58 pages • 1 hour read
Hannah Nicole MaehrerAssistant to the Villain
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Effectiveness of Trust-Based Relationships
The relationship dynamics between the characters are a dominant factor of Assistant to the Villain. Whether romantic, friendship, or familial, the characters repeatedly show that being honest and trustworthy leads to stronger bonds than being dishonest and unfaithful. Through Evie’s relationships with Trystan, her officemates, and her father, the novel demonstrates that trust is the foundation upon which healthy relationships are built.
In accordance with the idea that trust transcends actions, Evie finds herself drawn to Trystan despite his horrendous reputation. Although he does terrible things to his enemies, he treats his employees with respect, thereby earning their trust. While this does not excuse his other behaviors, it shows that he is not completely evil and that he assesses a person before deciding to work against them. His initial assessment of Evie convinces him to confide in and rely upon her, which in turn leads to the two characters to form a deeper relationship built upon mutual trust. Even when Trystan believes that Blade’s employment letter belongs to Evie, Evie never fears that Trystan will turn on her. Instead, his lack of trust hurts her, prompting both of them to reevaluate their relationship and come to an understanding about what they are willing to share. Their unreasonable actions—Trystan accusing Evie without more information, and Evie quitting in a fit of rage—are left behind in favor of the trust they have quietly cultivated by working together. Rather than breaking them apart, these actions draw them closer, laying the foundation for the romance that carries Evie into the sequel and hardens her resolve to rescue Trystan from the king.
Empathy builds trust, and this sentiment is demonstrated in different ways. Although Evie has very different relationships with Blade, Tatianna, and Becky, each connection rests upon a foundation of mutual understanding. Blade initially came to work for Trystan under false pretenses, which Evie questions until he explains his past and the love for the dragon that brought him to the manor. Evie understands how Blade felt trapped in his old life and how he took desperate actions to save a creature he cares about, and her ability to empathize with him allows her to move past the letter and give him her trust. Similarly, Evie and Becky’s relationship is characterized by arguments and dislike, and Evie doesn’t want to trust the woman until she learns that Becky has a relative affected by the mystic illness. Since Evie believes that her father is stricken by the same sickness, she can empathize with Becky’s desperate desire to find a cure. While neither woman likes the other at this point, their shared situation helps them to trust one another. As a juxtaposition to Blade and Becky, Evie trusts Tatianna from the beginning and this is shown by her willingness to share secrets in exchange for Tatianna’s healing abilities. Like Evie, Tatianna struggles with finding her self-worth, and this similarity between the two women shows how trust can be formed quickly when common ground is established. Together, these relationships lay out three different paths in which empathy fosters trust.
Just as empathy fosters trust, dishonesty destroys it. After storming out of the office and quitting her job, Evie haltingly tells her father that she is yet again unemployed. In response, her father suggests she talk to her employer and be honest about what happened, saying, “There is so much that can be fixed by honesty, if you’re brave enough to use it” (140). This statement turns out to be ironic in the extreme because Evie’s father has been lying to her for years. Likewise, Evie has kept the secret of her employer from her father, and while there is nothing to suggest that Evie’s relationship with her father would have ended differently if she’d told him the truth to begin with, Evie’s lack of trust contributes to the erosion of her relationship with her father, ultimately making her choose her found family over her family of origin. Similarly, Evie’s father has betrayed Evie in many ways, and his lack of honesty destroys any trust that may have remained between them. Ultimately, trust is easier to give when relationships are built on honesty. The members of Evie’s work family earn her trust in different ways, but her father destroys her trust. This contrast demonstrates that being related to someone is not the same as having a relationship, and that withdrawing trust is sometimes healthy and even necessary.
The True Definition of Evil
Assistant to the Villain presents the villainous side of a battle between good and evil, wryly creating a sympathetic portrayal of villainy itself, thereby grappling with the question of what truly makes a villain “evil.” In doing so, the narrative explores the various ways in which the definition of goodness affects the definition of evil, for one cannot exist without the other, and neither is as clear-cut as it initially seems. Through Trystan’s character arc and Evie’s gradually villainous transformation, the novel explores the complex interplay between the fluid concepts of good and evil.
At the outset of the novel, the Villain’s fearsome reputation has terrorized Evie’s world for 10 years, and in that time, the king has spared no expense to emphasize Trystan’s image as a horrid and despicable monster who will stop at nothing to fulfill his dark wishes. From the moment Trystan is introduced, however, it is clear that his evil exploits are fueled by the need for revenge, which implies that his targets and reasons are based on a specific and reasoned motivation rather than a haphazard wish to cause random, widespread terror. As a result, he not so much a villain as he is a man who is only doing what he feels must be done, even if those needs directly oppose the king. The labels placed upon Trystan give the public a specific image of him, but they do not define who he is or why he does what he does. The caring that Trystan shows his staff also contradicts the villainous label he tries to uphold, showing that he is not purely evil. The different labels assigned to him by his employees and the king show that any given label is only as effective as the evidence that supports it.
The image of evil relies on fear. In Chapter 26, Evie asks a woman in her village what crimes the Villain has actually committed. Denying Evie’s accusation of her lack of evidence, the woman insists that she can name the Villain’s crimes but simply chooses not to. This scene reveals that the woman, like the rest of the public, has completely bought into the stories that the king has spread about Trystan’s innumerable horrific deeds. Additionally, the villainous label that the king has assigned Trystan causes the people to fear the Villain, and this fear compels the people rely on the king for protection against this imagined threat. By contrast, Evie and the other members of Trystan’s staff don’t fear him because he has proven that he will not harm them, which shows the ways in which knowledge based on direct experience can overcome the power of fear that is based upon ignorance. Those ignorant of Trystan’s true nature fear him because they know only the Villain that they have been taught to revile. By contrast, his staff, who know him on a personal level, are not swayed by stories they know to be untrue.
Within the context of the novel, being evil and being villainous are not the same thing. Though these two words have similar meanings, Maehrer makes an important distinction between them throughout the novel. In her world, “evil” denotes a state of being in which someone does terrible things for their own purposes. By contrast, “villainous” is a label applied to someone who fits the outward stereotypes of an evil-doer, and while this label is most often applied to Trystan, it is also indiscriminately applied to everyone in his employ, whether they fit the image or not. In particular, Evie’s character directly contrasts the given definition of villainy. Her sunny disposition and friendly attitude make her initially appear to be purely good, but as the story progresses and Evie starts to understand that being good has gotten her nothing but heartache, her villainous tendencies emerge, shifting the word’s definition. Evie’s brand of villainy is similar to Trystan’s, for she focuses her frustration and desire to do harm on those who have hurt her and those she loves. By definition, the desire to protect loved ones directly opposes the meaning of evil, and this dynamic, combined with Evie’s persona of goodness, demonstrates that even villains are not strictly evil, for they often do things that could be considered good. Thus, the author implies that the labels of good and evil, like those of hero and villain, are highly dependent on how they are applied; their meanings are ultimately fluid and subjective, unlike the more strictly defined world of the stereotypical fairy tale.
The Damaging Power of Expectations
The world and characters of Assistant to the Villain have expectations placed upon them from both internal and external sources. Sometimes, these expectations can lead to growth, but they just as often result in unnecessary hurt. Through Evie’s response to Trystan and her internal monologue, as well as the strictures of society, the novel explores the ways in which unchecked and erroneous expectations can cause lasting harm.
Giving in to societal expectations can threaten authentic identity, and Evie demonstrates considerable inner strength when she resists this tendency. In Chapter 47, for example, after Trystan kills the king’s guards, Evie finds herself very attracted to the quiet, confident way in which he dispatches them. Although she briefly reflects that she should feel disgusted because people are supposed to be disgusted by such blatant shows of violence, she concludes instead that “it was ridiculous to do anything just because you thought you were supposed to” (274). In the past, Evie struggled with her responses to Trystan’s villainous displays because she was concerned about how being attracted to those displays would appear to others. However, after everything they’ve been through, she has come to trust him and no longer cares how others might judge her attraction to the Villain. For better or worse, Evie knows who she is now and isn’t afraid to admit that part of her enjoys Trystan’s violent tendencies because she wishes that she could be just as powerful. The expectations she once placed on herself stifled her growth, and now that she has freed herself of them, she can become the person she wants to be, even if that person is villainous by the world’s standards.
Self-imposed expectations are often the toughest to overcome. At the novel’s opening, Evie feels like a failure because she has lost her job with the blacksmith and has failed to secure a new position that can support her father and sister. The fact that the blacksmith attacked her doesn’t matter to Evie because she believes that she should be able to endure any mistreatment to take care of the people she loves. By contrast, Evie suffers no ill treatment under Trystan’s employ; on the contrary, Trystan is the most respectful boss she has ever had—and Evie starts to understand that the expectations she has placed upon herself are unreasonable and harmful. In the past, these self-imposed limitations have led her to remain in dangerous or uncomfortable situations, but unlike her past employers, Trystan never demands anything of her that she isn’t willing to give, and she realizes that she should never surrender her personal comfort or safety to care for others. The understanding that she needs to put herself first helps her to stop harming herself with the expectation that she should always be available to anyone who needs or wants her.
In addition to creating such internal complications, unreasonable expectations can also cause harm on a large scale. The world of Assistant to the Villain carries many expectations about how people should act based on their identity. Whether people are defined as good or evil, rich or poor, they often suffer from the expectations that society automatically places upon them. As a woman in a society run by men, Evie is expected to acquiesce to the men in her life and has been taught that disobedience will result in unpleasant consequences. The blacksmith exemplifies this dynamic when he assumes that he can purchase her company and then uses violence to express his anger when she refuses his advances. Similarly, Trystan is expected to be terrible, hideous, and evil, and because he sees no way to fight public opinion, he commits to portraying this image. However, he is also able to fly under the radar by exuding characteristics that contradict these expectations. As a result, he can walk amongst the people who fear him simply by dressing well and behaving as a young man of wealth and status. Through the impact that society has on both Trystan and Evie, the novel shows how expectations can prevent people from growing in ways that they would otherwise embrace. Both Trystan and Evie have developed certain desirable traits due to society’s expectations, and this implies that expectations are not always inherently damaging. However, when taken to extremes, expectations can become rules that destroy any potential for authentic growth.
