Gavin

I always thought that his letters to Wlodek were the only reason she survived. That and her innate ability to follow the non-existant FVM.

perualpaca, you are quite right in your diagnosis of Gavin's faults. But Connie wrote him to be like that and I LOVE HIM in spite of his stroppy chauvanistic and unhelpful attitude towards Lissa! He believed he was doing the right thing at the time, and he really regreted his actions afterwards. There was no way he could put Lissa first, it would have meant he would become rogue, too, and would be penalised by being executed himself.

Well said.

You are saying exactly what I was trying to get at. My point was not how horrible Gavin was, but how when looked at from his POV it feels more real and reasonable.

Great points on both sides. I am glad I didn't have to play Devil's advocate, thanks Elizabeth! From the point of Blood Wager we don't know about the mate bond ... but I suspect it is impossible to not expect people to use foreknowledge .... Curse you Griffin!! ....

Of course I have to take some of the blame, I should have started this up a year ago /sigh. Which brings to mind a quote ...

"You got eyes on your ass?" ... "That sounds like hindsight to me." - Connie Suttle

Another thing I always try and remember throughout the series is that Lissa herself always defied everyone's expectations. Your average rogue, not trained, is going to be a disaster waiting to happen. Gavin knows this. I felt like a lot of Gavin's letters were trying to convey - while he himself was confused - that he knows the law is the law, and he knows why...but this case is...uh, different.

Gavin was originally sent to eliminate a rogue vampire - Lissa. Gavin's primary mission was side tracked when orders were given for him to watch, evaluate and if necessary destroy Winkler's recognition software. Lissa was living on borrowed time without knowing it. Lissa convinced Winkler to sell his software program to the US Government. Since the public was informed the program had failed, Gavin zeroed back to his primary target - Lissa. His horrible behavior towards Lissa is unforgivable, however Gavin merely reverted back to his assassin mode.

Toward the end of his email messages (reports) his amazement over a female vampire was showing. At this point in time I doubt Gavin could even remember what love towards another person was.