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What Happened Between Rhysand And Feyre Under The Mountain?

Feyre's deal with the High Lord remains so emotionally intense, but the Under the Mountain details feel hazy after finishing the series. Which moments actually changed their dynamic forever?
2026-04-16 22:53:54
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11 Answers

Best Answer
Wilson Lopez
Wilson Lopez
In ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ by Sarah J. Maas, Rhysand pretends to enslave Feyre under the mountain in order to protect her from Amarantha’s direct cruelty. He forces her into a bargain and makes her dance for him and serve him publicly, but behind closed doors he is using his power to shield her mind from the horrors that Amarantha subjected her to and keep her alive. This situation is a harsh, brutal performance of dominance to hide the real alliance between the two characters. It reminds me of the constant negotiations of ‘The Last Dragon’s Enslaved Lycan Mate’ where a captive werewolf and a dragon shifter lord engage in a public charisma of ownership and in private struggle to survive while every interaction between them holds lethal political consequences.
2026-08-01
Sophia
Sophia
The way Rhysand treats Feyre under the mountain in ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ by Sarah J. Maas is so complex and sort of moral gray area. At first you just think of Rhys as another cruel High Lord trying to get what he wants and make her life harder. He makes her drink wine, he paints her body and she’s all bare and locked up in Amarantha’s world. But Rhys also secretly tries to help Feyre in the trials. He helps her by slipping her clues, he shields her mind from Amarantha’s invasions. It’s all a bit twisted but you can see the deeper side of Rhysand in all his cruel actions.

I also have to give credit to Sarah J. Maas in how she wrote the tension between them. Every scene between them was so much tension and then trust. Especially in the final trial when Rhys kneels before Feyre and offers her a way out of all of it. I had no idea that he had been sacrificing his reputation the entire time to keep her alive. The tattoos and the bargains that they made were all a means to an end to try and outsmart Amarantha. It wasn’t romantic at that time. It was two people trying to carve out some light in a very dark time.
2026-04-18
Bennett
Bennett
Under the mountain, Rhysand and Feyre are engaged in a game of chess where the pieces are constantly in flux. On the surface, he’s the big, bad antagonist of the story, flaunting his power, forcing her to wear revealing attire, and publicly mortifying her. But, just as there are many layers to Amarantha’s court, there are numerous ways that Rhys is working to undermine her as well. He’s teaching Feyre to defend her mind against attackers, and their “punishments” are really just ways for him to teach her and help her grow, even when it looks like he’s being cruel. (Like when he forces her to take private dance lessons. Classic Rhys.)

This moment that I was thinking of was the pomegranate scene (where Rhys throw it to Feyre), and then later when he fixed her hand (despite it being really against his interest to do so). It really clicked with me that everything he was doing to ‘hurt’ Feyre was all carefully planned out to her benefit. Every horrible, mean, and emotionally-painful thing he did to her was a ruse. He’s playing the monster to keep her safe. It’s really, really messed up, but at the same time really brilliant and kind of sweet (in a twisted, two-predators sort of way).
2026-04-20
Ian
Ian
This entire under-the-mountain arc of the book is basically a twisted game of psychological warfare interspersed with some really unusual flirtation. Rhysand is a very theatrical person. He paints Feyre’s lips blue as one example of how he treats her as the court’s ‘entertainment’. He forces her to drink faerie wine in order to dull her to Amarantha’s torture. He invades her mind and teaches her how to defend herself mentally. His famous ‘bargain’ with Feyre to be her lover for two weeks of every month for the rest of her life is actually a clever loophole for their future together.

Maas presents Rhysand’s actions in such a way that you can’t help but question whether he is helping Feyre or manipulating her. The majority of their relationship is made up of ambiguous moments, and their dynamic is good just the way it is. But with the shattering of the Mountain, the act drops and Rhysand is relieved. He laughs at the simple relief of it all. Every terrible thing was worth it.
2026-04-20
Mhyles Eser
Mhyles Eser
It’s useful to map out these events in time order to see how they actually played out. First they met in the Calanmai scene in Book 1, which was sort of a mysterious, brief encounter with Rhys. Under the Mountain is their second encounter, long and grueling. Day 1: she arrives at his house. He feels the magical bond connect them almost immediately. Trial 1: she gets poisoned. Post-Trial 1: he makes a bargain to save her life. Following Weeks: he starts to act out ‘ownership’ of her in little ways – he brings her wine, dresses her up, follows her everywhere. Trial 2: she solves the riddle of the worm. He publicly kisses her in recognition of his claim to her. Trial 3: she solves the riddle of the mortal queens. Amarantha kills her. Rhys uses the same magical bargain that was made to save her life to bring her back. She kills Amarantha in the aftermath. In the end, the High Lords grant her incredible power, she returns to the Spring Court with Tamlin and Rhys lets her go. The relationship of these two characters goes from complete stranger to her saving his life in a magical way to public recognition of owner and pet to secret allies in a struggle against monsters to silent savior of the world and queen of spring, all within the space of a few weeks under extreme duress. The relationship was forged in that intense, high-pressure environment.
2026-07-30

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