The Tyrant Wants to Be Good Review: I Hated Ethan Until He Became the Serpent Saint

⚠️ Major Spoiler Warning: This review talks about the full main story, Dorothy's relationships, Ethan's past, the ending, and the side stories.

The Tyrant Wants to Be Good Review

The Tyrant Wants to Be Good is a story I would simply call good. Not incredible, not unforgettable, and definitely not something that kept me excited every single chapter, but still a really enjoyable story with some great character moments. For me, it ends up at around a 7/10.

The basic idea immediately interested me. Dorothy lived her first life as a tyrant, destroyed the people around her, took the throne and eventually died hated by almost everyone. Then she gets another chance as a child and decides that this time she will simply try to be good.

What I liked most was that becoming “good” was not as simple as Dorothy suddenly becoming a completely different person. At first, she almost treated goodness like punishment. She believed she should never want the throne, never become greedy, never reach for Theon, and basically never desire anything for herself because she was terrified of becoming the same tyrant again.

Slowly, though, she starts understanding that being a good person does not mean making herself miserable.

She helps ordinary people during an epidemic, creates opportunities for disabled people after meeting Clara's brother, helps Poe build a life outside the palace, gives Raymond advice about problems in the empire, and eventually starts thinking about policies that could genuinely improve people's lives. By the time Dorothy becomes Empress, she is no longer chasing the throne because she needs proof that she matters. She becomes someone capable of ruling because she actually cares about the people underneath that throne.

That difference was probably my favorite part of Dorothy's development.

Maybe We Keep Chasing the Wrong Love

One idea kept coming back to me by the end of the story: maybe sometimes we keep chasing a love that was never truly ours while the person who really loves us has been beside us the entire time.

That basically describes both Dorothy and Theon.

Dorothy spent her first life desperately loving Theon. She wanted him to love her so badly that her jealousy, loneliness and ambition became mixed together until everything collapsed.

Meanwhile Ethan was right beside Dorothy.

Then in the second life, Theon genuinely develops feelings for Dorothy. Ironically, by the time Dorothy finally receives the love she wanted so desperately in her previous life, her heart has already started moving somewhere else.

The same thing happens to Theon in another way. Julia had always cared deeply about him, and the side stories finally allow him to recognize that. Seeing Theon and Julia eventually have their own family made me really happy because their ending did not feel like somebody simply receiving a consolation prize. It felt like Theon finally noticed a love that had been beside him too.

Ethan — From Silver-Tongued Serpent to Serpent Saint

This 🍩. 😭

Ethan was easily the character who played with my feelings the most.

For a huge part of the story, I genuinely did not like him. The author showed us memories of Ethan manipulating Dorothy in her previous life, feeding her ambition, pushing people away from her and constantly behaving like someone who had another plan behind everything he did.

So naturally, my reaction was basically:

🍩 Ethan. Silver-Tongued Serpent. 🐍

I was actually rooting for Dorothy and Theon because I thought Ethan was part of the reason Dorothy became a tyrant in the first place. I thought he was secretly controlling her from behind the scenes and guiding her toward destruction.

Then the story slowly turns everything upside down.

We learn that Ethan really was manipulative. His jealousy really did become poisonous. He saw that Dorothy's heart had no place for him, just as Theon's world had no place for Dorothy. Instead of accepting that, Ethan tried to break Dorothy's world until she would finally need him.

That was horrible.

But then he realized what he had done.

He loved Dorothy so much that his love became destructive, and when everything finally collapsed, Ethan was left with the realization that he had helped destroy the person he wanted more than anyone else.

Then comes the reveal that completely changed my opinion of him: Ethan was the one who turned back time to save Dorothy.

His chance at salvation was not used to make Dorothy love him. He did not ask for a world where she belonged to him.

He gave Dorothy another life.

That completely changed the meaning of his second-life character. Ethan was no longer trying to force himself into Dorothy's heart. He wanted her to become happy even if there was no place for him in that happiness.

His line wishing that Dorothy's heart would be filled with love instead of hatred really showed how much he had changed.

That was when our nickname changed too.

Silver-Tongued Serpent became Serpent Saint. 🐍🙏

The Beach Scene Became My Favorite Moment

My happiest moment in the story is actually something that looked completely different when it originally happened.

When Dorothy first met Ethan at the beach as children, it seemed like she had simply encountered this strange crying boy from her previous life. Only much later do we understand how emotional that meeting actually was.

Both of them were carrying memories of their ruined first life while believing the other person did not fully understand what had happened.

Ethan had literally returned to the past because he wanted Dorothy to live again. He was trying to reach her, and then Dorothy somehow appeared right in front of him.

When we eventually learned the truth, I immediately thought back to that beach scene.

It became one of those moments where the meaning completely changes after a reveal, and I loved that.

Dorothy Choosing Ethan Felt Earned

What made Dorothy and Ethan work for me was that current-life Dorothy eventually chose Ethan herself.

Past Ethan wanted to force himself into Dorothy's world.

Current Ethan learned that if Dorothy never chose him, he still wanted her to have a happy life.

And only after Ethan learned to let her go did Dorothy finally reach toward him.

Her telling Ethan that she wanted him to love her, asking him to remain beside her forever, their first real kiss, their secret dates disguised as music lessons, and eventually their marriage all felt much sweeter because of everything that came before.

Dorothy was no longer an unloved girl desperately grabbing onto somebody because she was afraid of being alone.

By then she already had Raymond, Stefan, Clara, Joey, Poe and so many other people who genuinely cared about her.

She had a life.

And she still chose Ethan.

That difference matters.

Raymond Was One of the Best Parts of the Story

Raymond might honestly have my favorite relationship with Dorothy outside the romance.

At first he was basically an annoying affectionate puppy who would never leave Dorothy alone. 😂

Then we learn why.

When they were tiny children, Raymond understood that their father would not properly love Dorothy after their mother's death, so he decided that he would love his little sister instead.

That made so many earlier scenes suddenly hurt.

In the first life, Dorothy saw Raymond as the favored child who had everything she wanted. In the second life, we slowly understand that Raymond genuinely loved his sister from the beginning.

Their relationship changing from jealousy and murder in the first timeline to trust in the second timeline was beautiful.

Ray supported Dorothy's ideas, did not care when her power surpassed his, helped create a path for her to inherit the throne, and eventually forgave Dorothy after learning that she had killed him in the previous life.

The throne once destroyed their relationship.

In this life, Raymond willingly trusted Dorothy with it.

That was a great reversal.

My only complaint?

WHERE IS THIS MAN'S FARMER WIFE?! 😭🌾

Everyone asks Raymond when he will get married and the guy keeps saying he wants a farmer wife. Then the story ends without actually giving us that romance.

Dorothy got Ethan.

Theon got Julia.

Stefan got Clara.

Raymond got...

crops.

Justice for our farming puppy. 😂

Stefan and Clara Were Wholesome From the Beginning

I also loved Stefan and Clara finally becoming a couple because I had that feeling about them almost from the moment young Dorothy moved to the Beachside Palace.

They became part of the little family Dorothy accidentally created there.

Stefan especially was one of my favorite supporting characters. He gave up opportunities because he wanted to protect Dorothy, taught her swordsmanship and, when Dorothy believed she might genuinely be an evil person, was the one who hugged her and told her that she was a good child.

In many ways, Stefan became the father Dorothy actually needed.

Then seeing him support Clara when she was struggling with her father's death, watching Joey take the Greenwall surname, seeing Stefan rise through the knights and eventually propose to Clara made their ending incredibly satisfying.

The Beachside Palace was originally somewhere Dorothy went because she wanted to stay away from everyone.

Instead, it became the place where she found a family.

Karnon Was a Father Who Realized Everything Too Late

Karnon frustrated me for most of this story.

After Dorothy's mother died giving birth to her, Karnon spent years treating Dorothy like she was responsible for that death. Dorothy grew up believing that her own existence was something terrible.

His realization later in the story was emotional, though.

He finally understands that Dorothy was not the child who killed her mother.

Dorothy was the child her mother died protecting.

That completely changes the way he sees her.

I actually felt bad for Karnon near the end because he finally understood how badly he had failed as a father. He starts asking Stefan what Dorothy likes and what makes her happy because he suddenly realizes that he barely knows his own daughter.

But he was still too late.

Dorothy had already grown up.

Stefan had already become the person who comforted her.

Raymond had already spent his life trying to give her the sibling love their father failed to provide.

Karnon's apology before his death was sad because Dorothy cried over something she had wanted since childhood: recognition from her father.

I don't think that erases what he did, but I was glad they received some closure before he died.

Poor Nereus Was Born to Lose

I almost feel bad for Nereus. 😂

Compared with characters like Ethan, Dorothy, Karnon and Theon, who all had complicated emotions and changing motivations, Nereus felt incredibly straightforward.

His entire existence sometimes felt like:

Make plan → annoy Dorothy → get beaten.

Then:

Make another plan → annoy Ethan → get beaten again.

Even when the story finally makes him a serious political and military threat, I never really saw him as this terrifying, memorable villain.

He felt like the story's designated punching bag.

By the end I was not even thinking, “I hate this guy.”

I was thinking:

“Bro, the author literally created you to get your ass kicked by the main cast.” 🥲😂

His war plans eventually created real stakes, but as an antagonist he was probably one of the weaker parts of the story for me.

The Story Was Good, But Sometimes Boring

This is probably the biggest reason I cannot give The Tyrant Wants to Be Good anything higher than a 7/10.

There are plenty of good moments, but there were also long stretches where I simply wasn't that excited to continue.

The politics were okay.

The war was okay.

The romance eventually became good.

The emotional family moments were probably stronger than the actual conflict.

But I rarely had that feeling of desperately needing to know what happened next.

That is a big difference compared with something like The Crimson Lady, which constantly made me suffer, question everything and immediately want another chapter.

The Tyrant Wants to Be Good is much calmer.

That is not necessarily bad, but for me personally it made parts of the story feel slow.

The Ending Gave Almost Everyone the Happiness They Deserved

I really liked that the ending did not stop immediately after Dorothy became Empress.

The side stories actually let us see everyone living in the world they fought to create.

Dorothy and Ethan marry and have children. Their son Hezen wants to become a good emperor because he wants to make his people smile even more, which is honestly a perfect next-generation continuation of Dorothy's redemption.

Theon and Julia eventually build their own family.

Stefan and Clara get their romance.

Joey becomes a knight.

Poe builds his own life.

Raymond becomes a peaceful farmer prince.

And seeing Hezen helping Theon and Julia's daughter with her spirit power immediately gave me a future romance vibe. 🤭🥰

I don't know if anything would ever come from it, but the children of Dorothy/Ethan and Theon/Julia potentially having their own little romance would be hilarious considering the absolute emotional disaster their parents' generation went through.

Their parents needed two lifetimes, murder, regression and an entire war to sort out their feelings.

Hopefully the kids can just go on a normal date. 😂

Final Thoughts — 7/10

The Tyrant Wants to Be Good is a good story.

I enjoyed it, but I wouldn't call it one of my unforgettable favorites. Some parts were slow and the main antagonist was not especially interesting, but Dorothy's redemption, her relationship with Raymond, the Beachside Palace family and especially Ethan's character completely carried the experience for me.

The author genuinely 🍩 me off with Ethan. 😂

For half the story I thought he was the 🍩 behind Dorothy's downfall. I was rooting for Theon. I thought I had correctly figured Ethan out.

Then the story basically looked at me and said:

“You judged the book by its cover.”

And yeah.

I did.

Ethan was not innocent. His jealousy and obsession caused terrible things in the first life. But his regret, his decision to give Dorothy another chance, and the way he learned to love her without trying to own her completely changed how I saw him.

I went from:

“🍩 Ethan, Silver-Tongued Serpent.”

to:

“Serpent Saint, please don't die. 😭”

That opinion change was probably the most memorable part of the entire story.

Maybe that is what The Tyrant Wants to Be Good ultimately means to me.

Sometimes we spend so much time chasing a love that was never really ours that we fail to notice the person who has always been beside us.

For Dorothy, that person was Ethan.

For Theon, maybe it was Julia.

And sometimes becoming a better person is not about pretending your past never happened.

It is about understanding what you did wrong, carrying that regret, and choosing something different when life gives you another chance.

My Rating: 7/10.

Good story. Good ending. Great family moments.

A little boring sometimes.

And somehow, against all expectations...

all hail Serpent Saint™. 🐍🙏❤️