Also, a note on what someone said about how you couldn't tell the author that their character is acting out of character. You really can do that, and probably should in some circumstances.

As both a writer and a developmental editor, doing that is literally my job. As writers we write (obv wink ), then we need help from editors, readers etc. to let us know if something doesn't sit right. As an author it can be hard sometimes to tell if you're making your characters act the way they should. That's where the editor comes in. They will let you know that "hey, your guy here, he's not really making sense anymore. I don't think he'd do this here because of this and this". And so, the author revises and revises again until their vision and the character's personality fits together in a satisfying way.

Editors are a huge part of an authors writing process and those are the ones that'll tell you to "kill your darlings".

What we can see here, with Halsin, is a buildup that doesn't match the finale. Is that the author's fault? Well, not necessarily. And neither does it make him a bad writer. On the contrary, Halsin's writer is clearly talented, or else he wouldn't have succeeded in creating a character that render so many people disappointed by the finale.

It's more likely that the author had a clear vision for Halsin's journey throughout ACT 1-2 and spent a considerable amount of time perfecting that vision (with the help of editors, sensitivity readers etc). Then they realized people had fallen in love with the character and decided to write more for him. Here comes the problem.

These late additions were to be added to an already established character, and due to time constraints and a tight schedule (where the author probably also had A LOT of other things to write), Halsin's character didn't get enough working time, and not enough editor time to really match his earlier parts to the new ones. Hence, the discrepancy between ACT 1-2 Halsin and the guy in ACT 3. Halsin in ACT 3 is one big contradiction to the character we got to know in ACT 1-2 and that makes him hard to get a grip of. And I fail to see how THAT was a conscious decision from the writer. I strongly believe that this for the most part is due to rushed writing.

And to be fair, a lot of ACT 3 as a whole screams of rushed writing and poor execution. They were in a hurry, and it shows, both in general plot, as in character arcs, endings, and overall performance.

But, they can fix it. And I hope they will. It won't take much to tie up the loose ends and make Halsin make sense again.

Last edited by EMar; 06/10/23 05:12 PM.