To the collection of scenes that piss me off:
Ivan dragged me across the camp to another tent and gave me a shove. Inside, I saw several bedrolls laid out. He pushed me forward and gestured to the pole at the center of the tent. “Sit,” he ordered. I sat with my back to the pole, and he tethered me to it, tying my hands behind my back and binding my ankles. “Comfortable?” “You know what he plans to do, Ivan.” “He plans to bring us peace.” “At what price?” I asked desperately. “You know this is madness.” “Did you know I had two brothers?” Ivan asked abruptly. The familiar smirk was gone from his handsome face. “Of course not. They weren’t born Grisha. They were soldiers, and they both died fighting the King’s wars. So did my father. So did my uncle.” “I’m sorry.” “Yes, everyone is sorry. The King is sorry. The Queen is sorry. I’m sorry. But only the Darkling will do something about it.” “It doesn’t have to be this way, Ivan. My power could be used to destroy the Fold.” Ivan shook his head. “The Darkling knows what has to be done.” “He’ll never stop! You know that. Not once he’s had a taste of that kind of power. I’m the one wearing the collar now. But eventually, it will be all of you. And there won’t be anyone or anything strong enough to stand in his way.” A muscle twitched in Ivan’s jaw. “Keep talking treason and I’ll gag you,” he said, and without another word, he strode out of the tent.
Alina has known the Darkling for how long? A few months? During that time she had about four conversations with him and never bothered to learn anything about his plans until Baghra dumped her version of them on her.
The sheer arrogance and delusion of a sheltered village snot-face lecturing a seasoned soldier about the "cost" of war when he just told her what that war and that system cost him is truly breathtaking. Ever heard of shutting the fuck up?
Not to mention the fact that Ivan must be much better informed about the Darkling's plans and his "true nature" due to his position and experience. But no, our delulu protagonist, who can't even correctly recall a single conversation with him, obviously knows him better! And her entire monologue that sounds like the rambling of a paranoid lunatic doesn't help her case one bit.
"He'll never stop!"—Never stop what? Stopping wars? Bringing freedom to his people? Doing what has to be done? Truly horrible, I know.
"Not once he’s had a taste of that kind of power"—I'm assuming that she is talking about her amplified power, which the Darkling is planning to use...to scare the volcra while he is expanding the Fold. THAT kind of power, my ass. The puny walking glowstick is acting like she's a goddamned hadron collider. The rest of the power—the Fold, merzost, shadows—you know, all the stuff that can actually be used for evil world-conquering plans, has been the Darkling's all along.
"I’m the one wearing the collar now. But eventually, it will be all of you." - Based on... what evidence? What logic? Her amplifier has nothing to do with other Grisha's powers, and nothing about her power or her general existence implies it can assist in him taking control over other Grisha. He could have done it centuries ago if he wanted to: everyone else wanted the Grisha dead, so I doubt they would mind the Darkling keeping them as his personal slaves. Actually, I would expect a power-hungry, controlling tyrant to come up with a way to completely control Grisha powers much sooner.
"And there won’t be anyone or anything strong enough to stand in his way." Umm, according to the lore, it has been the case for about...five centuries?
That is the problem of the flimsy worldbuilding, where everyone is sitting on their hands until the main character enters the scene. An immortal power-hungry tyrant had been postponing the world domination for millennia; his allegedly concerned, equally immortal, and equally powerful mother couldn't find a way to stop him; the whole country couldn't find a way to kill volcras or dig a tunnel underneath the Fold; and generations of magically gifted people who could control matter on a molecular level didn't bother to invent a plane or at least an enclosed vehicle to prevent volcras from grabbing skiff passengers like finger food from a tray at the party. They were all hibernating, waiting for a random Keramzin brat with a lightbulb up her ass to be their lord and savior.
Finally, if Alina, according to her fans, is "just a teenage gurl" who is "understandably" incompetent because her frontal lobes aren't fully developed, why would anyone take her yapping seriously? Why should I side with her and not with Ivan in this scene? She can express her highly valuable opinion when she's done growing her neural tube or whichever part she skipped during her embryonic development.
Gag her, my boy, and give her a good smack upside the head from me.
