THRONE OF GLASS SERIES SPOILERS
While Aelin losing her powers is sad; primarily because she loved her powers and spent a long time without them, then fighting for them back, and accepting herself with it. And also they’re cool… but so is she (regardless :-)
It’s important to remember she never needed them. Not in this sense at least.
She carries the same power level of Heir of Fire, where she makes shields and daggers of flame, and can hold her own against Skin-walkers & terrors. Then in combination with Rowan as her Carranam she pushes past burn-out & wipes the Mistward slate clean of the Valg Generals; something she still maintains, only now imbued along with her own Cadre.
In the following book, these things remain, as Queen of Shadows sees her once again without magic, or fae form (meaning she’s more powerful now in a post-KoA world then she was than). It reminds us again, that she is more than capable of acting without them (and frankly kicking-ass; she takes out a lot of Valg with nothing but her wit & skill).
As she had for the prior three books: she got through all of those on her own, without fae strength, without firepower, she became “The Assassin of Adarlan” she won as the “King’s Champion” that alone was just her, without even a team or an army at her back. Or arguably one of the bigger strengths she gains; something worth fighting for.
And, as Kingdom of Ash takes time to show: she makes it through half the battles without her power at all. Anielle was greatly overpowered by her & the cadre, and not a lick of flame touched that battlefield. Only did it announce itself to save them from the dam (not from the fighting). Along with another demonstration/reminder that she began breaking out of the iron coffin without her power, that was pure fae strength alone (of which she maintains).
And in all of that she did keep the piece dearest to her: her mother’s magic, her droplet of water, of Mab, of healing. One that can grow over a thousand years, as Rowan said (albeit jokingly but truthfully). …And a gift of Mala, flame much like that of Essar… and now without the fear it once carried for her of “having no end”. Besides, her truest power always rested in Fireheart — a name not of power, but of her; her strength, her will, her intelligence. Herself. That was what mattered. And matters going forward.
Especially in this new world, where that plot was needed: without it, you would have an unchecked power-scale, in a reset world, with no villains to fight, no gods ruling, only her & Dorian with their powers at those levels without need; when the world desperately needed a reset so it didn’t collapse in a single battle between such sources. … And even more importantly you would miss the “Heroes Journey” of losing everything, of prices paid that are not all fixed (sad as it is; it is a price, no refunds). And more than anything, you would lose the arc; Aelin paid the price (and while I do not believe she had some debt due, that she owed Terrasen; because again SHE WAS EIGHT AND KIDNAPPED BY AN ASSASSIN… what was she supposed to do? But now any of those that were argued are gone… perhaps she needed that herself more than anyone else).
And while I know this led to frustration for some that “the hero” did not defeat “the villain” in the end… I’d beg to differ, and think it was important to the arc going forward: starting with the fact that Aelin had nothing to prove in it. Whether it be with her sword of flame & the assistance of her Carranam/Cadre (which did not make her weak or “dependent” on men; no this was strength in working together with her friends), or with her fists & nothing more, or with a gods’ arsenal of flame & power & starlight, the truth stays the same; we all knew her strength & capability. But her soul; her heart of fire (that we knew), had yet to live without that weight (of the world, of fate, of the power & sacrifice) all solely on her shoulders. To trust them in carrying that with her, for her, together. And to be fully be a part of the team that she assembled (somewhat accidentally) but threads pulled nonetheless. Aelin did not accomplish it alone, for she had never needed to. And for the first time that is shown. And she was not alone, never to be again. … Making it a huge breakthrough for all of them.
Because this was not a story of a singular hero… or even villain. It was rather complex in the latter to begin with. So this was crucial, especially for her character to have grown; to have asked for help, to allow it. And even the contrast to have The Assassin not be the one to deal the final blows; because that is not all she is, (will be, or has ever been). Nor was this her fight, not anymore. It had been so many people’s fights both before and after it was hers… from Elena’s, to the elder King Dorian’s, Marion’s, Josefin’s, even Sam’s… because they & that fight had led them all here. Them; the original trio of Chaol (his new-found wife), Dorian (his power another catalyst & hero), and Aelin (fully embraced in her name and story. And to the many they found through themselves; Yrene (as aforementioned), Manon, Lysandra, Elide, etc.
And because Erawan was not her death to take — if anything, it was Dorian’s. He needed it. It belonged to the threads & the lost children of it: it was Elide’s for her mother who died by the Assassin of Erawan to save Aelin to bring them here, it was Yrene’s for her mother Josefin who died to save her daughter from a fate Erawan set into motion & sent Yrene running into to unwittingly stop him, it was a team; Lysandra, Nesryn, all of them. From old to new. Those who came before. And those who will follow after (including the child Yrene is fighting for in these moments, just as their mothers had). Teams that can build a better world going forward (beyond this war), and set them up to bring the many broken countries together (now the leaders of Adarlan, Rifthold, Anielle, the Ferian Gap, Terrasen, Orynth, Perranth, the Wastes, the Southern Continent (all the way down to the Healers of the Torre & connections to Ellywe & the Far of Doranelle). — And one that they paid for together… They all carried a price too: Dorian whose power also got downgraded in check for the same reason as Aelin’s (though not to the same extent), Yrene who broke her oath to never take a life to save the lives of many others (& while the Valg King debatably didn’t break an oath as “life” within the Valg is very messy to begin with) she still gave an awful lot for it (& did it with help once again), Elide who faced it brave as her mother. As I said, this was theirs. — Dorian whose father was not the true villain yet would be remembered & forgotten as such, Dorian who needed to know, Dorian the King his country needed & his father had fought for, his father who was as forgotten & twisted & fallen as that very place. Yrene, who had been led here, who had followed the sound of where she was needed and braved it over & over, just as the Towers women had for centuries; it was their closure. Elide… who in combination with the latter represented the love that fought from day one, that did not yield, that gave their lives to spare their children all in hopes for a better world (knowing they would not live to see it; they paid that price). And in doing so, it repeated, every player on the board; another mother giving it all to build a better world for her child’s future, a son of King Dorian; of Gavin & Elena, who remembered their names, a daughter who was brave & unafraid as Aelin and mother that had taught them both that (Marion). The first children of the fallen, and the last to fall.
And when it came to Maeve; it was equal. It was Rowans, for Lyria, for his child, for all she had done to them; to Aelin, to his brothers, to him. Lorcan, for every dark, twisted misery he endured for her. Fenrys… the one Aelin offered the final blows too because after centuries of not knowing freedom, of losing everyone (much like herself) she knew he had felt it just as much as she had. And of course, Aelin, for Rowan, for Fenrys, for her Cadre, for the Lion, for Aedion, for her mother, for herself. And with their help, all together, even without power, they could do it; together only the arc does not end there, no, it is met with mercy within her end, facing it & rising above it.
In consensus: Aelin is still incredibly powerful. As is her court. This is a new world, a reset to the scale. This is a book with consequences, and those will always ache. But there is more than just that ache. Because this arc is beyond a hero and villain; it is a story of love, of friends, of family, of mercy, of kindness, of fighting & living & going on. And that will always hold magic. Regardless of if she is a firebringer, or human… regardless of who beat who in the end… they did; together; as who they are.
& For me, while hard to process in some pieces & sad, I actually think this was the only way to do it properly. Not some “epic failure of the hero not defeating” the “main villain”, but an inevitable arc of character growth that could not come without that teamwork & passing of things to fully flesh out the storyline. And as one that is true to the fact, it is full of many heroes.
Such as The Thirteen, who broke the curse, (and our hearts)… and while I wish they had not or at least Asterin had survived; even Manon said it earlier, the Matron was Asterin’s, for her, for all of them, for every Witchling that came before and would come after. The Thirteen (who were meant to save Manon) & to save the world; who defied every rule by how they loved, and lived… and who died as one. In a way, that was a well-written story, not a “cry points” death of senseless heartbreak (overwhelming, yes, but not a last-minute script change of insanity), nor was it one to (unfortunately) receive a reversal; because it was such a powerful moment to lead to the better end of broken curses & saved worlds… and I don’t know how the story would’ve gone otherwise… None of these moments were solely their own. Nor were they simple. This is how you do it in a story, one with many points of view and plots, and where “yes”: Aelin is “the hero” but she is not the entire story. … Or at least it’s what I’m pondering right now, lol.
