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Conspiracy of Magic

We all know from CotTG that the fairfolk were created to keep the balance between the void and the source, but what if neutrality wasn’t always the way they did it?

Camelot was an early fairfolk kingdom, Arthur’s son Tedros attended the School for Good and Evil which was an early way of keeping the balance between light and dark.

At the same time the Schools were in effect, another school run by human royalty and fairytale characters (both magical, Fairfolk, and human) was teaching young princesses and princes to fight dragons and witches. (Although the witches they were fighting were more likely revenants) This school was called Pennyroyal Academy and they were unknowingly producing dragon tamers out of mortals.

The Brothers Grimm wrote about these famous characters from both schools and then realized that the “everafters” were dying out. Because of this they brought most of them to a colony in America now known as Ferryport Landing. This was the first magical preserve, although it is kept in function by a curse rather than treaty, and hosts both mortal fairytale characters and magical creatures.

Other schools with smaller student bodies were founded to protect what was left behind of the fairytales and any other person with magical abilities. The most famous being Hogwarts. The student bodies and surrounding communities of these are fairly small and very secretive though. These schools are another form of magical sanctuary.

After the dragon and demon wars the remaining magical beings were herded into sanctuary’s like wyrmroost and Fablehaven.

Many other classes of Magic can fit into this world and history as well, such as the wizard of oz, Brandon Mull’s other series’s 5 kingdoms and Beyonders as pocket dimensions just like the fairy realm. Other creatures as well such as the bone criers and fae.

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In Master of the Phantom Isle, Knox asked Kendra if their Grandparents had really been doing caretaker things when they were dead, he said that they said that they were put in the witness protection program because of government work. I think that this probably means that they used the same excuse for Kendra being dead.

So I’m trying to make a post compiling all of the plot holes and/or lore inconsistencies in Fablehaven and Dragonwatch so I was wondering if you guys would be willing to share some of the inconsistencies you’ve noticed since I’m definitely missing things. 

Here’s what I have so far:

1. Kendra’s relatives being perfectly okay with her being alive even though she’s legally dead. (Even if they didn’t attend the funeral, they must’ve heard about her literally dying)

2. On a similar note, Scott and Marla’s disappearance after they were kidnapped by the Society was never addressed. I get there are a bunch of different ways they could’ve explained them being missing (ex: they were taking time off to grieve) but it would’ve been nice if it was at least mentioned.

3. Seth being effected by dragon fear. Seth, being a shadow charmer, is immune to all magical fear and that includes dragon fear. Instead, he’s affected by the mesmerization. In contrast, Kendra isn’t affected by the mesmerization and is instead paralyzed by the fear. That’s why they were sent to Wyrmroost in the first place. But for some reason in Dragonwatch 2, Seth suddenly was affected by dragon fear but somehow became immune to the mind-distractor. 

To be fair, there is this reddit post that provides a potential explanation for Seth’s sudden immunity switch, but the main thing that bothers me is that no one finds it weird that Seth is affected by dragon fear even though fear immunity was one of the first signs of his powers.

4. In Champion of the Titan Games, Humbuggle tells Seth that being a demon isn’t a birth thing and instead, people choose to become demons.

Dragonwatch: Champion of the Titan Games, Chapter 42: Treasury, pg. 511

…being a demon is not a natural heritage. No one is born a demon.

They must be trained. They can choose to become demons. But not one demon started out the way they ended up. They grow monstrous over time. Any thinking being can qualify. It’s why there is so much variety among demonkind. 

This brings us to the topic of Navarog. A dragon considered an “honorary demon”. But if being a demon is a choice and not a birth thing, why is Navarog only honorary demon and not a full fledged one. Although, maybe it’s because Navarog never officially “choose” to become a demon. It’s still interesting either way.

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Like I said, there’s definitely more plot holes so feel free to share more you’ve though of. 

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In an interview Brandon said that the purpose of Knox and Tess was to bring back the wonder that the first series had, I don’t think they did a great job but I did love seeing how Kendra reacted to having them around and stepping into a larger leadership role heading the group in Champion of the Titan Games, but I agree that they could have been written better or cut out all together, or at least not be involved in the more serious situations.

Knox & Tess Larsen: An Analysis of Their Role in the Story

So I was re-reading Dragonwatch and thinking about Tess & Knox’s role in the plot. From what I remember seeing, it was mentioned somewhere that their purpose is to “reflect what Kendra and Seth were like when they were younger” and “serve as a reminder that you can never fully cut ties to your past” (or something like that). 

So here’s the glaring problem: they don’t fulfill these goals at all.

Let’s take a closer look at how they fail (and possible ways they could’ve done better):

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1. “They are a reflection of what Seth and Kendra were like when they were younger.”

So, reading this, anyone who’s been reading Fablehaven/Dragonwatch for a while knows this isn’t very accurate. But fine, let’s examine both pairs of siblings and see how well they compare.

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Let’s start with Knox. It’s well known that Knox isn’t a very well-liked character among the fandom. In contrast, we have Seth who is a fan-favorite. It’s true Knox and Seth share/shared a similar impulsivity and pride, especially when it comes to Book 1 Seth. But the issue here is that Seth shows redeeming qualities and he learns from his actions. Knox doesn’t.

Or at least, not very obviously. 

Here’s where I get into more controversial territory. I would say that Knox actually does have some positive qualities: he’s a logical thinker and quite creative (as shown when he was facing off against Remulon and when he was grabbing the Giant Queen’s crown), he’s brave (sort of), and he cares about his family.

Knox does have his good qualities (although very few and far between) but the problem is with how they’re shown.

Whenever Knox does something brave or redeeming, it’s instantly overshadowed, either by more important plot events or his excessive bragging (*cough* Remulon *cough). 

Knox’s better qualities are also almost exclusively shown in late Book 3 and 4: aka, when everyone’s already formed an opinion about him as the annoying, proud, side character who takes up to much screen (or is it page?) time. 

I think if we got to see his more positive qualities earlier on in the series and they toned down his pride a little, he might’ve actually been an interesting reflection of younger Seth. 

But of course, that didn’t happen, so Knox gets a fail on this point. 

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So now it’s Tess’ turn. I don’t really have much to say on her since she’s not as complicated as Knox, but it’s clear that she’s not a very good representation of young Kendra. 

She’s not a bad character, but she doesn’t really effect much in the plot, nor does she fulfill her “purpose” so fail for her. 

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2.  “They serve as a reminder that you can never fully cut ties to your past”

Like before, I don’t have much to say on this point. I don’t think there’s anything about Knox and Tess that really “reminds Seth and Kendra of their past” other than their existence, which is pretty sad. They don’t even interact with Seth and Kendra that much.

Perhaps this goal could’ve been achieved if there were more scenes with the four of them interacting with each other to explore their dynamics. Maybe even some flashback scenes about their memories together. 

But again, that didn’t happen, so another fail.

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I think that serves as evidence that Knox and Tess don’t really effect the plot that much and adding to the fact the most of the fandom either hates or doesn’t care about them makes them pretty weak characters. 

Apparently they’re getting a bigger role in Dragonwatch 5, which I expect will either improve/build-off their characters and make them somewhat likeable or make them even more annoying. 

Probably the latter, but we can at least hope.

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(This was my first analysis related to Fablehaven/Dragonwatch, so if I got anything wrong, please let me know!)

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Fablehaven Headcannons:

Recently I’ve reread the available Fablehaven and Dragonwatch books by Brandon Mull and these are some headcannons and thoughts I’ve had while reading.

-Kendra was also put in the witness protection program with the Larsen’s and faked her death (or at least that’s how they explained her return to life)

-The cat that was imprisoned near Bracken in the Phantom Isle is the Sphinxes guardian shapeshifter.

-Comfirmed that if the connection between the unicorn and horns are destroyed, the unicorn will fall to mortality. I think Bracken will either loose his horns in some way in Dragonwatch 5 and become mortal, or Kendra will take the Sphinxes place as an eternal.

-Dromadus foreshadows either Bracken or Kendra changing their nature to be together by saying that without becoming like the other, all relationships between different species are doomed.