The School for Good and Evil | Triston theory/headcanon
Spoiler Warning for The School for Good and Evil book #2
So, anybody who’s read through at least the first two School for Good and Evil books knows that gender and gender roles are a big deal in this series. The second book, A World Without Princes, is literally based on that concept, having the school shifted from being one for good and one for evil to one for girls and one for boys.
In book two, the character Triston shows, at least in my opinion, obvious signs of being a trans girl. Allow me to explain.
An important plot point in this book is a potion that swaps somebody’s biological sex. It is used by Sophie to sneak into the boys school under the guise of Filip of Mt. Anora so that she can look for the Storian.
It’s revealed toward the end of the book that Yara, a character introduced in the very beginning of the book, is actually the boy Triston using this sex swapping potion. He says that he fit in better at the girls school, this having been backed up by his male peers, who often called him weak for it.
Triston feels completely comfortable in the body of Yara, shown by how he’ll wear moderately revealing clothing while in this form without feeling even slightly dysphoric. It isn’t often, but there are also a few snip its we get during the second book that are told with his thoughts and feelings in mind. Meanwhile, while in his male body, he has a clear desire to change it, shown in book one with how quick he was to dye his hair blonde. Triston is also confirmed to be attracted to women, shown by his crush on Beatrix in book one. Sorry, Kiko, Triston wasn’t into you.
Besides this, there is a bit of magical confirmation as well. There’s one challenge that the girls school undergoes in an attempt to prepare for battle against the boys school, in which they each have to mask their female soul and make a bridge troll think they’re boys.
Triston, as Yara, is the first to attempt this, failing instantly. Triston, were he truly a cis male, should have had the easiest time with the challenge because his soul was male.
But no, he barely steps onto the bridge before he’s thrown off. Triston has a female soul, the soul of a girl. He hates being at school with the boys and is clearly far more comfortable in a school surrounded by other girls, as well as showing obvious discomfort in masculine presenting clothing. I’m sure there’s more evidence than this, but this is what I’ve gathered.
Really, it’s such a shame that Yara died at the end of the book. It upset me so much when I first read that scene. Either way, I believe that Triston is not a boy, nor is that her name. Yara, you’re valid and still my favorite character <3
