Lucinda comes back into Grimm Fairy Tales with very little interest in being grateful that the Dark One brought her back. She wants her proper form, she wants power, and she has…

Lucinda comes back into Grimm Fairy Tales with very little interest in being grateful that the Dark One brought her back. She wants her proper form, she wants power, and she has plenty to say about the way he's been running things without her. Her earlier life begins in Myst as a princess with parents who keep her tightly controlled. She starts learning dark magic from a servant. When her parents discover what's happening, they have the servant killed and try to put a stop to her studies. Lucinda keeps going. Eventually she has enough ability to briefly raise the servant and take that power for herself. Then she kills her parents and takes control of the kingdom. The restrictions on her life explain what she's rebelling against, but what she chooses to do with her freedom is already horrifying. The person who helped teach her becomes another source of power to consume. That history fits the Dark Queen who emerges around the Age of Darkness material. Fear is something she wants to cultivate. People being afraid of her serves her power, and it also gives her the kind of control she wants over them. A population terrified to resist is useful to someone who intends to rule through violence. Her relationship with Malec is important, but she has ambitions of her own. He has spent all this effort trying to restore her, expecting that her return will strengthen their position. She looks at his failures and sees a reason to take charge. They're connected by their relationship and their pursuit of power, but that doesn't make them equal partners who agree on everything. Even restoring her appearance involves more cruelty. Malec sacrifices followers as part of the ritual, and once she has the form she wants, Lucinda moves to assert control over the Horde. The people serving them can be treated as fuel just as readily as the people they're attacking. By the build-up to the war on Earth, her return has changed what the heroes are facing. The Horde already has soldiers and agents. Now it has a queen pushing those resources toward a larger campaign. Existing threats become pieces of something more coordinated. Her story also gives the restoration of a dead character a very unpleasant purpose. The people trying to bring her back know she is dangerous. That danger is part of what they want. There are efforts being made to stop the Horde while its own leadership is deliberately working to put someone worse back into action. Lucinda's impatience with Malec says a lot about that situation. He may have done the work to restore her, but she considers power something she should be exercising herself. The moment she can act on that, everyone around her has to deal with the result.