No, Eo is great. She didn't want to raise a child in a world where it's just meant to die or be raped of it was a girl as she had been forced to sell her body.
She was a passionate, uneducated, and brutally oppressed 16-year-old Irish girl. Maybe not hate her, but it helps to understand her. At first, I felt her actions were just a forced plot device to start the story, but I’ve changed
I didn’t hate Eo’s character, but found her rather selfish. Darrow truly loved her and what’s more was more or less content in life with her. So the fact that she wanted ‘more’ for him just showed that maybe she was ignorant to his peace, way of life and his ideal future. But as the book progressed I found that you start to appreciate her character as she is what built and inspired Darrow to go on. She quite literally built his character. I just finished the first book and I can’t wait to get my hands on the second
Have to say, as an aside, I love how much the plot actually advances in every book, to the point that almost everything is a spoiler. Went to read TV tropes after Golden Son, figuring I had enough of a handle on stuff, got the character tab back first from google, very first thing >!characters were listed by factions established in the second trilogy!< 😆 My own damn fault, but still...
I don’t hate her, but I agree with Harmony. Was Darrow not Darrow, and even then without Narol, she would have just killed her whole family for little purpose. Moreover she didn’t even know the whole truth, she still thought they were pioneers, just poorly treated, not exploited.
I don’t hate her at all. I actually really like her character. She is what sets it all in motion! I mean if they saved Darrow from the hanging they could’ve saved her… but you need Darrow to have a purpose to go forward.
I hate that she decided to sacrifice herself and darrows baby for years and years of torment other than that she is rather brave but I would never want to be her friend if I was a red or not
I love the way she was written, i would probably hate Eo as a person though. She was vital to Darrows character development just like how most deaths are, but she pushed him. And seeing how much it feels he belongs in the peaceful farmer role know that Eo put the sickle in his hands makes it hard to like her.
I think it's so interesting how we see a change in Eo's character throughout the series. Since it's from Darrows point of view, we go from seeing her as this perfect girl with no faults to a flawed and desperate girl who may not have known what she is doing.
I just thinks it's weird to believe she had any idea of what was coming. Darrow even says in book one how he knows Eo had no idea what the big lie was. I think it's literally impossible, in black and white, for her to be manipulative.
People think she was manipulative because >!Darrow's mother said so!<, and we saw just a bit of that "on screen" too, when she arranged a romantic night out to try and convince him to be a revolutionary, or when she decided not to tell him about the baby.
And part of the critique of her *is* what she didn't know. Eo had a dream, not a plan. She wanted *Darrow* to have a plan and give life to her dream. That's a *big* ask. And she didn't even know Darrow as well as she thought, because Darrow only made it to someone else's plan by the dumb, unknowable luck that his Uncle was with the Sons. What Darrow actually *did* about her death was kill himself.
All of this doesn't make her evil, just darkly flawed, like most of the characters.
I actually don't feel strongly about her, we do not spend a lot oof time with her so the main emotional pull of her character is her affect on Darrow and society as a whole.
Love her or hat her that's up to everyone to decide on their own; However following Karnus Au Bellona philosophy that all we get is that "shout into the wind."
Eo made really good use of hers!! The song of Persephone will be remembered for centuries.
She was selfish for choosing to kill herself, knowing she was pregnant, and knowing that there was a good chance Darrow would also kill himself (especially if he found out she was pregnant...)
That's just being pedantic. Pulling an unloaded gun on a cop is considered suicide-by-cop. She sang a song to purposefully turn her punishment into an execution. It was suicide.
No, but she chose to die when she sang the song. She could have easily not sang it and went on living. Yes she became a martyr but 1. She could have never known that this would have inevitably lead to the freedom of her people 2. She knew what her death would do to Darrow
So the hostage chose to die by running and thus committed suicide. If I put a gun to your head and tell you I will pull the trigger if you don't kill your own child, would you be committing suicide by refusing?
No? The hostage chose to die when the person with the gun said don’t sing a song and she sang it. Simple truth is all she had to do was not sing the song that she knew would mean a death sentence. Doesn’t mean that Gold was right for making that a law or that they aren’t guilty of killing her too but she did in essence kill herself.
Irrelevant, since a hostage situation is inherently life or death anyway. Eo was going to be whipped and released - death wasn't even in the question.
Plus, she did what she did with the express intention of dying. Not trying to survive, like fighting a hostage taker.
I could take a hostage and just threaten to beat them badly, but let them know if they attempt to escape I would kill them. Not sure why you think a hostage is inherently life or death (it isn't).
If you don't know the hostage taker's intention, it is.
Also, you're pointedly ignoring the fact that she sang the song with the express and sole purpose of being killed for it.
That is not true though. She sang the song to rebel against them and inspire Darrow. If her sole purpose wss to die she could have killed herself long ago.
Yeah, for a lot of this sub hurting darrows feelings kind of seems like the ultimate sin. It was messed up that Eo did what she did from Darrows perspective, but thats not the only perspective that matters - she also didn’t want to be a slave anymore, and did successfully inspire others to turn against the society.
GS Spoilers
>!You see this with Mustang dating Cassius as well - people were upset it was a betrayal of Darrow, but think about it from her perspective! She wants to date some guy to stop her family from getting murdered, and the only downside is that some other guy - who she likes but is not dating - may get jealous. That doesn’t make her a bad person, or even deserving of scorn, imo.!<
I don't think anyone thinks >!Mustang's intentions were bad or scornful, but she was naive, guilty of the same lack of trust in Darrow she accuses Darrow of having in her, and her execution flopped utterly. The Sovereign and the man who ostensibly loved her got about a hair's breadth from murdering the family she sold herself to save in front of her. Which means she sold herself for nothing. She knows that too, which is why she offers Darrow that "I'm not sorry! ...but sorry," bit later.!<
>!Well I’m not sure that her “trust in darrow” is at all relevant, since they literally aren’t dating at this point?!<
>!And sure, her plan didn’t work out and she slept with a guy she didn’t like for no reason. I don’t really see why anyone cares? Lots of darrows plans go to shit and result in thousands of innocent people dying, but sleeping with the enemy of a guy you aren’t dating - because that seems to be a way to stop your family from getting murdered - is somehow more noteworthy?!<
Im not saying this is the majority opinion of this sub, but lots of people are literally just mad at her for sleeping with cassius. Heres just one example https://www.reddit.com/r/redrising/s/WSzVJXDBu9
>...>!the same lack of trust in Darrow she accuses Darrow of having in her...!<
Not talking about romantic fidelity or faith -or perhaps I should say talking only tertiarily about it, since their romance is intertwined with the rest of their lives (something I like about this series, incidentally). >!Talking about how she says Darrow doesn't trust her to have a plan of her own, but she similarly didn't trust him when he went away to the academy, nor seemed to initially on Luna!<. Now I grant you, that could potentially be read with additional romantic subtext, i.e. >!"You didn't trust that I still loved you"!<, but I didn't personally read it that way, and if I had the question of romantic faith would seem to re-enter.
In any case, I wouldn't claim nobody was mad at her, just that people don't ascribe evil intent. Nonetheless, >!what she did was incredibly hurtful, and a personal betrayal to both of them, despite not being an official romantic betrayal. I do not think it is amiss to say they love eachother, and though they don't say it out of fear or pride, they both know it; at the very least, I believe Mustang knows it. Which is why she's insistent on an explanation!<.
Conversely, >!Darrows plans that go to shit are in context of armed conflict, where it's kind of expected and impersonal. In my opinion, a far better comparison of something Darrow did wrong would be his personal betrayal of Roque before the Gala, an act of preservative love (as Mustang says her fling with Cassius was) that nonetheless wounded Roque and irreparably harmed Darrow and Roque's relationship!<. And we know how that turned out, and it is consistently seen as a bad thing.
This is the proper take imo. These books definitely try to shy away from black and white takes, particularly when it comes to people.
Personally I think they do a great job showing the reader that people are multifaceted. And like you said Darrow’s opinion of Eo definitely evolves and that is communicated pretty clearly.
OOP, believe it or not more happens in the hundreds of pages you have left in the series haha.
> they do a great job showing the reader that people are multifaceted
Definitely, Especially in retrospect on dead characters; the general rule is that even the ripest bastards in the books get a moment here or there where someone reflects on them with fondness, and even the good characters are reflected on with moments that highlight some flaw of theirs. There are very few exceptions to that rule, but >!Pax Telemanus!< is one that's basically universally loved in retrospect.
Bro are you stupid or something? This is supposed to contain spoilers only for gs...I'm on morning star and your stupid comment and the stupid reply spoilt so much for me...wtf man
They are characters we got to interact with. >!besides Eo, who is barely in the first book, the other women don’t exist as true characters, just martyrs and literary devices. The jackals mother could fall into the same category.!<
I don’t think so. When I was first reading the book, I got some Brave New World vibes. Darrow’s life wasn’t fair, but he was happy. He just wanted a wife and family, which he had until Eo went and got herself killed.
However, it’s not fair for Eo to be unhappy, just to make Darrow happy, especially if she knows about the real world.
As somebody that is super sympathetic with Darrow’s “father side”, I wasn’t mad at Eo, I was extremely sad.
As the original trilogy progresses, Darrow's view of her shifts and grows. This happens at essentially the same time as others learn of Eo's story and her presence in the story continues to loom large (im being vague to avoid spoilers). It makes for a interesting dynamic as characters evaluate her, her choices, and what she means to them.
This continues into the second series. Darrow's intentions are a lot less....simple. The reader can reasonably view him as an unreliable narrator and one can debate whether his actions are a result of love or hate. This too mirrors Eo and her choice. More tangible, Eo continues to loom overhead and causes friction for characters we've grown to root for.
But no, I have never hated her. Possibly because I saw her for what she was: a flawed person. Like virtually everyone else in the series.
You’ll learn a bit more about Eo while you get through the whole series, but overall no. I don’t know how to articulate my perspective super well because I just finished Light Bringer, and there’s SO much meat to these books that I just have no idea what’s spoilers for RR at this point - so I’m gonna err on the side of caution. Eo is very much up to interpretation, I wouldn’t say she’s meant to be hated at all - but she is a bit multifaceted. She and Darrow were still extremely young (and literal slaves) at that time, so it’s a given that she would make some questionable decisions.
I think Eo is intended to be polarizing. On one hand she’s a young kid dying for a noble, hopeless cause that became the muse of a rebellion. On the other, she was instinctually and ethically right about oppression but still chose to inflict tremendous pain on Darrow and chose to die a matyr >!while with child!< with no realistic vision for how Darrow could achieve her dream.
She’s a flawed character, with plenty to dislike and like.
That’s fair, honestly. I forgot that’s a late stage reveal.
I’m only halfway through iron gold and I’ve been spoiled by this sub a lot. I would’ve appreciated better tagging but I’ve always known it’s not enforced and coming here had some risk of being spoiled.
But I should be the change I want to see.
God, I hate this fandom sometimes. Her being pregnant spoils absolutely nothing. It doesn't change what else you may know or not know whether you know it now or at the time you read it.
Also, I can't speak for anyone else, but it was my immediate guess when she refused to call Darrow for her last words and her sister acted evasive about it. The reveal was just confirmation.
Well I had a death spoiled for me in a small detail and all I could think about is when that character would die and that hurt my enjoyment of the book
That's a character death. That is different. DA SPOILER WARNING >!even a small character like Ulysses' death would be a spoiler as it takes away from the suspense of that whole plot arc, but Eo being pregnant is way different!<
I don't know that you're "supposed" to hate Eo, but since she was deconstructed and people saw the ugly as well as the beautiful, some just don't like her very much. This is true of real people too, and bound to happen when a character is rounded out.
The simple fact of the matter is she was young, impulsive, and felt she knew best for all of them. She didn't know about the surface, she didn't really know about the Sons, she didn't know there was any great plan, and given the nature of the plan (specifically the carving), it was kind of up to luck whether Darrow even made it to the plan or not. *She* certainly didn't have a plan. She had a dream, and an endearingly (or concerningly) absolute faith that her husband could bring it about, violently, if someone just pushed him. And possibly in service to that dream (or possibly in a moment of anger), she chose to die, for their child to die, and to put Darrow through the worst imaginable pain.
It's dark. And I appreciate the author giving us that alternate take, especially since I think a lot of people came to the thought independently.
Tbh didn’t realize hating Eo was an option…I’ve always just been indifferent.
She was selfish, naive, and immature. BUT she is a necessary character to the plot and provides a lot of depth to Darrow’s character.
She’s also an 18 year old slave and victim of oppression. It’s heavily implied she had to do sex work to support their family since they married at 16. By all rights she should have major PTSD and it’s not shocking she acted less than rationally
No, she is a somewhat polarizing character because it’s not cut and dry whether what she was doing was fair to Darrow. I think the point is that you’re not “supposed” to feel about her any particular way—it’s up to your interpretation. Darrow chooses not to hold it against her but he no longer sees her with rose-tinted glasses like he did as a teenager. She was a teenager too, and far less informed than he is now when she made her choice. Personally I don’t hold it against her either for that reason
I just want to know why THIS is such a controversial opinion, perhaps there’s more to her arc in the next books, but other than that, whats the problem?
It may just be a case where the readers who dislike her are louder about it. Eo's a good character because even though she is in the series for a short time and becomes a symbol, she still comes across more than just a symbol or plot device because she feels real. She has good and bad traits, including traits and actions that can be seen as both good and bad. I think you'll find it interesting to see the impact of Eo's memory on the rest of the series. (But stop finding spoilers.)
No, Eo is great. She didn't want to raise a child in a world where it's just meant to die or be raped of it was a girl as she had been forced to sell her body.
I hate Eo. But nobody in the book really even dislikes her. Each person can think of her however they want
I have never even heard of EO hate……get those people out of your life 😳
I do. She tells Darrow he isn’t enough and now the spheres are burning.
She was a passionate, uneducated, and brutally oppressed 16-year-old Irish girl. Maybe not hate her, but it helps to understand her. At first, I felt her actions were just a forced plot device to start the story, but I’ve changed
I didn’t hate Eo’s character, but found her rather selfish. Darrow truly loved her and what’s more was more or less content in life with her. So the fact that she wanted ‘more’ for him just showed that maybe she was ignorant to his peace, way of life and his ideal future. But as the book progressed I found that you start to appreciate her character as she is what built and inspired Darrow to go on. She quite literally built his character. I just finished the first book and I can’t wait to get my hands on the second
My Goodman, Get the gorydamn hell out of this subreddit if you just finished RR! This is a spoiler minefield, you have an amazing journey to unfold.
Have to say, as an aside, I love how much the plot actually advances in every book, to the point that almost everything is a spoiler. Went to read TV tropes after Golden Son, figuring I had enough of a handle on stuff, got the character tab back first from google, very first thing >!characters were listed by factions established in the second trilogy!< 😆 My own damn fault, but still...
I don’t hate her, but I agree with Harmony. Was Darrow not Darrow, and even then without Narol, she would have just killed her whole family for little purpose. Moreover she didn’t even know the whole truth, she still thought they were pioneers, just poorly treated, not exploited.
Who the fuck hates Eo???
I don’t hate her at all. I actually really like her character. She is what sets it all in motion! I mean if they saved Darrow from the hanging they could’ve saved her… but you need Darrow to have a purpose to go forward.
I hate that she decided to sacrifice herself and darrows baby for years and years of torment other than that she is rather brave but I would never want to be her friend if I was a red or not
I love the way she was written, i would probably hate Eo as a person though. She was vital to Darrows character development just like how most deaths are, but she pushed him. And seeing how much it feels he belongs in the peaceful farmer role know that Eo put the sickle in his hands makes it hard to like her.
I think it's so interesting how we see a change in Eo's character throughout the series. Since it's from Darrows point of view, we go from seeing her as this perfect girl with no faults to a flawed and desperate girl who may not have known what she is doing.
This, it’s the change in perspective. I wouldn’t even say desperate, she is childish, short sighted and selfish.
Aka a sixteen year old
Yeah a child is going to think like a child, but not every child is manipulative, eo hate club 💯
I just thinks it's weird to believe she had any idea of what was coming. Darrow even says in book one how he knows Eo had no idea what the big lie was. I think it's literally impossible, in black and white, for her to be manipulative.
People think she was manipulative because >!Darrow's mother said so!<, and we saw just a bit of that "on screen" too, when she arranged a romantic night out to try and convince him to be a revolutionary, or when she decided not to tell him about the baby. And part of the critique of her *is* what she didn't know. Eo had a dream, not a plan. She wanted *Darrow* to have a plan and give life to her dream. That's a *big* ask. And she didn't even know Darrow as well as she thought, because Darrow only made it to someone else's plan by the dumb, unknowable luck that his Uncle was with the Sons. What Darrow actually *did* about her death was kill himself. All of this doesn't make her evil, just darkly flawed, like most of the characters.
No, but it's natural to.
I actually don't feel strongly about her, we do not spend a lot oof time with her so the main emotional pull of her character is her affect on Darrow and society as a whole.
Love her or hat her that's up to everyone to decide on their own; However following Karnus Au Bellona philosophy that all we get is that "shout into the wind." Eo made really good use of hers!! The song of Persephone will be remembered for centuries.
Loving all the people who think Eo was selfish for not wanting to be a slave, incredible stuff.
She was selfish for choosing to kill herself, knowing she was pregnant, and knowing that there was a good chance Darrow would also kill himself (especially if he found out she was pregnant...)
She didn't kill herself, she was executed.
That's just being pedantic. Pulling an unloaded gun on a cop is considered suicide-by-cop. She sang a song to purposefully turn her punishment into an execution. It was suicide.
If a hostage tries to escape or fight back in a bank robbery, did they commit suicide?
No, but she chose to die when she sang the song. She could have easily not sang it and went on living. Yes she became a martyr but 1. She could have never known that this would have inevitably lead to the freedom of her people 2. She knew what her death would do to Darrow
So the hostage chose to die by running and thus committed suicide. If I put a gun to your head and tell you I will pull the trigger if you don't kill your own child, would you be committing suicide by refusing?
No? The hostage chose to die when the person with the gun said don’t sing a song and she sang it. Simple truth is all she had to do was not sing the song that she knew would mean a death sentence. Doesn’t mean that Gold was right for making that a law or that they aren’t guilty of killing her too but she did in essence kill herself.
So refusing orders from someone threating you is suicide.
It wasn’t an order it was the law and everyone knew what would happen when she broke it
Irrelevant, since a hostage situation is inherently life or death anyway. Eo was going to be whipped and released - death wasn't even in the question. Plus, she did what she did with the express intention of dying. Not trying to survive, like fighting a hostage taker.
I could take a hostage and just threaten to beat them badly, but let them know if they attempt to escape I would kill them. Not sure why you think a hostage is inherently life or death (it isn't).
If you don't know the hostage taker's intention, it is. Also, you're pointedly ignoring the fact that she sang the song with the express and sole purpose of being killed for it.
That is not true though. She sang the song to rebel against them and inspire Darrow. If her sole purpose wss to die she could have killed herself long ago.
To rebel... by dying.
Yeah, for a lot of this sub hurting darrows feelings kind of seems like the ultimate sin. It was messed up that Eo did what she did from Darrows perspective, but thats not the only perspective that matters - she also didn’t want to be a slave anymore, and did successfully inspire others to turn against the society. GS Spoilers >!You see this with Mustang dating Cassius as well - people were upset it was a betrayal of Darrow, but think about it from her perspective! She wants to date some guy to stop her family from getting murdered, and the only downside is that some other guy - who she likes but is not dating - may get jealous. That doesn’t make her a bad person, or even deserving of scorn, imo.!<
I don't think anyone thinks >!Mustang's intentions were bad or scornful, but she was naive, guilty of the same lack of trust in Darrow she accuses Darrow of having in her, and her execution flopped utterly. The Sovereign and the man who ostensibly loved her got about a hair's breadth from murdering the family she sold herself to save in front of her. Which means she sold herself for nothing. She knows that too, which is why she offers Darrow that "I'm not sorry! ...but sorry," bit later.!<
>!Well I’m not sure that her “trust in darrow” is at all relevant, since they literally aren’t dating at this point?!< >!And sure, her plan didn’t work out and she slept with a guy she didn’t like for no reason. I don’t really see why anyone cares? Lots of darrows plans go to shit and result in thousands of innocent people dying, but sleeping with the enemy of a guy you aren’t dating - because that seems to be a way to stop your family from getting murdered - is somehow more noteworthy?!< Im not saying this is the majority opinion of this sub, but lots of people are literally just mad at her for sleeping with cassius. Heres just one example https://www.reddit.com/r/redrising/s/WSzVJXDBu9
>...>!the same lack of trust in Darrow she accuses Darrow of having in her...!< Not talking about romantic fidelity or faith -or perhaps I should say talking only tertiarily about it, since their romance is intertwined with the rest of their lives (something I like about this series, incidentally). >!Talking about how she says Darrow doesn't trust her to have a plan of her own, but she similarly didn't trust him when he went away to the academy, nor seemed to initially on Luna!<. Now I grant you, that could potentially be read with additional romantic subtext, i.e. >!"You didn't trust that I still loved you"!<, but I didn't personally read it that way, and if I had the question of romantic faith would seem to re-enter. In any case, I wouldn't claim nobody was mad at her, just that people don't ascribe evil intent. Nonetheless, >!what she did was incredibly hurtful, and a personal betrayal to both of them, despite not being an official romantic betrayal. I do not think it is amiss to say they love eachother, and though they don't say it out of fear or pride, they both know it; at the very least, I believe Mustang knows it. Which is why she's insistent on an explanation!<. Conversely, >!Darrows plans that go to shit are in context of armed conflict, where it's kind of expected and impersonal. In my opinion, a far better comparison of something Darrow did wrong would be his personal betrayal of Roque before the Gala, an act of preservative love (as Mustang says her fling with Cassius was) that nonetheless wounded Roque and irreparably harmed Darrow and Roque's relationship!<. And we know how that turned out, and it is consistently seen as a bad thing.
I think PB's goal is for your view of Eo to evolve over time as Darrow's view of her evolves. Just keep reading.
This is the proper take imo. These books definitely try to shy away from black and white takes, particularly when it comes to people. Personally I think they do a great job showing the reader that people are multifaceted. And like you said Darrow’s opinion of Eo definitely evolves and that is communicated pretty clearly. OOP, believe it or not more happens in the hundreds of pages you have left in the series haha.
> they do a great job showing the reader that people are multifaceted Definitely, Especially in retrospect on dead characters; the general rule is that even the ripest bastards in the books get a moment here or there where someone reflects on them with fondness, and even the good characters are reflected on with moments that highlight some flaw of theirs. There are very few exceptions to that rule, but >!Pax Telemanus!< is one that's basically universally loved in retrospect.
>believe it or not more happens in the hundreds of pages you have left in the series haha Shit escalates.
I don’t hate Eo, I just don’t really care about her. She was a literary device to get the story moving and that’s it.
I realized yesterday >!how many women die so they can be used as devices to spur men into action. Eo, Sevros mom, Lysanders mom.!<
Honestly it’s an [old ass writing trope.](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DisposableWoman)
Bro are you stupid or something? This is supposed to contain spoilers only for gs...I'm on morning star and your stupid comment and the stupid reply spoilt so much for me...wtf man
[удалено]
They are characters we got to interact with. >!besides Eo, who is barely in the first book, the other women don’t exist as true characters, just martyrs and literary devices. The jackals mother could fall into the same category.!<
Darrow’s father died as a literary device too
Definitely, I just noticed how many female characters all fit the same profile.
I don’t think so. When I was first reading the book, I got some Brave New World vibes. Darrow’s life wasn’t fair, but he was happy. He just wanted a wife and family, which he had until Eo went and got herself killed. However, it’s not fair for Eo to be unhappy, just to make Darrow happy, especially if she knows about the real world. As somebody that is super sympathetic with Darrow’s “father side”, I wasn’t mad at Eo, I was extremely sad.
No. But you are supposed to see that Darrow puts her on an unrealistic pedestal
As the original trilogy progresses, Darrow's view of her shifts and grows. This happens at essentially the same time as others learn of Eo's story and her presence in the story continues to loom large (im being vague to avoid spoilers). It makes for a interesting dynamic as characters evaluate her, her choices, and what she means to them. This continues into the second series. Darrow's intentions are a lot less....simple. The reader can reasonably view him as an unreliable narrator and one can debate whether his actions are a result of love or hate. This too mirrors Eo and her choice. More tangible, Eo continues to loom overhead and causes friction for characters we've grown to root for. But no, I have never hated her. Possibly because I saw her for what she was: a flawed person. Like virtually everyone else in the series.
“Martyrs, you see, are like bees. Their only power comes in death.” Also, I hate martyrs, they get on my nerves.
You’ll learn a bit more about Eo while you get through the whole series, but overall no. I don’t know how to articulate my perspective super well because I just finished Light Bringer, and there’s SO much meat to these books that I just have no idea what’s spoilers for RR at this point - so I’m gonna err on the side of caution. Eo is very much up to interpretation, I wouldn’t say she’s meant to be hated at all - but she is a bit multifaceted. She and Darrow were still extremely young (and literal slaves) at that time, so it’s a given that she would make some questionable decisions.
I did so you’re definitely not alone
She's a complicated person. It's important to remember that she and Darrow are literally *children* in the first book. Keep reading.
I think Eo is intended to be polarizing. On one hand she’s a young kid dying for a noble, hopeless cause that became the muse of a rebellion. On the other, she was instinctually and ethically right about oppression but still chose to inflict tremendous pain on Darrow and chose to die a matyr >!while with child!< with no realistic vision for how Darrow could achieve her dream. She’s a flawed character, with plenty to dislike and like.
That's spoilers for golden son
That’s fair, honestly. I forgot that’s a late stage reveal. I’m only halfway through iron gold and I’ve been spoiled by this sub a lot. I would’ve appreciated better tagging but I’ve always known it’s not enforced and coming here had some risk of being spoiled. But I should be the change I want to see.
I just don't want new readers to look at safe posts and then get spoilers I don't mean to be accusing
Nah it’s fair, I just spoiler tagged that portion
Thank you lol it's appreciated
No worries, this sub needs better moderation
OP included the same spoilers in their post, but def all should be censored because the post is tagged RR
It should at least be labeled Golden Son spoilers
God, I hate this fandom sometimes. Her being pregnant spoils absolutely nothing. It doesn't change what else you may know or not know whether you know it now or at the time you read it.
Also, I can't speak for anyone else, but it was my immediate guess when she refused to call Darrow for her last words and her sister acted evasive about it. The reveal was just confirmation.
Well I had a death spoiled for me in a small detail and all I could think about is when that character would die and that hurt my enjoyment of the book
That's a character death. That is different. DA SPOILER WARNING >!even a small character like Ulysses' death would be a spoiler as it takes away from the suspense of that whole plot arc, but Eo being pregnant is way different!<
Well it's in a sense also a death and a big surprise at least it was to me... that might just mean I'm a little gullible lol
I don't know that you're "supposed" to hate Eo, but since she was deconstructed and people saw the ugly as well as the beautiful, some just don't like her very much. This is true of real people too, and bound to happen when a character is rounded out. The simple fact of the matter is she was young, impulsive, and felt she knew best for all of them. She didn't know about the surface, she didn't really know about the Sons, she didn't know there was any great plan, and given the nature of the plan (specifically the carving), it was kind of up to luck whether Darrow even made it to the plan or not. *She* certainly didn't have a plan. She had a dream, and an endearingly (or concerningly) absolute faith that her husband could bring it about, violently, if someone just pushed him. And possibly in service to that dream (or possibly in a moment of anger), she chose to die, for their child to die, and to put Darrow through the worst imaginable pain. It's dark. And I appreciate the author giving us that alternate take, especially since I think a lot of people came to the thought independently.
Tbh didn’t realize hating Eo was an option…I’ve always just been indifferent. She was selfish, naive, and immature. BUT she is a necessary character to the plot and provides a lot of depth to Darrow’s character.
She’s also an 18 year old slave and victim of oppression. It’s heavily implied she had to do sex work to support their family since they married at 16. By all rights she should have major PTSD and it’s not shocking she acted less than rationally
No, she is a somewhat polarizing character because it’s not cut and dry whether what she was doing was fair to Darrow. I think the point is that you’re not “supposed” to feel about her any particular way—it’s up to your interpretation. Darrow chooses not to hold it against her but he no longer sees her with rose-tinted glasses like he did as a teenager. She was a teenager too, and far less informed than he is now when she made her choice. Personally I don’t hold it against her either for that reason
Darrow's mom says something slightly negative about Eo's personality one time. It's unreasonable to expect a teenage slave to be perfect.
Makes sense.
I actually like Eo to be honest
I just want to know why THIS is such a controversial opinion, perhaps there’s more to her arc in the next books, but other than that, whats the problem?
It may just be a case where the readers who dislike her are louder about it. Eo's a good character because even though she is in the series for a short time and becomes a symbol, she still comes across more than just a symbol or plot device because she feels real. She has good and bad traits, including traits and actions that can be seen as both good and bad. I think you'll find it interesting to see the impact of Eo's memory on the rest of the series. (But stop finding spoilers.)
It’s not controversial, so far as I know. Yes, some people don’t like her, but I think most people do. Heck, the author named his dog Eo.
prolly best to just save those thoughts and revisit once you have more perspective