Chapter by Chapter: 17 Alina has a Pity Party
The book so far: Alina just "escaped" from the Winter Palace, the Darkling is hot on her trail, and now out of the darkness emerges Mal! Previously, I bemoaned planning, or rather the utter lack thereof. And Alina who changes her mind on facts and history at least once a paragraph!
Talk
In the morning Mal handed me a strip of dried meat and said simply "Talk."
So, this is jumping the gun a bit but coming back after reading this chapter I'm struck by how...awkward their interactions are. A lot of this is clearly suppressed anger on Mal's (completely unjustified) part. But, most of Alina's internal thoughts are buoyed by her complete trust in Mal. Which makes their cut and dry interaction seem terribly awkward.
"The Darkling plans to use the Shadow Fold as a weapon."
Mal didn't even blink. "How?"
After a while, this begins to feel like an interrogation. This feels a lot like a flash from older chapters, where Alina is in danger and no one asks if she's ok. She should be freezing- have blue tinged lips, frozen hair, shivering/shaking from spending a night in soaked clothes in the middle of winter.
But even if none of that is the case, Alina just ran away from the LP in the dead of winter, wearing a disguise, jumped into a river, and was nearly caught by trackers.
An incredibly traumatic experience. More than that, Mal doesn't think this situation is...weird? Mal doesn't ask her if she's ok, Mal doesn't ask if what happened, Mal doesn't ask her anything.
He orders.
Talk.
It doesn't have a question mark. It might seem minor or petty to make these distinctions of language but it's important to show a progression- Mal displays no concern, no emotional response to Alina's near death experience, and flight from her supposed den of luxury.
I suppose I find it frustrating that there's an utter lack of concern from this supposed most important person in Alina's entire life, at this most pivotal moment in her road so far. When such concern would be basic, someone has a near death experience, you ask if they're well.
"(the amplifier) was intended for you. We were supposed to locate the herd and capture or corner the stag but not to harm it."
"Let's walk." Mal said abruptly. "You'll tell me the rest while we're moving. I want to get us deeper into the mountains."
She tells him everything without question because of course she does, and never asks any questions like "what are you doing here" in turn.
Mal said, "You shouldn't have listened to Baghra."
You know that feeling when someone you hate makes a really good point.
I'm having that feeling.
"How can you say that?"
I just love how this is what pisses Alina off. It's just an amusing character turn from her silently obeying everything Mal has said thus far (and a good show that she can still hopefully exert some agency):
"Do you thin his power stops at the shore of the True Sea?"
"No, but-"
"It's just a question of tie before he finds you and slaps that collar around your neck."
Well, at least I feel vindicated that neither of them show the slightest bit of critical thinking. Instead Mal's here like: No, he's even a bigger big bad than we thought.
I feel like a broken record but why are we taking Baghra's word on this? I swear I'm going to make a compilation of every interaction Alina and the Darkling had and then compare it to Baghra's words to show how much BS this is. If Baghra is still right that negates none of this.
If she'd been as ruthless as her son, she might have dispensed with risk and slit my throat instead.
What evidence do you have that the Darkling is ruthless?
I am not arguing that he isn't (I'm utterly confident you can't survive several hundred years without being a stone cold badass, who probably has done a lot of bad things) but what evidence do we have? Within the story, not on a meta level? What is this based on?
Give me anything, one example, please. The benefits of 1st POV should be that I'm privy to Alina's inner thoughts and emotions and experiences, but she never thinks anything!
Cruelty and Lack of Imagination
Also, Alina you clearly suffer from lack of imagination. Think of it from this perspective, what is the cruelest thing Baghra could have done (if she were the villain) and the Darkling were innocent- exactly what she's done now.
Killing you is a temporary hurt, the Darkling has had lots of people die during his long life. But turning you against him? That's betrayal. Betrayal personally, and betrayal as a Grisha.
Especially since she somehow convinced you to not stick around and confirm a single word out of her mouth.
Pity Party
And maybe we all would have been better off
I'm about done with her pity party. Seriously, after two thirds of this book trying to empathize with her low self esteem (while she refuses to progress as a character) despite everyone around her doing their best to built up her self esteem/encourage her. She's constantly trying to get others to tell her she's important. (while also utterly rejecting it)
She's saying- maybe the world would be better off if I was dead- and I object to this narrative choice.
Alina continually makes herself the victim, in situations where she has so much more available agency and control than others surrounding her.
Alina runs from every good thing that's ever happened to her.
She's a protagonist I've never encountered before (and that's not a compliment) she's a protagonist that's passive, that must be dragged kicking and screaming with her eyes screwed shut into her own narrative arc.
It doesn't read as true despair because it has no impact on the story.
Instead it just reads as author manipulation of the reader to feel bad for Alina.
But the reader can't feel bad for her, because it's just a throwaway sentence that has no impact.
The Darkling needed me alive, but what might he do to Mal?
I hadn't given much thought to what Mal had done or what he'd chosen to give up. He could never go back to the army, to his friends, to being a decorated tracker. Worse, he was guilty of desertion, maybe treason, and the penalty for that was death.
Oh no... not Ma- you know, I can't even pretend.
If the Darkling kills Mal at this point... it might force Alina to grow as a character and be an impetus for change.
But more to the point, the key words here are:
what Mal had done or what he'd chosen to give up.
Alina did not ask, force, coerce, Mal to do any of this. They weren't even in contact or in the same city. In fact, I'm still not convinced he actually deserted because: she hasn’t used her words and asked him any of these questions.
She is so incredibly suspicious of the Darkling but never spares a second of thought to maybe, just maybe Mal might be quiet, might not be saying anything because he's leading you in the wrong direction.
Good gods girl! You aren't even paying attention to where you are/going. You've left it all up to Mal.
I really just want to emphasize- they have not spoken unless Mal is demanding information from Alina. I'm not leaving out dialogue where she asks what's going on, because she never even thinks of asking.
Even if these things aren't true, they should be questions that Alina asks or has floating around in her mind. She's just suffered a huge betrayal, it would make sense that she's suspicious of help at this moment.
They're Gonna Kill Prongs
"I'm taking us north tomorrow."
"North?"
"To Tsibeya."
"You want to go after the stag?" I said in disbelief.
I have a serious question. Why is it that Alina can never have a plan? Can never move the narrative forward? Can never make any kind of decision? Why must Alina always follow the plots of other people instead of driving the plot forward?
Why couldn't their roles be reversed here? Wouldn't it make more sense if Alina thought to herself-Hmm, Darkling is powerful. I'm not more powerful than him. Soon he's going to get the stag and become more powerful. I have Mal, expert tracker, if I kill Prongs then maybe I can stand against the Darkling and take him down.
Stop him in his tracks.
Instead, Mal has to convince Alina to fulfill her narrative purpose. (me: but why?) Is there something wrong with Leigh Bardugo?
I don't want to be the person who says "writing is so easy," it's not. But, generally the simplest thing to write, is the main character making decisions that ripple through the narrative. That's why they're the main character.
Am I insane?
Why is Mal making the decision for her? Making the argument for Alina.
When Alina, you know, being educated at the Little Palace all these months in the theory of Grisha- could articulate a lot better than some First Army tracker.
You think- hey that makes more sense narratively coming from Alina.
You'd be wrong!
Instead Mal has to go: Hey, Protagonist, maybe you should fight the bad guy
Alina: Nah, I don't wanna tryMal: Comes up with the entire plan, lays it out for her.
Because of Me
"And now you're a deserter."
"Yes."
"Because of me."
"Yes."
Fuck you. No. Mal is not under your control Alina. He makes his own decisions, decisions you weren't even in the same COUNTRY for.
Mal is a deserter because Mal chose to desert.
I'll say it again: not Alina's fault.
This drives me up the wall, that Alina is so passive a character but somehow she's being punished and blamed for actual character decisions that others made.
If Bardugo expects me to believe this pile of shit she's shoveling instead of seeing it for what it is a blatant manipulative guilt trip on Mal's part to get Alina to do what he wants. Mal is a vile character in this book, and it's so painful that Alina can't see a drop of it.
All she sees is her best most trusted friend, and she somehow can't see what's right in front of her face: Alina says she doesn't want to do something, and Mal says "I'm probably going to die and lose everything, and I did it for you so, it's all your fault." And Alina caves instantly.
At this point, I’m rooting for the Darkling
I have a nearly serious question: does the Darkling kill Mal? Because at this point I'm rooting for the Darkling. He seems like more of a character than Alina. And all I hear is about how the Darkling is maybe manipulating Alina when Mal is doing on page, right before our very eyes.
He could take out Alina and my reaction would be: well, you had a good run. Let's give Genya's story a go. She seems interesting.
Alina pines for Mal's attention
So, the thing that annoys Alina through all of this isn't Mal's emotional manipulation or concerns for their safety it's the fact that Mal is ignoring her, all she can think of is throwing something at the back of his head so he'll pay attention to her.
Gag.
think about giving him a good whack over the head to get his attention.
Worse, all Mal does is complain to her. The only words he speaks are complaining about her powers, and how she's harder to feed now- you know, now that Alina isn't sickly and doesn't look like she's got a chronic illness- she eats like a normal person now.
That's not indicative of controlling, unhealthy behavior.
But Alina is just so incredibly happy basking in Mal's presence she could burst into song.
I nearly broke out in song
...nothing could spoil that bliss.
The Butter Festival
"Can we go look, Mal?" I asked eagerly.
I mean, instead of getting permission like he's your parent you could actually have a conversation about it. The first real conversation you'd have on page since meeting again. It would be a perfect opportunity to discuss the risks of your position as well as laying out where you are on the map (which the book does quite well).
At first I thought I was overreacting, but it's true- every interacting we have with Mal so far is controlling.
Look what he does here;
"For you, pretty girl!" the man shouted (giving Alina a roll)
Mal grabbed my arm and pulled me down a muddy walkway between two houses. "What do you think you're doing?"
I think LB think's this is some kind of caring possessive interaction... but it doesn't read that way.
But more than that, so what? Alina bought a roll, you agreed to check out the butter festival, and look around and do stuff. She didn't do anything she hadn't asked permission to do.
Some Dummies Try to Mug the Sun Summoner
I love how Alina finds this hilarious she's so relieved. It's such a wonderful character moment for Alina to be like: hold my roll, Mal. I got this.
Botkin for the win! I really love how she's putting previous training to the test against multiple attackers who present themselves as being more dangerous (despite being non Grisha) than ones she's seen before.
In fact, it's kind of funny that in this fight Mal is the liability.
Alina's funniest line:
Personally, I didn't think the thieves were in any condition to come chasing after us
Translation: I messed them up.
Everytime Alina being Grisha is brought up Mal gets all cold and icy again:
To my surprise, he cracked a smile. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"
"Grisha training," I whispered dramatically. "Ancient secrets of the groin kick."
"Whatever works."
"The Darkling doesn't think Grisha should rely on their powers for defense." I was instantly sorry I'd said it. Mal's smile disappeared.
"Another smart guy," he said coldly
And of course, Alina tried to make Mal feel better because she uses his positive emotions as a crutch, she offers him her roll.
They finally have a conversation that references back to their childhood, one where they laugh.
I'm happy about that but I still feel like this is an extremely unhealthy relationship. And I dislike how Alina has to be the one to make concessions, how Alina has to be the one to sacrifice some of herself to fix it so that Mal feels better.
Because Alina was always willing to pick up where they left off but Mal is the one with the problem that's never explained or addressed.
And I hate how Alina goes on about how grateful she is for him.
Conclusion:
I genuinely don't understand why or even how Leigh is trying to portray Mal positively. He blames her for his choices, Alina is the one who has to adjust her behavior to suit his needs. She's the one who's nearly breaking into song for joy at his very presence and it's really making me disgusted.
She is the one who tells him everything, while he never contributes emotionally in return. Alina is the one who gives and Mal is the one who is takes, all the while blaming Alina for the decisions he has made.
Before Chapter 1, Chapter 2 Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7 Chapter 8-10, Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 (pt 1) Chapter 14 (pt 2) Chapter 15
Alina is Complicit: A Genya Analysis
Black Kefta Symbolism Analysis



















