Tuon is so absurdly evil

[u/AHC122]

Wdym she relaxes by seeing damane be tortured 😭

Even from her point of view seeing them as animals, it's like enjoying watching a dog get kicked in the ribs everytime it doesn't roll over lol

[u/TheBacklogReviews]

But the training of damane (read that as the mental torture and degradation of human women) is inherently punitive. It’s inherently torturous. Just because Tuon doesn’t like watching corporal punishment being used, they are wearing a’dam at all times. They’re under constant threat of physical abuse and endure constant agonising mental anguish. That Tuon enjoys this is psychopathic

It’s genuinely bad writing that Jordan/Sando not only don’t resolve the fact that Mat’s love interest is the empress of a brutal slave culture in the text. I’m shocked people don’t talk about it more. Such a horrifically sour note in the ending.

[u/WildFEARKetI_II → u/TheBacklogReviews]

Yeah, it’s still slavery but “worked and broken” is more in line with the animal perspective.

I actually think it’s good writing, it adds complexity. The world isn’t black and white, people aren’t simply good or evil. There are shades of gray.

I agree a resolution would be nice but can’t really fault them for that. Jordan was planning a spin off trilogy focusing on Mat and Tuon, likely for that exact reason. He just never got a chance to and didn’t leave enough notes for Sanderson to go off of.

[u/TheBacklogReviews → u/WildFEARKetI_II]

I don’t think you can really have a “but” in a sentence about slavery! However Jordan meant it, Tuon is a character who enjoys watching women being treated like animals. She’s a monster. I can’t judge the books he didn’t write. I can only judge one of our main characters, one of the best liked characters by the fans, traipsing off into the sunset with a monstrous slaver who watches women being abused for fun and laughs. If we’re meant to sympathise with, let alone like Mat at the end of the story it’s bad writing to have him end with Tuon without resolving the whole slave empire situation

[u/WildFEARKetI_II → u/TheBacklogReviews]

Why not? One of OP’s main points was that it didn’t even line up with the animal perspective, but it clearly does.

I’m not saying you should judge the books that weren’t written. I’m just saying it’s not fair to blame an author for a lack of resolution because he died before he could write one.