Ben Barnes said that "Alina and Mal's relationship is the heart of the story" and all I can think about is "No, sir, Aleksander is the Heart of the story". If it weren't for him the Fold would not exist, Alina and Mal would not exist. That guy literally carried the entire plot on his back, indirectly, because it was basically "kill the Darkling" for full three books.
He really is the heart of the story. It can actually do without alina and mal. They could easily be deleted during a rewrite and that might have only made it a better story. But the story and the storyworld and all the character motivations kind of revolve around him. Our problematic little Heart of Darkness 🖤












