Right from the beginning of the tale I was impressed and surprised by the multiplicity of both Ballister and Nimona. I am not used to villains having such complexity. Nimona was playful yet sinister, Ballister held a grudge yet didn't believe in murder. The plot was also unpredictable to me—I wasn't expecting Ballister to be able to become friends again with Ambrosius. I also wasn't expecting Nimona to be a liar to Balllister, their friendship seemed so airtight as soon as it formed. Different plot elements came as a shock to me; that Nimona turned out to be immortal, that she started to seem like she had been using Ballister the whole time, yet still wanted him to be King in replacement of the Institute. Still wondering how she came to survive the explosion of the jaderoot at the end.
There was a sense for me that Nimona never knew what she was, and she had spent her life being an outsider, which attracted her to the "bad guy" role, because society was against her regardless. She was impatient and reckless, yet so loving and supportive at the same time.
Ballister never wanted to be a "bad guy", but his role was created for him when the Institute kicked him out once he lost his arm. When it was revealed that the director planned for him to take the fall, giving Ambrosius the special joust weapon, he was vindicated for being against them the entire time.
I was also surprised that Ambrosius was so malleable, spending his life with Ballister as his arch nemesis, but wanting forgiveness all the while.
I love how nuanced each of these characters are, all fully three dimensional with pasts that show their arcs.
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