So, I just finished The Assassin’s Blade and the entire time, I couldn’t stop comparing Arobynn to Rhysand. I’m not even sure why, but something about their energy just clicks in all the worst ways in my head.
Arobynn’s relationship with Celaena was completely unsettling. He technically raised her, yet never quite settled on whether he saw himself as her father, brother, lover or some twisted combination of all three. His possessiveness, the manipulation, the way he disguised control as care… It all gave me serious UTM Rhysand vibes.
And today when I finished the final novella even though I knew what was coming: Sam’s death, Celaena’s enslavement, and Arrobyn some how was envoved but it still hit hard. Because Arobynn didn’t do it for personal gain. He did it because he believed she belonged to him. Like she was property. Something to own.
My belonging !!! You know who else used the same exact words!!
They both logically fall under the “villain” category at some point. But what makes it more disturbing is how they mask their control with charm or "affection" or love in Rhys's case.
It’s not love. It’s ownership.