Eh I wouldn’t blame Helios entirely. Diana is a grown adult woman and can make her own decisions. She knew what she was getting herself into by choosing love over reason, knowing she wouldn’t be able to use her powers on anyone but the royal family (btw she was perfectly fine with those terms. She was only bothered when others brought it up). She has a choice any time. And in the end she also easily makes her decision of what she wants to do with their marriage.
If anyone is to blame, it should be the temple for Diana being raised as a saintess. All the attention and worship got to her head as an saintess and now she believes her word is right. She refuses to listen to anyone who does give her guidance. Diana became more twisted once she realized not everyone loves her as much as she thought.
It could be that simple that but also something deeper. Not only did she not heal people anymore, she spent her time in politics (which imo is the opposite of faith lmao), she got involved in "worldly" affairs which poisoned her faith. Like something within her fell into a dark place where divine light couldn't reach anymore. And I totally agree that Helios is partially responsible for dragging her there without thinking ahead. He let the butterflies in his stomach catapult a naive saintess into an intricately vital yet isolated role.
But in the end it is Diana who chose to become the way she is now. I remember she had this whole pov of how "Ofc I chose Helios, he's THE prince". People can go through a lot of change, especially when they're having a bad time. There is a reason why there are sayings like you don't know a person until you've seen them during times of need.
SO tldr, my argument here is that her powers were taken away because she chose to be a worse version of herself. And homegirl effectively kneed herself in the gut with some of the stubborn shit she pulled.
While it is heavily Helios's fault, he could have never predicted how Diana would lose her powers. She's a grown woman who can make her own decisions and she chose to be crown princess over being a priestess. While it was selfish of Helios to want to marry Diana, Diana is equally as selfish for marrying Helios, its a two way train after all. A righteous person, even if being backed into a corner, would NEVER use another person's love as a tool to keep their status- which is exactly what shes doing to Kael. She even has thoughts of infidelity and treats Kael as if hes her possession and expects him to continue to love her unconditionally, even after all shes put him through. to me, that isn't being "driven mad," thats her true nature being revealed
That's what i said
The temple is obviously the biggest problem there’s no argument on that they used faith as a means of controling health which is why Diana with her selfish actions cut out the health of the population and Hestia uses health to ruin the temple. Religion is rly the wickedness of humanity
Agree and disagree tbh because how I see it Helios isn’t the saint some people make him out to be. If he truly loved Diana he should have known (thinking with his d... lets admit it) Diana better than anyone and realised with her black and white moral compass she would never fit the palace. Helios was the only one who knew palace life as well as he knew Diana he should have been able to put 2 + 2 together. I always hate how Hestia makes Helios seem to be this genius when he couldn’t even think that far ahead.
I will also argue that Helios probably knew VERY well that *HIS* people depended heavily on Diana's powers because the temple controlled the health system. He in my eyes litterally cut off his citizen's access to health by taking diana to the temple and this is why i will never like him. A crown prince should know better.
Did Diana become a bitch? Yes.
Did Diana become a homewrecker? Yes
Is Diana absolutely selfish when it comes to Kael even though he was ready to die for yes? Totally
Is Diana the worst bitch of all the comments always make her out to be? No, not for me
Diana is a product of what happens when you put people in positions they dont fit. Diana wasn’t mature nor wise and she never would have changed her ways to 'fit' those she considered less holy or what not. She doesn’t deserve to be queen but she doesn’t deserve that much hatred. She is dumb, that's her crime
And as everyone can see I have very little respect for Helios and if he could like die i wouldn’t care- I am biased on who i see as the biggest problem. We all are. Many like Helios so blame Diana more. Many like Hestia the most so they get mad at Cael for actions that are in my opinion fair. The fact that I have no respect whatsoever for Helios is the reason why I can see Diana better as a character.
Diana is Rashta. People litterally hate her and then in a few years realise the commoner who wasn’t ready for it all is the villain again. The difference is that thankfully Hestia also was a commoner (albeit a terribly rich one)
Honestly I think the author DID think that far
Ignorance especially in her position doesn't make her less at fault for her own mistakes. She knew she was the crown princess, the saintess, but actively refused to become a better more fitting person for those roles. We're talking about grown adults here.
That's what makes her so hated imo.
There would've been the same amount of hate for Helios if he acted as stubborn and "unwise", but the guy's actively trying to do his best and fix things. Maybe there'd be more to hate if we got more of his pov, but we don't. He made a mistake by making Diana crown princess out of nowhere, by choosing hoes over bros, but at least he's showing honest regret. Meanwhile Diana is spiraling to preserve nothing else but her own ego.
Imo Diana wouldn’t have lost her powers if she had chosen anyone but Helios. He is right when he says he ruined her life by putting her in a place that she wasn’t ready for.
Ill be honest I dont think the author thought that far but if we wanted to be poetic for me Diana lost her powers because the royals selfishly took her whole
She didn’t heal the people anymore and what is a saint if not a healer of the people? The gods saw she chose being a queen to being a saint and so took her powers. In my eyes if she had stayed a saint (or even if she did her duty bro) she would have kept her healing powers
Hestia was told 'the crown princess doesn’t have time for the likes of you!' And if i was a god id say bet she doesn’t even use them for the good anymore might as well take it back
Im yapping here but seriously i know there are much more diana haters here but isn’t it Helios' fault entirely that Diana turned twisted? She wouldn’t have become someone like *this* if she had continued healing people
I feel like Hestia, Helios' and Diana's marriage is based on selfishness but not for the same reasons as hers
Helios should have realised Diana never would have changed her ways he is the crown *he* knew what is expected of him. Pursuing Diana knowing what type of woman she is and that Cael loved her was incredibly foolish and selfish.
Diana accepted the courting and wanted to become queen. She never tried to understand what that meant and failed her original purpose and herself. She acted... well, we all know. She should have known better. Helios didn’t completely stop her and takes responsibility for marrying her and doesn’t divorce her because he knows it is mostly his fault that she lost her life. Diana makes no effort whatsoever. She is sealing her fate not because she is actually evil but because every story needs a villain
I pity her more than i hate her