#soc3

[historicalfictionenthusiast]

I cannot explain in English words how much the world/I will not be ok if/when one of the crows doesn’t make it out of soc3. And if it’s Jesper or Wylan or Kaz or Inej or Nina (and yes I know that’s all of them but I really can’t choose so stfu) I will die on the spot.

[randommnerdd]

When (if) SoC 3 comes out, I will absolutely refuse to read it until someone TELLS ME WITH 100% CERTAINTY none of the crows dies.

[leashchildren]

2 reasons I’m incredibly skeptical of death tropes in the event of SOC3:

1) In the duology, everyone’s character arc revolves around them (1st) being failed by the system as kids (2nd) falling into crime because of it and (3rd) finding a path forward. Every crow (yes, even Matthias) finds a way to heal from their trauma and live the life they want to lead. Killing any of the survivors erases what completed their character arc.

2) All Leigh Bardugo said was that “bad things happen to characters you like” in her books. I’m confused by where “bad things” = “death” is coming from because as anyone who’s read SOC/CK knows, Bardugo can write horrors worse than death.

[six-of-cringe]

Something that is sad but also that I hugely appreciate about CK is that by the end, most of the systems that harmed the crows are still in place, but their relationships with themselves have grown and changed. I find this particularly interesting in the cases of Jesper and Wylan (shocking I know). Their identities still put them in danger of being exploited or harmed - Grisha indentures are still the norm in Kerch, and the auction scene made it very clear that if the Council knew Wylan's illiteracy was true, they would treat him much the same as his father did due to the culture surrounding productivity and ability. This might seem disheartening, but the hope lies in the shift in how these characters see themselves and their role in the world. By the end of the book, Jesper and Wylan are beginning to put away their internalized shame surrounding their identities. They may still have to hide who they are from the world to survive, but they're no longer hiding it from themselves - their true selves are no longer this crushing burden they have to turn away from to function. A general theme of the series is how, in accepting who they are and what has happened to them on a personal level, the crows place themselves in positions to make change on a systemic level - Inej and her ship, Nina and her mission, Kaz and his Barrel empire, Wylan and Jesper with their political, high-society empire. None of them are all the way there yet by the end - they're still healing, and both the loss of Matthias and the weight of those oppressive systems are going to weigh on them for a long time - but we get to see the very beginnings of that process. I'm going to bite someone.

[veerbles]

I keep thinking about this line from ck.

this is the culmination of the van eck job; the 'post-credits' scene that tells us where each of the characters is going forward. nina is 'going to find a way to make it matter', which teases row. inej is starting her journey of ending slavery on the seas. jesper and wylan's futures are explicitly intertwined and implicitly turning to politics.

what does kaz's line mean? what was leigh trying to foreshadow?

I refuse to believe the phrasing of it means nothing, because in the context of this scene, it can't mean nothing. this is kaz's next big journey. and it also references another big conversation from ck:

this scene from the geldrenner bathroom is so important because, in it, inej confronts kaz with the truth of his revenge arc (which essentially drives the plot of the entire duology): how is the person he became to ruin pekka different from pekka himself?

and again, kaz mentions building an empire and burning it.

so it has to have meaning. is it literal? will a big plot point in soc #3 involve kaz setting fire to the barrel? but if that's the case, why is it significant that he rebuilds it into something new beforehand?

or maybe it's figurative. at the very end of ck inej asks kaz to help her end slavery from his side of things in ketterdam. she mentions taking down the crooked politicians, the slave-owners, the... even less-moral barrel bosses. while it seems obvious that kaz's 'new empire' is a barrel under his control, what would become of a criminal empire under the thumb of a man indirectly helping to destroy it? perhaps it figuratively 'burns to the ground'.

so either kaz builds his empire, and then literally burns it to achieve something else, or kaz builds his empire and uses its own power to 'burn it' by helping something cleaner grow instead. maybe that's the connection to the bathroom conversation: maybe it's the way he finally proves himself to be different from pekka.

or maybe it's neither of those, and I'm completely off-base? either way it has to mean something big, and I would honestly love to hear more interpretations.

[fantastic-nonsense]

alternate POVs I would die for Leigh Bardugo to write:

Wylan's POV of the "Wylan Van Eck" reveal meeting

Kaz's POV of the Dock Fight

Nina's POV of the Crows arriving at the Ice Court's prison

Wylan's POV of Vellgeluk

Inej's POV of the Hostage Exchange/Escape Sequence

Nina's POV of the Embassy Meeting with Zoya and Genya

Jesper's POV of the Olendaal/Church of Saint Hilde Visit

Wylan's POV of The Piano Kiss

Jesper and/or Kaz's POV of the Clocktower Fight

Inej's POV of the Bathroom Scene

Kaz's POV of the Epilogue Harbor Scene

Kuwei's POV of literally anything (but especially the Auction)

[my-darling-inej]

friendly reminder that it’s canon that kaz and inej have spent literally countless hours together on jobs, scheming/feeding crows before we even meet them in six of crows. i go insane just thinking about all the history that is there between them that we only know glimpses of. like please i need to know more leigh i’m begging you

[alyoshka-karamazov]

OH THAT’S SICK AND TWISTED

[purpleyin]

Been thinking about SOC3 & the Council of Tides + the idea that they live in hidden fabrikator made underwater structures that only they can access. Kaz getting involved due to threats, being very nervous about being under so much water with only their promise he's safe, for now.

[timeandspacelord]

I know Kaz is analogous to Inigo, but "to the pain" is right up his alley too

[jackwolfes]

Do you think Leigh will ever write more about the crows? And would you want her to?

well she got green lighted for like 12 more books didn’t she? So she’s definitely writing more generally speaking! I have no idea if she’s said she’d write more or if I believe she will/won’t but I personally don’t?? Really want her to? If she does I’ll read it, obvs, but I tend to stray towards book fandoms because they are so often contained narratives that have firm end points. I strongly prefer them BECAUSE I know where characters and storylines are left off, so I don’t think I’d enjoy the process of reading a story about characters I love this much not knowing what happens next

[crowshoots]

leigh confirmed another grishaverse project up in the works w/ a co-writer and frankly!!! i want it to be about kuwei!

[kitconnor]

cb its mid august, literally almost six months to the DAY shadow and bone s2 was released and STILL no clear yes or no to the spin-off or a s3 like that's just criminal 😭

[dcvina-claires]

soc3 but it’s only one chapter and entirely consists of inej burning the menagerie to the ground

[thetorturedlovergirl]

The first time I read Crooked Kingdom I really believed that Matthias didn't die, HE COULD NOT HAVE DIED because my best friend told me that no one died in SOC and if someone died she would have already accidentally told me (also, she theorized a lot about a possible deaths in SOC3 if Leigh ever does that book, always telling me that no crow died in SOC) and I thought "oh yeah, if someone died she would be devastated so it makes sense yeah yeah no one dies."

AND UNTIL CHAPTER 41 I STILL BELIEVED THAT MATTHIAS WAS ALIVE EVEN THOUGH HIS DEATH HAD BEEN SPOILED TO ME A MONTH BEFORE (Instagram always spoiling me everything…) BECAUSE I TRUSTED HER!!! Chapter 40 was very confusing for me because, thinking that Matthias wasn't dead, I didn't understand much of the context until I texted her "oh, I really don't understand what's going on, is Matthias okay?" and she told me "no, love, he's dead. I lied. But I hope you can continue with your life after this."

I'm still heartbroken over this and even two years later I still think Matthias is alive and living his best life with Nina and Hanne. I don't care about canon because canon never cared about me.

[romantichopelessly]

actually I take back all my naysaying, we can have soc3 as long as it reveals the other four crows’ middle names