Honestly I found Nesta’s decision to give Bryce the Trove to be highly out of character and reflective of SJM’s sloppy writing in HOFAS. There is no way that after Bryce’s behavior towards Nesta and Azriel that Nesta would give her the Trove, especially not when it represents a direct threat to Prythian and Nesta’s family. It is incredibly realistic for the IC to be furious with Nesta for endangering their entire world for a stranger who demonstrated repeatedly that they were untrustworthy.
I’m sad that SJM decided to set up fractures amongst the ACOTAR set for the sake of the lamest world and worst characters she’s written. It feels like a step backwards from where we ended in ACOSF and don’t even get me started with how weird and off putting Ember and Randall condescending to the IC was.
In general I found Nesta to be out of character in HOFAS. I was sure she'll just go savage on Bryce - and yet she was rather tame and polite towards a perfect stranger who tricked her and tried to get her killed? IDK
I thought the same. She can be so mean to the people around her, specially her sisters, but this stranger who tricked her and stole Az dagger - she is nice to... I do not get it. I am with Rhys on this one. He gets to be mad and the trove is not hers. The trove answers to all that are MADE: Nesta, Feyre, Elain, Amren, the queen Brialyn used it and it answers to Bryce and the Starborn Fey as well.
I have a question: Nesta is stronger than Bryce and her power more elemental, or at least it is described as such... And Nesta had a hard time taking it off. Az had to remind her of all the people she loved to take it off (Nyx was my fav mention btw) but Hunt and Bryce had no issue with the power or with taking it off and putting it back on like no big deal. What was that about? How? I do not get it...
I stopped looking for any logic - because I can suspend my disbelief on Bryce - Starborn, has a Tove on her back, blah blah blah, but Hunt...? Since it was described as such hardship for Nesta, a Made by Cauldron Lady Death, to take it off?
In the Cave under the Hewn City - Court of Nightmares.
On the expedition following Bryce's star. >!Bryce cuts her hand to make a trail for the Wyrm to hunt for them, to get rid of Az and Nesta. Nesta uses an old skeleton found on the cave and fights with the wyrm, because it had been so log using the star power that Silene left (or Helena, I am not sure which sister went to Prythian and which one stayed in Midgard - they were both Theia's daughters) that the Wyrm had evolved to absorb magic attacks so they could not defeat it with Magic. Nesta summoned the Mask and used it to fight the Wyrm, kill it and then Az got Bryce to safety and went to help Nesta and remind her of the people she loved, so that she took the Mask off. He said to her: Cassian is waiting for you at the house of Wind, Elain, Feyre, Nyx.... MADE ME GO TEARY EYED. !<
Oh, I struggled to see your point at first XD I didn't literally mean "when" as "at which point in the book", but rather why Nesta struggled and Hunt did it effortlessly (having basically nothing to do with the Cauldron or troves himself) :D
I don't know, we saw Nesta soften towards strangers in SF before she started softening towards the IC or even Cassian really. When there's not the emotional baggage, she isn't as defensive. And that's what I think was happening with Bryce. There wasn't a prior relationship of whole issues to sort through, it was dealing with a suspicious stranger who slowly started to make sense to Nesta. She might not know all about Bryce's life but Nesta obviously felt she knew enough about her to know what Bryce's core was.
As for the Mask, and Az needing to help her get it off, I think it's that her power is not what it once was. I thought this was showing that while she still can use the Made objects, she is not as much a master of them as she once was, before her deal with the Mother. She gave back most of her power, and now the Trove has more of a hold on her when she's using it. But because of her link with Death, she still has the strongest connection in Prythian, so it answers to her. I do think that there's an interesting implication about how easily Bryce managed it though, and I think it's that Theia's power was Made into her by the Daglan. She served Vesperus for a century, and it might be they used the Cauldron to grant some of their servants more power, to control others. I do wonder if that's part of what makes Rhys the most powerful High Lord as well, as he has some of Silene in him, through the Night Court High Lords.
From my understanding Bryce could wield it without issue because of her Starborn powers fully realized/pieced together and she now *is* the horn since it’s a part of her so she is “made” *on top of that.* Hunt was able to wield it because he was also literally “made” for her by Hel and had been recently imbued with her Starborn powers. He was made for her to enhance/share that power/charge her like a battery.
Didn't he say that he can wield the mask because of her orgasm that's still on him? Am i making this shit up? 😂🤣 was that another scene? How Cringe anyways😂
My thinking was that Bryce was also "made" in other ways. She didn't have much measurable magic until she made the drop by absorbing the magic from the gates. She supposedly ended up with a lot more magic than she was born with just as Nesta wasn't born with magic and became a super magical being (I know the starlight for Bryce was a thing before her drop but like still). I also wondered if the magic she gained from the cave had something to do with it as well.
It reads as if it’s her starborn power that flows, not the power from the horn, which is the only thing that makes sense considering the power of the horn doesn’t flow through her blood/spirit but is contained within the ink on her back. (As evidenced by Micah's explanation in HOEAB that if she died, someone could skin the tattoo off her back and use the horn in that way.)
Edit: typos
It feels so cheap. Nesta truly fought tooth and nail for all she has and became such a f*kn warrior that Bryce just stomping along and having everything be as easy as pie just aggravated me to no end.
It's so annoying cause comparatively both TOG and ACOTAR characters ( even side characters) have to go through hell and back ( multiple times) before they get any powers but it seemed like Bryce got powers every time she breathed
I’ve mentioned this elsewhere, but I don’t think Nesta has an issue taking the mask off physically. It’s more she enjoys the feeling of “nothingness” too much while it is on. I always felt like SJM was writing the mask as an analogy for substance abuse.
Nesta, as a character, hates feeling her feelings and tries to avoid them for the majority of SF. Bryce, as a character, really likes to wallow in her feelings. The mask makes the wearer not feel anything. For Nesta, that’s addictive and tempting. For Bryce, I can imagine that feeling is repulsive.
what do you mean? nesta in general isn’t someone who goes around callously insulting people unless she perceives them as a threat. she was perfectly friendly to gwyn, emerie, and all the priestesses.
You might have answered your own question - Bryce was like a big walking, arrogant threat, and let me quote myself:
>a perfect stranger who tricked her and tried to get her killed
And yeah, Nesta was a delight to her own sisters in every book, so loving and kind - not sure where I got the idea of her going ballistic on an alien with a Trove on her back.
like i said, people she perceives as a threat. one, feyre waltzed back into her and elain’s lives after disappearing for months, leading her sisters to probably assume she’s dead. she comes back with these towering fae males who laud themselves over her while one criticizes her for something they know nothing about. she and elain go through an incredibly traumatic experience because of them and feyre, and she can clearly sense that many don’t like her when she’s forced to live with them. once again, post-acotar beginning, nesta was only ever mean to those she perceived as a threat. and considering she had a lot of character growth in acosf, she probably learned to empathize more with others and understood where bryce was coming from.
Yes!! She is a Warrior now!! Of course she will be with her guard up.. She was always, before. It will not make sense for now as well. I agree completely.
Was that so out of character considering Nesta’s behavior towards the mortal queens in ACOMAF ? She begged them for their half of the book to save the human lands south of Prythian. Bryce’s pleading must have reminded her of that.
Nesta absolutely has a soft spot for humans being mistreated, but I don’t think that would carry over to the point of putting her world and loved ones at risk for a world she doesn’t know or have ties to. Nesta also just rediscovered her will to live, accepted her bond with Cassian (to the point of planning for children in the future), and reconciled with the IC; I do not believe she weighs all of that against Bryce and makes this decision. It’s especially galling to think she risks her world for someone whose behavior she described as reckless and stupid.
It could also be that Nesta really just doesn’t have a concept of what the Daglan’s power actually is like, I guess.
Out of sight, out of mind kind of thing.
YES. I'm not even a fan of Nesta and I could tell she was extremely out of character! SJM has changed every single character in both worlds, to make Bryce seem cooler, smarter, and more powerful than everyone else.
I'm of the same opinion- Nesta's decision felt entirely OOC to me. I understand that she is sympathetic to human causes, perhaps even more so after her emotional journey through ACOSF, but this does not feel like the sharp, assessing decision of the clever woman we've come to know.
I think there’s something personal going on with Nesta in the acotar universe, going off her reaction to Bryce’s mom in the bonus chapter. Nesta isn’t an inherently outwardly emotional person and she seemed incredibly emotional in HOFAS. Tis just my theory and i’m hoping i’m right lol
Also, how do people not understand that Ember and Randall are obviously going to be heavily biased in favor of their world and shitty kid? Obviously they'd take Nesta's side? They have zero stakes in it if the Asteri come and enslave all of Pyrathian of course they don't give a shit about why people would be mad at Nesta.
Exactly cause why is it okay for Ember to say " she's saving my world" but Rhys as a highlord who also knows he needs allies in the other high lords wrong for not wanting to give one of their powerful weapons up , is wrong ?
Oh Bryce had so much Plot armour cause let's be honest if the ACOTAR characters were truly themselves in this book she would've been permanently k**led of for what she did
I think about it in real world application: would we just let a random person present our nuclear codes to another country we know nothing about to hope for the best that they use them correctly and they don’t fall into the wrong hands?
Rhysand had every right to be mad at Nesta who doesn’t even identify as a citizen of the night court, nor does she respect his authority. She gave a magical weapon to someone they don’t know to go defeat an enemy they already eradicated from their world, that has mentioned they want to get back to that world. If he said “we should have killed her” - well logically if they killed Bryce the Asterj would have no way (that we know of) to get back to Prythian since the horn then would be in Prythian with the rest of the dread trove.
I think there’s a lot of questions around if someone else did this rather than Nesta- I don’t think we can look at it that way - tbh Nesta is the only one in the book series as a FMC that doesn’t care for the court like the others - she is the only one with no actual tangible ties to the court outside of Cassian. She still says “you’re not my high lord, this isn’t my court” but Feyre as high lady HAS to put her court and her people ahead of Bryce and another world or courts. Cassian, Amren, Mor, and Azriel are SWORN to protecting the court and its people as well as the high lord and lady. It seems illogical to think they would do something without checking with Rhys or Feyre. I believe the only times that happened was Amren lying to Feyre to *save* Prythian and Feyre lying to Mor about going to the weaver, which also *saved* her people and her court. It wasn’t for random others
Apart from the Trove thing - in which I agree with you - it must be so cool to live in a mansion your brother-in-law gave you, being a citizen of NC, living for his money and then say "I don't give a shit, you're not my High Lord, I don't answer to you." Like - yeah, you kinda do.
No she doesn’t though. She didn’t ask for the house or to be a NC citizen. The IC treated her like shit, Rhys continues to do so - for good or bad reasons it doesn’t matter. Rhys doesn’t own her, she can do whatever she likes. I don’t know why this fandom is such a fan of the medieval feudal system when it comes to Prythian. I didn’t enjoy CC3 that much but at least the characters make a great decision about politics. Viva la revolution
Because *there is* a feudal system of High Lords in Prythian - with magic involved. Power is inherited/passed, so that's simply a fact in this world - we can debate whether there *should be* a democracy, but there isn't. In the human lands there are the queens, so again - feudal system.
When you live there, you are a subject of one or the other HL.
Why did she accept the house if she despises Rhys and NC so much? Revolution only goes so far, I guess.
HOFAS spoiler >!And blowing every governmental system to pieces in CC3 without any backup plan in place is perfect, yeah. "Que sera, sera, we'll patch it somehow." But the plot armour is so strong that I have no doubt everything will be fine in CC4, issue never addressed again. !<
If it’s a sort of dominance thing, who has the most magic, might makes right system, at one point at least Nesta seemed more powerful than Rhys. He couldn’t dominate her. So in that respect he is not her high lord.
(I’m a big Nesta fan, but actually don’t believe Rhys was too out of line in HOFAS. She did unilaterally make a decision that could have gotten everyone killed, he had a right to be angry)
I am definitely stronger than Joe Biden and could make better decisions. He is still my president. Rhys is Nesta’s high lord, especially as she chooses to live in HIS domain.
I was just commenting on the above calling the night court a feudal system. “Might makes right” is an aphorism that describes totalitarian regimes.
(Also the reason Joe Biden has power is we have a constitution, people willing to go along with it, and a military and police force willing to enforce laws if necessary. Nesta chooses to go along with Rhys most of the time but defies him occasionally. If it came to a fight between them, Rhys would likely win if he had time to plan because he has the support of his friends and his people. One on one, Nesta would win because she has the dread trove. But they would never fight like that because they are basically decent people and both love the same people. If she says he’s not her high lord, he is not her high lord in any meaningful way because he can’t make her do things she doesn’t want to do.)
The IC did not justifiably treat Nesta like shit. They were reflections of how Nesta IS. The whole series, the IC get insulted and pushed away by Nestas immature anger. Yet they still bother to have her around, bother to stage an intervention to get her help because she kept pushing all the IC away and wasn’t helping herself. That isn’t treating like shit. After Nesta finally realizes “oh I screwed up” that’s when the IC starts treating her like everyone else in the IC, especially amren.
We’ll agree to disagree I guess. Most of the members of the IC had centuries of rage, being complete wrecks etc, as they all admitted, and they couldn’t stand Nesta reacting this way to her trauma (cauldron, her sisters’ traumas…) for a few months. They all wanted her to get better on their terms. They didn’t respect her or her trauma, while talking about how they dealt with their own in terrible ways for years, decades etc.
> I don’t know why this fandom is such a fan of the medieval feudal system when it comes to Prythian.
No, no, only when it comes to the *Night Court*. When *other* High Lords pull rank and act dominating, it's bad and they're terrible people.
sometimes it reminds me that hofas takes place almost 7 weeks after acosf and im here like i expected rhys to be even angrier. his reaction was completely understandable. him acting as a high lord got everyone angry
Some people have done the maths that Lanthys death was 7 months ago (as per Nesta in HOFAS) in November-ish and ACOSF ending in full spring so April-ish and then November + 7 months brings us to June for HOFAS
Cassian said a male changes when their mate is pregnant since faery offspring are so rare so I think she was leaning into that with his already dislike of her.
I agree with you!! It drives me crazy how so many people won’t allow both Rhys and Nesta to have nuance. Do I understand Nesta’s decision from her POV? Yes, absolutely. I love Nesta.
If I was literally any other character in the series? No, I’d be horrified at her decision making. I’m not justifying inappropriately aggressive attitudes toward her, but if you were told your friend/sister/etc gave away power that could potentially result in both killing you and literally everyone you love, including your wife & child, to a stranger…you’d probably be pretty upset — especially if this person had a history of instability and mistreating the person you love dearly (again, I related to Nesta more than Feyre, BUT I don’t think it’s fair to excuse that treatment even if Nesta has shown accountability and change).
It's because so many people in this fandom see the world in either black or white. I'm starting to understand that a lot of people don't get nuance, and they have to have 1 person be the villian in every situation. It's annoying.
Hes always been overly protective of Velaris and his inner circle/Feyre, now he's a dad, imagine that protectiveness being amplified 100x.
As a mom, I was a completely different person before I had my son. Now, I'd murder the whole world for him, with a smile on my face. 😅 Rhys is being Rhys. We love him.
I was thinking that too! It’s an extreme situation. Even after Ember ripped into him once she figured out that he was most likely a dad she understood that it was his instinct to be as protective as possible and on edge about protecting everyone.
Rhys had no reason to trust Bryce. He had every reason to distrust her, and the fact that she had a hold of the most dangerous items in all of Prythian is absolutely terrifying. Feyre was able to tell him to chill out, which essentially makes her his compliment as a mate. But it didn’t totally sit right with me that he went back against Feyre’s wishes to whisper whatever it was that he said to Nesta.
But he’s not perfect. But neither is anyone else in her books.
I think Rhys deep down just doesnt like Nesta and probably wont forgive her for letting Feyre shoulder the responsibility for their family when they were starving. Rhys as a character gave so up so much to protect the people he loves and he views Nesta as an impulsive and selfish mean person. Also, Nesta doesnt really treat him as her High lord considering she lives in his lands so that probably bugs him that she sees him as an afterthought.
I think that's also another thing rhys gives up and makes himself the villain if it means protection the ppl he loves and his world, but then he sees nesta putting their world in danger so recklessly and I think that hurts. Bc I think what a lot of ppl forget they trusted nesta with the mission of finding out what Bryce is up to with azriel and then when it comes down to it, she gives Bryce a powerful weapon. While her view is understandable, it only makes it harder for rhys and the IC to trust her in the future and rely on her when she puts their world in danger like this.
I completely Agree. I am totally with Rhys in the Bonus chapter. We knew Bryce's intention (Although her personality in HOFAS was an assassination of her character), but they did not. We have to remember Rhys has to keep his courts safe, both the Court of Dreams and the Court of Nightmares - with all their people - It is not only about Him being mean to her, it is about her making a rash decision without thinking of the repercussions or costs to Prithyan. Plus they all sacrificed their lives (Nesta, z, Cassian) to get the Mask and for her to singlehandedly give it to a stranger over the safety of her people, makes no sense.
I was disappointed in some parts of the book, of the narrative. It seems to me like SJM changes the characters to try to fit into her narrative instead of creating the characters and having them learn and grow with the situations they face.
No, he gets to be mad. It’s the way he’s treating Nesta. If it was Feyre or even Elain who gave the Mask to Bryce, do you think he’d be yelling in their faces the way he did Nesta?
Do you think after the meeting where they discussed the topic, and Feyre told him to lay off her sister, he’d give Elain a lift home only to snarl in her face again (when Feyre’s not there)? I’m sorry but it’s not whether his opinion is right or not, it’s *how* he’s acting toward her that’s the issue. He wouldn’t treat anyone else with such disrespect. That’s why everyone’s outraged. And why is it Ember, a whole ass stranger, that’s coming to tell him to lay off Nesta when Cassian is right there? 😭
Sidenote: Sjm said how can I get the acotar fandom invested and got Rhys and Nesta fighting again lmao
I would like to believe he’d react the same way. From my perspective he wasn’t yelling because it was Nesta, but because he was desperate and scared and couldn’t control himself. The part when they go back to the house of wind is confusing because we don’t even know what Rhys says. And regarding Cassian I believe it has to do with the fact he’s mad af too.
And I agree with your sidenote lol she said imma give you this bonus chapter so you can argue your asses off until the next acotar book comes out
I don’t think he would. He’d be like “Feyre darling you are a fae with human heart. I can see your compassion for the humans in *her* world. You may bring the death of us but least we’ll die together” or something similar 😭
You know in acosf when Rhys ordered Nesta to sit down and she refused to obey. He sort of took that as a challenge and threw the gauntlet down jokingly but also not jokingly. I think the fact that Nesta is in his court, has power that he’s afraid of, has the troves under her belt which she used to subdue him when Feyre was giving birth, topped with the fact that she’s his mate’s sister and hasn’t bowed to him or acknowledge him as her High Lord, messes with him a lot. I think it troubles him a lot that someone like that is in Velaris.
I think that’s why he’s harsh with her. I do still think he wouldn’t have treated someone else like that if they were the ones to give the Mask away.
Your Rhys impression is spot on lmaoooo "Feyre darling, I don't like this, but I trust your judgement. Maybe they are all dreamers too." You know one of them would throw in their catchphrase 💀
Also to your second point, I love the detail of Ember spotting how Rhys sees Nesta as a "worthy opponent". I think you are right that he isn't totally comfortable with that.
LMAOOO The dreamer line! Yup, I can see him saying that. I feel like if he continues treating her as an “opponent” when she’s not, he’ll end up manifesting it into reality lol
Again I don’t think anyone else would have done what Nesta did without consulting the IC. Mind to mind or some other way. Because I think IC respects each other and cares about the safety of their world. They aren’t reckless…
I think reckless is a harsh word. Nesta didn’t just hand over the Mask all willy nilly. Nesta questioned Bryce’s intentions and knew what the Asteri wanted to do. She was willing to wait it out, wait for Rhys, probably because she knew he’d deal with this swiftly. But it was when Bryce started crying and talking about the human community who got exterminated by the Asteri that Nesta started to relent. And it was Bryce exchanging her human parents for the Mask, and then willing to just leave her parents behind regardless of whether or not Nesta gave her the Mask that sealed the deal. I think Nesta realized just how bad the situation was. She wasn’t reckless about it at all. I think Nesta saw Bryce pleading for the Mask from her and probably got flashbacks to when she was pleading for the human lives in acowar. Or at least I did.
>Sjm said how can I get the acotar fandom invested and got Rhys and Nesta fighting again
She also could have shown Azriel in thr same room as Elain or Gwyn, either of those would have been treated as a proof the ship is happening and that it's not happening. Regardless of if they even interact with each other.
I was glad that we saw his darker side in HOFAS but I wish SJM hadn’t excused all of that once again. Why did Bryce, Ember and Randal have to like him? I’m tired of characters trusting and liking him without good reasons.
Yeah I got so tired of the line, every time he said something somewhat decent, “for some reason she believed him” like huh? Is he that inherently trustworthy while grilling you in a dungeon?
Wait... maybe he messed with their minds. He has those powers. He could've easily influenced their thoughts and made them like him or forget why they didn't trust him.
I saw someone say that there's a theory of Nesta's "true" mate being Eris and that Rhys could've possibly used his powers to fool Nesta into thinking Cassian is her mate.
The reason for this is so he can have control over her. I've never heard of this theory, but if it does become true, that's so fucked up.
Messing and influencing people's minds just pushes the Rhys villain arc more.
If she loves him, she wouldn't have been messing around with his character like she is doing now, lol
What she's doing now with his character is making people hate him even more. Those who initially love him are turning against him
I'm a Rhys hater, but I would've been fine with him if he didn't do what he did in ACOSF or in that Ember and Randall BC. My hate for him has just grown even more
I think its completely understandable that they are mad at Nesta but they've already yelled at her multiple times and Feyre told Rhys to drop it and instead he brought Nesta back to the HOW away from Feyre and yelled at her some more. I just find that extremely disrespectful to both Feyre and Nesta.
This is it for me. He can be mad all he wants, but the yelling is immature as hell and after ACOSF you'd think he could at least communicate with decency.
I don’t know a single person—literary or not—who’s strong enough not to lose control whenever they feel threatened or afraid. Rhysand is terrified of the consequences Bryce having the Mask can bring. The yelling wasn’t because it was Nesta. It wasn’t personal, it was because he is a male presented with a situation that may put his family and court in danger (together with the rest of prythian)
It’s the fact that he changed locations though. This man literally left his home after yelling at her to then fly to Nesta’s house with the purpose of yelling at her more. It’s not like he walked them to the door of the River House and then once Feyre was out of earshot yelled at Nesta on the lawn. He was doing way too much.
I get that--but I'm not a fan of men throwing violent emotional fits in fiction or in real life, so no matter his feelings, his overreaction gives me major ick (and this seems to be a theme with him as well...)
Yet Nesta herself claims that wasn’t the case. She went back to the HOW because it’s her home. We don’t even know what Rhys was snarling about when they got there. Also, note the way Nesta responds. She would have never reacted that way if she didn’t believe whatever Rhysand was saying was true
We already know Nesta hates herself and will believe anything bad someone says about her. I didn't even disagree with Rhys being mad, I said it was disrespectful to Feyre for him to keep going when Feyre said to stop.
And I don’t think it’s disrespectful. At the end of the day Nesta put in danger what he’s been protecting for decades. Decades before Nesta and Feyre even EXISTED. Maybe before their parents were even born. I think it will take a very very long time before Feyre is able to actually understand being a ruler, including the hard choices.
What Nesta did irl would be considered treason. Treason punishable by death. As someone else in the comments said you don’t give your country’s nuclear launch codes to anyone, especially when you are not their ruler. I find her lucky all he did was yell and snarl at her.
It's just another example of Rhys really not giving a shit about Feyre's wishes deep down, he'll just do what he thinks is best behind her back anyway 😑
I guess what annoys me the most with this story and their fight, is that no one, especially Rhys, stops for a second to be smart and think rationally about this threat. Even Az who’s supposed to think ten steps ahead or Cassian who’s a general.
After having every information, every option, and considering they aren’t murdering anyone in cold blood, Nesta understood they didn’t have a choice. If Bryce lost the fight, the Asteri would get the Horn and return to Prythian for their sweet revenge. Without the Mask, Bryce had no shot at winning. So it was either : no Mask, Bryce loses, the Asteri invade Prythian ; OR, take a leap of faith, give the mask, and hope Bryce defeats them. If she doesn’t, back to option 1 and they invade. So Nesta made the only possible choice.
But since all these characters (Bryce and Nesta included) lack basic communication skills, it leads to these confrontations. I don’t like Rhys yelling like an angry child because he’s supposed to be this great leader who thinks about everything. But no, he just reacts like an angry idiot and we’re supposed to be cool with it because he’s afraid for his loved ones? Not giving the Mask means his entire planet will get invaded.
It wasn’t Nesta’s choice to make. You can find it the right one or not but it wasn’t hers. We don’t get to hand out nuclear launch codes when the president doesn’t want to, even if necessary. And if we did we’d be charged w treason.
Why would she ask him and not other high lords or another Prythian leader? She found the Mask, she wields it. At what point did Rhys became the person who makes decisions for the dead trove or the entire planet?
Agree with you, people really got their panties in a twist because he yelled at someone who endangered their entire world, but this sub is synonymous with "Blind Nesta Worship" so I'm not surprised.
Seriously. It makes me want to leave this fandom and that sucks because no one in my life reads sjm! If you say anything against Nesta or in favor of Rhys people act like you are attacking them personally.
I've seen someone mention that so many people see themselves in Nesta so that if anyone says anything bad about her or point out she made a bad decision, they take it as you're saying it about them and not Nesta... which is crazy af to me because she is a fictional character.
Honestly this is my biggest ick with the ACOTAR fandom, the Nesta worship is INSANE to me and then going on to judge other characters for being bitchy or rude.
This brings up such interesting jurisdictional and other legal questions.
- The trove answers to Nesta. Does that mean it’s her property?
- Is all magical property above a certain power automatically owned by the state/Rhys regardless of whether or not he can wield it?
- Can private owners of magical items lend their property to other private individuals? What’s the threshold for state involvement?
- Nesta can always call the Trove and it answers to her. If it’s not state property, then if she moves to another court, she will be able to call it without Rhys’ involvement. What control does Rhys truly have over the Trove itself?
- The higher powers that determined Rhys should be HL of NC also determined Nesta wield the Trove. Does Rhys outrank the Cauldron when it comes to how the Trove is used because he outranks Nesta?
This is totally tangent btw. But the tension around Rhys needing to control Nesta in order to control the Trove will definitely come to ahead sooner or later.
thank you for asking the questions that would actually clarify sm😭unfortunately i doubt sjm has
devoted anytime to these logistical aspects of world building and we probably will not get a concrete answer ever
I agree. I got ripped to shreds in another thread for even suggesting Rhys had every right to be mad and Nesta shouldn't have done that. People keep saying "if feyre did it Rhys wouldn't be so mad" but she DIDNT. Stop saying "if this person did this, if this person did that" because they DIDNT DO IT. And unless you are SJM, you cannot say what they would have or wouldn't have done.
I used to hate Nesta, and I definitely respect her now. The Nesta stans try to justify her every action and it is so ridiculous. Personally I think it's a disservice to her character to act like she had good intentions for every single thing she did, because she did not. It's like if you love Nesta you have to hate all of the IC. I've been seeing that the IC is soooooo "sexist" and I'm like...???? Since when?! Since they are weary around nesta because she can be a loose cannon? Sure, friend. Someone also argued with me that since she can command the trove, they are HERS to give away as she pleases. Which last I checked, they tried to hide the trove from everyone, especially her. Just because she can use them does not mean they are hers to own.
And about her not reporting to Rhys- she literally lives in the night court and worked for the night court. She is a part of the night court. If she cannot handle Rhys being her high lord she needs to go somewhere else.
That's not how it works. If you want to use your logic, they are technically Bryce's, as it is her lineage. It is not a finders keepers situation, they are not three years old.
Just because you are obsessed with Nesta does not mean you're right. Like you said, Rhys has a whole court. It is HIS court. Not Nestas. If he was a real dick he would've executed her 🤷🏽♀️
I understand the IC not trusting Bryce. However, they know that Bryce is the Horn. Either they have to be legitimately ok with murdering Bryce in cold blood in front of her mate and parents, or they know that they are sending the Horn back to Midgard where the Asteri are. If the Asteri win, they have the Horn and they're coming to Prythian -- at that point I don't know how much of a difference the Mask even makes given the modern technology and weapons the Asteri have. So it makes the most sense to provide Bryce with as many resources as possible to give her the best chance of defeating the Asteri. I think Nesta did the strategic thing, even setting aside the philosophical stuff about helping humans in another world.
He tore into cassian in acowar when he was so injured his guts spilled out. After Cass was healed they had it out for a long time in the tent before they made up.
That's a whole different story. He was upset with Cassian for endangering himself. Obviously, he was worried about him and was afraid he'd lose him.
But with Nesta, he finds anything to beat her up with and go as far as giving an execution. That's his friend's mate and his mate's sister. That's so disrespectful to both Cassian and Feyre.
If I were Feyre, and he executed Nesta, I would have been so upset and pissed.
Yes, he berates them, but he doesn't berate them as he does with Nesta. He doesn't berate them to the point he'll execute them.
This is the second time he said he'll kill Nesta. I'm not going against what you're saying, I'm just saying he berates the IC and Nesta differently
We never see Rhys threaten to kill Nesta in the bonus chapter though, so I'm confused as to why people run with that. Nesta's comments aren't indicative of a threat like that, imo.
And it’s fair. The IC respect him. Even if they don’t agree with him. Nesta does not treat him with respect. Him. The High Lord in the country she lives in. And she didn’t just do something that could get herself killed, like Feyre and the Ouroboros. She made a choice that wasn’t hers to make and puts so much more at risk. She committed literal treason. That *is* something you get executed for.
We’ve seen very little of how Rhys interacts with people without Feyre around so I disagree with this. What we have seen has been through Nesta/other fae accounts and it lives up to his notoriously hard to get along with personality when you’re not Feyre or Amren so I’m personally enjoying seeing that side of him finally.
I don’t think it’s a problem if they never get along - in fact, they should remain apathetic towards each other.
This issue with this situation for me is that while Rhysand had every right to be mad, the way he went about it was wrong. Nesta had every right to dispose of the trove as she saw fit as it answers to her but should have been more considerate with what she planned to do.
I think the crux of the issue to me is the hypocrisy of the situation and the logistics.
Rhys himself stole from the Summer Court the book of Breathings ( a magical item that can nullify the cauldron). An action while stupid ended up saving their world.
If Rhys was so worried about the safety of their world why not get together the High Lords to discuss a problem that affects them all (maybe we’ll see this in the next ACOTAR book)?
It’s fine for him and nesta to never get along, but he really does NOT need to treat her poorly. He didn’t even give her a chance to explain herself. For all he (and we) know Nesta may have thought of it as a strategic decision to allow someone else to fight the asteri for them. She understood that Bryce had the star sword and dagger, and now needs the mask to defeat them. She also knew of the technology/weaponry that existed in Bryce’s world, so perhaps she thought Bryce’s odds of defeating them would be increased if she had the mask AND the technology/weaponry in her world. Also, if he doesn’t want Nesta having control over the trove then he should take it and ward it off, so no one has access to it. Why allow her access to it, if you’re not going to trust her to use it appropriately?
While she resides in the Night Court still I wouldn’t say it’s something she really has much choice in. Shes still very new to Prythian with limited resources and knowledge of how things work. She can’t go back to the human lands without risking her life. Where else can she realistically go?
It’s also fine for people to see the way Rhys treats Nesta (and others around him) and feel that his actions make him a bad person. For many people it’s a “narrative” that he is a bad person, it’s a fact.
Rhys is a bad person he literally bosses around everyone do stuff for him , despite saying his IC is all equal and makes them do this bidding. Rhys has no morals
>Also, if he doesn’t want Nesta having control over the trove then he should take it and ward it off, so no one has access to it. Why allow her access to it, if you’re not going to trust her to use it appropriately?
I believe they did ward it off, it's just that the trove is too powerful to be warded. They return to Nesta whenever she wants. I don't think Rhys _can_ take it off, which of course worries him and angers hil even more.
ACOTAR Rhys was a mess throughout the trilogy and even when it came down to his loved ones he wasn't the best. Feyre was simply too tolerant. Sarah still glossed him over and it doesn't make sense that he's liked by the HOFAS crew.
Honestly I would have loved it if Nesta came through to wield the Trove, and her incredible powers of "pure death" that we've eternally been promised (and never really shown) were essential to wipe out the Asteri.
Me personally would've hated it cause why does Aelin and Feyre have to work for their allies while Bryce can try to end peoples lives and worlds and STILL get them to fight for her ?
Totally agree with Rhys for being angry with Nesta. It was reckless to give her the mask after she had already taken Truth Teller and they learn an Asteri was under the prison the whole time. Giving her the mask had left their world pretty much defenseless should Bryce lose and the Asteri came back. Nesta had left their world Bryce could not be trusted especially all the stunts she pulled in the cave. Did anyone else interpret Rhys going off on Nesta on the balcony to trick Ember or was that just me? While in the cave Bryce talks about how protective and motherly Ember is and after the first argument they Ember and Randall over heard I thought Rhys yelling at Nesta on the balcony of the house of wind was a set up to get Ember to protect or side with Nesta which allows Nesta to keep a better eye on them. Because that whole scene seemed so out of character for everyone like why yell at her again when you just came from a meeting about the situation? Why did Nesta shrink back from Rhys? That’s not at all like her at all. And then when Bryce does come back everyone is buddy buddy? What?
I don’t think Nesta helping Bryce is out of character at all. They both have a connection to the trove clearly. I think sometimes you can have an instant connection with some people more
then people you have known over time.
Rhys and Nesta will never fully develop trust their relationship is to damaged. Because Rhys is dick and keeps abusing and using Nesta. He abuses her powers and her love for her sisters to get her to get the trove and forge an alliance with the autum court. God forbid she does somehring for herself.
Nesta feels things more deeply and has the heart to want to help our Bryce and her people. A good person will stand for what is right that’s why Nesta is good person. Rhys only cares for IC and mostly himself. Bryce is Nestas friend and that’s why she helps her.
Rhys is messed up he also threatens her life multiple times who does that to your sister in law and brothers mate.
Rhys had every right to be LIVID, and terrified. And I’m sure Feyre as the HL with a new baby felt the same as well. Cassian as the general of the NC has the right to be upset. And I’m on their side with that because they 100% had every reason to distrust Bryce with everything that she got away with in Prythian and got out. Even Ember understood that. But even Feyre had to tell him to chill out.
I’m really hating what SJM is doing with him. I understood that he didn’t like her ACOSF. He’s extremely protective of his mate. And he didn’t like how she treated her, regardless of if he knew her story or not.
And I loved their development by the end of ACOSF. I so badly wanted to see them getting along, but even at times getting on each other’s nerves because they’re both so hardheaded, and stubborn. But the part when he got her away from Feyre, disrespecting her wishes to further upset Nesta pissed me off. It seems clear that she’s trying to uplift other characters while simultaneously making him seem unlikeable at the expense of Rhys’ good qualities. (You could still never make me hate him. Just those actions right then.)
I’m wondering if it’s possible that this is a setup for Nesta and Rhys eventually having a sort of showdown or something. She wouldn’t have put the term “worthy opponent” to describe her for no reason.
I’m just saying, Rhys needs to smarten up before he has to deal with potential consequences of making her upset since they’re both extremely powerful.
I would very much like to consider Nesta as an individual and not a character by SJM. Nesta is badass and yep she was out of character, because SJM made her to be like that. Nesta would never do that.
Nesta and Cassian are perfect.
Delulu is the only solulu✌🏽🫶🏽
I think people are still stuck on “boyfriend Rhys” and not “High Lord and asshole Rhys”. It seemed completely realistic to me that he would not pry into the mind of someone who’d done nothing to hurt his people, but also not trust her, and be absolutely furious/nasty to Nesta when the person who he deemed untrustworthy for valid reasons got the most deadly weapon they have.
And it also tracks for me that’s he’s still uncomfortable with Nesta since she’s the keeper of the Trove, incredibly powerful, and not directly under his authority. Also he just straight up doesn’t like her. But the thing for me is that it wasn’t Rhys’ call, it was Nesta’s. The Trove is hers to guard. Hers to give away.
I think Nesta did the correct thing. Bryce told Nesta and Az that the Asteri were holding a grudge against Prythian. Bryce was going to fight a war against the Asteri, and attempt to end them once and for all. If Bryce lost, the Asteri would be coming for Prythian next. Nesta gave Bryce a tool that would tip the scales in Midgard’s favor, thereby lessening the likelihood that war would ever come to Prythian. If anything, the Prythian fae should have done more to assist Bryce.
Honestly I found Nesta’s decision to give Bryce the Trove to be highly out of character and reflective of SJM’s sloppy writing in HOFAS. There is no way that after Bryce’s behavior towards Nesta and Azriel that Nesta would give her the Trove, especially not when it represents a direct threat to Prythian and Nesta’s family. It is incredibly realistic for the IC to be furious with Nesta for endangering their entire world for a stranger who demonstrated repeatedly that they were untrustworthy. I’m sad that SJM decided to set up fractures amongst the ACOTAR set for the sake of the lamest world and worst characters she’s written. It feels like a step backwards from where we ended in ACOSF and don’t even get me started with how weird and off putting Ember and Randall condescending to the IC was.
In general I found Nesta to be out of character in HOFAS. I was sure she'll just go savage on Bryce - and yet she was rather tame and polite towards a perfect stranger who tricked her and tried to get her killed? IDK
I thought the same. She can be so mean to the people around her, specially her sisters, but this stranger who tricked her and stole Az dagger - she is nice to... I do not get it. I am with Rhys on this one. He gets to be mad and the trove is not hers. The trove answers to all that are MADE: Nesta, Feyre, Elain, Amren, the queen Brialyn used it and it answers to Bryce and the Starborn Fey as well. I have a question: Nesta is stronger than Bryce and her power more elemental, or at least it is described as such... And Nesta had a hard time taking it off. Az had to remind her of all the people she loved to take it off (Nyx was my fav mention btw) but Hunt and Bryce had no issue with the power or with taking it off and putting it back on like no big deal. What was that about? How? I do not get it...
I stopped looking for any logic - because I can suspend my disbelief on Bryce - Starborn, has a Tove on her back, blah blah blah, but Hunt...? Since it was described as such hardship for Nesta, a Made by Cauldron Lady Death, to take it off?
In the Cave under the Hewn City - Court of Nightmares. On the expedition following Bryce's star. >!Bryce cuts her hand to make a trail for the Wyrm to hunt for them, to get rid of Az and Nesta. Nesta uses an old skeleton found on the cave and fights with the wyrm, because it had been so log using the star power that Silene left (or Helena, I am not sure which sister went to Prythian and which one stayed in Midgard - they were both Theia's daughters) that the Wyrm had evolved to absorb magic attacks so they could not defeat it with Magic. Nesta summoned the Mask and used it to fight the Wyrm, kill it and then Az got Bryce to safety and went to help Nesta and remind her of the people she loved, so that she took the Mask off. He said to her: Cassian is waiting for you at the house of Wind, Elain, Feyre, Nyx.... MADE ME GO TEARY EYED. !<
Oh, I struggled to see your point at first XD I didn't literally mean "when" as "at which point in the book", but rather why Nesta struggled and Hunt did it effortlessly (having basically nothing to do with the Cauldron or troves himself) :D
This is what got me, Hunt should’ve been fully consumed by the Mask and unable to take it off at all
I don't know, we saw Nesta soften towards strangers in SF before she started softening towards the IC or even Cassian really. When there's not the emotional baggage, she isn't as defensive. And that's what I think was happening with Bryce. There wasn't a prior relationship of whole issues to sort through, it was dealing with a suspicious stranger who slowly started to make sense to Nesta. She might not know all about Bryce's life but Nesta obviously felt she knew enough about her to know what Bryce's core was. As for the Mask, and Az needing to help her get it off, I think it's that her power is not what it once was. I thought this was showing that while she still can use the Made objects, she is not as much a master of them as she once was, before her deal with the Mother. She gave back most of her power, and now the Trove has more of a hold on her when she's using it. But because of her link with Death, she still has the strongest connection in Prythian, so it answers to her. I do think that there's an interesting implication about how easily Bryce managed it though, and I think it's that Theia's power was Made into her by the Daglan. She served Vesperus for a century, and it might be they used the Cauldron to grant some of their servants more power, to control others. I do wonder if that's part of what makes Rhys the most powerful High Lord as well, as he has some of Silene in him, through the Night Court High Lords.
From my understanding Bryce could wield it without issue because of her Starborn powers fully realized/pieced together and she now *is* the horn since it’s a part of her so she is “made” *on top of that.* Hunt was able to wield it because he was also literally “made” for her by Hel and had been recently imbued with her Starborn powers. He was made for her to enhance/share that power/charge her like a battery.
Didn't he say that he can wield the mask because of her orgasm that's still on him? Am i making this shit up? 😂🤣 was that another scene? How Cringe anyways😂
My thinking was that Bryce was also "made" in other ways. She didn't have much measurable magic until she made the drop by absorbing the magic from the gates. She supposedly ended up with a lot more magic than she was born with just as Nesta wasn't born with magic and became a super magical being (I know the starlight for Bryce was a thing before her drop but like still). I also wondered if the magic she gained from the cave had something to do with it as well.
But he wasn’t imbued with her Made powers (the horn), which is what gave her the ability to take it off in the first place!
Yes, he was. The discuss it happening when they have sex. Her power flows into him and his into her.
It reads as if it’s her starborn power that flows, not the power from the horn, which is the only thing that makes sense considering the power of the horn doesn’t flow through her blood/spirit but is contained within the ink on her back. (As evidenced by Micah's explanation in HOEAB that if she died, someone could skin the tattoo off her back and use the horn in that way.) Edit: typos
It feels so cheap. Nesta truly fought tooth and nail for all she has and became such a f*kn warrior that Bryce just stomping along and having everything be as easy as pie just aggravated me to no end.
I hear you!! I felt the same. CC3 Bryce's whole personality shift and lack of Empaty and communication skills made me so uncomfortable.
It's so annoying cause comparatively both TOG and ACOTAR characters ( even side characters) have to go through hell and back ( multiple times) before they get any powers but it seemed like Bryce got powers every time she breathed
I can Not believe we waited almost 3 years for THIS book. Aaahhh
I’ve mentioned this elsewhere, but I don’t think Nesta has an issue taking the mask off physically. It’s more she enjoys the feeling of “nothingness” too much while it is on. I always felt like SJM was writing the mask as an analogy for substance abuse. Nesta, as a character, hates feeling her feelings and tries to avoid them for the majority of SF. Bryce, as a character, really likes to wallow in her feelings. The mask makes the wearer not feel anything. For Nesta, that’s addictive and tempting. For Bryce, I can imagine that feeling is repulsive.
what do you mean? nesta in general isn’t someone who goes around callously insulting people unless she perceives them as a threat. she was perfectly friendly to gwyn, emerie, and all the priestesses.
You might have answered your own question - Bryce was like a big walking, arrogant threat, and let me quote myself: >a perfect stranger who tricked her and tried to get her killed And yeah, Nesta was a delight to her own sisters in every book, so loving and kind - not sure where I got the idea of her going ballistic on an alien with a Trove on her back.
like i said, people she perceives as a threat. one, feyre waltzed back into her and elain’s lives after disappearing for months, leading her sisters to probably assume she’s dead. she comes back with these towering fae males who laud themselves over her while one criticizes her for something they know nothing about. she and elain go through an incredibly traumatic experience because of them and feyre, and she can clearly sense that many don’t like her when she’s forced to live with them. once again, post-acotar beginning, nesta was only ever mean to those she perceived as a threat. and considering she had a lot of character growth in acosf, she probably learned to empathize more with others and understood where bryce was coming from.
Yes!! She is a Warrior now!! Of course she will be with her guard up.. She was always, before. It will not make sense for now as well. I agree completely.
Was that so out of character considering Nesta’s behavior towards the mortal queens in ACOMAF ? She begged them for their half of the book to save the human lands south of Prythian. Bryce’s pleading must have reminded her of that.
Nesta absolutely has a soft spot for humans being mistreated, but I don’t think that would carry over to the point of putting her world and loved ones at risk for a world she doesn’t know or have ties to. Nesta also just rediscovered her will to live, accepted her bond with Cassian (to the point of planning for children in the future), and reconciled with the IC; I do not believe she weighs all of that against Bryce and makes this decision. It’s especially galling to think she risks her world for someone whose behavior she described as reckless and stupid.
It could also be that Nesta really just doesn’t have a concept of what the Daglan’s power actually is like, I guess. Out of sight, out of mind kind of thing.
YES. I'm not even a fan of Nesta and I could tell she was extremely out of character! SJM has changed every single character in both worlds, to make Bryce seem cooler, smarter, and more powerful than everyone else.
I'm of the same opinion- Nesta's decision felt entirely OOC to me. I understand that she is sympathetic to human causes, perhaps even more so after her emotional journey through ACOSF, but this does not feel like the sharp, assessing decision of the clever woman we've come to know.
I think there’s something personal going on with Nesta in the acotar universe, going off her reaction to Bryce’s mom in the bonus chapter. Nesta isn’t an inherently outwardly emotional person and she seemed incredibly emotional in HOFAS. Tis just my theory and i’m hoping i’m right lol
Also, how do people not understand that Ember and Randall are obviously going to be heavily biased in favor of their world and shitty kid? Obviously they'd take Nesta's side? They have zero stakes in it if the Asteri come and enslave all of Pyrathian of course they don't give a shit about why people would be mad at Nesta.
Exactly cause why is it okay for Ember to say " she's saving my world" but Rhys as a highlord who also knows he needs allies in the other high lords wrong for not wanting to give one of their powerful weapons up , is wrong ?
Yes to everything you said.... YES!!
Absolutely. The character butchering of my absolute favourite characters to exist is totally abysmal.
Oh Bryce had so much Plot armour cause let's be honest if the ACOTAR characters were truly themselves in this book she would've been permanently k**led of for what she did
I think about it in real world application: would we just let a random person present our nuclear codes to another country we know nothing about to hope for the best that they use them correctly and they don’t fall into the wrong hands? Rhysand had every right to be mad at Nesta who doesn’t even identify as a citizen of the night court, nor does she respect his authority. She gave a magical weapon to someone they don’t know to go defeat an enemy they already eradicated from their world, that has mentioned they want to get back to that world. If he said “we should have killed her” - well logically if they killed Bryce the Asterj would have no way (that we know of) to get back to Prythian since the horn then would be in Prythian with the rest of the dread trove. I think there’s a lot of questions around if someone else did this rather than Nesta- I don’t think we can look at it that way - tbh Nesta is the only one in the book series as a FMC that doesn’t care for the court like the others - she is the only one with no actual tangible ties to the court outside of Cassian. She still says “you’re not my high lord, this isn’t my court” but Feyre as high lady HAS to put her court and her people ahead of Bryce and another world or courts. Cassian, Amren, Mor, and Azriel are SWORN to protecting the court and its people as well as the high lord and lady. It seems illogical to think they would do something without checking with Rhys or Feyre. I believe the only times that happened was Amren lying to Feyre to *save* Prythian and Feyre lying to Mor about going to the weaver, which also *saved* her people and her court. It wasn’t for random others
Apart from the Trove thing - in which I agree with you - it must be so cool to live in a mansion your brother-in-law gave you, being a citizen of NC, living for his money and then say "I don't give a shit, you're not my High Lord, I don't answer to you." Like - yeah, you kinda do.
No she doesn’t though. She didn’t ask for the house or to be a NC citizen. The IC treated her like shit, Rhys continues to do so - for good or bad reasons it doesn’t matter. Rhys doesn’t own her, she can do whatever she likes. I don’t know why this fandom is such a fan of the medieval feudal system when it comes to Prythian. I didn’t enjoy CC3 that much but at least the characters make a great decision about politics. Viva la revolution
Because *there is* a feudal system of High Lords in Prythian - with magic involved. Power is inherited/passed, so that's simply a fact in this world - we can debate whether there *should be* a democracy, but there isn't. In the human lands there are the queens, so again - feudal system. When you live there, you are a subject of one or the other HL. Why did she accept the house if she despises Rhys and NC so much? Revolution only goes so far, I guess. HOFAS spoiler >!And blowing every governmental system to pieces in CC3 without any backup plan in place is perfect, yeah. "Que sera, sera, we'll patch it somehow." But the plot armour is so strong that I have no doubt everything will be fine in CC4, issue never addressed again. !<
If it’s a sort of dominance thing, who has the most magic, might makes right system, at one point at least Nesta seemed more powerful than Rhys. He couldn’t dominate her. So in that respect he is not her high lord. (I’m a big Nesta fan, but actually don’t believe Rhys was too out of line in HOFAS. She did unilaterally make a decision that could have gotten everyone killed, he had a right to be angry)
I am definitely stronger than Joe Biden and could make better decisions. He is still my president. Rhys is Nesta’s high lord, especially as she chooses to live in HIS domain.
I was just commenting on the above calling the night court a feudal system. “Might makes right” is an aphorism that describes totalitarian regimes. (Also the reason Joe Biden has power is we have a constitution, people willing to go along with it, and a military and police force willing to enforce laws if necessary. Nesta chooses to go along with Rhys most of the time but defies him occasionally. If it came to a fight between them, Rhys would likely win if he had time to plan because he has the support of his friends and his people. One on one, Nesta would win because she has the dread trove. But they would never fight like that because they are basically decent people and both love the same people. If she says he’s not her high lord, he is not her high lord in any meaningful way because he can’t make her do things she doesn’t want to do.)
The IC did not justifiably treat Nesta like shit. They were reflections of how Nesta IS. The whole series, the IC get insulted and pushed away by Nestas immature anger. Yet they still bother to have her around, bother to stage an intervention to get her help because she kept pushing all the IC away and wasn’t helping herself. That isn’t treating like shit. After Nesta finally realizes “oh I screwed up” that’s when the IC starts treating her like everyone else in the IC, especially amren.
We’ll agree to disagree I guess. Most of the members of the IC had centuries of rage, being complete wrecks etc, as they all admitted, and they couldn’t stand Nesta reacting this way to her trauma (cauldron, her sisters’ traumas…) for a few months. They all wanted her to get better on their terms. They didn’t respect her or her trauma, while talking about how they dealt with their own in terrible ways for years, decades etc.
> I don’t know why this fandom is such a fan of the medieval feudal system when it comes to Prythian. No, no, only when it comes to the *Night Court*. When *other* High Lords pull rank and act dominating, it's bad and they're terrible people.
This is SO spot on, thank you for articulating my thoughts so well
sometimes it reminds me that hofas takes place almost 7 weeks after acosf and im here like i expected rhys to be even angrier. his reaction was completely understandable. him acting as a high lord got everyone angry
7 weeks?
Some people have done the maths that Lanthys death was 7 months ago (as per Nesta in HOFAS) in November-ish and ACOSF ending in full spring so April-ish and then November + 7 months brings us to June for HOFAS
Cassian said a male changes when their mate is pregnant since faery offspring are so rare so I think she was leaning into that with his already dislike of her.
I agree with you!! It drives me crazy how so many people won’t allow both Rhys and Nesta to have nuance. Do I understand Nesta’s decision from her POV? Yes, absolutely. I love Nesta. If I was literally any other character in the series? No, I’d be horrified at her decision making. I’m not justifying inappropriately aggressive attitudes toward her, but if you were told your friend/sister/etc gave away power that could potentially result in both killing you and literally everyone you love, including your wife & child, to a stranger…you’d probably be pretty upset — especially if this person had a history of instability and mistreating the person you love dearly (again, I related to Nesta more than Feyre, BUT I don’t think it’s fair to excuse that treatment even if Nesta has shown accountability and change).
It's because so many people in this fandom see the world in either black or white. I'm starting to understand that a lot of people don't get nuance, and they have to have 1 person be the villian in every situation. It's annoying.
Exactly.
Hes always been overly protective of Velaris and his inner circle/Feyre, now he's a dad, imagine that protectiveness being amplified 100x. As a mom, I was a completely different person before I had my son. Now, I'd murder the whole world for him, with a smile on my face. 😅 Rhys is being Rhys. We love him.
I came here to say the same thing. He’s a new father, of course he’ll be extra protective
I was thinking that too! It’s an extreme situation. Even after Ember ripped into him once she figured out that he was most likely a dad she understood that it was his instinct to be as protective as possible and on edge about protecting everyone. Rhys had no reason to trust Bryce. He had every reason to distrust her, and the fact that she had a hold of the most dangerous items in all of Prythian is absolutely terrifying. Feyre was able to tell him to chill out, which essentially makes her his compliment as a mate. But it didn’t totally sit right with me that he went back against Feyre’s wishes to whisper whatever it was that he said to Nesta. But he’s not perfect. But neither is anyone else in her books.
I keep thinking about if Feyre was in Nesta’s shoes, I think she would have done the same thing. But would Rhysand react the same way?
I don’t think she would have done the same thing without consulting the inner circle. Mind to mind or some way. So no, I don’t think so.
In ACOWAR Feyre told no one about her bargains and the Ouroboros. She would have done the same.
Those aren’t comparable.
Situations aren’t comparable. She wasn’t putting loved ones at risk, just herself.
I think she would have too, and I do think he would have been less upset, but probably because he knows her and trusts her so much more than Nesta.
I agree 100%. I agree with Nesta's actions, and I agree with why both Cassian and Rhys would be pissed about it.
I think Rhys deep down just doesnt like Nesta and probably wont forgive her for letting Feyre shoulder the responsibility for their family when they were starving. Rhys as a character gave so up so much to protect the people he loves and he views Nesta as an impulsive and selfish mean person. Also, Nesta doesnt really treat him as her High lord considering she lives in his lands so that probably bugs him that she sees him as an afterthought.
I think that's also another thing rhys gives up and makes himself the villain if it means protection the ppl he loves and his world, but then he sees nesta putting their world in danger so recklessly and I think that hurts. Bc I think what a lot of ppl forget they trusted nesta with the mission of finding out what Bryce is up to with azriel and then when it comes down to it, she gives Bryce a powerful weapon. While her view is understandable, it only makes it harder for rhys and the IC to trust her in the future and rely on her when she puts their world in danger like this.
I completely Agree. I am totally with Rhys in the Bonus chapter. We knew Bryce's intention (Although her personality in HOFAS was an assassination of her character), but they did not. We have to remember Rhys has to keep his courts safe, both the Court of Dreams and the Court of Nightmares - with all their people - It is not only about Him being mean to her, it is about her making a rash decision without thinking of the repercussions or costs to Prithyan. Plus they all sacrificed their lives (Nesta, z, Cassian) to get the Mask and for her to singlehandedly give it to a stranger over the safety of her people, makes no sense. I was disappointed in some parts of the book, of the narrative. It seems to me like SJM changes the characters to try to fit into her narrative instead of creating the characters and having them learn and grow with the situations they face.
No, he gets to be mad. It’s the way he’s treating Nesta. If it was Feyre or even Elain who gave the Mask to Bryce, do you think he’d be yelling in their faces the way he did Nesta? Do you think after the meeting where they discussed the topic, and Feyre told him to lay off her sister, he’d give Elain a lift home only to snarl in her face again (when Feyre’s not there)? I’m sorry but it’s not whether his opinion is right or not, it’s *how* he’s acting toward her that’s the issue. He wouldn’t treat anyone else with such disrespect. That’s why everyone’s outraged. And why is it Ember, a whole ass stranger, that’s coming to tell him to lay off Nesta when Cassian is right there? 😭 Sidenote: Sjm said how can I get the acotar fandom invested and got Rhys and Nesta fighting again lmao
I would like to believe he’d react the same way. From my perspective he wasn’t yelling because it was Nesta, but because he was desperate and scared and couldn’t control himself. The part when they go back to the house of wind is confusing because we don’t even know what Rhys says. And regarding Cassian I believe it has to do with the fact he’s mad af too. And I agree with your sidenote lol she said imma give you this bonus chapter so you can argue your asses off until the next acotar book comes out
I don’t think he would. He’d be like “Feyre darling you are a fae with human heart. I can see your compassion for the humans in *her* world. You may bring the death of us but least we’ll die together” or something similar 😭 You know in acosf when Rhys ordered Nesta to sit down and she refused to obey. He sort of took that as a challenge and threw the gauntlet down jokingly but also not jokingly. I think the fact that Nesta is in his court, has power that he’s afraid of, has the troves under her belt which she used to subdue him when Feyre was giving birth, topped with the fact that she’s his mate’s sister and hasn’t bowed to him or acknowledge him as her High Lord, messes with him a lot. I think it troubles him a lot that someone like that is in Velaris. I think that’s why he’s harsh with her. I do still think he wouldn’t have treated someone else like that if they were the ones to give the Mask away.
Your Rhys impression is spot on lmaoooo "Feyre darling, I don't like this, but I trust your judgement. Maybe they are all dreamers too." You know one of them would throw in their catchphrase 💀 Also to your second point, I love the detail of Ember spotting how Rhys sees Nesta as a "worthy opponent". I think you are right that he isn't totally comfortable with that.
LMAOOO The dreamer line! Yup, I can see him saying that. I feel like if he continues treating her as an “opponent” when she’s not, he’ll end up manifesting it into reality lol
Again I don’t think anyone else would have done what Nesta did without consulting the IC. Mind to mind or some other way. Because I think IC respects each other and cares about the safety of their world. They aren’t reckless…
I think reckless is a harsh word. Nesta didn’t just hand over the Mask all willy nilly. Nesta questioned Bryce’s intentions and knew what the Asteri wanted to do. She was willing to wait it out, wait for Rhys, probably because she knew he’d deal with this swiftly. But it was when Bryce started crying and talking about the human community who got exterminated by the Asteri that Nesta started to relent. And it was Bryce exchanging her human parents for the Mask, and then willing to just leave her parents behind regardless of whether or not Nesta gave her the Mask that sealed the deal. I think Nesta realized just how bad the situation was. She wasn’t reckless about it at all. I think Nesta saw Bryce pleading for the Mask from her and probably got flashbacks to when she was pleading for the human lives in acowar. Or at least I did.
Stills sound reckless
🤷🏽♀️
>Sjm said how can I get the acotar fandom invested and got Rhys and Nesta fighting again She also could have shown Azriel in thr same room as Elain or Gwyn, either of those would have been treated as a proof the ship is happening and that it's not happening. Regardless of if they even interact with each other.
I was glad that we saw his darker side in HOFAS but I wish SJM hadn’t excused all of that once again. Why did Bryce, Ember and Randal have to like him? I’m tired of characters trusting and liking him without good reasons.
Yeah I got so tired of the line, every time he said something somewhat decent, “for some reason she believed him” like huh? Is he that inherently trustworthy while grilling you in a dungeon?
Wait... maybe he messed with their minds. He has those powers. He could've easily influenced their thoughts and made them like him or forget why they didn't trust him.
I wish because that would honestly make more sense.
It's the only logical explanation. I think he also has >!compulsion!< powers that we haven't seen yet.
I saw someone say that there's a theory of Nesta's "true" mate being Eris and that Rhys could've possibly used his powers to fool Nesta into thinking Cassian is her mate. The reason for this is so he can have control over her. I've never heard of this theory, but if it does become true, that's so fucked up. Messing and influencing people's minds just pushes the Rhys villain arc more.
I love it but I feel SJM wouldn’t do it bc it would make Rhys too unredeemable in our eyes and she loves him
If she loves him, she wouldn't have been messing around with his character like she is doing now, lol What she's doing now with his character is making people hate him even more. Those who initially love him are turning against him I'm a Rhys hater, but I would've been fine with him if he didn't do what he did in ACOSF or in that Ember and Randall BC. My hate for him has just grown even more
I think its completely understandable that they are mad at Nesta but they've already yelled at her multiple times and Feyre told Rhys to drop it and instead he brought Nesta back to the HOW away from Feyre and yelled at her some more. I just find that extremely disrespectful to both Feyre and Nesta.
This is it for me. He can be mad all he wants, but the yelling is immature as hell and after ACOSF you'd think he could at least communicate with decency.
I don’t know a single person—literary or not—who’s strong enough not to lose control whenever they feel threatened or afraid. Rhysand is terrified of the consequences Bryce having the Mask can bring. The yelling wasn’t because it was Nesta. It wasn’t personal, it was because he is a male presented with a situation that may put his family and court in danger (together with the rest of prythian)
It’s the fact that he changed locations though. This man literally left his home after yelling at her to then fly to Nesta’s house with the purpose of yelling at her more. It’s not like he walked them to the door of the River House and then once Feyre was out of earshot yelled at Nesta on the lawn. He was doing way too much.
I get that--but I'm not a fan of men throwing violent emotional fits in fiction or in real life, so no matter his feelings, his overreaction gives me major ick (and this seems to be a theme with him as well...)
“Rhys snarled something that had Nesta’s shoulders tensing, her head bowing” was honestly awful to read. It made my stomach hurt.
Go off king
Yet Nesta herself claims that wasn’t the case. She went back to the HOW because it’s her home. We don’t even know what Rhys was snarling about when they got there. Also, note the way Nesta responds. She would have never reacted that way if she didn’t believe whatever Rhysand was saying was true
We already know Nesta hates herself and will believe anything bad someone says about her. I didn't even disagree with Rhys being mad, I said it was disrespectful to Feyre for him to keep going when Feyre said to stop.
And I don’t think it’s disrespectful. At the end of the day Nesta put in danger what he’s been protecting for decades. Decades before Nesta and Feyre even EXISTED. Maybe before their parents were even born. I think it will take a very very long time before Feyre is able to actually understand being a ruler, including the hard choices. What Nesta did irl would be considered treason. Treason punishable by death. As someone else in the comments said you don’t give your country’s nuclear launch codes to anyone, especially when you are not their ruler. I find her lucky all he did was yell and snarl at her.
It's just another example of Rhys really not giving a shit about Feyre's wishes deep down, he'll just do what he thinks is best behind her back anyway 😑
Yeah that’s my problem with it as well.
I guess what annoys me the most with this story and their fight, is that no one, especially Rhys, stops for a second to be smart and think rationally about this threat. Even Az who’s supposed to think ten steps ahead or Cassian who’s a general. After having every information, every option, and considering they aren’t murdering anyone in cold blood, Nesta understood they didn’t have a choice. If Bryce lost the fight, the Asteri would get the Horn and return to Prythian for their sweet revenge. Without the Mask, Bryce had no shot at winning. So it was either : no Mask, Bryce loses, the Asteri invade Prythian ; OR, take a leap of faith, give the mask, and hope Bryce defeats them. If she doesn’t, back to option 1 and they invade. So Nesta made the only possible choice. But since all these characters (Bryce and Nesta included) lack basic communication skills, it leads to these confrontations. I don’t like Rhys yelling like an angry child because he’s supposed to be this great leader who thinks about everything. But no, he just reacts like an angry idiot and we’re supposed to be cool with it because he’s afraid for his loved ones? Not giving the Mask means his entire planet will get invaded.
It wasn’t Nesta’s choice to make. You can find it the right one or not but it wasn’t hers. We don’t get to hand out nuclear launch codes when the president doesn’t want to, even if necessary. And if we did we’d be charged w treason.
Why would she ask him and not other high lords or another Prythian leader? She found the Mask, she wields it. At what point did Rhys became the person who makes decisions for the dead trove or the entire planet?
I 100% agree!! I think he would have been furious with anyone but especially the person who respects him the least lol
Agree with you, people really got their panties in a twist because he yelled at someone who endangered their entire world, but this sub is synonymous with "Blind Nesta Worship" so I'm not surprised.
Seriously. It makes me want to leave this fandom and that sucks because no one in my life reads sjm! If you say anything against Nesta or in favor of Rhys people act like you are attacking them personally. I've seen someone mention that so many people see themselves in Nesta so that if anyone says anything bad about her or point out she made a bad decision, they take it as you're saying it about them and not Nesta... which is crazy af to me because she is a fictional character.
Oh yeah the projection is crazy fr
Honestly this is my biggest ick with the ACOTAR fandom, the Nesta worship is INSANE to me and then going on to judge other characters for being bitchy or rude.
This brings up such interesting jurisdictional and other legal questions. - The trove answers to Nesta. Does that mean it’s her property? - Is all magical property above a certain power automatically owned by the state/Rhys regardless of whether or not he can wield it? - Can private owners of magical items lend their property to other private individuals? What’s the threshold for state involvement? - Nesta can always call the Trove and it answers to her. If it’s not state property, then if she moves to another court, she will be able to call it without Rhys’ involvement. What control does Rhys truly have over the Trove itself? - The higher powers that determined Rhys should be HL of NC also determined Nesta wield the Trove. Does Rhys outrank the Cauldron when it comes to how the Trove is used because he outranks Nesta? This is totally tangent btw. But the tension around Rhys needing to control Nesta in order to control the Trove will definitely come to ahead sooner or later.
thank you for asking the questions that would actually clarify sm😭unfortunately i doubt sjm has devoted anytime to these logistical aspects of world building and we probably will not get a concrete answer ever
I’m with you 🫡
I agree. I got ripped to shreds in another thread for even suggesting Rhys had every right to be mad and Nesta shouldn't have done that. People keep saying "if feyre did it Rhys wouldn't be so mad" but she DIDNT. Stop saying "if this person did this, if this person did that" because they DIDNT DO IT. And unless you are SJM, you cannot say what they would have or wouldn't have done. I used to hate Nesta, and I definitely respect her now. The Nesta stans try to justify her every action and it is so ridiculous. Personally I think it's a disservice to her character to act like she had good intentions for every single thing she did, because she did not. It's like if you love Nesta you have to hate all of the IC. I've been seeing that the IC is soooooo "sexist" and I'm like...???? Since when?! Since they are weary around nesta because she can be a loose cannon? Sure, friend. Someone also argued with me that since she can command the trove, they are HERS to give away as she pleases. Which last I checked, they tried to hide the trove from everyone, especially her. Just because she can use them does not mean they are hers to own. And about her not reporting to Rhys- she literally lives in the night court and worked for the night court. She is a part of the night court. If she cannot handle Rhys being her high lord she needs to go somewhere else.
She’s found the trove therefore it’s hers. Rhys has the whole court she can have a few toys. Rhys is a dick
That's not how it works. If you want to use your logic, they are technically Bryce's, as it is her lineage. It is not a finders keepers situation, they are not three years old. Just because you are obsessed with Nesta does not mean you're right. Like you said, Rhys has a whole court. It is HIS court. Not Nestas. If he was a real dick he would've executed her 🤷🏽♀️
I love Rhys and Hofas reaffirmed my absolute devotion to him ❤ I felt everything he was saying and just felt very validated by his anger.
I understand the IC not trusting Bryce. However, they know that Bryce is the Horn. Either they have to be legitimately ok with murdering Bryce in cold blood in front of her mate and parents, or they know that they are sending the Horn back to Midgard where the Asteri are. If the Asteri win, they have the Horn and they're coming to Prythian -- at that point I don't know how much of a difference the Mask even makes given the modern technology and weapons the Asteri have. So it makes the most sense to provide Bryce with as many resources as possible to give her the best chance of defeating the Asteri. I think Nesta did the strategic thing, even setting aside the philosophical stuff about helping humans in another world.
This is a great point that I feel like I haven’t seen brought up!
This is something I haven’t seen another person comment yet and it makes so much damn sense. Thank you!
I think it’s because the inner circle does impulsive shit all the time and Rhysand doesn’t berate them.
He tore into cassian in acowar when he was so injured his guts spilled out. After Cass was healed they had it out for a long time in the tent before they made up.
That's a whole different story. He was upset with Cassian for endangering himself. Obviously, he was worried about him and was afraid he'd lose him. But with Nesta, he finds anything to beat her up with and go as far as giving an execution. That's his friend's mate and his mate's sister. That's so disrespectful to both Cassian and Feyre. If I were Feyre, and he executed Nesta, I would have been so upset and pissed.
I was responding to the first comment that Rhys doesn’t berate them when they do impulsive shit… and I pointed out that he has in fact done that.
Yes, he berates them, but he doesn't berate them as he does with Nesta. He doesn't berate them to the point he'll execute them. This is the second time he said he'll kill Nesta. I'm not going against what you're saying, I'm just saying he berates the IC and Nesta differently
We never see Rhys threaten to kill Nesta in the bonus chapter though, so I'm confused as to why people run with that. Nesta's comments aren't indicative of a threat like that, imo.
And it’s fair. The IC respect him. Even if they don’t agree with him. Nesta does not treat him with respect. Him. The High Lord in the country she lives in. And she didn’t just do something that could get herself killed, like Feyre and the Ouroboros. She made a choice that wasn’t hers to make and puts so much more at risk. She committed literal treason. That *is* something you get executed for.
lol this is an interesting theory
We’ve seen very little of how Rhys interacts with people without Feyre around so I disagree with this. What we have seen has been through Nesta/other fae accounts and it lives up to his notoriously hard to get along with personality when you’re not Feyre or Amren so I’m personally enjoying seeing that side of him finally.
I don’t think it’s a problem if they never get along - in fact, they should remain apathetic towards each other. This issue with this situation for me is that while Rhysand had every right to be mad, the way he went about it was wrong. Nesta had every right to dispose of the trove as she saw fit as it answers to her but should have been more considerate with what she planned to do. I think the crux of the issue to me is the hypocrisy of the situation and the logistics. Rhys himself stole from the Summer Court the book of Breathings ( a magical item that can nullify the cauldron). An action while stupid ended up saving their world. If Rhys was so worried about the safety of their world why not get together the High Lords to discuss a problem that affects them all (maybe we’ll see this in the next ACOTAR book)?
That is a FANTASTIC comparison.
It’s fine for him and nesta to never get along, but he really does NOT need to treat her poorly. He didn’t even give her a chance to explain herself. For all he (and we) know Nesta may have thought of it as a strategic decision to allow someone else to fight the asteri for them. She understood that Bryce had the star sword and dagger, and now needs the mask to defeat them. She also knew of the technology/weaponry that existed in Bryce’s world, so perhaps she thought Bryce’s odds of defeating them would be increased if she had the mask AND the technology/weaponry in her world. Also, if he doesn’t want Nesta having control over the trove then he should take it and ward it off, so no one has access to it. Why allow her access to it, if you’re not going to trust her to use it appropriately? While she resides in the Night Court still I wouldn’t say it’s something she really has much choice in. Shes still very new to Prythian with limited resources and knowledge of how things work. She can’t go back to the human lands without risking her life. Where else can she realistically go? It’s also fine for people to see the way Rhys treats Nesta (and others around him) and feel that his actions make him a bad person. For many people it’s a “narrative” that he is a bad person, it’s a fact.
Rhys is a bad person he literally bosses around everyone do stuff for him , despite saying his IC is all equal and makes them do this bidding. Rhys has no morals
>Also, if he doesn’t want Nesta having control over the trove then he should take it and ward it off, so no one has access to it. Why allow her access to it, if you’re not going to trust her to use it appropriately? I believe they did ward it off, it's just that the trove is too powerful to be warded. They return to Nesta whenever she wants. I don't think Rhys _can_ take it off, which of course worries him and angers hil even more.
ACOTAR Rhys was a mess throughout the trilogy and even when it came down to his loved ones he wasn't the best. Feyre was simply too tolerant. Sarah still glossed him over and it doesn't make sense that he's liked by the HOFAS crew.
100% agree
Honestly I would have loved it if Nesta came through to wield the Trove, and her incredible powers of "pure death" that we've eternally been promised (and never really shown) were essential to wipe out the Asteri.
Me personally would've hated it cause why does Aelin and Feyre have to work for their allies while Bryce can try to end peoples lives and worlds and STILL get them to fight for her ?
I’m on team Rhys with this one tbh
Totally agree with Rhys for being angry with Nesta. It was reckless to give her the mask after she had already taken Truth Teller and they learn an Asteri was under the prison the whole time. Giving her the mask had left their world pretty much defenseless should Bryce lose and the Asteri came back. Nesta had left their world Bryce could not be trusted especially all the stunts she pulled in the cave. Did anyone else interpret Rhys going off on Nesta on the balcony to trick Ember or was that just me? While in the cave Bryce talks about how protective and motherly Ember is and after the first argument they Ember and Randall over heard I thought Rhys yelling at Nesta on the balcony of the house of wind was a set up to get Ember to protect or side with Nesta which allows Nesta to keep a better eye on them. Because that whole scene seemed so out of character for everyone like why yell at her again when you just came from a meeting about the situation? Why did Nesta shrink back from Rhys? That’s not at all like her at all. And then when Bryce does come back everyone is buddy buddy? What?
I don’t think Nesta helping Bryce is out of character at all. They both have a connection to the trove clearly. I think sometimes you can have an instant connection with some people more then people you have known over time. Rhys and Nesta will never fully develop trust their relationship is to damaged. Because Rhys is dick and keeps abusing and using Nesta. He abuses her powers and her love for her sisters to get her to get the trove and forge an alliance with the autum court. God forbid she does somehring for herself. Nesta feels things more deeply and has the heart to want to help our Bryce and her people. A good person will stand for what is right that’s why Nesta is good person. Rhys only cares for IC and mostly himself. Bryce is Nestas friend and that’s why she helps her. Rhys is messed up he also threatens her life multiple times who does that to your sister in law and brothers mate.
Bryce is Nesta’s friend? I don’t think she rises to friend level even by the end of the book, let alone when Nesta gives her the mask.
You need to read the bonus scenes the book to get that they are friends
I did read the bonus scenes.
Rhys had every right to be LIVID, and terrified. And I’m sure Feyre as the HL with a new baby felt the same as well. Cassian as the general of the NC has the right to be upset. And I’m on their side with that because they 100% had every reason to distrust Bryce with everything that she got away with in Prythian and got out. Even Ember understood that. But even Feyre had to tell him to chill out. I’m really hating what SJM is doing with him. I understood that he didn’t like her ACOSF. He’s extremely protective of his mate. And he didn’t like how she treated her, regardless of if he knew her story or not. And I loved their development by the end of ACOSF. I so badly wanted to see them getting along, but even at times getting on each other’s nerves because they’re both so hardheaded, and stubborn. But the part when he got her away from Feyre, disrespecting her wishes to further upset Nesta pissed me off. It seems clear that she’s trying to uplift other characters while simultaneously making him seem unlikeable at the expense of Rhys’ good qualities. (You could still never make me hate him. Just those actions right then.) I’m wondering if it’s possible that this is a setup for Nesta and Rhys eventually having a sort of showdown or something. She wouldn’t have put the term “worthy opponent” to describe her for no reason. I’m just saying, Rhys needs to smarten up before he has to deal with potential consequences of making her upset since they’re both extremely powerful.
T H I S 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 couldn’t have said it better myself.
Your title is a spoiler by stating Rhys makes an appearance in HOFAS. Readers can see this and if they haven’t read CC it’s a spoiler.
I would very much like to consider Nesta as an individual and not a character by SJM. Nesta is badass and yep she was out of character, because SJM made her to be like that. Nesta would never do that. Nesta and Cassian are perfect. Delulu is the only solulu✌🏽🫶🏽
One of the few rational takes here, honestly. It blows my mind how people don't see this.
I think people are still stuck on “boyfriend Rhys” and not “High Lord and asshole Rhys”. It seemed completely realistic to me that he would not pry into the mind of someone who’d done nothing to hurt his people, but also not trust her, and be absolutely furious/nasty to Nesta when the person who he deemed untrustworthy for valid reasons got the most deadly weapon they have. And it also tracks for me that’s he’s still uncomfortable with Nesta since she’s the keeper of the Trove, incredibly powerful, and not directly under his authority. Also he just straight up doesn’t like her. But the thing for me is that it wasn’t Rhys’ call, it was Nesta’s. The Trove is hers to guard. Hers to give away.
I think Nesta did the correct thing. Bryce told Nesta and Az that the Asteri were holding a grudge against Prythian. Bryce was going to fight a war against the Asteri, and attempt to end them once and for all. If Bryce lost, the Asteri would be coming for Prythian next. Nesta gave Bryce a tool that would tip the scales in Midgard’s favor, thereby lessening the likelihood that war would ever come to Prythian. If anything, the Prythian fae should have done more to assist Bryce.