#queen theia

[tremsing82]

My Thoughts on Night Court

So when I read acotar for the first time this summer (2024) my 3 best friends were the ones who peered pressured me to do so and our group chat became my reading experience chat. It was fun. But they are all pro-night court and pro-bat boys. And though I can be open and accepting of the narrative for it moves the plot forward I did start becoming more cynical and posing questions of the ethics and moral standings of the night court. My first big question to my friend group that got them all to pause and think was:

>Is it morally and ethically ok for Hewn City to fight in this war when they are trapped under a mountain and do not have access to Velaris. And Velaris expects hewn city to fight in the war to protect their peace, yet Velaris does not have an army and the citizens are not and to volunteer. Now yes some Velaris citizens did go fight for Adriata but again Rhys never sent out a request for Velaris citizens to join the war effort against Hybern. And also is it morally and ethically ok for Rhys to essentially segregate hewn city residents who will eventually visit Velaris one day considering that was the only request Keir had when Rhys asked for The DarkBringers to fight in the war. Rhys said yes to that because he had already told his Velaris city leaders they can tell the citizens they can deny Hewn City residents from entering their establishments. So these hewn city soldier are gonna go to war possibly be killed leaving behind a widow and children, or they are going to be brutally mutilated with scars or lost limbs. And then they or their widows and children are gonna arrive in Velaris and be denied access to a bake shop to buy a cookie or a toy store and denied the ability to buy a doll all while they went to war to keep this place safe and protected. <

I truly don’t think Rhys would have went to war with Hybern to protect hewn city or Illyria. He went to war specifically to protect Velaris the only city he loves. And that bothers me. And makes me dislike and not enjoy the Night Court, but essentially i really don’t like Velaris. I think it’s a spoiled city of entitled judgemental people similar to its 5/6 leaders of the Inner Circle. Mor is claimed to be the emissary between Velaris and Rhys and Hewn city but she does absolutely nothing to showcase that title and job. Except to tell her father when Rhys is going to visit. She claims to be the only dreamer ever to come out of or born in Hewn City and I HIGHLY doubt that. She tell Feyre the story about how she dreaded the day her power manifested because she knew she would be sold into a loveless marriage the way her cousins had been. So you’re telling me your cousins enjoyed their status and their betrothals but you are the only one who hated this custom. The IC is all telling me that everyone is Hewn City is dark and evil, so even a new baby is touched by evil and deserves to never see the sky outside of that mountain it was born in. How is this ethical and morally acceptable. Feyre says once to Lucien in MaF that if you stare long enough into the darkness sometimes it will stare back, and this to me should be applied to the Hewn Cory residents. If all that they have is darkness and hate and hurt to live with it’s not surprising they all embrace that darkness and hate. They are not given other options. Should we the reader question the ethics of how the Hewn city is seen and talked about and even ruled?

So why do people argue FOR this Court? Why does the majority of the fandom hate to be asked these question or see these blatant issues for this court? Why am I told it’s all a mask that they all have to don to protect the innocents and freedom of a spoiled city that is so well hidden that it remains outside of the conflict happening in Prythian. The attack on Velaris by the Attor was the first time the outside world’s conflict finally reared its ugly head to its citizens. Yes they claim they felt bad for the suffering the other courts went through for the 50yrs of Amarantha’s reign but none of them told Rhys to break the wards hiding them, when he finally returned. None said we should band together and go help the other courts rebuild since we have remained untouched for 50yrs. They didn’t pull their resources together to send aid to the most hard hit villages and cities in other courts. They continued on with their days of holding theater production and eating safely at restaurants and going to nightclubs for 50yrs.

And I am suppose to be mad at Tamlin for starting to reissue his courts only form of revenue to ensure it continued ability to function. A tax that only happens twice a year and is only 10% of whatever a person has produced. So if a person has 10hens they only have to give over 1 hen. If a person has 1 hen that produced 10eggs then they only have to give over 1 egg. 10% twice a year, that’s not a bad taxation. Hell the river nymphs didn’t have to give Tamlin fish, he never asked for fish. He just asked for 10% of whatever they produced. They could have handed him 10blades of lake grass or a cup of river water, he would have accepted it. And heard their pleas for fish to be helped brought back into their lake. He wasn’t gleeful about having to find perpetrators of not paying taxes, he just knows this is how his court functions and runs. Rhys says we do a different form of tax, which to me I assume he means modern day taxation which is sales tax, property tax, and/or income tax. Which overarching means the citizens of night court are paying more into taxes than in Spring Court.

For the Illyrian struggles with female empowerment i struggle to always completely blame Rhys on this. I think Illyria has Rhys by the balls. If Rhys enforces his laws in Illyria again wing clipping and female oppression then he loses one of his strongest armies (which the fandom and SJM also claim is possibly the strongest army in Prythian 😒😪🙄). This is an army that is under his full control and cannot deny his decree to go fight or go to battle like the Keir can do with the DarkBringers. So if he starts killing Illyrian men for wing clippings or if he starts throwing Illyrian men into the barrack cells then he essentially will lose half of 75% of his army. He is definitely in between a rock and a hard place with how to enforce the laws that protect Illyrian women. A person on Instagram had a wonderful idea to help this conundrum; Rhys law should be if any Illyrian woman has their wings clip illegally from this day forward then the males in her household will also have their wings clipped. If they are not afraid of Rhys throwing them in jail or killing them then go to their biggest fear losing their access to flight. And enforce it. See how quickly the other males stop once they see one neighbors household have the patriarch and sons all lose access to flying. And it should be done in the city streets where all can see. Now granted this could turn Rhys into looking like and feeling like a dictator of a violent regime but truthfully I sometimes already see him that way anyway with how much he torment and degrades hewn city and its residents. Now like I said in the begging of this paragraph i don’t fully hate Rhys on this. My arguments for Rhys on Illyria is that he is the first high lord to make laws and changes to a society that has been free to do what they want in their traditions for possibly 15,000 years. He has put laws into place to help empower women. Emerie inherited her father’s shop because of these news laws being in place allowing women to own and inherit property. Emerie is progressive, she knew of the new laws and she seized them and used them to help herself. Other Illyrian woman have been oppressed for so long that the thought of finally using the new laws to enforce their rights to autonomy or property ownership or joining the army is scary for them. It’s gonna take more than a male high-lord and 2 male Illyrians to help them feel safe to express their freedom. Which I think will come in with Nesta moving the Valkyries training to the Illyrian camps to help the lllyrian females. They gonna see females learning battle strategy and fighting techniques that are designed specifically for females, they are going to see females who can’t fly conquering the blood rite. That will be the driving force for the female Illyrians to enforce the new laws that Rhys put in place to help them and free them and protect them. Rhys has the laws in place he just needs the people to start using them.

And I guess I will end this essay with I don’t hate Rhys or his IC (well most of them, I hate Amren and Mor annoys me for being useless). I just wish we could explore the other lands. Why must everything be so centralized to night court/Velaris. I know they have the ancient crabby lady (Amren 🙄🙄🙄) who has answers to Prythians lost history (which first she never wants to share willingly, second doesn’t always share all the truth, and lastly her knowledge is mostly night court focus).

-Day Court has the most libraries in all of Prythian with books written that are as old as their lands. Day Court is the only court with Pegasus, a rare magical animal that are dying/going extinct. Day Court is the court of the Sun. And what are suns but stars in the night sky. Suns are liquid fire. And the dread trove items which are as old as the daglan has sun symbols all over them and makes Helion feel uncomfortable which makes him think an ancestor of his might have own it or used it.

-Autumn court has entire strong bloodlines missing because they followed Theia into Midgard. A bloodline that just reappeared into Prythian in Night Court. I would like to know their history with Queen Theia, with how they helped fight the Daglan.

-I know the Daglan (acotar), the Asteri (CC), and the Valg (ToG) are all the same parasitic beings. And we know the fae of Prythian overthrew their Daglan. And we know in ToG on how to kill a Valg (fire and healing). And well I can only assume that Autumn court with their fire and possibly Day Court with their sun fire and possible healing magic were the ones that helped liberate Prythian from the Daglan in battles.

-And well we have a character, Lucien, that people kinda write off as not important to the world plot, who has parents from these 2 courts. But the majority of the fandom write him off because well he is not from night court, he is not a bat boy, and he is not a night court/rhys worshipper. And so we have all this foreshadowing but I worry that SJM is just not gonna do anything with it because it not night court specific. Now granted she might have us leave the night court finally and learn the importance of Prythians history through Day Court and Autumn Court. We know Eris was happy to share Prythians history with Nesta who was showing curiosity but Cassian was rude and stopped him. We might find out that Eris is a history nerd like Bryce. That he is researching his bloodlines and his courts involvement in the building and creation of Prythian. We might find out from Helion that Dawn and Day were once a single court but split to give the solar courts more chances of pleading their cases at high lord meetings where the seasonal courts had more sway in votes. We truly just don’t know anything about these courts and Night Court doesn’t want to know. So as a reader who likes to travel a world in a book I want to leave this oppressive and isolated land and meet the others.

[shallyne]

SJM Crackshipmonth: Star-crossed Lovers

Would've Been, Could've been, Should've Been You

Here it is, Theia x Aidas for day two of @sjmcrackshipmonth. Enjoy!

Words: 571

TW: death

Aidas mourns his dead lover

It was right here that Aidas had met Theia for the very first time. She alone found a way into this realm, demanding help for the incoming war against the Asteri. She was a force of nature, from the very first moment that he had seen her. Theia was never one for giving up, never retreated, always fought for what's right. It was her greatest trait, and her doom. It was right here, that Theia had mouthed off against a prince of Hel. Aidas had admired her back then. Still did but when he thought about how it could have gone down very differently if she had met him on a bad day or ended up on a whole different level, it made Aidas shudder. Sometimes Aidas believed it was fate that he met her, that they were supposed to be. Maybe he was right, maybe Theia was his true love, maybe they could have lived their happily ever after if it wasn't for that bastard Pelias. Aidas cleared his throat when he felt it tightening. Brooding and mourning was useless. Thinking about what could've been was useless. Everything was useless. This didn't stop his mind from wandering though, what if? What if he was there? What if he had killed Pelias instantly, when he felt that something was wrong about him? What if Aidas could've convinced Theia to not fight that day? Would Pelias still have found her? Or would Aidas have been able to protect her? Be there faster? Could he have understood that feeling of dread in time to get to Theia? He had ignored that feeling, waved it away because it was probably caused by the war around them. By the Asteri who were taking down their armies, one by one. He should've known that it wasn't the war, he fought in so many battles in his life that he should have known. Aidas should've been there, it should've been him who died. Aidas took a shaky breath, looking down at the box that he held for hours now, staring at it. Stared at the ring that sat inside, for the question he wanted to ask when the war was over. A queen. His queen. His Theia. Dead. She was dead but her memory was still so alive. Aidas remembered her exactly, her raven black hair and the golden-brown skin that she shared with her daughters. Her starry eyes, that lit up when she laughed. The way she grunted when she was genuinely laughing. And how he found her. Broken and bloody. Her face still twisted in pane, her lifeless eyes staring up at the sky. Aidas shook that memory off, taking the ring out of its box. The ring, twisted strands of gold and silver, flecked with pearl and a stone atop. A sapphire, so blue that he only could be from Hel, with a six pointed star engraved in the stone. He took a deep breath but he couldn't do it. He wanted to throw the ring in the fiery pits of Hel but it was impossible. So he put the ring back in its box.

Two weeks later, when he entered his brothers study, he pressed the box into Apollions hands and told him to do with that ring whatever he wanted. Sell it, melt it, throw it away, Aidas didn't want to know. He turned his back and never asked about it again.

Taglist: @timesconvert

[chainera]

Theia Interpretation :O

This is how I personally view Theia’s potential character and the lore behind her life/death. I feel like this story also ties up a lot of loose ends like Venus’ loss of potential and his broken relationship with Mercury.

I see this version of Theia as unintentionally manipulative and definitely chaotic neutral, but in the end everything she’s doing is just for entertainment. She doesn’t realize that people might be scared of her for her tactics and her way of persuading them. (The only one she doesn’t “prank” is Gaia, bc they’re too close and she feels wrong for doing it). Gaia is really sweet and caring, generally the angel of the inner solar system. Theia is like his chaotic lil sister.

And yeah, Luna, TDSOTM, and the earth all inherited some part of their “parents”. Luna is kind and responsible, but does lose control sometimes. TDSOTM fully inherited Theia’s penchant for chaos, but like her he still has empathy, and the Earth is caring but can be very manipulate cough Venus vs mars cough

(Alvaro make Theia’s personality like this at least pslpsl I want a chaotic gremlin)

[aurorac0re]

Beach

[comicwaren]

From Marauders Vol. 2 #012, “Pre-Genesis, Part 2”

Art by Eleonora Carlini and Matt Milla

Written by Steve Orlando

[tournament-of-x]

The Tournament of X

Fun Fact!

There are nineteen (19) contestants in the Tournament of X who have fewer than ten (10) non-minor appearances in comics on Earth-616! These include:

Nameless, the Shape-Shifter Queen (2 appearances)

Idyll the Future Seer (2 appearances)

Wagnerine (4 appearances)

Burke (4 appearances)

Spike (4 appearances)

Syzya of the Smoke (4 appearances)

Rasputin IV (5 appearances)

Redroot the Forest (5 appearances)

Sevyr Blackmore (6 appearances)

Morgan Red (6 appearances)

Rhapsody (7 appearances)

Theia (7 appearances)

Tarn the Uncaring (7 appearances)

Cam Long (8 appearances)

Snot (8 appearances)

Weaponless Zsen (8 appearances)

Amass (9 appearances)

Nicodemus (9 appearances)

Ora Serrata (9 appearances)

Contestants Index

[genericpuff]

There was this book I read once that I believe was written by Gordon Korman where a character made a joke about how books with dogs on the covers and those silver/gold-medal labels for being bestsellers automatically mean the dog is gonna die (literally using Old Yeller and others as an example). It was the funniest shit to me in 5th grade, he's a Canadian author so maybe no one knows what I'm talking about but I pissed myself laughing over it and this is where my brain went to while reading this 😭😂

Modern Hades and Persephone watching a sad movie where obviously a dog dies. If you ever wondered what could make Hades cry, now you know.

[genericpuff]

Are there any other LO-critical projects like LR?? Doesn’t have to be comics, I like fanfic(critic-fic?) too, I’ve been really interested in reading stuff like LR

Sure is! The list I have here are just the ones I know of, there are definitely more out there if you browse the #antiLO #lo critical tags or filter your searches on fanfic sites like AO3, but I hope this gives you a good start into finding more works that scratch that itch!

Lore Asgard (AO3) - Briefly in the original LO, Persephone jokes about running off to the Norse Pantheon; Lore Asgard is what would have happened if she actually went through with it.

Lore Mictlan (AO3) - Also plays with the question of "what if Persephone ran off to the Norse Pantheon", but instead she winds up in the realm of the Aztec gods.

Pomegranmints (AO3) - Re-imagines the plot of LO if Persephone and Minthe kissed instead of fighting over Hades ٩(♡ε♡)۶

Survive the Night (Tumblr) - Not sure how long this project is planned to be but it's basically a re-imagining of LO that further explores all the deeply-rooted issues of Hades and Minthe's relationship. Very tense and emotionally raw dialogue scenes, Minthe gets a lot more agency and character exploration here.

Desire for Peace (Webtoon) - Though it's an entirely unique work separate from LO (it's not a fan comic or retelling), the creator was compelled by a distaste towards modern Greek myth retellings to create their own Greek myth comic, starring Ares as the main protagonist. It has both beautiful and unique art, and it presents a writing style that isn't as watered down and simplified as so many popular commercial Greek myth retellings tend to be. The creator is very cool and has done an amazing job at creating a true Greek myth retelling comic, without all the bells and whistles and crutches of "modernizing" the stories.

Theia Mania - Also not at all related to LO, it's just a great comic series that covers all sorts of different myths and tales, but it's most famously known for its ongoing retelling of Hades and Persephone in Queen of the Dead. Like the creator of Desire for Peace, the creator of Theia Mania is someone who Gives a Shit™️ about the source material they're writing about and does a great job at both presenting the culture of Ancient Greece at the time (so again, no modern 2000's stuff here) but also putting some of their own unique twists on an old tale. And the best part? No Demeter scapegoating to be found here <3

Lore Valhalla (Youtube/Patreon) - A brief one-shot that remakes the first episode of Lore Olympus, but with Norse gods instead of Greek. This isn't an ongoing series, just a fun project that Youtuber Crown Obsidian challenged himself to make after he read (and did not particularly enjoy) Lore Olympus.

[nikethestatue]

Azriel is not like the other boys

HOFAS SPOILERS below

____

We often hear that there is no way that Azriel is not fully Illyrian. There are people who absolutely insist that that's all he is, and despite a whole list of 'unusuals' about him, they refuse to acknowledge that he might be something entirely different than just a simple Illyrian.

Setting aside his Seven Siphons and his immense killing power, which he sort of randomly has, alongside Cassian and literally no one else, he is also a Carynthian, a Shadowsinger, and an "illyrian' who can winnow--none of these are capabilities that other Illyrians have. He also carries Truth Teller, a Made weapon, no less.

I was chatting with @shitwillnotbegiven about something unrelated, and then the highlighted paragraph (above) jumped out at me.

In it, we have Vesperus the Asteri who's been kept in a glass coffin for 10K years, and stuck under the Prison, unable to wake or escape. Bryce, Nesta and Azriel happen upon the glass coffin and wake Vesperus up, but don't let her out of the coffin.

Now, if you haven't read HOFAS, a little background: Prythian is/was a land that overflowed with wild natural magic. When the Asteri conquered it, they made the Fae of Prythian pay a Tithe (no doubt the remnants of that custom trickled down all the way to when Tamlin collected the Tithe from his citizens) of their magic, siphoning some of it to sustain themselves.

Let's examine the passage above:

Kneel, soldier. Make the Tithe so I can regain my strength and leave this cage.

Next to Azriel, Nesta (Made) and Bryce (a Starborn visitor from Midgard, which Vesperus isn't familiar with) are standing, and arguably, both Nesta and Bryce are SIGNIFICANTLY more powerful than Azriel.

Yet, Vesperus demands that HE make the Tithe. Not the two (non native) but very powerful Fae.

Now, let's go back allllll the way to early ACOMAF, where Feyre meets the Inner Circle for the first time. When she is introduced to Cassian and Azriel, Cassian jovially announces 'we are just Illyrians' and that they have 'no magic'. The only magic that they possess is the Killing Power, which is controlled by the siphons. Additionally, Rhysand tells Feyre that he couldn't wear the siphons because he kept breaking them, because 'his magic' worked in a different way. He is, of course, only half Illyrian.

Azriel meanwhile, is interesting because he can use the siphons and in fact has a surplus of Killing Power, like Cassian. But he can also control the shadows, because, as he said himself 'that's what he is. He is a Shadowsinger.' BUT, unlike the rest of the Illyrians, he can also winnow and as Cassian said in ACOSF 'Az is different in many ways'.

Now, back to Vesperus and Azriel again.

She asks HIM to make the Tithe. Not Bryce or Nesta (they are both Fae looking and presumably, Vesperus wouldn't know the difference). But, she does, doesn't she?

Because what has sustained her before? Natural Prythian-specific magic that the Fae of Prythian carried. And the only person out of the 3 in front of her that she senses this magic in is...Azriel. That would mean then that Azriel has NATURAL magic, which supposedly Illyrians don't possess at all. That also implies that HIS magic is so ANCIENT that Vesperus immediately recognizes it. It also implies that his magic is so pure that that's what she needs.

But what it also implies is that his natural magic is SO POWERFUL that only a little bit--a Tithe--is strong enough to actually break through Theia's spells and powers, which had kept Vesperus in that glass coffin all this time. Theia, the first Starborn, the one who could outwit an Asteri and imprison her in a glass coffin, the one who became Queen and ruled from Dusk, and the one who found a Rift into Midgard--her power is matched by...Azriel. Because just a little bit of his would seem to break through all of Theia's.

If that doesn't make Azriel more than just an Illyrian, then I don't know what will.

PS. I also thought about Prythian's Tithe, which supposedly everyone has to some degree. Interestingly, Rhys doesn't. He has simple taxation.

This is a whole different post, BUT--what if all the High Lords are part Starborn but also Asteri. What if their magic is also derived from the land, especially the seasonal Courts, where the High Lord is literally responsible for sustaining the season, and the environment is tied to his powers. What if the Tithe is necessary to maintain his magical powers? Kind of like the Asteri needed it to maintain their powers?

And Rhysand, for whatever reason he is part Valg doesn't pull as much from the land itself. His powers are so immense that he exists outside of what Prythian offers.

But like I said, it's a different post.

PSS Isn't it interesting that Elain said that she heard a heartbeat. Through the stones, she heard a heartbeat. With Lucien next to her, she'd assumed that the heartbeat was his. But he couldn't hear the heartbeat. Not hers, not anyone's. What if it wasn't Lucien's at all? What if she heard Vesperus's heartbeat? What if the little gardener who likes to grow things and wants more gardens has NATURAL MAGIC inside of her? What if that was the Cauldron's gift to her? What if she is actually not simply Made, but reborn? Reborn as a Prythain Fae whose magic blossoms and sustains life?

[genericpuff]

no wait hold up no-

this is literally meme worthy i'm dying (/pos)

Queen of the Dead part 2, 35

Persephone forgot the number one rule: Never say no to anything that Nyx is offering.

[shallyne]

What if Maeve is Theia's unnamed daughter

[silverflameataraxia]

Nesta's story is not over yet and she had the Starborn tattoo (which her magic chose), she now wields Gwydion, she found the Starborn chamber, she's the only one besides Bryce who can enter the Starborn chamber, and she controls and wields the Harp.

Bryce specifically said that the Harp was left for a Starborn to find and that only a Starborn could find and enter the chamber and that only a Starborn could wield Gwydion.

Bryce gave Nesta Gwydion because of her Starborn tattoo and because she found the Starborn chamber.

Starborn are descendents of Queen Theia, who are the rightful heirs to the Dusk Court.

Nesta's entire story arc revolves around rebirth/reawakening. A major point of the crossover was to find out that Bryce is the Chosen One Starborn descendant of Queen Theia on Helena's side, and to foreshadow Nesta being the Chosen One Starborn descendant of Queen Theia on Silene's side.

Nesta Made Ataraxia, which killed both Lanthys and Vesperus, and which is feared by the other Prison inmates. The very beings who need to be cleared out before Dusk can be reawakened.

(Not quite sure where people are getting their Elain/Az/Gwyn reawakening Dusk Court theories from, but they all seem to steal from Nesta's story arc from both ACOSF and HOFAS. And Rhys reawakening Dusk after he's controlled the Prison for centuries would be anticlimatic.)

[aurorac0re]

What would Theia’s relationship with other Lunam kids, Darkness (Doriana) and Portal (Port) - belong to Miss.Darkness_Butterfly (IG) be like?

Idk....... They would probably hang out as sisters.. she's a little scared of Dorianna lol. But she'll get used to her..

[thefreakpanda]

I know that SJM said that Rhys is probably the most powerful character she’s ever written. BUT, you cannot convince me that he is more powerful than Nesta. 

Let’s look at the facts : 

Nesta, who as a starving human woman, resisted a HIGH LORD’s glamour. 

Nesta, whom the Bone Carver had heard of the moment she came out of the Cauldron because the whole world had felt it. Nesta, whose name is moaned by the wind. Nesta, who made the inmates of the Prison, literal monsters that people don’t know how to kill, shiver in fear and step away from their doors. 

Nesta who twisted the King of Hybern’s neck like it was a party popper, with no training. Nesta who can wear and remove the mask at will (still after giving up most of her power), when no one had ever worn it and lived. Nesta who controls the entire Dread Trove, which has never been seen before. Nesta who has made an entire Trove herself, who can bring houses, bracelets and even still-born babies to LIFE.  Nesta who killed Lanthys, a presumably unkillable being. Nesta who killed a Daglan, a presumably unkillable being. 

Nesta who is Mother-Blessed, who has a literal goddess watching over her when the gods had presumably left this world to its own devices. 

Rhys almost passed out after winnowing too many people in ACOWAR. Rhys had to be carried to the top of Ramiel. Rhys died helping Feyre rebuild the Cauldron. 

Whereas Nesta after not having eaten or drank for a week, after having climbed and fought to the top of Ramiel, being exhausted beyond words and still fighting Bellius, when confronted to Cassian stabbing himself, released her power which reduced the cottage she used to live in, on the other side of Prythian, to ashes. 

And we are supposed to believe that Rhys is more powerful than this QUEEN!

Yes, Rhys is the most powerful High Lord in history.  But he is not the most powerful person in the world. 

Which brings me to my next point : he knows that! 

Or at least, he feels it. After reading HOFAS, it’s very likely that Nesta is starborn meaning that her and Rhys both come from Theia’s power. It’s pretty clear that Nesta is meant to be queen. After all, she has been called a queen in Every.Single.Book, including HOFAS. It’s pretty clear that she will be queen of Dusk. 

Rhys is already High Lord (most likely going to become High King at some point, even if no one wants that). He has rarely met someone more powerful than he was. And since the land chooses its ruler, and since Nesta comes from the same line as him, she is a threat. Even if he fails to notice that she doesn't care about power in general and doesn’t even realize the extent of her own. 

Rhys has a primal side to him even more potent than Cassian, the “Illyrian brute”. I’m going to give a very strange comparison because it involves dogs and something that happened with mine. 

We were at my cousins’ and they both have dogs : an American staff and a pitbull. My dog is half staff himself. All males, very sweet but very dominant by nature. 

Initially, it was just my dog and the staff who were fine but, funnily enough, tried to overpower each other by peeing everywhere, marking their territory where the other initially had. 

Then my other cousin brought her pitbull. The pitbull and the staff knew each other well and played, far away from my dog. My dog had to be held because he was shaking and growling despite the other dogs not paying attention to him at all. Because he knew that they were more powerful and he was outnumbered. To the point where he didn’t see me anymore, being overconsumed by fear and even tried to bite my hand when I tried to calm him (he’s never done that before and had always been, and still is, the most loving dog ever). 

This is what Rhys reminds me of, because there’s something animalistic about him despite the cool, controlled demeanor. Even Cassian said it. 

He has threatened Nesta who avoids him and barely talks to him. The worst thing she ever said about him was that he was an arrogant, preening asshole. While he threatens her any chance he gets and thinks the worst of her. 

Just like my dog in the story, Rhys doesn’t realize that Nesta doesn’t care. He is just threatened by her presence. 

It’s not about letting Feyre hunt or rejecting Cassian. These are just excuses. It’s about someone more powerful than he is, in his own court, not kissing his feet. 

[gwynrieldreams]

How Gwynriel and Elucien mirror Quinlar and Satharion

SJM creates characters that mirror each other in each world. They have similar appearance/vibe, similar powers, similar backstory/family origins or similar role.

Rhysand, Ruhn and Dorian. Lidia and Aelin. Amren and Fury. Jessiba and Merrill. Connor and Sam. Einar and Beron. Danika and Fenrys or Danika and Nehemia, depending on how you see it. Yrene and Hypaxia. Vassa and Ariadne.

Even the villains, Vesperus and Maeve, the Valg, the Death Gods and the Princes of Hel. Their gods: Deanna and Luna, Hel and Hellas, Urd and Wyrd. Their kings and queens: Theia and Mala-firebringer. Fionn and Brannon. Elena and Helena. Gavin and Pelias.

Acosf and CC were written pretty much next to each other. So, what if Gwyn is Bryce's mirror?

They're both redheads with freckles.

Mixed: high fae + sth else that is considered lesser.

They work in a library/artifact gallery under a strict librarian.

They wear an amulet that librarians wear, with protective powers.

They both have Autumn Court heritage.

They both grew up or spent some of their childhood years in a temple.

Jelly jubilee was used to foreshadow that Bryce was Starborn and the heir of Dusk Court, while the miniature pegasus was connected to Gwyn in the scene where she cuts the ribbon and Emerie mentions that the pegasus liked Gwyn the best.

Bryce has light powers and it's possible that Gwyn also has similar powers. I believe since Bryce isn't interested in ruling or moving in Prythian, then the land will choose someone else. I just think that all those similarities and the miniature pegasus foreshadowing are something that cannot be ignored, in addition to Gwydion and the possibility that she'll be the one to wield it.

And what if Azriel and Hunt are also mirrors?

Hunt is called umbra mortis, which means shadow of death, while Azriel's name comes from Azrael the angel of death and he has shadow powers.

Dark and broody with wings.

Hunt worked as an assassin for the Archangels and hated himself, while Azriel is the torturer of the NC and hates himself. Also, this:

Just like Azriel, who was tortured and wasn't allowed to fly or see the sunlight for years.

Considering, also, the mating language parallels between the two couples, I believe all this just seals the deal for gwynriel endgame and opens the possibility that Gwyn could also be the one to wield Gwydion and/or rule Dusk Court.

Let's not forget their bonus chapters ended the same way.

Same goes for Sathia and Elain:

light brown hair and pretty

associated with flowers

in love with sb who broke up with her but still they went after him (Elain with Graysen, Sathia with Colin)

mated/married with a redhead who has done nothing but respect them and still wants to be with them after everything

Elain is soft and kind, loves to hold court. Her mother saw her as a "doll to dress up" and that she'd only marry for "love and beauty." Sathia is similar.

Lucien and Tharion also share similarities:

redhead, charming and sarcastic

no place to call home. Lucien is from the Autumn Court but his biological father is Helion, HL of the Day Court, he was emissary for Spring and now he's working as an emissary for Night, while staying in the human lands and in Spring Court/Tharion is mer but loves all things Above, he was hunted by the River Queen, he was staying with Ruhn, Flynn and Declan, until he was forced to make a deal with the Viper Queen

emissary work, Tharion is Captain of Intelligence but as we see he was sent as a representative to the Summit

Lucien wants to get to know Elain but her love for Graysen and her trauma makes it difficult, Lucien respects her decisions/Tharion married Sathia to get her out of a difficult situation but Sathia still went after Collin, Tharion respected her decision but still went after her in order to save her from the Viper Queen.

I think it's possible that Tharion and Sathia are also mates like Elucien, especially when we consider how protective she was of him against the Viper Queen -even though Colin was the one actually in danger.

[emilystheories]

How HOFAS set up

Nesta Archeron to be High Queen of Prythian.

A theory.

ACOTAR and CC3 spoilers ahead.

[art by Gabrielle Ragusi]

A connection to Theia.

In HOFAS, we finally learn about Theia; the original High Queen of Prythian.

Interestingly, Queen Theia was depicted as holding and wearing the Dread Trove items — this was a symbol of her rule.

Evidently, this is just like Nesta.

[art by mistilteinnart]

We also witness Theia’s backstory: that she stood next to the Daglan’s throne, serving at their side “for a century.”

This is near identical to the vision Lanthys (a confirmed Daglan member) showed Nesta in ACOSF. That just like Theia, Nesta could serve at the side of the Daglan, and ensure their rule.

Interestingly, Lanthys even refers to Nesta as “Queen of Queens.”

And, just as Queen Theia used the Dread Trove to overthrow the Daglan, so too did Nesta, when she used Ataraxia (part of the “new” Dread Trove) to slay Lanthys.

The parallels between the two are stark.

[art by luverihu]

Gwydion.

In the past, I had theorised that Bryce Quinlan would be High Queen of Prythian; that she was the most eligible to rule, given her Starborn lineage, and her possession of Gwydion — the sword of the High King and Queen.

This was actually canon (or at least heavily implied). Bryce could indeed claim the High Queen title.

But, she didn’t.

Instead, Bryce handed Gwydion to Nesta, citing the importance of Nesta’s tattoo: the eight-pointed star, and the symbol of the Starborn Fae.

Nesta is now the owner of Gwydion; the sword of the High King and High Queen of Prythian.

The royal sword.

Passed on from one queen to the next.

[art by nearixx]

But, that’s not Nesta’s only claim to the throne.

As mentioned previously, in ACOSF, Nesta forged her own blades — a new Dread Trove.

Amren looked at Nesta’s ‘Made’ weapons and declared that if Rhys used them, he could “set himself up as High King.”

That each of these blades, including Ataraxia, is a “kingmaker.”

But the blades don’t belong to Rhys.

They belong to Nesta.

[art by gessueter]

In fact, the 'Made' weapons actively resisted Rhys’s presence.

Which brings us to another hint…

Rhys vs Nesta.

Some argue that Rhys has the greatest claim to High King of Prythian. Given his lineage (and what was revealed in HOFAS), they may be right.

It’s almost as if SJM is setting up both Nesta and Rhys as potential rulers.

A High Queen vs High King.

This is in line with what is said in HOFAS; that a Fae Queen vs a Fae King rivalry is “history repeating itself.”

Perhaps this is why SJM is continuing the rivalry and tension between Nesta and Rhys, despite them making amends towards the end of ACOSF.

[art by book_s150]

This is further exemplified in the HOFAS (Ember and Randall) bonus chapter.

We see Nesta making decisions on her own (to give the Mask to Bryce) without consulting Rhys or anyone else.

We see Nesta declare that she doesn’t answer to Rhys or Feyre.

And Ember watches on as Rhys assesses the “challenge” in Nesta’s expression — that to Rhys, Nesta is a “worthy opponent.”

But, as SJM typically likes to write about women coming into power, I believe Nesta will win the High Queen title at the end of the day.

After all, Nesta has been repeatedly foreshadowed as a queen throughout the entire series. Feyre even refers to Nesta as a “queen without a throne.”

[art by natserpiece]

However, I don’t think Nesta will come into the High Queen position randomly. Instead, two things have to occur:

Something bad needs to happen to the entirety of Prythian (perhaps whatever Koschei has planned…), causing a last-resort need for a queen to unite under.

Or, tensions with the Inner Circle will continue to grow, and Nesta will leave the Night Court.

But, where would Nesta go?

The Dusk Court.

Or, what is otherwise known as the Prison Island.

Which in HOFAS, was explicitly said to be a “royal territory.”

And was regarded as the “sanctuary” of the High Queen.

That is to say, Nesta being both High Lady of Dusk and High Queen isn’t just a pipe dream.

Canonically, it’s suggested to be the same thing.

(Fun possibility #1: perhaps the Dusk Court will be ‘removed’ from Prythian and will gain independence— that way, Nesta will be High Lady and Queen of Dusk, and Rhysand, or someone else, will be King of Prythian).

Thematically, it makes sense.

As we know, the courts of Prythian are thematically organised, and work in tandem with their opposing courts.

Summer and Winter.

Autumn and Spring.

Night and Day.

Which leaves, Dawn and Dusk.

The Dawn Court is associated with healing powers. To further corroborate this, firstlight (in the Crescent City world) has the capacity to heal.

‘First light’ means dawn.

In the Crescent City world, the opposite of ‘firstlight’ is ‘secondlight’ — the power made upon someone’s death.

If the opposite of dawn (firstlight, healing) is dusk (secondlight…?), does this mean that the Dusk Court is associated with death?

It would make sense: dawn signals the start of the day and new beginnings, whereas dusk signals the end.

And whose powers most closely align with death?

Nesta Archeron’s.

The court of the Valkyries, too.

If this theory is true, I have no doubt that the Valkyries will follow Nesta to the Dusk Court as well, setting up their own domain, completely separate to the Illyrians.

This likely explains the pegasus foreshadowing in ACOSF, as the pegasus’s originated from the Dusk Court.

[art by kelly.vieir.a]

I also believe that the Valkyries will expand their ranks, not only recruiting more priestesses, but also:

Merrill: with her “twilight” coloured eyes (twilight is another word for dusk).

Mor: whose family once owned the Dusk Court, long ago (also lending itself to a Mor x Emerie book).

And another important connection: Bryce Quinlan.

With the introduction of “thin places,” HOFAS made clear that Avallen Island and the Prison Island (Dusk Court) are innately connected, despite being worlds apart.

If Bryce is in Avallen, then it makes sense that Nesta is residing on the Prison Island — side by side.

And, as Bryce still has the Horn on her back (coupled with Nesta having the Harp), perhaps their friendship will continue.

(Fun possibility #2: No one is more connected to the pegasus’s than Bryce, and I can’t see her passing up the opportunity to join an all-female, pegasus-led warrior group. Perhaps a cameo is in store…).

[art by paint faery]

In conclusion:

All hail Queen Nesta Archeron.

[art by artinelysian]