#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…

[court-of-secrets]

started genuinely considering (maybe i’m delusional) but could Sloane and Dain canonically have been in a secret relationship??

obviously it’s a little wishful thinking, but he snatches her back and calms her down, and he runs into battle after her and is able to convince her to use her signet….. soooooo

i’ve been re-listening to IF, and it just makes me CERTAIN Sloane and Dain are gonna be endgame and in a relationship, but what if they already are???

someone tell me if i’m being totally delusional (because im currently trapped in my fanfic bubble where they are in a secret relationship)

[luckycheesefoodie321]

Magic Knows - Onyx Storm theory (spoilers obviously)

Now. We know that as Xaden continued to channel, the Magic in the world had to balance the corruption and created a new shadow wielder to counteract him. Hence Lynx manifesting.

Lilith turned out to be a weather/storm wielder in response to Theophanie.

I’m fairly sure in the attack on Aretia, just before Leothan arrives, there’s evidence of a distance wielder, and Garrick is the response to that. (Which leads me to believe he is NOT the “brother” bc Theophanie mentions that they would tip the scales if two of the same signet end up on the same side or something similar)

A lot of evidence also points to Violet, as a Dream Walker, being the response to Berwyn, who has been manipulating Xaden’s dreams for months.

Now, my question is, where did Aaric’s signet come from? As a precog, that must mean there is another out there.

Now maybe it’s someone we haven’t met yet. However I question this.

In Iron Flame, Violet had already manifested her second signet when she started dreaming about “the Sage” who was hanging “her” suspended upside down and each time believed she was the one who was getting forced to channel. We later see that come true, but it was with Xaden.

Then again, in Onyx Storm, she dreamwalks and this time, she obviously later becomes aware that it’s Xaden’s dream. In the dream, they’re near Draithus, “she” (who she initially believes to be Andarna but was actually Sgaeyl) is screaming and trapped, and again Xaden is forced to channel.

Now in both instances, these are dreams that come BEFORE they occur. The contexts of the dream end up being what happens in reality.

So my question is, is Berwyn manifesting a future he has already seen. Given Xaden has become venin with two signets, it’s not impossible for Berwyn to be both a dream walking inntinnsic AND a precog. Which Aaric’s signet manifests to combat.

ALSO and I don’t think people mention this often, but Berwyn in Iron Flame clearly says “Sage? I’m a general” and there’s this whole epigraph about the stages of venin. And despite Theophanie wanting to supersede him, I think Berwyn is a far more powerful venin than realised. Especially given his return from the dead. So yeah. I’m banking on two signets.

And now that I’m thinking of it. Xaden has also been channeling for months. While Lynx has only just manifested in Onyx Storm as a shadow wielder, shouldn’t there be a counterpart to his inntinnsic abilities too?? It’s shown that his inntinnsic powers have been increasing to even go beyond shields.

And there’s the scene where Sloane says “can’t believe someone like you has so much power” to DAIN. Now perhaps he’s secretly been far more powerful than we ever knew. Someone mentioned the whole thing about how some dragons lie about their names at Threshing to hide the fact they’re purposefully choosing riders in the direct lineage or just ones they suspect may manifest a strong signet.

Or maybe his signet is in fact just very powerful and we never had it formally laid out as such.

OR MAYBE his signet has slowly been increasing in power in response to Xaden becoming venin. Magic knows. And it already had someone with the groundwork to become a stronger mind reader.

tl;dr Berwyn is also potentially a precog. I could argue that Violet may one day realise her power as a full mind walker and not just in her dreams but idk we’ll see. And maybe Dain’s signet is increasing as a response to one of the most powerful riders in their generation turning 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...

[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

[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 !

[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!

[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

[luckycheesefoodie321]

The Missing Twelve Hours (Onyx Storm theory - tho I’m not breaking any new ground just some thoughts)

Andarna can break bonds. She obviously was not prepared or ready to break her bond with Violet, especially since Violet could still dreamwalk - a gift given by Andarna. So Leothan was the one who did it for her but clearly not all the way.

So she left long enough to figure out how he broke the bond and also how to restore it before returning to help Violet.

Cut to the missing 12 hours.

Xaden convinces Violet to go along with his plan to hand her Tyrrendor (and yknow get married).

While she looks after Tyrrendor for him, he goes off with his Sage and his brother (who I firmly believe is Bodhi, tho Garrick is a strong contender). But he leaves behind a special mission - to find a cure, to help save the continent Violet by securing more army - and to do so, that involves retrieving some eggs for Unnbriel to secure their help. Which is where I think Garrick is.

In order to get those eggs, he would have to enlist the help of dragons bc gods know he wouldn’t be let near the clutch.

Cut back to Xaden’s POV where he has to convince Tairn of something.

When Violet wakes up after those twelve hours, she finds out that 4 dragons (plus their riders) and three elders were murdered in the previous few hours.

So let’s say in the last 6 hours, Xaden has enlisted the help of Tairn to steal those eggs and kill 7 dragons in the process, a fight that left him needing “a cycle of rest to recover”.

That would take a lot of energy and adrenaline like nothing else to achieve successfully. Even for Tairn. But maybe a dragon in the throes of grief and anger could achieve it. Couldn’t say if Sgaeyl joined the whole thing, but I feel like Tairn wouldn’t have wanted her there.

But it would make sense that in the first 6 hours, Xaden enlists the high priestess of Dunne to marry him and Violet, transfer his title, power and privileges (and in some theories - the last remaining piece of his soul?) to her, and then convince Tairn to break his bond with Sgaeyl using Andarna.

Or actually. Sgaeyl was the one who had to convince him. I initially thought that Sgaeyl broke her bond with Xaden but it’s looking far more likely that Sgaeyl broke hers with Tairn so she could remain with her rider. The second time she has prioritised her rider over her mate bond (the first being hiding he was an inntinsic).

So they either broke the mate bond willingly or Tairn was pissed as shit and Andarna had to do it anyway, but he would have to deal with the pain of that loss. And he funnelled all that energy into breaking into the hatching grounds, stealing six eggs (at least one per colour since they likely could not steal two of each) and killing four dragons and three elders.

While he was doing so, Xaden and Sgaeyl would leave to do what they needed to do.

And in order to preserve these missions, and ensure Violet is fully protected against any of the heat Xaden faces for having turned full venin, he has given her his title BUT ALSO Violet has willingly submitted to having her memories erased by Imogen. Which makes me wonder how much Imogen knows.

I really do think there has to be a flashback of the full twelve hours but it’ll likely come back in pieces. But I have to imagine there’s going to be the softest flashback scene when Xaden proposes and they are married in the Temple of Dunne.

But Violet has always valued her mind as her greatest asset. So to willingly remove crucial knowledge from her head means whatever the final plan ends up being has to be HUGE. Or just that she wants to protect Xaden at all costs. I do have to imagine it was her idea not his, because how could he ever compromise her mind like that. On the ice or not, Violet is his gravity.

Or even if it was his idea, they both know that a Violet with memory loss would pick up the pieces and put it together. Bc that would be the most fun mystery. Imogen revealing it all would fall flat so I have to think she doesn’t have the memories and erased her own. Hence why she doesn’t know where Garrick is. All she has, and maybe this was a purposeful strategy either by herself or Xaden and Violet, is that she erased her mind on Violet’s orders but left behind the knowledge that SOMETHING happened but she doesn’t know what.

So there have to be crumbs. Clues left behind to figure it out so that Xaden could eventually make his way back to her, or, as he kept pushing her to do, she can go and find him.

And he wouldn’t organise all those things with Unnbriel without ensuring Violet would have the knowledge to utilise that connection he has made.

Yknow it’s also entirely possible Violet herself constructed half this plan. If Bodhi is in fact the brother, Xaden would need someone to take his title so it doesn’t fall in the hands of some stranger or enemy, so his first thought is to make Violet the duchess. Both Bodhi and Garrick are missing, and one of them is venin and the other is carrying out the plans Xaden and Violet put together. But I highly suspect it’s Bodhi bc he’s been the most mad about being under utilised the whole book and when it came time to use his power against a Maven, it was ineffective. At one point in Imogen’s POV he is seen “retching” which is highly likely to be him channeling. Cuir was severely hurt in the fight at Draithus and there’s “an unconscious dragon being guarded by seven wyvern” in Xaden’s POC. Bodhi was feeling helpless. So he channeled. Gave himself the power to stop Theophanie’s storm?

And he also didn’t want to let Xaden go alone. He’s always looked up to Xaden, Theophanie called him the weaker version of Xaden, he’s been kept from the fight bc he’s Xaden’s heir. Wouldn’t take much for Bodhi to break.

But in any case. Bodhi would follow Xaden, venin or not. Garrick would carry out orders to move the dragon eggs to Unnbriel. Aaric is missing too. Maybe he’s also helping this plan since he’s a precog. I wonder how deeply he and Xaden are aligned and if maybe he manifested around Xaden or came to Xaden first about his signet bc he immediately saw what was going to happen.

But I look forward to seeing Violet trying to piece things together in the next book, potentially going to the irids to figure wtf to do and how they are involved in the whole business and if they can answer some key questions from the past.

[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.