#empyrean theory

[sexypantsriorson-na]

VIOLET IS SCARED OF THE DARK! BUT WHY? WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

🚨 Spoilers for Fourth Wing and Iron Flame Below 🚨

When reading Fourth Wing one of the many times I've read it I noticed that Violet seemed scared of the dark on several occasions. However, the newest Xaden POV bonus chapter (Ch 27) solidified my crack theory that may mean nothing at all even further.

Fourth Wing:

⚡️Chapter 1: "The Captain nods and points to the open door into the turret. It looks ominously dark in there, and I fight the urge to run like hell."

-> This is the weakest evidence but I wanted to include it. Even though the majority of the fear probably stems from having to cross the parapet and going into the riders quadrant I can't help but notice how the darkness of the turret is pointed out in relation to her wanting to run away.

⚡️Chapter 19: "'Hope you're not afraid of the dark.' He pulls me inside, and suffocating darkness envelopes us as the door closes. This is fine. This is absolutely fine. 'But just incase you are,' Xaden says, his voice at full volume as he snaps. A mage light hovers above our head, Illuminating our surroundings. 'Thanks'"

-> side note: as Nicole from FFG would say ITALICS! Is this a Xaden intinsic moment or is this similar to Ch 27 where he senses her fear down their bond?

⚡️Chapter 27 from Violet's POV: "Xaden lifts a hand a few inches above the table, and shadows pour from underneath our seats, filling the room and turning it dark as midnight in a blink. My heart jumps as my sight goes black."

⚡️Chapter 27 from Xaden's POV: "I lift my palms just enough to clear the table and summon the cooling darkness of the shadows. They stream out from under the table and blanket the room in less than a heartbeat, devouring all traces of light. Panic skitters down the silver bond."

Iron Flame:

⚡️Chapter 36: "He steps forward, raises his arms, and shadows rush in from the wall at our backs, engulfing the formation - and us - in complete darkness. Theres a glimmer of a caress across my cheek, right where it's split to what feels like the bone, and more than one cadet screams."

-> The structure of the first sentence, the emphasis on 'and us' is what clued me into the fear in this chapter. And once again Xaden, who is also the source of the darkness, uses the shadows to comfort her. Based on Ch 19 and Ch 27 of Fourth Wing he likely knows she's scared of the dark at this point.

Noooowwwwww - What does all this mean? Well.... I have no idea!

As mentioned before it might mean nothing at all. Rebecca might have just thrown it in there as a quirky personality trait of Violet's. I personally just don't think that's the case.

According to a study done by John Mayer (the clinical psychologist, not the singer) only 11% of adults in the US are scared of the dark. So, its not that common of a fear. Also the amount of times it's brought up throughout the two books we've had so far makes me think it might be significant.

On July 8th Rebecca Yarros and Red Tower Books released a joint Instagram reel with a small video showing the cover of Onyx Storm for the first time. The caption has the tag line "Are you ready to BRAVE THE DARK?" written just like that with 'brave the dark' in all caps. 'Brave the Dark' is also written on the cover of the book in the same way 'Fly or Die' and 'Burn it Down' was used as a tag line of FW and IF respectively. This is another one of the most prominent reasons I think that these allusions to Violets fear of the dark are more than just a basic character trait. In each of the scenes mentioned (with the exception of chapter 1) Xaden comforts Violet in the darkness. Furthermore, if you search 'dark' in the FW ebook there are over 80 occurrences of the word and almost all of them are in relation to Xaden (I couldn't search IF because I don't have the ebook). We know that OS is going to focus on Violet trying to find a cure for Xaden. Is Xaden part of this darkness Violet is scared of?

The Empyrean Series is my current hyper fixation so I couldn't get this spiral out of my head since yesterday.

Please weigh in on what you think Violets fear of the dark means or where it comes from! I'd love to hear other peoples opinions. Also, if you know of any scenes I missed where Violet is scared of the dark please let me know.

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk TairnTalk. (I stole that from someone else but I can't remember who said it first but credit to them you are hilarious).

[feysandarcheron]

Onyx storm / book 4 theory

Okay this from the end of fourth wing in the context of the chapter seems like the sky’s greatest power refers to Violet’s lightning, and the price is a burnout and/or death from wielding so much power. But Rebecca also said the epigraphs often have hidden and double meanings. So I think this is also referring to channeling from the sky rather than the land. And when the venin tells Violet that riders never know what to do with the sky’s power, maybe she means that riders don’t know how to channel from the sky, so they are never able to tap into their full power.

Now I’m fully onboard with the theory that wielding from the sky will be key to defeating the venin. But what is the great and terrible price associated with that 😭 ????

[hockeyspiral23]

… random thought: so, if it’s gryphon fliers that have mind gifts and Tecarus has a mind gift … that means that in theory he has a gryphon, right?

If this is the case, I picture him as someone who skated by at Cliffsbane just due to his status and his gryphon enjoys a fat, lazy, spoiled existence in Cordyn now …

[merlinsbudgiesmugglers]

I actually don't think Jesinia is transcribing the series, I think she's only transcribing the epigraphs. It specifies that she's translating them into the modern language from Navarrian, which implies that in the future Navarrian is not the main language of the continent and it makes more sense for her to be translating those parts (which are also in the same font as the declaration that she is translating them) rather than for her to be writing the story from the POVs that we get.

Ok I have a question. How is Jesinia transcribing this series? Like this is Violet's inner monologue. Is this Violet's journal? And if it is why is she recording every single detail from her day? Why is she recording the exact details of her sex life? Or better yet, why the fuck is Jesinia transcribing the sex scenes.

"Ah yes now for the entire chapter that Violet spends getting absolutely railed by Xaden this will be very useful for future generations."

And listen I'm not complaining I'm glad she did I guess but like what the fuck?

[violentdelightshavevioletends]

Aaric, who can see the future: "She'd make a great politician, or a general maybe? Definitely nobility."

Xaden, who can read intentions: "With that speech? At least a duchess."

[dragonsandrinks]

I'm convinced everyone must've thought Garrick and Xaden were a couple

Garrick: nearly dies Xaden: You absolute idiot. What were you thinking? Garrick: Honey bear, you were the one who said be nice Xaden: That doesn't mean eat everything they offer you!

Their banter always sounds like two people who’ve raised children together and fought in three wars side-by-side. I love how no one in the rebellion bats an eye.

Everyone has accepted this marriage of shadows and sarcasm

[stillcantdance]

Ok so here’s a theory that has been bugging me since I read Iron Flame, and I haven’t heard anyone else bring it up:

The wards were raised by the first six, who we assume each were bonded to each type of dragon( black, blue, red, orange, green, brown). BUT, from the end of Iron Flame we know that it’s actually the dragon fire of the six and the one(seven), and that a dragon from the seventh den, an ancestor of Andarna, was used to raise the wards.

SO, WHO WAS THE SEVENTH RIDER?

Was there even a seventh rider? Did the seventh den dragon just agree to help raise the wards whilst being riderless? The first six erased and hid the evidence of the seventh den after the first wards were raised, did they erase the evidence of the seventh rider as well?

And if so, why?

[imacat331]

I read a theory that the reason Dain’s signet is retrocognition is because he never knew what his mom was like, especially since General Aetos would never talked about her…

…maybe, instead of wanting the power to interrogate, to know everything, all he wanted was the ability to see her.

I am unwell

[super-oddity]

IRON FLAME SPOILERS theories & shit

okay violet’s second signet!! ry confirmed that it did manifest in this book… theories I’ve seen:

andarna’s linked to the gods, meaning her capabilities and violet’s signet defy established norms.

communicating with or resurrecting the dead. stems from her conversation with liam, though ry did say in an interview that liam was, in fact, just a hallucination. others theorize that even if that were the case, maybe sawyer was truly beyond saving had violet not intervened.

soul mender/something to do with healing venin. from the emphasis on “balance”; violet can both destroy and save the venin.

amplifier for other signets. mira’s shield, rhi pulling the dagger through a wall, dain seeing specific memories…

foresight. seeing the future; the way andarna was sure they would bond before she even hatched

time travel. linked to andarna’s power to stop time as a feathertail, the idea is that violet will ultimately go back and influence characters in the past

truth-sayer. “The only signet more terrifying than an inntinnsic is a truth-sayer.” Violet has an incessant need for the truth, and Xaden says he will always answer honestly so long as she asks the right questions.

more theories!! bc i need to consolidate these somewhere:

naolin turned venin and is still alive (poor brennan & tairn); it’s never says explicitly that he dies, just that saving Brennan “cost him everything”— much like Lyra’s words when talking about sharing the knowledge and protection of the wards

xaden’s mom turned venin and is still alive

violet’s dad turned venin before Violet was born/conceived

if resurrection/communicating with the dead is gonna come into play, burning a person’s belongings severs any potential connection/makes it impossible

either Violet and Xaden have been having the same nightmares and were both targets or one of them is seeing the other’s dreams

“recovered correspondence” could simply mean that it was recovered from a destroyed location, or that it was for a time believed to be lost… i’m more worried about the seemingly static ranks…

[ann7av]

Anyone remember how many theories we made about Lilith causing the storm while Violet was crossing parapet? And how Violet has a line in IF that her mother wouldn’t stop the storm to make it easier for her but wouldn’t create one either?

Yeah, so who’s the other storm wielder we’ve seen getting in and out of the wards and who had a decades long rivalry with Lilith…. hmm something something venin can still wield inside the wards but not as strongly and the storm not being enough to push Violet off the parapet

[court-of-secrets]

started genuinely considering (maybe i’m delusional) but could Sloane and Dain canonically have been in a secret relationship??

obviously it’s a little wishful thinking, but he snatches her back and calms her down, and he runs into battle after her and is able to convince her to use her signet….. soooooo

i’ve been re-listening to IF, and it just makes me CERTAIN Sloane and Dain are gonna be endgame and in a relationship, but what if they already are???

someone tell me if i’m being totally delusional (because im currently trapped in my fanfic bubble where they are in a secret relationship)

[skyfallscotland]

Ok so Rebecca did a one hour panel today in Sydney with Lynette Noni hosting, where she asked questions and then they opened it to fans. I've kind of summarised the things I haven't seen mentioned over and over, but I don't frequent the subreddit anymore or use TikTok, so there might be overlap. In any case, it's long. Settle in. I've sectioned it into plot/character relevant first, then themes and interesting facts about her and her writing. Basically, you all came with me. 💗

• In book three (and every book thereafter) we'll be going to more and more new places. She specifically worded it as "watching the map expand" whether that's significant or not, I don't know. (I was thinking Isle Kingdoms for OS, but maybe that's just my wishful thinking).

• She implied Jack will have a reason (explained) for uh...being a power-hungry prick? lol

• She's hella defensive of Dain, which I love. #DainApologistsClub 😌 Some highlights include:

"You guys give Dain so much shit for the same thing Xaden does. You really do and you're so fast to forgive Xaden and not Dain. Why? Is it because he's hot?"

And, "when push comes to shove, all Dain did—yes he violated her boundaries, as does Xaden—but all he did was trust his dad when his best friend no longer spoke to him. That's it."

"When Dain looks at her (in the interrogation chamber) and says 'if you had just told me, none of this would have happened', he's not just talking about the interrogation, he's talking about Liam, he's talking about if she had just trusted him (in Fourth Wing) it never would have happened." 😢

• She was asked about Liam's appearance in the interrogation chamber and definitively put to rest any signet theories involving that. "She's so alone in that moment and...I don't read fan theories but sometimes they reach my ears; she's completely disconnected from her magic in that moment, she can't even reach out for Tairn or Andarna, which are the bonds that are actually most important to her. She can't reach out for Xaden. And that's the one person who would have prevented that from happening the last year, so it's natural that's who her mind would summon."

• She's thought about a spin-off series, but she's just trying to survive this series.

• Someone asked her if there'd be any redemption and romance for Jack Barlowe and honestly, thanks guys, I don't think she's ever coming back to this country 💀 ("Are you getting enough sleep? Uh...I mean, from his prison cell maybe? No.")

• Someone asked "what is Garrick's signet and why hasn't it been shown yet?" (shoutout to this girl, she's the real MVP) to which Rebecca said "it's very much in book three, I love it."

• Someone asked about the orange dragons and unpredictability re: Amber, Jack, Varrish and then Imogen and Brennan. Rebecca said some dragons might look for traits like their own and some look for balance because it's a partnership; and that Brennan as a strategist needed that little bit of unpredictability in his life (lol, I think he got it).

• She didn't always plan for Violet to have two dragons. Originally it was going to be one (Tairn) and the editor had hoped that she would sway towards a weaker, smaller dragon and she thought that was a little too close to Abraxos in ToG, and so they compromised and gave her both. She also went on to say she doesn't like overpowered heroines and since Tairn is extremely powerful, Andarna balanced that out. (I'm not...I'm not sure how that works out? But that's what was said.)

• We are definitely going to find out more about the original six (and Lynette asked if that was a spin-off possibility and was shushed, so she's thought about it at least, but I get the idea she's thought about a lot of possibilities 😂)

• There's no timeframe for the release of the final two books.

• Someone asked if Violet's dad was Malek to which she was kind of shocked. He's not a god, guys. And low-key I JUST WANT TO KNOW HIS NAME. 😤

• On Sgaeyl: "You do (get more of her) but holy crap is she pissed. So—I'll tell you that about Onyx Storm—she is really, really mad at Xaden and she's not exactly speaking to him at the moment. So it's hard for her to speak into that bond when she's not speaking to him." 💔

• She was asked about the Violet dated Halden theory (which was fucking hilarious because the poor girl misspoke and asked if Xaden dated the prince and we were all really confused about which TikToks the poor thing had seen (note to self: consider cam/xaden), anyway after we got to the bottom of that, Rebecca replied, "I think you should read the third book." Which I'm taking to mean, the man is making a damn appearance and we're gonna find out for ourselves 👀 Hey, if I'm lucky maybe we'll even find out his surname

• Finally she said she has EP on the Amazon series, they've all been exceptionally protective of it and that she's happy with how it's going (they're not near casting yet and she doesn't want to really comment on that ever, to leave each role open to as diverse a cast as possible). She said the production team has come to the signings in LA to meet readers and see what they love and are passionate about when it comes to the series to make sure that's honoured.

"Like I mean, I've seen certain...like what can I say without getting tackled to the ground? Let's just say they've already taken steps to make sure that what you guys love about the story is envisioned and that it's not run amok. And I'm very happy with it, they're super protective of it." Which could just be me reading into it, but the first place my brain went was the dragons 👀🐉 and the CGI or whatever.

• She was asked about where the inspiration for the universe came from and she said that when her Entangled decided they were going to do romantasy they asked her for five pitches and Fourth Wing was one of them (she won't say what the others were because she might still write them someday). She said she likes the fated mates trope but she wondered what that would look like if the dragons were the ones mated, not the humans and the humans who couldn't stand each other were forced to be around each other because of this. 

• Her first ever book was romantasy but it didn't sell

• She's never really written enemies to lovers before.

• She likes found family themes because she was raised in a military family and moved around a lot, so that makes it hard to keep in touch with your extended family, and after she married her husband and became a military wife, it was their found family that was there for her—it was her found family who helped her move her house, who sat with her when her husband was injured in Iraq, etc, so she thinks it's very important to show that your family is also the people you choose and that can be just as strong as any blood tie.

• She was asked (by Lynette) why she wanted to show death and the reality of war and she said, "I've been surrounded by it. My husband's been at war since 2003, he spent 22 years in the army, first as a 19 Delta cavalry scout and then ten years as an apache pilot and we buried our friends. And I saw what it did to him, and I saw what it did to our friends, I saw what it did to our children, to us, and I love being able to examine it from a fantasy perspective just because I think fantasy gives us a unique environment from which to critique our own world by viewing it through the lens of another. And I've always delved into those themes as to why we do this to each other and where is there hope to stop it?"

• As an author her favourite scenes in Fourth Wing were the dagger stealing scene (very important to their chemistry and romantic development—"she's the only person he's taught ever, how to actually kill him") and the first kiss scene.

In Iron Flame it was the interrogation scene and how that ends with Dain and Xaden and everything coming together.

When asked about a similar scene from Onyx Storm that elicited the same strong emotion from her she said "you're not gonna like it" and that's it 💀

• She would consider writing fantasy again after she's done with the Empyrean world, maybe one of her other pitches, but she won't truly think about it until she's survived this one.

• She spoke about the "kill your darlings" writing advice and how if you love a scene but it doesn't move the plot, you've gotta cut it, and how she did that with the final scene in Fourth Wing, which was originally 7k words of Violet POV pulling information out of Xaden.

• When asked about fan theories she actually said something I found a little sad. "I don't listen to fan theories. One, I'm not on TikTok—it's a little bit more important for me to be alive than to listen to what other people think they know about me, and two, I don't ever want fan theories to bleed into my writing."

〰️ And that's it! If anyone's going tomorrow, please voice record the whole thing and report back lmao 🙏 🫶🏼

ETA: part two is here, x

[b3anieperson]

Things I do not want but expect in Onyx Storm (also things I do want but you all have to figure that out)

Naolin comes back (or has always been and never died-) as a venin

Tairn dies

Xaden ties Violet's shoes

Colonel Aetos comes back to bite us in the ass

Someone close to Xaden dies (I'm placing bets on Bodhi, sorry)

Violet's second signet is going to be ward weaving (maybe idfk)

Bodoc happens???

We meet Drake Cordella!

One of the Cordella children dies (placing bets on Syrena)

Gamogen/Immrick happens???

We have a meeting with Venin

Mira or Brennan get severely injured in said meeting with Venin

We FINALLY get to hear about Liam wielding ice in the Battle of Resson

Viscount Tecarus dies (thank fucking god)

We get to meet the Queen of Poromiel

They drag King Tauri kicking and fucking screaming to a meeting with the Queen of Poromiel

We meet Halden

We get history on how (I hope) Halden and Vi dated

We hate Halden

Aaric hates Halden a tad bit too

Aaric x Sloane (pleaseee RY I begggg)

Sgaeyl and Tairn have eggs (maybe idfk)

Andarna can finally fly fully and we learn that she CAN support Vi while flying

We learn that Lillith Sorrengail was a Venin (see a pervious post about that theory)

Jack Barlowe is killed (PLEASE IM TIRED OF THIS FLYING RAT TURD)

Dain Aetos dies (killed by his own father, such shame)

Okay now we play a game, I'M Xaden Riorson, and YOU'RE all Violet Sorrengail, ask me what I mean (by reblogging or commenting or asking) and I'll explain what I mean. (I hope that it'll make sense because my tiny pea brain doesn't work well at midnight apparently)

[violentdelightshavevioletends]

"You sure I shouldn't ask Cuir or Chradh—"

"No." I start down the stairs. There's only one other person besides Bodhi and Garrick I can trust to prioritize Xaden's best interests, only one other person who can know the truth in its entirety. "Tell Glane I need Imogen."

— Violet Sorrengail, in the Onyx Storm prologue

"What did you do?" My head snaps toward Imogen, and a deep sense of foreboding takes root in my chest.

She slowly lifts her gaze to mine. "What you asked me to."

— Violet Sorrengail to Imogen Cardulo, during Chapter 66 of Onyx Storm

[dragonsandrinks]

Xaden Riorson has never had a single day off in this life and it shows

The man is 23 years old, twenty-three! And he’s the head of a secret rebellion, bonded to a bloodthirsty dragon who has personally committed war crimes, moonlighting as a war college professor, runs an entire dukedom, holding generational trauma in a death grip, AND somehow finds time to flirt via murder metaphors???

And he’s still making time for Violet, keeps her alive, teaching her runes, getting her flowers before important meetings and call her “violence” like it's her government name.

How do real men ever stand a chance against these kind of expectations?

[hockeyspiral23]

... in rereading bits of FW while editing ttios, the amount of unhinged theories I am now coming up with are RIDICULOUS.

(Onyx Storm spoilers - a virtual fucking novel - below the cut)(has been edited since first posted)

In no particular order ...

Barlowe knowing accurate things about the feathertails at Threshing - like that the breed abhors violence and won't fight - and going to kill it. Now, given that we know that Panchek was working on the inside, do we believe that he is where Jack got his info? That, given the apparent super sneaky venin living in the walls (... money is still good on daddy Aetos there too), they knew to try and kill the feathertail once it was known to exist because of the wards somehow? Venin long game of taking down Basgiath's wards so they can't restore them since no seventh breed?

Xaden always telling Violet she'll be the death of him. Well, she has been ... the death of his soul, at least. Also given all the god talk, there's completely going to be some literal bargain with Malek to save him (if he gets saved). I'm guessing that Malek might be the other god to which she could dedicate herself. Though, with Xaden saying "it's always you" to Violet since she's in the middle of shit all the time, that could be an unfortunate side effect of her partial dedication to Dunne.

Which, leading up to that last little point, with that ending, how the fuck is the next book going to be a romantasy with the main couple separated? Unless we're really going to get an Imrrick story (if, of course, Garrick isn't the new brother).

In the very first class of Dragonkind, Kaori says you'd be ash if you ever tried to get close to the Vale and Violet mentions some girl with a rebellion relic pulling down her sleeve. Interesting tidbit, but we ignore it, right? But then, in Onyx Storm, Brennan LITERALLY MENTIONS taking Xaden to sit by dragon eggs in what is presumably Aretia's response to the Vale. So what, do dragons let relic riders near them? Does Brennan get the same courtesy afforded to him due to the rune on his hand? (which, don't get me started on that mystery we still need a fucking answer for ...)

Another reason why I think Xaden saved Sgaeyl? Because if Sgaeyl dies, so does Tairn and then so does Violet. In IF, Tairn says that Sgaeyl would be emotionally inconvenienced if the shadow wielder died, but doesn’t directly answer Violet when she asks him if she’s just an emotional inconvenience to him. So killing Xaden? Might not kill Violet, but the other way around was pretty drummed into us, as was the interdependence of mated dragons’ lives.

Xaden's "there's nowhere in existence you could go that I wouldn't find you" line is COMPLETELY going to come into play now with the Onyx Storm ending. Mostly because, given the GMA interview RY did today, she said she fought with her editors to get the ending she wanted which to me, means ending on Violet's POV as opposed to Xaden's POV like the previous two books. What do we get in Violet's POV? A note from the man saying don't look for him. We also learn from RY at the release party she attended that that specific line is still her favorite (either line completely or just of Xaden's) from the series. Violet may not look for him, but you don't think that Xaden's going to still be able to find her?

She'll probably still be able to contact him though, and probably through her dreams (that dream-walking signet is a foresighted signet for her not because she needed to know what her NON-DREAMING DRAGON WAS DREAMING ABOUT JEEBUS, but because she'll need to contact Xaden still and dreams are going to be the way she does it. If, of course, venin sleep. Which ... do they?

Or due to the compass. We might be getting a PotC thing there with that ... which ... I don't know how I feel about that.

Harkening back two points ... if he's ever on a battlefield, I believe that he still won't harm Violet solely because of the ch.48 epigraph about an entire village being decimated by venin except for one house because the venin doing the decimating was the dude's wife. (which, speaking of Xaden's love declaration in this book, he's totally gonna become a Maven or something, isn't he?)

While I'm here ... I think Bodhi might be the new brother. Mostly because I think he turned to work on the venin from the inside, to use his signet-countering signet on the venin themselves. Also because in the Imogen chapter, she also watches blue fire from a wyvern "roll down Cuir's neck, extinguishing to smoke before they reach him." She makes it sound due to the angle, but what if it's because Bodhi was able to counter the fire at that point? Also, Cuir is pretty badly injured at this point, so it's plausible. And even though Bodhi might have the good reasoning for turning, it could also make sense why he's puking after, upset at his decision. And Garrick might just be missing since he had to walk during that missing 12 hours and didn't have the energy to walk back yet.

Liam's ice wielding ... like the fuck? Does this mean that Sloane is going to develop a second signet too? Or that she won't because there was only one other dragon rider descendant in her family and that dragon is dead because they bonded Liam, and she only said the stuff in IF because Thoirt was explaining secret shit to her?

The dragons are going to end up being a big bad somehow. You don't have the line from the Fables about demonizing dragons and then learning that they draw from the source themselves - plus all the talk from the venin and the Isles and even the damn Irids as well as tidbits in quite a few of the epigraphs - without realizing some shit is going to down with them. (Also, need I also continually say that this series is the Empyrean series - so many of our questions are going to be solved due to the fucking dragons).

But also, do the gryphons then also draw the same way the dragons do? But the magic balance is better there because they also die with their bonded flier?

There's a theory on the RQ Discord server that gemstones are going to come into play and I agree with that, if only also because of the seemingly random throwaway line about Poromish gemstones during the Parapet info dump. Plus during the triumvirate dinner, one of them brought a piece of jade - a gemstone - onto the table when it looked like negotiations were going well and put it back into her lap when things went to shit again. Not to mention the citrine necklace, the ruby one Cat was given on Zehyllna, the onyx and amethyst and other mentions of random gems throughout the series ...

I'm also going to guess particularly with emeralds, since the venin want a specific thing as well - ch.50 dream - "You will bring what I want ... or she dies. I'm through waiting, and I will not allow her to win such a prize." If you harken back to ch.6, Xaden extracts a promise from Violet - "Swear you'll sound the alarm if I go too far, that you'll keep it safe, even if it's from me." I don't believe it's Tyrrendor, since Tyrrendor is always referred to as a she. Her ring has an emerald that she thinks is from the Blade of Aretia and the emerald-hilted Sword of Tyrrendor keeps appearing in Xaden's dreams. Are the weapons a matched set? Plus the sword almost comes into play in negotiations with the Deverelli. There's SOMETHING with those two weapons somehow. Plus Xaden's keeping the Blade of Aretia in his gift from Zihnal ...

Speaking of RY and things she's said recently ... someone we love will die in book four. This ... is obvious. Given the Rhiannon and Imogen chapters - and the fact (I think) that she'd like to write their stories eventually - I think those two are safe. We've had Ridoc scares the last two books - the arrows in IF and the kitchen jump-scare in OS - so I hope it's not him, but RY also really adores Ridoc so ... she might. BUT ALSO, it could mean metaphorical death given the whole new mystery venin brother of Xaden's (less likely, but hey).

Going back to things from FW/IF that I'm surprised haven't come more into light ... General Daramor and the original army from the Barrens. I'm a little surprised Violet hasn't tried looking for non-censored texts about that from Tecarus's library.

Speaking of Tecarus ... do we think he's secretly working with the venin as well? Mighty suspicious that the most indefensible palace known to man and its city are like the one non-drained area in like the entirety of fucking Poromiel ...

Some of the things that seemed random are coming to light and I don't know if it's that she's retconning as some have pointed out or if her plotting of the whole series truly is *that* detailed and her editors have just done her no favors when it's come to pacing and worldbuilding. Or she's done herself no favors with it given when she wants the info dumps for all of us.

Not theory related, but worth commenting on since I'm here ranting ... the ship names? I jokingly poked fun at that in viayn so to see it in actual text? I just don't know. Also, I know everyone's getting Drake/Mira out of this, but there's also potential Mira/Syrena too since Mira white-knuckles her pack when Aetos informs Cat she's closer in line to the throne and they're all wondering if it's Syrena who's dead.

Regardless of it all ... the one thing I think we can ALL agree on in book four? Better have some Broccoli. And I'm convinced Ridoc also helped Drake come up with that name.