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goatsandgangsters · 1 year

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Nikolai’s ending in Rule of Wolves is disappointing because it undermines his character arc, it doesn’t commit to its own stakes, and it doesn’t align with everything we know about Nikolai as a character

And yet—it still could have worked with one single additional chapter where Nikolai goes back to being Sturmhond. This would have tied everything together in a way that is fitting for Nikolai’s arc and a satisfying ending for his character

A long but thorough meta on why:

[Side note: The reason Nikolai “has to” abdicate in the first place is flimsy at best (why are you letting Fjerda, whose asses you just publicly trounced, make demands on who rules your country?). It was always going to be a tough plotline to pull off, because Nikolai’s original narrative purpose is to be The Perfect Future King. everything about him as a character was crafted to fill this role in the trilogy. So it’s a hard sell at the eleventh hour to tell me he shouldn’t be king, or even that he no longer wants to be.

But! I’ll allow that Leigh was Going For A Particular Ending. and so talking about the validity of Nikolai abdicating isn’t really the point. Even within the story being told, it could have worked in a way that fit his arc. She could have stuck the landing. She didn’t—not from a narrative perspective, not from an in-universe perspective. But it could have been easily remedied with relatively little structural change to the book]

“You miss it, don’t you?” she asked.

“I do. Maybe if this all goes to hell and Vadik Demidov takes my crown, I’ll simply return to being Sturmhond. I can serve my country without wearing a crown.”

Where’s the follow-through on this? Where is it? This conversation has always felt like it was shoehorned in as a justification for Nikolai’s later decision. It feels very “oh shoot, I should lay the groundwork for why Abdicating Is Good For Him, Actually, let me slip this in halfway through.” but it’s strange to sow this seed of him wanting to be Sturmhond again, with no payoff.

After that comment, Nikolai goes on reflect about how he might do more good for Ravka as Sturmhond, since he wouldn’t be beholden to the bureaucratic process and lengthy decision-making. (He was happy to pick up a sword or a pen on Ravka’s behalf, to go without sleep or comfort in order to see a mission through. But kings didn’t take action—not the way that a privateer or even a general could.) So how, then, is it a good ending for Nikolai to abdicate his throne, yet remain beholden to the same bureaucratic processes—now with even less ability to make an impact—instead of serving Ravka as Sturmhond? How am I to believe he’ll be any happier as a mere advisor than he was as King? How will he not grow so restless he could burst?

Nikolai returning to Sturmhond is fitting, too. Of Nikolai’s many roles and masks he’s worn, Sturmhond is the only one he’s ever chosen entirely for himself. It’s the only thing he’s ever done because he wanted it—not because it was required of him. We first meet him as Sturmhond, young and high-spirited; it would be natural to leave him as Sturmhond once more, now more mature and more cognizant of what it means to serve his country. Instead, we leave him as… what, exactly? The second again, the spare? Nikolai Nothing?

There was so much build-up in King of Scars about the symbolism of Ravka and what it means to Nikolai. How Ravka is intertwined with his own identity, his restlessness, his search for belonging, his need to constantly fix, his self-sacrifice in the name of Ravka. His abdication COULD have been an opportunity to bring all those themes full circle and complete his character arc in a satisfying way. It’s the ultimate sacrifice in the name of Ravka—he loses the throne he always wanted, but in so doing achieves the peace he’d always fought for. The symmetry in that is so striking. You have to lose to win.

Yet the other problem with Nikolai’s abdication is that it’s not—in fact—an actual sacrifice. It’s all optics. Alina even notes it: “The too-clever fox gave up his throne, but still manages to stay a king.” But doesn’t that cheapen the abdication itself? Doesn’t that strip the action of meaning? By having Nikolai abdicate in name only, it renders what could be a powerful moment into essentially an empty and hollow gesture. There are no stakes. There is no narrative tension.

And if you refuse to give your characters real stakes to their decisions, then what is the point of them deciding to do anything?

From an in-universe perspective too, these are bad optics. If the people want Zoya to be Queen, if the people want the Lantsov dynasty to end, if they want these things enough that Nikolai must abdicate—how can he remain publicly by Zoya’s side as an advisor, let alone as a romantic partner? This actively undermines Zoya as a ruler. For a book concerned by the threat of a puppet king on the Ravkan throne, this ending must look very much like that to anyone outside our circle of heroes. It does not seem like a new era for Ravka, it does not seem like change. You cannot promise a new regime and then have the old regime stick around after.

Frankly, it’s hard to believe that politically-savvy Nikolai wouldn’t know this. The very first thing we learn about Nikolai is that he’s an expert in understanding and wielding the power of perception. I cannot believe he’d willingly undermine Zoya’s new role as Queen that way. His very presence casts doubt on the independence of her rule. I’m sure Leigh’s explanation would be “well The People like Zoya and Nikolai, so they’re allowed to do whatever they want and no one will care,” but I’m rightfully allowed to call that exceptionally cheap worldbuilding (if the universe rearranges itself to keep the protagonists from making hard choices, you’re not creating a good story)

what SHOULD HAVE happened—and could have happened easily, without the need to restructure or change the ending much at all—is that they spread the story that Nikolai has retired to some estate somewhere and left Zoya to rule. but instead he goes back to being Sturmhond. He still dedicates himself to Ravka, but in a different way (because he could never walk away from something that needs fixing). And new folk tales begin to spread over Ravka about a seafarer and a dragon, they say they meet atop the lighthouse in Os Kervo, they say the dragon can always find the ship in the night. That’s immediately a richer, more character-specific relationship dynamic. Maybe Nikolai reconnects with his bio dad; sometimes he comes back and throws an elaborate party at his estate just to maintain the ruse.

Ultimately, he loses some of what he had, but he gains the things he was longing for all along—freedom, family, not being beholden to anyone, choice in his identity, the ability to act decisively for the betterment of Ravka

it doesn’t mean losing Ravka, it doesn’t mean losing Zoya, but in order to love them and help them and fight for them, he must do it from a distance. Because that’s what loving them requires. It’s not “duty over love,” but rather it’s “duty as love.” And it means so much more than schmaltzy love declarations because it’s backed by real action, real commitment, and real sacrifice that demonstrates the love.

honestly, if I’m reading about the leaders of a country, I don’t want “and then they got everything they ever wanted and then some, and it was happily ever after.” The whole intrigue of leader characters is to see them make choices. It’s about the difficulty between duty vs desire, the self vs the collective, what you want vs what’s required. Leaders do not get to simply be themselves—and that’s the heart of their narrative struggle

Nikolai’s ending doesn’t work because it’s hollow. It disregards everything we’ve ever known about him as a character.

He has always been defined by his constant striving for the betterment of Ravka. It’s already hard to believe one shoved-in scene where he yearns to set aside what he’s always worked towards. It’s hard to believe that abdicating is the right ending for him. But if he must, then let him actually do it. Let him make a real sacrifice for Ravka. Let him give up what he’s worked towards because he knows it’s for the best. Let him return to sea and love his Ravka from afar, and love her better that way. Let there be meaning, let there be poignance, let the ending fit the character.

I don’t want to read a story where the world bends around the characters to tidy everything up neatly for them. I want stories that are driven by the characters, where characters are defined by their choices, and where those choices mean something

It’s rather meta, if you think about it. Nikolai Lantsov’s issue is that he constantly squeezes himself into the shape of what other people need him to be. And then, within “his” own duology, the narrative itself squeezes and reshapes him in for the sake of plot convenience, with no regard for concluding his individual character arc

Just one more chapter. One more chapter of teal coats and setting sail and the sea before him.

It requires no structural plot changes. It would have been more meaningful for Nikolai as a character. It would have given his relationship with Zoya such poignance. A goodbye, for now. But a short one—it doesn’t take a dragon long to fly to the shore.

If it’s time for a new leader, if this is Ravka’s sea change, well—then let there be sea.

#nikolai lantsov #grishaverse #rule of wolves #'duty as love' would have been a much more interesting ending #she very often chooses what’s easy instead of what’s interesting #and that frustrates me #I just think that the ‘king of scars’ duology should have included a character arc for the king of scars #seems fundamental yknow?#the grisha trilogy #(it's not but that's my organizational tag for all 5 ravka books)#grishaverse meta

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sleepless-crows · 1 year

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It's fun having a Kindle. Anyway, another Grishaverse quote post.

From Rule of Wolves as well. Slightly spoiler-y?

(Nina's pov)

Sometimes she wondered if she'd made a mistake leaving her friends in Ketterdam. She missed Inej's stillness, the knowledge that she could say anything to her without fear of recrimination. She missed Jesper's laughing ways and Wylan's sweetness. She even missed Kaz's ruthlessness. Saints, it would have been a relief to hand over this whole mess to the bastard of the Barrel. He'd have sussed out Vadik Demidov's origins, raided the Fjerdan treasury, and placed himself on the throne in the time it took Nina to braid her hair. On second thought, probably best Kaz wasn't here.

#i miss the crows #six of crows #crooked kingdom #crooked kingdom spoilers #soc #king of scars #king of scars spoilers #rule of wolves #rule of wolves spoilers #nina zenik #inej ghafa #jesper fahey #wylan van eck #kaz brekker

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freddycartr · 2 years

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“saints, it would have been a relief to hand over this whole mess to the bastard of the barrel. he’d have sussed out vadik demidov’s origins, raised the fjerdan treasury, and placed himself on the throne in the time it took nina to braid her hair.” | rule of wolves, leigh bardugo

#kaz brekker #rule of wolves #nina zenik

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twocleverfoxes · 1 year

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NOT YOUR ORDINARY CABIN BOY

Linnea Opjer grew up in Fjerda and had a hard time fitting in with the rest of the girls. She eventually left Fjerda to study engineering at the University of Ketterdam. Eventually, they got kidnapped under the orders of The Apparat (who wants Vadik Demidov as King of Ravka) in an attempt to lure Magnus Opjer out of hiding so he could confirm his affair with the Queen and tell the world Nikolai is a bastard. They managed to escape and found themselves sailing with pirates dressed as a cabin boy. They changed their name to River (because on the run, duh) but quickly took a liking to it. In this specific verse, unlike her main verse (where she is aware she is grisha and has been sent away for her own protection), she is a closeted durast. They are somehow able to track down materials (precious metals or not), which is how she became a skilled pickpocket and managed to escape their captors. They are Prince Nikolai’s paternal half-sibling.

#TWOCLEVERFOXES #VERSES.

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stromuprisahat · 3 years

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Darkles × “brother” Chernov; one of the Darkling’s chapters in Rule of Wolves (Leigh Bardugo)

BuT hE dOeSn’T rEaLlY cArE aBoUt ThE gRiShA! He OnLy DoEs ThAt WhEn ThEy FoLlOw HiM!!!

#Rule of Wolves #King of Scars duology #Grishaverse #RoW Chapter 26 #Leigh Bardugo #books #quotes #V #The Darkling #Chernov #Grisha #Vadik Demidov

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nazyalvnskys · 4 years

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the apparat is vadik demidov, the lantsov pretender

to be honest? i thought of this at 2:30 am and all of the evidence i’ve managed to gather is circumstantial at best, but i present my case:

(this is a long post and i can’t put a read more cut in on mobile sorryyy)

pulling from the original trilogy—the apparat helped the darkling overthrow the old king, then worked with alina to overthrow the darkling, but it’s pretty clear that he doesn’t want alina in a true position of power. in fact, he encourages alina to stay belowground despite knowing that she was growing weaker and tells her to “see which way the wind blows” (let the darkling and nikolai kill each other aboveground). let’s say the darkling and nikolai did end up dealing each other irreparable damage and alina wasted away belowground per the apparat’s plans... who’s left to lead ravka? the apparat. so, it’s been established since tgt that the apparat wants power for himself and doesn’t like nikolai, giving him a motive to claim the throne now, in kos/kos2. although i doubt lb initially intended for the apparat to eventually become a lantsov pretender (that is, if she does at all), it would make sense for her to put a plausible new spin on an old character—just as she’s done with other characters already.

the apparat is mentioned way too many times throughout kos for him just to be someone who runs off to back the fjerdans. he’s mentioned 47, FORTY-SEVEN, times in the book!

now, assuming that he did run off to back fjerda, what would he gain if he were just backing them as the apparat? he would still only be a spritual leader at most (AT MOST, considering that the fjerdan government doesn’t even like the worship of saints) and it’s likely that he would end up with less power than before—a fjerdan-endorsed leader would trust him as an advisor even less than nikolai. the only way he stands to truly benefit as a part of the fjerdan cause is if he’s the person they’re backing.

whenever zoya/the triumvirate suggest killing someone and that person doesn’t end up dead, they come back in some major way as a new addition to the dungheap of problems ravka has. case in point: magnus opjer, yuri... guess who else they contemplated eliminating? the apparat. although he could be a formidable enemy just as the spiritual leader of ravka backing a pretender, considering the influence he has among the common people, that influence could be used a lot better if he himself were the pretender. either way he’s definitely in league with fjerda.

the language that nina uses to describe the fjerdan letter and vadik demidov is interesting:

“It only said that Lantsov wouldn’t be a problem for someone named Demidov. That their spies believed the situation would resolve itself without interference soon.”

“wouldn’t be a problem” implies to me that demidov already has some sort of leverage over nikolai... which the apparat probably does have. the apparat being so close to the old king + queen, he definitely knew about the magnus opjer affair. in fact, how would magnus opjer be able to know for certain that nikolai was his son without someone on the inside affirming to him yes, he looks exactly like you? the most damning part about this quote, though, is the mention of the situation “resolving itself.” tamar and tolya already suspect the apparat wasn’t buying the isaak act and then mention that the apparat’s been gone from the city frequently. i don’t think it’s a coincidence that lb repeatedly mentions that the apparat is “too canny” to be allowed access to isaak-nikolai, says that the apparat suspects something’s up, and then writes in the letter that demidov’s spies think the situation’ll resolve itself.

there’s a hell of a lot of foreshadowing that reads too heavily to me for the apparat to just be a side part of the fjerdan coup:

The Apparat had betrayed everyone who’d ever been foolish enough to trust him.

“Even if Alina Starkov herself rose from the Fold ensconced in sunlight to denounce him, the Apparat would still find a way to survive. That’s his gift.”

[E]very concession they made to the Apparat felt like a misstep. The old king, the Darkling, Alina Starkov—they’d all bargained with the priest, and all of them had paid in blood.

there’s also this tidbit: zoya asks nikolai before they go on the pilgrimage what he’s planning on doing with yuri afterwards. her words exactly:

“The people will revolt outright if you actually try to make the Darkling a Saint. You could start a holy war and give the Apparat the perfect chance to challenge you outright—and he’ll do it under Alina’s banner.”

and nikolai’s like yeah okay we’ll just exile yuri when it’s all over. but now they’ve brought yuri, who’s actually the DARKLING, back, which would be perfect fuel for the apparat’s campaign against nikolai. plus, the words “challenge you outright” sound awfully foreboding to me.

jarl brum mentions that vadik demidov will be marching on the capital soon ten pages before nikolai confirms that the apparat is missing. strategically, if the apparat were only in league with demidov, wouldn’t it be better for him to stay in ravka and pretend to be on nikolai’s side for insider information? of course he’d need to help rally the people against nikolai, but wouldn’t that be easier to do from within ravka? why would he leave ravka to join the fjerdan campaign unless he himself is the face of the campaign?

at the very end of the book is this bit of dialogue between nikolai and tamar:

“Afraid so. As I understand it,” said Nikolai, “the Apparat has gone missing and Fjerda is marching in support of a Lantsov pretender. Is he good looking?”

Tamar frowned. “The Apparat?”

“The Lantsov pretender.”

now i might just be reading way too much into this, but could this be lb hinting to us that the apparat and the pretender are one and the same? the first few times i read this part, it always struck me as being off: i feel like anyone reading or actually hearing nikolai ask this would automatically assume, based on the order of his words, that his inquiry of “is he handsome?” applies to the pretender, and not the apparat. but for some reason, tamar thinks he’s referring to the apparat—not only could this potentially be a hint, but it conveniently means that we don’t get any physical description of vadik demidov.

the flimsiest piece of “evidence” that i saved for the end because i was debating deleting it entirely: isaak and the apparat are the only two people in the book to call nikolai “your majesty.” isaak is a pretender, and the apparat is... a pretender?

overall, i think the apparat just running off to join fjerda and vadik demidov would be a pretty obvious plot twist (if it can even be called that) and feels too insignificant to warrant all the buildup that happens earlier in the book. we know that lb likes dramatic twists especially in regards to characters and their true identities (sturmhond=nikolai, kuwei=wylan, yuri=darkling), and the apparat=demidov is a twist that definitely works and would leave everyone like ohhhhhhhhh!

anyway tell me y’all’s thoughts!

#kos #nikolai lantsov #grishaverse #zoya nazyalensky #king of scars #kos 2 theories #the apparat #vadik demidov #nikolai duology #Long post #the darkling #tgt

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ahsqka · 3 years

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zoya crying in her room to long live by tswift every night in between the events of king of scars and rule of wolves is canon. fight me.

#JUST LOOK AT THE LYRICS #I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you #bring on all the pretenders #*enter vadik demidov*#AND ALL THE KING/QUEEN LYRICS??#canon.#zoyalai #zoya nazyalensky #nikolai lanstov #row #rule of wolves #kos #king of scars #grishaverse #taylor swift #my post

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fakeoutbf · 3 years

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#rule of wolves spoilers #‘Saints it would have been a relief to hand over this whole mess to the bastard of the Barrel.#He’d have sussed out Vadik Demidov’s origins raided the Fjerdan treasury and placed himself #on the throne in the time it took Nina to braid her hair. On second thought probably best Kaz wasn’t here.#SHUT UP WHY IS THIS MY FAVORITE THING IN THE WHOLE FUCKING WORLD AHHDTNEJJDIR #YES KAZ IS A FUCKING MASTERMIND AND YES HE’D BE FUCKING KING OF RAVKA AND FJERDA IF HE WANTED #thank you nina for acknowledging my boy #andy reads row

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queerthoughts-gaybrainrot · 2 years

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Once King Nikolai is deposed, Vadik Demidov will be crowned and we will petition—”

“Demidov will be a Fjerdan puppet.”

“What do we care for politics of that kind?”

“You’ll care when they stack Grisha on the pyre.”

“Grisha?”

Aleksander had to work to hide his anger. “Was not the Darkling a Grisha?”

“He was a Saint. There is a difference. What has come over you, Yuri?”

Aleksander smiled, regrouping. “Forgive me. I only meant that we may still find new followers among the Grisha.”

Chernov clapped him on the back. “A worthy goal once the war is over.”

He contemplated tearing Chernov’s arm from its socket.

Sasha has a patience of a goddamn Saint.

#aleksander morozova #darkling #the darkling #row #rule of wolves #reading row #grishaverse

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abigail-abridged-summaries · 3 years

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Ok but she's not wrong and I'd actually love to see that

#rule of wolves #leigh bardugo #row #nina zenik #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #jesper fahey #wylan van eck #bookworm #books #books and libraries #ya books #lgbt+ books #fantasy #ya fantasy #ya lgbt book #book quotes #king of scars duology #grishaverse

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oncesneverenough · 3 years

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“Saints, it would have been a relief to hand over this whole mess to the bastard of the Barrel. He’d have sussed out Vadik Demidov’s origins, raided the Fjerdan treasury, and placed himself on the throne in the time it took Nina to braid her hair. On second thought, probably best Kaz wasn’t here.”

After this description of Kaz in Rule of Wolves, you almost forget he spent most of his time in Six of Crows fighting to hide his crush from his best friends.

But if he didn’t spend so much time on trying to hide his feelings for Inej, this right here might actually happen. Now I have a headcanon rent-free in my mind with Kaz being the King of Ravka just so he could pass a law to protect the Suli caravans so his wife can safely travel with her family each time she wishes.

One paragraph in a book about the dregs and I am back to moping after them, I am hopeless 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

#rule of wolves spoilers #kinda not really #currently reading #nina zenik pov #kaz brekker #bastard of the barrel #married kaz x inej

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teacup-tyrant · 3 years

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Rule of Wolves: LIVE REACTIONS PART 1

I don’t think anyone gives a shit what I have to say about anything but this was what I was furiously typing as I was reading. Spoilers below, obviously.

- the first thing I have to say is what is it with every guy EVER wanting to take a girl's hair down if it's tied up or braided. You know why its up there in the first place? Because its always in our faces, it sheds constantly, it gets tangled every 2 seconds, or idk sometimes we just want to feel fancy with a fancy hairdo. Having hair down isn't sexy, its just annoying hahaha

- haha Kerch joins no wars bc they only want to be friends with whoever wins so they can trade with them and get all the moneys. Such greedy little assholes, I love them.

- wait wait wait when did we get an antidote to parem and why aren't we making a bigger deal out of it???

- so I'm not hating returning to Nina's chapters this time as much as I did in KoS. At least in RoW her job is a lot more directly related to the plot happening in Ravka so it ties together better

- Nina's whole... feeding the Fjerdans propaganda and basically tricking them into joining the religion of her country is... really uncomfortable to me?? It's super cult-y. Forcing religion onto people is never a good thing.

- “Kaz would have sussed out Vadik Demidov's origins, raided the Fjerdan treasury, and placed himself on the throne-” I AM DED. Maybe Kaz is involved in all this somehow. Haha one can only hope.

- Oh fuck, Hanne is trans, isn't she? That was a trans set up if I’ve ever seen one.

- Has Tolya always had enough hair to tie it back? Nice. I need fanart of him immediately.

- Jesus Christ, the Tavgharad just set themselves on fire holy shit

- Prince Rasmus reminds me of Colin Craven from The Secret Garden being all spoiled and like “I'm a sickly child and I'm probably going to die, oh well.”

- So much is happening already and I keep going OH! Maybe it's going in this direction! Or maybe this direction! So really, I have no idea where it's actually going and that's good. I like it.

- HAHA maybe Nikolai should try to take Fjerda's crown instead. Since he's apparently got more Fjerdan blood if he really is a bastard.

- I just put my bookmark ahead on a random page and I accidentally saw “the journey to Ketterdam” fucking WAHT. WE'RE GOING TO KETTERDAM LATER?!?! how tf am I supposed to concentrate on anything else now?!

- ok I almost liked Rasmus but he's kind of a crazy bitch, isn't he?

...and that's all for now until the Ketterdam chapters bc as you can see, that broke my brain from concentrating on anything else until I got there

#row spoilers #rule of wolves #rule of wolves spoilers #live read

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