66 pages • 2-hour read
The Never List
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Themes
The Corruption of Power Through Immortality
Lumathyst’s rulership is dictated by a series of political and magical rules that have put its four immortal kings in power for centuries. These four kings were born regular humans, but were given immortality and power when they mated to the four goddesses of the land. Their sons, the Legends of Chaos, are destined to take the crown—but only after the bind together with one fated mate, whom they must find via the Choosing, a ceremony that presents them with potential mates. Only once their fated mate has ascended to her own immortality will the Legends be permitted to assume the throne. In the interim, however, the Legends’ four fathers rule over the kingdom endlessly, their rule becoming more corrupt and cruel as they age.
The novel presents this authoritarianism as being worsened by two factors: the kings’ enormous magical power and their age. Baydel particularly uses these powers to corrupt purposes; his magic allows him to control others’ bodies, which he does to execute them in gruesome and excruciating ways. His abuse of this power to publicly murder a demi thief reflects a deep disdain for vulnerability and a desire to maintain social dominance through fear. Though the other kings have proven less violent in their control, they prove too enamored of the status quo to take an active stand against Baydel’s viciousness. As the Legends note, the kings’ longevity has also turned them myopic, as they have grown to focus only on their immediate surroundings—the royal city and the impoverished areas they seek to crush—rather than Lumathyst as a whole. The kings’ inability to change after so many years as rulers is routinely presented as something that is damaging to the country they rule. Their resistance to reform is not merely passive but actively upheld by tests and manipulations designed to weed out any potential threats to their authority, including Rylee herself. The problem with immortal power, the novel thus suggests, is that it is too much power for too long, something that corrupts rulers. This corruption is embodied in Baydel’s cold response—“Does it matter?”—when Rylee questions the justification for executing a prisoner (239). His disregard for due process illustrates how immortal rulers grow detached from justice and morality.
The antagonism between the kings and the Legends emerges largely due to this immortal power and the corruption that comes with it. While the kings urge the Legends to find their mate, which will allow them to assume the throne, they also throw up barriers to making this possible, including giving Rylee cruel and violent “tests” designed to prevent her from continuing her courtship with the Legends. Though Baydel’s sexual assault is the most vicious of these tests, Brooks’ offer to help Rylee get away later in the novel more clearly illustrates that even the more benevolent of the kings goes out of his way to stop his son from successfully bonding with his mate. The hypocrisy of the kings’ behavior reveals how power has eclipsed any paternal instincts; they are more interested in protecting their reign than in supporting their sons’ growth or happiness. This indicates that all of the kings are corrupt, regardless of their surface kindness, and that they seek to preserve the power they have long held, even if that comes at the cost of their sons’ power, inheritance, and happiness.
Love as Risk and Redemption
When Rylee is first selected at the Choosing, she immediately plans to capture the Legends’ hearts in order to protect herself, so that, when her secrets come out, they care about her too much to punish her for lying. Protecting herself, in the early days of her courtship with the Legends, proves her primary goal. As she grows closer to the four Legends of Chaos, however, she finds herself increasingly invested in their happiness—and decreasingly willing to do whatever it takes to protect herself, if it means hurting those she cares for. These changes in her priorities indicate that, as she develops romantic relationships, she sees a different value in love compared to her personal safety. Love, in this sense, becomes not only a source of protection but also a test of character and a form of emotional awakening.
Rylee’s progression from seeking the Legends’ love to protect herself and seeking their love before she cares for them and wishes for a mutually loving relationship between them happens gradually. This subtle but steady shift leaves her periodically surprised at her own feelings. She is forced to face this shift most acutely when Brooks offers her a way to be free from the Legends without repercussions and she does not hesitate before refusing—even though this would save her from the risk of discovery as an Ashlander and a demi. Realizing how devoted she has become to her partners helps Rylee open up to Pierce, something that builds their emotional intimacy. This movement from manipulation to vulnerability underscores the novel’s view of love as a redemptive force that allows Rylee to reclaim agency without domination. Valuing romantic love, the novel thus suggests, creates space in one’s life for more love to flourish. Even after Rylee technically dies (albeit briefly) during the Athanry, she does not regret putting herself in danger for the men she loves. Her promise that death is not a barrier to love foreshadows that she will continue to be committed to them, even if she does prove to die at during the novel’s cliffhanger ending. The Legends’ willingness to sacrifice their powers to revive her shows that love is not only emotional but transformational—it reshapes the hierarchy of power and drives acts of radical generosity. As Rylee affirms near the novel’s climax, “My love is not so wavering that a little thing like death would weaken it” (494). Her declaration underscores love’s power to transcend death, restore balance, and catalyze transformation for herself and for the Legends.
Though the novel, as a romance, emphasizes the value of romantic love and sexual connection between love interests, Rylee’s growing love for the Legends is not her first instance of privileging love over self-protection. In the beginning of the novel, she goes to the Choosing in the first place because she seeks information on her beloved, disappeared sister, Erin. One of the first ways that Rylee reveals her background, which she guards closely, is when she asks Kal to look into her sister’s disappearance. This indicates that she is willing to risk herself in order for information about Erin’s safety and whereabouts. Ultimately, Rylee’s love—whether romantic, familial, or platonic—becomes her greatest vulnerability and her greatest strength.
Using Privilege to Benefit the Less Fortunate
Rylee’s origins in the impoverished Ashland district of Lumathyst leaves her acutely aware of the burdens of poverty. She does not often explicitly reference her own experience; when she discusses conditions in the Ashland, she speaks more frequently of those Ashlanders who are still stuck in cycles of impoverishment and disenfranchisement, which are, per the kings’ dictates, destined to follow into subsequent generations. This makes Rylee’s discussion of this suffering more abstract, indicating that she seeks to maintain distance from her experiences. Despite her apparent discomfort with discussing her experiences with hunger and insecurity, however, Rylee remains politically committed to distrusting those who use their wealth and power to benefit themselves, rather than using it to benefit those who lack essentials. Her initial criticism of the monarchy at the Choosing event signals her deep distrust of inherited power structures and her willingness to speak up even when surrounded by danger.
The Legends’ commitment to bettering the lives of people in their cities is one of the first points of emotional connection that Rylee experiences with her love interests. Though she has her suspicions that the Legends are less corrupt than their reputations suggest prior to this discovery, it is their shared values regarding using privilege to benefit the less fortunate that allows her to truly embrace the possibility of getting to know the princes. When she travels between their different cities, she increasingly begins to care about the people of those cities because she sees them through the Legends’ eyes. Because the Legends care, Rylee comes to care, too. Rylee is ultimately unable to leave the Legends not only because of her love for them, but also because of the love she holds for the people they protect. She becomes enamored not of the power that she gains from her association with the princes, but the ability she will have to do good with that influence. Her insistence on joining the Legends during a Fader attack and helping defend a vulnerable fishing village reflects her active desire to protect everyday citizens—not just from political oppression, but also from physical harm. As Rylee asks when observing her lavishly prepared room, “What else can that wealth do if directed toward those who need it most?” (163).
For Rylee, the primary benefit to being queen of Lumathyst—besides getting to spend an immortal lifetime with the men that she loves—is that she will be able to use her power to help the people in the Ashland district. She sees ascending to the throne not as a means to personal empowerment, but rather one that will give her the opportunity to empower others. The novel presents this stance, which Rylee and the Legends share, as key evidence for why the five of them will make better rulers than the corrupt kings, who only seek to empower themselves. Caring for others is, the text indicates, the most important responsibility of a ruler, and those who do not fulfill this obligation are unworthy of the titles, power, and privilege that they possess. Even during the Athanry trial, Rylee draws on the strengths of the Legends not to conquer or dominate, but to survive and protect, reinforcing that true power lies in service rather than control. Her ultimate decision to return the Legends’ powers after her resurrection further reflects this ethic. Rather than hoarding power for herself, she restores balance in order to equip others to continue defending the vulnerable.
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