#the folk of the air

[icelandicapricot]

Exactly, how dare he? How dare he love his wife so much. I say as I seethe in jealousy fr.

how dare cardan greenbriar casually drop a number like "yes, my sweet villain, my darling god" and kiss jude duarte on the mouth in front of basically the whole damn kingdom

[xcruelprincessx]

The fact that Jude's biggest insecurities were her mortal looking ears and body and that's the exact thing Cardan noticed first and got obsessed with 😭

[enobariasdistrict2]

THIS SCENE THOUGH BECAUSE LIKE 1) he admits she charmed him and got under his skin and he calls his own tastes depraved which should be an insult but it's unreasonably hot lmao. 2) her checking in with him and being 100% transparent about what she's about to do and giving him a warning beforehand.

[yourartmatters-itswhatgotmehere]

it's so magical because when i was thinking about it more i realized MORE THAN TWO OF MY FAVORITE YA BOOK SERIES DID THIS. which is so incredible and how lucky am i to keep revisiting my friends that i loved as a teenager when we were all teenagers and now we're adults? CRAZY.

Holly did it with TFOTA. Tahereh did it as well with Shatter Me. Sabaa T did the same thing with An Ember In The Ashes when 10+ or so years duology spinoff series main ch. is Helene's nephew. Eoin C made a spinoff series about Artemis Fowl's twin brothers. I KINDA? SORTA? WISH LIBBA BRAY DID THE SAME WITH THE DIVINERS. Marie Lu did the same with REBEL, The Selection Series' last two books have kids of main characters becoming the leads. I just think it's SUCH A GIFT to the readers who want to keep coming back. It's such a lovely way to keep the love alive and blooming.

if i had a nickel every time an iconic book series had a spin off that focuses on the 10 year old, sheltered blonde boy whom the original characters did EVERYTHING to protect growing up to have an enemies to lovers trope with a badass woman, i’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot, but its weird that it happened twice.

[madockisser]

Locke and Cardan parallels/ their relationship w Jude and eachother short assumptions!

someone sent me an ask abt Locke and i wanted to post this first so i could get my thoughts straight!

1st of all, cardan and locke both stole jewelry from Jude. Locke, who stole the earrings that Jude was going to give Taryn on her wedding day. And cardan, who stole Jude’s ring that madoc had given her.

Now think, the motivations behind the theft. Firstly, Locke stole from Jude only after ANONYMOUSLY attacking her.

Cardan on the other hand did it to her face, mockingly as he pressed her hand to his lips.

I love that this totally says that Locke and cardan are opposites, not just their motivations, but their mannerisms and behaviors.

Jude from the start thought that Locke was kind and charming, and that cardan was cruel and awful. But things totally switch around as the books progress. It becomes reversed, where Locke is cruel and awful, and cardan is charming and kind.

and notice how i emphasized “anonymously” because (and i may be reaching) locke hid his true intentions the entire series. Him being a major op who got Jude kidnapped was actually pretty wild.

Now the entire series, Jude thinks cardan is this totally mysterious and cruel, ready to lash out sorta faerie, and that’s only half true. But Jude was always pretty blind about him, when he was kind to her, she assumed it was a trick.

but cardan was himself with her for the most part, especially as the series progress. locke on the other hand was- i guess you could say “wearing a mask,” like when he stole from her.

The second parallel would be the dresses.

In the cruel prince, Locke carelessly gives Jude a rotted dress, and she thinks that its a very kind gesture, since the dress was his mothers.

Perhaps she thinks that because faeries are so rarely kind and give things away, but Locke acted very dismissive, saying that the dresses were rotted.

now me personally, i think that he really just wanted Jude to play along so he could further fabricate this tale that Jude was very fond of him. I dont think he saw it as a kind gesture, just an opportunity to further torment cardan, who Locke knew wanted Jude at this point. Locke knew since the tournament.

Anyway, cardan on the other hand, and i almost feel like this was a response to jude wearing locke’s mother’s dresses, had a beautiful royal gown made for jude, with gemstones and personal details (Jude’s balcony)

Now i LOVE this, for several reasons besides the obvious.

Cardan took lockes idea of giving jude a dress and made it not just his own, royal and princely and perfect, but he made it JUDES own.

Whereas Locke just gave jude his mothers dress. It’s to be noted that lockes mother died horribly, after becoming a lover to both the high king and the high kings son.

Which honestly feels intentional, but i could be reaching.

Locke is aware that his mother died because he presumed that she had the high kings baby, and that he didn’t want it born. Or someone didn’t want it born. we don’t know the details of lockes knowledge, BUT we know that Locke has access to the ghost, and I’m not sure that the ghost was physically able to tell Locke WHO was responsible, but Locke seemed to just blame the royal family (the high king who got her preg, then cardan who was convenient to torture instead of the high king)

It’s like he is torturing cardan by taking the tale of his mothers death and twisting it onto Jude. Making himself the high king in the story, and Jude the victim/lockes mother- and mayybbbe trying to make cardan out as the villain, like cardan is the one that offed lockes mom in the story, even though Locke was actively hurting Jude? (idk abt this one guys but I’m just trying to think from his perspective here!)

to him, he’s totally tormenting cardan by doing so (for his little story!) of course, cardan knows the truth of lockes mothers death, so he was probably just irritated that Locke had her in his house w him in the first place lol

anyway I’d have to go back to my books to know the exact details (so i might be totally wrong here) but I’m too comfy rn lol

BUT what I’m trying to say is that Locke and cardan seemed to be activley competing for Jude (this is lowkey super cute lol even if it’s fucking evil of locke) Locke, who was competing to charm Jude to torture her and cardan, and cardan who was just trying to win jude over.

anyway idk, this was a hot fucking mess so my bad, but if you managed to understand the weird shit i just spewed, great! feel absolutely free to add on or correct me! 🫶🫶🫶

[roseadleyn]

something that really bothers me is how much jude is done dirty by the fandom.

like let me lay out jude for yall. jude is a ruthless warrior, a girl who saw her parents murdered in front of her when she was only seven years old. she's not angry and bitter, she's very calculating and doesn't just want to survive, she wants a place for herself. in some kind of way, jude can be called a courtier — she's not as subtle as one and not like cardan or lady asha, but she's cunning and will do anything for power. she is morally grey, and she's actually very intelligent too. ten out of ten, this is how fmcs are written.

but the fandom has never done jude any justice. like they say she just kills her way through every problem — she doesn't. she's extremely intelligent and was raised on strategy. jude ran cardan's court for a full year while juggling spycraft duties and missed on no marks. she does kill out of panic ( valerian, balekin ), but a) she was being attacked and b) even with valerian, she made a plan to hide it and get away with it and she did. jude is smart, not all willy-nilly murdering people.

and secondly,, jude is really remarkable? like this 19 year old human girl, takes the crown, makes a puppet king, rules his court from the shadows and runs her own network of spies, maintains every foreign relation and juggles her own dysfunctional political family, deals with the weird loverboy king crushing on her, fights in a war, saves her lover, and she pulls it all off? and this is just off of the top of my head,. but for some reason this fandom has delegated her to love interest. every jude post is about her and cardan. the jude duarte tag is just cardan and jude, jude and cardan, jurdan, heres how jude dealt with her feelings for cardan!! and then why i think jude should have exiled taryn from elfhame!!

its honestly.. this issue is with the whole tfota fandom, turning a brilliant political fantasy with romance subplot into a mainly romance genre,,, but jude is my main one. female leads in ya are never valued properly or done any due credit - either by the author or the fandom or both. the fact that such a strong, well written character is always being portrayed as lover and sister, queen only in the context of loving king... it's very tiring. i want to see more of jude. how her trauma affects her, habits she might have picked up in elfhame, her hobbies, etc. its just, okay im gonna stop rambling now

BUT WAIT. ANOTHER THING,, i will now need every artist to draw jude the way shes written,. by which i mean give her muscles. she foughtl off a group of men with an axe and uses swords, daggers, crossbows and has been training since she was seven. draw her with muscles, her scars, her missing finger

[moon--mama]

I think there’s a recurring theme in Holly Black’s universe relating to power. We see many characters who have been used to absolute power that have been corrupted by it. In most of the faerie books, this results in a newer generation rising up to oust their oppressors, usually through love. While Cardan and Jude may not have originally wanted power, they’re in a position now where they are ruling and surviving. Likewise, when Wren becomes Queen, she’s suddenly empowered in a way that she was not as she went through her traumatic upbringing. If Wren were to abdicate, it stands to reason that someone horrible could take that seat of power and do very wicked things once more. The thing that Cardan, Jude, Oak, and Wren (and Kayne and Roiben) have in common is that they are deeply in love and rule from a mindset of protection instead of boredom or malice. Their experiences in this series have made them better rulers—they have gained an understanding of the mortal world, if not outright sympathy for mortals. It suggests that while educated and caring people might avoid the world of politics because they can see how thoroughly it corrupts, people have a duty to step into power to promote acceptance, justice, and equality. These characters may not have wanted the power, but that is partially what makes them the most suited to have it.

My thoughts on The Prisoner's Throne.

(spoilers ahead, and talk about Holly Black's planned book)

ps: I finished this book in one sitting on release day and needed days to process everything, that's why this is a late post. Enjoy!!!!

Heather and Vivi

Where were Heather and Vivi? They were present in the prologue but then they vanished. I was excited to see Vivi become friends with Wren, especially after the rude comments she made towards Wren in TQON. I wonder why Holly excluded them from everything after the prologue, such as the family drama scene at the feast. However, I appreciated how they were mentioned in the story, particularly when we learned that Oak and Heather's mom are close, and that Oak would sleep at their house.

Oak abdicating as heir

So yeah, Jude and Cardan have given Oak permission to resign from the throne as heir, and obviously Oak is taking that opportunity to do just that, just not yet….he has to stay heir for months since Jude and Cardan are going away together. I always knew Jude and Cardan were going to stay as High King and Queen of Elfhame, but only because Oak married Wren and therefore became King of the Ice Needle Citadel, but that didn't happen…Jude is letting him step down because she knows he's grown, and wants him to make his own choices, which is great. If Oak resigns, Jude and Cardan will need to have a child to maintain the royal lineage. So, it's VERY possible that we may see a Jurdan baby in the future.

political problem (Holly Black's next faerie book)

So finally we know what the next book will be about. We know that Jude and Cardan have plans to go to the Undersea. That was the plan Holly Black has been teasing at us for a long time now. This means we’re getting another Elfhame book (Holly didn't say an "Undersea book", she said "Elfhame" even though it's going to be set in the Undersea). In an interview online, Holly Black states that this book will possibly be a stand-alone. Many fans are speculating that this book is going to be a Nicasia POV, but from reading the interviews from Holly I believe it’s going to be either a Jude or Cardan POV (maybe even both). This would make sense since Holly has said many times that she's planning to give us more Jurdan, and that Jude still has a lot of story in her. The Prisoner's Throne leaves us with many unanswered questions, such as what happens to the Ghost, if Oak gets married, news about Wren and her family, and whether Jude and Cardan have children. A standalone book to wrap up these loose ends would be very needed.

Cardan saving and being protective of Jude

Do you guys remember the post I made about Cardan fighting alongside Jude? and how he will not sit on the sidelines to watch her fight? Fans who know Cardan well already knew this to be true, but this book further proved this. This isn’t the first time has Cardan stepped in front of Jude to save her from being impaled. My man sacrificed himself so Jude wouldn't get hurt. Many times during the Stolen Heir duology Cardan has been called a coward, but mannn he's no coward, he will protect those he loves dearly, it was so refreshing to get more of his protective side in this book.

Taryn and The ghost

Since TQON, fans have been speculating that Garrett and Taryn are involved in a romantic relationship. Although it wasn't confirmed in the book, The Prisoner's Throne offered some insight into this. We find out that Heather, Vivi, and Oak have all speculated about it. Furthermore, Oak reveals that even after 10 years, The Ghost has remained close to Taryn and her child Leander. In one chapter of TPT, The Ghost has a serious conversation with Oak, but when Leander interrupts them, Oak notices that The Ghost becomes a different person around Taryn's son. He changes his behavior and has an indulgent smile towards the boy. I personally find it adorable, and after all the hardships The Ghost has been through, I believe he deserves to find happiness, even if it's with Taryn of all people.

The Ghost’s tragedy *sobs into pillow*

I never expected The Ghost to become such a prominent character in the book. It was amazing how I started to develop an emotional attachment to the Ghost throughout the book, only for him to end up turning into a tree by the end. The chapter where the family feasts and Lady Elaine and the Ghost are found dead was pure chaos and full of royal family drama. I had such a good time reading that part, until the Ghost turned into a tree. Also, going back to the topic of the Ghost and Taryn, I feel bad for Taryn even though I know she is a terrible character. It was heartbreaking to see Taryn sob and hold the Ghost while he was slowly dying (We didn't get word from Taryn that they were dating but I think that part was enough comfirmation that they were indeed lovers). As far as we know, Taryn and the Ghost did not get a happy ending in this book :(

ps: This is why I believe holly black's next book will be a Jurdan POV, because the only way we get to know about the ghost is through them. Nicasia is not close to Wren, Oak, the Ghost, or Taryn, we will never get insight on what happens to them if this next book is a Nicasia POV. Also I've been hearing as of 3/12/24 that Holly might possibly write a Jurdan dual POV, so...more reason to believe that it will definitely not be a Nicasia POV.

Taryn Vs Wren

It's funny how Holly decided to create a lot of family issues in the second book of the duology. Many fans believe that this duology should have been a three-part series to resolve these issues. One major problem is that Taryn dislikes Wren and holds her responsible for what happened to The Ghost. Oak's family is also not very fond of Wren. It would have been nice to see a moment in the book where Oak's family and Wren could have worked together and gotten along, but that didn't happen. If Oak and Wren plan to get married, I hope that they can resolve these issues between them all.

Cardan VS Taryn

It shocked me that after 10 years of them being brother and sister in law, that they still don’t get along. I think Taryn was wrong to feel like she had to protect The Ghost from Cardan when he was only trying to help. In fact, it annoyed me a bit. While Cardan was respectful towards Taryn, he had every right to dislike her, unlike Taryn who had no reason to dislike Cardan. Moreover, I would like to mention the moment when they found the ghost almost dead and Cardan ignored Taryn and answered Jude instead, Cardan being petty to Taryn in the most respectful way is hilarious. I think that moment perfectly sums up their relationship.

Wren’s Family

Although I’m happy Wren's sister Bex reunited with Wren, I was very much expecting to get more closure from that, like seeing Wren's entire family together reunite in the book. It feels like that left a huge void at the end of the book.

Wren’s Transformation

Okay, that was absolutely shocking. Holly mentioned in one of her interviews that there would be a transformation in the book, and I guess that was it. Wren now has beautiful wings. Can someone please draw a picture of Wren with wings? Also, can you imagine what Oak and Wren's children would look like if they ever had any? Their child would have blue skin, hooves, and wings. That would be a very interesting looking child.

Wren VS Jurdan

Wren was so wrong for making Jude and Cardan appear weak in front of their court. While reading this part, I remember thinking 'Wren, please stop," I found this chapter fun to read, and seeing Jude and Cardan's reaction to Wren's power. It was interesting to see how Wren exposes Jude's geas and curse to almost the entire court, and how Cardan becomes overprotective of Jude while Wren was removing her curse. I love Cardan.

Where was Queen Annett?

Since the stolen heir, I believed that queen Annett was going to be a problem for Elfhame and Wren. As you may recall, Wren freed her prisoners, and I always believed Queen Annett would've punished Elfhame for it since Wren was with Elfhame's heir Oak. However, she did not appear in The Prisoner Throne at all. I wonder if Holly forgot to bring this issue up or if she has decided to address it in her upcoming faerie book. (Queen Annett is also pregnant, so I think she will definitely be brought up again)

Madoc's Character

I'm a bit disappointed. I was expecting a lot from Madoc in this book, but nothing happened, except the fact that Jude lifted his exile (temporarily?) It bothers me that she lifted his exile easily, does Jude not remember he caused many problems for them? Madoc is the reason why Cardan almost died, why Oak was put in danger, he's the reason why the royal family died, and why Orlagh was weakened. I at least expected that Jude lifting his exile would've caused political problems for her, since Madoc is a political criminal for Elfhame and the Undersea. I thought he would’ve at least made a big heroic or villainous move in The Prisoner's Throne, or found a way to at least redeem himself, but nope.

Oak and Wren's Ending

So…Oak does not become king of anything, which is shocking. Everyone believed that if he didn’t become the King of Elfhame he would at least rule the Ice Needle Citadel, which can still happen, since he did propose to Wren at the end of the book. But still, I find it unnecessary, I think that Wren should step down from being Queen, and run to the mortal world with Oak where they can live away from the royal duties. Oak has expressed many times he does not want to be king, but if he marries Wren he will be king, which doesn't seem satisfying to me. Wren never cared for power in The Stolen Heir, she only ever cared for love and her family, I think the ending felt incomplete and unfinished. A lot of stuff was built up from The Folk Of The Air series, and this duology was supposed to give us results, but it did not. Even Oak and Wren's love story felt rushed. I didn’t see much of a connection. It didn't give me much of what I felt when I read Jude and Cardan's love story (You guys are so welcome to disagree with me)

Jude and Oak

So if you read the book, you know how shocking Jude and Oak's relationship became. Especially that scene where they “duel” (And Jude was an absolute fucking badass in that scene) The way she tricked Hag and even Oak at first that she was going to trade Oak for Cardan. I was very impressed with Jude in this book, especially in this chapter where we see her ordering her archers, and her ripping her dress to be able to fight while she's all wet. Her dialogue was so badass: "What if I give you Oak's head instead of Cardan's" and even this quote "Well, then, what a wonderful opportunity for you to prove your loyalty and die for the High King." Chapter 23 (I was so gay for Jude in this chapter, she was so mommy material) Despite feeling a bit betrayed by Oak and believing that she had failed in protecting him, she still trusted him when it came to Wren.

Oak Vs Taryn

"For a moment, he thinks of going over there and dumping his red clover tea over his sister's head" (Chapter 19)

(Jaw was on the FLOOR when i read this) I think it really sucked that Oak's family never told him about this, and I understand that Oak had every right to feel so raged that his family hid his mother’s true killer from his knowledge. Oak and The Ghost have been close, we did get some insight of The Ghost going to the mortal world and train Oak with Magic. I really hope Oak and The ghost's issue gets resolved, but that can only happen when the ghost gets cured....I love family drama, and it shows.

Jurdan Kids

Going back to the topic at hand, Cardan and Jude have given Oak permission to abdicate, which leads me to believe that they are planning to have kids of their own. So far, there hasn't been any indication from Jurdan that they are against having children. Holly has given us insights into Jurdan taking care of Leander, which is incredibly heartwarming. For example, we find out that Cardan plays with Leander, and there's a part where Jude is in the mortal world with newborn Leander, and Oak remembers Jude playing with baby Leander with a toy, almost like she was playing with a cat. I think these are definite hints from Holly that Jurdan would make great parents. Holly did say that we would get an answer to Jude and Cardan possibly having kids in the Prisoner's Throne, and I believe this was it. I will definitely make a separate post on this.

Randalian

I'm so happy this man is dead, it was long overdue. This man annoyed the crap out of us since the folk of the air series (it’s crazy that Jude and Cardan never decided to remove him from the living council, he never saw eye to eye with Jude and disrespected them constantly)

Lady Asha apperance

It turns out that Lady Asha is still in the court. She was only mentioned once when Lady Elaine was speaking with her. At that moment, I became suspicious and believed that Lady Asha was also part of the conspirators.

Locke appearance

The dream Oak had with Locke as a fox was fun and interesting. Even though it was a dream, it was cool to hear Locke again and how he acknowledged being murdered by Taryn.

Taryn is aging...but not Jude

FINALLY, we have some information on this topic. Oak describes Jude as looking very young, and Taryn as aging. He offers two possible explanations for this: either Taryn has visited the mortal world too often as her years are catching up to her, or becoming a mother has exhausted her. For a long time since TFOTA series, fans have speculated that since Jude is the Queen of Elfhame, she will never age. And it looks like Holly seems to support this, especially since Oak finally wonders "if Jude is quite as mortal as she once was". I from now on have no doubt about it, i am a "Jude will never age as long as she's Queen of Elfhame" believer.

The Cardan and Oak problem

it turns out that it wasn’t a big deal, Oak had been too much in his head, he was his own enemy when it came to Cardan, and it was amazing to see Cardan and Oak have a brotherly talk by the end of this book. Cardan’s character has really matured, and its amazing how comfortable he's become with his loved ones (i love him so much) I will admit, that when Cardan was talking to Oak about delaying his abdication of heir, I thought he was going to announce Jude’s pregnancy and you can't blame me, the way Holly wrote it made it sound like he was going to do that. (would’ve made me scream) but nope.

Summary:

The beginning was slow, but I nonetheless enjoyed it. I love Oak and Wren, however, I felt that they could have had a stronger connection in the story. There were too many unanswered questions left in the book, and it did not provide any closure to Oak and Wren's future. I feel that the series should have been a three-part book series instead of a duology. Moreover, many of the main characters seemed to have lost their power, such as Oak's resignation as heir to the throne, Wren losing her godly powers, and Tiernan being fired from his position as Oak's guard. I think many new readers who have never read the Folk of The Air series might not have appreciated that. Despite this, I appreciate that Jurdan was not removed from the Elfhame throne. However, I think that Holly Black set up more problems in this book than solutions, which makes it feel neglectful towards Oak and Wren's story. I am excited about this book, and I am sad that we may not get more news on Elfhame until possibly 2026, as she is currently working on the second book of The Book of Night. Anyways, In other news, I have a virtual event with Holly Black tonight 3/12/24, so I will write anything important down, and I will try to ask good questions!

[lianne-blop]

Little sketch I did of Jude & Cardan >:)

[deathsweetblossoms]

Cardan, Locke, Nicasia, and Valerian by Frostbite Studios (from the Folk of the Air by Holly Black)

[avendell]

Jude and Cardan 🥀

[murasaki-cha]

Stumbled upon this and I will reblog it because I was right don't even try to change my mind

The Prisoner's Throne spoilers!!

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He wishes he could trust his sister as he once did. He wishes that he could be sure she trusted him.

You know, it's truly remarkable how at least 90% of the problems in both series set in Elfhame would be solved if Duarte-Greenbriars just, you know, FREAKING TALKED!! Like at least The Prisoner's Throne would have finished in 30 pages max.

"Hey Wren I know I apologised already for lying to you but I do in fact love you dearly. In fact you could be the only person I have ever truly loved for you might be the only person that has truly seen me instead of my title or the idea of me they have created in their head."

"Hey Jude I don't, in fact, want to be heir, I don't want the throne and this entire thing is suffocating me. Also why do you take birth control?"

"Wren I am insicure about my power and my entire sense of personal identity in general because of said power as I'm constantly thinking that I'm nothing but a shell of a person born to please others and I'm undeserving of love."

"Hey Cardan I am not in fact actively plotting treason and your eternal demise upon my hands so I hope you're not planning the same. In fact I'm exploiting myself in order to get rid of any possible plots of future treason against you and my sister."

"Hey dear family please stop trying to shelter and/or force opinions or positions upon me for my safety as I feel like I am nothing but a burden for you all and do constantly blame myself for every misfortune that has befallen you guys all this time and constantly doubt my own worth."

"Hey dad, fuck you."

Like I know, where's the fun in that but like, just imagine it. Therapists could write entire research papers on these guys.

[xcruelprincessx]

How Cardan's kidnapping actually went like:

Jude: come with me

Cardan: okay 😀

[florsdelluna]

Golden hour ✨🧡🍂🧚 #jurdan

[rosiethorns88]

Dropping a very special Sketch-a-wish, voted on by my lovely Patreon members for August! The winning request was to illustrate an off-page scene from The Folk of the Air series, when Cardan was writing his letters to Jude. I countered that Cardan went through the five stages of grief writing those letters, and each deserved it's own illustration. (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance) You'll also notice some familiar outfits throughout! Have a great weekend. :)

[jordanbackupsoc]

Like I knew he was IN LOVE with her when she found the piece of paper with her name all over it but she didn’t even dare suspect anything until he literally confessed to her that he loves her. And even when they have kissed like 75 times they’re still both like “yeah we hate each other”

cardan getting tied to a chair by a hot girl and said hot girl being like "hmmm he has an interesting look on his face and is willingly letting me do all this wonder what that's about"