#onyx storm theory

[chyyy66]

ONYX STORM THEORY

THERE ARE SPOILERS !!!!

I can’t take all the credit for this, my friend @wishfulimaginings has helped me a bit to put this together, and it’s kind of out there but it could make sense …..

So we learn there are 6 gods/goddesses : Amari : Queen of the Gods, Dunne : God of war, Malek : God of Death, Loial : God of Love, Zihnal : God of Luck, and Hedeon : God of Wisdom

And we learn there are 6 rare signets, and they haven’t been seen since the First Wars. And as of now we have 4/6 rare signets : Xaden : Shadows, Violet : Lightning, Garrick : Distant walker, and Aaric : precognition (way better than Melgran.. can see the future)

So what if … each of the gods blessed or “touched” the Original Six from the 6 provinces resulting in powerful/rare signets. And there are also 6 dragon types

We know Violet is dedicated to Dunne, and im think Xaden is god-touched by Loial because he is constantly talking about how Violet has his soul and it’s his love for Violet that drives every action

I think Ridoc is god-touched by Zihnal. He mentions that Zihnal is his personal favorite, and that’s how he gets so “lucky” with partners. Zihnal’s gift to Ridoc is a kiss on both cheeks, one of the better gifts out of the group and he even misses death when the chef throws his dagger and it misses

I’m not sure about the other 3 … but I have thoughts of how they could fit, but im still working on it. And I haven’t seen anyone else mention this, but if someone else has let me know !!!!

UPDATE !!!!!

This is the conclusion I’ve come too ..

Amari - Rhiannon

Dunne - Violet

Headon - Aaric

Loial - Xaden

Zihnal - Ridoc ???

Malek - Garrick ???

The last 2 im still kind of iffy on and with all the interviews with RY on tour right now my mind is FULL of ideas

[justascrollingghost]

I’m placing my bets now that Xaden will be fighting for his life not to channel at the end of this book and Violet will launch herself at him to stop him and he’ll scream in absolute agony thinking he’s going to hurt her whilst she’s just clinging to him absolutely fine and that’s how we’ll all find out the silver in her hair is because she’s already part venin…

[somewhere-in-the-rain]

Not to come on here and immediately start bitching about BookTok, but why do I keep seeing people say Aaric’s dragon will be Andarna’s mate? Seriously, I just do not understand this theory.

Andarna is 3 YEARS OLD. Rebecca Yarros repeatedly describes her as a TEENAGER. She is not going to mate with a fully grown dragon any time soon and it is kind of fucked up to suggest that.

[mattyalwayssmokesweed]

Some of my crazy, unhinged theories I have about the Empyrean series because I overthink everything a little too much:

Violet is Queen Maraya’s daughter Lilith took in as some sort of deal/barging chip with Poromiel, and Catriona accusing her of “stealing her crown” is foreshadowing for her stepping in as Queen of Poromiel and stealing the crown from Viscount Tecarus (Catriona’s uncle). Plus it explains why she looks nothing like the rest of her family

Andarna doesn’t belong to an almost extinct species of dragons; she’s the goddesses of dragons who reborns whenever a chosen one needs her to defend the Known World (a sort of Phoenix in a sense)

The Maven is Violet’s twin sister. Violet is always described as being half-something; half scribe, half rider. Half weak, half strong. Even her hair is half-half; magic needs balance, so they’re both half-something without the other (said twin sister was taken by venin as a baby)

Aaric���s dragon and Andarna will be mates

Violet’s second signet is actually all the signets; just like Andarna can morph into whatever color she wants, the signet she gives her rider will also change depending on what Violet needs/wants at the moment

Brennan’s rune in his hand is actually a sort of “notice-me-not” rune that makes people not notice anything weird about him and/or ask him a lot of questions

Papa Sorrengail discovered a prophecy about Violet and that’s why he wanted her to go to the Scribes quadrant. After his death, Lilith found it between his things and sent Violet to the Riders Quadrant to protect her from said prophecy

A rider has to have all their things burned after their death because otherwise they are stuck in the mortal world as some sort of “phantom” no one can see or feel

Feel free to ask me to elaborate on any of them because I’m a certified yapper

[litnerdwrites]

Did Jack Barlow Know? If so, who else knew and how?

Okay, so hear me out! We know this likely means that either Andarna is linked to this mysterious weapon. We don't know if means she knows where to find it/activate it, if she is the weapon, or if a rider that bonded her species of dragon was what wiped them out. Either way, it's safe to say that it all relates back to her in some way.

We also know that Jack Barlow was a Venin before he crossed the parapet, right? And in Kaori's classes, he was very interested in Tairn. Then, during Threshing, his number one goal was to kill Andarna (which isn't smart given where he was). Also, by the end of Iron Flame, he was somehow controlling Baide. Not, seemingly, dissimilar to how Varrash described influencing a dragon instead of allowing it to influence you.

His interest in Tairn is most likely because he wanted to bond a powerful dragon for the Venin to use, or for him to control. He wanted to influence Tairn the way he did Baide, maybe even syphon power from him, and by proxy, Sgaeyl.

He was also weirdly obsessed with Killing Andarna during Threshing, which, at the time, just could be attributed to arrogance, disrespectfulness and self-centredness, which was on brand for him. But now that we know what he is, and what he was doing all along, it's safe to say there could be other Venin in the wards.

There's so much speculation regarding Violet's potential Venin heritage, from either her mother or father's side. Lilith's rank and position means that she and Violet's dad had been close to the hatching grounds for a while. Violet's father specifically was researching Feathertails, and he died one or two years before the start of the book, when Violet was about 18. What else happened when Violet was 18? Andarna. She hatched when Violet was 18, possibly before her father even died.

Who's to say how many other Venin there are within the Wards. There are likely to even be a couple, like VIolet's dad, that were within a four hour flight radius to said wards. If Volet's dad felt Andarna hatch, then any other near by Venin could have too. Going back to his research for a moment, it's worth mentioning, how would he be able to study Feathertail effectively? The only way for there to be information about them in his research that isn't common knowledge, is either, a) he had access to very restricted texts (like the King's personal collection), which seems unlikely, or b) to have seen a feathertail.

If nothing else, I think Andarna knows something of the research he did. Perhaps he even met her for himself. When Varrish was questioning Violet about it, Tairn confirms that he doesn't know about it, but Andarna? The author makes a point to tell us that she went silent. Not that she wasn't there, or grew uninterested, or even went to sleep. She was there, she was listening, but she didn't respond.

By now, I think it's safe to say that she knows something. Throughout the books, Andarna drops hints to her secrets, without outright saying them, or lying about them. She prefers lying by omission, which, towards the end of the first book, Tairn points out to her, can be just as bad. It still seems to be her preferred method of secret keeping, though. Like how she's not like the other juveniles, or how she'd be the head of her own den, all indicating that she really isn't. She's a whole other species, and already the head of her own den.

I think Andarna knows something about the Venin, and about Violet's dad, in which case, it's possible he also knew, somehow, that Andarna would chose Violet. I'm not sure how likely that would be, and would depend on how much Andarna knows of this research.

However, I'm confident that she's the key to stopping the Venin in one form or the other. I also think that, somehow, the Venin knows this too. Either through Violet's dad, who may or may not have had contact with Andarna, or knew of her, at the very least, or through another Venin in Basgaith.

So, finally, going back to Jack Fucking Barlow, the root of this discussion, did he know about all of this? We know he was sent to destroy the wards, but was hellbent on killing Andarna during Threshing.

Powerful dragons can tell what a hatchlings colour will be, before they mature. Is it possible that powerful Venin can too? If there was a Venin near the wards, powerful enough, would they be able to tell as well? It's possible that a Venin inside the wards reported back to a higher rank, about Andarna's hatching, or that a Sage or General to learn about the dragon hatchlings through other Venin, or people like Violet's dad.

If they did, then they could Know what Andarna is. They'd know how she's different, how she's the key to stopping them, and perhaps even the key to their victory. Could it be that the Venin sent Jack to, not only destroy the wards, but to kill Andarna before she became a threat? If the higher ups amongst Venin didn't know, then did Jack figure it out on his own, and do it to earn The Sage's approval? Based on how desperate they are to capture Violet for The Sage, they seem pretty obsessed with proving themselves. Jack might have wanted to become a strong rider to gain the acknowledgment or promotion from The Sage, and later decided to kill Andarna while he was at it.

It's possible that that's the reason that The Sage wants Violet so badly. If you can't beat them, join them. Or have them join you by turning the love of their life into a monster, and using him to kidnap or manipulate them into joining your cause because they're the biggest threat to you and your kind. Perhaps they want her to manipulate Andarna the way Jack did with Baide or Varrish claimed to do with Solas, since it was Andarna, or her kind, that ended the war 600 years ago.

[cabinyote]

(SLIGHT) ONYX STORM SPOILER

(Theory)

"Dain & Sloane are the Balance to Violet & Xaden"

Bro...I just woke up...

[thestarseternaal]

Onyx storm spoilers 🌩

When Xaden channeled too much from the ground his golden flecked eyes became amber. Violet says it in multiple monologs and even tells Bodhi.

There are still spots of amber within their onyx depths.

🌩

The flecks are still amber.

She even tells Bodhi so

“From the alloy in Deverelli…the flecks in Xaden’s eyes didn’t go back to gold. They’re still amber.”

🌩

I move out of the way so Garrick can slide by on the steps, and the sun catches on the amber flecks in Xaden’s eyes as he nods before walking away. Amber.

Now who else do we know that has full amber eyes?

Brennan Sorrengail 😐

It could be nothing, it could be something who knows? 🤷🏻‍♀️

[torch-song]

so whoever the new "brother" is (my guess is Bodhi) imagine if Berwyn's FIRST order to Xaden is to kill that new brother.

could it happen? who knows.

but what if - since Xaden's remaining soul is kept anchored by Violet's love and the bond with her - he actually does it? not feeling anything at all.

worse. he probably feels somewhat betrayed.

he has watched for 5 months as he struggled to resist and he falls himself. how could he? what if all that still is from this is that he is furious and feels betrayed and all he still feels is rage?

he would ACT on that order. kill his new brother.

Berwyn would order it in an effort to consume the last remains of Xaden's humanity. and deep down whatever is left of him after having acted on pure instinct is defeat and self-hatred.

he killed a brother. or a friend. or a cousin.

[auraisereigh]

Black Dragons (Dubhmadinn line)

Everything we know about black dragons so far. What they're like, their original hatching grounds and a little insight about the known black dragons and their riders. 🖤

This entire page is made by me, i did my research on both the books and The Empyrean Wiki, but feel free to correct me if something is wrong or missing. Do not use without giving credit, i spend many hours on this one to perfect it. This beautiful art of Tairn is made by the amazing @bookartbysloan on instagram, make sure to check out her other pieces too!

This is part of the "aura's dragon guide" series. Find the rest on my masterlist here, i will update all of these once onyx storm is out. Every sunday i post a new part.

This one was so much fun to make. I love tairn and violet + i have an extremly soft spot for Naolin somehow so i loved putting some of him in there hehe. I loved laying this out, the black with white is something i love so much for some reason. 🖤

[meeville]

Theories for Onyx Storm:

Spoilers for Fourth Wing and Iron Flame obviously. Also buckle your seat belts cuz this is a loooong one because I don’t know how to be concise. 

I’m not much of a theory person but as someone who straight up predicted Mira would deck Brennan as soon as she found out he was alive I think I’m pretty qualified. As any theories of mine I’m adding many embellishments to things we know and jamming puzzle pieces together blindly without actually knowing if they go together so everyone prepare your salt. 

Halden and Violet are exes theory: 

Halden went through basgiath in the infantry, canonically and here’s where my theory begins. I believe he’s only one year older than Xaden and thus he would have been in third year while Violet was helping Jasinia study for the scribe quadrant. This is the time when I think they were dating ish… the numbers don’t really matter. Violet definitely dated infantry and Halden is confirmed to have been through so this is how I’m making the numbers work. Halden being older than Xaden is important because Xaden killed Halden’s younger brother Alic who he was in threshing with and that probably ment they were around the same age. Unless Alic was an unbonded from the previous year (but I don’t think so, and for this theory he isn’t). 

So Halden and Vi date in Halden’s third year while She and Jasinia are studying and therefore Jasinia probably met Halden and knew who he was. And this is how she recognizes Aaric, whom she’s never met before. She recognized his eyes and said that it was pretty obvious if you knew what to look for, ie Jasinia knew who Aaric was because she met Halden and “knew what to look for” as she put it. 

So Vi and Halden dated but why did they end it? I have an answer for you. Vi doesn’t have noble blood, none of the Sorengails do (that we know of anyway). King Tauri seems like the type who would not be happy with his son being with somebody who isn’t noble or royal. Also Halden seems like an asshole from what I’ve interpreted about him from IF, so he could have also easily dumped Vi because of this. And possibly left her for a noblewoman or something like that. And we’re going with the second option in this theory because this leads into a really silly part of this theory: Violet is pretending that the target in her room is Halden in chapter twenty-nine of FW. This detail has always bugged me. Who was she imagining? Her asshole ex perhaps? If you don’t know the scene it’s the one after Vi wields for the first time and drops a mountain on Jack. Xaden comes to check on her and she’s throwing knives. He asks if she’s pretending it him and she says that it was about twenty minutes ago. He asks who it is now and she says ‘no one you know.’ I think it was totally Halden. Just a little detail that I thought was interesting. ���M makin’ them puzzle pieces fit. 

Anyway we’re getting back on track now. Halden dumping Vi would explain her insecurities with Cat because she’s been in a similar situation before. Vi acts really out of character in IF and if this is what happened with Halden it would explain a lot. Violet had been jealous before (Imogen) but not to this extent and she moved on quickly before. But not now and her jealousy and insecurity around Cat could be explained by deep seated insecurities that Halden’s actions made her feel and that’s why it lasted throughout the book. Xaden is noble and so is Cat and Halden left Vi for a noble using some excuse about how it was better this way because Vi wasn’t a noble and this new woman was. This is why Vi is out of character: Because Halden made her believe she wasn’t worth the trouble because she wasn’t noble and that why Vi makes all the comments about how Xaden and Cat belong together. 

This is a theory. Please Take my words with a grain of salt. None of what I’m saying has much proof so: Grain of salt. Please. Also some more things I didn’t feel like making a new post for:

When we’ll see Halden:

Halden will show up in OS. RY doesn’t tend to mention a name unless they are on the death roll to make the series more lived in or have or at going to showing up in the series. Halden is someone important in the world and I think he’ll show sooner than later. 

Setting and plotish stuff? IDK:

I think the next book will have some more widespread world politics. It was confirmed that Vi and probably second squad are going to the isles. This was in the blurb for OS’s French edition and was taken down quickly after that. Again RY doesn’t mention something unless it will play a role. She didn’t mention the isle in FW but did in IF so we knew something had to be up. 

Violet’s second Signet:

RY said we might find Violet’s second signet more boring than her first and because of that I’m leaning the way of Amplifier. I have seen some solid arguments for Intinsic but people know that she’ll have a second signet and will start to ask questions when she never “develops” one. Which could lead into learning more about intinsics. I’m not super sold on that one or the truth-sayer one. I think truth-sayer is an inaccurate name for the signet people think she’ll have. Truth-sayer Nora can detect lies. That’s what truth-sayer is. I think that if Vi has developed a signet in this vein, it won’t be that, with the clues we have. It will be more of a “if she asks you a question you literally cannot lie to her, the words you speak will only be the truth,” kind of thing. She has to ask the RIGHT questions but yeah. 

Ships:

I ship Sloane and Aaric but my friend has a ship-related wish/theory. She thinks Aaric and Cat will get together without Cat knowing he’s royalty and they fall etc. But it would be good development for her to fall in love with someone for who they are not what they are right? She’s always going for more political power and stuff and it would be hilarious if she accidentally ended up in ultimate political power. I also think Aaric will end up as king by the end of the series so that ties in a bit too. 

Jasinia Neilwart Curator of the Scribe Quadrant:

Also also. People are freaking out over the recovered correspondence and faithfully transcribed by Jasinia stuff so here’s my two cents. I think Violet either wrote the books or helped in their creation in the original Navarian. I think she provided her and Xaden’s correspondence so that things could be truthfully told. I think at one point in the future of the series she decides to write everything down and be truthful like Lyra was in her own journal so future generations have a way to fight if the threat of venin comes back. Or something like that. The “honour the fallen” line doesn’t have to be about Violet or Xaden it could be about literally any of the characters that have already, at this point in the series, died. Or Violet and Xaden could have faked their deaths and Jasinia changed the texts to make this believable so the two of them could live their lives. There are literally so many probabilities. I know RY is known for her unhappy ending and what not but I’m naïvely choosing to be optimistic. Not everyone is going to die. Just everyone who is not Jasinia lol! But seriously y’all are dark. There are so many alternatives to everyone dying and alternatives to how and why this story is told the way it is. 

Anyway I’m actually shaking in excitement rn. If anyone in or formally in Flame section Fourth Wing Dies I will riot. And if Tairn dies I quit ( I’m joking, but not really, but also I am.) Onyx storm will be out in less than a week so everyone remember to put your spoiler warnings on your motherfucking posts. Not everyone reads the same pace so be generous with the spoiler warnings. Notice how this post has one, and a cut? but also this post is long as shit so it was necessary lmao. I have a true fear of opening insta on the 21st because of spoilers. Y’all be kind to us who don’t get their copy till at least a week later and have to audiobook it in less than 24h because otherwise we’ll get spoiled. Don’t spoil or Ill SPOIL YOU!!! Add all of your additions to my post I want to see ideas flowing. Also make sure you stay sexy and don’t get murdered. Happy next few days of existential dread. Love Y’a. mouah<3

[cannothelptheobsession]

Ok so you know how in IF they’re trying to work out the translation and keep coming up with iron rain, and then after all it’s Iron FLAME as per the title on the gd book cover? It got me thinking about FW and how calling it Fourth Wing suggests Violet makes it through to threshing and bonds with a dragon and so becomes part of fourth wing. Except that’s too obvious somehow, RY is more tricksy than that - and then it hit me that the title reflects the fact that VIOLET BONDS TWO DRAGONS GIVING HER FOUR WINGS.

It makes me excited to see what OS means - I’ve seen someone talk about Xaden’s onyx eyes, and I guess onyx could represent the black of his shadows? And then Violet the lightning welder as storm? I can’t wait to see how it’s used!

[chyyy66]

Here it is, my Onyx Storm bingo card !!!

Some of these theories are a little out there, and some are just fun !! Some also contradict each other, but it’s fineeeeeeeee !

[winnie-the-monster]

Lol Violet’s second signet is truth. I’m calling it now. She’s gonna be able to make people tell the truth

[somewhere-in-the-rain]

“Violet is a truth-sayer because Xaden can’t lie to her”

Yeah, whatever. Xaden has lied to her. When he told her he had no intention of falling for her over and over again. When he said she was the last person he’d want bonded to him. When he said he was perfectly in control of his emotions around her. Call them exaggerations if you like, but technically they are lies.

“Well the signet hadn’t manifested yet” Ok, well tell me why Xaden saying “I can’t lie to her” in the Fourth Wing bonus chapter is apparently foreshadowing, then? Why can the evidence suit your theory, but not my counterargument?

Don’t even get me started on the constant lying by omission. Not telling her about the venin or his second signet or the deal with her mother. He didn’t lie, but he also did not tell her the truth. The signet is called ‘truth-sayer’, not ‘lie-preventer’.

If you couldn’t tell, I am not a fan of the truth-sayer theory.

[mattyalwayssmokesweed]

Onyx Storm theory

Violet is going to bond with Sgaeyl in Onyx Storm.

In Fourth Wing, when we first learn about Sgaeyl, Professor Kaori says:

“She even bonded the relative of one of her previous riders, which you all know is typically forbidden, but Sgaeyl does whatever she wants, whenever she wants.”

Losing a rider could kill a dragon. Sgaeyl and Tairn are mates, meaning Violet and Xaden and practically tethered for life.

Given the state Xaden is currently in, the survival of not only him, but Sgaeyl, Tairn and Violet is on the line. If one of them dies, it could kill both their dragons and, in turn, also kill the other.

But if a dragon has two riders, losing one might not affect them as much (it still would, given how important those bonds are, but it won’t be a life-or-death situation)

Xaden could “lose himself” in Onyx Storm and basically be considered a “dead man”, if not physically, figuratively. The connection between Xaden and Sgaeyl could be almost broken, as if he had actually died.

If things take a bad turn, and Sgaeyl starts to weaken over the state of her rider, Tairn could convince her to bond with Violet so she is safer.

The bond wouldn’t be as strong as Violet’s bond with Tairn and Andarna, but it would basically be a short of “bridge” between life and death for Sgaeyl, to ensure she doesn’t die over Xaden’s current state.

Idk, what do you guys think? Kinda crazy but hey, you never know.

[brekkersnerd]

Well...so...hear me out here. Fan theory time!

Also, I have not finished Onyx Storm so...please no spoilers (even though I've already semi spoiled myself 🫣😵‍💫)

Anyway so I'll tag this as spoilers in case. So if you haven't read Onyx Storm, don't read this yet.

So um...I might have an idea for an easter egg but uh...I could also be wrong, just my overthinking theory. But uh...

So if the ending has to do with Violet's memories (I heard she loses something but I haven't gotten that far so please, don't tell me specifically. Anyway-)

So...if you line the books up vertically (I saw a video of this on Tiktok, game changer!), the colors match. Like the hardcover (original one) of Fourth Wing is yellow. Iron Flame, the top is yellow/yellowish, then orange, then finally ending with black. Onyx Storm, is black and then white at the bottom. Right, okay, still with my train of thought?

Okay, so...now think...if it ends with Violet losing memories or something along those lines (at the very least all I know is it's something with memories I think, I'm not sure), then...my theory is...*insert drum roll here.*

The white has to do with missing that, missing something. Right, so Fourth Wing is basically the set up, it's about Violet. Henceforth one color, yellow. Idk why yellow but it's yellow. Anyway, then Iron Flame is yellow and orange (which I think is a symbol for her struggles in this book, because it just gets worse for her here and there's a lot of fire, anyway...) and then it ends with black, Xaden. And we all know, or I think we all know what happens at the end of Iron Flame, it's basically about Xaden. Which leads to Onyx Storm, which I mean...it's not all about Xaden, but it is about Xaden (I think).

Point being, if it goes from black to white...what does that now symbolize? Blank. Or that's my thought. It's blank. Now what memories she has, or lack there of, I'm not sure (yet, I'll find that one out soon enough).

Possible symbolism? Possible Easter eggs? Idk, maybe? If it is, I will scream, Rebecca!

But idk, that's just my theory, even though I haven't finished Onyx Storm. Idk, if you look I think the covers are fitting if you overthink it like I did. So...the next book will probably be about Violet? Maybe? Again? Because she's missing something. Henceforth the white, idk maybe I looked too hard into it at 3 am. I wanna know your thoughts!