Discussing the tithe in ACoMaF:
Honestly, this is likely a hill I’m going to die on, but I’m willing. So, let’s talk about the tithe in ACoMaF.
So this is the tithe. Giving something in exchange for getting something.
Tamlin did not invoke the tithe for the entire fifty years that Amarantha ruled the continent, even though it pays for keeping the court running. And even though technically speaking the springcourt was the only court that was 'free' under Amanarantha, as in, the citizens remained inside the court, and were not drafted to UTM, therefore still able to go about their day to an extent (I'll assume it would be enough to keep executing your profession, given that they also had enough time and energy to celebrate a folk festival every year, Calanmai). But still, Tamlin did not invoke the tithe during that period of time. After Amarantha was beat by Tamlin, and everybody went into the business of trying to get back into their former way of life, Tamlin eventually decided that it was finally time to begin collecting the tithe again.
However, keep in mind that it was not immediately after UTM. Three months passed between Amarantha's assasination and the moment when the second book starts.
Furthermore, when they talk about the tithe some pages into ACOMAF, it is explained that Tamlin still pushed the collection of the tithe back one month to give every one of his citizens just a bit more time to collect it.
If however a faerie still fails in handing in their tithe by then, the following happens:
That’s what Lucien tells Feyre.
Everyone who fails to bring the tithe will get an additional three days to be able to still make it. Granted, depending on what the tithe is, three days might not be enough. But, I’ll get to that in a second.
Note also: Tamlin will be expected to hunt them down. It appears that Lucien is referencing some sort of High Lord Rule. It could be a magical rule that gets Tamlin to hunt them, like a magical responsibility thing like the Calanmai ritual. Or maybe a legislative rule, written down in some sort of Court constitution. Or it could also be just a plain social rule that Tamlin is expected to abide by. Since that is not further specified, the only thing that can be said for certain is that a rule like that exists, though the nature of that rule, and with it the level to which one has to commit to it, is not known.
Despite that, we can definitely note that Tamlin does not enforce the hunt plainly because he wants to.
And then, when Tamlin does actually confront the water-wraith after they failed in handing in their tithe, we get this information:
So, you don’t actually have to hand in the tithe in just three days. You can literally just wait 6 months and pay double. Now, double might seem like an unfair increase, but really it isn’t. If you think about it, all that this rule is, is an extension of the time that you get for earning the first tithe.
You just get an additional six months.
Also, as it was established, the tithe is literally calculated and based on your income and status. Now I cannot say for sure what the term 'status' refers to, as it is not specified, but I would make the fair guess that it means that even the rich that don’t have an income, but just a stale heritage, get taxed accordingly. So it means that acquiring the tithe isn’t an impossible feat. It’s really just taxes, but more fair, because this time the rich get taxed accordingly, too.
You might wonder: How much is the tithe for the water-wraiths that they failed to hand it in in the time given to them (four months)?
Through Feyre, we find out that the tithe for the water-wraiths is, drumroll please 🥁…. A bucket of fish. Yeah, a single basket of fish for the entirety of the water wraith population of the pond …
All they had to do was hand it a single basket of fish. And they didn’t.
(Also, I find it so stupid that Feyre literally just says they don’t even need a basket of fish, bc how would she know? She never asked Tamlin what happens to the things people bring for the tithes. She just assumed that they don’t need them bc she is dead set on making Tamlin out to be this splurging man, living lavishly in unnecessary luxury, which we know is not the case. Tamlin literally shares his entire mansion with every spring court citizen that knocks on his door, but sure, he is a true feudal lord with zero regard for his subjects.)
Anyway, now, during the conversation the water wraith has with Tamlin, Feyre gets the impression that the water wraith is starving.
And why does Feyre think so? Because the water wraith claims the pond they live in is empty of fish.
Now, why is that? Because the water wraiths ate all the fish.
Feyre immediately makes the connection to her former life, when her family also struggled for food. See, they, too, know what it means to have no food, to feel the hunger. Feyre begins to pity the water wraith, which Tamlin apparently does not. She gives them her jewelry (which Tamlin had gifted to her) so they can pay the tithe.
Her giving away jewelry that was gifted to her is stupid for several reasons.
One, consider the aforementioned terms of the tithe. The water wraiths did not need to pay the tithe now. They still had six months before it would come to that, but somehow Feyre acts like it was a matter of life and death. Like it had to happen now.
Second, the water wraiths don't actually need the fish to sustain themselves. Shocker, right. Feyre knows that as well.
This is one of Feyre's thoughts. The water wraiths can eat anything. They're not dependant on the fish since they're not biologically wired to only be able to digest them or whatever, they can eat anything. So all they would have to do from that day on is save two basket of fish for six months, and eat literally anything else in that time, and all would be well, but somehow we're supposed to believe they can't and won't do it.
The main reason, however, for why it was so stupid is this one:
We find out later that the water wraiths they're not starving really, but more so they’re cursed with "insatiable appetite". I'll try to wrap my head around that below. You'll see.
You would think they’re not even starving, since the word appetite was used. They’re just constantly craving food. Appetite does not refer to hunger. It just refers to the desire to eat. However, in the line before that, it says that they do actually die of starvation, which ultimately begs the question of: HOW?
When is it that their hunger/appetite isn’t satiated enough (which, by definition it can never actually be, because it’s insatiable) that they starve?
Do you see how underdeveloped this plot point is? It’s all just super unclear and vague. It makes zero sense 🤦♀️😒
During the conversation that Feyre and Tamlin have, Feyre brings up the possibility of replenishing the pond. She asks Tamlin to do so, and when Tamlin declines, Feyre of course takes that as yet another reason for why Tamlin should be judged. She thinks him cruel and the reader is supposed to do the same thing.
But, in the conversation with Alis (image before this one), it is revealed that actually no one, not a single faerie in the spring court, would have given the water wraiths money or anything else of value for that matter, because it virtually makes no sense. They just spend whatever someone gives to them, trying to satiate a hunger that cannot be mended.
And they know this. Everyone else knows it. But Feyre refuses to believe it.
The jewelry that Feyre gave them will last merely a week. A week. We're talking about royal jewelry, possibly the most expensive jewelry in the entire court. That’s nothing. But somehow, we’re all supposed to be on Feyre's side here and think that it would be the right thing to give them money or resources.
Until when? Exactly? Because as it is, there would never be an end to it.
Now I’m not saying that making them give away something is more sensical. It’s obvious that they struggle to curb their hunger and making them forfeit on food has proven to be an exhausting task for them to accomplish, given that they failed this tithe.
Only that … only that according to Tamlin, the tithe has been around for ages. His father did it like this, the father of his father did it like this and so on and so forth. Btw, that means it’s been a lot of time since faeries essentially don’t die unless they're killed. And all of this in turn means that the water wraiths have had to have paid their tithes in the past. Otherwise they wouldn’t be around anymore (bc royal hunt). So it gets you wondering: How come is it that they were able to pay every single tithe in the past and only now they can’t?
Now, it could definitely be that when Tamlin killed Amarantha and took over the spring court again, they struggled to adjust to it in the little time that passed. However, that’s just a guess. And it’s not backed up by anything, because Acotar has little to no world building and all that we know about the history we find out in the details that are conveniently added just how it fits the narrative whenever a new book comes out 😀 Also, if you look a little closer into this, you will realize that there is no reason for why one should assume that they somehow conveniently managed to sustain themselves in the fifty years that Amarantha ruled, and only now when times have literally turned better for everyone again, the moment that they have to hand in one basket of fish, suddenly they are in immediate danger of starvation. Not to mention that after the tithe is over, and another week passes (a week in which they were able to sustain themselves with the jewelry that Feyre gave them), we never hear anything about the water wraiths struggling ever again. Somehow, despite apparently starving, they still make it work and magically manage to stay alive long enough to repay their debt to Feyre later on. So either they have insane Plot Armour after that, or their situation was never that dire to begin with, and was only written so momentarily to make Tamlin look bad. As an author, you should not aspire to write either of those two options.
Therefore, the explanation I would offer is:
The tithe is just another example of Sjm's inconsistent, bad worldbuilding and it goes to show furthermore that she was just trying to find a way to make Tamlin's character look bad. Which was a total blunder. Like, it's embarassing how much this backfires the moment that you decide to untangle the mess she's written.
Anyway, I can’t believe I’ve spent so much time discussing the fking tithe, but this has been simmering in my brain for like two years now so I just needed to make this post!
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