Is there a reason why you love Cal? I love him beyond reason even though he’s not perfect. I’ve never felt so strongly for a character like this and I have no idea why. I need help.
RELATABLE. I actually answered a similar question last year, but I don’t mind answering your question still.
I love Cal for the following reasons:
He has a big heart. Unlike most people I know, I prefer kind-hearted characters over troubled villains with emotional/mental trauma. (Not throwing shade to those who like that type of villains, but personally, I just don’t find the appeal in them? I mean, I like to think of my favorite characters as someone who can be my friend or someone I’d love to date. And I definitely don’t see myself in the same space with a villain, with someone who does wicked things.) So yeah, a big heart. This is what Cal showed the night he and Mare first met. He caught her stealing from him, but instead of punishment, he gave her more than what she tried to steal just because he knew the girl needed it more than he did. His kindness to this thief didn’t stop there. He gave her a job in the freaking palace so that she’d be exempted from conscription. He helped Mare, a complete stranger, in exchange for literally nothing, when other Silvers would most likely have sentenced her to death for stealing. I love that Cal has a big heart; I find that really beautiful.
He loves his people. That’s exactly how he and Mare met in the first place. He was dressed as a civilian at a tavern because he wanted to mingle with his people. As the future king, he wanted to know what was life was beyond the palace walls. Unlike the kings before him, he cared about his subjects. Also, as a general, he didn’t want his soldiers to fight for him; he wanted them to fight alongside him. His soldiers were important people to him. They were the closest thing to a friend he’d ever had. Can you just imagine how awful he must have felt when Lucas Samos died? Lucas was like his only friend. Knowing him, he must have blamed himself for his death. Cal chose people over power, and that’s exactly what made the difference.
He didn’t have the best childhood, but he never used that as an excuse to be a bad person. He didn’t have a mother, he didn’t have real friends like normal kids had, and for sure, he didn’t have the best childhood either, and yet, he remained a good person. I think it’s all about choices, and here, Cal made a good one.
He’s a family man and extremely loyal to a fault. This is precisely the reason why he chose the crown over the girl he loved and also the same reason why he gave up the crown in the end. He firmly believed it was his duty as his father’s oldest son to take the crown and rule Norta, the way he’d been trained to do so all his life. But when he realized his mother wanted a different path for him, the desire to be a son and make his mother proud overshadowed the need to fulfill his duty as the legitimate crown prince. For once in his life Cal wanted to do something for his dead mother, he wanted to make her proud. And he did just that.
He’s so much more than just the main lead’s love interest. He’s his own person. Like Mare, he knows when to put his priorities above a relationship even if it hurts him, like when he chose the crown over love. We always look at things from Mare’s POV and get mad at Cal for choosing the crown. Yes, Cal didn’t choose Mare, but Mare didn’t choose Cal too. It takes two to tango. Let’s try to look at it from Cal’s POV. All his life he was raised and prepared to be the king, he believed that it was his most noble mission to rule the country. Of course, he couldn’t just throw away 19 years of his life for a girl and her rebellion that was trying to eradicate everything his family had worked so hard to maintain for more than a century. Cal has his own priorities, and he isn’t that guy who would give up everything he holds dear in one fell swoop just because “true love” enters the picture.
He’s a feminist. He really is. Fight me on this. He especially holds Farley in high regard. He was sincerely happy for Farley when she got promoted to general and most likely the first person to congratulate her, much to Farley’s surprise. He also knows and acknowledges Mare’s strength and capability. He wants to protect her, but he also knows that she can protect herself. I love that Cal sees women like Farley as an equal in rank (they’re both generals) and Mare as an equal in their relationship.
He respects women. “I’m not doing anything without your consent.” I know some of you would say this is praising Cal for doing the bare-minimum, but this isn’t about that at all. The importance of consent is something that is very rarely (almost never) talked about in YA books. Cal brought up consent when talking to his betrothed Evangeline who was a lesbian, and that’s exactly why I think that scene deserves more appreciation.
He loves children. Remember GLASS SWORD days?
He makes bad puns. Sometimes he makes horrible puns just because he knows they would make Mare laugh.
He’s different from his kind. And in a good way. Evangeline knows this too. “Cal has always been an odd sort, different from other Silvers. Strange and soft in his inclinations, while the rest of us were raised to razors and hard edges.” Obviously, it’s the Jacos genes, and I couldn’t be more glad that his mother is the lovely Coriane.
And lastly, he genuinely loves Mare Barrow.
I guess that’s all for now.
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