#but I simply don't think the amassed evidence is in any way enough to seriously consider him suspicious

[bookwyrminspiration]

I am in love with all chaosified characters. Actually wait I lowkey wanna see if anyone has chaosified Gethen, was he already Chaos?? I don't know

Anyway I found the chaos Alden post! You can read it here

All I know about Gethen is that his vibes give me long hair, Sophie seems to think that he's the Real Villain™, he's Power hungry, he was bit by a dog and wore spandex, and that he should be very mentally unstable because of lumneria

-Heathen

This fits with everything I know about you as a person. I personally prefer more...logical chaos? That sounds like an oxymoron but I mean like chaos where you can find the thread and see how it all works together, and then it's chaotic and also horrifying because the chaos is so much bigger than you and you can see a part of it making sense and it's suddenly not so different from you.

Also I don't think anyone has chaosified Gethen! He's not been very present in the story so he mostly slips under the radar, but he could be important later. He isn't really chaos right now, but I'm certain that won't stop you. Right now i don't remember his hair length, but he was bit by a dog and dressed like a jogger. As for the mental stability...well really it's anyone's guess we haven't seen him in a while--hence Sophie being like hmmm we should pay attention to him. He's one of the people we have a name for but don't know the motive of. Like Trix.

I'm gonna put my response to the linked Alden post under a cut because it got long!!

But now back to the Alden thing! Reading through that whole post was a little oaigoin because so much of it just is not convincing to me. I won't comment on all of the points but:

there's the mention on the search for Sophie, which I've discussed before. It's for the plot and also relates to his personal guilt over the situation because he feels bad for what he's done and wants it to be worth it, I don't think it's because he's trying to manipulate her or steal her from the Black Swan or anything

Both Alden and Della believed the best of Alvar because he's their son and they saw him through rose colored glasses. And they came to accept later that they were wrong to believe in him. Alden never wanted to believe he was a monster, and that's reasonable. No one wants that for their family! It's an understandable thing to deny and I don't think it's indicative of Alden being secretly evil.

Yes Alden had a relationship with Alina at one point--which he ended specifically because they weren't a good fit for each other. A past relationship with someone now unpleasant doesn't make him suspicious. And I don't think a theory about Fitz being a beguiler or Alden having an affair could make him a traitor. If it was a conscious choice on his part it reflects badly on him as a person, but it doesn't necessarily make him a traitor

He wasn't searching for Sophie under orders, he was defying the council because the council told him to dismiss it but he thought they were ignoring something important (they were). He did it because he thought it was right and also because of guilt, not to be evil

Nobody could light leap into Everglen because they were a security suggestion from Luzia, possibly to make it seem more normal when she added the same gates to her home to hide the troll hive. they weren't Alden's idea. It is mentioned by Sophie several times that it's weird he has them, I concede. But the gates have now been taken down, so there's also that

Honestly i think he hasn't been outright attacked because he's a side character. He's not important enough to the main plot, despite being important in the elven world. Attacks against him are against reputation of his family, which matches more with their presence in the elven world.

Della specifically told us why he didn't join the Black Swan in Neverseen. He wanted to, but they both decided that he would be more useful if he continued working for the council--same as when Grady resigned from the nobility in Everblaze and Alden was willing to do the same but they both decided it was better for him to stay as someone on the inside. And we hardly see him since then, so it hasn't been revisited. But he's said he's proud of his family for being in the Black Swan, and I think he'd decide to join if given another chance now that they're working more closely with the council. We could also ask why Grady and Edaline aren't in the Black Swan either (as far as I can remember), as Sophie--the moonlark--is their daughter and they're involved in a lot.

Just because he would be useful to the Neverseen doesn't make it more likely to happen.

Alden didn't perform the mind break (Quinlin did), but he was the one to go after him and accuse him and testify against him, which was a legitimate thing to do! Alden believed that Prentice was a traitor and danger to the elven world and as such it was his duty to protect their world from him. Prentice was given several chances to prevent the mind break via sharing his secrets, and Alden was only following the law trying to keep their world safe. He didn't know what Prentice was standing for or the deeper meaning of it all, he was trying to protect their world. Also! There's the whole thing about Alden feeling so guilty over the situation and what he'd done that his mind shattered from guilt! He clearly regrets it now that he knows what it was really about.

I know the concept is super appealing to a lot of people but it really feels like we're grasping at straws trying to justify things. There are some good points and questions, like why he was denied a spyball and why the council wanted Della to keep an eye on him. But the arguments so far really don't feel convincing to me.

There's already a traitor in the Vacker family, Alden almost entirely serves purposes to move the plot forward, and has repeatedly aligned himself with the Black Swan since discovering their true motivations and beliefs. it's taken him some time to come around to, but that is entirely normal! that's how people work

everyone is of course still welcome to think of him differently and continue to try and put clues together, but I am going to need a lot more convincing, solid points before I start to seriously consider him in a different light