Rhysand was not out of character
I find it interesting that some people were taken aback by Rhysand’s actions in *A Court of Silver Flames* and Azriel’s bonus chapter—calling him controlling or saying he was acting out of character—but I don’t know how else to put it: that is entirely consistent with who he is 😭. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate Rhysand, but I think the narrative’s failure to question his actions has led some of you to believe he’s never done anything wrong. I see him as a morally grey character: he isn’t evil, but he hasn’t always done the right thing.
Rhysand was put in the role of the villain from birth: the Illyrians hated him for being half-High Fae, and the Fae of the Hewn City hated him for being half-Illyrian; he was never liked by either side. On top of that, the whole world hates the Night Court; they assume everyone there is evil, so they act the part. Rhysand has played the villain for so long that he’s comfortable in the role, even though he hates it; he’s good at it, and even when he tries to do the right thing, he does it like a villain.
When faced with a choice between lying, deceiving, and stealing versus being honest and vulnerable, Rhys chooses the unlawful path because it’s what he’s used to.
We see this with Tarquin: he actually wanted to be friends with him; Tarquin saw past his facade and wanted to form an alliance.
But Rhys didn’t want to take the risk—not because he didn’t trust Tarquin, but because the idea of being vulnerable terrifies him, especially after more than 500 years.
So, he manipulated and stole from him, even though he felt terrible about it afterward. The interesting thing is that he did it to SAVE Prythian, yet he still had to act like a villain; it pained him so much that he couldn't go through with the whole plan—he chose not to use his *daemati* powers on Tarquin’s guards, ensuring Tarquin would find out what had happened. And then he did the same thing with Mor and Keir: instead of telling them and asking for forgiveness, he chose to keep it from them, caught them completely off guard, and waited to face his punishment upon returning home.
Rhysand has always been obsessed with controlling the situation from the very beginning, because if he isn't in control, he feels fear.
But when Mor asked, "What if it had been Amarantha?" he decided to lie and say he would have accepted her—albeit reluctantly—even though he later confessed to Feyre that it was a lie and that he would have killed her immediately; Feyre had to ask him to tell the truth and be vulnerable with her.
Rhysand is a liar.
Rhysand is controlling.
Rhysand is selfish.
We see this in his relationship with the Inner Circle; they are his chosen family and he adores them, yet he is terrified they might come to think he is eviljust like the rest of the world believes. And what does he do? He lies to them, too.
He went to see Amarantha alone because he didn't want Cassian and Azriel to witness what he was about to do to her... Cassian, his WAR GENERAL, and Azriel, his spy and Shadowsinger who makes a living TORTURING people!! 💀 They had fought side-by-side in wars, yet he was still terrified they would view him as the evil High Lord of the Night Court the world believed him to be.
And when he was captured, guess what he did? He shot out his power to lock them completely inside Velaris; they could have helped—ESPECIALLY Amren—but noRhys refused to take that risk, so he stripped them of their choice by keeping them prisoner for fifty years.
Finally, he is selfish; the story Jurian tells supports that claim:
"from Jurian
"You forget I knew him in the War. You forget he risked his legion to save Miryam from our enemy's fort. That's how Amarantha captured him, you know. Rhys knew it was a trap—for Prince Drakon. So Rhys went against orders and marched his entire legion to get Miryam out. For his friend, for my lover—and for that bastard Drakon's sake. Rhys sacrificed his legion in the process, got them all captured and tortured afterward. Yet everyone insists Rhysand is soulless, wicked" I think there is a line between the principle of "leaving no one behind" and foolishly leading an entire legion to death or torture to save a single person, when you could fight another day and increase your chances of winning; but Rhysand wanted to save his friend.
He also tried using all his tricks on Feyre, but they didn't work; he attempted to lie to and manipulate her several times—and yes, that includes lying by omission—but Feyre saw right through him and called him out on it every single time. He used her as bait for the attor, lied about the Weaver’s ring, and lied by not telling her they're mates; however, because Feyre saw through him and confronted him, he became more vulnerable with her. She convinced him to take off his mask and tell the truth, and he did—though he still lies sometimes (just not to Feyre). There was one moment in *ACOFAS*, though, where he almost lied about having spied on her, but he immediately corrected himself when she gave him a wry look, saying, "Okay, yeah, I did; I'm sorry" 😭.
That is, until the pregnancy scare completely shattered him and caused him to revert to the lying, controlling man he used to be; this isn't new, nor is it out of character—that’s just who Rhysand is: A terrified control freak.
I’m sorry this is so long, but I’ve been thinking about it for a while; and please excuse any typos. 😭