Y’all are too hard on Éowyn for marrying Faramir as if having a husband will somehow strip her of her individuality.
Have y’all MET Faramir? This is NOT a guy who saw the attractive Princess of Rohan from afar and was like “I want her to be my ball and chain.”
This is the guy who fell in love with her while she was at her lowest, physically and mentally. He fell in love with her when she was beaten, exhausted, weary, wounded, grieving, and depressed. He fell in love with her when he found out what she did on that battlefield. He fell in love with a kindred spirit, the only person who could truly understand him and his own sufferings. He saw her for exactly who she was - someone strong and brave and bold and unconventional and independent - and that is what he loves about her. When he says “you are beautiful,” he is speaking to her soul too, and not just her face.
As her husband, he will only dote on her and seek her opinions on everything. He already treats her as an equal and cultivates her true self; who says he’ll suddenly stop doing that when they’re married? He would rather die than suppress or hold back the powerful mind and spirit that he fell in love with in the Houses of Healing!
If he was like most other men, would she have married him? Heck no! She has standards, and he meets them.
She married the only guy who would ever let her be herself. This girl got it right. She did not settle, and her being with him does not take anything away from her.
The healer spends hours healing everyone but themselves. Caring for the sick, stitching wounds, setting bones, pushing dislocated limbs back into place. Wearing themselves to exhaustion.
The knight gently tends to the healer. Holds them in a hot bath, rubbing the soreness from their muscles under the warm water. Applies balm to their chapped fingers. Brings them tea and tucks them into bed before climbing in beside them.
The knight defends everyone. Fights off the enemy with a sword and a shield, takes the blows intended for someone else, holds the line until help arrives, fights through any and all injuries they need to in order to defend those under their protection.
The healer defends the knight when they’re down for the count. When the knight collapses, the healer takes up their sword and defends them until they get back to their feet. If someone dares to say anything against their knight they get in their faces and the healers words are sharp and cold as any blade, cutting deep into their opponent.