One thing that puzzled me was-why the hell was Gisela so toxic to Keefe?
What if she acted nice towards Keefe and gave him more love, not just small doses? Then she could have swayed him to her side way more easily!
Imagine Cassius being a terrible father, but Gisela being a kind, sweet mother-at least that's her facade.
She slowly grooms Keefe to be what she needs him to be-subtly drops hints about the injustice of the Lost Cities, pitting Cassius and Keefe against each other, playing the doting mother when Cassius is angry.
Then Keefe wouldn't have rebelled so hard-he would've been taken in. And when Gisela revealed herself, she could have told him about the injustice that she had been showing him for years.
And Keefe would have had to make a decision. Stay with the Black Swan, or join the Neverseen? And he struggles with this decision over the course of the series. Sophie or his mother?
Because clearly the Black Swan's not doing anything, but the Neverseen is trying.
But the Neverseen's methods are horrible, while the Black Swan is more passive and preferable.
Still, there's so much injustice........
It would've made the book where Keefe join the Neverseen so much juicier.
Just imagine Gisela welcoming Keefe into the ranks. Imagine her teaching him, spending time with him like the old days-
AND IMAGINE HIM BETRAYING HER AND RUNNING AWAY WITH THE STOLEN CACHES.
Imagine her disappointment, her fury. Keefe's overwhelming guilt and shame, but he did the right thing, didn't he?
Except the Black Swan's not getting closer to doing anything, and the Neverseen members weren't as evil as he thought they'd be-they actually seemed to be humane, behaving like normal elves instead of evil people. Humanise the villains.
Aah, my heart, so much ANGST.