Safehold/YMMV

• Alas, Poor Villain: Hektor's death is surprisingly moving, as he's abruptly shot down along with his partly estranged son, and realizes that he's always loved him.
• Conflict Ball: One of the conflicts in By Schism Rent Asunder and By Heresies Distressed is the fact that Cayleb and Merlin can't tell Sharleyan anything about Merlin, because the Brotherhood is dragging its feet... ignoring the fact that they could easily have given her the "visions" story while leaving out the high-tech details. The inconsistency is highlighted by the fact that they bring Clareyk and Nahrmahn in on the "visions" on their own initiative in By Heresies Distressed.
  • Though in those cases Clareyk had already begun to suspect something was up so they needed to satisfy him; while Nahrman was told about "visions" because they needed informed advice right then. Further, he was given the "vision" story immediately before the visit where Sharleyan was told everything. Still, not bringing in Sharleyan even on the "visions" is still a conflict ball, only justifiable by the fact Merlin wasn't even there for very long before they headed to Corisande, rendering visions specific to Merlin a moot point.
• Magnificent Bastard: Subverted; Kahlvyn, Duke of Tirian shows every sign of being one, but is then killed off very quickly.
• Moral Event Horizon: The Ferayd Massacre and (in the eyes of Church Loyalists) the Charisian response to it.
  • Clyntahn's treatment of anyone even remotely associated with the Wylsynns is this for Duchairn, who comes to view voting for the invasion of Charis as his own.
  • It takes a lot to turn a declaration of Holy War into an afterthought. Clyntahn pulls it off.
    • How Firm A Foundation also shows that this has become an In-Universe Moral Event Horizon, as it cements Clyntahn's status as a complete monster to anyone who isn't plain ignorant or as fanatical as Clyntahn himself.
• Protection From Editors: The books are quite long and could use a little tightening. One example would be the jargon-laden, plodding opening chapter of How Firm A Foundation which is about a ship getting fighting to avoid running aground in a storm; it really contributes nothing to the plot, though it revisits two minor side characters and shows off Weber's knowledge of sailing.
  • The later books also show spelling errors, characters called by one name when the narrative clearly means another, and even a changing in the name of Hektor Aplyn-Ahrmahk's duchy from Darcos to Darcos Sound.
• Recycled Script: The overall premise of the series (Musket-era Feudal Future, Path of Inspiration repressing technology, etc.) was previously used as one major plot-thread of the third book of Empire From the Ashes, and the concept of a race of genocidal aliens intent on wiping out all other sentient life was first used in the series as a whole.
  • Shades of this same concept are seen in the war between Grayson and Masada (Space Amish religious fanatics whose war went nuclear). Humanity's Space Navy, seen briefly in the Safehold series, strongly resembles the navies of the Honorverse. The tossed salad genetics and wildly diverse names were also seen in Honor's world. Indeed, it seems almost every idea hatched in the Safehold universe was incubated in one of his other series. Not that that's a bad thing.
• War Ship: Cayleb & Sharleyan, given they started out as (albeit reluctant) enemies.