“Not yet, I told myself with every brushstroke, with every move I’d made these weeks. Swift revenge helped no one and nothing but my own, roiling rage.”

Feyre’s sense of her own patience in plotting Tamlin’s downfall is later revealed to be an example of irony, as Feyre creates exactly the situation she’s trying to avoid. Feyre’s undermining of Tamlin does ultimately serve only her own desire for vengeance: It accelerates Hybern’s occupation of the Spring Court and weakens Prythian’s chances in the war.

“‘You are a better friend to me, Feyre,’ he said quietly, ‘than I ever was to you.’”

Lucien’s tender words for Feyre are another example of irony and are rich with thematic resonance. Lucien is acknowledging Feyre’s real empathy and regret for Ianthe’s assault during Calanmai, but she is also plotting the collapse of Lucien’s adopted home. Maas links The Compromises and Moral Ambiguity of War to Love as Sacrifice, Forgiveness, and Self-Acceptance in this quote, as it reiterates the ethical quandaries Feyre hasn’t fully considered in her espionage and suggests that Feyre’s need for revenge inhibits her ability to recognize Lucien’s regret and see the fuller picture.

“‘You have a personal connection to these people. He does not.’

‘That’s the sort of thinking,’ I snapped, clutching the armrests, ‘that has allowed for a wall to be the only solution between our two peoples.’”

Tamlin understands why Feyre wanted to punish Brannagh and Dagdan but not Lucien, indicating his greater facility with The Compromises and Moral Ambiguity of War. Feyre doesn’t see her ethics as individualized; she considers them a reflection of objective moral good.