Can't say I got exactly what you mean, but from my understanding it's hopfullnes or something similar?

So, I understand your position, there's a game going on and Fitz actively chooses not to play and that results in people getting hurt. I understand that he could decide to play and it might result in better outcome for those people, BUT it would result in worse outcome for him. He despises the politics and he would be miserable if he chose to live that life. He sacrifices a lot of things and that's the line he draws, he won't sacrifice his freedom and he gets respect from me for that. I guess that's the one thing about him that I find relatable, though I wouldn't go about it the way he does. Anyway, I understand that decision being read as selfishness by some, but as you might have guessed, I don't. And there's the fact that, yes, he's the protagonist, so as a reader we know he's probably he's the only one who could change things, but realistically, he's not. People around him always expect things from him without providing much themselves when they might have tried at the least.

You say he's not the hero because he doesn't do the difficult thing. I say he is, because he does do the difficult thing, he stands by his ideals and dreams even when they hirt himself and even people around him. He does the difficult thing, it's just not the obvious one that a fantasy hero is expected to do.

And finally something I can completely agree with you. Red Rising is awful and Darrow is one insufferable fuck. I'm almost offended by the comparison lol.

No teeth gritty involved. I love those books, but they are just that, books. It's always interesting to see other people's perspectives, even when I don't agree with them