Ruin and Rising discussion

In the epilogue of this book, is it Kaz Brekker who visits Alina and Mal at the orphanage or is it one of the Grisha Trilogy characters I just couldn't place?

Where did you get that idea?

OMG could it be???

I just re-read the end of Ruin and Rising and found that it said

"Once a man arrived with a fleet of toy boats that the children launched on the creek in a miniature regatta. The teachers noted that the stranger was young and hansome, with golden hair and hazel eyes, but most definitely odd. He stayed late to dinner and never once removed his gloves.

But I read a description of him and it said he had dark brown eyes and dark brown hair.

So I dont KNOW!! TOTALLY CONFUSED

Right?? I just couldn't think of who else that could be, but I might have just forgotten about a character so I wanted to double check

The description of him only half adds up
Like him being young, handsome and never takes his gloves off

I think it was just Nikolai, the description fits him and he doesn't take the gloves off to hide his scars.

Makes sense, but why wouldn't she just say that it was him

Well, neither Alina's and Mal's names are mentioned in the epilogue. Also they are seen as somewhat odd and mysterious by the teachers in Keramzin. And when Nikolai visits they don't even realize that it's the king himself. So I think it is done to maintain that air of mystery that covers Alina and Mal, their history and the other people related to it.

Oh that makes sense as well!

I don't think it's Kaz it was Nickoli after all.
Would be cool if it was Kaz

I also just reread the epilogue, and it is definitely not Kaz, it is Nikolai. In Six of Crows, it is mentioned that the events that happened in Ruin and Rising happened, I think, seven or eight years before the events in Six of Crows. Kaz would then be around ten or eleven in Ruin and Rising. The description of Kaz also describes him to have darker hair, and different looks than Nikolai overall. Nikolai does have golden hair and hazel eyes, as described in Siege and Storm and he wears the gloves to hide the scars.

I thought that it was Nikolai as well, only disguised as Sturmhond for the sake of anonymity. It made sense with the whole "fleet of toy boats", since Sturmhond was a pirate/privateer.

It was definitely Nikolai, though it would have been way cooler if it was Kaz:/

My mind immediately went to Kaz but I couldn't figure out why it would be him: he would have only been about 7 at the end of the war. Then i thought maybe Adrik, but Nikolai makes more sense, especially with the boats

I wish we got a Nina reference! Maybe just a description or like Adrik mentioning her but it would have been cool

Katherine wrote: "I also just reread the epilogue, and it is definitely not Kaz, it is Nikolai. In Six of Crows, it is mentioned that the events that happened in Ruin and Rising happened, I think, seven or eight yea..."

The events of SoC happened 2 years after the triology

It mentions it in SoC and the events of KoS happened 1 year after the events of SoC