I love Theon (The Legacy Series) - This forum makes me feel like I am the only one - RANT

I’ve read 175 books this year, predominantly romantasy with a smattering of dark romance. A handful of series made the top of my tier list, and all of Melissa Roehrichs books made it there.

Yes, I obviously have some grievances about LOD sharing some glaring similarities to other popular mainstream series but beyond that, I loved LOD and I loved the legacy series even more. I’ve only reread 5 series this year (meaning I read it once, and then again a few months later lol), and both of hers are included in that tally.

Theon, since book 1, has been one of my favorite MMCs. I love Luka, don’t get me wrong; I love all the characters and their arcs in the series, even Valter lol but Theon has been my favorite since chapter 1. Seriously.

I find myself multiple times a week on this forum commenting on posts discussing how much they hate him, can’t stand him, how he is irredeemable etc. Yet I don’t often see anyone appreciating the backstory, plot premise, and just in general the world the books take place in when discussing him.

To me, he is arguably the best villain/ anti hero - his actions aren’t inherently evil, arbitrary or even 100% selfish. He is clearly a byproduct of both the world/society he was raised in, his childhood and upbringing. His actions are a clear reflection of that - what he has been exposed to that is considered the societal norm, what his culture deems as acceptable and to top it all off, Valter’s wonderful parenting. I mean the author literally acknowledges this and eloquently says they are all morally gray, walking talking red flags. And they are.

All things considered, it’s a miracle him and Luka turned out the way they did. I understand Luka and Axel are to some degree more palatable, and they have a great story arc and character development too, but to me, Theon seems to be the most complex, multi layered character in the series. You can see him questioning the world around him, trying to adapt to all the new information and realizations he has as the series progresses. He is constantly trying to assimilate what he knows with what he’s learnt, especially when so much of it is contradictory to what he’s seen and heard most of his short immortal life. His gradual self awareness, willingness to accept all he’s known to be wrong and attempts at slowly integrating change make him fascinating.

I feel like romantasy has conditioned readers to accept the perceived bad boy turned cinnamon roll MMC as the standard and norm, and while I agree that’s great and all, and I would consider Sorin one of those, and prob put Axel on that list too, Theon is not that. And I love that. I appreciate his characters complexity, depth and growth, and watching the gradual shift in his character over the three books in the series. I love watching how he expresses his love and affection, how he tries to right his wrongs, all while trying to make sense of the rapidly changing world around him. He’s not a couple of hundred years old like Rhys was - he’s barely 30, yet I feel like he is more mature and has a better grasp on things and what’s best for those he loves than Rhys did at times.

I guess all of this is to say it bothers me to no end that people approach him surface level. If anything, Tessa is the one who drove me crazy with her willful ignorance and hypocrisy - even though just like Theon, her thoughts and actions are rooted in her reality, make sense for her character and are mostly justifiable using that lens. I feel like because he’s not a classic cinnamon roll, and he TRULY will burn the world down to save her as he proved in the third book, he doesn’t fit that cookie cutter mold most are accustomed too - he is more realistic.

This is not even me ranting about people saying how horrible people are in the book for how they treat the Fae and all sort of issues they have with the plot. I read these posts and are like did everyone forget that this is LITERALLY the norm in the world they live in? No one said it was right, they try to change it in the book, and it’s very clear it’s not okay. This is literally just like how reality is - throughout world history there have been so many things that are immoral and unjust treatment of others etc but was acceptable for a time because that was what was mainstream and normal etc.

I also truly feel like LOD should be read first - I know it was intended to be standalone but like Crescent City, which was marketed the same way, but the entire series takes on a different meaning when you’ve read ACOTAR first. Same with this. Not only just knowing the who they cameos are and appreciating that content that came with it, there was much more that came from the world building and magic system in LOD that changes the perception and understanding of the series. This is true in book 1 and 2, but especially in book 3. I feel like I would be so lost if I hadn’t read LOD first, or at the very least not appreciated it half as much.

Anyways, to conclude my spur of the moment rant after commenting on at least 2 posts today about this, I feel like people do not temper their expectations going into this series even though the author is very explicit with her warnings (and I don’t mean trigger warnings only); Tessa and Theon are truly not like Sorin and Scarlett AND it truly should not be read as a standalone. A part of me always wants to poll how many people actually read LOD first when I see these kinda posts about the plot or Theon. Maybe I’m just weird and bec my tastes skew dark I prefer characters like him lol but as far as villainous, anti hero MMCs go, he is arguably one of my favorite. Thanks for reading my rant if you got this far!

TLDR: Theon is one of my favorite MMCs