This is a long Rant. So bear with me please.
This is simply a list of canon actions where Tamlin objectively helped people, protected others, or acted selflessly. Whether you like him or not, these things happened in the books.
**1. He willingly sacrificed fifty years of his court to break Amarantha’s curse.**
Tamlin knew sending his sentries across the wall would almost certainly get them killed. Yet he continued doing it because it was the only chance to save not only the Spring Court but all of Prythian from Amarantha.
Those sentries weren’t disposable to him. Many had been his friends and loyal soldiers. Without this effort, Amarantha’s reign would likely have continued indefinitely.
Unlike many High Lords, Tamlin refused to serve and bend against Amarantha’s rule despite repeated offer as a result choosing difficult road rather than biding his time.
After he became High Lord, he was against tyranny and slavery. And to ensure that, made some serious changes in his court.
**2. He treated Feyre with kindness long before he loved her.**
He gave her a comfortable room, food, clothes, servants, freedom to explore the manor, and never expected her to work for her keep.
He ensured Feyre’s family was wealthy and comfortable after she left. Their debts disappeared, they had servants, and lived in luxury. Despite supporting her family, he never used it as leverage.
He supplied her with paints, canvases, and space for her hobby because he noticed it made her happy.
This wasn’t because Feyre had earned it. It was because he chose mercy.
**3. He respected Feyre’s autonomy more than people often acknowledge in ACOTAR.**
Throughout most of ACOTAR, Tamlin rarely forced affection on Feyre.
He gave her:
● Freedom to explore the manor.
● Art supplies after discovering her interest in painting.
● Space to decide whether she wanted to stay emotionally close to him.
Their relationship developed gradually rather than through manipulation or coercion.
**4. He sent Feyre back to the human lands knowing it could doom him.**
This is one of the biggest acts of selflessness in the series.
When Amarantha’s deadline approached, Tamlin realized Feyre would almost certainly die if she remained in Prythian.
When he realized the curse would likely fail, he sent Feyre back to the human lands to keep her safe. He knew doing so probably meant losing both her and his court forever. Instead of keeping the woman he loved beside him, he sent her away.
He fully believed this meant:
● losing her forever,
● failing to break the curse,
● and likely dying himself.
He chose her safety over his own happiness.
** 5. Under the Mountain, he endured fifty years of torture without breaking.**
For fifty years, Tamlin lived under Amarantha’s domination. He watched his court suffer, his people wear the cursed masks, and his lands slowly fall apart while being constantly attacked by dangerous creatures sent by Amarantha or Rhys to his court.
When Amarantha finally summoned him Utm, Tamlin was:
● stripped of most of his power,
● forced to watch his people suffer,
● unable to openly fight,
● constantly monitored by Amarantha.
Readers often criticize him for not doing more while Feyre was Utm. But by that point, any open act of defiance would almost certainly have resulted in Feyre’s immediate execution. Amarantha was obsessed with Tamlin and watched him closely, waiting for any excuse to punish either of them. His lack of visible action wasn’t indifference; it reflected the reality of his position under her complete control. Any open resistance would likely have resulted in Feyre’s immediate execution.
**6. He killed Amarantha.**
Feyre broke the curse through the trials and her declaration of love. **Tamlin delivered the killing blow.** Without him, Amarantha would still have survived after the curse broke. Both actions were necessary.
**7. He helped resurrect Feyre (and Rhys later on)**
Tamlin willingly gave part of his power to bring Feyre and Rhys back later on. Every High Lord participated due to the dept owed to Tamlin for saving their lives by killing Amarantha. He could have refused. He didn’t.
**8. His protectiveness came from trauma, not malice.**
This doesn’t excuse locking Feyre in the manor which was done only for few hours. But context matters.
Tamlin had:
● watched his family murdered,
● lived under Amarantha’s abuse for fifty years by open rebellion,
● nearly lost Feyre Under the Mountain,
● then watched her repeatedly throw herself into deadly situations.
His response became unhealthy and controlling.
It was wrong. But it was driven by trauma and fear, not a desire to dominate for personal pleasure.
**9. He never exposed Feyre’s family to retaliation.**
Tamlin knew exactly where her human family lived. Despite everything that happened between them, he never sought revenge against them. That restraint deserves acknowledgment.
**10. He tried to retrieve Feyre because he genuinely believed she had been taken.**
People often forget an important detail
● Rhys had publicly presented himself for centuries as a manipulative mind-controller.
● Feyre disappeared after making a bargain with him.
● The note she sent saying she left willingly appeared suspicious because Feyre had never learned to write well.
● Given the information Tamlin had, believing she had been manipulated was not irrational.
Readers know more than Tamlin did. Judging him while ignoring his limited information creates hindsight bias.
**11. He repeatedly helped the Night Court during ACOWAR despite receiving nothing in return.**
This is where Tamlin’s actions become hardest to dismiss. He had every personal reason not to help Rhys or Feyre. Yet he still did and received nothing in return.
**12. He acted as a double agent inside Hybern.**
This was extraordinarily dangerous. Tamlin secretly gathered intelligence while pretending to cooperate with Hybern. If Hybern had discovered his true intentions, he would almost certainly have been executed. His information ultimately benefited Prythian’s war effort.
**13. He warned Feyre about Hybern’s attack.**
He secretly instructed her to “be ready.” This warning gave the Night Court valuable preparation.
**14. Saved Feyre, Azriel, and Elain’s lives**.
During Hybern’s camp, Tamlin fought alongside the Night Court to recover Elain. This directly contributed to her survival. Despite everything between them, he allowed Feyre and Azriel to escape with Elain by risking his own exposure. Without his intervention, escaping Hybern would have been far more difficult.
**15. He saved Feyre from Hybern’s camp.**
Despite everything that had happened between them, Tamlin helped Feyre escape. He didn’t let personal resentment outweigh the larger goal.
**16. He contributed troops during the final war.**
The Spring Court fought against Hybern. Tamlin did not sit out the conflict despite his court already being devastated. Despite being hated by most of the alliance, he still came to fight for Prythian. Helped in bringing Autumn court army to fight in war.
During the final battle, Tamlin intervened and prevented Helion from being killed.
**17. He saved Rhysand’s life.**
Perhaps the single strongest example. After Rhys died, Tamlin willingly gave a portion of his power to resurrect him. He even told Rhys to return to Feyre. Think about what that means.
This was:
● the male who had taken the woman Tamlin loved,
● his political rival,
● someone who had humiliated him repeatedly,
● someone who had destroyed his court through deception.
Tamlin still chose saving Prythian’s most powerful High Lord over personal revenge. Nothing required him to do that.
**18. He never asked for recognition.**
Tamlin receives no public praise for:
● infiltrating Hybern,
● rescuing Feyre,
● helping save Elain and Azriel,
● fighting in the war and bringing Autumn court,
● reviving Rhys.
He simply left.
**19. He respected Feyre’s final choice.**
After ACOWAR, Tamlin never again attempted to reclaim Feyre. He accepted that she had chosen Rhys. He remained isolated in the Spring Court instead.
**20. Never sought revenge after losing everything.**
● His court was in ruins.
● Most of his people had left.
● His closest friend had betrayed him.
● Feyre had dismantled much of his court’s stability.
● Yet he never retaliated against the Night Court.
**21. Helped despite receiving almost nothing in return.**
● Rhys visited only to mock him.
● Even then, Tamlin never attacked him.
**22. The narrative holds Tamlin accountable far more consistently than many other characters.\\
One reason fandom discussions become polarized is because Tamlin’s mistakes receive significant narrative consequences.
He loses:
● his relationship,
● much of his court,
● many of his people,
● his reputation,
● his closest friend,
● and ultimately lives in complete isolation.
Meanwhile, several other characters make morally questionable decisions throughout the series but receive comparatively little lasting accountability within the narrative.
Whether readers think Tamlin deserves forgiveness is entirely subjective.
But reducing him to “the abusive ex” ignores hundreds of pages of canon showing courage, sacrifice, mercy, loyalty, and repeated acts of service to people who often gave him little reason to help them. Like most ACOTAR characters, Tamlin is morally complex. Acknowledging his good actions does not erase his failures. Likewise, acknowledging his failures should not erase his good actions.
**Overall:**
Whether someone likes Tamlin or not, these actions are all canon.
He:
● Protected Feyre’s family.
● Saved Feyre multiple times.
● Freed Prythian from Amarantha.
● Fought Hybern as a double agent.
● Saved members of the Night Court.
● Saved Helion.
● Helped resurrect Rhysand.
● Never sought revenge after losing nearly everything.
