8 Court Of Thorns And Roses Characters Who Need Bigger Roles In The Next Book (2024)

Though its title has yet to be revealed, several characters need far bigger roles in the next book in Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses series. The ACOTAR books have woven a complicated tapestry of interconnected romances, constantly shifting allegiances and adversaries, and characters entering and exiting, all against the backdrop of another imminent war. That's a lot to balance for any author, let alone one who must juggle such a large extended cast of characters, and Maas undoubtedly has a lot of skill in crafting interesting characters that leave readers wanting more.

Unfortunately, Maas doesn't exactly subscribe to the basic principle of Chekov's Gun: every element in a story must be necessary and its introduction must have a reason. In other words, when a writer introduces a character, plot thread, or other important element, they better pay it off later. Five books into the series, far too many characters have not yet seen their story arcs paid off. That can and should change for a number of characters in the next Court of Thorns and Roses novel.

8 Lucien Vanserra

The Exiled Prince Of The Autumn Court

Of all the underserved characters in the Court of Thorns and Roses books, Lucien Vanserra has arguably been done the dirtiest. He started out as a major character in the first book, the tritagonist to Feyre's and Tamlin's protagonist and deuteragonist, and set up to be a significant part of the story. However, his role is significantly reduced when Rhysand whisks Feyre away from the Spring Court in the second book - so reduced that he was relegated to a pointless side quest of sailing away to find a rumored human queen. He returned, but that arc was largely pointless, and seemed only to be included because Maas didn't know what else to do with Lucien, so she wrote him out of the books for a while.

While Lucien has been brought back into the fold in recent books, he's still being badly underserved. It's a shame: Lucien is easily one of the more interesting characters in the whole series. Because of his unique background and connection with so many courts, there's a Court of Thorns and Roses theory about Lucien that he will eventually become the High King of Prythian. Whether or not that comes true, Lucien needs a much larger role in the next book. As the emissary between the Night Court, the Spring Court, and the human lands, Lucien is of vital strategic importance. With a war brewing, Lucien must factor more significantly into events, not just for his own sake, but for the sake of the story as a whole.

7 Elain Archeron

The Youngest Archeron Sister & Prophetic Seer

Of the three Archeron sisters, Elain has had the least character development, by far. Even before the last book, A Court of Silver Flames, made her sister the central female protagonist, Nesta had a fair bit of development. Feyre, of course, has been the overall protagonist of the first four books. Elain, however, is largely a placeholder character, a two-dimensional figure whose internal thoughts and personal wants are still unknown to the reader. Considering how well-developed Feyre and Nesta are, it's been odd that the third sister has remained such a void. The guess among the fandom is that the next book will focus on Elain, and it should. Even if she's not the main protagonist like her sisters were, she deserves to be much more fleshed out.

Making Elain a fully-formed character in her own right is one thing, but there's also still the question of her powers of clairvoyance and prophecy that may or may not still be active. The previous book explored the power of pure death that Nesta gained when she stole the magic from the Cauldron, but Elain's own seer abilities have gone largely unexplored. Nesta's power was prodigious, but it's not clear if Elain's abilities are equally as powerful, if not as dangerous. Elain's powers could be very useful if she learns how to harness them, and the sixth book should dedicate some time to exploring the full extent of her abilities.

6 Eris Vanserra

The Enigmatic Heir To The Autumn Court

Generally, it's not often that readers will beg for a recurring villain to be fully developed or even get their own spinoff story, but Eris Vanserra is an exception to the rule. Lucien's older brother is an enigmatic character, and while he's loathed by the other characters thanks to his seeming cruelty, previous books have hinted that there's more to him than there appears to be. In A Court of Wings and Ruin, he revealed that he had alerted Tamlin to Lucien being cast out of the Autumn Court to protect his younger brother. A Court of Silver Flames all but outright stated that Eris is secretly a good person in disguise – or, at least, he might be, if he could escape the influence of their father, Beron.

If Eris is simply putting up a facade to survive in the ruthless Autumn Court, similar to the front Rhysand employs to survive the Court of Nightmares, then it should be explored in the next book. Eris currently has too many ties to other characters in the story, including Lucien and Morrigan, that need to be explored and resolved to remain a peripheral character. In any case, too many hints have been dropped that Eris is not who he appears to be for the next book not to pay them off. Even if Eris remains a mercurial figure, he will likely factor more heavily into the story, and it will be interesting to see his character further developed.

5 Vassa

The Cursed Human Queen

Of the characters on the list, arguably the least is known about Vassa, the cursed human queen. She was initially introduced in a rather awkward way, less of a character and more of a plot point dropped suddenly in conversation. In the fight against Hybern, the fae of Prythian wanted to get the human queens on their side, having heard rumors of a missing human queen who might be an in with the humans. Vassa was sold by the other power-hungry queens to an evil sorcerer, who cursed her to be human by night and a firebird by day. It's she who Lucien set out to find in his side quest.

Vassa was set up to be a significant plot mover and her curse seemed to be a big future storyline, but since Lucien sailed away and returned with her, Vassa's story has gone literally nowhere. Her curse is a huge piece of the story that has yet to be resolved, and it could have big implications for the brewing war. It would be exceedingly frustrating if her strange, liminal situation with Lucien and Jurian weren't addressed in some way in the next book.

4 Jurian

The Resurrected Human Commander

Jurian is the third member of the strange little trio of lost souls in the "Band of Exiles" with Lucien and Vassa, characters who have lost their homes and are in transitional periods of their lives. Like so many other characters in the ACOTAR series, Jurian isn't the monster he appears to be at first. When first introduced in the story, Jurian was killed by Amarantha but cursed to eternal life, his soul forced to survive in his eyeball she wore as a ring and his finger bone she wore as a necklace.

Now that Jurian is resurrected, he could be a key liaison between the fae and the humans. It's not entirely clear that Jurian's mind is completely intact after spending the past 50 years trapped as a bauble on Amarantha's hand and forced to see the torture she inflicted upon fae and human alike. Still, he's taken it upon himself to live with Lucien and Vassa and be an emissary to the humans in the mortal lands. Jurian has a lot of information that could prove vital in the next book as the only remaining human who fought in the original war against Hybern. Right now, he's a loose end without much of his personal story being woven into the overall narrative.

3 Azriel

The Tortured Spymaster & Shadowsinger

As the spymaster of the Night Court and an assassin and intelligence agent who wields the power of shadow, it's no surprise that Azriel is one of the more enigmatic characters in the Court of Thorns and Roses series. It's not an exaggeration to say that Azriel is one of the most important characters in the series in terms of propelling the plot, thanks to his intelligence gathering. He's certainly the most important member of Rhysand's Inner Circle aside from Rhys himself. That's how important Azriel's information gathering and shadowsinging abilities are to protecting the Night Court and all of Prythian.

Despite that, next to nothing is known about Azriel other than that he was tortured as a child and that he harbors an unrequited love for Morrigan – though growing feelings for Elain may be replacing those feelings he once held for Mor. While it would be unwise to overexpose Azriel's inner workings and his past – part of his appeal and his efficiency lies in him remaining mysterious – his loyalty alone has earned him more depth of development in the next book. If the abuse he suffered as a child isn't explored, then at the very least, his romantic almost-entanglements need to be resolved. His growth hinges on letting his feelings for Morrigan go while accepting that he deserves to love and be loved by someone who can return it. Hopefully, that happens in the next book.

2 Gwyneth Berdara

The Valkyrie & Priestess Of The Library

Gwyneth Berdara is one of the newest characters in the ACOTAR series, only having been introduced in the last book A Court of Silver Flames. Despite the recency of her introduction, Gwyn has quickly become one of the more unique characters in the books thanks to her resilient personality and her past. Gwyn was training as a priestess alongside her twin sister, Catrin, when soldiers of Hybern raided the Temple where they lived and worked. Gwyn was sexually assaulted by one of the soldiers after being forced to watch them behead her sister; Azriel was the one who found and saved her.

Despite her past trauma, Gwyn has shown a surprising amount of fortitude and determination. She was the first of the library priestesses at the House of Wind to befriend the prickly Nesta and agree to train as a Valkyrie; despite wanting a life of quiet solitude, she completed the Blood Rite with Nesta and Emerie to become full-fledged Valkyries. Clearly, there is more to Gwyneth than first appears. An interesting theory posits that Gwyn is a lightsinger, the complement to Azriel's shadowsinger powers, and they may match in yet another way. A few moments in the last book suggested some kind of spark between them. It is, perhaps, not Elain but Gwyn who is Azriel's future love. The next book can and should explore this.

1 Tamlin

The Disgraced High Lord Of The Spring Court

It may seem odd to put Tamlin on this list, seeing as how he was already the secondary protagonist and main love interest of the first book and a half. However, since his time under the mountain and Feyre breaking off their engagement to be with Rhysand, Tamlin has been all but completely written out of the story. He's less than a supporting character; at this point, he's a sub-character. The High Lord of the Spring Court going from being a main character to only popping up every so often for a scene when he's not running feral in the woods around the Spring Court has been jarring, to say the least.

Allowing Tamlin to remain a loose end in the next book would not just be sloppy storytelling, but also a liability for the other characters. As a few characters have mentioned, war is coming and Tamlin's Spring Court being in shambles creates a weakness on the border that they can not afford. Tamlin will have to reckon with his grief and his guilt at some point; he can't simply give himself over to his feral impulses and self-destructive spiral forever. Whether that happens in the next A Court of Thorns and Roses book remains to be seen, but it does need to happen, or else he risks bringing down all of Prythian.

A Court of Thorns and Roses

Based on theA Court of Thorns and Rosesfantasy novel series, A Court of Thorns and Roses is a television adaptation that follows Feyre Archeron, a young woman dragged into the world of faeries after slaying one of their kind. The series will follow her journey through the lands of Prythian and her relationship with one of its lords, Tamlin.