On both Darrow and Vis being Gary Stu's. We know Vis was raised in a rich family. He had a great education, a lot of martial training (he literally fought as a gladiator as an orphan). We know he read a lot at the library. We know he excelled at Foundation against Hrolf who could beat most academy students. While you could argue such an OP character would make for a boring story, I did feel like Vis was constantly challenged during the book. He was socially isolated, he had a secret he couldn't reveal. This is similar to Darrow, but how did Darrow became so good? Because he was a clawdrill user? that's literally the reason they give for most of the first trilogy, that one is way harder to buy in my opinion. Or that he was mentored for 6 months intensely? that his surgery made him better than everyone else ? (this one I don't buy since every gold could just do this) I think Vis's background make him way more justified to be competent, and I felt he was constantly challenged during the entire series, smart enough to resolve problems but also smart enough to back away "this maze and remnants look scary right now, let me come back later when I know more what I'm doing". I don't mind following a competent character, it's interesting, but yeah I see how it can be annoying. I do think Vis and Darrow are similar but the difference between the characterization is night and day to me, Vis is way more interesting and believable to me than Darrow.
I find it curious you guys say Vis's anger never actually affects him, but I think Darrow is significantly less well done on this front. When has Darrow's anger ever given him a negative outcome? It affects him in the moment but then the outcome is always positive. At least in the first 3 books of red rising (I only read the first trilogy). A big discussion of this topic in the 2-to-ramble podcast on RR, where Richard (podcast host) brings this point several times, that Darrow's anger never actually affected him. I do think VIs' anger negatively affected him in this book. By hitting Eidhin he quickly became an outcast at the school. People started fearing him too after he smashed the guy's head in the duel. He also basically told all the seventh they were losers to defend Callidus. I think Vis's anger issues heavily contributed to him being socially isolated at the school. It was harder for him to make friends. this was the cost of his anger at the academy
On both Darrow and Vis being Gary Stu's.
We know Vis was raised in a rich family. He had a great education, a lot of martial training (he literally fought as a gladiator as an orphan). We know he read a lot at the library. We know he excelled at Foundation against Hrolf who could beat most academy students. While you could argue such an OP character would make for a boring story, I did feel like Vis was constantly challenged during the book. He was socially isolated, he had a secret he couldn't reveal. This is similar to Darrow, but how did Darrow became so good? Because he was a clawdrill user? that's literally the reason they give for most of the first trilogy, that one is way harder to buy in my opinion. Or that he was mentored for 6 months intensely? that his surgery made him better than everyone else ? (this one I don't buy since every gold could just do this) I think Vis's background make him way more justified to be competent, and I felt he was constantly challenged during the entire series, smart enough to resolve problems but also smart enough to back away "this maze and remnants look scary right now, let me come back later when I know more what I'm doing". I don't mind following a competent character, it's interesting, but yeah I see how it can be annoying. I do think Vis and Darrow are similar but the difference between the characterization is night and day to me, Vis is way more interesting and believable to me than Darrow.
I find it curious you guys say Vis's anger never actually affects him, but I think Darrow is significantly less well done on this front. When has Darrow's anger ever given him a negative outcome? It affects him in the moment but then the outcome is always positive. At least in the first 3 books of red rising (I only read the first trilogy). A big discussion of this topic in the 2-to-ramble podcast on RR, where Richard (podcast host) brings this point several times, that Darrow's anger never actually affected him.
I do think VIs' anger negatively affected him in this book. By hitting Eidhin he quickly became an outcast at the school. People started fearing him too after he smashed the guy's head in the duel. He also basically told all the seventh they were losers to defend Callidus. I think Vis's anger issues heavily contributed to him being socially isolated at the school. It was harder for him to make friends. this was the cost of his anger at the academy
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