#onyx storm theories

[imacat331]

Why Brennan didn’t come home (post Onyx Storm theory):

I think there was another, more painful reason why Brennan stayed in Aretia instead of going home-

In the second book, V says that Brennan was famous for being a brilliant tactician, even at a young age. Surely Brennan could’ve realized the benefits to returning - the potential of being a spy for the rebellion cause, helping through his birthright (being general sorrengail’s son), and of course, saving his sisters from their mother’s lies.

However, Brennan stayed back. He remained hidden, even going as far as to change his name and recreate his identity (more on his new name later). Why?

Brennan was resurrected from the dead (see this post).

Worse, Brennan knows he was resurrected. He knows Naolin is venin (likely a big bad venin), and knows Naolin used his power to resurrect him to bring him back from the dead. It’s now as if Brennan is the wyvern to Naolin’s dark wielder - the wyvern forever dependent on the dark wielder for life.

Brennan chose the name “Aisereigh”. What does “Aisereigh” mean? Resurrected.

RY is not subtle with these hints y’all.

So what does this have to do with Brennan not returning back home after the battle?

I think Brennan’s resurrection means he has a physical tether to Naolin. He can’t stay away from Naolin for long periods of time. I’m not sure if Brennan secretly meets up with Naolin, or if there’s a mental bond between them that weakens Brennan’s life force the further away he is from Naolin, but the important part is:

If Brennan had gone home, he would’ve eventually brought Naolin straight to his sisters, or his sisters would’ve found out about Naolin (due to Brennan’s need for proximity).

When Violet first confronts Brennan as to why he didn’t come home, he says it was to protect them. Violet’s naturally irate with that response, dismisses them, and adds Brennan to her list of betrayers. But even she, in all her scribe wisdom, who’s so good at looking between lines, doesn’t stop to think what Brennan could’ve meant.

I’m not sure when/how this may be revealed, but I do believe that killing Naolin will result in Brennan’s death. And Brennan knows this, and likely knows that Naolin has to die for them to win this war against the dark wielders. Despite being given another chance of life, I think Brennan was cursed with the knowledge that he could never truly go back home.

[wishfulimaginings]

Brennan's rune theory

Onyx Storm spoilers

This is what I think happened. And I so hope I'm wrong about this.

Firstly a vast majority of the fandom believes that Naolin turned Venin. I belong to this group. I do think that Naolin is 100% venin, there is no reason to bring up a dead guy this much otherwise.

Although, I do not think that Naolin turned when he tried to save Brennan. (I dont think he saved B at all but we'll get to that) I think, that Naolin was an initiate already, and probably became an Asim when he pulled from the ground to save Brennan. But see Naolin was not a mender.

Naolin was a SIPHON ( Venin opposite of Sloane). He could only have siphoned power back into Brennan and I'm not sure B was even conscious to have mended himself. No, see, I think Naolin siphoned his power into the rune that is on Brennan's hand. I don't think he saved Brennan at all, I think Brennan was already dead and Naolin used the rune to resurrect him.

Why ? It is possible that they were in love and Naolin couldn't let Brennan die but unlike Xaden he didn't have anyone to tether his soul and he lost all humanity after elevating to Asim and that's why Brennan woke up alone.

I also think Theophanie and Berwyn both answer to Naolin. I think he somehow became the big bad in the last 6-8 years .

I also think he wants violet because she has Tairn.

Back to the rune. Remember from Iron Flame how Wyvern are made ? The pulsing runes that Mira and Violet take out of them..

See where I'm going?

Naolin brought Brennan back the same way Venin animate wyverns. With a rune.

The rune is keeping Brennan alive but only till the venin who created it lives.

If Naolin dies , so will Brennan.

[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

[thestarseternaal]

OS THEORY SPOILERS 🌩

RY clearly stated that there would be a betrayal in onyx storm and everyone has suspected Brennan (rightfully so) and expected something major to happen and a big confession, but I think it's more than that.

she said there would be a family betrayal and there's not a lot of those to choose from. there are the sorrengail siblings, riorson-durran, dain and his father (that ship has long sailed) and rhihannons family but somehow at the end of onyx storm xaden talks about someone turning venin

How could he do this? Choose this after watching me stumble and fall over the last five months.

How many people knew about Xaden from the start?

Violet

Bodhi

Garrick

Imogen

and since we know it isn't vi or imogen it leaves us with garrick and bodhi. and since garrick was with imogen he couldn't have turned unless he did it prior to finding imogen but then again she would have noticed the red rimmed eyes which brings me to my next point

Family Betrayal

I think it's Bodhi who turned and Xaden clearly considers it as a betrayal. which is a betrayal and he feels like that too when he says "how could he do this?" That's his only living family he has left and now he's well.. venin?

Furthermore we know from Imogens chapter that bodhis dragon was severely hurt

did something happen to Bodhi's dragon to the point he had to turn venin to survive and if so why? and last why would he marry violet out of nowhere unless he had no choice but to do so, in order to keep his family's seat and not let Navarre give it to someone they can control.

me rn:

[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)

[chyyy66]

question: do you think Violet will be able to get her memories back somehow with her new signet? do you think Imogen remembers the things Violet is supposed to not know? what do we think is happening at the end there? it felt so sudden, yet clearly we know 12 hours have gone by. also do we think the shadow violet sees to the move right of her when she comes to, is xaden? I’ve seen people say they think her hair may be fully silver now based on Brennan and the other man who comes up reactions to seeing her. Ugh I have so many questions.

OKAY I HAVE IDEAS FOR ALL OF THESE !!!

I actually think Dain will be the key to getting her memories back ! He’s a memory reader, and we learn he has way more power than he is letting on, so I think he’ll be able to pull them back from the subconscious .

I 100% believe Imogen knows what happened in those 12 hours. She has always helped protect Xaden, so I think he called her over and was like “hey after we get married take those memories away please” I don’t know why … but I feel there’s something way more important that happend then

Those 12 hours haunt me … I think they went to Dunnes temple to get married, and the new Venin brother and Imogen are there. I also think, Andarna broke the mating bond between Tairn and Sgaeyl so she can go with Xaden and not worry about having to come back

I 100% believe the shadow she sees is Xaden .. no doubt about it.

I also do believe her hair is completely white ! With her using the dagger that is made out of Dunne’s temple, I think she ended up finishing dedicating her life to Dunne and this will somehow change how powerful she is

[hockeyspiral23]

Harkening back to this post (linking and not reblogging to keep spoilers hidden) and going back to a theory that popped up in my IG feed the other day ...

(Onyx Storm spoilers below the cut)

... the key to defeating the venin might be Violet learning to wield magic from the sky. Or someone learning how to do so. But probably Violet (and our girl is definitely gonna need to get better at runes).

Going all the way back to Fourth Wing, when Violet flips through The Fables after reading the note from her dad, what's mentioned? Oh, merely this: "Another talks about the dangers of wielding power from the ground instead of the skies, as one could easily start drawing magic from the earth and eventually be driven mad."

Then look at the ch.37 epigraph: "But it was the third brother, who commanded the sky to surrender its greatest power, who finally vanquished his jealous sibling at a great and terrible price." We all know that there were three brothers - a dragon-bonded, a gryphon-bonded, and the venin. But which brother learned to draw from the sky?

Then, in Onyx Storm, when Violet goes to Anca to retrieve the Amelian Citrine, she mentions that it feels different than normal passing the wards:

My skin tingles as we slip down into the valley through the Esbens, and I'm struck with the oddest urge to try and pluck strands from the very sky and weave runes. "It feels like there's more power out here than usual," I tell Tairn as we dive along a ridgeline. "There's actually less - the venin saw to that," he replies. "But you grow more powerful every day, more capable of recognizing what once was invisible to you." "I could recognize it," Andarna chimes in. "If you ever let me come with you."

And Andarna can notice it because, as we learn from the conversation with the Irids, she is magic. That's why their breed can live on the Isles. It's why Violet can still talk to her own dragons and no one else can - my guess is that Tairn can talk with Violet thanks to her being double bonded; she can talk to one, she can talk to both. It's also why Theophanie was fine killing Violet once she thought Andarna was gone - the venin want the Irids because they know what they truly are.

(How this ties into the Sword of Tyrrendor/Blade of Aretia I don't know, but I somehow also know that those are going to come into play somehow later. Because the thing that Xaden mentions about keeping safe? Is 10000% the Sword. I think it's why he actually tried giving it to the Deverelli - because he knew it would be far away from him (and well out of the reach of Berwyn's hands, given how much Berwyn wielding that sword is in Xaden's dreams)).

(Also also since we're here ... Xaden emphasizes the word dream when he talks about how much he misses her, so we're totally gonna get her dream-walking into Xaden's dreams so they can have dream sex. And I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this ...)

[contententhusiast]

I finished Onyx storm so I'm here to give a silly little Dain Aetos theory

I have a little bulleted list of thoughts from the whole book i'll post later as well but I like this one lol so it gets it's own post

I'm happy to see so many people coming around to Dain after this book! I've had a theory ever since the middle of Iron Flame when he helped kill Varrish and I feel like this book helped solidify it.

I think Dain is actually meant to be a full on memory reading inntinnsic. I think he self imposed the touch barrier during manifestation without knowing it. Because think about who his father is, besides being a grade A asshole, his father is also extremely strict and abides by the rules above all else. He doesn't hesitate to disown Dain just for deserting with the Areatian Riders, imagine what would have happened if Dain had been manifested as an inntinnsic his freshman year. His father would have put him to death himself. So I think when it was time to manifest Dain unconsciously held back his powers because he couldn't be an inntinnsic.

It really solidified for me in Onyx storm when Solane says "Someone like you shouldn't have this much power" and Dain basically says I know. He also refers to the power she takes as his excess power. If he has never properly wielded his signet and used his full capabilities then of course he would have all this excess power in him still. It seems similar to manifestation, if a cadet doesn't manifest the power just keeps building up until they implode. Well what if Dain never fully manifested??

I think now since he has already disappointed his father and is gaining this new confidence of his own, he'll be ready to fully manifest his powers. I could see him and Violet working closely together next book to figure out her inntinnsic dream walking abilities as well as his own. I feel like she may trust him with the secret and even if his power doesn't change he is still the closest thing she knows to another inntinnsic besides Xaden and will want his help. Perhaps Dain can even learn to use his abilities to get Violets memories back!

[justallihere]

will you please elaborate on your bodhi will die prediction from a few weeks ago bc tbh it made me want to throw up 😭😭😭 that little angel is on like 4 pages in the whole series and I would literally die for him in his place. Is it just a feeling you have? Or did you see a theory somewhere? I need to know to talk myself down from the emotional damage I’m facing just at the thought 💔

Just in general, it's pretty much a given that someone (or someones) will die in OS, especially since we didn't really lose anyone in IF. And it's inevitably going to hurt, which means it will be someone close to Xaden and Violet. It won't be Sawyer because he just lost a leg. It's not Jesinia for obvious reasons. Personally I'd narrow it down to Bodhi, Rhiannon, or Garrick, but Rebecca LOVES Garrick. Loves that man. So Bodhi or Rhiannon. Amy convinced me that Bodhi makes more sense, in that someone is likely to kill him thinking he's Xaden. Her whole theory is linked here!

[hannah-schooler]

i thought it would be Cam/Aaric, but the more I think about it the more I think GARRICK might be the distance wielder. Rebecca’s comment about picking him if she were stuck on an island has me thinking like…a distance wielder would be able to get you OFF the island 🤔

but at the same time why didn’t he just pop in and out of Basgiath for the weapons drops, why risk him Xaden and Bodhi all actually leaving, so idk

[watchnrant]

Is Violet a Descendant of the Brother Who Wielded the Sky? And What Does That Mean for Tairn, Andarna, and the Irid Dragons?

SPOILER WARNING

Alright, let’s break this down. We’ve known since Fourth Wing that Violet’s abilities—her instinctive, overwhelming connection to storm magic—aren’t just strong. They’re different. By the time Iron Flame rolled around, it became undeniable: Violet isn’t just powerful; she’s tied to something much older than we understand.

So, let’s revisit the Fables of the Barren. Specifically, the brother who wielded the sky. If Violet’s power stems from an ancient bloodline, could she be his direct descendant? And if so, what does that mean for her dragons?

Because, let’s be real—Tairn and Andarna aren’t normal either.

Tairn’s Connection to the Past

If Violet is connected to the sky-wielding brother, then what about Tairn? We already suspect that dragons carry their own lineages, much like riders. If Tairn is part of the same bloodline as the dragon who originally bonded to the sky-wielding brother, then his and Violet’s bond isn’t just powerful—it’s fated. A rekindling of an ancient connection that’s been buried for centuries.

But that still doesn’t explain Andarna.

The Truth About Andarna’s Origins

For two books, Andarna’s 650-year-old egg was a mystery. Why was she left behind? Why did she choose Violet? And why does her fire burn venin—something no other dragon has done?

Then, in Onyx Storm, we finally got answers.

Andarna isn’t just rare. She’s irid—one of the mysterious, long-lost seventh breed of dragons. But more than that, she was deliberately left behind.

When Violet and her squad track down the missing breed, they quickly realize the irid dragons weren’t lost. They were hiding. They had been following the squad undetected, using their natural camouflaging abilities until they chose to reveal themselves to Violet, Andarna, Tairn, and Ridoc (and his dragon, Aotrom).

That’s when the irids confirm what Andarna has always suspected—she is one of them.

Leothan, an irid dragon, even shares the same markings as Andarna, proving they are from the same den—they are family. But there’s a difference.

Andarna isn’t a feathertail like the rest of them. She’s a scorpiontail.

And that seemingly small detail? Turns out, it’s everything.

Irid Dragons: What Makes Them Different?

The irid dragons are unlike any other breed in Navarre.

They can camouflage—changing their colors or turning completely invisible.

They don’t use magic—they are magic.

They bend, shape, and break magic at will

That last part is huge.

When Andarna burned a venin to ash, she didn’t just breathe fire—she reshaped magic itself in that moment. That’s why no other dragon has been able to do the same.

Leothan explains this to Andarna:

“You are irid. You are magic. Bend it, shape it, break it as you see fit.”

Meaning Andarna didn’t even realize what she was doing. She instinctively rewrote the rules of magic to suit her needs.

And that makes her—and by extension, Violet—incredibly dangerous.

But here’s the problem: The other irids want nothing to do with the rest of dragonkind.

Why Did the Irids Leave Navarre?

Unlike Empyrean dragons, who fight to protect their own, irid dragons see war as beneath them. They withdrew from Navarre and hid away in a remote southern archipelago—so well hidden that their islands aren’t even on maps.

And there are hundreds of them.

They’ve thrived by avoiding battle, choosing instead to live in isolation, believing themselves to be the only “evolved” breed of dragon.

To them, the endless war between humans, venin, and dragons is proof that the other breeds are primitive, violent, and doomed.

Which brings us to Andarna.

Why Did the Irids Abandon Andarna?

When the irids finally meet Andarna, one of them calls her “the criterion.”

A criterion is a standard for judgment—which is exactly what Andarna was meant to be.

The irids left Andarna behind on purpose.

They wanted to see if she would grow up in human society and prove that humans were capable of peace. If she had returned to them as a reflection of wisdom and restraint, they would have taken it as evidence that humans had evolved.

Instead?

Andarna became a weapon.

She bonded with a human.

She fought in battle.

She killed.

Even her tail was weaponized.

To the irids, this meant humans had not changed at all.

And so, they rejected Andarna.

“You have weaponized your magic, even your tail. You’ve become the very thing we abhor, the horror we fled from.”

They saw her as corrupted, defective, and unworthy of learning their ways.

Why Did Leothan Change His Mind?

At first, the irids abandoned Andarna completely. But later, Leothan returned—breaking ranks—to help fire the wardstone at Tyrrendor and to train Andarna.

Why?

Was an exception made for her? Did he defy the other irids? Or is there something bigger at play?

What we do know is that the irids are not done. Their magic is capable of reshaping reality itself. And their decision to step away from the world may no longer be an option.

So What Does This All Mean?

Violet is likely a descendant of the brother who wielded the sky, which explains her raw, instinctive power.

Tairn may be tied to that same ancient bond, making their connection fated rather than random.

Andarna’s breed doesn’t just use magic—they are magic.

Andarna’s fire burned a venin because she reshaped magic to do so—something no other dragon has done.

The irids left Andarna behind to judge humanity—and they believe we failed.

Leothan’s choice to return raises huge questions about what’s coming next.

With everything we now know about the irids, Violet’s lineage, and the growing threat of the venin, one thing is certain:

This war is bigger than Navarre. It’s bigger than the riders. It’s bigger than dragons.

The irids can change everything—but whether they will remains to be seen.

So… what do we think? Did Leothan break rank? Will Andarna ever be accepted? And how much further can Violet push her magic before she reshapes more than just lightning?

[whompingwillowshire]

Theory: instead of venin being connected or dedicated to malek, it would make more sense if it was dunne - goddess of strength and war

[wishfulimaginings]

Spoilers for Onyx storm ending ahead.

You've been warned !

Yes it's about the unconscious rider in Xaden's pov

Long post alert.

I'm going to start off by saying it's not Garrick. With all the Garrick and Imogen scenes and his second signet ,his arc is going in a different direction. I have theories there but that's not what this post is about.

It's Bodhi.

If there's one thing I learned about him in this book, it is that he's not jealous of Xaden , not the way people in the book seem to think he might be. His whole life it's been drilled into him that Xaden would be Duke one day and Bodhi needs to protect him.

Bodhi's dream in life is to be Xaden's right hand man. His security detail.

And he says as much in Chapter 55

He has unwavering loyalty to Xaden. Not Tyrrendor.

Exhibit B

Next, lets look at the scene where Violet and Bodhi are fighting Theophanie.

Theophanie might be powerful but a mind wielder she is not. She wrongfully assumes Bodhi wants Xaden's crown. But you know who IS a mind wielder aka a Dream walker- BERWYN. But I'll get to that in a moment.

For now lets look at the fight. Theophanie wields, Bodhi counters. Bodhi fails because his magic doesn't work on her.

The next time we see Bodhi , he's fighting wyvern with Imogen and Dain. Clearly he disobeyed and stayed to fight. And it's raining and hailing, we see this fight both from Violet's pov for a second but majorly from Imogen's pov.

Then Imogen and Dain leave to find Quin. And the next time we see Bodhi, he's throwing up.

I think this is where Bodhi pulled from the ground. Imogen's chapter ends here but I can bet my first edition copy of Onyx storm that this is where he pulls from the ground and then counters Theophine's signet again. And he succeeds this time.

Proof

Violet thinks Theophanie is killing the storm but I'm telling you that was Bodhi.

Now lets talk about Theophanie and Berwyn for a sec. This is important. See Bodhi's comment that Theophanie is the one trying to prove herself really hit me because it seems like she's in competition with Berwyn and Berwyn is winning because he got Xaden to turn. And so she's doing everything she can to get Violet. She literally tells Violet to choose her as her sage when she turns.

Now Theophanie is a shit manipulator. She's so bad at it, its actually funny.

Berwyn on the other hand is a mastermind. He's the venin opposite of Violet and they're both Dream walkers. The irids were aghast when they read what Andarna had given to Violet calling it a really really dangerous signet. And Xaden told her that she doesn't simply see other people's dreams but that she can "meddle". As untrained as she is , she can still meddle. Berwyn is a fully trained maven. He's been trapping and torturing Xaden in his dreams since Resson, until Xaden finally turned at Basgiath.

Who is to say he wasn't doing the same to Bodhi ? I think Berwyn, cunning as he is knows what Bodhi really wants and where his weaknesses lie because he's been in his head. And thats how he got Bodhi to turn, just like Xaden , doing the wrong thing for the right reason.

On an unrelated but totally related note-

Rebecca was recently asked , in an Onyx Storm event, what each character would order at a bar. She said Xaden would order a Beer. And so Bodhi would also order a beer because HE HAS TO DO WHAT XADEN DOES.

Edit: i found the reel. Watch reel here

Edit 2: Timeline breakdown:

Violet- Imogen - Violet - Xaden chapters and the weather.

Vi's chapter ends with Glane going after Cuir, and that is exactly where Imogen's chapter begins. Imogen's chapter ends with pouring rain and storm and a sky full of wyvern. She goes back inside and her order to every rider around is to come and drop of their alloy hilted daggers so they may extend the wards to Draithus. Next we see Violet, she says the rain turned to hail and then vanishes completely. The sun is out now. When Xaden's onyx storm is spreading he mentions blocking out the afternoon sun, no mention of rain.

Tldr, Xaden and Imogen's chapters do not overlap.

Imogen looks up, Bodhi pulls, Bodhi kills the storm, and at some point after that he passes out , then Xaden unleashes his Onyx Storm

Thats all folks.

[skyfallscotland]

Time for another outlandish Onyx Storm theory! Ba dum tiss! 🥁 This one is quite frankly, wilder than all that have come before. This time, I figured I'd tell you all about how I think we might have already met Xaden's mother. Let's dive in!

Oh boy here goes...

So...here's what we know about Xaden: his mum left when he was ten (or disappeared!) under mysterious circumstances and he's still hung up about her (he kept the blanket she made him!) and he has a fascination with Violet's silver-tipped hair.

I honestly cannot believe I'm saying this (it's almost fucking Oedipal, is what it is) but people have suggested the two are related. I shrugged it off, but now I have this weird, unsettling feeling that they might be right...I think there's a possibility that the venin who teleports in chapter two of Onyx Storm could be his mother.

Her long silver braid swings free of her hood as her attention whips in our direction, and her eerie red gaze jumps to mine and widens slightly under a faded tattoo on her forehead. My blood chills when a smirk tilts her mouth, distorting the red veins at her temples, and then she…disappears.

· Firstly, she has a mysterious faded tattoo, potentially a Tyrrish rune, on her forehead, I'll let you connect the dots there. (Really what I mean is I haven't fully fleshed this out yet, I just need to get it off my chest lol sorry)

· She's a sage, based on this information from Drake: Sages’—those responsible for initiates—eyes are permanently red, their veins perpetually distended toward their temples, expanding with age. Which presumably makes a lot of sense given the timeframe (14 years since Xaden last saw her).

· What I think is the most important piece of circumstantial evidence here: she left the room right before he entered it, before he could see her, even though she's probably more powerful than all of them, especially with backup.

· Sages are responsible for initiates. Jack is an initiate and he called Xaden brother. Yeah, this could also be because Xaden is an initiate too, of course, but it's also a little piece of twisty foreshadowing to throw in there and I wouldn't put it past Rebecca to have thrown it in at all given she'd presumably already have known what she planned to do with his mother.

So uhh yeah. Just a thought, pls don't cancel me 🫣 I hope it's not true either, I promise! Just the thought of that hair obsession coming from there... 🥴😭😩 but I thought I'd throw out a whacky one, just to liven things up 🤣

[nejjdiart]

The Empyrean 4 Theory

ONYX STORM SPOILERS AHEAD

This is just a thought that came to mind like 2 minutes ago, but i needed to share it. I know lots of people have been theorizing that Violet might be pregnant in the next book, and Rebecca has implicitly said in a few interviews that she won't be due to the war and how unsafe it is. Yet she has said that one of the first three songs in the playlist for book 4 is 'But Daddy I Love Him' by Taylor Swift. In this song we're told how Taylor forms part of some type of forbidden relationship, one that's not accepted by anyone close to her, so during it she makes them believe that she's pregnant with this man's child in an attempt for them to have no other choice but to accept her relationship. So it ocurred to me that while Violet during the next book won't be pregnant, that she might fake a pregnancy so it leaves the Navarrian goverment with no option but to accept her as Tyrrendor's ruler. Now that Xden is venin no one will accept Violet as ruling duchess because there is no heir or possibility of one, Bhodi has disappeared and is rumored to have turned too. So with the promise of an heir they won't take the title away from Xaden's family line, there IS an heir they won't have to go through the problem of assigning another noble family to take the over the province.

So I'm now pretty sure that we'll have Violet faking a pregnancyfor the next book. She has Brennan on her side (even though we're all a little sus about him) , he's consideres a healer, if he confirms it thre won't be no denying it. And she can take the excuse thet she's the gratest weapon against venin and that the war needs her on the battlefield as to why Tairn doesn't oppose to letting her fly. everyone knows that dragon has made lots of exceptions for Violet, what's one more?

This is just my theory, i could be terribly wrong. Though I'm pretty convinced. I would love to hear what everyone thoughts are of it ❤️

[quietstormxr]

Onyx Storm...thoughts #2

Warning: Spoilers Obviously

Regarding second signets, specifically Garrick's...

Why would they not have used Garrick's distance wielding signet after Violet was poisoned by the venin blade in Resson? Garrick even challenges Xaden saying it wouldn't be a good idea to bring her to Aretia.

Imogen says to bring her to Nolon, to which Xaden responds that it's too far. But if we wanted to keep Aretia and the revolution a secret, we obviously could have with Garrick's second signet.

Xaden remarks at the lake that he trusts every single person on that squad with his life, so my interpretation of that would be that they all knew of Garrick's second signet.

If we are to believe Garrick can 'walk' as fast as he can, he could've easily brought Xaden and Violet with Chradh back to Basgiath. Tairn, Sgaeyl and Andarna could've flew behind them. Not to mention that would've meant they could hide Andarna's rapid growth more effectively.

Secondly, when the unbonded were in Violet's room, why didn't Xaden tell Garrick to get there quicker? Regardless of his feelings, Garrick could've easily beat Xaden there and took care of the problem, making it so that Andarna wouldn't have even needed to stop time.

Do we assume that his signet wasn't decided upon until after Fourth Wing?

There are just so many instances that I can think of that they could've utilized his signet, in both FW and IF.