Tear Jerker / Last Herald-Mage Trilogy

• The treatment of Vanyel by his father and Jarvis at the very beginning.
• The second half of Magic's Pawn. Tylendel fails to shake off his investment in Frelennye family politics, making a lot of Character Development All for Nothing; he crosses a line and uses black magic when his twin is killed; his brave and playful Companion renounces him and dies before his eyes; with nothing left to live for, he takes his own life. Vanyel, crippled emotionally and psychically, very nearly follows him despite being Chosen and has a long road to walk before he even begins to put himself back together — and he never entirely recovers, not even when Stefen comes into his life.
• In order to keep his father from realizing the truth about him and Tylendel, Van acts like a homophobic bigot, going so far as to attack Tylendel for being gay. Unsurprisingly, everyone not in on the ruse (especially the other students and teachers at the Collegium) hates Van for it. When Tylendel dies and Vanyel is Chosen, people who normally would have been supportive wish Van had died instead, and he can't help but hear everything they're thinking.
• The verbal beatdown that Withen gets from Vanyel, Savil, and Lissa in Magic's Pawn is more tragic than awesome. Even though Withen had it long and coming, the encounter only leaves everyone involved emotionally raw and it exposes how utterly broken Vanyel’s relationship is with his father. It would take almost twenty years for Vanyel and Withen to reconcile once and for all.
• During Magic's Promise, Vanyel's coming off a full year on the front lines (replacing several Heralds at once), as well as several years of unofficially being the King's own Herald (one of the most stressful jobs in the entire circle), and the loss of two of his best friends. Not to mention he's hit with the implications of increasingly alienated from most of the people around him (including other Heralds)due to his God-like reputation. During the few scenes where Vanyel's left alone by the plot for long enough for this to all come crashing down on him, his utter exhaustion, depression, and probable PTSD are both palpable and heartbreaking.
• Magic's Price: the death of Savil, the aftermath of Vanyel's gang rape and Roaring Rampage of Revenge and finally his death.

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