Power Imbalances and How it can Affect the Story as a Reader:
Let me start with some warnings:
1. I am not a fan of being stuck in the night court as a reader.
2. I don’t love most of the people in the night court. But I also don’t hate them. I tolerate Rhys and Feyre for the part they play in ACOTAR. I actually do like Cassian and Azriel. And I do like Cassian and Nesta being mates. I am annoyed with Mor who to me is useless. And I hate Amren (she is probably the only character in ACOTAR I hate).
3. And though I say I don’t like the people in the Night Court that doesn’t mean I am rooting for them to be the true villains (except for Amren, I think she is gonna be exposed as a villain/enemy) or for them to be written out of the story.
4. I currently am reading CC3 for the first time and I have not read ToG yet but I know the main premise of the storyline with the Valg in it.
So my main issue with ACOTAR is the magic/power system. I enjoy a more well balanced power system amongst the main characters and their support characters. It probably why I LOVE Crescent City. Is hunt powerful with his lightening, yes, but does that mean Tharion or Ruhn are pushovers or useless, no. And personally I think with how SJM writes the power system in CC Tharion is capable of beating Hunt if they went all out, it just depends on the context of the battle. So in ACOTAR we have Rhys who claims to be the most powerful high-lord of Prythian in history (IN HISTORY). We know he claims that Tamlin would give him a run for his money and a fight between the 2 of them could crumble a mountain. But truthfully we don’t actually see this power he claims to have. He has to outsource to Helion to help determine what is wrong with the Autumn Court Soldiers and to put wards on the room holding the Mask. Does that mean Helion is strong that Rhys no, it means Helion has mastered a skill that Rhys sucks at. But then I just question if you truly have to outsource for magical help can you truly claim to be the most powerful high lord in Prythian history.
Then, THEN, we get Nesta. Cauldron Made Nesta. Nesta who stole her powers of Death from the Cauldron. Nesta who reads as a Dues Ex Machina character to me. Who is so powerful with her magical made swords, and her dread trove of accessories that CHOSE her to be their owner and wielder, and then on top of that the other ancient cauldron made swords showing up in CC3. For me she just is getting a little too much for this story. AND I LOVE NESTA!!!!! The first time I cried was because of Nesta in book 1 confessing to Feyre that she went looking for her all the way to the wall. Nesta’s book, SF, if my favorite of the entire series so far. But even I get turned off by the constant Nesta is so powerful and can beat anything the ancient Fae locked away. Nesta is connected to a missing/forgotten court. That Nesta is connected to the bigger world storyline.
And it’s a lot of power and importance placed onto this one character when we still have not gotten the full picture of who all 3 sisters are or how all 3 sisters play a part in this world. Do I think all 3 sisters are important to this world, I have no clue? I can see all of them being important but I also can see one being more important than the others. But it just sucks that this one sister has outshined her other 2 sisters in power before we have even gotten close to an idea of who the 3rd sister is and what her role to play is and what her power level is.
For me it’s like SJM had Nesta climb Everest and now Elain is suppose to show up and what climb a small hill? Which I am thrilled and so excited and happy to see Elain climb that hill. And personally I don’t think it will be a hill. I think Elain’s mountain will be as hard to climb and navigate as Nesta’s and Feyre’s. But I guess my anger or resentment or my frustration with the storyline SJM has written so far is in the fact that everyone who are Elain haters and Elucien haters are gonna be sneering at any small or large accomplishment she does make in her story. Elain and Lucien will fight Koschei and the haters will be like “Nesta could have gotten that done in a shorter book”. Elain and Lucien will find out about their powers and discover their magic together and the haters will say “well she is not an ultra powerful death god with a trove of magical weapons at her disposal”. How does SJM write an Elain and Lucien story that can be on par with Nesta mastering death and killing Daglen? I worry that their book will be seen by the fandom as meh and they will say “oh it’s a nice book to read but it’s not epic, it’s not giving us any more insight into the Maas Universe. It’s just there like FaS.”
And it just sucks. Because for me I am anxiously awaiting their book. I have wanted their book since WaR. More than I wanted Nesta’s book. And at this point with how long these 2 characters have been sidelined and MIA in the story I am worried SJM has done them both a disservice to the fandom. I think a majority of the fandom don’t see either Elain or Lucien as stand alone, powerful characters. I don’t think the main fandom thinks they give off Main Character energy that can maintain and move a plot along. And that worries me. Because if the main fandom just go “meh” with their book it makes their storyline feel impartial and unimportant to the overarching world building that SJM seems to be creating. And I want them to be a part of that world building. I want them to step into power that makes the night court blink and take a step back. I want Rhys to feel humbled. I want Nesta to feel guilty for ever doubting Elain’s strength. I want Feyre to feel regret for ever thinking Elain is boring or Lucien is weak.
I just struggle to understand how SJM is gonna write Elain and Lucien out of the deep hole she has unknowingly put them into. And how it will hold up against Silver Flames and House of Flame and Shadow. And yes I have heard that currently HoFaS is not on the reading order for ACOTAR but we cannot ignore how it plays a part in the world building of Prythian/ACOTAR. We cannot ignore that it has open a rift/doorway into a bigger world conflict with a strong enemy at the helm. And I just want to know and feel reassured that Lucien and Elain will have a part to play in that bigger world. And if they don’t I want to know that their part to play in PRYTHIAN/ACOTAR is seen and read as imperative and important.
I WANT TO SEE CHARACTERS BE ON PAR WITH ONE ANOTHER IN POWER AND MAGIC SCALES. I DON’T LIKE WHEN THERE ARE DUES EX MACHINA CHARACTERS AT THE PLOTS DISPOSAL. And I guess I also just don’t want to spend the next few years defending Lucien and Elain’s book and power levels to haters who think Rhys and Feyre and Nesta are the most powerful beings in Prythian and no one else can compare.
Now with all my fear venting out of my system I will state these are my foreshadowing hints and also headcanon theories that Elain and Lucien’s story are gonna be important and on par power wise with Feyre and Nesta story:
1. Koschei is definitely a death god and most of the death gods prior to this have been extremely hard to kill or secretly forgotten Daglen.
2. Daglen can be harmed using magical made weapons which there is still a missing magical sword in Prythian, Narben. And if the theories I am reading are true then the Valg from ToG is the same as the Asteri/Daglen in CC and ACOTAR. And in ToG we know you can kill Valg using Fire and Healing, 2 magics Lucien is adept at.
3. Narben is German for scar/scars.
4. We know the Cauldron gave Elain powers. We only have seen her seer abilities. We do not know what her other cauldron given powers are yet. They could be healing or earth magic (which we have not seen earth magic in Prythian yet, but we have seen it in CC). And in CC we know corrupted earth makes the Flynn and Sathia feel uneasy.
5. The Cauldron Favors Elain, practically has a crush on her. I think the cauldron is going to play a part in Elain’s story. It actually has a pretty sad story of being corrupted by the Daglen with darkness. Like that sounds torturous for a sentient object of creation. I think Elain might be able to purify the cauldron.
6. I think Elain and Lucien are Carranam. I think Elain’s seer abilities are tied to Lucien’s presence and that Elain is tied to Lucien’s spell cleaving magic. I think they will be able to share their magics between one another and through their shared magic we will learn the true history of the Courts of Prythian and the Daglen and Fae war. I think Elain will be a time walker and that Lucien can access past memories of the former owners of ancient objects. And through them we will get the truth.
7. I think the Day Court royal bloodline is heavily related to the Starborn bloodline. Because stars are actually just suns that we can see shine at night.
8. I think LoA is from the true line of Autumn Court royal bloodline. I think Beron is from a branch bloodline that took the HL position after the true line went missing with Queen Theia or had a curse placed on it to only birth females who cannot inherit the HL position. LoA is the first true Autumn Court royal to have sons in millennia. And that Eris is powerful not because Beron but because of LoA and that Lucien is also very powerful because of his mother’s ancient bloodline.
9. Lucien is the son of Helion and LoA. And I believe they have a mate bond and so far any couple with a mate bond who have children those children are powerful. Rhys’ mom and dad had a mate bond, and Tamlin’s mom and dad had a mate bond. Rhys says to Feyre in WaR the mate bond could just be a way to ensure strong offspring are born into this world. Lucien’s magic and powers could be on par with Rhys and even Tamlin, if not stronger since he is the offspring of 2 royal court bloodlines coming together.
10. In CC the ancient Fae there started capturing and hunting and killing Pegasus in almost like a magical ritual way. In ACOTAR they are still an aww inspiring magical creature to the fae but they are going extinct. And the last of the Pegasus are all in Day Court with Helion.
11. Helion went to the weaver to bargain on Rhys behalf for her help in the war with Hybern and he would release her binding spell to the cottage. If Koschei could feel his brother and sister in the battlefield and he knew his sister was bound to her cottage as he is bound to his lake then he could set his sights on Helion and or Lucien to help release his magic binding spell. The same ancient fae warrior bound Stryga and Koschei, so potentially if Helion could release that spell then there is a chance Helion and lucien are descendants of that ancient fae warrior.
12. The dread trove has sun imagery on it. Specifically the mask and it makes Helion feel extremely uneasy. Uneasy enough for Helion to speculate that a past ancestor of his might have been an owner and victim of this item.
13. I think the dread trove represents the 3 sisters. The Mask is Nesta who is the queen of death and the dead. The Crown is Feyre who is a strong and accomplished Daemati. And the Harp is Elain someone who can see through time. I would like to see the Harp appear for Elain in her book.
So granted though I am upset with the power imbalances and the fear that Elain has been outshined by her sisters already and their mates, I have to hold onto these headcanons and clues that Elain and Lucien’s book will prove to be epic and SJM will bring them into the fold of the world after keeping them at a distance for 3 books now. That she will show the readers that they are imperative to the plot lines and world building going forward. And that Nesta and Feyre are not greater than or more powerful than Elain. I have to put my trust in SJM loving her characters and the story she want to tell to us. But alas I do get worried and scared and I just hate the idea of having to defend Lucien and Elain and their book to all the haters in this fandom.
