I hate that people constantly bring up Mal's emotional connection to Alina as proof that he was her true love. They were best friends. Obviously he knew things about her, he was her best friend for years. The other two never got the chance. Partly because the author always intended for a malina romance and therefore never bothered to establish an emotional connection even though one of them was supposedly seducing her. Btw, one of the most underwhelming seduction plots I've ever read/watched.
Let’s not forget that they were long time friends and that during the books they were hardly what I’d call best friends. By the time the story happens, m*l didn’t really know Alina as well as he thought he did. He spent more time with his group of buddies and before the plot happens he went to see her just to gloat about how he was going to bang a hot chick.
He may have been her best friend for a time and may have known her well enough for a time too, but by the time the Plot is Happening, he didn’t know her. Because he didn’t really bother with keeping in touch like that. The emotional connection was mostly one-sided imo.
The other two LIs actually got to know her better?? Both the Darkling and Nikolai bothered with getting to know her, the Alina we followed through the trilogy. But lb refused to acknowledge they had any connection to make the endgame more acceptable... :|
Lol yeah, I mean, the steamy scenes were great! But greatly done dirty at the end of the day.