There have already been NUMEROUS posts like this and speculations, etc., but since I'm talking about ships and pairings here, they can't be left out:
Azriel – Lucien – Elain – Gwyn
All single and ready to mingle…
Why, in my opinion, the dynamic only really makes sense in ONE constellation (all my opinion, based on text, symbolism & logic — no hate, no ship war):
First off: Sarah J. Maas rarely writes by chance. Regardless of whether you love her decisions or want to cringe. She:
works with mirrored structures
allows biological rules to apply
repeats motifs until they make sense
and she doesn't just "park" characters haphazardly
If there's a piece of information like: "more flexible bones" or "Black swallows her" that's not a decorative line. That's a tool. And with this tool, we'll examine the four characters.
2. Elain: Fear, Control & the Problem of “Mate”. Elain is not a “soft girl.” She is:
AND extremely fear-driven.
She keeps quiet because keeping quiet has ensured her survival. She avoids risk. She chooses security. Therefore: Graysen = castle, order, role, plan. That wasn't freedom—that was control. Then:
she becomes violently enslaved
gets engaged, loses herself
gets a mate-Bond that overwhelms her.
She doesn't understand the Bond emotionally, but only feels its force. And Elain reacts to force with:
Not because Lucien is “wrong.” But because the Bond terrifies her. And: we NEVER get her POV. We only see reactions—not thoughts. This leads to misunderstandings: She seems cold. In reality, she's overwhelmed. And that's the crux of the matter: The Mate Bond isn't a romantic shortcut. It's a pressure she can't yet grasp.
3. Lucien: Loyalty, Grief & the Reluctant Gentleman. Lucien isn't a clown, not a sidekick. He is:
and always polite, even when he's suffering.
He truly loved Jesminda. He watched her die. He carries guilt, shame, anger, and grief. Then he gets a new Bond. And of course: He feels it more intensely. He doesn't want to be intrusive. He senses Elaine's fear. He withdraws—out of respect. And perhaps also:
Fear of being “too wrong” again
So Lucien is NOT the annoying mate dude, who keeps saying, “You belong to me.” He asks. He observes. He waits. Elain needs space. Lucien gives space. And something valuable emerges here: A Bond film that takes time—and matures, instead of forcing.
4. Azriel & Elain: Security, but at the expense of himself. Azriel is not just shadow. He is duty, control, self-restraint.
With Elain: He becomes gentle. He becomes calm. He warns, protects, holds back. She feels safe. But: His shadows dim. He makes himself smaller. He doesn't show his whole self. This is not a "healthy relationship." This is adaptation out of consideration.
And Sarah shows us vividly: During the Solstice almost-kiss, he hesitated—not because he doesn't want her, but because something about it feels "wrong."
And the Night Court? Black swallows Elain. The aesthetics, the city, the darkness— they extinguish her instead of supporting her. And Azriel? He would never leave the Court. He IS the Court. He is its shadow hand.
The equation states:
Elain + Night Court= Disappearance
Azriel + Elain = Self-diminishment
This isn't romantic tragedy—it's simply a narrative mismatch.
5. Elain isn't "soft and ready"—she needs a real redemption arc. Elain is often read as:
sweet
kind
fragile
innocent
and then the analysis ends.
But that's just the surface. Beneath the surface lies:
and moments when she abandons others because she can't bear it.
When they were poor, she—like Nesta—did nothing. Not out of coldness, but out of fear. She adapts to systems, even if those systems are unfair, as long as they promise her protection. And after the war: She avoids. She doesn't confront. She treats Nesta harshly and unfairly, because Nesta's chaos threatens her safety. This isn't an "evil" character— but it is an unfinished one. Elain needs:
Confrontation with her own decisions
A choice that hurts—and is right
A life she determines herself, not the Cauldron, a man, or a mate
If she simply: → gets Azriel because it's nice, or → rejects Lucien without ever confronting the Bond, then that's not a character arc. That's stagnation with glitter.
A true redemption arc for Elain means: She recognizes where she's looking away. She stands up—for herself and others. She makes conscious decisions, not reflexively. And THEN—no matter who it's for— every relationship becomes meaningful, because it arises from independence and not from fear or the pressure of fate.
That's why Elain + Lucien feels so potentially powerful: It forces her to confront— Bond, responsibility, herself. And that's precisely why Elain + Azriel often feels like a shortcut: romantic… but emotionally too simplistic.
6. Gwyn: Voice, Water & the Art of Staying in the Dark. Gwyn isn't "the other option." She is:
more confident than she used to be
and she SINGS
And singing is her identity.
Her blood: River nymph → movement, flexibility, transition. She loses her voice— and fights to get it back. When she sings, the room brightens, but the darkness isn't destroyed. It remains—only more legible. And then: Azriel's shadow moves toward her. Not away. It doesn't dim. She doesn't have to diminish him. He's allowed to exist. She sees him kill. She doesn't break down. She's terrified—but she stays.
Their relationship isn't "Heal me with love." It's: I am strong. You are strong. We're both broken—but we're not lying to each other.
7. "The Cauldron is Corrupted"—and Why That's NOT a .Counterargument. A common argument against Lucien + Elain (and thus indirectly for Azriel + Elain) is: The Cauldron is corrupted, so Elain's mate bond with Lucien is false.
That sounds logical at first—but it simply isn't in canon. Because:
👉 The Cauldron doesn't create mate bonds.
👉 The Cauldron transforms beings.
👉 The mate connection exists independently of that.
Best example: Feyre & Rhys. Their bond was there before Feyre became a Fae. It just wasn't fully perceptible because she was mortal. The same applies to Elain: The Cauldron created her. It didn't "assign" her to Lucien. The connection was already established. If the Cauldron created Mate bonds, ALL Made Fae would automatically develop bonds—which they don't.
"But why didn't Azriel sense a bond with Gwyn?" Counter-question: Why didn't Azriel sense a bond with Elain? Why didn't Elain sense a bond with Azriel? Why did Lucien sense Elain's bond immediately, but Elain only felt it vaguely? Mate bonds are not always:
equally perceptible
We have several examples in canon:
– Rhys senses Feyre early, she doesn't sense him
– Kallias & Viviane only recognize each other late
– Bonds sometimes only become perceptible in the right emotional state
The argument "Azriel should have noticed immediately" is therefore not a canon law—but a fan assumption. The most important point: If the cauldron really does create "false" bonds that would undermine the entire Mate concept of the series. Then:
Rhys & Feyre would theoretically be unsafe
all Made-Fae bonds would be potentially worthless
and the central romantic foundation of the series would be unstable
This contradicts Sarah J. Maas's entire narrative so far.
In short: The Cauldron = Transformation The Mother / Destiny / the Universe = Mate Bonds The Cauldron changed Elain. It didn't assign her to Lucien. And if you take this point seriously, you can't simultaneously claim: "Elain's bond is wrong, but Azriel + Gwyn would automatically be right." Because then the same logic applies in both directions.
8. The Biological Detail (My Personal Favorite): Nesta alters the physiology:
in Feyre
Both are supposed to be able to have winged babies. Elain stands by. Nesta does NOT do it for her. Even though she knows:
Azriel is Illyrian. There's tension. There's possibility. If Sarah had wanted to say: "Elain has the option of Illyrian children"
→ that would have been the perfect moment.
Instead: Gwyn later says: "My bones are more flexible." River nymph trait. And yes—that includes pelvic mobility. This means:
Gwyn = natural compatibility
Elain = deliberately unprepared
This is no coincidence.
This is a narrative switch.
9. Symbolism: Where do they belong?
Elain = Earth, garden, bread, home, community
Lucien = Wandering, sun, diplomacy, movement, politics
Azriel = Shadow, war, espionage, night
Gwyn = Water, voice, threshold, combat training
Now look at the pairs as axes:
Elain + Lucien
→ Slow approach
→ Trust, healing, safety
→ Politically and emotionally meaningful
→ Mate bond is finally taken seriously
Azriel + Gwyn
→ Darkness and light work together
→ Both retain their selves
→ Trauma scars over instead of being covered up
→ Night Court remains night—but with song
This doesn't feel contrived.
It feels built.
10. When SJM stays true to its own writing style… This isn't "my ship is better than yours." It's about something else entirely: Sarah J. Maas has consistently written the following across all her series:
Mate bonds mean something
Foreshadowing is fulfilled
Biological rules remain in place
Characters get fitting arcs, not random partners
If you only look at these regularities, the logic always leads to the same conclusion:
Elain + Lucien
Azriel + Gwyn
Anything else would mean:
Mate bonds suddenly become irrelevant
Character arcs are broken
And that doesn't feel like story— it feels like fanservice. That doesn't mean she couldn't do it. But it would be a break with the very style that has held her stories together so far.
I don't see a coherent endgame where:
Azriel and Elain end up together
Lucien's mate bond is simply ignored
Elain remains "swallowed up" in the Night Court
Azriel has to permanently diminish himself
In contrast:
Azriel and Gwyn & Elain and Lucien solve:
✓ Biology
✓ Symbolism
✓ Character development
✓ Trauma arcs
✓ Narrative mathematics
Not confirmed. Not guaranteed. But — for me — it's the version that feels like textual logic, not fanservice.
