Eddis’ Affection for Eugenides

Mar 7, 2018

Megan Whalen Turner’s The Queen of Attolia has been an engaging read since page 1. I was initially struck by the parallels drawn between Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling in Turner’s opening: the dark setting, the mysterious characters that aren’t named until several chapters in, the heightened emotion brought forth through the sheer of act of the reader following a thief’s journey, etc. After we read through chapter seven, I was unsure how the plot would progress and what to expect next. I did not expect to Eugenides to propose “stealing” the woman who brutally abused and tortured him, resulting in his hand being cut off.

The dynamic that play out in the scene between Eugenides and Eddis is fascinating because of her protective nature concerning her thief. She reacts very negatively to the proposed idea and coddles Eugenides as if he is a child, which he points out that he is not: “you can’t tell me I am a grown-up hero and still keep me tied to you like a little boy. Let me go” (196). Eddis’ contradictory actions make me weary of her emotions towards him. I cannot determine whether it is strictly platonic affection or something more. Her protective side is clearly displayed when she yells at him for scouting out Attolian territory: “I gave you permission to run away and hide, not to go creeping around Atolia’s megaron so that she can catch you again. Are you out of your mind?” (194). Her passion concerning his safety implies more than just a platonic friendship that extends to a familial or even romantic relationship. What can we make of this once Eugenides confesses his love for Attolia? How do these dynamics play a role throughout the rest of the books and how does it interact with the rest of the series? Is Turner setting us up for the third book?

5 responses to “Eddis’ Affection for Eugenides”

akaron

March 9, 2018 at 6:58 pm

Nice post! This is an interesting question regarding authorial intent here: what is the real nature of Eddis and Egenedies’ relationship? I personally think that Eddis’ feelings do match up as an older cousin because she is protective of him like a big sister but also is not a mother figure because she’s not really that much older (also that would be weird considering Attolia is even older than Eddis). I think the part of her that is torn between letting Eugenides go and be an asset to her as a queen versus keeping him out of harms way is something that ties into the struggle between political and personal interests. I can see how the dynamic between Eddis and Gen may seem more than platonic, but I think their strong bond is much more leaning towards familial love than romantic. That being said, I personally don’t understand the love between Gen and Attolia, or Aerin and Tor from Hero and the Crown (also cousins with age difference) so it wouldn’t surprise me if there was a possibility for the two to end up together, although by the end of Queen of Attolia I feel like the author is setting up the romantic relationship between Eugenedies and Attolia more than anything else.

LikeLike

Reply
1. malyschm
  
  March 10, 2018 at 5:01 am
  
  I totally agree with your evaluation of Gen and Eddis’ relationship as familial rather than romantic; I think the dynamic stems primarily from the fact that Eddis knows that her marriage must serve a political purpose rather than being married for love-her choice in marriage partners is discussed more in the third book.
  I think that if Eddis were not ruler of the queendom, and were free to make choices that didn’t influence the rest of the population, she could be interested in a romantic relationship with Gen, as he is a smart and entertaining character and they have a strong connection anyway. However, I doubt that the interest would be reciprocated; Firstly, Gen is already taken, and secondly I think he and Eddis are too similar to begin and maintain a successful relationship with each other. They would be too stubborn to concede to their partner in anything.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
erinrosenfeld

March 10, 2018 at 7:42 pm

I also think the relationship between Eugenides and Eddis is an interesting topic! I think a lot of YA fiction has really simplistic bonds between characters, and often authors emphasize stereotypical exclusive romances at this age. Although I don’t think Eddis and Eugenides necessarily have a romantic relationship, it does remind me of Luthe and Aerin in some ways, in that protagonists can have multiple intense bonds with characters of a different gender without invalidating their primary romantic relationship. I like that Luck in the Shadows and The Queen of Attolia offer new models of relationships between characters of different genders – they show children and young adults that it is possible to have intensely intimate bonds with various people, that may involve protective or physical elements, without needing to be necessarily romantic (or monogamous/exclusive). In this way, I think the surprise relationship between Eugenides and Attolia was really powerful, especially given that he maintained his close relationship with Eddis even after admitting his love for Attolia. Personally, my favorite part of the stories we’ve read so far has been focusing on the relationships between characters rather than the plot or worldbuilding, so I’m excited to see if other books depict unusual and diverse types of relationships, too!

LikeLike

Reply
1. annabilly
  
  March 13, 2018 at 7:18 pm
  
  You bring up great points! Now that we’ve finished Valiant, what is your take on the relationships presented there? We talked about the love triangle between Lolli, Dave, and Luis in class on Monday but how do these dynamics change when Val is thrown into the mix (especially concerning chapter 9 where Dave and Val have sex)? As Professor Herold mentioned, love triangles are a common trope in urban fantasy but what does that say about all of the other fantasy literature we’ve read thus far? Why has it not been present?
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
foulonni

March 12, 2018 at 1:35 am

I also found the relationship between Eugenides and Eddis to be very interesting. On the one hand, Eugenides, being fairly well versed in the politics of the land, understands that Eddis’ marriage would have to be a political one. However, one could interpret Eddis’ concern for her thief as hinting at a deeper relationship between the two. I personally interpreted Eddis’ concern as motherly and protective, especially considering how she practically locks him up in his room following the loss of his hand. Like the commentor above me, I really loved the way Whalen Turner crafts the complex relationships of her characters (for example, Eugenides has a love-like relationship with Eddis but later marrys Attolia). I also found the love-hate relationship between Attolia and Eddis to be interesting because we haven’t seen many complex relationships between female characters. Even Aerin’s relationship with her cousin (sorry i forgot her name) was one dimensional, and her cousin’s character was way too underdeveloped for us to feel anything toward her besides anger. Overall, I think this may be the most complex character relationships that we have seen in this class, and I really enjoyed Whalen Turner’s book because of this.

LikeLike

Reply