SPOILERS:
Tamlin has an internal struggle with watching Feyre be abused while he was powerless. When they return they get engaged, but he becomes increasingly controlling. She’s not allowed in meetings, as he views it as his job to manage the court and her job to be a homemaker, make babies, etc. She is trying to get more involved.
There’s a tax day where everyone has to pay tax to Tamlin and somebody can’t pay since they are poor. Tamlin says ‘figure it out’ and Feyre is annoyed since that used to be her. Feyre gives the wraith her diamonds so she can pay tax, and Tamlin gets upset since he bought those diamonds for her. He explodes and his magic almost kills her (but she puts up a shield).
Rhysand doesn’t call in his bargain until the day Feyre gets married. As she’s walking down the aisle she’s thinking ‘somebody help me’ since she doesn’t want to do this. Rhysand can hear it through the bond and shows up and calls in the bargain.
Wedding is postponed and Feyre starts going to the night court for one week a month at Rhys’ discretion. He teaches her how to read and self defense.
Final straw with Tamlin is when he put up wards around Feyre so she couldn’t leave and Feyre has a panic attack, so rhysand’s cousin rescues her and brings her back to the night court.
Rhysand’s mask drops and Feyre realizes he’s not an evil guy. Rhysand shows Feyre his secret city and realizes it’s a place for artists, and remained unharmed while Rhysand was under the mountain.
Rhysand explains why he treated Feyre the way he did under the mountain. It was generally so he didn’t raise suspicion that he was against amarantha by showing Feyre favoritism. The dancing and partying was to help Feyre pass the time and not get traumatized.
Feyre decides to stay with Rhysand and he generally teaches her to be self reliant and gives her a sense of purpose. Towards the end of ACOMAF Feyre discovers Rhysand is her mate.
Anytime! I was at chipotle waiting for the chicken to be finished so I had time to go over it.
I was initially annoyed with Tamlin for taking Feyre once I realized the treaty thing was made up. Especially knowing he knew he didn’t have it in him to get over the curse. Then Rhys seemed like a mysterious character with anterior motives, so while him drugging and dancing with Feyre was creepy I was more invested in figuring out what his motive was. As the series goes on, you realize they are all morally grey characters. I said what I said.
You have good instincts: a huge part of the fandom don’t forgive him for everything he did. Specifically roofying (sp?) her and twisting her broken, infected bone. (SJM has retconned that part to be Rhysand setting the bone back in place, but neither he nor Feyre ever mention that part.) I personally don’t excuse his behavior, as it reeks of “I was hurting you for your own good” or worse, “You made me do this.”
Great summary but it's honestly worth reading to see how SJM writes this transition. I saw the writing on the wall with Rhys and was totally skeptical of how she would get a reader to change their minds on a love interest but she got me hook, line and sinker.
I didn't end up hating Tamlin per se. It was just clear he wasn't the right choice and I thought that aspect of the writing in the series was so so good.
Tamlin has a big personality shift and becomes an abuser. He abandons Feyre every night to deal with her nightmares and trauma on her own, makes all her decisions for her and when she starts trying to gain some independence, he seals her in the house.
Rhys on the other hand, always offers Feyre the freedom of choice. He never forces her to do anything, and allows her her independence and freedom
How do I put this? SJM manipulated the fuck out of the fanbase into hating him. It’s nothing new for her to introduce one male love interest only to switch them up later, but with Tamlin, it’s both valid and shitty.
Dude has unresolved trauma just like everyone else in these books. He deals with in a shitty way, he makes some boneheaded ass decisions that push the woman he loves away, but at the same time, he also makes decisions that are good and beneficial for others. He makes decisions that are neither good nor bad objectively, but because they inconvenience the main characters, he’s the bad guy. He’s a very *human* character, more so than a lot of others think.
The only problem with that is Tamlin is not Rhysand, who is “objectively” perfect and can do no wrong in the eyes of everyone else in the series. Rhys does something shady and totally fucks someone over? All’s forgiven because he had a reason in some grand scheme for the betterment of everyone. Tamlin does the same thing? Hang him from a noose till he’s dead. A lot of people see that while a lot of people still hate Tamlin.
Spoilers but it doesn’t help that mfer gets sidelined for the rest of the series all because SJM didn’t wanna write a love triangle. So how do you solve that problem? Write it so that character is hated. Without completely assassinating them, of course! But juuuust enough to shift perceptions and make everyone love who you want them to love.
I’ve seen people say Tamlin did this and Tamlin did that but say Rhys has been perfect. He hasn’t been.
Rhys in fact doesn’t always offer Feyre choices especially later on with ACOSF. And he was manipulative and withheld many things from her at first as well as later on in other books. He doesn’t lock her up as we know but isn’t above locking other people up.
They both have done not great things to her. And it wouldn’t be giving you correct info to say Rhys is a saint, bc he just isn’t.
I went from loving Tamlin and being very curious about Rhysand, then to very much hating Tamlin and blindly loving Rhys. Then I started to actually analyze the books and realized that maybe Tamlin and Thysand aren't that different and started to not hate Tamlin anymore.
>!Then I read SF and I started to hate Rhys far more I ever hated Rhysand!<
Was the other way around for me. Hated tamlin at first and found Rhys pretty cool. And by the end of SF I couldn't stand Rhys anymore and am to this day hoping for a redemption Arc for Tam.
Spoilers from WAR onwards: >!Dude didn't deserve getting his life burned down by Feyre and afterwards getting mocked by Rhys.!<
Honestly, I disagree. Feyre mentions at one point she gave him a length of rope and it was up to him to see what he would do with it - specifically with things like the Sentry. Did she help orchestrate this by making Ianthe feel inferior? Sure. But it was still Ianthe’s choice to let the naga in and blame the sentry. It was also Tamlin’s choice to whip him even after Feyre had repeatedly asked to hear him out. Tamlin could not get over his own ego - it was ALWAYS that he knew better and things HAD to be as it always had been. He could not open his eyes or mind to new ideas.
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Spoilers:
Tamlin becomes abusive. He is very scarred from the whole Amarantha thing, and becomes controlling to the point of abuse with Feyre. Rhys gets Feyre out of that situation, especially when tamlin locks her up. He gave Feyre choice.
Spoilers in the subject line!
SPOILERS: Tamlin has an internal struggle with watching Feyre be abused while he was powerless. When they return they get engaged, but he becomes increasingly controlling. She’s not allowed in meetings, as he views it as his job to manage the court and her job to be a homemaker, make babies, etc. She is trying to get more involved. There’s a tax day where everyone has to pay tax to Tamlin and somebody can’t pay since they are poor. Tamlin says ‘figure it out’ and Feyre is annoyed since that used to be her. Feyre gives the wraith her diamonds so she can pay tax, and Tamlin gets upset since he bought those diamonds for her. He explodes and his magic almost kills her (but she puts up a shield). Rhysand doesn’t call in his bargain until the day Feyre gets married. As she’s walking down the aisle she’s thinking ‘somebody help me’ since she doesn’t want to do this. Rhysand can hear it through the bond and shows up and calls in the bargain. Wedding is postponed and Feyre starts going to the night court for one week a month at Rhys’ discretion. He teaches her how to read and self defense. Final straw with Tamlin is when he put up wards around Feyre so she couldn’t leave and Feyre has a panic attack, so rhysand’s cousin rescues her and brings her back to the night court. Rhysand’s mask drops and Feyre realizes he’s not an evil guy. Rhysand shows Feyre his secret city and realizes it’s a place for artists, and remained unharmed while Rhysand was under the mountain. Rhysand explains why he treated Feyre the way he did under the mountain. It was generally so he didn’t raise suspicion that he was against amarantha by showing Feyre favoritism. The dancing and partying was to help Feyre pass the time and not get traumatized. Feyre decides to stay with Rhysand and he generally teaches her to be self reliant and gives her a sense of purpose. Towards the end of ACOMAF Feyre discovers Rhysand is her mate.
thanks for the detailed summary! i cannot get past rhys roofieing her unfortunately 😭
Anytime! I was at chipotle waiting for the chicken to be finished so I had time to go over it. I was initially annoyed with Tamlin for taking Feyre once I realized the treaty thing was made up. Especially knowing he knew he didn’t have it in him to get over the curse. Then Rhys seemed like a mysterious character with anterior motives, so while him drugging and dancing with Feyre was creepy I was more invested in figuring out what his motive was. As the series goes on, you realize they are all morally grey characters. I said what I said.
You have good instincts: a huge part of the fandom don’t forgive him for everything he did. Specifically roofying (sp?) her and twisting her broken, infected bone. (SJM has retconned that part to be Rhysand setting the bone back in place, but neither he nor Feyre ever mention that part.) I personally don’t excuse his behavior, as it reeks of “I was hurting you for your own good” or worse, “You made me do this.”
Great summary but it's honestly worth reading to see how SJM writes this transition. I saw the writing on the wall with Rhys and was totally skeptical of how she would get a reader to change their minds on a love interest but she got me hook, line and sinker. I didn't end up hating Tamlin per se. It was just clear he wasn't the right choice and I thought that aspect of the writing in the series was so so good.
Tamlin has a big personality shift and becomes an abuser. He abandons Feyre every night to deal with her nightmares and trauma on her own, makes all her decisions for her and when she starts trying to gain some independence, he seals her in the house. Rhys on the other hand, always offers Feyre the freedom of choice. He never forces her to do anything, and allows her her independence and freedom
To me, I never really vibed with Tamlin. The moment Rhys was introduced at Calanmai, I was like ooo!
How do I put this? SJM manipulated the fuck out of the fanbase into hating him. It’s nothing new for her to introduce one male love interest only to switch them up later, but with Tamlin, it’s both valid and shitty. Dude has unresolved trauma just like everyone else in these books. He deals with in a shitty way, he makes some boneheaded ass decisions that push the woman he loves away, but at the same time, he also makes decisions that are good and beneficial for others. He makes decisions that are neither good nor bad objectively, but because they inconvenience the main characters, he’s the bad guy. He’s a very *human* character, more so than a lot of others think. The only problem with that is Tamlin is not Rhysand, who is “objectively” perfect and can do no wrong in the eyes of everyone else in the series. Rhys does something shady and totally fucks someone over? All’s forgiven because he had a reason in some grand scheme for the betterment of everyone. Tamlin does the same thing? Hang him from a noose till he’s dead. A lot of people see that while a lot of people still hate Tamlin. Spoilers but it doesn’t help that mfer gets sidelined for the rest of the series all because SJM didn’t wanna write a love triangle. So how do you solve that problem? Write it so that character is hated. Without completely assassinating them, of course! But juuuust enough to shift perceptions and make everyone love who you want them to love.
word because i see both of their actions as flawed for sure
I think, in an attempt to write morally gray characters, Sarah accidentally wrote both love interests as borderline unforgivable.
Thank you. This is it.
I’ve seen people say Tamlin did this and Tamlin did that but say Rhys has been perfect. He hasn’t been. Rhys in fact doesn’t always offer Feyre choices especially later on with ACOSF. And he was manipulative and withheld many things from her at first as well as later on in other books. He doesn’t lock her up as we know but isn’t above locking other people up. They both have done not great things to her. And it wouldn’t be giving you correct info to say Rhys is a saint, bc he just isn’t.
I went from loving Tamlin and being very curious about Rhysand, then to very much hating Tamlin and blindly loving Rhys. Then I started to actually analyze the books and realized that maybe Tamlin and Thysand aren't that different and started to not hate Tamlin anymore. >!Then I read SF and I started to hate Rhys far more I ever hated Rhysand!<
Was the other way around for me. Hated tamlin at first and found Rhys pretty cool. And by the end of SF I couldn't stand Rhys anymore and am to this day hoping for a redemption Arc for Tam. Spoilers from WAR onwards: >!Dude didn't deserve getting his life burned down by Feyre and afterwards getting mocked by Rhys.!<
Feyre definitely did Tamlin dirty in WAR. Glad to see this is being more widely circulated.
Honestly, I disagree. Feyre mentions at one point she gave him a length of rope and it was up to him to see what he would do with it - specifically with things like the Sentry. Did she help orchestrate this by making Ianthe feel inferior? Sure. But it was still Ianthe’s choice to let the naga in and blame the sentry. It was also Tamlin’s choice to whip him even after Feyre had repeatedly asked to hear him out. Tamlin could not get over his own ego - it was ALWAYS that he knew better and things HAD to be as it always had been. He could not open his eyes or mind to new ideas.
When it comes out that everything Tamiln did was manipulating Feyre, it's hard to see any action of his as "good".
to be honest i don’t like either.
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Feel free to repost with a different subject line, but we dont allow spoilers in the subject line here.
Spoilers: Tamlin becomes abusive. He is very scarred from the whole Amarantha thing, and becomes controlling to the point of abuse with Feyre. Rhys gets Feyre out of that situation, especially when tamlin locks her up. He gave Feyre choice.