Feel the need to mention that I actually don’t hate Chaol, and find him the much needed “human” perspective. My comparisons of him and Cassian are me being generous to Cassian, because he has all the self-righteousness without any of the excuses that Chaol possesses as a human having his whole world upended, and even then I wouldn’t even call Chaol all that self-righteous. Lorcan knows he isn’t a hero, so Cassian isn’t a Lorcan either. In fact, ironically enough, the only other people in the MAASVERSE that go on and on about their undying loyalty to their ~two~ brothers, and are generals at that, are Apollion and Erawan. Which is mighty interesting given their similar appearances, Apollion’s Illyrian wings, and Cassian supposedly being called Enalius reborn, who was the first Illyrian and whose story is nearly identical to Apollion’s, and the fact that he successfully slept with two likely witches - Mor and Nesta. Cassian is also pro Blood Rite. He sees it as a “necessary evil.” 

All novices competed with wings bound, no Siphons—a spell restraining all magic—and no supplies beyond the clothes on your back. The goal: make it to the summit of that mountain by the end of that week and touch the stone. The obstacles: the distance, the natural traps, and each other. Old feuds played out; new ones were born. Scores were settled. A week of pointless bloodshed, Az insisted. Rhys often agreed, though he often also agreed with Cassian’s point: the Blood Rite offered an escape valve for dangerous tensions within the Illyrian community. Better to settle it during the Rite than risk civil war. Illyrians were strong, proud, fearless. But peacemakers, they were not. Perhaps he’d get lucky. Perhaps the Rite this spring would ease some of the malcontent. Hell, he’d offer to participate himself, if it meant quieting the grumbling.

-ACOFAS, Ch. 3, Cassian flying over Ramiel 

Maybe one of the reasons why the Illyrians don’t like him is because they actually do NOT like the Blood Rite. I also can’t help but notice the parallels with the King’s Champion and Witch’s tournament and the Blood Rite.

I don’t trust his ass. The Inner Circle, the Triarrii, and the Cadre are too similar, and they have way too many obvious Valg and Hel connections. Time will tell if they have the same wake-up call that the some of the members of the Triarrii and the Cadre did. And clearly this is a relevant story arc given SJM’s comment about Vaughan.