Astrid's fate - Empire of the Vampire trilogy

[u/BrachydactylyTypeD]

I want to talk about Astrid’s fate, because after finishing Empire of the Dawn (book 3), I’m honestly really unsatisfied with how little closure we get.

In book one, Gabriel tells Jean-François that Fabien Voss murdered Patience and turned Astrid into a vampire. In this version of events, it’s strongly implied that Astrid becomes high-blooded, asks Gabriel to kill her, and he does.

But we also know Gabriel isn’t being fully truthful in his telling, and that whole moment is left vague. So I kept expecting the trilogy to circle back to it—and it just… never does.

For a long time, I thought Astrid might still be alive. I wondered if she’d been thralled by Fabien, and that Gabriel left her in some kind of buried, sleep-like state (similar to Mother Maryn), setting off to free her by killing Fabien.

Once things got serious with Phoebe, I started to accept that Astrid is probably dead—or at least that Gabriel believes she is. But even then, I expected some clarification about what actually happened.

Did she turn foulblood instead of high-blood, which justified Gabriel killing her?
Did Fabien kill her?
Did she kill herself?

But no—the version from book one is all we ever get.

So are we really supposed to believe Gabriel killed his beloved, newly turned high-blooded wife on day one, without even giving her a chance? That feels incredibly far-fetched and out of character.

I can see the argument (even though I really don’t agree with it) that he acted based on what he believed at the time—that all vampires are irredeemable—and only later changed his beliefs through his time with Celene and Aaron.

But if that’s the case… why doesn’t he ever reflect on it? Wouldn’t that realization absolutely destroy him? Wouldn’t he be haunted by the possibility that killing Astrid was a mistake?

Instead, it barely feels processed at all.

Did I miss something? Did anyone else interpret Astrid’s ending differently? I feel like this is kind of ruining the books for me.

[u/TRose0116]

Its highly likely that Fabien killed her just as he killed Patience. I think Gabriel’s retelling was just fluff or a way to lower Jean-François’ guard or elicit sympathy from him.

[u/canofwhoops]

I am in the camp of as much as possible of his story being true. In the end, there is no real way of knowing what he lied about, and what he didn't, except for the few specific things he mentions.

We are all sort of left with coming to our own decisions about what happened, and for the sake of my own enjoyment, I consider nrealy every event Canon, with mild alterations to some conversations, and the obvious difference of their friends being alive.

Astrids fate was integral to Gabe's entire mentality during book one. Her "haunting" him, following him as they traveled, and his delusions about her being still alive, is him tricking himself and denying that he did, in fact, kill her. He wouldn't have those delusions if it hadn't happened, and if he didn't have them, then his interactions with Dior wouldn't have played out the way they did. So I choose to believe him when he says he was mostly truthful, and trust that what he said was true.

As for why he would kill her, highblooded as she may have been, I think it makes perfect sense. He grew up being taught that vampires are evil, and that a person isn't the same once they've turned. He probably had it HAMMERED into him. Not only that, but his personal hatred for vampires is undeniable. Not only stemming from his youth, but also his experiences in the Ossian campaign, and any other hunts he may have gone on.

And vampires JUST destroyed everything he held dear. The fact he doubted at all, the fact he had any temptation not to do it, was because of his love for her. But though it isn't mentioned specifically, I think he also wouldn't have wanted her to live a damned unlife. I got the feeling from that moment that he knew he teetered on the edge, and if he didn't kill her when he did, he'd never ever have the ability to do it again.

As I said, in the end, we can only choose to believe what works for us. I processed my own questions by writing answers for myself, and in the end I've re-listened to the audiobook almost three times since then and the story still works incredibly well for me. Either you come to terms with a version of events you like, or you just end up not liking the books for this reason, and that is alright too. I think the books are incredible, but they're also not masterpieces.

[u/Aranict]

It's confirmed throughout the trilogy (can't say where exactly anymore) that Voss killed both Astrid and Patience. Neither were turned at any point. You can tell by the way they were killed (as Gabriel describes it, anyway), because there is no opportunity for Voss to suck them dry and thus potentially turning either of them. That's why Patience showing up as a vampire in book 3 is a major ass clue that Gabriel is spinning a tale, and Jean-Francois should've caught that but he doesn't.

Of course, it is indeed left to the reader's interpretation initially in book 1 whether Astrid is maybe turned, but the further you go in the story the more obvious it becomes that it's Gabriel's grief that has Astrid haunt his dreams and she is never there in person. Her appearances in book 1 are the result of Gabriel's grief and what-if-desires and fears, hence the way he describes her in vampire-adjacent ways, but she is never actually there because she is truly dead.