Sarah J. Maas’ Cutting thorns and roses The series wouldn’t be as popular as it is today without the crucial setup of the first book. In the first book, Feyre Archeron struggles for her relationship with Tamlin as she defies death in a series of trials to free him. She is forced to do so by the powerful High Fae antagonist, Amarantha, who wants Tamlin for herself. However, after book one and the remaining events of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, this interesting dynamic between Tamlin and Amarantha seems to have been forgotten.
One theory clarifies Amarantha and Tamlin’s relationship and contextualizes many of the confusing elements of this storyline: proposes that Amarantha is Tamlin’s companion, and this is what causes his villain arc. While the textual evidence sells this premise, one thing is certain: if Amarantha is Tamlin’s mate, that means Maas is likely heading down a tragic path with her character. And even after all of Tamlin’s past mistakes ACOTAR books, confirmation of this theory could be very depressing for the Maas canon.
ACOTAR’s Tamlin and Amarantha Mate theory makes a lot of sense with their character arc
Tamlin’s treatment of Feyre proves that he and Amarantha are equals
Maas explained the concept of mates several times throughout the A Court of Thorns and Roses books. And given the weight that a mating bond has in the author’s fictional universe, Tamlin being friends with Amarantha sheds new light on his character arc. If Tamlin rejected his mating bond with Amarantha, that would explain why she was willing to imprison all of Prythian to get him back. While it’s an extreme reaction, Amarantha’s obsession with Tamlin makes more sense through this lens. Having such a deep and unbreakable connection with an increasingly cruel character also explains Tamlin’s later actions.
Given Tamlin’s disrespect and disgust for his own mating bond, it’s no surprise that he doesn’t value Feyre’s connection to Rhysand later in the series. Like Amarantha, Tamlin resorts to terrible behavior to prevent Feyre from being with Rhysand, trapping her and intimidating her. If finding your mate really means finding your equal, this juxtaposition shows how similar Tamlin and Amarantha really are. It’s possible that these similarities are why they are mates in the first place.
This may contribute to Tamlin’s trauma in later Court of Thorns & Roses books.
Mating bonds are like soul ties, even if they are rejected
After the events of Under the Mountain, Tamlin makes his difficulties everyone’s problem, behaving problematically at every turn. It’s obvious how lost he is during ACOMAF; he continually mistreats Feyre and even starts sleeping on her beast form at the foot of the bed. And Tamlin’s misery continues A Court of Silver Flames. The reasons behind this could go beyond making mistakes and losing Feyre as well. If the theory about Amarantha being his mate is true, it means he is struggling with the trauma of rejecting the mating bond and killing his own mate.
Behaviors that many attribute to Tamlin having suffered PTSD from his time on Under the Mountain may actually be a response to Amarantha’s death. Tamlin begins to isolate himself at the beginning of A Court of Mist and Fury, despite its survival in ACOTAR and his impending marriage to Feyre. If Amarantha is truly his mate, his irritability, anger, and sadness could be rooted in something much more devastating. In ACOMAFwhen the King of Hybern breaks a minor bond between Feyre and Rhysand, she describes it as her soul being torn apart. This fits with Tamlin’s character changes.
If true, this theory means Tamlin will likely end a court of thorns and roses single-handedly.
Whether or not he deserves to be single, Tamlin can stay that way
The way Maas describes companions in his books, it’s rare to get a companion in life. This is a special bond that cannot be broken; it unites your souls, senses and even gives you the ability to read each other’s minds. If Tamlin was lucky enough to already have a mate – even if it was Amarantha, who has already died – Maas is unlikely to tell you another love story in the future ACOTAR books. And without a doubt, Tamlin needs some time alone after everything he’s been through.
Another romance story for Tamlin would feel unnatural if it went completely smoothly, but Maas has already written so much about Tamlin’s bad behavior in relationships that continuing to do so would be redundant.
It’s sad to think that Tamlin could be so lost and devastated by his trauma and given a redemption arc only to end up alone. However, assuming Tamlin still has a redemption story in the next ACOTAR book, it’s not a terrible ending for your character to spend time healing alone. Another romance story for Tamlin wouldn’t feel natural If all went well, Maas has already written so much about Tamlin’s bad relationship behavior that detailing it would be redundant.
Theories suggest that Tamlin will have a future romance with Elain in the next installment of the series, but given his past with her sister, this outcome seems a bit far-fetched. In addition to Elain, there are not many current ones ACOTAR characters which he would make sense of. It’s different from Maas forcing an abnormal couple into his writing, suggesting that if Tamlin’s mate is dead, he won’t be joining anyone else anytime soon. The only way this will change is if Maas introduces new characters in future episodes.
This ACOTAR theory is probably too sad to happen, despite being perfect
This ending looks bleak for Sarah J. Maas
Maas is an author who has an unparalleled ability to combine unexpected characters and quickly make them favorites. This tendency to give satisfying endings to his heroes makes it less likely that Maas will leave Tamlin alone and without a companion after he has already started to build his redemption arc. Tamlin’s love story may not be the main plot, or even very detailed in future books, but It’s not like Maas to leave such a promising character on the sidelines without any prospects for love or happiness. Even Tamlin doesn’t deserve this fate.
There are not many characters in Cutting thorns and roses the series ends with such a dark ending. In fact, unless the character is truly evil, Maas’s fantasy series tend to redeem him in some way. And looking at the previous books, Maas’ story of uniting ongoing characters like Tamlin should leave hope that he won’t be alone forever. Even though there is a lot of credible evidence that suggests Tamlin’s actions and character arc are tied to his mating bond with Amarantha, this theory may be too sad to be true.