r/Tamlinism

Here's a thought. Tamlin is considered traditionally handsome with conventional good looks and features. But the first book barely scraped the surface of his individuality. We know he's a musician- plays violin. We don't know if he's a reader but has a library. We are aware of the negative aspects of his persona. He's not charismatic. He probably has a shielded sense of humour which we got a glimpse of in TAR. TBH, I thought he was a boring character when I read him for the first time. What makes Tamlin interesting beyond the superficial qualities? Tamlin needs a personality makeover or a grand reveal. Share your opinions.

Not that it needed to be announced, but Tamlin convinced me "more the merrier". I guess all the extreme hate made me join this sub. Beastie needs all the virtual love he can get💝😎

*****SPOILERS FOR ACOTAR, TOG AND CC*****

Lets discuss.

I believe Rhysand tells us who he is in ACOMAF (Chapter 43, p 421-422):

“I am the dark lord, who stole away the bride of spring. I am a demon, and a nightmare, and I will meet a bad end. He is the golden prince--the hero who will get to keep you as his reward for not dying of stupidity and arrogance.”

There are countless Easter eggs across the ACOTAR series and Sarah J. Maas’s other books that support my theory that Rhysand is the villain. That he is connected to the Valg or Asteri, OR functions as some kind of similar interdimensional parasite like them. I personally read him as very Maeve-coded, and I think that parallel is deliberate.

What makes this quote stand out more than almost any other is how it feels like one of the rare moments Rhysand drops the performance and tells the truth. He openly calls himself the dark lord who stole the bride of spring. He names himself a demon and a nightmare who is headed for a bad end. At the same time, he positions Tamlin as the golden prince and the hero who has earned the right to keep his bride through everything he has survived.

A huge portion of the fandom treats this as Rhysand being dramatic, self-deprecating, or even romantic in his vulnerability. They read it as metaphor or exaggeration meant to push Feyre away or test her loyalty. I do not buy that. Rhysand lies constantly throughout the series, often through carefully constructed half-truths and manipulations that serve his own goals and reshape how others see events. This moment reads to me like the mask slipped. I believe with my whole chest that here, he is telling us EXACTLY who he is and what is coming for him.

Then, if you connect it to the wider Maasverse lore — the Valg, Asteri, and similar entities are invaders and corruptors who steal power, people, powerful objects, and entire worlds. They operate through deception, present false versions of themselves, and almost always meet violent or tragic ends once they are exposed. Rhysand’s own words here mirror that pattern perfectly. If he carries even a trace of that lineage, bloodline or descent, then labeling himself a “demon” and “nightmare” who stole the bride is not exaggeration. It is accurate description.

This quote also does something powerful for Tamlin’s positioning. In Rhysand’s own telling, Tamlin is not the broken or abusive figure so much of the fandom has accepted. He is the hero who deserves to keep his bride as a reward for enduring everything that’s been thrown at him. Yet the narrative we actually got often punishes Tamlin while elevating Rhysand, at least on the surface. If this line is foreshadowing rather than performance, it raises the question of whether that subversion will hold or if something more just is still coming for the prince of spring.

Do you agree with this reading, or do you see the quote differently? Are there other moments in the series (or the wider Maasverse) that stood out to you like this one did for me where a character’s words seemed to reveal more about their true nature, alliances, or ultimate fate than we realized at the time? I would love to hear your thoughts and any specific passages that stood out to you.

I dunno, this possibility has been stuck in my head for ages now. Like, obviously it would have to be before Lucien's eye got gouged out, and it would be basically giving into someone who lusted for him as a literal child, but it's STUCK IN MY HEAD.

She would've literally made him High King. I dunno, I can imagine a vengeful Tamlin going back in time and going: fuck it, let's just do this, I'm done.

I KNOW THIS IS A TERRIBLE SITUATION, OBJECTIVELY. But like...it's also very much on my mind. They could've been a weirdly good power couple? Like, Amarantha's pure sadism and lack of morals coupled with Tamlin's intelligence and power (which is comparable or even greater than Rhysand's). If we removed the whole 'lusted for him when he was a teenager (ew)' thing, she just looks like a standard yandere.

This is purely a joke opinion but also what I truly believe. Like, Feyre thinks Rhysand's the hottest because of the mating bond (I'll admit, he's probably attractive like literally every Fae in this book, but still), but literally all the evidence points to Tamlin being hotter.

RHYS!

What if SJM does some weird reversal and takes Tamlin’s story and gives it to that POS villain?

So Rhys gets enchanted in some way by a returning Amarantha (I kinda think she’s not dead. The Attor took her body) or Kosechi does something and then the tam lin story is about Feyre holding onto him as he shapeshifts?

I would hate this but this thought popped into my head.

Tamlin is known as the shapeshifter so I hope it’s his story with a different person holding onto him and bringing him back from the brink.

I just have very little trust in SJM’s storytelling.

Talk me down! LOL

I was re-watching the 1991 Disney animated version of Beauty & the Beast for the hundredth time or so and while I know there is supposed to be inspo there for ACOTAR, I really can’t see Feyre in Belle at all. Buckle up because she sounds more like a combo Gaston + Enchantress.

1. Belle is clever and reads voraciously while Feyre is often making exceptionally stupid choices and isn’t even literate in the first book. You know who is illiterate and makes dumb and terrible choices? Gaston. He and Feyre are also both good hunters (despite the fact Feyre is starving, but whatever). If anyone is going to shoot a wolf, it’s Gaston, not Belle.
2. Belle has a loving, albeit odd, father who is the reason she briefly leaves the Beast. Feyre’s father is awful and no one should leave a sandwich for him, let alone someone they’re falling in love with.
3. The Enchantress tests Prince Adam, ultimately making him the Beast when he fails her test. This leads to him destroying the west wing, which Belle is later forbidden from. Feyre tests Tamlin often, especially once he thinks she’s been kidnapped by his friend-turned-enemy and his illiterate fiancée is suddenly writing notes? He fails the test and destroys her room.
4. Feyre doesn’t cure Spring of any curse really, she leaves it in ruin as the Enchantress did with the castle, grounds, and entire staff.

All this to say, our Beast is cursed by Feyre and hasn’t found his Belle yet. How long he has before he’s consumed by his loss, grief, and self-loathing? I don’t know. And Amarantha? Just a flat, static villain.

Was just re-reading ACOWAR, and in a scene towards the end of Chapter 2, Feyre defends Tamlin & Lucien from the Hybern royals daemati attack, then retaliates, which prompts Tamlin to ask ‘What’s wrong?’ as if he didn’t have a clue what was going on.

Which is really confusing me, because surely as old as he is, and how long he has been HL, he should have had an inkling to Brannagh and Dagdan’s abilities and what they may attempt? If not, and the only reason he survived that dinner with his mind intact was because of Feyre, how on earth has he managed to stay alive and in power for as long as he has??

Maybe by pre-emptively defending against the attack, we didn’t get to see what shields Tamlin has, if any, but I’m pretty sure this is not the first time Tamlin has demonstrated vulnerability to daemati abilities, case in point being the multiple times Rhysand held / attacked Feyre, and his lack of any defensive ability except ‘pretty please stop that, Rhys’.

In ACOMAF, Tarquin seemed to have some solid mental shields, which if iirc, was because he got some training especially. Tarquin is only 60 and a newly minted HL - compared to Tamlin who’s 500+ and has been HL at least a good few centuries.

If you don’t need to be daemati to have mental shields, and training is sufficient, then why in the 1.5 years he and Feyre were together, did he not teach her a thing or two?

So far, the theories I’ve come up with to try and explain:

1. You need to be daemati to protect against other daemati - so Tamlin had a reason for not teaching her, but does that mean Tarquin is also? (very holey theory)
2. Most Fae have some sort of shield, but Feyre is an especially / uniquely talented daemati, and Tamlin / Lucien’s perceived vulnerability is skewed by her narration of the story.
3. Feyre is an OK daemati, most Fae’s mental shields are OK, but her HL connection gives her an edge over other HL’s and their heirs.

Title! If you could write the next book, what all would be in it?