Upthread I speculated as to whether perhaps Donaldson had designed Esmer - a character who is able to undermine Linden Avery's powers - as a contrast to Linden based on his inability to overcome the legacy of his parents.
I just found this passage in RotE, during Linden's 2nd encounter with Esmer, inside a Ramen shelter as Stave lays close to death.
So, Donaldson does draw the parallel between their respective responses to their heritage, which one would expect him to do at some point... the thought stung her. He may have told her the exact truth. Perhaps his heritage rode and ruled him with such cruelty that he had no choice but to act on his mother's hatred for his father.
The idea shocked her to silence. She was intimately familiar with such legacies; her father had locked her in an attic with him so that she would be forced to watch him kill himself. And her mother ... No one, she wanted to insist, makes you what you are. You have to choose. She believed that. Nevertheless his mere proximity nauseated her. In his case, she might be wrong.
But I also found interest in his use of the word 'choose' - the Chosen makes bold choices throughout the LC, where Esmer is unable to commit his aid/betrayal full to either Linden or his Grandsire.
It underscores to me that Esmer's negative effect on Linden's ability to wield power is much a moral assault as it is a clash of theurgy.
The very fact that he is a slave to the legacy of those who sired him, and that all his choices are compromised, undermines Linden's certitude, which further erodes her access to her power, her ability to give agency to her choices.