#trilogystat my beloved

[licncourt]

I've only read the first trilogy a decade ago and while swimming around book fandom for the last couple of months i've come accross different opinions regarding Lestat post QotD. I've also heard that AR massacred his character in Tale of the Body Thief.

How would you describe Lestat's character arc post QotD? Is there even a character arc? Does he finally get to mature a bit and work on his issues? Does it happen off page? Did he get lobotomized like Louis and Armand?

God this is such a hard question, especially when it comes to a character arc because yes, there is technically a discernable arc for Lestat, but the problem is that it was entirely unintentional and the opposite of was AR seemed to be going for.

The first book after QotD is the best example of this I think. It starts off really strong with Lestat struggling to cope with the effects of Akasha's abduction and the changes to his body, as well as a bittersweet but well-written look into what his relationship with Louis is like at this point in time.

Unfortunately it goes completely off the rails after that. It's hard to say that Lestat is wildly OOC because he's really not. Most of what happens feels pretty authentic to someone with Lestat’s personality dealing with trauma through the lifestyle and moral lens of vampirism. He's manic and self-destructive and vacillating wildly between lashing out at loved ones and total emotional dependency.

The issue becomes some of the plot events themselves and how they're handled. This books is pretty notorious because it really ruins the growth Lestat has experienced up to this point, most pressingly by making him a rapist in both a human and vampire sense.

If this had been played as a reaction to his own assault and a fucked up attempt at taking power back and "embracing" evil to cope, MAYBE this could've been spun into at least some kind of existential horror narrative about cycles of abuse and becoming the evil that you hate, but the tone, the context, and AR's real-life opinions on these issues make it clear that this is just the author's idea of "what men are like" (it literally says that in the book).

This is really the first step in Lestat transitioning from what he is in the trilogy into a messed up male power fantasy for Anne Rice that lacks any kind of self awareness, nuance, irony, or character consistency. From this point on, this macho character completely eclipses the Lestat we knew before as AR turns him into something unrecognizable.

This progresses across the rest of the books (with very brief glimpses of the "real" Lestat that are just enough to add insult to injury). If she had written him as putting on macho playboy persona as an act to deal with his own fear and trauma and vulnerability, it might’ve worked (although it still would've gone on too long). Instead, this is completely unironic, a full change of character with no explanation given as AR started to project her own ideals onto an established character.

By the end of the series, he's clearly happier, but it feels hollow because he's also not himself. He's magically not traumatized anymore, he's a prince who's the perfect masculine ideal and everyone fawns over him as a god. It feels like some desperate fantasy TVL Lestat would have had instead of reality.

He's definitely more mature and suddenly able to commit to Louis and make "good" choices, but we never see how he got there or what changed. There's no healing process shown and no reason for any of the changes. It's jarring and confusing and you're happy for him, but unsatisfied. Sure, things are better for him, but his character is far less interesting and a lot more unlikable so you can hardly be excited for the good stuff.

So basically AR turned Lestat into accidental existential horror over the course of two decades and then popped him out the other side as an alpha male with an eight pack and a crown.