So we know from Rule of Wolves that the Darkling has met a decent number of very powerful (and probably immortal) Grisha over the years and has wanted connection. What are your thoughts on why until Alina, he didn't see a companion/feel a connection with any of these other immortals? I mean, Elizaveta was definitely Interested in him, but he was planning to kill her if they left the Fold together.
That sounds silly, but I mean it sincerely. There really is a sort of fatedness that follows from Alina and Aleksander being the only two of their kinds (aside from, you know, Aleksander’s mom) and having exact opposite powers. He probably felt like she was made for him.
Some of this also has to do with Alina’s personality, though. Her stubbornness, her tenacity, her determination, and so much of it poured into defying him. She was interested in him, but never caved to his agenda. That created an obsessive loop in which he felt he had to pursue her harder, make her see, wear her down.
Elizaveta came on, how we say, a little too strong? My theory about that relationship is that Aleksander had a phase very like what he said Baghra did in “The Demon in the Wood”—shacking up with different Grisha to learn craft, and then moving on. Like mother, like son. Elizaveta would be the older, more learned partner in that situation, but she definitely had way stronger feelings about Aleksander than he did about her. Even a young Aleksander would chafe at that. Yes, she might live forever too, but she’s annoying! He used those feelings in his favor, but as soon as she outlives her usefulness, she’s out.
This next factor is a bit ironic considering how much I tease Aleksander for being an old man, but I also think he might have been bored by or disappointed in Grisha like Grigori or Juris, who seemed to stay out of politics and country-shaping. Compared to them, Aleksander is a young dynamo who takes charge. And compared to him, Alina is something even newer. The idea of having a hand in shaping her, being there to see what she becomes over centuries, would appeal to him immensely.
In conclusion... ✨ sparkle hands ✨
