I wonder if the Winged Lion ate Marcille’s hair (desires) in part to keep her dependent on him & more easily controlled.
I had already noticed that he has a tendency to frame her power in ways that keep her reliant on him. It’s a some classic manipulation bullshit - he appears helpful, but he is constantly pushing her towards isolation.
See, for example: offering at first to give her a full view of the dungeon to help her find Laios and the others, knowing its painful for her -
And then offering using monsters to search instead, which keeps her less aware of what’s actually happening
(This post by @mmikmmik has some GREAT insights into this particular moment as well, and is a large part of what has me thinking about the ways the Winged Lion manipulates Marcille in general.)
Or there’s also the way that he pushes HER to be the one to attack the Canaries, making her more explicitly their enemy and more directly responsible for their injuries…
Even though moments later he’s perfectly happy to deal with Mithrun himself, without Marcille’s guidance (he even hides the act from her).
All of these things keep her isolated, all of these things keep him in control.
But if the Winged Lion wants as much control over Marcille as possible, and wants her only to act through him and his powers, you know what else he probably wants to suppress? Her magic.
And what helps her keep in touch with her magic?
Her hair.
Think about it. Thistle was such a thorn in the Lion’s side in part because he was able to seal the Lion in those books and act independently. The last thing the Winged Lion wants is another mage getting out from under his thumb.
Plus, we already know the Lion can be tactical with how he consumes desires. We know because we just saw him eat Thistle’s desire to resist, only a few chapters before turning his charms on Marcille.
So, if he wants to make use of Marcille, wants to keep her under his control, and doesn’t want to show his hand - he can use a similar technique.
Something as small as eating her desire to take care of her hair wouldn’t be noticed right away, but it would keep her disconnected from herself. It would be another small step in undermining her ability to act - to keep her friends safe, to achieve her goals, to fix things - without him. To make her feel like the only way out was to obey.
