I've been seeing entirely too many posts describing Aedion as "whiny" for his reactions to a few things, especially capitalizing on Lysandra and Aelin's previous traumas while completely disregarding his. If a few of you have seen my replies on previous threads, I'm sorry for the repitition, but this has been happening a lot more than usual given the closer release of HOFAS.

Let's go back to the start...

At just 13 years old, Aedion is being raised and trained in Orynth by Rhoe Galathynius, Aelin's father, to be her only oathsworn warrior. He's being raised to believe that Aelin IS his job, the essence of his duty.(Much like King George says to Philip in The Crown series just without the romance.) He's being raised to be her best friend, her confidant, her safe haven, the sword against her enemies and her shield. The only person that she can trust absolutely. Such was the way of Terrasen monarchs since Brannon himself. But for Aedion, it's more than that. Rhoe is the only father figure he's ever known, and he and Aelin's bond is something closer to siblings than cousins. He's lost his mother, Evalin's sister, he doesn't know who his father is and Rhoe, Aelin, Evalin and Terrasen are all he has left.

In one night, he loses everything. EVERYTHING. Rhoe, Evalin, Orlon and Aelin are assassinated, and Terrasen has been invaded. He finds himself on the battlefield of Theralis, the last stand of Terrasen against a genocidal maniac. He watches, at 13 years old, as his countrymen are felled and Orynth burns.

He spends the next ten years undermining a King that would see him beheaded if he was found out. He learns battlefield tactics and strategy and becomes the youngest General The Bane has ever seen. For his troubles, he's dubbed "Adarlan's Whore" by his own countrymen. Most of which don't realize that the little Terrasen has left is because of what Aedion has done.

Upon being rescued by his dead cousin, his world is immediately flipped upside down again when her shiny new boyfriend all but flaunts his blood oath to her under Aedion's nose. (Rowan having pushed the issue because he knew Aelin felt guilty for giving it to him. Also, just a note, but Aelin only gave Rowan the blood oath because HE pushed her to do it to give Maeve pause about retaliating. There seems to be far too much confusion where that point is concerned, but Aelin, IN FACT, did not want to do it.) Aelin spends a good amount of time avoiding Aedion and alienating him completely. She never once TRIES to trust Aedion with planning. She doesn't try to get to know him. She doesn't try where Aedion is concerned at all. She completely disregards him. When the confrontation does happen, all he asks is for her to include him. Which she doesn't. And so, he passes the time by falling in love with her best friend.

In Skull's Bay, Lysandra listens while Aedion lances the wounds of his trauma about Gavriel, his mother, never having a say over his life or the direction that it took. How much it meant to him that Aelin was actually allowing him to set the pace with Gavriel. Lysandra got a front row seat to Aedion's abandonment trauma, his ptsd, and his self doubt. She also finds out that he's falling in love with her and he plans to marry her. She is who he wants to spend his life with.

At the coast, Aedion is wiping the blood off of Goldryn while Lysandra admits to the plan that Aelin concocted in case of her absence or death.(Aelin was fully aware that the Lock would kill her and she was also fully aware that SHE was Maeve's price and could be taken. Lysandra also knew this.) Lysandra will be taking Aelin's form permanently. Aedion points out that any heirs between Lysandra and Rowan won't look anything like Aelin. Lysandra, the former sex slave, tells Aedion that's where he comes in. That he would be siring the royal line with her and Rowan would be raising those heirs. Now, so many people say he could've just said no... the problem here is that if he says no, Terrasen fails and the house of cards that Aelin built will also fall. They've put him in a position where he cannot say no. But if he says yes, then he gets to watch his children be raised by another man without ever knowing that their father is actually Uncle Aedion. It's so much worse than what Gavriel went through, never knowing that Aedion existed. And it plays on EVERY SINGLE ONE OF HIS TRAUMAS. Not only did they remove his autonomy, but they completely disregarded him as a living, breathing person. Lysandra was fully aware of Aedion's issues, and she still allowed him to be used as a tool in a plan that she promised Aelin would come to fruition. Both of these women chose to use him in a way that he would have NEVER done to them. He's not given a chance to rant and rave at Aelin, she's gone. So he rants at Lysandra because she is the only one that's there. I'm not saying it's right, but if you're going to defend the actions that lead to the tent scene then you have to logically take ALL of this into account.

I would like to point out that if Rowan and Aedion had concocted a plan that would've turned Lysandra broodmare for the royal line, readers would have RIOTED. People would've hailed her as a hero for the tent scene and hated her for forgiving him so easily.

That night in the tent, Aedion was reaping the rewards of this stupid plan these two women had concocted. He was exhausted, in pain, and still completely caught up in his anger. She came to him looking for comfort and he was not ready to comfort her yet. He was not ready to forgive her for her part in the plan that lead them to that moment. It doesn't make him right, this reaction makes him human.

Aedion is determined, funny, protective, and loyal to a fault.He's also abrasive, outspoken, and kind of prick to new guys. He's a morally gray character with a lot of trauma in his history. He's flawed and he takes accountability for those flaws. He's trying to be better and he even says he wants to be better for Aelin's court. Because he knows he's flawed and he feels like he doesn't deserve to be there, even after all he's done to save Terrasen. It's a shame more people don't understand his story or why he is the way he is. Why he feels so utterly betrayed by what they tried to do. But he's a beautifully written, multidimensional character. If you're quick to anger at his reactions then maybe you should look at the actions that caused them.