Study Buddies discussion

Should Yelena have destroyed Ferde's mind in Fire Study? Or should she have let him be sent to prison again?

I think Yelena did the right thing. I'm very much pro-death sentence for repeat murderers and Ferde was an individual that was too dangerous. Even an imprisoned Ferde is dangerous because his zealot fanbase would feel duty bound to a) free him, b) continue his work or c) both. Personally if MVS could have contrived it I would have loved to see Ferde drawn and quartered before his mind was fried >.>;;

I'm a little bloodthirsty...

I think she had to fry his mind. She had to have some sort of lynchpin (is that the right word) to keep her centered on being Yelena and not becoming like Roze, and although she did as Roze would have done, it is one of the things that she realizes sets her apart from Roze. Lynchpin: Yelena feels bad about abusing her power, and she decides to stop! Where Roze just keeps going, and going, and going like a little Energizer bunny of evil.

Good point Alethea. Very easily Yelena could have taken what she did to Ferde and reasoned it was okay for her to continue to do so 'as long as they deserved it' as her justification.

She didn't and I think if we were to see another Yelena story (book or otherwise) we'd see how tempting the idea would be to her and her struggle to stop those thoughts (we saw some of that in Fire Study actually).

"Enegizer bunny of evil" I like it! I can't wait to use that little phrase in casual conversation. Perhaps about my least favorite teacher, who is constantly coming up with terrible assignments, and then changing the rubric eight times in the week before they're due.
Yelena hates Roze, she has since the beginning. Could she have reached the same realization while doing less damage to Ferde though? She has compared Roze rummaging through her mind to rape, might just rummaging through Ferde's mind in the same way have been enough to make her realize how like Roze she could have become?

I think that would depend on if she saw her rummaging in Ferde's mind as 'necessary' or not. By no means is Yelena a 'ends justifies the means' girl, i think that to her frying his brain was a necessary task she had to perform to stop his threat. Certainly not the best solution, but the quickest (relatively speaking) and most certain solution to the problem. Roze went through her mind because she felt she had a RIGHT to, not because it necessary or even needed. Roze's decision wasn't based on a life or death situation, it was based on her own vanity, cruelty and nastiness. I think Yelena realized that (or something along those lines).

That OK Lexie, I think most of use are Bloodthirsty.

As to Should Yelena have destroyed his mind definitely YES, he was evil and deserved a whole lot worse (more painful) than he got.

Roze was a syco and deserves what she got.

It makes you wonder what you would do in Yelena's place.

Althena:
Where Roze just keeps going, and going, and going like a little Energizer bunny of evil.

Brilliant. :)