#cc3 theory

[moondrawss]

—You remind me of the wind. —He tried to explain. —Powerful and able to cool or freeze with half a thought, shaping the world itself though no one can see you. Only your impact on things. 🔥

Lidia Cervos portrait

[infiniteetcetera]

90% of the time i’m like “Azriel’s mate is probably just Gwyn or Mor and any degree of surprise would be the Elain element of it all” and the other 10% i’m thinking about how SJM said one of the few remaining ACOTAR novels she wanted to write would take place in the past, in ACOSF Azriel showed Cassian exactly where he would feel if his mate died, in CC3 Azriel saw a painting and was struck by how much it looked like Rhys’ sister, how Azriel who is known for keeping his relationships secret would have had every reason to hide a mating bond with Rhys’ sister after the HELL that Cassian sleeping with Mor caused, and how we still don’t know who gave Azriel his mythical Star-born prophecy blade that he has huge emotional attachment to but we do know that Rhys family is connected to the entire mess…

[acourtofantumbra]

I would love to just... even one time... have some kind of profound explanation for the parallels that are coming up during this Throne of Glass reread. Like what do I even do with this?

I haven't seen anyone draw this parallel between Elide's extra sensory bad vibes of the Stone Marshes in TOG and Nesta's vision in the Prison in ACOSF... but it's CERTAINLY there. (Edit: I fully believe some SJM scholar out there has not only found this, but drawn far superior conclusions lol & I encourage them to enlighten me please!!)

What does one do when "even Death itself bows to the 26th string" and Fae trying to claw their way through stone comes up in BOTH?! Asking for a friend.

[sam-is-an-angel222]

how i feel whenever i see the smallest reference to the sjmultiverse:

[bloomingdarkgarden]

Could Vassa Be Immortal After All?

A Firebird Theory

(WARNING: HOFAS SPOILERS BELOW)

While reading CC3 I couldn’t help but notice a plot element regarding curses that brought me back to Vassa in ACOTAR.

In HOFAS we learn Jesiba's mysterious backstory and all this talk of curses- I couldn’t help but to meditate on our favorite firebird. Jesiba unveils that she has been cursed in Chapter 38:

And also elaborates that there were unintentional consequences of the curse:

Jesiba obviously holds a strong grudge against her cursor but is able to use the curse to her advantage.

So Jesiba, similarly to Vassa, was a mortal, cursed unwillingly by an immortal male figure. The curse made her immortal in turn. This has me thinking- what if the same has happened to Vassa? More from Ch.38:

I also find the passage in ACOWAR really interesting, in which Feyre is describing her perception of Vassa the first time they meet:

‘Only a few years older than me, but ... young-feeling. Coltish. Fierce and untamed, despite her curse.’ (ACOWAR chapter 79)

Could this be because although Vassa is, let’s say, age 28- she actually stopped physically aging when she was cursed at age 20? Perhaps it's just Feyre noting that she's a spicy pepper. Who knows.

I recently went down a rabbit hole of Slavic lore and I’m so intrigued by Vaasa’s storyline in the upcoming books. Most folks are aware that SJM has taken her story directly from Slavic mythology- and there are loads of potential breadcrumbs in the fables of:

Ivan Tsarevitch in which Ivan, the youngest of several malaligned brothers, sets out on a quest to free a firebird from a dark sorcerer who also entraps other princesses (often Koschei the deathless).

Princess Vasilisa in which an archer finds a firebird’s flaming feather and gets roped into a quest to deliver a lost princess. Hello Elain’s vision regarding this exact imagery: “I saw a feather of fire land on snow and melt it.” (ACOWAR)

Swan Lake in which Princess Odette (Vassa) is cursed into a swan form by an evil lord and can only take human form between midnight and daybreak. Only a faithful vow of true love can break the spell. If her true love makes a vow to the wrong woman (Elain perhaps) the princess dies instead. Could something as powerful as a male (Lucien) breaking his mating bond to forge a destiny with Vassa be the key to breaking her curse??

Who knows.

Will Vassa be immortalized by Koschei's power touching her and chaining her to the lake? Will Lucien be the key to deliver her from her curse as Ivan was in the fables?

I don't know. But regardless of Lucien's heart, I myself am a Vassa acolyte. I'm so enraptured by the beautiful myths surrounding this lore, and am so intrigued to learn what becomes of Vassa as a heroine in her own right. Her character and story have so much magical potential!

In the words of Yakov Polonsky’s poem:

And in my dreams I see myself on a wolf's back

Riding along a forest path

To do battle with a sorcerer-tsar

In that land where a princess sits under lock and key,

Pining behind massive walls.

There gardens surround a palace all of glass;

There Firebirds sing by night

[reyleese]

FRIENDLY REMINDER…

Ruhn Danaan has suffered abuse at the hands of his father for his entire life, and has tattoos to cover up the physical scars so that nobody asks questions… THESE SCARS ARE ALL OVER HIS BODY.!!! It’s not like he has one or two tats, these are all over his entire body, covering up so much that even his own sister never noticed until the Asteri out him in front of everyone.! Lidia was the only person he even talked to about this kind of stuff and even then he was just hinting at things…

[azrielsbxtch]

You guys have no idea how much I’m ready for Mommy and Daddy Feysand in HOFAS😩🖤🖤

[shadowdaddies]

GUYS ⚠️CC2/HOSAB SPOILERS⚠️

I need to talk about the SJM live from tonight. She recanted her earlier statement saying that ACOTAR and CC could be read as stand alone series. I have a lot of thoughts on this but the major one that is my Roman Empire is Rhys and Feyre’s “death pact.”

The verbiage of the bargain isn’t that they’ll die together, it’s that when they go to “that place,” they’ll go together. Like I’m just so convinced that they’ll travel to Hel together with Bryce in CC3 which will fulfill the bargain.

Idk if this is already established but I haven’t seen anything about it and I think about it daily. I NEED to discuss

(also will we get any answers about Elriel vs Elucien bc I am so tired of the tension)

UPDATE w/ spoilers:

DAMN I was off. My new guess is that they’ll use Truth-Teller to cleave the deal or something lol

[merymoonbeam]

Fionn

CC3 spoilers

in my wild hunt post I theorized that High King Fionn wasn't dead but was sleeping because Sarah loves to take inspo from the myths and in myths it says that he is sleeping in a cave.

According to the most popular account of Fionn's death, he is not dead at all, rather, he sleeps in a cave, surrounded by the Fianna. One day he will awake and defend Ireland in the hour of her greatest need. In one account, it is said that he will arise when the Dord Fiann, the hunting horn of the Fianna, is sounded three times, and he will be as strong and as well as he ever was.

and after hofas and what we learned about his "death" I went to find more. (that research paper about fionn's death)

we have different version's of his supposed death in myths.

This slight text unites three elements that recur, singly or in combination, in virtually all accounts of Finn's death; hence it could be argued that most versions of the death of Finn descend from the Aided Finn tradition. These are: 1.the leap (that is, Finn's death occurred when he failed to complete a jump across a stretch of water); 2.the Luigne (that is, the Luigne Temra were involved in Finn's death, often decapitating him); 3.the drink (that is, the act of drinking from an adarc or of drinking a poisoned drink caused or hastened Finn's death).92

when you take a look at the leap cause...it involves a fairy lover.

In these two accounts, although the depth of detail and the source length are different, the same narrative core is to be found: Finn trysts with the fairy lover of a character called Taoileachd mac Chuiligeadan. When Taoileachd discovers this, rather than having the two come to blows, the fairy lover makes a judgment that whoever best performs a leap will be the man she chooses. Both accomplish the forward leap and Taoileachd then challenges Finn to make the leap back. Taoileachd accomplishes the leap but Finn does not. Finn falls into the lake whereupon Taoileachd decapitates him.

Theia was Fionn's lover.

My mother and father, Fionn, had kept their love a secret through the years, knowing the Daglan would find it amusing to tear them apart if they learned of the affair. But they were able to meet in secret—and to plan their uprising.(hofas)

and there is that his age played a role in his death.

Finn's death either singly or in smaller groups, e.g. that his death occurred as a consequence of or was closely associated with a leap, that he was decapitated, that he died at a river or other body of water, and that his age played a role in the event.

Theia killed fionn bc she thought the right to rule was hers and fionn was getting old.

After centuries with an empty womb, my mother bore both my sister and me within a span of five years. My father was fading by then—he was centuries older than my mother. But Fionn did not consider my mother a worthy successor. The crown should go to the eldest child, he said—to my sister, Helena. It was time, he thought, for a new generation to lead. It did not sit well with my mother, or with many of those in her court— especially her general, Pelias. He agreed with my mother that Helena was too young to inherit our father’s throne. But my mother was still in her prime. Still ripe with power, and it was clear that she’d been blessed by the gods themselves, since she had been gifted children at long last.(hofas)

and his death by a body of water.

The image shifted to some sort of marsh—a bog. Fionn rode a horse between the islands of grass, bow at the ready as he ducked beneath trees in bloom. My parents often went hunting in the vast slice of land the Daglan had kept for their private game park, where they had crafted terrible monsters to serve as worthy prey. It was there that he met his death. A dark-haired, pale creature that could have been the relative of the nøkk in Jesiba’s gallery dragged a bound and gagged Fionn into the inky depths of the bog, the once-proud king screaming as he went under. Horror rooted Bryce to the spot. Theia and Pelias stood at the water’s edge, faces impassive. Petals began falling from the trees. Leaves with them. Birds took flight. As if sudden winter gripped the bog. As if the land had died with its king.(hofas)

so as you can see...it fits well with how fionn "died" in the myths to how it is described in the book. He died bc of a fairy lover, in a body of water.

now coming back to his "not being dead"

supposedly fionn is buried atop a mountain and there are stones.

'Shee-Mór and Shee-Beag' (D1) says that Finn is buried atop a mountain, this time Shee Beag in Co. Limerick, where a giant lived and in which giants throwing stones feature, while 'Old Irish Tales/Cavan1' (D19) informs us that Finn is supposedly buried under a stone on Ardkill Mountain, but because 'he is supposed to have been buried under so many stones that it is hard to say which he is buried under.'

I theorized in my wild hunt post that it could be Ramiel and that's why it was sacred to them. and I found this.

The location of the grave is sometimes combined with a feature of the landscape known as Suidhe Finn or Seefin, a placename for a hill or high ground in which hunting is usually good; such sites are readily associated with Finn, the fían, and their hunting exploits in literature and folklore.70 Association of elevated places called Suidhe Finn may have led to the association of further hills and mountains with the fían, as we see above with Murmod hill, or the stone features which were easily incorporated into giant lore may have been the original reason for such associations. Both could have easily played a role in these places becoming associated with Finn's grave.

hunting? blood rite? fianna the warriors of fionn in myths is also connected with a rite.

Scholars believe the fian was a rite of passage into manhood, and have linked fianna with similar young warrior bands in other early European cultures.

and this is blood rite?

“What’s the Blood Rite?” “What it sounds like.” He rubbed his neck. “When an Illyrian warrior comes into his full power, usually in his twenties, he has to go through the Blood Rite before he can qualify as a full warrior and adult. Would-be warriors from every clan and village get sent in, usually three or four from each—all of them scattered across an area in the Illyrian Mountains. We’re left there for a week with two goals: survival, and making it to Ramiel.”(acosf)

so....is Fionn really buried under Ramiel?

[lydreadsbooks]

I haven’t seen anyone talking about the TENSION between Tharion and Ithan, am I delusional?? I swear their entire POVs were just “oh I wonder what he’s doing” “I hope he’s okay” “we need to rescue him” like I was getting wistful sighs and unrealized feelings (ofc SJM put rando girls in their path but sathia was giving beard)

[chunkypossum]

Y’all wanna know some things that bother me SJM Books edition that lead to UNHINGED theories?!? : Obvious Spoilers for all of Sarah J Maas books …

*also, I told you these are unhinged thoughts, don’t come for me.. argue with your mama… just enjoy the ride.

- Why do we know the Bluebloods Matron name and not Blackbeak or Yellowlegs?

- And why does she share a name with the princess of Adriana in ACOTAR?

🧐

- Why is ACOTAR the only series in first person? What is Prythian hiding?

- And why is it only Feyres story? Nestas story is 3rd person but several different POV.

- What exactly were we not supposed to notice about the people or places Feyre saw or experienced that could easily be hidden in her 1st person POV?

🫣

- Why are feline descriptors used for everyone and everything , constantly?

😬

- The parallels between the library in the house of wind and the Torre Cesme

- Wombs

- Cats

- Darkness that stares back

- Haven for women

😉

- “I was never as good as I thought I was…” - Florence, but applied to Aelin- we gloss over the fact that she seriously considers conquering other worlds like wtf. What if Aelin, and hear me out, (I say this as I’m also on my knees for her bc she is my queen), is somehow responsible for the Asteri?

🤯

- 1. Briggs said, tugging on his shackles, “the only people I see on a daily basis are the ones who take me apart like a cadaver, and then stitch me up again before nightfall, their medwitches smoothing everything away.” 2. No injuries ever remained when she awoke. No pain. Only the memory of it, of Cairn’s smiling face as he carved her up over and over. 3. SJM:”what goes on on the dungeons might be too much, poor hunt Ruhn and baxian”… IM JUST SAYING.

🥲

- Ruhn shares a name with the mountain ranges in Erilea. Is he named after them?

- Perhaps his a nod to his mothers home.

- The ruhnn mountains are where the Stygian spiders made their home after they split with their sisters on the southern continent

- Handmaidens of Maeve who has VIOLET STARRY EYES,

- like Rhysand…

- Rhysand who looks like Ruhn….

- THE PIECES ARE THERE BUT HOW DO THEY FIT?

🙃

- When Feyre has visions/dreams of Amarantha in ACOTAR Rhys sees them…. When he recounts his story in ch 54(ACOMAF), why does he imply he didn’t know who she was dreaming about? He would know Amarantha wouldn’t he? In her dreams it was woman with red nails … we never get that little detail about Amaranthas looks. Why? Was it her? Or someone else?

👩🏻‍🦯

- Cresseida, briar, Cormac… these are not common names so why the hell does she use them in more than one series?

🙃

Of course I can’t forget the classics….

- WHAT DID LORCAN DO?!? 👹

- And where the fuck is Vaughn? 👹

[biggestqiblifan]

Lidia braids Ruhn hair.

That's all I'm going to say.

[infiniteetcetera]

The only things we learned from SJM’s recent interview snippet being:

1. Next book is longgggg

2. Next book is super far from done…

Makes me wonder if there actually is something super surprising coming, like something she herself didn’t even necessarily plan? (especially since we know CC3 got major rewrites after it was nearly done) I do think there could be some elements of the expected story that could fall into this (I think the most obvious route is a book with Elain/Azriel/Luciens POVs and those are three characters we have the most to learn from) but everything about the ACOTAR characters in CC3 make me wonder if she won’t go in an unexpected route

The most obvious thing to point out is Nesta being so prominent which makes sense on thematic levels to some degree but also we have to remember SJM is in control of what she’s writing and if she wanted to…that could have been Feyre with Bryce the whole book??? Or Elain or Gwyn or Mor or whoever with just a few minor plot point shifts. The Azriel of it all seems to check out but the emphasis on Nesta is so curious to me because I’d argue it doesn’t even make entire logic sense (like Rhys was throwing a fit at her for how she handled Bryce as if he didn’t send her in their with presumably almost zero training) and she’s been set up for something different in more ways then one now…

Which brings me to another point, maybe it’s just my Anti-Nessian instincts talking but like…what was the need to continue to make them so gross still??? I had kind of accepted by the end of ACOSF “yeah this pair kind of sucks but it is what it is they’re getting a happily ever after now” but that’s just so clearly NOT THE CASE. The whole Rhys issue is still super prominent, but the narrative is actually finally starting to acknowledge that like, maybe this isn’t okay??? Before in the text you read the awful things Cassian says and does and the narrative is just Nesta’s POV being like “yeah but im terrible and worthless and he’s great so I deserve this” and readers just have to stomach it but Ember stepping in feels like a shift in acknowledgment that this treatment isn’t fair and the part that always gets me is THAT STUPID SEXIST JOKE THE GUYS LAUGH AT BUT NESTA AND EMBER DONT. that’s such an intense and powerful moment, especially when these are two abuse survivors tolerating it and it’s literally like three lines that didn’t need to be there if they weren’t important???

This all adds up to me for the next book as meaning:

a) something really bad is going to happen to Nesta and the plot focus will be in some degree on helping her (maybe using the star sword, which would likely involve her sisters/Azriel)

b) Nesta’s POV still being a thing….

I know the second option would maybe feel wrong in a book that is probably meant to focus on her sister but there aren’t really rules about these things. SJM made a passing comment once about the new spinoffs being “one couple” focused and “each sister/her lover” focused but she really doesn’t have to stick to that. Even the OG ACOTAR trilogy was not that at all. We got maybe like three chapters in total of Rhy’s POV??? Even the text itself was first person which has been a major shift (side note people always ignore in their evil Rhys theories, we’ve only ever gotten Feyre and him in first person, we knowww this man). I think it would not be super crazy if next book is very multi-POV. It would still probably be focused on one person mostly (I am thinking Elain or Azriel and I think there are a lot of valid reasons to support that no matter who they wind up with) but having POVs from at least Nesta and maybe some other characters (dream ones here are Eris, the Valkyries, Vassa/Jurian, and a return to Mor’s POV) could make a lot of sense and be done in a way that still “focuses” on one character mostly. The most obvious examples to me are CC (those are Bryce’s book, but there are so many other POVs) and TOD (undeniably Chaol’s book, but there are other POVs).

I don’t know I think all the clues we’ve gotten so far suggest something bigger and less expected for ACOTAR 6 then just a “Elain’s version of ACOSF” sort of deal. If it were just that simple I feel like by now SJM could just…say that? Like call me crazy but I don’t think announcing it’s Elains book would be new information at all if it’s that simple?? it doesn’t tell us who she’s gonna wind up with and it’s perfectly in line with what people expect. Now I know there’s a whole slew of people who believe in a “just an Azriel” or Azriel/Gwyn book next but I just don’t see that for a lot of reasons (I mean I could be wrong and all the theorizing was for nothing but I don’t think I am). This really is not a point against Azriel/Gwyn either but I don’t see the logic in addressing their story before Elain/Azriel and Elain/Lucien. Chronologically it just doesn’t make sense to me and I actually think having them together first would detract a lot from an Elucien story (it’d just feel gross to me if Az finds his mate and then all of the sudden elains like ‘fine Lucien let’s figure this out🙄’ like if she’s going to choose Lucien let her choose Lucien please).

Im always curious to know other people’s thoughts, especially since we continuously have so little to go off of🙃 I do think there are even broader economic/practical elements it’s easier to ignore when your in a fandom space like…does any of this matter since it happened in CC3??? Do the bonus chapters even matter??? Would SJM be right in expecting people to have read them to “get” the next book. I think we all have very different impulses about this and actually think next book could be a rude awakening about it (like is there a world where nothing about the necklace/Elriel kiss/Gwynriel/Rhys is ever acknowledged??? it seems crazy to think about given fan discourse and theories but if SJM turned around and said “those bonus chapters are silly deleted scenes like” how could the people argue???) but I think it’s more likely there’s an acknowledgment most people have read all these series and she’s sort of priming them to do so with all these references. I just don’t know how much self contained ACOTAR related plot next book will have and how much of it will address these broader issues with the multi verse (like again Azriel can hear the star sword and it affects truth teller??? he lives in the same house with Nesta and that sword and can presumably use both, how could it not be acknowledged???) but I am curious to find out and honestly not even sure what I prefer

[acourtofantumbra]

Ok, I've already spent time wildly speculating about this random scene from ACOWAR where Feyre is struck by a memory of her "Prince of Merchants" father and a lapis lazuli pendant "from the ruins of an arid south-eastern kingdom, where the Fae had ruled as gods"...

So imagine my surprise when I come across this scene during my reread of HoF. Lapis lazuli mentioned specifically, along with gold, in the decoration of a knife that came from Eyllwe and was purchased from a merchant from the southern continent...

Both the memory and presence of these items seem to inspire uncontrolled, but visceral, memories for both Aelin and Feyre.

I've talked at length about the significance of lapis lazuli in particular (and what it could mean for these items), but mostly I'm here to say... "That's suspicious."

Heir of Fire, Chapter 34 & A Court of Wings and Ruin, Chapter 43

[hlizr50]

I've been sitting on this for, like, a year. I finally got it all together in a shareable collection of thoughts! So, without further ado, please enjoy my Fallen Star theory :)

I'm sorry it's so long.....

[lovesimmons-blog]

What if Gwyn’s dad is the Autumn king from CC? Maybe that’s the reason he was familiar with or trying to figure out jumping between worlds, because he’s trying to find a way back to Gwyn’s mom who he met during the rite (maybe the rite brought him there accidentally?). That would make Gwyn and Bryce half-sisters, and tie her more directly into the plot of the next CC book.

And! Gwyn glows while she sings, which also has ties to Bryce’s starlight power. So they could have both gotten their powers from the same Starborn line through the Autumn King.