History YMMV / TheLockedTomb

** Given the [[spoiler: long standing love Palamedes has for Dulcinea]], and Camilla being an UnluckyChildhoodFriend towards her necromancer, [[spoiler: and Dulcie herself viewing both of them as dear friends]], Palamedes/Camilla/Dulcinea is a very popular grouping in fan works.

** At first, Sister Glaurica's possessiveness and fussing over Ortus just seems like a ridiculously overprotective mother. Then you recall that almost all of the Ninth House's children are dead, and Ortus is one of two survivors. [[spoiler:And then you find out that the children were murdered, and Ortus was likely only spared so he could be Harrow's cavalier.]] Additionally, dialog in ''Harrow the Ninth'' seems to imply Glaurica was at least somewhat aware of the circumstances of her husband's death, [[spoiler:which was a suicide ordered by his necromancer.]] It's likely Glaurica saw history repeating itself when Harrow tried to order Ortus to follow her into a dangerous situation. It's likely Glaurica would have been right, too - [[spoiler:Harrow's brain re-write of ''Gideon the Ninth'' with Ortus as her cavalier casts him as "[dying] thinking it was the only gift he was capable of giving."]]

** At first, Sister Glaurica's possessiveness and fussing over Ortus just seems like a ridiculously overprotective mother. Then you recall that almost all of the Ninth House's children are dead, and Ortus is one of two survivors. [[spoiler:And then you find out that the children were murdered, and Ortus was likely only spared so he could be Harrow's cavalier.]] Additionally, dialog in ''Harrow the Ninth'' seems to imply Glaurica was at least somewhat aware of [[spoiler:the circumstances of her husband's death, which was a suicide ordered by his necromancer. It's likely Glaurica saw history repeating itself when Harrow tried to order Ortus to follow her into a dangerous situation. Glaurica would have been right, too - Harrow's brain re-write of ''Gideon the Ninth'' with Ortus as her cavalier features him willingly allowing her to kill and consume him to achieve Lyctorhood.]]

** At first, Sister Glaurica's possessiveness and fussing over Ortus just seems like a ridiculously overprotective mother. Then you recall that almost all of the Ninth House's children are dead, and Ortus is one of two survivors. [[spoiler:And then you find out that the children were murdered, and Ortus was likely only spared so he could be Harrow's cavalier.]]

* DracoInLeatherPants: In those exact words, the IntendedAudienceReaction for Ianthe, according to WordOfGod in her [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/i45jq6/im_tamsyn_muir_author_of_harrow_the_ninth_second/ AMA on Reddit]]. Ironically, many in the fandom defied this, fully embracing Ianthe's weird, creepy, and morally ambiguous qualities as their favorite parts of the character.

* MoralEventHorizon: Harrow's parents crossed this long ago [[spoiler:when they sacrificed 200 children, an entire generation of their House, in a ritual to ensure Harrow would be born a necromancer. Harrow says she's aware nothing she does can ever justify the crime of her existence. As far as her parents are concerned, Harrow herself crossed this by entering the Locked Tomb, so much so that they were DrivenToSuicide and fully expected her to hang herself too.]]
** [[spoiler: John let his friends murder their siblings/lovers/best friends, and in Anastasia's case did it himself and then [[{{Gaslighting}} gaslighted]] her into thinking it was her fault (when really she'd cracked the secret and was about to do the same thing he'd done), knowing ''full well'' that there's a way to achieve Lyctorhood without anyone having to die. And then he threw a ''second'' generation of people into that particular pit.]]
*** ''Nona the Ninth'' reveals he crossed this earlier, several times over: [[spoiler: John set off the nukes that destroyed Earth and, using necromancy, killed everything in the solar system in what was by his own admission a vain effort to punish the rich elites fleeing in the first FTL ship. This includes all his friends and supporters, who he not only brainwashed but also forcibly renamed when he resurrected them, and ''the earth itself'', who gave him the start of that power to begin with because of his desire to save the world, only for him to use it to kill everything and force her into an existence she couldn't bear.]]

* OneTrueThreesome: Given the [[spoiler: long standing love Palamedes has for Dulcinea]], and Camilla being an UnluckyChildhoodFriend towards her necromancer, [[spoiler: and Dulcie herself viewing both of them as dear friends]], Palamedes/Camilla/Dulcinea is a very popular grouping in fan works.

** As of their unsettling reunion in ''Nona the Ninth'', [[spoiler: readers came away with differing interpretations as to whether the Tridentarii's relationship is merely extremely unhealthy and codependent or outright [[Twincest]].]]

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: At the end of ''Harrow the Ninth'', [[spoiler:Gideon is disgusted by Ianthe's decision to save the Emperor and let Augustine die, commenting that it's just like Ianthe to make the worst possible choice. But considering that Augustine and Mercy made it clear that upon the Emperor's death, the Nine Houses would all die as well, it's possible that Ianthe simply took the only option she had to save the Empire.]]

** Charles Stross' review quote, shown on the cover of ''Gideon the Ninth'' of "Lesbian necromancers [...] InSpace" has gone on to become used to refer to the entire series laconically, both sincerely and ironically.

** ''Gideon the Ninth'' Chapter 31, aka "the pool scene", the pivotal moment where Gideon and Harrow finally reconcile, is ''the'' scene that people reference when discussing the series as a whole and the first book in particular.

* DracoInLeatherPants: In those exact words, the IntendedAudienceReaction for Ianthe, according to WordOfGod in her [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/i45jq6/im_tamsyn_muir_author_of_harrow_the_ninth_second/ AMA on Reddit]].