original three members were also appointed by a 17/18-year-old girl, who had been in the military for less than two years, good half of that time being a mapmaker, and not even a very good one, another quarter was spent on the run and/or captured, leaving her with total of 3(ish) month of leadership experience.
Some Grisha are given training and education at the Little Palace, however, because their numbers have been cut drastically in the civil war, many are forced to go in the field far too young and with incomplete training. Despite this lack of people, the Grisha are no longer drafted.
Many older and more experienced Grisha fled Ravka in the aftermath of the civil war, because they were on the losing side, and while most of them are being pardoned when they return, large portion are unable to return due to debts and indunture their escape had gotten them into.
What little people are left in the Second army are being kidnapped and experimented on by neighboring countries, as well as being drugged and turned against their own people. Presumably because of this, at some point, the members of the Second Army are given poison pills, which they are expected to swallow in the event they are captured.
