History YMMV / AlexVerus

* LampshadeHanging: In ''Fated'', after Alex ''finally'' figures out that the red cube Luna showed him is the key to opening the Fateweaver's Tomb, he actually pauses in his narration to address the reader and tell them that in the heat of the moment it wasn't as clear as it probably was to the reader.
** In ''Risen'', Yun Je-yeong wonders why exactly so many powerful people (Sagash, Jagadev, Crystal, Morden, Richard and the Crusaders) are so obsessed with Anne, who is, on the face of it, just a life mage.

* TheUntwist: The red cube is the key to the Fateweaver's Tomb in ''Fated''. See LampshadeHanging.

* TheUntwist: The {{Foreshadowing}} for [[spoiler:Rachel having Harvested Shireen]] was just a bit too obvious in ''Cursed''. Readers who already figured it out were a little bored with the "big reveal" in ''Chosen''.

** And why exactly did Crystal take up with [[spoiler:Richard]] in ''Fallen''? Last we checked, she wanted nothing more than kill Anne and drain her to make herself immortal, so why did she decide to work with the one person who absolutely, positively could not afford to let any harm come to Anne?

** Richard, once we find out the extent of his plans for Anne in ''Risen''. [[spoiler:He wanted to use his Dreamstone to force the Marid Sultan inside Anne to summon hundreds of Jinn and have them take possession of all his enemies, thus not only eradicating all opposition in one fell swoop but also creating an entire army of mind-controlled super-powered Jinn Mages to wage war with. And even after all the devastation the Marid Sultan caused the first time, Richard only considered that a temporary setback and fully intended to try again once he found a new host for it.]]

** Almost more satisfying, Alex arranging for [[spoiler:Nimbus' death]] in ''Risen''. The man had been one of the most effective HateSinks since the first time he opened his mouth in that book.

** Every. Single. Thing about White Rose. [[spoiler: Caldera describes it as a brothel for mages who want things they can't get anywhere else. Some of it is what you'd expect, children and such which is horrible enough, but what is arguably even more horrific is what only they can offer; if a client wants a particular woman, i.e a pop star that they are attracted to, the "Fleshcrafters" at White Rose will use magic to alter a slave into a physical copy of the woman in question, and then the Mind Mages will break her mind and reshape it until she believes that she IS that woman and as a bonus they'll make her completely into that client's particular fetishes.]]
*** When Alex and Slate [[spoiler: enter one room inside White Rose while looking for Vihaela they find themselves in what looks like a little girl's room; pink, filled with stuffed animals and toys, and a nine year old girl in a nightgown with completely dead eyes who asks "Are you my daddy?" Alex notes that her futures are as solid as a construct's; she has had her free will abused out of her and is incapable of doing anything but reacting to what they tell her to do.]] Slate himself, a battle-hardened Death Mage and Keeper, is so horrified that Alex has to snap him out of staring mutely.
*** [[spoiler:Alternatively, the little girl was just in the middle of being re-programmed into someone's personal slave and answering yes to her question would have made her their slave.]] Pick your poison as to which one is worse.

** In ''Fallen'', Alex [[spoiler:finally takes the Fateweaver for himself]]. Given that this was built up since ''Bound'', not really surprising either.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Some people have this reaction to the series, citing that the Light side, the supposed good guys of the setting are composed predominantly of mages who are petty, corrupt and hardly seem to care about anything that doesn't directly affect them. The Senior Council itself has virtually no checks on its power and can do just about anything they want, up to and including sentencing Verus to death on trumped-up charges. Then there's the treatment of Verus himself; he gets put through the ringer in every book and, though he usually wins in the end, his victories ultimately don't count for much in the big picture. It also doesn't matter how hard he tries to prove himself, the vast majority of the Light side view him at best with suspicion or outright hostility for his previous association with Dark Mages. In fact, many high-ranking Light Mages go out of their way to make life hell for Verus and a number of "friends" that he makes on that side end up turning on him because apparently following the orders of the Council trumps any sense of camaraderie they have with him, even when it's painfully obvious that those orders are the result of personal vendettas with absolutely no reasons behind them. And when he rightly objects, they act like ''he's'' the one being unreasonable.
** Though to be fair, Alex says from the start that LightIsNotGood so seeing the light council as "supposed good guys" is missing the story's point a bit.

* BadassDecay: Onyx starts out as one of the most legitimately scary characters Alex has to face. In his first major battle we see him tear through an entire squad of allegedly battle-hardened Light mages after breaking through a gate ward, which Alex even in later books describes as being really hard to do. In ''Taken'', Alex holding Onyx off for a few minutes is shown as a major accomplishment. By ''Marked'', Alex fending Onyx off is the least impressive thing he does all book long. Culminates in ''Fallen'', where [[spoiler:Alex takes the Fateweaver and kills Onyx.]]

* {{Anvilicious}}: There was a subtle but definite message in the books about demagogues (Richard/Morden) using legitimate grievances with the establishment (the Light Council) to rally disenfranchised people (Adepts) to fight against their own best interests, but by the start of ''Fallen'', the previously subtle message is just spelled out when Alex is describing his work to Anne's [[{{Muggles}} adopted family]].

** Also the reveal of Archon's identity in ''Bound''. [[spoiler:It was Richard all along]].

** [[EvilSorcerer Vitus Aubuchon]], an [[EvilOldFolks old mage]] and the heir of the Aubuchon family, has survived centuries by using dark magic to [[ImmortalityImmorality harvest the blood of victims to preserve his own life]]. Vitus has preyed [[WouldHurtAChild primarily on children]], abducting them into his ancestral home and [[SlashedThroat cutting their throats]] to get to their blood before storing their bones like trophies. In the present, Vitus has realized the magic is no longer working for him as it once did, and instead switches to abducting magic apprentices for their blood with one such disappearance prompting the attention of Alex and his friends. When they make their way into Vitus's home, Vitus promptly attempts to slaughter everyone inside.

*** If anything, White Rose was holding her back. In ''Bound'', we get to see how she acts on her own time. The way she describes what she does and how casually she does it is utterly chilling.

* FridgeBrilliance: Rachel's mage name is Deleo, which can be considered as Latin for "I delete", referring either to her disintegration spells or to the fact that she wants to erase her past and all the bad things she's done.