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Welcome to my Rant/TED Talk on the niece.
Love her, but my biggest issue with the niece is that she overestimates her capabilities. Like yes, she’s advanced for her age, but that doesn’t automatically mean she’s capable of handling certain things just because she has the power to.
I get that a lot of her actions are driven by the author using her as a plot device. But looking at her character directly, and the responsibility she holds, it’s clear she talks big and pushes herself because of deep-rooted abandonment issues. She lost her mother, was betrayed by her father, and now clings to her uncle for validation. And let’s be honest, the uncle clings to her too. He’s enabling this behavior.
She keeps throwing herself into impossible tasks to prove she belongs at her uncle’s side. It’s like when a gifted kid skips a few grades and suddenly they aren't gifted anymore and start performing horribly. Not because they’re not smart enough, but because everything else like emotional maturity, social skills, and coping mechanisms, hasn't developed properly because they aren't around peers and influences that match their overall growth. That’s the niece right now. She’s in the wrong class, refusing to leave because she’s desperate to be seen as equal to her uncle.
But if she could just step back and get the proper training—mentally, emotionally, and experientially (big word of the day, check)—she could actually grow and not be a burden. Right now, her mindset is still childish compared to her uncle’s. And honestly? That’s not a bad thing. That innocence, that belief that killing is wrong and people have good in them, that’s beautiful. She should have that, at this moment in time because,. She’s not the MC. She didn’t come from the future. She hasn’t had to fight to survive yet. So of course her first instinct is to forgive and walk away, even if it's naive in the situation.
The issue isn’t her power. It’s that she lacks the life experience and emotional growth to match it. She’s in the wrong environment for her personal development. Not her magic. Not her strength. Her mindset.
She needs to step away from her uncle and grow on her own. And he needs to let that happen. Because the longer she stays by his side, the more she’ll be dragged into situations she simply isn’t ready for.
And if he won’t let her go, then he needs to step up. He needs to teach her how to survive, how to kill, how to make the hard choices that don’t come from strength but from understanding. From realizing that sometimes the morally wrong choice is the only one that ensures you and the people you love survive.
Okay. That’s my TED Talk.