At what point does fandom interpretation become “canon”?
I’ve noticed that discussions about Elain/Lucien vs Elriel often turn into people treating their personal interpretation as if it’s already canon, so I wanted to ask this from a narrative analysis perspective after a debate I had with an Elriel fan.
Some of the arguments used were things like:
> “Elain already made it clear she doesn’t want Lucien.”
> “Lucien is directly tied to her greatest trauma and Sarah would never romanticize that.”
> “Their bond exists to show a wrong mating bond and to criticize women being forced into relationships they don’t want.”
> “Everything related to Elain’s growth happens away from Lucien, and whenever he appears the narrative reinforces discomfort.”
> “If Sarah intended Elucien romantically, she would be betraying her own narrative.”
And I do understand where that interpretation comes from. Sarah absolutely writes about choice, autonomy, and women rejecting roles forced onto them.
But at the same time, I also think there’s a difference between “this is my interpretation of the narrative” and “this is objectively what the text confirms.”
Because from a structural storytelling perspective, Sarah still keeps the bond active and unresolved after multiple books. Lucien and Elain’s connection is still repeatedly brought back into the narrative instead of being fully closed off. And usually in long-form fantasy romance, unresolved tension/conflict still being narratively emphasized means there is still narrative purpose there, whether that leads to romance or to a final rejection.
So I’m curious how other readers interpret this:
- Do you think Sarah is building toward a complete rejection/deconstruction of the mating bond through Elain and Lucien?
- Or do you think the narrative is intentionally unresolved because their story still has development left?
- At what point does interpretation become people treating headcanon as confirmed canon?
- And do you think fandom discussions sometimes confuse “what the text currently shows” with “what readers personally want to happen”?
I’m genuinely curious about the storytelling side of this, not trying to start a ship war 😅