So I just finished Oro's POV from the new Duelling Crowns book, and I have thoughts -- actually, rants -- about how Oro is not the main love interest, because this man is literally a walking green flag.
You don't understand -- I literally picked up this series when in my shadow-daddy era, ready to be a Grim girly with all the publicity this series got that I got absolutely whiplashed when I found out that Oro was not only not the main love interest, but he is also not the favoured love interest. (I did not know the names of the love interests, only brief outlines of the plot; and idk that there were 2 LIs, I just thought that the second ship was with some kind of secondary character that people preferred over the main. I do not like spoilers)
Anyway, to right this injustice of Oro being constantly sidelined (dude was in like 20% of book 3 and somehow still carried the whole plot. Insanity -- even coming from an Oro stan), I have decided to compile an argument on why I believe, undoubtedly, that Oro is the better love interest:
Spoilers below, obviously.
The slowburn is real. There are so many parallels, so many connections and build-up in Oro and Isla's story. a) Her shooting and flicking his crown only for him to give it to her at the end of Book 1. b) Him sa her when she fell of her balcony and heaving her head, then her saving him when he got exhausted and fell, dragging him into a lake so that he can heal himself. c) Him saving her from the vines and refusing to leave her to deal with the thorns alone, then her saving him when he was injured and bringing him into a cave and staying with him until the sun went down. d) Him hating his gilding powers then her getting him to use it on her dress, and then having their symbol be a gilded golden rose. e) Her looking at her wedding gown's gloves and immediately thinking about when she was shooting at Oro during one of their early encounters. The whole build-up in Book 1, when they slowly learned to trust one another and work together, and then them being so domestic in Book 2, was just pure endgame energy. You can really see the journey these 2 people took, from skeptical enemies to lovers. Meanwhile, Grim was just so handsy and touchy the entire time. I mean, I get that they were together for a whole year prior, but they aren't anymore (wholy his fault) so why does he keep trying to grab her whenever he is an arm's length from her? Also, everytime I try to read Isla's flashbacks in Book 2, it is just overrun with scenes of kissing and touching. Like, that scene in the hot air balloon could've been sweet, but then BAM, his hands are on her and they are in his room again. Everytime Grim begs Isla to "remember our love", I have to squint HARD at the pages because where is the love? I can't find it. *picks up megaphone* will the love please identify yourself in this room? Is it in the room with us? All I see are his hands and lips on her. That's not love, babe, that's lust in a trenchcoat waving candy at your horny ass. I read someone mention before that Isla was basically a lonely, touch-starved barely-adult when she left her room and "fell in love" with the first hot guy she saw and there really is no disputing that claim. But, please, dear Grim-stan reader, try.
Boundaries exist. In all my years of reading, there are few fictional men with Oro's levels of boundaries. I mean, Isla literally threw herself at him several times, but he never faltered, never gave in to his pants, and always took care of her. Remember when Isla wanted to sleep with Oro because she was plagued by dreams of Grim? She was down to her underwear, ready to replace the thoughts of Grim with thoughts of Oro instead. Yet Oro took a step back. He knew that this should not be the way their sex goes, that it should not be a blanket to cover something, that she was hurting and desperate, so he got on his knees and asked her what was wrong. Then he gave her his room because Grim has never been there, and she would not think of him when she was there. Oro could've just taken off his pants and went with her plan -- I bet Grim would've done that -- but Oro would not take advantage of her when she was down. Instead, he went to find out what was really the problem and solved it. He really went "let's unpack your crisis, not your clothes". Another example is when Oro and Isla were in that cave in the desert during the sand storm. Again, Isla got naked in front of him and tried to advance on him. Yet Oro used his limited powers to use Moonling magic to cool her down and get her to sleep, preserve her strength. His morals are literally through the roof and he would never give in to either of their desires when he knows that it is not right, not how their story should go.
He knows her. As mentioned, he was in like 20% of Book 3. He flew across the world to check on her in the middle of the book, then he was let in on the plan and action in the last few chapters. He was waiting with Grim for Isla to appear with Lark, but it was taking too long, and he suggested to go to her. Grim disagreed and told him Isla's plan. And. He. Was. Like. Wtf? Ain't. No. Way. In the 4 pages that is his POV, dude heard the plan, and immediately went "that's the plan?? That's a horrible plan. She must have another plan." And he was right. I cannot stress enough that Oro literally figured Isla's actual plan in seconds after he heard the BS that Isla fed Grim. I mean, Grim was literally around the entire time when Isla was concocting her plan and he did not think anything was amiss. Bro thought that he was so important that he did not realise that Isla already had everything she needed (with Oro's power) to open a portal elsewhere. Grim can spend a whole year and then some learning about Isla's favourite foods and whatnot, but it takes true connection to immediately hear something and know what she was actually thinking. Grim knows facts about Isla, but Oro knows Isla.
He would give up the world for her. One line that stood out to me from Oro's POV in Duelling Crowns is when the castle was in peril and he knew that Isla could not be the one responsible for it as she would never (willingly) do something that hurt innocent people. (I'm looking at you, Grim, person who started an entire war for Isla when she was just living happily in Lightlark. Jealous bitch. It wasn't as if she was kidnapped against her will when she stayed at Lightlark; but one can argue that she went against her will with Grim at the end of Book 2 just so that he would stop the whole stupid-ass war.) Yet, Oro was willing to give it all up for Isla when he refused to kill Grim to save his land, even when Isla was screaming at him to do it, because he chose her life over Lightlark's. I mean, they were this close to winning, this close to ending the war, this close to killing Grim -- but he could not do it, because killing Grim would mean killing Isla (literally the only romantic thing that Grim has done). Another -- less dramatic -- example is when Oro lets Isla take the heart of Lightlark. I mean, he literally entrusted the life of his island and his people to her. He thought that the Heart was what first spun the curses and he trusted her to use it's power for good. He put his island's fate into her hands.
He never lied to her. Do I even need to bring up how Grim a) stole Isla's memories against her will. b) betrayed her by working with Aurora/Celeste. c) kept secret of all that he knew about her past and father. d) gave her a forever binding marriage necklace without even telling her what it was. e) kept her guardians in his castle without telling her, even when he knew that they basically kidnapped and silenced her since young -- something he can definitely relate to as his own father was the same, just a lot more homicidal. f) (again) started a whole war to claim her back, killing thousands when he knew she would never want that. Meanwhile, Oro's only offence was not telling her about Lark -- but I would argue that this is also Grim's offence, and he kept it from her longer since he knew her longer. Oro has been nothing but truthful to her, telling her his plans and his secrets.
He protects her. One scene that gets me was when Isla went to Wild Isle, and used her emotions to fuel her powers to grow the plants there to trap Nightshade soldiers during the war. You know, the ability that would slowly kill her the more that she used it? The ability that Grim taught her? When Oro first found out that Isla was draining herself, he immediately forbade it and told her that losing her was not worth it, that they would find another way. But she was desperate, so she went back, and did it again. And what did Oro do? He found her, carried her back to the castle, and healed her. He didn’t scold her when she was down. He didn't berate her with I-told-you-sos when she became so drained that she was wavering between life and death. Oro had every right to be pissed and disappointed in her, yet he never lashed out, and just gently healed and took care of her, held her when she cried, when she realised her own mistake in using such power.
Their powers, together, are whole. Oro has Sunling, Moonling, Skyling, and Starling powers. Isla has Wildling and Nightshade -- and newly acquired Starling -- powers. That is literally all the powers that exist (that we know of, at least as of book 3). When Isla was saying that she, Oro, and Grim needed to work together to open the portal, I was literally screaming "No, you don't!". Isla and Oro are enough. They have everything they need when together. They complete each other. Periodt.
She hates the cold. There was this scene in Book 3 when Grim takes Isla to somewhere after their wedding, and she was shocked that she never knew that the place existed. And his response? "I thought we've established that you hate the cold." (This might not be verbatim, but the idea is there) Like. Bruh. That is not an excuse to just not show her things??? Meanwhile Oro, Sunling, is always warm. She will never be cold when she is with him. She will also not overheat with him too, like (again) when they went to that desert on sun isle and he used his limited strength to Moonling ice her to cool down. He literally warms her inside and out.
Lynx likes Oro, too, and dislikes Grim.
Sidenote, their metaphor is cooler and tangible. "We are infinite"??? What is that?? That's so vague. What does that even mean? Meanwhile, Oro compares them to the Forever Flame. You know, the fire that has been burning since the creation of Lightlark and will remain burning forevermore? The very real flame that has burned through disasters and withstood wars, just like Oro and Isla in Books 1 and 2? Alexa, play "Burn for you" from the Unofficial Bridgerton Musical by Barlow and Bear.
Need I go on? Oro is clearly the only choice here. As mentioned, I really did try to like Grim, and I literally went into the series ready to fall for Grim. But it did not happen that way. And that should say something in and of itself.
