A Court of Thorns and Roses Chapter 35: Mind Over Morality
Spoiler Warning: This analysis covers Chapter 35 of A Court of Mist and Fury, the second book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. Events include major plot developments regarding the search for the Book of Breathings and Feyre's emerging daemati abilities. If you haven't read through this chapter yet, proceed with caution.
Summary
For two days, Feyre wanders Adriata searching for the Book of Breathings while maintaining a carefully crafted facade of idle tourism. She rises at dawn to secretly practice water-magic, which comes to her with surprising ease—a gift possibly tied to Tarquin's affinity or her own bloodline. Out in the city, she observes the scars of Amarantha's retaliation against the Summer Court rebellion: charred buildings, rubble, and broken bodies now slowly healing. The weight of her role in freeing these people sits with her, neither fully absolving nor entirely crushing her spirit.
On the third evening, ascending the palace steps, Feyre spots a half-submerged structure on the tidal causeway—a small building visible only when the tide recedes. From her elevated vantage, the ruined temple calls to her like a piece of home, and she knows immediately this is the hiding place.
At dinner with Tarquin, Cresseida, and Varian, Feyre wears the ruby-and-diamond necklace Tarquin gifted her, deliberately forgoing other jewelry. She testily asks about the temple ruin, framing it as casual curiosity about a morning walk. Tarquin's wary glance at Cresseida confirms her suspicion: the temple guards the Book. When his guard rises, Feyre unleashes her daemati power, slipping through his sea-glass mental shield by becoming the essence of him—waves, sunlight, seabirds. She plants a compulsion, suggesting she is harmless and kind, that he should simply take her to the mainland tomorrow to distract her from the temple.
After dinner, Rhysand praises her technique but Feyre wrestles with the horror of violating another mind. Rhys admits he doesn't enjoy such work either, though he did the same to Cresseida and Varian. When Feyre confronts him about his past intrusions into her mind, he promises to explain another time—but notes he did it because he couldn't simply walk into the Spring Court to check on her. The chapter closes with Amren joining them to plan the heist: they will approach the temple the following night, with Rhys flying watch while Feyre and Amren retrieve the Book.
Key Events
- Feyre spends two days searching Adriata unsuccessfully for the Book
- She secretly practices water-magic each morning with growing proficiency
- She observes the extensive physical and emotional scars left by Amarantha's occupation
- She identifies the tidal temple ruin as the Book's hiding place
- At dinner, she wears Tarquin's necklace as a calculated gesture of connection
- She uses daemati powers for the first time, infiltrating Tarquin's mind and planting a compulsion to avert his suspicion
- Rhysand reveals he similarly manipulated Cresseida and Varian
- Feyre confronts Rhys about his past mental intrusions; he partially deflects with a promise of future explanation
- The trio plans the temple infiltration for the next night
Character Development
Feyre Archeron
This chapter marks a turning point in Feyre's relationship with power. Her water-magic manifests with ease, and her daemati abilities prove disturbingly effective on her first major attempt. She consciously chooses manipulation—wearing the necklace, crafting the dinner conversation—but recoils when she recognizes the full weight of mental violation. Her internal conflict crystallizes around a core tension: she saved Prythian and its people, yet she now uses the very tools of subtle domination she once despised. The chapter doesn't resolve this conflict but forces Feyre to sit with it, her unease mirrored in her quiet admission that Tarquin would never forgive her if he knew.
Rhysand
Rhys reveals more of his moral calculus here than perhaps anywhere prior. He acknowledges the discomfort of daemati work—the boundary-crossing, the violation—but frames it as a necessary evil measured against catastrophic consequences. His admission that he checked on Feyre's mind because he couldn't visit the Spring Court humanizes his earlier intrusions without excusing them. The chapter positions him as a mentor in morally gray territory, someone who has learned to live with choices that disturb him.
Tarquin
Though he appears briefly, Tarquin's vulnerability is striking. His mental shield is elegant—sea glass and coral and undulating water—but Feyre dismantles it by inhabiting his own essence. The violation underscores his genuine trust and openness, qualities that make him an admirable High Lord but a poor opponent against daemati manipulation.
Themes, Symbols, and Motifs
The Morality of Mind Control
The chapter's central thematic inquiry concerns the ethics of daemati power. Feyre literally becomes Tarquin—adopts his essence—to violate him without detection. Rhys's counsel that "the benefits outweighed the costs" offers a utilitarian framework, but Feyre's visceral horror rejects easy rationalization. The text refuses to resolve this tension, instead holding both perspectives in uneasy coexistence.
Deception and Performance
Every interaction in Adriata is layered with performance. Feyre's casual tourism masks her true search, her bath-time water magic happens behind locked doors, her dinner conversation is orchestrated to provoke and then diffuse suspicion. Even Amren's teasing of Varian operates as a calculated distraction. The chapter suggests that political survival in Prythian demands constant, exhausting performance.
Scars and Healing
Adriata's ruined buildings and maimed citizens mirror the psychological damage carried by all who survived Amarantha. Feyre notes that "light gleamed" in the survivors' eyes—a tentative sign of healing—but the chapter's events suggest that healing is neither linear nor uncomplicated. Feyre saved these people, yet she now exploits their trust.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 35 functions as both a heist setup and a moral turning point. It closes the search phase of the Adriata arc and positions the temple raid as the imminent climax of the Summer Court sequence. But its deeper significance lies in Feyre's first deliberate, fully-realized act of daemati manipulation. Until now, her powers have been reactive or exploratory. Here, she plans, executes, and succeeds at mental violation—and immediately grapples with the consequences. This chapter plants the seed of a question that will echo through the remainder of the series: what does it cost to wield power that inherently strips others of their autonomy?
The chapter also advances the complex dynamic between Feyre and Rhysand. His praise of her "clever" infiltration and his admission that he, too, dislikes mind control complicates their relationship with uncomfortable honesty rather than easy comfort.
Study Questions and Answers
1. How does the chapter use imagery of water and seas to develop its thematic concerns?
Water imagery permeates the chapter on multiple levels. Feyre's water-magic practice uses the element of Tarquin's court, symbolizing how she absorbs and wields what belongs to others. Her daemati infiltration transforms her into "the whisper of waves against stone"—she becomes water-like, formless, penetrating boundaries that solid matter cannot cross. Tarquin's mental shield itself is sea glass and coral, and Feyre defeats it not by breaking through but by flowing around it, becoming indistinguishable from the sea. This imagery reinforces themes of permeability, boundary-crossing, and the difficulty of defending against forces that take your own shape.
2. Why does Feyre feel horror at her success with Tarquin, and what does her reaction reveal about her character?
Feyre's horror stems from recognizing what she has become capable of doing: overriding someone's will while sitting across from them at dinner, smiling pleasantly. Her reaction reveals that she still clings to a moral identity centered on consent and honesty, even as circumstances push her toward manipulation. The chapter doesn't frame her as a hypocrite but as someone caught between necessary action and personal ethics. Her nausea at Rhys's reassurance that "he'll never know" suggests she measures morality not solely by outcomes but by the integrity of her own choices—including choices no one else witnesses.
3. What does Rhysand's partial explanation for his past mind-reading reveal about the history between him and Feyre?
Rhys's explanation—that he couldn't stroll into the Spring Court to check on her—reframes his earlier intrusions as covert concern rather than pure surveillance. While this doesn't fully justify his actions, it complicates the narrative Feyre (and readers) may have constructed about him during the first book. His defensiveness and his promise to explain more later hint at a longer history of watching over her that predates their current alliance, raising questions about when and why he began tracking her well-being.