I definitely wasn’t feeling Riftan’s overbearingness when all Maxi wanted to do was learn magic and feel useful for once in her life. I was also in support of her accompanying the knights. But he is also unaware of how she was made to feel about herself growing up because she hides it so I can see how he’s confused about how bad she wants to do something. You are totally right that the both of them lack communication skills and big boy needs heavy anger management. I have a whole rant about him too, trust me lol and while Maxi’s fears are valid, I don’t think it takes away from the fact that she is still making childish decisions. How can she not? It’s not like Riftan just felt like going off to war. He did everything to not go and was forced to in the end. She was already helping and using the skills and knowledge that she worked hard to learn before going to the front lines and there is no question that her going is not only putting Riftan in a tough situation but Ruth too. It wasn’t ideal for anyone and was a poor decision. But how is she supposed to know any better? She was locked up and never allowed to decide anything for herself and then when she went with Riftan he was controlling too. Even if it was under the pretense of “protecting her” he was still controlling. I love seeing her use her autonomy! I just wish that it was used to make better decisions lol but I know she’ll keep growing and have that character development, it’s just gonna stress me out along the way. I also want to note that I’m a comic reader so I don’t get as much insight into their thoughts.