originalturtletriumph

[originalturtletriumph]

Xaden's last name always sounds like "Ryerson" in my head and reminds me of Ned Ryerson (the weird insurance guy) in Groundhog Day.

[originalturtletriumph]

The Empyrean: Questions, Thoughts, Theories

(This is an attempt to organize the approximately 1 million questions/theories/thoughts I have about this series after reading FW and IF once. I will start with what I think are the basics and fundamentals, and then post updates. I definitely need to read the books a second time to refresh my memory before OS comes out and to edit and add on to my questions and thoughts. I am sure there are plenty of things I have overlooked.)

(As I am writing this I am wondering if I am over-interpreting the series. Is it just wishful thinking on my part that I will get all the answers I want by the end of book 5, and that RY thought this through as thoroughly as I hope she has? What can I say, I am optimistic by nature and hope the fantasy part of the series is as solid and logical as it should be)

Part 1: Basics and Fundamentals

Two basic topics of the series are a) the power of the written word, and b) the price of magic

The chosen format of the book: It seems we are reading Violet's journals/diaries (that the presumably wrote in Old Luceran) and translated (into the common language) by Jesinia. This leads to several questions: how much of what we are reading is actually true? How much did get lost in translation - accidentally or left out on purpose? Was anything altered or added in translation? Why is Jesinia translating and not Violet herself?

The book format also (potentially) excuses a lot of flaws. Any plot hole can be explained by the journal writer or translator making an accidental or intentional mistake. The writing style is not that of a professional author but that of dragon rider in training (even though trained as a scribe, that does not necessarily imply adeptness at story writing). A diary/journal might just be hastily jotted down at the end of the day whenever the writer finds a few quiet minutes. There is no editing expectation for a diary either.

BWC setup: from the first time the parapet and generally high death toll, especially in the riders quadrant, is mentioned, most readers (I assume) choke on this and question the military wisdom behind killing soldiers off before training them. So why kill all those young people at BWC? I think it might have to do with the price of magic, and those deaths are sacrifices in order to be able to maintain the wards. We are not explicitly told this but it seems to me that ward maintenance must require a lot of magic. The alloy for this is imbued at BWC, I think. Those imbuing channel magic through their dragons, but where do the dragons source their magic? So maybe the magic/life energy of those who die at BWC somehow either goes directly back to the earth or is somehow channeled to be used for the wards.

Which leads to another basic question: instead of hiding behind the wards with all those (potential and actual) sacrifices it requires, wouldn't it have been better from the beginning for all the kingdoms and provinces (including Poromiel) to collaborate on research and defense to find a way to keep the venin in check, to kill them if necessary, to try to find a cure/reversal, to support those who are considered potential venin-converts? Even if it was thought the venin had been defeated, as soon as it was known that they were not, this collaboration could have been established.

The dragons: It is seems clearly indicated that the dragons have their own agenda and keep a lot (e.g. knowledge) hidden from the humans. Why are dragons (and gryphons) bonding with humans in the first place? What do they get out of it?

The magic system: I want to know how this started in the first place. There is this tale about three brothers, two of which somehow found a way to channel magic through dragons and gryphons, respectively. Were those species always magic and somehow the brothers found a way of using it? or did those brothers actually come up with a way of turning those species into magic channellors? But given the reluctance of dragons to bond and share there magic with humans, this seems a flawed idea as well. We know even less about the attitude of gryphons. And then we have the third brother who found a way to directly extract magic from the earth but for the price of damaging his soul. Does channelling magic corrupt dragons and gryphons as well? Could a human avoid turning venin if they did not use the magic they extracted but passed it on to some else? Is it important for what reason someone extract magic from the earth (e.g. out of jealousy or to become powerful or other selfish reasons vs. saving others or altruism?). How would the brothers have known that magic existed? And how did they find a way to channel it and how did they know that was the way to avoid corruption? And how to just extract magic from the earth? You just put your hand down use your willpower to take what you want? Or do you also have to have the mindset to be willing to pay any price? What happened after the brothers had managed to get magic in their different ways? How much of that tale is even true? Did all three get their magic around the same time?

Runes and ward stones: Who discovered/invented runes? Who carved the ward stones and how did they know what to put on them? How long did that take? Were both wardstones that we know of carved at the same time? Why was the one in Aretia never used? Why is it different from the one at BWC? Why are runes not taught at BWC (because they would help keep people alive?)? Can only riders, fliers, and venin make them? How do the venin know how to make them?

The first six / the gods: What are the names of the first six? How many gods are there? Are the three brothers actually some of the gods or rather, did legend turn them into a religious system? What about the first six? Have they been absorbed into that system as well? is it purely believe or, because magic exists, is there actually something real behind the gods and beliefs in Navarre? Does Poromiel have a religious system? What is the history and origin of the fliers?

The revolution: I think it was said that the government had known about the rebuilding of Aretia (and I assume the revolution as well). I presume someone from inside the revolution is collaborating or passing on information to the government (I mean, there usually is...). As to who, I am not sure. We are not sure what the exact goal of the revoluion is. Turn over the government, make the existence of venin public, and then what? Finally get everyone on board to find a better solution to deal with venin? What do the last words ("you are all cowards" or sth. like that) of Fen Riorson refer to? The fact that the government is hiding behind the wards instead of "really" dealing with the venin? This is getting a bit away from basics, but one idea I had was the Bodhi would make a good candiate to a be government spy. He seems to be the kind of person that Xaden might implicitely trust (has he ever tried to read Bodhi's mind?), it is not clear if he could read Bodhi's intentions because of what the latter's signet is, and I think there is a chance that Bodhi might be jealous of Xaden. Along those lines, I think it very unlikely that Violet is the only one who figured out that Xaden has a second signet and what it is. It does seem unlikely that the higher ups would wrongly assume that Sgaeyl had bonded with Xaden's great uncle without looking into it. This is a prominent (noble) family from Tyrrendor, it should be easy to check the family tree of either of Xaden's parents (I think we are not explicitly told which of Xaden's grandfathers was bonded to Sgaeyl). Given how important signets are to the defense of Navarre, the command would want to know what signets are at their disposal (of course there is always the option of manipulating family trees). Bodhi is the most likely person to know that Sgaeyl's last rider was Xaden's grandfather (and maybe his own), which means he would know that there had to be a second signet (and why would he not ask his cousin about it?) After all, the impact of a dragon bonding someone in the same family does not seem to be a secret. Just throwing that out there because I think that would be an interesting twist to the story.

Jack Barlowe & venin: How did he know about venin and becoming one? Is he from Tyrrendor (the only place we are told that people actually know about venin)? Was he approached by someone b/c his personality seems to check all the marks for someone who would turn? We are told that different regions have different folklore. How many of those have venin as part of their folklore? Have they similar concept but with different names? Which folklore is the Violet's book from and how did her father get it?

(Okay, that is it for a start. I have ton more that I want to add later.)