#novablades

[self-spaghettification]

ok so i always wondered why the star in the mystery of aaravos intro looked the way it does instead of just a regular 4 prong star?

like this, yk:

and then i was looking at it and. i was like OH

it’s because it’s supposed to be the nova-blade.

it was there all along, since s4 and it will be until s7.

yk, the novablade, that thing that’s maybe gonna kill aaravos! a weapon used against him OR by him to make the other stars fall! like they are on screen! at the literal core of the mystery of aaravos!

they can’t just do that to us

[winter-tdp]

It's the Novablade it's the Novablade it's the Novablade it's the Novablade it's the flipping Novablade IT'STHENOOVABLADE THE STAFF IS THE NOVABLADE AND NOBODY WILL CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE IT'S THE FLIPPING NOVABLADE AND WHEN IT TURNS OUT TO BE THE NOVABLADE I'LL LAUGH IN THE FACE OF ANYONE WHO SAYS IT ISN'T I JUST KNOW IT BECAUSE TDP WOULD DO THAT KIND OF THING I BET I'M RIGHT IT'S THE FLIPPING NOVABLADE LISTEN TO ME IT'S THE NOVABLADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[raayllum]

thinking about the novablade. thinking about how ezran’s crown is a sword precisely because he didn’t want one. thinking about “lady justice laid before me her blindfold, her scales, her sword, and told me to choose.” thinking about ezran always wanting violence as a last resort. 

[parroset]

Novablade Theory: the Novablade is made from a star devourer dragon's tooth.

I was reminded of this theory by this post and decided to share it. So we don't know much about the Novablade, but we do have this quote and image:

"Ivory draconic brought death's bite, known ever forth as Novablade."

I think the wording here is interesting. Both "ivory" and "bite" are very strongly related to teeth, and of course, we have the word "draconic." The most notable thing about the Novablade is that it has the ability to make an immortal "no more"--whatever that means. In other words, it can take down a startouch elf in some capacity.

You know what else has that ability?

Star devourer dragons consume stars and the magic within. Now, this passage likely means actual stars and not startouch elves, but in Patience and Ripples, Aaravos refers to the two interchangeably, calling the other startouch elves "stars."

If the star devourer dragon can eat startouch elves, it's logical to assume that its teeth could be used to kill a startouch elf, or at least take some power away from one. The use of the word "draconic" really highlights this, as it can only really be referring to a handful of things. This could give some insight into how star devourer dragons work biologically: their teeth somehow kill a star(touch elf) and then they can consume the magical essence. Like a snake injecting venom into its prey.

Also interesting to note: the Novablade is probably named after supernovas, giant explosions of stars that create black holes. A supernova can shine brighter than a galaxy and can be seen from very far away. Star devourer dragons also, in a way, create changes in space that can be seen from far away (the stars in the night sky disappearing) and replace a star with darkness (just like a black hole). There is also a connection between them consuming the power of a star and a black hole consuming... Well, everything. They are decidedly less explosive than a supernova, but there is an organism there that absorbs the energy of the explosion and, likely, minimizes it.

Will this in any way affect the plot? Probably not. Is it still interesting to think about? To me, it is.

[nightmaira]

A thought just occured to me...the Dragang are getting the novablade and we were so distracted by the rest of the stuff going on in between that we couldn't pay attention to the fact that

Aaravos could die.

[its-leethee]

[bat-snake]

Season 7 theory (ranking unlikely) "You've brought my baby back to me" 2: Dying Words

[kradogsrats]

i love your writing and i was wondering, do you have an idea where viren’s character arc might be going post s5 if he survived n realized aaravos was lying like? especially after the revelation that he doesn’t have to be a dark mage anymore, where claudia is giving up everything in his stead… i’m all here for the viravos like i need but idk im trying to think of a feasible way they would interact in s6/how viren would get drawn in again, and failing lmao

Aw, thank you! I do hope that Viren stays hanging out with Claudia and Aaravos just because I think him interacting too early/much with the main trio would be kind of tedious. Actually that's a lie, there are ways it could be done, they just seem kind of unlikely at this point.

To be realistic, I'm not sure there's a good way to maintain Viren's involvement with Aaravos that does not involve Viren Has A Bad Time. Like, there are plenty of ways that Aaravos can keep him essentially wrapped around his fingers—keep Claudia all-in on working with him, threaten Claudia directly, threaten Claudia indirectly, and of course he technically could probably just possess either of them any time he feels like it (unless that's a thing that requires line-of-sight, it's hard to say). Is there a way to have Viren to genuinely buy into it without regressing his character? I'm not so sure.

The fic I'm very grudgingly working on basically starts with Aaravos like "omg did you seriously think you could have a single empowering hallucination and I'd somehow let you go? that's adorable" and Viren being like "ah fuck I forgot he's also hot." Which... it is what it is, lmao.

I do think there's another question at hand, which is whether Aaravos will still have interest in Viren, or even Claudia, going into s6. He might ditch them entirely now that his prison has been found and start to work the Callum angle toward freedom. It would be smarter for him to hang on to both ends in case one falls through, particularly since now that Claudia has failed him once he has an incredible amount of leverage over her, versus Callum being hostile toward him. But it's still possible that Claudia, Viren, and Terry will go off on some thread less directly related to Aaravos.

[bycaprinae]

The only fact I KNOW about him that is 100% true is that he has a baby with Viren (bc reel james asked Aaron if it was for real or just a joke and he confirmed it's real, I'm a viravos shipper and I thought it was just a joke, this man does not lie fr)

Love how every season I know less about Aaravos. The more screen time and information I get the more confused I am snd I'm convinced we're all too tame no one is writing him as completely batshit deranged as he really is and also I wouldn't bet on ANYTHING we have been shown so far as absolute fact about him anymore. Maybe he has a dragon form maybe he's a black hole of a star maybe he's a caterpillar but above all the only thing I do know is he's a little bitch

[self-spaghettification]

callum is a trojan horse s6 theory

In the event that the Novablade doesn't work on Aaravos, because .... he's already been stabbed with it, then...

Aaravos intentionally made Callum terribly afraid of him so Callum would HAVE to go to the Starscraper to kill him—so scared that he’s even doing it when he knows—and Rayla told him—it was a bad idea to bring the pearl. he just made it easier for him. the irony is wonderful. so Aaravos gets the sword, the last ingredient to his revenge on the stars, who he swears will fall.

so he's not dying at the hand of the Novablade, it's his weapon

Added thoughts from mutuals were-- Startouch elves were probably barred from entering the Starscraper for some reason, that’s why he needed to use Callum as his vessel, his Trojan horse—throwback to Fall of Lux Aurea btw, "You allowed my vessel to walk ...directly to the source of all your power?" He's done this before—anyway

Today I Realize

the intro to the show directly supports this idea

just the novablade, on screen. while the stars are falling. in aaravos’s name

in his name. the novablade is literally in his name. but also. metaphorically. likely going to be used/ the stars will be falling in his name

in the intro of a show planned out by arc, an intro set to go the rest of the arc

those bastards knew what they were doing since s4 while everyone was bashing it and they were doing this. they were doing this. isofjdsokfjlskghjoiyet4rwehsufdiggjkhlytr im so ILLLLLL

love you show creators for also making it evident it's gonna be callum/supporting my theory further because

The only other place Aaravos's desire for the stars to fall is mentioned is in Patience.

And what's right below this part that closely parallels the arc 2 intro?

Ziard, Viren, and Callum. in S6, Claudia is also likely interacting with Aaravos. (S6 poster) so...why isn’t she here? Only Callum and Viren are here. Could it be because they’re fulfilling such similar roles?

After the end of s5, we know Viren is likely not the main player in Aaravos's game now, not an option (in one way or another) so

next up as Trojan horse / vessel…

Yeah

so excited for hearts of cinder 2: epic fail: so good at "hero" stuff he accidentally doomed the world

[raayllum]

Something I think is interesting is the way Ezran has... centralized, for lack of a better term. He still is very concerned with keeping the world safe and knows he has a big part to play in creating more peaceful circumstances globally, but he undoubtedly has a mind and heart set first and foremost on his own kingdom, as 4x03 demonstrates well, that's shifted a little from 2x09. It reminds me a bit of how he handles things in 2x07, where he wants to help the dragon, but also doesn't struggle to leave it in segue of difficult/dangerous odds because Zym is waiting for them. He's empathetic, but knows when and where to prioritize a mission with a sort of clear, emotional rationality -- whereas Rayla was the total bleeding heart and couldn't leave the dragon at all, and Callum couldn't leave her.

[theredhairedmonkey]

Y’all also realize that Callum is probably the one who will be wielding the Novablade, right?

Just imagine, going from “can barely hold a sword” to holding the most powerful sword in the world.

[self-spaghettification]

oh this is So Much to me

super specific orphan queen and aaravos drawing which most likely only makes sense in my head !!!

and pt2 of it, which is v sketchy im sorry

[sorinethemastermind]

Inanimate objects Important to TDP S7

The puzzle cube. It was inevitable that we were going to be seeing more of this after it's introduction, but also, after seeing what it's for in S6. So I think that we'll also be seeing the book that it hails from. The question is, will it be something that Aaravos is after, or will it be something that Callum discovers and uses against him?

2. Dragon Scale Amulet. Aaron Ehasz confirmed that this amulet is connected to Laurelion, the Startouch Elf from the poem (in which the gang discover the story of the Nova Blade). And we've seen it so many times that even before learning of this I knew it had to be for something! So now the question is... what?

3. The Nova Blade. Sure, it could have been a plot device to make them travel to the Celestial Elves. But the Quasar Diamonds already were that! Which makes me think that this will come into play again, even if it's not the thing that's used to defeat Aaravos.

It's described as "ivory draconic brought death's bite known ever forth as Novablade," and combine that with the previous item on this list, the Dragon Scale Amulet, and I can't help but think that the two are connected.

4. Staff of Ziard. According to the official wiki, the Relic Staff is an "elven crafted relic" (I believe by Aaravos). It lso sayd that "Although the staff is primarily used to amplify and strengthen dark magic spells, it can also be used as a catalyst for Aaravos's spells to be used by Viren. It is said to hold even greater secrets."

"There are seven other staffs identical to it in the Zenith of the Star Scraper. Although, while this staff has a purple stone, each of the other staffs has a gem of different colors embedded in them. Notably, there is one empty space among the eight pillars where the staffs are mounted."

Not only do I think this staff will play a role in the next season, I also think that we'll discover more about the other staffs. Especially knowing that Astrid will be playing more of a roll in the next season, she'll probably have answers for these questions!

5. The Cursed Coins. My personal theory is that Aaravos will be trapped inside the coin, as they cannot kill him. And beyond that, I also think that there's a good chance the last Quasar Diamond will be used to free Kpp'Ar from his cursed coin.

[xadianglyphs]

The Dragonscale Amulet: Theory

And finally... literally the reason I made this entire blog. Basically, back in March we had this:

Anyway, I dropped literally everything to catalog the entire breadth of writing, runes, glyphs, etc. in the series so far, all in order to figure out what the hell this means. One theory that has evolved in the meantime is that the symbol on the amulet represents an acorn or seed, but I would like to propose another.

First, let's look at the amulet and symbol, themselves.

The amulet is composed of a dragon scale (allegedly, at least... we haven't seen dragon scales separated from dragons anywhere else) that is red, highly reflective (whether naturally or polished after the fact), and about palm-sized. By that scale, it probably comes from a dragon about Pyrrah's size or a little larger, unless it was carved down to a smaller size when crafted into an amulet. The scale is anchored in a gold setting, with a shape and decorations that have a fair amount of similarity to the Staff of Ziard. (Maybe we should have anticipated an Aaravos/Startouch association.)

As for the symbol, accounting for perspective (to the best of my abilities), we have this:

The symbol is etched directly into the scale's surface. Its lines are less smooth than the ones decorating the setting, which could indicate that it was added at another time (earlier/later) with a less precise tool, or just that gouging designs into dragon scales is hard.

In terms of similarity to other symbols we've seen so far, it could come from a similar system as the symbols in Infantis Sanguine. It also has similarities to a primal rune, though the sharp, wide corners are unusual. Either way, I think this is a pictographic symbol representing an item or concept as a whole, not an alphabetic character—this isn't Laurelion personally going around with a blinged-out "L" necklace.

So what could it be? Well, I propose that it's a heart. Like so:

My initial impression had the horizontal top "crossbar" as the pulmonary arteries, and the vertical center line as the aorta/vena cava, but you could also look at the crossing vertical and diagonal lines as dividing the space into the four chambers of the heart. However, I think there's another direction to go with that diagonal, so let's put a pin in that for a moment.

Why a heart? Because there has a sizeable amount of fairly convincing speculation post-s4 that the dark space in Aaravos's chest is either figuratively or literally representing his heart having been removed. @raayllum's are a lot more coherent, but I've also done my share.

I'm sure someone had this thought before I did, if only because I was super late to the fandom. But I had it!

... okay right, back to the amulet.

Aaravos's heart is also a key part of the "Laurelion and Aaravos are the same person" theory, in part because Laurelion's heart is the center of everything we currently know about them.

Laurelion's heart was pierced by either the as-yet-unnamed Novablade itself or a piece of draconic ivory (i.e. a dragon's tooth) that was later forged into the Novablade, after which "immortal Laurelion was no more."

Aside from creating an additional connection between Laurelion and dragons, making the dragon scale of the amulet even more interesting, let's go back to the symbol in light of the whole "pierced" thing.

Now, TDP has a fair amount of Christian symbolism and imagery to it, some purely because of how deeply Christianity is embedded in western culture but some also definitely intentional. Aaravos was initially framed as a Prometheus figure, but it became progressively more clear that he's a Lucifer one—a tempter, a rebel angel, out to destroy creation. They absolutely know what they're doing with things like the *checks watch* 2019 Aaravos birthday post:

So don't think it's completely insane to take that, Laurelion's death[citation needed], and the amulet symbol, and think of this:

Depictions of the Sacred Heart don't seem to usually show the spear, just the wound, but I wasn't raised Catholic so work with me here. (If you want to get even more Catholic, there's also the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which is almost always depicted with a sword piercing it diagonally all the way through because she's... sad? Look, I don't know.) The idea is that it represents the boundless and fervent love of God expressed through the suffering of Jesus, which... whatever.

I do think it's interesting, however, that we are primed to question Laurelion's "death" and concepts of mortality/immortality, death of identity, etc. in the context of Startouch elves because while there's definitely a possibility that an immortal being stripped of their immortality is a punishment, there's also... a lot of cultural precedent for that as a willing gift of love to a mortal/mortals, whether you're looking at Jesus, Castor and Pollux, or Arwen and Aragorn. So we'll see how that plays out.

Anyway, that's my weird fringe theory: the amulet symbol represents Laurelion's pierced heart.

Probably time to worry about Claudia. (As if we weren't, already.)

Bonus:

[kradogsrats]

Aaravos, Leola, and the Entire History of Human Magic

ALL RIGHT, BUCKLE THE FUCK UP:

So after my "Leola and Laurelion might be the same person" crazy, I was looking shit up to write a post about alternately Laurelion possibly being Aaravos, as in Laurelion was the immortal Aaravos, and Aaravos is the fallen Laurelion, because of this:

White as the star's heart it pierced, as in "Novablade is white, and the star's heart was also white."

Who... had the white heart of a star...

... and now... doesn't?

hmmmmMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

However, the problem with this is that Aaravos at least appears to go from powered/heart-ed version:

To de-powered, heart...less? version:

...when he's imprisoned. At least, according to the way Zubeia tells it.

Meanwhile, in Ripples, we see what is presumably Aaravos's actual "fall," as the "Fallen Star"—a literal descent from the heavens. This occurs long, long before the events of Aaravos's imprisonment, before dark magic, before Elarion.

I'll note that part of what I'm taking into account here is a note from the artbook on Aaravos's designs:

As a "fallen" Startouch elf, Aaravos can only access a fraction of his former power.

So it seems like the assumption to make would be that Aaravos lost his powers and status when he was cast from the heavens, which is also where I would assume Laurelion dies and Aaravos is "born" if the Laurelion/Aaravos as the same being dichotomy was in play. Then why is his heart not blackened until he's imprisoned?

One possibility is that his empowered appearance is an illusion he's maintaining—another manipulation, that's dropped when he's imprisoned.

Another possibility is this is all bullshit, and everything is as generally assumed before: when Aaravos was imprisoned, the majority of his power was somehow stripped.

Leaving that aside for a moment, let's take a look at the order of operations here, historically.

Humanity looks to the stars to save them, but the stars do not respond:

— Patience

At some point, humanity is granted some kind of blessing from the heavens, long before humans built cities and became powerful:

— Patience

ALSO at some point, humanity is granted the power of primal magic. By tradition this was from the unicorns, in particular Leola:

— Tales of Xadia

However, this magic is forbidden them:

— Ripples

Aaravos is cast from the heavens in a calamity that creates the Sea of the Castout—again, long before dark magic:

— Ripples

Further, in the retelling of this story, Aaravos notes that the stars apparently were satisfied with the results of casting him out. It scarred the land, and frightened the humans—and their claim on primal magic—into submission:

— Ripples

I'll add another note from the artbook here on Aaravos's design:

Some designs had a strong, authoritative vibe that suited other Startouch elves, but not our "fallen star."

Finally, let's look at this again:

Aaravos, obviously, on his knees and in despair. A feminine-appearing elf who is almost certainly another Startouch elf, by the horn shape and the design of the crown on her brow.

I've seen at least one person cast this as a rendition of Aaravos's punishment, in that she represents the other stars and gestures as if to say "behold how far our brother has fallen."

But y'all. Y'ALL. Please.

We have seen this gesture FAR too many times for it to be something else, at this point. This is mercy, and love, and the passing of a torch.

So, let me clean this up into what I think happened:

The stars are largely absent gods, indifferent to the fate of humans and interested in only their design/prophecy of the world.

Leola, another Startouch elf (or else we're gonna stretch the definition of "unicorn" pretty far), takes pity on humanity and grants them the secret of primal magic.

Leola is somehow punished for this transgression. If Laurelion is Leola, she is killed. (The Celestial elves, in this case, are the guardians of the stars' order and power in Xadia. They are the last line of defense against this sort of thing.)

Aaravos, who loved Leola, either speaks on her behalf or otherwise rebels against the order of the stars. Aaravos is cast out. If Laurelion is Aaravos, he is robbed of his heart and his power.

"Leola's Last Wish" is to continue to be a guide to humanity, through the darkness.

Aaravos, meanwhile, fucking loses his mind and decides to burn down everything. He will destroy everything the stars put in place in all of Xadia, and he will leverage humans to do it.

Aaravos begins to spin up dark magic, and when the time is right, gifts it to humanity as the inciting action of his plan to tear all of Xadia apart. More on that here.

ADDENDUM: Chatting with @raayllum immediately after writing this and they raised the possibility of Leola being Aaravos’s mother, given the parallel to Sarai in the statue, and YES that makes so much sense. Particularly regarding the star-child constellation, him adopting her crown, and why he might be punished along with her. I like this explanation better than them being lovers, even if it means TDP gains yet another goddamn martyr mother.

Anyway, that's it! Mystery of Aaravos solved.