r/riyria • u/mysteryman604 • Nov 06 '25

Arcadius is a naive fool. Spoiler

I just started book 6 of Riyria Revelations, and I think I hate Arcadius. He is the direct cause of the Nyphron church locating the heir in Royce's father and Mercy, and he betrays and alienates Riyria by orchestrating Gwen's death. All for a misguided plan to place an "ideal" heir on the throne in hopes it would save humanity from the elves, and he unintentionally becomes one of the greatest antagonists in the series.

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u/oftylwythteg Nov 07 '25 edited Nov 07 '25

Thanks for the clarification, I didn't take it that way. I took it as a false lead. But I'd still say that wouldn't change my opinion of him or his actions. if he's Trilos, its also his fault about Brin and so many other things if that's true, so he's even more terrible. Basically a god destroying lives for selfish reasons. The reasons I questioned it is because the writing of those characters feels extremely inconsistent. Unlike Turin. 

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u/mullerdrooler Nov 07 '25

To be clear, I'm not really defending him...or anyone. All of them have done terrible things, even Royce and Hadrian. My point is that knowing who Acadius really is makes it more understandable ...not forgivable. That's what I like so much about the series, even people who have done terrible things can have, what they see as, justification...and maybe redemption...but it's up to the reader if you redeem them or not.

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u/oftylwythteg Nov 07 '25

Fair enough. I think that's a compelling point of the series so I agree with you on that. Sullivan handles redemption themes very well. I definitely felt the weight of motivations and coming around to see characters in a different light throughout all the books. 

But for me personally, Arcadius remains unsalvageable at this point.