Lyrion is a refreshing departure from the stoic elf trope. He is fragile, intellectually arrogant, but physically broken. His survival depends not on steel, but on emotional manipulation. He attempts to seduce Morwenna, then betray her, then reason with her. His arc is about the loss of pride and the horrifying realization that freedom might be worse than slavery in a world that hates elves.
He pictured starving on the streets, wrists scraped raw from new ropes, his name called not by kin but by the gaoler's rod. He thought of the slow vengeance of the witch if crossed. The barn roof creaked and the moonlight moved like a clock hand. the elven slave and the great witchs curser new