Okayyy, I read your post, and I genuinely enjoyed it. I especially liked the way you broke down each point.
Honestly, it made me curious: between Nikolai and the Darkling, which character do you actually like more?
You might not believe it, but I've even seen parts of the fandom ship the two of them together, and I have to admit, I actually liked the ship in some ways.
I've also been wondering about something else. Did Nikolai really manage to outsmart the Darkling? Does that mean he's actually more intelligent than the Darkling, or is he simply better when it comes to politics and strategy?
To be honest, I don't exactly dislike Nikolai, but I wouldn't say I like him that much either. I just wish he had actually done more to change the system for the Grisha.
Anyway, I'd really love to hear your thoughts, because from the very beginning I've always connected with the Darkling much more than I ever did with Nikolai. :))
Also, before asking you this, I actually asked someone else the same question, but I waited for a while and never got a reply. So I figured I'd ask you instead, if you don't mind. :))
I'm not sure if you remember that part of the story, but it's something I've been wondering about.
Why did the Darkling bring West Ravka under the Shadow Fold as a show of power against his enemies? That decision ended up making even the Grisha his own people fear him, and in many cases turn against him.
West Ravka supplied a lot of the resources and equipment for the rest of Ravka, so strategically it seems like a huge loss. Even Zoya, whom many people consider one of the Grisha the Darkling trusted the most (or at least someone he valued highly), ultimately turned against him because of it.
Wasn't there another way for him to demonstrate his power? For example, couldn't he have attacked one of the enemy countries instead? That would have made his enemies fear him while also proving how powerful he was, without turning so many of his own people against him.
Politically, I can understand why it's an interesting choice, but from a strategic point of view I'm not sure it was the best decision.
I also don't fully remember why West Ravka wanted to separate in the first place. I might have missed that part, or maybe they were planning to betray the Darkling and align themselves with the neighboring countries instead?
In any case, I'd really appreciate it if you could help me understand what was going on there. Thanks, my friend. 🙏🕊️
Hi again! I'm glad my response to your first ask was to your liking, and I promise I'll also get to that other ask you sent me soon!
The Darkling is hands down the best character in all the Grishaverse in my opinion. In fact, he's actually my second favorite fictional character over all (I'm afraid no one can top Bilbo Baggins from the Hobbit for me. That man's just too much of a mood). I initially enjoyed with him because he was a much more interesting romantic alternative than Mal. And because his aesthetic was something that my 15-year-old brain really enjoyed seeing. Now, it's more so because he's the most realistic and interesting character the Grishaverse has to offer, and... Well, he's become practically an obsession of mine now 😅. Nikolai has a cool concept, sure, but Bardugo refuses to write him consistently enough for me to really like him. Not to mention how bloody annoying he is in the Nikolai Duology...
I have also seen a lot of Darkolai shippers in this fandom - and honestly, a lot of their fanart is really good. I personally don't ship it for pretty much the same reason I don't ship Darklina: Aleksander frankly deserves better. Someone who appreciates and loves him as he is and wouldn't strive to change him, just give him the respect and support he needs to heal from his trauma.
As to whether or not Nikolai actually managed to outsmart the Darkling... Keep in mind that Bardugo is practically infamous for giving her main characters massive amounts of plot armor to enable their success, and the Darkling had a lot on his mind during the events of Seige & Storm. When he was interacting with Sturmhond, his main priority had been to find Alina and get her the Sea Whip, then get back to Ravka in one piece and see just how much of the situation was salvagable. Aleksander had no reason to suspect that Ravka's second prince was anywhere other than Ketterdam, not to mention that Nikolai's been away from court for some time. Why should he ever suspect the "privateer" Sturmhond of being said prince? So I don't necessarily think Nikolai outsmarted the Darkling, just managed to play the role expected of him until the time came to show his hand. He was playing a game the Darkling didn't know was on the table. If Aleksander had been given some reason to wonder if Sturmhond was Nikolai, say, if he had been paying close attention to the prince before he left and recognized his mannerisms and habits, than I definitely think that he would have outmaneuvered Nikolai in the end. Nikolai may be a "clever fox", but no amount of talent or genius can ever compare to four hundred years of battlefield experience.
As to why the Darkling destroyed part of West Ravka with the Fold... I've seen someone else make a post about this, but in the books he's not really given a reason for doing that, and it's really stupid writing on Bardugo's part. It makes no logical sense, and it's likely only written that way to show how "evil and uncaring" he is. Again, the Darkling has been serving as a general in a constant war on two fronts for the past 400 years. He would know choosing to do destroy a town within his own country's borders would ultimately do his cause more harm than good. It's really just an example of Bardugo's forcing the plot to do what she wants rather than allowing the characters actual autonomy in their actions. I'll see if I can find that post and send it to you.
It definitely would have made more sense for the Darkling to push the Fold into Fjerda of Shu Han. However, I also think that him just visibly moving the Fold at all would have been enough to successfully negotiate with the other nations. He has no need to prove that he's willing to destroy lives, because he's already believed by many to be little more than cold, heartless monster. "When one is perceived to be a monster, he need not do every monstrous thing." Think about how it was in our world's Cold War: Even though the USA and the USSR never actually fired nukes at each other, each knew that the other was perfectly capable of doing that, and if either went to far over the line, they would have no qualms about nuking each other. Fjerda and Shu Han believe that the Darkling would have no qualms about wiping them utterly from the map, they just need to see that he is now capable of doing that with little to no effort on his part.
Also, the West Ravka wanting to be separate from the east was purely a show thing (as far as I'm aware), although it does make perfect sense to me. Think about why America wanted to separate from England: We felt that we were not being fairly represented in the English Parliament, and very little of the money being taxed from us was actually going towards improvements for the colonies. It mostly just went into the pockets of the English politicians. And having an entire hard-to-cross ocean between us certainly didn't help matters. West Ravka is separated from the East by the Fold that kills many of the people in the crossing. And even though the West is easily able to make money, they have to send it across the Fold to the King who spends it on frivolities and luxuries rather than on the people.
Thank you so much for the ask! Hope you have a wonderful day, and that I managed to answer your questions in a helpful way!
