Malyen Oretsev, a character growth analysis - his relationship with Alina.
"I missed you every hour. And you know what the worst part was? It caught me completely by surprise. I’d catch myself walking around to find you, not for any reason, just out of habit, because I’d seen something that I wanted to tell you about or because I wanted to hear your voice. And then I’d realize that you weren’t there anymore, and every time, every single time, it was like having the wind knocked out of me. I’ve risked my life for you. I’ve walked half the length of Ravka for you, and I’d do it again and again and again just to be with you, just to starve with you and freeze with you and hear you complain about hard cheese every day. So don’t tell me we don’t belong together,”
“I’m sorry it took me so long to see you, Alina. But I see you now.”
He recognizes his mistakes and feelings for Alina. And in his attempt to redeem himself, and to help her, he lost his job and his two bestfriends. “He only came after Alina when he knew somebody else wanted her.” Yes, he said those things in the Little Palace, and she said some hurtful things too, but they both apologized to each other later. As for Mal, he came after her because he realised her value and the void her absence had left in his life. He had taken her for granted and he paid for it, and he tried to fix it.
"I love you Alina, even the part of you that loved him."
He's coming to terms with, and accepting his feelings for Alina. Her relationship with the Darkling does not change his feelings for her at all.
I lifted my other hand and cast a soft tide of sunlight over his face. He flinched. 'He can never understand your power, and if he does, he will only come to fear you.' I pushed the Darkling’s voice from my mind. Mal had every right to be afraid.
“I can do this,” I said gently.
He shut his eyes and turned his face toward the sunlight that radiated from my hand. Then he tilted his head, resting his cheek against my palm. The light glowed warm against his skin.
He slowly accepted this Alina, not his best friend Alina, but Alina the Sun Summoner. (This could also have to do with Mal being drawn to the power of the two amplifiers. Either way, it is Mal, the gifted tracker, the third amplifier, Alina's best friend.)
“I wanted to make you human,” he said. “All they see when they look at you is the Sun Summoner. They see a threat, another powerful Grisha like the Darkling. I want them to see a daughter or a sister or a friend. I want them to see Alina.”
He supports Alina, stands by her, he's the only one who really knows her.
“I wasn’t afraid of you, Alina. I was afraid of losing you. The girl you were becoming didn’t need me anymore, but she’s who you were always meant to be.”
“Power hungry? Ruthless?” I asked.
“Strong.” He looked away. “Luminous. And maybe a little ruthless too. That’s what it takes to rule. Ravka is broken, Alina. I think it always has been. The girl I saw in the chapel could change that.”
At this point it is mentioned that the beautiful bond between them was lost and they were two new people weighed down by duty and responsibility. But I would just like to mention that Mal could have chosen another path to fulfill his duty to Ravka yet he stayed by Alina's side. Even if he couldn't give her what he wanted, he chose, fought even, to stay close to her. They gave each other space.
"It’s a promise to be better than I was,” he said. “It’s a vow that if I can’t be anything else to you, at least I can be a weapon in your hand.” He shrugged. “And I guess it’s a reminder that wanting and deserving aren’t the same thing.”
Wanting Alina made Mal stronger, it made him strive to be better to deserve Alina, all of her, Alina Starkov his best friend, Alina Starkov the Sun Summoner. All this while he knew and saw Alina as the all powerful, yet still so human girl, someone who would one day be a queen. But all this time he did not know that he was also so much more than just a soldier. He held within himself the power of the third amplifier, in a way he had been powerful too. And in one battle they had lost it all, both of them.
'The boy and the girl had both known loss, and their grief did not leave them. Sometimes he would find her standing by a window, fingers playing in the beams of sunlight that streamed through the glass, or sitting on the front steps of the orphanage, staring at the stump of the oak next to the drive. Then he would go to her, draw her close, and lead her to the shores of Trivka’s pond, where the insects buzzed and the grass grew high and sweet, where old wounds might be forgotten.
She saw sadness in the boy too. Though the woods still welcomed him, he was separate from them now, the bond born into his bones burned away in the same moment that he’d given up his life for her.'
And finally when they do end up being endgame it's not because she is powerless now but it is because they've been through so much, they have both lost so much but gained each other's love from that journey. They've both seen every aspect of each other's life, the people they were as children, the powers they once held, the humanity that was retained through it all which grounds them and holds them together.
Again, the main thing to consider here is that we only see Mal from Alina's point of view, and only see her in pain during times he wasn’t there when she needed him. For all we know, Mal was going through a lot too, and we don’t see how she failed him sometimes (which she definitely did).
They’re both flawed, and made mistakes but they both did their part to fix it and grew up.
I know the major flaw with Malina is that Mal was seen to be manipulative from time to time, and very jealous. imo all I see is him looking out for her and fearing what would become of her when she became the most powerful Grisha. He thought the Alina he knew and loved would be lost but she managed to hold on to her values, her human-ness. I personally love Mal, He is a character of his own too, with his own path, his own trauma, his own strengths, flaws and weaknesses.
THANK YOU FOR READING THROUGH ALL OF THIS❤
(Darkling essay coming up tomorrow and no I’m not going to make it a “Darkling is the worst! “ essay. I am going to collect quotes just like I did for this one and we’re gonna see his character change through the series👀)
