I just finished EoS and I need to vent

Okay… I’m done. And honestly? That ending 🫣

I just don’t understand why Aelin and Manon had to rush into the mirror at that exact moment. Why not deal with it after the battle? Everything would’ve been fine if they’d just waited.

And Elide being taken off the ship, fine, whatever. Even if Maeve had grabbed her, it wouldn’t have changed much in the grand scheme of things.

What really gets me is why Aelin and Manon didn’t return to the same place they left from. Why not back to the ship? Why get thrown… wherever the hell they ended up?

Honestly, the whole tragic ending feels like a bunch of unlucky coincidences stacked together. Aelin running off into the mirror world instead of staying on the ship during the battle is what screwed everything up. And the thing is, Aelin already knew that even with the lock, even if everything worked perfectly (and she already suspected the price was her life), it still wouldn’t help her against Maeve in that moment. So why do it then?

And yeah, technically Dorian could’ve been used for the sacrifice since his blood works too? Logically, if he’s mortal and Aelin is immortal, then her survival should matter more… but anyway.

What’s really bugging me is just how stupidly Aelin got captured at the end of Empire of Storms. Like… what even was that? Pure bad luck? How exactly was Maeve supposed to have “planned” all of this? How was she so sure Aelin would end up on that beach? And why didn’t the mirror return them to the place they came from?