Shadow and Starlight Podcast

Fourth Wing | The One Where We Mispronounce Everything

• Kaina Gillespie • Season 1 • Episode 12

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Welcome wonderful listeners to Episode 12 of the Shadow and Starlight Podcast | The One Where We Mispronounce Everything! Today we will be discussing Threshing, hot dragon gossip, and once again roasting a certain codex loving prick.

  • For next week, please read chapters 19-26/pages 227-331 of Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros for your reread or to refresh your memory.
  • This episode is based on Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. Intro Music by Boomer, graphics by @reeseplantedesign. 
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  • Email: shadowandstarlightpod@gmail.com


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Let's hit it. Welcome wonderful listeners to the Shadow and Starlight podcast. We're two friends, deep dive into popular fantasy and romanticy books. We get into the stories, characters, role building, lore, and more. Most importantly, we'll have a damn good time while we do it. Yes, so buckle your seatbelts for this wild rollercoaster ride of emotions, magical worlds, and laughs. I'm Kenzie. I'm Kena. And today we're covering chapters 10 through 18 by Rebecca Yaros. First and foremost, please listen carefully to our content warning. These are adult Books we are covering and neither of us have a filter so this podcast is definitely rated R and it's 18 plus. Regarding spoilers, if you have not finished the entire Fourth Wing and Iron Flame books, please come back after you do so. While we are discussing the stretch of Fourth Wing chapters, we will be doing so with the perspective of what happens in the first two books. This will help us dive deeper into the theories and really appreciate the foreshadowing of Rebecca Yaros. So going forward, all episodes on our show will contain spoilers for the whole series in question. Next. If you like what you're here today and want more, please come back next Thursday and next Thursday and next Thursday and next Thursday, and every Thursday after that for a brand new episode as a taller podcast. We love to hear your feedback to better ourselves and expand our book Loving community. Please feel free to give us reviews, reach out to us on social media and follow us on TikTok Instagram and watch us on YouTube at Shadow in Starlight Pod. Okay, so we've graduated from a baby podcast to a toddler podcast, like what's next to the. Teen podcast. Like adolescent. We're gonna go through puberty next. Stay tuned. It's gonna be rough. Um, drink of the pod, I'm just having water because I'm pretty dehydrated. Same! I haven't had water today. I only had a little and then yesterday I realized I had like one water bottle full and that was it. Yeah, I definitely need some more water. I've been going crazy on the lemonade, so water for the win. Lemonade is water to you. Basically. we are 61 days away from Onyx Storm, so we're getting close to two months, people. It's happening. It feels like yesterday that it was a year plus, but we're getting there. if you don't think about it, it's not, um, It's not that bad. It's not, but it's hard not to think about it. But it is because we're going to be spending so much time talking about it that it's just going to like amp up our anticipation even more. Yeah. I am glad though. That's what I was gonna say. I'm, I'm glad that we're doing this right before it comes out. Cause then we'll know exactly what happens. We've already like dove deep into it. And so like when we start on next storm, it's just like, okay, this makes sense so we can kind of. Is dove a word? Dibbin. Dived? Dove? Dived? No. I don't know. It sounds so weird in my brain. Dove into it? I don't know, because it's like, what's the other word? I don't remember. But it's another word that like has E D, but it doesn't make sense that it's E D. I don't remember which one it was though. I used to always get it confused. It doesn't matter. I'll think of it eventually. I don't live in your brain. So to kick off our episode, Kana's going to lead us It's across the parapet, aka her unhinged summary details on the events of these chapters. Buckle up, because it's a lot to unpack. Yes, it is. This is a specifically long one, but I just kept thinking of funny stuff, and I was like, I'm just going to roll with it. I'm excited, because I haven't read it yet. Yes. All right, it's gauntlet time, aka a giant wipeout course running up the side of a cliff, and if you fuck up, you're dead. Sawyer absolutely sucks. Slays, Tynan just can't grab those big slippery balls, and Violet is too short to climb up the chimney, and Aurelie falls to her death, making the Iron Squad's first practice run rough to say the least. On the way back from burning Aurelie's belongings the next day, she comes across Zayden and his trio of Marked Ones returning from a late night flight. Interesting. Violet wants to know if he is going to kill her or not, because it would really help her make her plans for the week, and she also word vomits her current frustrations. Instead of telling her to run away like Dane would, he gives her some cold hard truth and tells her that the right way is not the only way. On presentation day, the sneaky little silver one is scheming while she flies up the course. Using the safety ropes as leverage, she is able to climb up the chimney and then use her dagger to yeet herself up the final ascent. She is greeted by her friends congratulating her, but Amber Mavis, aka Dane's ex lover, aka another Codex loving prick, isn't having it, saying, It's cheating. Sweeney. I'm sorry that you're not smart enough to think of that on your own, and also, I'm sorry that Dane doesn't like you anymore. Hmm. No one knows the Codex better than Violet, who gets her on a technicality after Zayden waits for her to defend herself against The accusations. Dragons, second squad, head single file, try not to freak out as they parade in front of the lethal 25 foot tall cuties. Prior gets roasted for once again, being indecisive. My dude, why did you join the writer's quadrant if you can't even make a decision? Gets torched for being. Generally annoying, and all I got to say is, thank God. A couple of greens sniff out Tyne on Violet's dragonscale armor, causing both her and Riddick to almost shit themselves. Right at the end is a little Goldie. Hey girl, hey Andarna. On October 1st, we wear Rider Black. Cause it's threshing, baby. The squad splits up to try their luck at bonding a dragon, and Violet's not off to the best start. While getting a better vantage point, she hears three sadistic psychos that all share one brain cell talk about killing Andarna instead of, I don't know, trying to find your own fucking dragons? The compassionate FMC we know and love decides to defend the little feather tail. When Lil Goldie doesn't heed her warning to fly away, violet prepares to defend her, and Zayden shows up with Sigail to narrate? Jack takes a violence dagger right to the shoulder, then runs away like the little bitch he is. Auryn is knocked unconscious, and Tynan disarms her, preparing a killing blow. But, wait. Zayden takes a small step forward, and the biggest baddest black battle dragon shows up. Shooting skywards, Violet has no time to process the glory of her first flight before she is The king he is, Taron catches Violet and proceeds to be an absolute curmudgeon. He explains he chose her because she defended Andarna with honor and courage, giving her further compliments and also a little pep talk. Andarna follows and the three land in the flight field. All eyes on them, Violet heads to announce Taron's full government name and is surprised when Andarna also speaks up. At Taryn's urging, she speaks both to the rulekeeper. While all hell breaks loose at Violet having two dragons, she gets some much needed medical attention. A few tables down, Jack verbally lashes out at Violet because his ego couldn't handle that his self proclaimed mortal enemy got the dragon he thought he deserved. Once again, you're Delulu, bro. Professor Kaori steps in to remind Barlow that Taron can and will eat him. And oh, his dragon, Bade, has commitment issues and is a wee bit on the small side. Hmm. I'd bet money that something else is a bit on the small side as well. Minutes after the dragons go to debate, Dane finds Violet and tries to get her to give up Taron and follows that up by accusing Zayden of manipulating Threshing. Which goes as well as you can imagine. Zayden roasts Dane's flawed thinking and gets him to admit that he would not have saved his best friend in the same situation because the rules, of course. And as the dragons return, Violet wrestles with the knowledge that she is now tethered to Zayden Ryerson forever, and even more people are going to try and kill her now. It is announced that both bonds will stand and everybody celebrates with a brand new dragon tattoo. I want one so bad. The only thing stopping me is a serious lack of fun. So I'm actually pissed that I got a back tattoo before I read this book. Because I would absolutely Get Violet's tattoo on my back. Somehow expecting Violet to forget what he said like two minutes ago, Dane comes to kiss her and there's absolutely zero chemistry. Big shocker since this man has done nothing but break her down since she joined the cauldron. Violet awakes to find everyone but her has been having celebratory orgasms. Patience, Violet. They are coming. Pun intended. During breakfast, the crew takes note of the changing social dynamics thanks to Threshing. I wish I could personally see Jack Barlow getting squeezed off his table because he has a small dragon, but my imagination will have to do for now. Then, two more shocking things happen. One, the elders in their squad join them, and two, Imogen tells Violet that she is going to be her kick ass weight trainer. After falling again, and again, and again, and again, Violet's pretty pooped. On the bright side, she doesn't have to worry about a certain kiss because Dane agrees that they shouldn't have done it, but he's still very much in love with her. But, you know, the rules! In the last chapter in The Stretch, we meet Jacinia and get another dose of Rebecca Yaros representation. Side note, I took a sign language class in college, and I only remember the sign for raccoon because it's utterly outrageous. So if you're listening, you should go to our YouTube because that's Raccoon. Oh my god. So if you want to see what the sign for Raccoon is, I guess you could look it up, but you know, you should also watch us on YouTube. The only thing I know is the alphabet. I mean, I forgot that. Literally. Yeah, I remember the alphabet. Because she did it, our professor did it, and I was like, you gotta be fucking kidding me. Sawyer has started channeling as a metallurgist. No idea if I said that right. It's kind of a weird word. Anyways, Violet continues to get wrecked during flight classes and also learns that the Archives doesn't have a copy of her favorite folklore. How suspicious. Taryn goes to partake in a flock of sheep and fucking Dane comes up to yell at Violet for her. Falling off her dragon and not telling him. Our girl has finally had enough and lets Dane know exactly what she thinks. Yes, Queen. Heading back, Violet has to watch in horror as an intinsic has his neck snapped right in front of her. Later, dreaming about her father, Taryn jolts Violet awake to discover a group of unbotted cadets in her room to assassinate her. Just when things are looking hopeless and Darna stops time. And that's where it ends. Ooh, juicy. There's a lot that happens. Now it's time to head into our battle brief, where we're going to discuss all things notable in this stretch of chapters, including theories, foreshadowing, and more. Yes. First thing I want to talk about is, I think, There's potentially foreshadowing to Dane's eventual death in this stretch of chapters, so in chapter 11 There's a bit of a throwaway line that really caught my eye this time When Dane is once again telling Violet to change her mind about running away because he doesn't want to bury her She says, quote, it's inevitable that one of us will have to bury the other. This is giving Rebecca Yarrow's foreshadowing at its finest Well, this could be her just stating a fact that one of them is gonna die before the other I do really think that Dane will probably die before the end of the series, and it's probably going to be really emotional for Violet. But I think this especially because Dane has begun his redemption arc much earlier than I expected. Like, that was such a big shock to me in Iron Flame, and I feel like his character arc is just happening so quickly that that gives me the feeling that he's going to die later on. Because, yeah. All this progression is happening. Maybe he'll even die in Onyx Storm. I am really afraid of who is going to die in Onyx Storm. Cause I know there's probably at least going to be one death. But if it's Dane, you know, I think I could recover emotionally. Is it bad that I'm hoping that he dies? Goddamn. I, I forgave him. I, I feel like Some things are not okay that he did, but also look at who his father is. I think he's very much a product of his environment, but I do think that he demonstrated the capacity for change in iron flame and. I'm still never going to be like, yes, state, but I can forgive you. I feel like I'm really bad at holding grudges. Like I hold grudges. So I don't know. He really has to wow me and not an extern for me to like mourn his death. What if he, sacrifices himself for Violet? As he should. That's the least he could do. If he's about to pay his minimum, what would be past that? I don't know, but step it up. Oh my god. I'm excited for us to get to Iron Flame and talk about Dane. Well, just everything that happens in that book, but yeah. Yeah, because I mean I have to cut him some slack on an iron flame, but I'm still coming for his head. Yeah, well, I saw your favorite moment section. He's not Jane again. I was like, of course. Yes, yes. He was worse in the stretch of chapters than the first one, for sure. That's why I had to include him once again, but we're going to talk about him later. Let's get back to the real man. Yeah. Yeah. We're going to talk about Zayden's faith in Violet and her sprout of confidence, this stretch of chapters. So I think it's very important to note that pretty much everyone has doubted Violet's chances at surviving the riotous quadrant. one of the things that gravitated me towards Zayden in the very beginning was just his confidence in her. He never. Doubted her or, you know, made her seamless to everybody else, even with her condition. And he never asked her to cower. He actually always encouraged her to do the literal opposite and exude confidence. So I know that he's not the only one that has faith in him and her. There are other people who would cheer her on as well, but I think that it's important to know his faith early on, as we know, they will be together and both be bonnets and mated dragons. So one moment that stood out to me was when he believed in her, when she didn't even believe in herself. And that was when she was getting ready to face the gauntlet. She knew that she couldn't get past the chimney and his advice to her was quote, the right way, isn't the only way in quote, and I think after this conversation, her faith in herself kind of changed and it's very apparent the day of presentation when Dane. It's trying to convince her once again to change her mind and run away to the scrap quadrant. She tells him that she has no intentions on quitting the writer's quadrant and he asks her what has changed since she arrived and she replies. So it is very, very, very obvious that her confidence has already grown so much since joining the writer's quadrant. I mean, as it should, she's made it past so many trials and she succeeded this far. So at this point, it's like, I know that it's, I'm capable now. I've done so much already. And Dane, when are you going to get that through your fat ass head that she's more than capable? I'm yeah, I'm actually going to talk about this. My favorite moments, just how I love how he empowers Violet. I love it. Okay. Next we're going to talk about Violet and Rihanna's big fight in Iron Flame and the, some of the secrets that Violet keeps. So we discussed last episode, just how intelligent Violet is. And with her intelligence, she noticed most things that are out of the ordinary. She didn't know this when Dane was still in her memories, but she does notice some things out of the ordinary, like, she did notice Zayden and his quote unquote assembly. And this is a huge secret that she's harvested. And we now know that Dane will take these memories without permission, but in this stretch, Rhiannon actually extends her loyalty. So the scene where they're on the flight field and they're like talking along the path, Rhiannon acts violent, why she didn't tell her about her plan during presentation and Violet replies and says that she didn't want her to have to be an accomplice if she didn't get away with her techniques. Rhiannon ensures her that she will always keep her, she will always help her no matter what the consequences and then acts quote, you keep any other secrets up there end quote. Of course, Violet deflects and Renan responds again with, quote, Promise me that if you need help, you'll let me give it to you, end quote. So I think this is very important to note because Violet will continue to keep her discoveries about Zayden a secret and these secrets eventually create a wedge in their relationship next book and they end up ultimately having a big fight. Obviously, Renan is six by her side because she's a ride or die, but it does create a wedge in their friendship. I know, I hate that she feels like she can't tell her and able to protect her and I guess she also doesn't know like Rhi would want to do about the Marked Ones at this point, but it sucks because you know that Rhi is just going to be like, okay, cool, like I got you, girl. Right, right. And I hate seeing them fight in Iron Flame, but I do love talking about their friendship as the books progress. Yeah. All right, we're going to talk about some foreshadowing to Andarna and just how significant it is that we can now talk about her because she's entered our story. But hey girl, hey, let's talk about you. After successfully making it to the flight field, Luca mentions to the squad that the cadet spotted a feather tail. And that's interesting because Garrick says, quote, Relax, feather tails don't bond. I can't remember the last time one has been seen outside the veil. Probably just curious. We know that. This rare dragon becomes fond of Violet and bonds with her alongside her vicious Morningstar tailed dragon. But we also do get a snippet of Andarna's magic this stretch. Though Violet hasn't manifested her signet yet, she finds herself in great danger when seven unbonded cadets raid her room to kill her. And in a frenzy, Andarna gives her the gift of stopping time. Quote, everyone in this room is present in place except me. And to think, everyone ruled Andarna as the weakest link, and those three assholes tried to kill her. Like, no, she's actually pretty powerful, I'm wondering about Papa Sorengale's research on the Feather Tales, because we haven't talked about this yet, but he does have research on Feather Tales that's suspiciously missing. And I do think it's going to be of great significance later. And I'm kind of wondering If most of it is on how feather tails can gift their powers directly, but I just think it's more than that because it's been brought up so many times and there's such a mystery around it. I feel like there's something else about feather tails and I don't know whether that relates to Andarna specifically because we know that feather tails are just adolescent dragons basically, but I am really curious to learn more about feather tails and the research and then just, More about Andarna because we know that there's so many huge nuggets at the end of Iron Flame about Andarna and her connection with Violet that just, oh, so many questions. So many questions. So many. But we're glad you're here, Andarna. Welcome to the party. Yes, I love her little sassiness. Oh my gosh, we were gonna just get into the excerpt that was released today, and I just died laughing when Andarna was like, let's move on. Keep the corpses so we can roast them or something. I was like, so she's still a sassy teenager. I think it was so cool that we get to see her grow. Cause it's like, I'm pretty sure we were like the exact same way as teenagers. It was cool. I feel like I could relate. Well, while we're on the topic of dragons, we're going to discuss Taryn and Violet's bun. So as we know, she survived Threshin and she bunded. Yay. So for a second there, violence began to lose hope that she would even bond a dragon during, threshing. But in the midst of keeping our adorable feather tail safe, Taryn actually chose her and he kneeled so she would be able to climb up his leg, which is absolutely unheard of because Ja Dragons never compensate for humans. And if you can't climb up their leg or hold your seat on their backs, they deem you unworthy, but Taryn helps her and catches her when she falls. With all the assassin is, I think this shows just how close they'll become and, and the sacrifices they'll both make for each other in the future. So I just think it was really important to know just how close they already are and how strong their bond is now. I love that he becomes a father figure to her in a way, because she doesn't have her father anymore. Who was like a super important nurturing parent for her. And Taryn has kind of, not in a way replaced him, but is like taking on that role and he's always like reminding her to eat and like telling her to do stuff. Yeah. I just love it. Their relationship is so funny. I love, I'll get into him later. I can't, I can't. I'll just keep going. I love him so much. Okay, still on the topic of dragons, we're going to briefly discuss the Empyrean. after Violet survives threshing and bones two dragons. Sorry, but that is a serious flake. So I will not keep, I will not stop bragging on her and I will not stop saying throughout this whole episode that she blundered two dragons, not one. Eat that Jack Barlow. You got those small little dragon with commitment issues. That was so funny when Professor K. Orr was like, your dragon's bonded like four riders in the past, which is like dragon goss. And then who else was it whose dragon someone was saying like they never bond strongly? I think Taryn was saying that to Violet. It was, like Glen or something. Glean or something. Glean never pawned strongly. Yeah. Violet was like, oh, we just got some tea. And Caroline actually bought him after his, his rider failed. Oh, right. I hate Caroline. Yeah. Sorry, I forgot her. I don't really remember how she was, but yeah. Anywho, after bonding a couple of dragons again, some of Navarrian leadership argues whether this is possible. And Professor Kaori makes it very clear that this decision actually isn't up to the leadership, but it's up to the dragons. Quote, it's up to the Empyrean to decide. I think this just shows how gnawed the opinions of the humans are to these vicious beasts, and they will never have say so for the dragons. Yeah, I think it's important to keep in perspective, the series is called the Empyrean. and she said, I can't remember what interview or where it was, but like, this is a dragon centered book. Like, yeah, we're hearing the story through Violet and Zayden's experiences, but like we have to keep in the forefront of our mind that like the dragons are the bigger picture. I'm curious to like really learn more about the dragons and the Empyrean and like, All the complex dynamics. Yeah. Cause it's almost like a chain of government where the dragons are at the top, like the Imperium is at the top and they govern almost the humans because the bond with their riders essentially kind of controls everything. They essentially control the battles too. Yeah, I'm curious to see how the Empyrean is gonna affect the plot of the book playing out. Yeah, and like all the dragon politicking. It's so interesting. Yeah, I like that we get dragon politics. Yes, I wonder if Terran is ever gonna have to fight Koda, General Melgrin's dragon. Isn't Coda the biggest dragon? That's probably why Taron is saucy. Cause in, in this stretch, he actually was like the first to fly off during like flight maneuvers and Violet was like, why you had to be the first one? And he was like, I've never been like the back of the line kind of guy. She was like, Oh, like you're like the front of the line. Good to know, buddy. That's probably why he has beef with Koda. Cause he's like, I need to be the biggest jack. Yeah. At the end of the day, I guess he does have to answer to Koda because Koda is I think the elder of their 10. Okay. So he probably hates that too. Yeah. Any who? We keep getting distract by Jackson Wait, I have one more thing. Okay. Yeah. Go It's totally unserious. Of course. Sexually inappropriate. Would, if you could, would you bang Taryn? Because I for sure would. Oh my gosh. probably, I think Fanfic, I'm sure there's Fanfic out there. He'll probably be my sugar daddy. I would marry him, honestly. I don't know, he just gives like OG. He just gives like OG, like old school, like sugar daddy. I don't know. I just love him so much. All right, continue before I keep talking about dragons for too long. A whole hour. Okay, moving on from dragons, we're actually going to discuss Dane, the traitor that you are. In the last stretch of chapters from the last episode, Dane told Violet his secret signet, which is, he can see people's memories by Touching their temple or touching him. He said two different things. He said he can touch them and then he like corrected himself I said he can touch their temple. So I don't know Which is which or if he can actually just touch somebody into their memories But i'm just going to go with he has to touch their temple. So obviously now knowing that he will still violence memories in the near future I think it is super important to note the times that he actually comes in contact with violence and physically touches her. This scene is after she bonds with Dragon and Dane comes up to tell her that she has to pick between the two. And he asks her what happens. Violet tells him pretty much everything except for the small detail that Zayden took a step before Taryn showed up. But, he still accuses Zayden of, interfering with Threshing, but she never did say that he interfered or he took a step. She just told him that he narrated. So, and while she was telling him this, he was touching her. Like he was physically touching her. So I don't know if like he saw him take a step from her memories. I don't know. It's kind of just raised flags for me or if he just wanted to accuse Zayden because they hate each other, but. For sure. Yeah. Possibly both. Yeah. So I don't know. I just thought it was important to note because he was touching her and she didn't, she left that small detail out and he still decided to accuse Zayden of it. And Zayden picked up on this and said, quote, because you have too much faith in him. Zayden answers anyway, catching up to me without even listening his stride. And knowing who to trust is the only thing that will keep you alive. Keep us alive. Not only in the quadrant, but after graduation. End quote. The next audible scene in this stretch is after Violet's first flight maneuver. Dane stops her in the hallway and in this scene he is once again being a royal pain in my ass, but he also touches Violet again. Quote, a sigh rips from Dane's lip and he palms my face gently, his gaze dropping to my lips for a heartbeat before he steps back. End quote. Okay, my thoughts on this scene was that when he touched her face he stepped back because he saw something. I don't know, I could be reaching, but he touched her. And of course, I think it was like all the feelings mixed with the kids and I'm not knowing like they can't be together, but it just like took me aback that he decided to break contact. So I don't know. That just raised flags for me. I don't know, man. I think later on his story that he goes with, whether it's true or not, you know, that he accidentally took her memories, like right before, the whole like end of book shit show happens and that's when he saw and reported to his dad. But I don't know, because he does cut her face so much during the whole book and then like lines like that, where he steps back and stuff. I'm like. I don't know. I feel like I want to trust him that he accidentally took him just once because of his eventual redemption when he does stab bearish. So I'm like, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. But also this stretch of chapter just making me hate him so much where I'm like believing that he could be this master manipulator. I don't know. Yeah. I don't know. This scene is just really weird to me because right before this scene, she's talking to Rhiannon, and she's telling her about the kids, and she's telling her that there was no chemistry, and she expected to be something there, but it was nothing, and in this specific scene, they're discussing the reason why they can't be together, and I almost feel like Dane was kind of Projecting violence, feelings back to her. Like he was, I think he used the rules as an excuse as to why they can't be together. This is probably me reaching, but maybe he saw that small snippet of her feelings of, Oh, there's nothing there. I wish there was something there. And he kind of was just like, Oh, we can't be together. The rules aren't too important. Like we already know, like, but I don't know. It was also the scribe. Well, father described quote, but his eyes are heavy with sadness. I don't understand in quote. So I don't know if he like saw that small glimpse of the conversation that they had and He just decides to flick and be like, Oh, we can't be together. Cause the rules are too important. I don't know. I don't know. I probably mentioned, but I'm glad you hate Dane this much because you're coming up with stuff and making me think of stuff. I didn't consider previously inspired by your hate for him. Oh my gosh. Oh, also with the whole Zayden's whole step forward, it's interesting looking back on that moment because it's like, well, did he do it? Because He was falling at that point or did he do it because of the deal he made with Lilith or Lilith told him He has to protect Violet or both. Maybe a little bit of both. Yeah Yeah, I think a little bit of both. Cuz I know he was rooting for her like we knew in that moment that he was rooting for her Yeah, I just love that he didn't do it initially He let her defend herself until she couldn't anymore before he thought about taking a step forward once again empowerment Bam. All right, let's talk about our girl Jessenia and the Book of Fables. So it is very important to note that the Book of Fables that Violet's dad gave her was mentioned from the very beginning, like we talked about last episode. It talks about when and why we're in the battles of good and evil. And now that Violet is a writer, she's been assigned to a quadrant duty library chores to drop off and pick up books. During this stretch, Violet runs into her old friend, Jessenia, who we know will transcribe the event. of this entire series after it happens. And Violet, wanting a good book to read, like all of us, asks if they have a copy of the Book of Fables, and Yesenia looks, even like, spelling out Wyvern and trying to search it up. This is heavy foreshadowing, as we know, this particular book and the contents within are what caused Violet to really start asking questions about what she believed were old fictional folklore tales. Quote, our archives have either a copy or the original of almost every book in Navarre. Only ultra rare or forbidden tomes are excluded. When did folklore become either of those? Oh, come to think of it, I never, never came across anything like the fables of the Baron on the shelves while I was studying to become a scribe. Chimera? Yes. Kraken? Sure. The Wyvern or the Venon that create them? No. Very bizarre. End quote. Yes, Violet, that is very bizarre. Ding ding ding. Yes, that was, on my first read, that was when I was first like, okay, are these real? Like, are the Venon real? Yeah. And then I was like, nah. And then at the end I was like, oh, shit. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, cause I feel like. The scribes are very, very, very, very, very detailed and very, very like strict on writing everything down and making sure every all the history is recorded. So for them not to have this one specific book on this one subject and have things like with similar subjects. Like the Kraken and the Chimera, or however you say it, is really weird. Chimera! Chimera! I want you to read Crescent City because she has this little pet Chimera that's like the cutest little thing ever. Aww. I don't know what, I don't even know what that is. It's like something from mythology that's like half something, half another something something, I don't know. That was a very specific description. You're welcome. Thank you. Okay, we're finally coming to the end of our battle brief. So, lastly, we're going to, briefly discuss Professor Quorum. Because he is Introducing this chapter. So Sawyer not only bonded the dragon, but he gained his signet. Woo. Sawyer, what a freaking comeback. So after, uh, the cadets gained their signets, they have to train with professor Carr to learn to wield and control them. Sawyer describes him to be terrifying. And professor Carr is also the one to snap Jeremiah's neck when he starts to gain his intrinsic abilities. This is just a brief introduction to the brutal professor who we will see again very, very, very soon. I don't like this man at all. No, he's, he's bad. And in Ironblade we learn that he sucks at training Signets. Specifically Violet Signet. Cause she's trained by, what's his face, Felix or something. One of the council members. And he shows her so much stuff. Meanwhile Professor Carr is just like, Try to aim, girl. And then he like, literally almost makes her burn down. Like burn down. Well, Varys does that, but Professor Karr is right there letting it happen, which is just as bad. He's complicit. Alright, we're gonna get to our theories, and I'm just gonna talk about one today. I had another one I was gonna talk about, but we did a lot of foreshadowing, and we also have 13 more episodes until Onyx Storm comes out, so we have time to talk about all the theories. But I want to talk about Taryn and Andarna's interest in Violet. So this is like a theory, or theories, that Violet either has a special connection to dragons or there's something else about her that makes her capable of things no one else can achieve and the dragons know this. In the infamous threshing scene, Taryn says, I know exactly who and what you are. So it's not the who for me, it's the what. What do you know? But we don't know Mr. Tarn. Like, of course it could just be, you know, he knows that she's smart and blah blah blah, but it doesn't feel like that. It feels very pointed. And in terms of Vandarna, we know that one, she's waited hundreds of years to hatch just for Violet. Two, it means that Violet is the only person to ever bond two dragons in three, and Darnit is almost possessive of Violet, saying mine when she is attacked in her sleep before stopping time. But overall, I think both of their significant interest in the way they talk about Violet, Like how she is capable of speaking to other dragons when that is not at all the norm raises a lot of questions for me on what exactly makes her so special to the dragons. Of course, our girl is amazing inside and out. Mind of a scribe, heart of a writer, but there's something more, I know it. And I really think it may have something to do with her silver hair. Like, maybe she's an antidote to the venom, or immune to them, and the dragons can somehow sense this. Or maybe it has something to do with her family. You cannot convince me that Poppasaur and Gill's feathertail research isn't crucial. Maybe it has something to do with that. And atbookcuddle on Instagram has also recently opened my eyes to Violet potentially being a dragon shifter as a second signet. Bye! Or at least part dragon in a way, but that's a lot to tackle. And we're going to get into that juicy theory another day, but I actually really like it that she may be part dragon in a way, or she, like when her mother was sick, when she was pregnant, like maybe she took something that had dragon something. Yeah. I don't know. I'm not eloquent at all. Something, something, something. I think that is cool though. Yes. I know it frustrates me. Cause I always want to know like what. What's the true meaning behind her silver hair? I just, we just got, we need some answers. And the excerpt really just fucked us up with silver haired Venom, so we'll get to that in a second. All right, favorite parts. I actually held off on talking about dragons last episode, but there's no stopping me now, cuz We're full on dragons now. So, and I'm pretty sure I like the dragons more than the actual characters. And I am very serious when I say that I'm not even joking. Tern is absolutely my favorite dragon ever. Second to Toothless, of course. Toothless, I love you, but I do love how Rebecca developed his sarcasm so early on after his introduction. Like she wasted no time with his character development. And I was going to insert one of my favorite Tern lines, but there's just so many. I tried to choose one, but I actually put two in here. So the first one was quote, now getting your seat and actually hold on this time, or no one is going to believe that I actually chose you. Dude, literally everything he says, I'm just, I underline it. And I'm like, He's so like snappy and sarcastic. It's hilarious. Yes. He's like simple flight is hardly acrobatic. But this doesn't even compare to his attitude as a whole and we also get our infamous. It's a quote, I know exactly who and what you are, Violet Sweargal Lawn The Stretch 2. And also, just cute little baby Andorna, like, she's just so adorable, and I love the vast difference between Violet's two dragons in this book, so from like, first glance, of course, everybody thought Andorna was a lot smaller. And they, they were. Thought of her as the weakest link, but of course, you know, that's not true, but it's very important to note that, the difference between Taran, who is actually the second biggest dragon and the most cunning pretty much. I think that was cool that she kind of both sides. Yes. My next favorite part was presentation slash the flight field. My favorite part about presentation wasn't the fact that violence made it across. I mean, like we knew she would, she was the main character, so of course. But it was the damn good advice that Zayden gave her. And I love that he was always in her corner and he taught her so much about how she could use her weaknesses to her advantage. He always knew that she would have to use unoriginal ways to do things, but he never, ever, ever doubted her abilities to do them. Unlike some people. Dane, I'm coming for you in a second. Give me a little bit. Next, we're going to, I'm going to talk about threshing. So circling back to Violet really gaining confidence and stretch. Can we talk about her actually finally facing off against three men to protect Andorna and not to mention Zayden cheering her on once again. With a wrecked ankle too. Literally he had no, like he had no doubt. He was like, yeah, you got it, but that is, that is a good man right there. So, but this scene was just so action packed. And in my first read, it caught me by surprise because initially, I always feel like I knew, on my first read that she would kind of bond. And Darna, because of just their initial, pull to each other and Her need to save the dragon, I kind of felt like she would bond with her, but I actually wasn't expecting Tyrion at all. I don't know. I wasn't expecting him. I feel like that was A big shock. Yes. The best shock. And I wanna, I wanna go up to the Violet Excerpt, can I pet that dog? Can I pet that dog? Can I pet that dog? Ugh, I don't think Taryn would like that. No. He's not. Lastly, Dane Atos. Once again, I'm riding the hate train because he pissed me off even more this stretch than he did last time. This won't be the last time that he pisses me off, so get ready. So not only did he try to get her to quit the quadrant again, but he tried to convince her to choose between her dragons. Mind you, before a decision was even made by our council or the generals or whoever, Dane, you fucking squad leader, tried to make her make a decision. What, what power or authority do you think you have here? None. Please take a seat. Take several. And I bet we can all guess. And he was trying to convince her to bond with, yep, and Arno because he said that she was the safe choice and in the great words of Billie Eilish, dude, go trip over a knife. No, I don't promote, I don't promote violence, but oh, how I hate this man. I hate this man so much. Goddamn. You go off, you go off girl. You're saying all the things I'm thinking. Almost there. But. Thank God, Violet finally sticks up for herself and warns Dane that he will lose her if he continues to doubt her and highlight her weaknesses. Like, dude, I'm pretty sure she already knows how weak she is compared to everybody else. She doesn't need you to continue to throw it back in her face. she needs encouragement. Obviously, she made this for her. Shut up. This just like shows like, my hate for Dane is proof how well Rebecca writes and develops her characters. Because I have never hated a character this much. And I feel like it takes a lot of talent for you to get your readers to on purpose, dislike the character this much. And the fact that It's so fast, too. Yes, so quick. And lastly, like to highlight the fact that Taryn actually laughs any time Violet refers to Dane as her best friend. And it just, proves that he isn't worthy to be On the bottom of a shoe. Like he's just, he's just not worthy at all. I love how Taron basically knows what's up. He's like, this dude sucks, but he still lets Violet figure it out on her own. All right. Let me talk about my favorite parts. And the first one is Zayden's empowerment of Violet and his little pep talks for her. So this is my first official drool over Zayden. I just couldn't resist to stretch a chapter because this man was just doing all the right things. And I really want to talk about how he tells Violet what she needs to hear, even if it's harsh, because he knows that that's what she needs to survive in the Rider's Quadrant. Like, it is not an easy ride, she needs to fast if she's going to live. And Violet is down on herself because of the gauntlet and how many people die at Bazgayeth. That's when he gives her that pep talk, quote, people die, it's going to happen over and over again. It's the nature of what happens here, what makes you a Rider is what you do after people die. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm. word. No doubt if she would have confided to Dane about what she was feeling in the same way, he would have just coddled her and used her frustrations to try and get her to escape so he doesn't have to suffer through her possible death. And let's talk about that. It's, he doesn't want her to die. for himself. He's being selfish. instead of, like, just bucking up and being like, okay, this is what you choose. I'm going to believe in you. He's like, I don't want you to die. I don't want to watch you die and be so hard. Me, me, me, me, I, I, I, bleh, shut up. Please. Zayden on the other hand does not want to sugarcoat and I love him for that. And clearly his advice pays off and helps Violet look at the gauntlet in a different way. Honestly anything else in a different way.'cause she has weaknesses where other people don't. But the right way is not the only way. You have to be creative and our girl is so smart. And one more thing about Zaden. Okay. I love the way he empowers his woman, who's not his woman yet, and encourage her to use his voice, knowing she's strong and smart enough to do so. So when fucking Amber Mavis is bitching about. the way she climbed the gauntlet, quote, Zayden's gaze never leaves mine as he silently waits for me to respond. Thank you, Zayden, for letting Violet speak up for herself and build her confidence as a cadet in the Riders Quadrant, even when she's going against another wingleader. Would Dane have done the same? Absolutely not. His Codex living ass would have been agreeing with Amber and then apologizing profusely to Violet later in private. But anyways. Ladies, make sure your man empowers you to be your own woman and use your voice. Very important life lessons. And that's why I think everyone should read this book in Romanticist is because positive female role models and also positive relationship models as well. Yes. Yes. I'm also going to talk about threshing because how can I not? without a doubt, threshing is my favorite. event in the entire book, possibly both books. Like I just love it so much. I just get chills every time Taryn shows up and I just love so much. I've already said that like 50 times and I'm just happy I don't have to endure another chapter without this dragon and his grumpy dad energy. That is just everything. But there are also other cool moments at Threshing. I just really love Violet's compassion in this chapter, how she chose to defend Andarna, knowing it might be a death sentence because, quote, It's smaller, weaker than the other dragons, just like me. So I love how she kind of equates Andarna to herself and that really makes their bond feel more special to me as well. And I also love how she made Jack Barlow run away. That was a good moment. And then meeting little Indana with her little cutesy little paws without claws. And then just Taryn showing up, taking her first dragonfly. I. I have read this chapter, chapters so many times. Yes. I'm never going to get bored of it. I love it. The first time I ever read fourth wing when I hit the threshing chapter, this was when my obsession started and I could not put the book down after that. It was like all I was thinking about. last favorite part, I have to have a moment for the Reddit humor. So I'm just taking a moment to talk about how he makes me laugh out loud more than ever. There are so many points when he says something and I'm like, that's the thing I would say is that what I want. Because I have an immature sense of humor as well. for example, after the pair of green dragons get all up close and personal with Violet, Riddick says, I think I just shat myself. And that was just like with Taryn, I. I had a hard time just picking one line because like it's he always has a quip ready and it's always just perfect and I just love that he like in the most serious situation he does not take anything seriously and we're all the better for it and the dick jokes are top tier okay I am so immature this man gets me but really the comedic relief is needed with how much action and like death happens in this book and on a last side note I love The inner circle dynamics and how much they support each other unconditionally. That's why they are the iron squad. And also if you read quick silver, listen to our quick silver coverage. Reddick is absolutely the carrion of the group. That's all. Yes, for sure. He better not die. Hold on. My freaking lips are feeling is disgusting. Just bothering me. You need some chip stick. I've been like drowning my lips in Carmex this whole time. You need nipple cream. Okay. Um, there's a context to that. I listen to this true crime podcast and one of the hosts is like a guy who makes memes for a living. His name is take Sinatra and. He, for like several episodes, he kept talking about how fucking chapped his lips were, and like nothing was working. And then finally, he got nipple cream, and that's the shit that healed his lips. Oh my god. Like, I don't get nipple cream. If anyone is listening, and your lips are super chapped, buy some nipple cream. You won't regret it. I've heard it's very moisturizing. Oh, I have to look into that. Yes. Okay. Moving on. From nipple cream, don't know how we got there. This is a good episode. You're having your, uh, your Riddick moment right now. This is probably something he would say. Absolutely. Okay. Time to close out our battle brief and move on to the book of Justinia where we would dive into the mythology that inspired fourth wing as well as explaining a world bending topic. Today we will be breaking down all that we know about dragons and their respective deons in this world. Feel free to skip ahead to our mini series if you feel like you're already an expert. So we're going to dive into some of the mythology and meanings of the dragon names, and not all of them, just some of the ones that we've gotten at this point. So starting out with Lilith Sorengale's dragon, Aemsir, also probably going to mispronounce a lot of shit in this section, but you've been warned. In Scottish Gaelic, this word means climate or weather, and considering her mom's signet, she channels the power of storms, so that is a dope connection right off the bat. Tyne is an old Gaelic name meaning fire, flame, or conflagration. And this is Mirage Dragon. Considering it's a dragon that breathes fire, immediate dissociation. That, this is one of my favorites, Sigail. So this is likely derived from the word Sigail. It's just spelled differently, which in Scottish Gaelic means shadow. Zayden's dragon. He's a shadow wielder. Awesome to make it even better. The blues actually descend from the, here we go. First mispronunciation. Gorm faily, but the lack of confidence. So I said that the Gorm fell, I asked. Which, that's the line that the blue dragon's listening from, okay? It means blue shadow. So, I love the connections there. Like, the Sigeil's a blue, and Zayden's a shadow wielder. I love that. Ternianach is a Scottish Gaelic word that means, So, Violet, Lightning Wielder, and her. Thunder dragon. There you go. There you go. Okay, I'm gonna say Andarna, because I don't know how to say her full name. You gotta try. Hey, I mean, I just said all the other ones. And, Andarnarum. Andarna, Andarna urum. Do you want help? Because I just listened to the audiobook. Yes. It's Andarna urum. Oh, I had it right the overthink it. Yeah, you're basically there. It's just the lack of confidence. And Darna Uram is another Scottish Gaelic name that translates to the second honor. What does it mean? Oh, for some reason I thought I realized that I gave you that part where like, I knew what to say there. Um. I think it's interesting. It means the second honor for like two possible reasons. The second honor, like it's her second dragon. So it's an honor. I think that's probably what it is referring to, but also you remember when Liam says it's been my honor? Yeah. What if a daughter has to die? Like the second honor? No. Yeah, I know. I don't like it, but I'm just saying it's possible. Rebecca is a meanie. Beanie, I love her. Sorry. We love you. But you better not kill the dragons. Okay, bro. I'm not ready to get to Liam's man. I might cry all over again. Anyway, for sure. Um, I feel like this is the worst one. Dub dub mah din? Sure, we're gonna go with that. Dub which dragon is this? That's the line that the black dragons descend from. Oh, where that's where, uh, Terran descends from. Okay, obviously it says it right there. Anyways, um, the I was like, if you just read a little farther. So I just butchered that pronunciation, but this is the line that the black dragons descend from, and it is a Gaelic name that translate to black little hill or dark hillock, hillock, hillock, hillock, hillock, is it a hill? I don't know, maybe cause it says black little hill. And Bade does not really have a definite of meaning, but based on his phonetic similarity to Chinese characters It could be interpreted as evil conduct And I mean that's fitting because jack barlow's dragon all right. We're going to head into our world building topic of the day, which is basically a breakdown of dragons. So let's start off by talking about what we know about dragons in this world. So dragons are a species of animal with four legs, not two and two semi translucent wings at each wing tip is a razor sharp talent. And they also have massive claws and horns. Dragons hatch from eggs, which can take centuries to hatch, we know from Indarna, and the embryos within have the ability to hear their surroundings and also have some level of choice deciding when they want to hatch. Dragon shells are metal and can be used to create alloy, which is the material that can kill venon. Dragons have a lifespan of around 200 years and are able to bond with humans and share their magic with them. The Empyrean, like we talked about earlier, is essentially the dragon government that has a hierarchy and elders of each dragon den. And a group of dragons is called a riot. I'm sorry. I'm so stuck on the, dragon eggs can take centuries to hatch. It's freaking crazy. I wonder if that's the norm or not, because Andarna was just waiting for Pilot specifically, but I don't really know, like, normal dragon eggs, how long they take to hatch. Didn't she wait for like 500 years? It's like 600, bro. It's a lot. Sheesh. She's just chillin in there. Dude, just imagine, like, the dragon ate the egg, and it's just like, Oh, how's your hatchling? Oh, she's still, she's still in the egg. Well, her parents are dead. I'm pretty sure. Well, they only live to be 200. So they laid the egg and they were like, Damn, we're not even going to see her hatch. That's so sad. It is sad. But imagine little Andarna and the egg just like soaking up all the hot dragon gossip. Literally just chilling. That's crazy. Anywho, black dragons descend from, yep, the Duma, the Duma, the Duma Den line. Black, black dragons are considered to be the rarest. smartest and most discerning and are also good planters. Their original hatching grounds were in the valley above Ryerson House. Thanks to Tam, we know that there are two new black dragon hatchlings in the Vale. Blue dragons descending from the Gormphalius, Gormphalius, Gormphalius line. Blue dragons are known for their This is hilarious. Rebecca, girl, what's up with these names? Uh, most of them are, Gaelic names. But, some of them, like, especially the lines, descended ones, were Yeah. They didn't really have, like, a connected meaning, so I didn't include them. We need some But that's how she'd be coming up with the words. I knew they were all real words because I was writing them in the word doc and they wouldn't come out red. So I was like, Oh, that's an actual word. Very interesting. It's crazy. But yeah, Blue Dragons are known for their formidable size, ruthlessness, especially in the case of the Blue Dagger Tail, and generally have an intimidating reputation. Most Blues in active service are stationed in the Espin Mountains where the fighting is most intense. Green dragons are descended from the Damn. It's getting worse. I'm trying to say it out of my head first to make it make sense. You may look. What? Oh my goodness. He sent it in a microphone. Aw, now he's booping it. Aw. Green Jackets are descendant from the you. Will you win? Load snig line and on for keen intelligence. Snig? It's, it's the sig. You will load the skig. Nope. Everybody, I'm so sorry for this pronunciation. I believe you should say you're welcome for how much everyone's laughing. You want me to look it up because it's an actual word? Yes, let's do that because, uh, what the hell? That was the worst one, I think. Yes, because the letters don't make sense. Oh, it would be pronounced roughly as Un Elloid Sig. What? Un Eluidic. Sure. Let's just fucking go with it. Grinning dragons descend from the Un Eluidic line and known for keen intellect and continue to be the most rational of dragon kind. Never back down from a green to approach a green, lower your eyes and suffocation and wait for their approval. Word. All right. Let's talk about Browns and we actually know nothing about them. So we don't even know the lines. I was like, let's talk about them. We know nothing. Uh, we don't even know the line that they descend from. The only thing that I could find in The Fourth Wing and Iron Flame is that you should never show trepidation to a brown or you will be lynched. So, that's all we know. I don't know. Um, Orange Dragons, let's talk about them. They are descendants of the the Fi Corain line? Sure. And They are known to be the most unpredictable dragon kind and are always a risk. The Northern Espens were the hatching grounds of oranges before unifications. And we know that orange dragons suck because Jack has, no they don't suck, I love all dragons, but Jack has one and so does Varys, so, bleh. Red dragons are always the quickest to temper and it is wise to never offend them and it's also advised to never look them in the eye. So, danger dragon. The seventh den, let's talk about it, even though we don't really get to this until the end of Iron Flame. And Darna's descendants are actually unknown. Well, we know her parents are dead, so. But we do know that dragons from this den have scales that are shiny and can reflect colors in their surroundings. So basically, a camo dragon. Let's go. Okay. Now we've gone through that rough patch. We're going to enter the flight field now, guys, where every weekend I will do two to three mini series unique to our podcast. They won't be the same every week. So keep tuning in for all the fun Today we're going to break down the Onyx Storm excerpt and we're going to do I Spy because we're big babies. Oh my lord, obviously. Okay, so my initial thoughts on the excerpt were wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, what? So many questions. But I did love seeing our inner circle back in action. It was awesome. Not much has changed. Riddick is still providing the comic relief and Brie and Vi are still badasses. And it was really cool to see them working in tandem with their signets, like how Riddick was using his ice powers and Violet was like sliding on the ground with the ice that he made. I was like, woah. And then also, like I said earlier, and, and Darna suggesting that they roast bodies for fun. I was like, okay! I guess she's still a sassy and impulsive teen. let's talk about the timeline. So, we don't really know what part of Onyx Storm this comes in, but we know it's obviously sometime after the initial attack, end of Iron Flame. So Iron Flame did end with a victory and Violet peacefully sleeping next to Zayden, so we don't think this is too close to the initial attack, just because of, you know, the timing. Like so much shit is going on. I feel like some time has to have passed, and it also seems like they had been looking for the Venon for some time now. So obviously some time has passed. And in this excerpt, they were caught off guard by the presence of Venon within the walls. So we don't know, it could be weeks, months. Now, so in the excerpt, we know that Benin, uh, Found their way within the walls of Beskaya. And so from what we can assume the writers and the dragons, like Kayla just said, had been searching for the Benin on patrol, but they had a look because they were actually posing as scribes quote, we haven't found them out on patrol because they're already inside end quote. So from the very first line, the action springs into place and there are Benin everywhere within Beskaya and they have begun to attack students. Cause they did find some students in the infirmary. So now our assumption is that they were there to potentially save Jack Barlow because they did find three dark wielders in the chambers where he was kept. And the internet quite literally broke when this excerpt came out. And there has been so many quotes from Iron Flame that may suggest that Venon had been disguising as scribes for quite some time now that we did not pick up on, but one quote from this. This excerpt that was just posted also confirms they have been within the walls for quite some time as well. Quote, How many of them had Imogen and I seen on our walk to the infirmary without even realizing? That's how they fit without notice. They're dressed as scraps. End quote. So in addition to that, there is a line in Iron Flame where Violet sees a scrap in the writer's quadrant with the hood up and remarks on how strange it is. So they could have been sneaking into Bezalel since book 2. Maybe that is how they knew where the war zone was and where to, get Jack and where he was being killed. So, yeah, I think that's interesting. Like how long have they been sneaking in? Because I had a theory last episode about like Navarro leadership in the military being like double agents or recruiting people to become Benin. But I feel like if they've been sneaking in for a while, it actually makes more sense that like they were sneaking in and recruiting students on their own. Which could be true. I don't know. There's a lot of questions. What? Or it could have been Jack. I think Jack plays a big role in it too. Ugh, fucking Jack. Cause he was potentially playing both sides too. Oh for sure. I don't feel like he's smart enough to do that. I mean, I don't know. Maybe being Benin like gives him a little extra. An extra brain cell. Yes. Okay, let's talk about the silver haired Benin because this is like the biggest thing of the whole excerpt and it's obviously Very important to note silver hair. Violet has silver hair. The only other silver haired person is Surrey on the council. And she just has like one streak of silver hair. So something is going on with this hair color quote. Her silver braid swings free of her hood as her attention whips in our direction and her eerie gaze jumps to mine and widen slightly under a faded tattoo on her forehead. My blood chills when a smirk tilts her mouth, distorting the red veins in her temples, and then. She disappears. What? This chick is so suspicious. Silver hair, tattoo on her forehead, Ruby Hilton sword. And also she has a penchant for torturing her victims. And also she disappears. What the fuck? What's the first time we've heard of anything like that? It makes me think of like winnowing from ACOTAR and I'm like, can all men do this? I don't know. The only other thing like we've heard about is distance wielding, but that would mean that she would have to be bonded to a dragon and channeling a signet, which I feel like is highly unlikely, but also. Anything is possible, but I don't know. This raises a lot of questions and I've had a lot of theories on what violet silver hair means when I mentioned last episode about it being related to Malik, but then reading this excerpt, it makes me think that it's more related to something about Venon versus something relating to the gods could be both, but I Venon. And I'm wondering if sorry, with the streak of silver in her hair. Somehow knows or like something happened to her to give her a single streak. So weird. So many questions. So like my theory on this. So I think the sage, he actually did disappear in iron flame. I think it was a scene where he disappeared. at resin. so my theory, when I saw her and like all these questions, of course, these question marks and my theory might be reaching, but I feel like with fantasy, you never can reach too far. Cause like really anything could happen. So I feel like she could also be a sage or she's maybe an air. And I know that sounds a little wild, but since the other sage is now dead, maybe she could be the heir I don't know. The previous sage that Zayden killed, he will also disappear as well. And he was very fascinated with Violet. And like Kena mentioned last episode, this could have been someone we knew, because I know you mentioned that the sage seemed very familiar because he was dead. So I don't think that this is a coincidence that they both have silver hair, like, could they be related, could this be connected to her dad, or her fever as a baby, but there's just so many questions that this silver haired girl raises and it's just like, what are you, who are you, what do you want, why are you here, tattoo? Why? I actually feel like that's pretty plausible that it's like an heir to the sage. Or something. Maybe it has something to do with the tattoo on her. I don't know. Ah, I don't know. What the fuck? Okay, let's talk about Zayden because he is in this excerpt. and we also know that he is at the lowest level of Banning can be, an initiate. And he still also has his ranking as second lieutenant, so I'm guessing he remains in the bar's military and within the wards. Seems like from what Violet is seeing that he hasn't channeled recently, but, oh my gosh, I just feel like I have so many questions. I'm so confused. Is he like, with the Venon? Because they say something about them taking Violet and not hurting her so they can manipulate Zayden. So, is he Training with the Venon? Like, is he forced to? Is he just trying to hide from them and keep doing his Nevar duties? I don't know. I'm just so curious on how their relationship is gonna play out and specifically, like, what Zayden's gonna be doing, like, Interactions he's gonna have with the Venon. I don't know. It just, I didn't I just feel lost in the sauce right now. Yeah, I've been questioning since iron flame indeed, I'm assuming that only Zayden, Violet, and their dragons know about his transition. That is my assumption. I don't think they can keep that secret for long. Well, obviously, but like, at this point, does anybody else know what's happening? Or I don't know. I don't know. Well, it's also weird she like, puts a dagger to his throat. To who? Zayden. In the excerpt, right? Oh, I missed it. What? I missed it. That was like the biggest thing that confused me. This was like weird. And then he was like all excited by it. And then right after that, he uses his shadows to kill all the men in the room. I don't know, there's just like so much conflicting information in the excerpts, like when I'm trying to figure out what the fuck is going on. Well, I guess that was her goal, is to confuse us even more. Yeah, I don't know, I'm very confused. This is random, but this, this gives me the Vampire Diary of Ops, the Vampire Diary of Ops again. Of course. Because, because, like, it's funny how, like, his eyes only turn red when he channels or drains other people. It's like, in the Vampire Diaries, their eyes, like, change, and their canines only come out when they feed on other people. And the more they feed, the stronger they are. So I feel like, I don't know, it just, I'm rewatching Vampire Diaries so I'm just constantly like making the connections. My lord have mercy. I probably just need to watch it, although I feel like I never watch TV anymore because I'm just reading books, which is good. But, yeah, maybe I'll get to it eventually. I don't know. But really quickly before we move on, just to continue to, you know, Asked these questions about Zayden. So like, and we like, we also know that this book will most likely consist of her trying to save him and find a cure for him from the teaser that Rebecca posted. The, her mantra changes from, I will not die today to I will save him. And he can also still will his shadows. So like, I'm kind of guessing that this transition only really heightened his powers. And he also can, he also still has some connection to Zayden because at the end of Iron Flame, he says that he didn't find it, didn't find Useful to even try to reach out to her because she had been so quiet. And it's obvious today he was still kill anyone who tries to harm Violet. So it's just like, I wonder, no, so bad how their dynamic has changed up until this excerpt. And like how it's going to change and what their relationship is like now. Like, I know she wants to save him, but like, what are, like, I want to know her thoughts on the whole thing. We don't really get her thoughts at all. It's gonna be so messy. Yeah, I know. We get a badass quote from Zayden. Tell me something violent. A muscle in his square jaw ticks as he stares down at me, rippling the tawny brown skin of his stubbled cheek. Why is it always you? End quote. Love him. Love it! Love him! Oh my goodness. How? I can't wait to see what sex scenes we get in the next book. Literally. How can you top the throne scene? I wonder what, I wonder, oh my god, the throne scene. I wonder how much better or worse the sex scene is we haven't been in. Oh, it's probably so much better. Alright, let's play I Spy. So basically, Kenzie and I are just gonna pick something we see that's a certain color and then the other one has to try and guess. What it is we're seeing, so I guess I'll go for it. We have three tries. I spy, yes, I spy something brown. Hmm. It's not doo doo. I'll give you a hint. It's not dragon poop? What? Oh gosh. Um, brown, brown, brown. Is it a dragon? Well, it's a dragon eyes. No. Oh, I guess I got one more try. You were close when you said, is it a dragon? Um, hmm. Hmm. It doesn't help. Like, I wanted to say yes and no, but it's technically no. You want another hint? Sure. It has to do with. The Iron Squad. What the hell? Specifically one person in the Iron Squad. Riddick. Tell me more. Is it his dragon? His dragon What? His dragon What? It's his dragon relic Oh yeah. I totally looked over that. Got you. Okay. I spy something white. Is it in the archives? No. Is it the whites of someone's eyeballs? No. Fuck. I'm out of ideas. Shit. It is the white of somebody. Zayden? No. No, it's not Zayden. That wasn't a guess. Okay. Violet's white ass? No, it's not the skin tone. What? Wait, so it's on a person? Mm hmm. That was technically three already. Please keep track. Please keep track. No one has white hair, right? Mm hmm. Are you sure? General Milgren's white hair. Busty head. The fuck? What is it? Who? What? It's Professor Carr's hair. Oh, he's that old? I have no picture of him. She describes him as white hair right before he snaps the Jeremiah snap. All right. That was a good one. I just guessed the wrong person. Good thing we're not keeping track. All right. Anyways, before we close out today's episode time for sparring. So each week, Kenzie and I will give each other and our listeners to trivia questions. At the end of our fourth week coverage, we will tally up who has the most points between hosts and Lizzie has to do something. Embarrassing, funny, or disgusting that the winner or you guys fans come up with. So please give us your feedback, ideas, and participation in this section. I'm nervous. Your questions were hard last time. Really? I feel personally victimized. I feel like I can do the math in my head. Okay, do it. I think there was 169 and then there's 97 dragons. Fuck. 49. You're so close. 41. I knew it was 40 something just from the rough math. All right. What is the name of professor Kaori's dragon? Um, Bade? It's Jack Marlow's bro. You want to try again? Well, such a bad guess, I'll give you another try. Is that the name of the dragon? Is it? I don't know. Well, think about, I'll give you a hint, so when we were talking about that part when Taryn was talking about how he's an in the front guy, and he said the name of Professor K or his dragon in that section. Nope, don't know it. And I don't know how to pronounce it, so here we go. You can scroll down'cause you can see where I highlighted it. Okay. Smacked Oh, y'all would've that I was this, is that how you say that? It's, it's, uh, for listeners, it's S-M-A-C-H-D. Sch smacked. It might be sma. sma. sma. Okay. Your turn. Okay. that was a good question. That was a good question. Thank you. What place did Violet Squat place during presentation? Fuck! When I'm doing the reread, I'm like memorizing certain numbers, I'm like, I'm a kidder. And then you always ask me the shit I don't know. I'll give you a hint. Is it in the 20s? I'll give you a hint. Yeah? Okay, there were, like, 36. Groups in total. So they placed something out of 36. 11th. Damn. Really? Yup. All right. You ready for your last question? I feel like this one's a bit easier. Who did Sawyer see fall from a dragon on the return flight from the threshing field? Fuck. What's her name? Yes, it is a girl. It's the quiet one. Trina, Tina. Yes, it's Trina. Not Tina, it's Trina. Okay, so the score is I have 1. 5 Kenzie has 2, right? Okay, so you're still leading by half a point. But, you know, we got a couple more episodes, so we'll see where this ends. but anyways, that's a wrap, folks. Thank you for tuning in to our Empyrean coverage. We can't wait to keep digging into all the theories and continue preparing for Onyx Storm with y'all. Join us next Thursday for more of 4th Wing coverage, where we'll be going over Chapter 19 through 27, pages 223 through 346 for your reread or to refresh your memory. As always, we really appreciate any and all feedback from our wonderful listeners. So reach out on our socials, tell us what you like, what you didn't, or if you just want to talk about books or Empyrean or theories. Do it. We'll talk to you about it and we'll love it. This is a toddler podcast. We're not in our puberty years yet, and we would like to see it grow with your help. So please take the time, leave us a review. It really does mean a lot. Follow us on social media and all major podcast platforms for freshly baked episode. We deliver to you next week. Bye friends. See you next week. Bye friends. See you next week.