Keeping him hidden was certainly sparing him for a while, in many-many ways. Being free of the image and performance issues of being a Wulfenbch in public is certainly one of those ways...though a way more than compensated for by the obligation to hide who he was entirely once Gil was in on the secret.
I keep waiting for Gil and Tarvek to recognize just how profoundly alike they are, and what vital details differentiate between the two, in particular that Gil could for the most part assume Klaus was acting in Gil's best interests, though taking Europa's needs into account. Aaronev for whatever reasons appears to have been entirely dedicated to Lucrezia to the extent that Tarvek could not count on any protection if it conflicted with Aaronev's underlying obsessions. It's got to be deeply disturbing to know your parent really does tend to see you far more as a pawn in a complicated game than as beloved offspring.
Klaus is capable of similar thinking but does appear to have also conveyed real love to Gil, and vice versa. Tarvek, on the other hand, seems to have cared for Aaronev to at least a degree, but always with layers of knowledge that Aaronev could easily turn on him.
I liked how they handed the sequence of Aaronev trying to put Agatha in the chair in the novel. It was more clear that Tarvek was dealing with a powerful and entirely unreliable and violent mad man who happened to be Prince of the domain surrounded by his own men...placing the son in a very weak position, especially given that Tarvek's survival mode for years had been to pass as useless and helpless.
Re: Tarvek Detail
I keep waiting for Gil and Tarvek to recognize just how profoundly alike they are, and what vital details differentiate between the two, in particular that Gil could for the most part assume Klaus was acting in Gil's best interests, though taking Europa's needs into account. Aaronev for whatever reasons appears to have been entirely dedicated to Lucrezia to the extent that Tarvek could not count on any protection if it conflicted with Aaronev's underlying obsessions. It's got to be deeply disturbing to know your parent really does tend to see you far more as a pawn in a complicated game than as beloved offspring.
Klaus is capable of similar thinking but does appear to have also conveyed real love to Gil, and vice versa. Tarvek, on the other hand, seems to have cared for Aaronev to at least a degree, but always with layers of knowledge that Aaronev could easily turn on him.
I liked how they handed the sequence of Aaronev trying to put Agatha in the chair in the novel. It was more clear that Tarvek was dealing with a powerful and entirely unreliable and violent mad man who happened to be Prince of the domain surrounded by his own men...placing the son in a very weak position, especially given that Tarvek's survival mode for years had been to pass as useless and helpless.