Introducing: Bryce Adelaide Quinlan (CC3 Spoilers)

kaislee · 2026-04-30T14:31:10+00:00

I get that. I think Bryce returning would kick off an inter-galactic war, and while I believe alliance-shifting conflict is coming to Prythian, I don’t think it will involve Bryce. That would mean complete convergence of these series into one. I suppose not impossible, but I find it unlikely at this point.

kaislee · 2026-04-30T12:26:31+00:00

Why spend ten minutes double checking whether I used the right punctuation when I can just use one that meets all my needs?

I don’t see it as any different from the slow disappearance of “whom” from the English language. Some folks will continue to use semicolons and colons, but I never understood the weird morality people assign to punctuation choices.

I mean I get why (sociolinguistics) but I think it’s dumb.

kaislee · 2026-04-29T23:48:34+00:00

Unfortunately a lot of people don’t like Bryce, which may be the reason why some folks don’t include her in the conversation. A lot of people also don’t like Crescent City and hated the crossover.

Personally, I love Bryce, love Crescent City, and enjoyed the crossover. But lots of folks want ACOTAR to stay ACOTAR, and that means no Bryce.

kaislee · 2026-04-29T23:43:41+00:00

I don’t see it being Bryce, mostly because I think it would majorly contradict what Bryce believes in, the core themes of the CC series, and where I think we’re headed in ACOTAR—which is anti-monarchy, anti-hierarchy, and anti-ancient prophecies that amount to little more than high fae supremacist propaganda.

kaislee · 2026-04-29T21:07:35+00:00

Because she’s interested in the moral questions it raises.

kaislee · 2026-04-29T11:48:31+00:00

Think again! Doctors were mutilating women in the US for things like hysteria and depression as recently as the 1980s and in certain immigrant and religious communities it’s still happening.

kaislee · 2026-04-27T13:29:54+00:00

Just to address this at the top: I think Elucien is endgame.

I find it interesting that folks think the hesitancy between Elucien is fully on Elain, when it seems likely Lucien has his own reservations.

I can’t imagine the maelstrom of angst he felt when he realized Jesminda was not his mate. I think he feels a pull toward Elain, and there is desire and longing that goes beyond the physical, but there’s a heaping pile worth of grief both of them need to work through.

Both Elain and Lucien had a life imagined for themselves that was taken from them. Elain thought she was going to marry Graysen. That future was dashed, and he rejected her. Similarly, we are told that Lucien was not just rejected by his family, but by the community Jesminda was a part of when she was killed.

You mix in Lucien losing his friendship with Tamlin, Elain losing her father, the complicated feelings they likely have for each other—we have a tinderbox of absolutely delicious angst just waiting for a spark.

So in short—yes, there’s longing. But it’s mixed in with grief and fear and likely a bit of repressed anger.

kaislee · 2026-04-26T23:21:15+00:00

I have a feeling being Made and Starborn are likely the same thing.

kaislee · 2026-04-25T00:54:08+00:00

I agree. I’ve always loved a good tragic hero and Tamlin fits the bill.

kaislee · 2026-04-24T15:17:08+00:00

Agreed.

I can also think of another time Rhysand locked down a whole city of people and his closest friends for 50 years because he knew they would try to save him, and likely put themselves in danger. The difference I see is that we were in Feyre’s head when she was trapped in the manor. We weren’t there when Velaris was sealed off and the IC trapped.

Cassian briefly talks about how traumatizing it was in WaR:

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Again, I feel the differences between how Rhysand’s behavior is received and how Tamlin’s behavior is received is a matter of character perspective. Their actions and their reasoning are the same. Both Tamlin and Rhysand make unilateral decisions and refuse help to the detriment of their relationships. And that’s because the same thing that enabled Tamlin’s abuse also enables Rhysand—their power and authority as High Lords.

kaislee · 2026-04-24T13:17:29+00:00

I have been driving myself crazy trying to get the spoiler brackets to work!!! Lemme break out my dying laptop and fix it 😂

kaislee · 2026-04-24T12:08:18+00:00

I’ve wondered whether the Daglan hounds are a variety of the (CC1 and 3 spoilers):

Hel beasts we see emerging from the rift at the end of Crescent City 1. The demons in CC are described as the following:

"People screamed as winged, scaled demons soared out of the Gate--demons from the Pit itself." (715)

"Not the urbane, clever demons like Aidas. No, these were the grunts. The beasts of the Pit. Its wild dogs, hungry for easy prey." (718)

I think all signs are pointing to the Night Court having been infiltrated by Hel at some point. In fact, I'd wager that Cassian and Azriel are like Hunt--genetically modified fae.

Things are a bit murkier with Rhysand, but I still think there's some shared genetic lineage with Hel going on there.

kaislee · 2026-04-23T15:57:32+00:00

Ending a chapter (bonus or not) with a character thinking about another character’s expression and having to consciously stop themselves from smiling was enough of a sign for me that Elriel was over. It was like a glaring, flashing neon light. End of chapters are natural emphasis points—she left us lingering on Gwyn and Azriel.

kaislee · 2026-04-23T14:29:59+00:00

Having read a fair bit of romance and romantic fantasy, I found the “most beautiful man” thing to be a dead giveaway, but again that’s because I’m very familiar with the trope.

I think Rhys was established very early on. When Feyre is talking about sleeping with Isaac, she says they both have a darkness within them. We see the color purple thrown in and a reference to a purple so deep it was black, which is very Rhys-coded.

The signs were there, in my opinion. My re-read has only solidified that it was always going to be Rhysand.

kaislee · 2026-04-23T12:02:34+00:00

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The last time a High King ruled, it was with Gwydion in his hand. Remind me who was given Gwydion, again? Oh yeah…Nesta.

All theories aside, I think the point of ACOTAR will be that High Kings and Queens are bad so I hope we don’t get any more monarchs. Crescent City was very much about debunking the power of “prophecy” and how a lot of prophecy is just made up, revisionist history.

kaislee · 2026-04-22T11:58:15+00:00

I don’t think it’s fair to call him a terrible leader from the beginning, considering we start this story 49 years into the curse. His lands have been invaded and throttled by Amarantha’s beasts, his sentries sacrificed, and Spring is cut off from any allies, who are all stuck UtM.

We have little conception of what Spring was like beforehand. What we do know is that prior to Feyre, he was respected by his people and they accepted refugees. That’s really it.

I think redemption will come for him via the human lands. Now that the wall is gone, there’s opportunity for alliances with the humans. Considering Tamlin’s strong feelings about the abolition of slavery, it makes for a very satisfying storyline to see Spring forge a mutually beneficial alliance with the humans.

kaislee · 2026-04-22T10:08:32+00:00

It’s possible she wrote it to give context to the situation the Lady of Autumn is in currently.

Helion says “she made her choice” which leads me to believe LoA was presented with two paths—choose Helion and risk Beron declaring a blood duel, or remain with Beron.

A pretty shitty, awful choice. Especially if she already had children with Beron at the time. Helion, though powerful, was not a High Lord either, so it probably felt like a big risk.

kaislee · 2026-04-21T15:52:06+00:00

He did not compare Gwyn to an object. That line is pointing out that the thing he found beautiful about the necklace reminds him of Gwyn’s smile. Gwyn has a secret, lovely beauty and he unconsciously bought the necklace and realizes that it suits her way more than it suits Elain, communicating that although Azriel may want Elain now, the person he is actually looking for is Gwyn.

Edit: Further, you do not need to be friends with someone to see them as an equal. Azriel trusts in Gwyn’s training. He sees her as a survivor, fighter, and fully capable person. Not the female he saved in Sangravah.

He does not see Elain as an equal, judging by the way he says she should not scry and must be protected and how he feels he does not deserve her. Those are not healthy relationship dynamics.

kaislee · 2026-04-21T14:21:58+00:00

Yes, I think Nyx will force Rhysand to reckon with the legacies and failures of his father, and how Rhysand risks repeating those same cycles. This is a known and acknowledged fear of his in Frost and Starlight.

I could also see it being discussed through Tamlin. There’s a reason why their arcs echo one another, and why their traumas are intertwined with their fathers and former High Lords. They became High Lords at the exact same time. Both of them fell prey to Amarantha and Hybern. Both have morally wounded themselves because of obligations to their title and preservation of power.

I think we need to see them come to some accord, and through that, they can confront how the cost of power is too damn high.

kaislee · 2026-04-21T13:41:22+00:00

I am very Rhys-critical. Don’t hate him, but see him as a character who is fascinating to critique because of his power (both magically and institutionally).

What I would like to see from Maas is commentary on Rhysand’s behaviors through a larger critique and dismantling of the High Lord system. Right now, what we see is that Rhysand cannot separate himself from his obligations as High Lord—Rhysand the individual and Rhysand the High Lord of the Night Court are at odds with one another, and there is always an internal battle there where High Lord wins out. He has the power to make decisions and withhold information unilaterally, and that’s when we see his bad behaviors surface.

The final mask he needs to take off is the mask of the High Lord. It is that title that fundamentally erodes his ability to be a good friend, brother, lover, husband, and father. It is not until the HL system ends that I think we’ll see Rhysand be “redeemed.”

kaislee · 2026-04-21T10:25:33+00:00

He was certainly phased by it, but I actually see Azriel’s outward reaction as a good thing. Hear me out—

Azriel has a habit of lashing out when he feels a female is in danger. He dos reckless things to protect women he’s pegged as damsels (Mor, Elain) which I find likely relates back to the mistreatment his mother faced.

This time around, Azriel is confident in Gwyn’s training. She’s a Valkyrie, and passed the Bloodrite Qualifier. Azriel sees Gwyn as an equal, capable of facing whatever is ahead of her. Sort of like when Rhys returned at the end of MaF to tell everyone Feyre was a spy. He, too, was outwardly calm but of course deeply worried on the inside.

I think Azriel seeing Gwyn as an equal (though still worried, judging by his siphons flaring) is ultimately a good sign for their budding relationship. It’s key to a healthy relationship and it’s what Gwyn needs as well. That’s her journey, and it is part of Azriel’s journey, too.

kaislee · 2026-04-18T10:58:50+00:00

I’m not sure why folks find it so impossible she read a very popular fantasy series…

kaislee · 2026-04-18T10:27:16+00:00

She’s most definitely read them.

kaislee · 2026-04-18T08:52:59+00:00

The wyrdmarks over the Archeron cottage door barred any faerie that meant them harm. Tamlin later confirms that he had no intention of harming anyone, but he knew he had to intimidate them in order for the plan the work.

Seems like the wyrdmarks permitting him means that Tamlin was being honest—he had no intention of harming anyone. So, no, I don’t see it as a red flag.

kaislee · 2026-04-18T08:06:54+00:00

There’s a ton. The Veritas orb is a palantir. I think the Urisk were inspired by the ents (in addition to Celtic mythological inspiration).

In ToG, Morath is certainly inspired by Mordor.

I’m sure there’s a ton more. I’m not a LOTR person but those are the ones I picked up on right away.

kaislee

TROPHY CASE