I truly do not think that people realize how SJM writes her endgame couples. She always has some sort of tension—either external that forces them together, or between them that will be fixed along their shared journey. ACOTAR specifically, it has been a mix of both.
FEYSAND — Feyre was in love with Tamlin, travelled to Under the Mountain for him, declared to the whole of Prythian that she was in love with him, and spent the next few months suffering just to save him. Immediately after, they became engaged and were planning their wedding. Feyre never saw Rhys as more than the villain, though SJM did make pointed bits of foreshadowing in ACOTAR that demonstrated that they would ultimately be endgame. Feyre drawing stars on her dresser, feeling at ease looking at the night sky, the pool of starlight in the Spring Court, being born on Solstice, finding Rhys to be the most beautiful male she has ever seen, et cetera. Little hints that were not incredibly significant until after Feyre and Rhys became endgame.
The tension between them was Feyre’s mental health and self worth after UTM, Rhys’ identity as the villain/anti hero, and Feyre’s relationship with Tamlin. SJM has made it very obvious that she separated Rhys and Feyre at the beginning of ACOMAF—no contact until he came to claim her for their bargain. No off page contact before that moment, and no off page contact thereafter. While the reader had to wait nearly two full books for their ultimate endgame, the foreshadowing and symbolism between them was obvious and tangible. They had chemistry between them, banter, and they were compatible.
NESSIAN — Nesta and Cassian are the most pointed of the two couples that fit within the mold that SJM creates for her endgames. From the moment they sat down together at that table in ACOMAF, it was so incredibly obvious to the reader that they would be endgame. The chemistry between their characters was so rich and full of life and every scene between them reads as emotionally charged. It would have been a disservice to the buildup had they not been endgame. SJM, however, thrives off of angst between her couples.
Nesta and Cassian’s final interaction in ACOWAR was nearly dying together on the battlefield, a love confession, and a kiss. Had ACOFAS not existed, the reader would have expected to open ACOSF and seen Nesta and Cassian happily together. SJM needed to write something that would both drive them apart until their book—again, no off page romances for her main couples—and create a rift between them, thus ACOFAS driving a nail through their development. Nesta is now sleeping with random males around Velaris and suffering mentally from all that had happened to her. She is refusing to be around her family without them bribing her. Then, SJM separated them further for the next nine months, same as she separated Feyre and Rhys. All of this was used to add anguish between them, to make the reader want them to find a resolution.
ELUCIEN — Elain and Lucien, again, fit within the formula for endgame couples that SJM has begun to perfect across all three of her series. Elain was turned fae against her will and was given a mating bond—the pinnacle of being fae—all in the same night. She lost her fiancé, whom she was deeply in love with, and she was given a suffocating ability that she could barely maneuver through. Next, we have Lucien, whom she associated with that trauma when they met officially in ACOWAR. The tension has been brewing since Hybern. Reluctancy between mates.
SJM has purposefully separated them as to avoid both on page and off page interactions—allow me to explain. Had Elain and Lucien been fully around each other, Lucien still living in Velaris, and they had no further development between them in the three years that they have known each other, the reader would believe that they will not be endgame. However, Lucien has been living in the mortal lands with the BoE, and now lives in the Spring Court. He only visits Velaris when he has to report to Rhys, or for small events that he is invited to. Elain and Lucien are barely given time to both get to know each other—even being forced apart when they first met again in ACOWAR—and for the reader to see them interact. That being said, in ACOSF, the reader was able to see how Lucien longs for Elain from Cassian’s POV.
The distance, the reluctancy to accept the bond, Graysen and Jesminda, and now the tension with Azriel allows the reader to see that something more is going to happen between Elain and Lucien. They have not resolved the bond, they have not gotten to know each other, and they are now connected to the same plot arc. There are little breadcrumbs of foreshadowing that shows that Elain will leave the Night Court. All of their interactions are being saved for their book.
ELRIEL — I see constantly that there is “four books of buildup” between them, but that is so easily debunked. Not only were Azriel and Mor originally supposed to be endgame in ACOMAF when Elain and Azriel first met, SJM was also publicly speaking about Elain and Lucien up until after ACOWAR—anything between Elain and Azriel around the time was not intentionally placed for their endgame, but for the tension I spoke of for Elain and Lucien. Elain still grieves for Graysen, even in ACOFAS. Azriel still harps on Mor, even in ACOSF.
Now, I also see that people claim that Graysen and Mor are their tension. If that was so, the almost kiss would have gone differently. Either one of them would have backed away at the thought of either Graysen, or Mor—instead, they were going to kiss regardless. That is not how tension works. I also see people claim that Gwyn is their red herring. The mating bond is enough as is—why involve another character four books after they met? Elain and Azriel also have no connected plot points. They have been around each other for three years and have had no development—the most they’ve ever spoken on page was in the bonus chapter, but even that was a few worlds.
“They’re separated because Azriel avoids her at the HoW!” That is not the ‘separated’ that I am speaking on. Feyre and Rhys were separated because Feyre was going to marry Tamlin and she was trying to break their bargain. Nesta and Cassian were separated because Nesta was essentially punishing herself after the war and to begin the catalyst for her entrapment into the HoW. Lucien and Elain are separated to connect them to the same plot arc, but also to drive distance between them to save their interactions for their book. Elain and Azriel are only ‘separated’ because Azriel is not able to get a handle on himself—there are no plot drivers that are keeping them apart as it was with the other couples. The ‘tension’ between Elain and Azriel could be resolved quickly with just a simple bond rejection. The other couples had nuanced approaches to addressing and resolving their tension. Such as Feyre in the Night Court, and Nesta at the HoW. Where would Elain and Azriel go if he lives at the HoW and Elain lives in the River House? The only character that Elain could have that forced proximity to would be Lucien in the Spring Court.
I hope this breakdown helps. SJM is not some prolific writer that can spin poetry together, so deep that an academic level analysis is needed to understand what she is saying. Her patterns, tropes, and writing is easily broken down, and used similarly across her entire catalogue of work.
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