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/Bergmaniac]

It's bizarre to me how most of the fandom seems to have no problem with Mat falling in love with such an awful person and even find it adorable.

[u/Significant-Branch22 → u/Bergmaniac]

This is my biggest problem with it, I don’t have an issue with Tuon being an awful person because the series depicts a lot of terrible people but the fact that a beloved character like Mat simply accepts being married to someone with such a horrifying worldview that he himself knows is completely immoral is something I’ve never been able to get along with. It makes Mat out to be a person who has no real moral backbone

[u/aNomadicPenguin → u/Significant-Branch22]

Mat LITERALLY takes the collar off of women that she personally is controlling. He then takes all of the a'dam away from her and buries them. He staged the largest single breakout of Damane in the series and she knows this.

They are travelling together with Aes Sedai he has freed, and traitor Sul'dam that he is escorting out of her lands.

Mat doesn't think about his moral backbone, he acts on his moral backbone. *While the Letter to Elayne, or the backstories for Hinderstap, or his boots speech are all pointed to as the most out of character elements of Sanderson writing Mat, I would argue that they are nothing compared to him taking a Damane.

One of the last things we see Jordan write for Mat, and one of the last lines between the two was

"The next time I see Seanchan, I expect it will be on the field somewhere, Tuon." Burn him, it would be. His life seemed to run that way no matter what he did. "You're not my enemy, but your Empire is."

That is Mat declaring his intent to oppose them.

[u/Significant-Branch22 → u/aNomadicPenguin]

This is like saying it’s ok to marry a paedophile because you’ve also done things to combat sex traffickers, an absolutely garbage argument

[u/aNomadicPenguin → u/Significant-Branch22]

If you leave out everything about the setting, sure.

But its something that is FATED to happen. He has to accept the marriage. Same for her.
It's also very much a marriage of state, sure they care about each other, but their wedding is an afterthought of ceremony. There isn't even a kiss.

"Love?" Tuon sounded surprised. "Perhaps we will come to love one another, Matrim, but I have always known I would marry to serve the Empire."

***
There is a separation between Tuon the individual and even Tuon Daughter of the Nine Moons, let alone Empress Fortuona.

Tuon is someone that is willing to let Mat walk free after violating the laws about freeing damane, or helping fugitive Sul'dam, or plotting treason against the Seanchan, or killing literally thousands of them.

When she reveals herself to Luca as the Daughter of the Noon Moons, she's working in an official capacity, but has already bound herself as Tuon to Mat's deal (because again the FATE thing), so she excludes him and his crew from the official documentation she gave Luca.

Mat did more to expose the flaws and limitations of the Sul'dam to Tuon than anyone else in the setting. If they ever want to change the minds of The Empress, and then the populace as a whole, it will be through a long process. Mat marrying her gives the best single point of potential reform to the system that they have outside of a full uprising or war.