Some people have reacted to the trilogy “they never read” with extreme dislike.  I believe that for some of them, that reaction is caused by the way the trilogy presents the possibility that a person who has been abused and intimidated and persecuted might be spurred by fear to become exactly like the persecutor they hate the most.  That the victim can become the monster.

The major source of conflict between Kate and Daron stems from Daron’s belief that intimidation is the only way to achieve his goal.  He wants information, so he’s going to force Kate to tell him by using threats and fear and pain.  Their conflict cannot be resolved until they spend an hour sitting silently in the same room, neither trying to dominate nor intimidate the other. The story would have been much shorter if he’d just played nice to begin with. 

The problem with intimidation is that it creates fear. And fear causes a person to go to extremes in order to find a position of power that makes them feel safe.