Analyzing Aleksander's reaction to Alina's loss of her power
(I'm so sick and tired of seeing people use his "You are nothing now" words as a way to justify how he didn't love her that I decided to create a whole ass post about it.)
First of all, let's see what the powers of a Grisha mean to a Grisha, shall we?
For a Grisha her powers is the same thing as the oxygen is for all humans. The constant beat of a person's heart.
Indispensable.
And in a way it's implied that a Grisha cannot live without it. Just like birds can naturally fly, just like a fish can naturally swim. It's part of their nature, part of their body and soul.
Now let's see Aleksander's reaction to Alina's loss of her power.
The moment he saw Alina being unable to summon, he froze. At first he's in denial of what he sees.
How can a Grisha not being able to use her power? A power that is always there no matter what? A power that "feeds" them and keeps them healthy and alive.
We see Aleksander being in a state of shock as he tries to comprehend what is happening with her:
He had never seen anything like that. A Grisha losing her powers is unheard of. Impossible.
He tries again and again to summon her light and bring it to the surface. The fact that he can't feel it causes him panic and pain. In a way, he can't find her soul.
And the very fact that she also lost her collar and feter is impossible too. When a Grisha claims an amplifier, a connection is made that can't be broken.
Another fatal loss for Alina and a disastrous blow for Aleksander and his knowledge, since he knows more than anyone else how amplifiers work and how a Grisha's power work. All the hundreds of years he had spent watching and studying the ways of the Small Science and of power, have gone to waste right now as he tries to understand what is going on with the woman he loves.
His near immortality and rare powers always made him seek someone else to connect with. Someone to understand him and be on the same level as him.
People say that he never actually wanted Alina to be his equal. Well, based on his words and reaction here, I would say he wanted to.
Right now there's no pretense, no tricks or a façade. We see him "naked" and exposed showing us his terror of Alina's loss and despair for his fate. Of being alone forever.
"You were meant to be like me."
Aleksander wanted her strong and confident. Unafraid to rise above the others and to stand right beside him.
"You're nothing now."
I know it sounds cruel but it is true.
If a bird lost its ability to fly or a fish its ability to swim, would you call that normal? If a person stopped breathing or her heart stopped beating, would you call her alive and whole?
Alina lost the very essence of her being, her soul and identity. What happened to her was something completely unnatural and just wrong. Aleksander has lived for centuries and knows more about the Grisha than anyone else (except of course his mother) so he knows that what happened to her, has crippled her. She's not the Alina she was. And she's never gonna be.
It's not a statement of disgust, apathy or scorn. They're words of pain and mourning. Shock and anger.
It's a complete ruin for Alina.
A devastation and tragedy for the unfortunate Grisha that experiences it for the first time in their history. And an equal devastation and sorrow for the Grisha that watched it happen to the person he cared most about.
And it's actually funny how Aleksander seems to be the only person that was devastated for what happened to her.
Everyone else was:
"Alina lost her powers"
"Okay cool".
In a way you can say that it was proof of how he was the one that truly cared about her fate while the rest of her friends didn't seem to give two flying fucks.
The Darkling just gave up.
All he had fought for, all the patience he had mastered for years waiting for his equal to come, went to dust right in front of him.
In a way he committed suicide and just let Alina kill him.
Now if he didn't love her as some people say, why did he do these things after she lost her powers?:
1) Called her to his side and searched for her hand to hold it.
2) Smiled at her and stroked her tears.
3) Entrusted her with his last wish because he'd seen her kindness and believed in it.
4) Asked her to say his name one more time so he could hear it from her one last time. A name that he had probably never said to anyone else for centuries.
5) Begged her to not leave him alone while he died because loneliness frightened him.
I'm sorry but if I was dying, I wouldn't want anyone at my side but the people that I loved the most. And Aleksander wanted the same too.
There's no way he felt disgust or anger towards Alina even after she stabbed him. Whatever she did, he forgave. And whatever happened to her in the end didn't stop him from loving her and wanting her presence at his side until his own end.
(didn't really love her, my ass)
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