Iron Flame | Selective Truths & Sexual Tension

Welcome wonderful listeners to Episode 16 of the Shadow and Starlight Podcast | Selective Truths & Sexual Tension!! It is time to dive into Iron Flame with a party, torture class, identity theft, and a long distance situationship. 

• To view Mackenzie’s consequence for losing Fourth Wing Trial by Trivia, please go visit our TikTok or Instagram @shadowandstarlightpod!  
• For next week, please read chapters 16-29 | pages 149-271 of Iron Flame 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

Transcript

Kaina G: 0:24

Welcome, wonderful listeners, to the Shadow and Starlight podcast, where two friends dive deep into popular fantasy and lore, and much more. So buckle your seatbelts for this vial of coaster rides of emotions, magical worlds, and laughs. I'm Kenzie. I'm Kena. And today we're covering chapters 1 through 15 of Iron Flame 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 for those 18 Regarding spoilers, if you have not finished the entire Fourth Wing and Iron Flame books, please come back after you do so to listen to the episodes. While we are discussing a certain stretch of chapters, we will be doing so with the perspective of what happens in both books for better understanding, to help us dive deeper into the theories, and really appreciate the foreshadowing of Roberta Yaros. So going forward, all episodes on our show will contain spoilers for the whole series in question. 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'd 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 and Starlight Pod. So I think I fucked up our Onyx Storm countdown for some reason. I was like a few days off, but anyways, I've double checked and when this episode releases, we'll be 33 days away from Onyx Storm and I promise you that's right. So if I butchered it in the past, I'm sorry, but the most important thing is we're almost 30 days away. One month people, it's happening. Another exciting announcement is we have officially confirmed our interview with Sarah A Parker, author of When the Moon Hatched it's confirmed for March. So we'll let you know when we have an episode release date, but oh my gosh, we're so excited. We are planning on covering the second book in the moonfall series when it comes out in 2025 in the fall, I think. I know she will be done writing book two by the time we interview her. So maybe she'll have something exclusive to share with us. read when the moon has to be haven't yet. And then keep an eye out for our interview next spring with her. Drinking the pot. I'm drinking coffee black because I have no creamer. Damn. I'm drinking a third of a Sprite that I had left from earlier. I was going to make me some hot tea, but they cut the water off cause they're working on plumbing today. So didn't have any water in my coffee. Man, it really is rough out here this morning. Alright guys, time to cross the parapet. Kena's gonna lead us through her Shadow and Starlight synopsis, aka her unhinged summary of the events in these chapters. Yes. And let me just preface this by saying the Iron Flame synopses, synopsi, yes, they're going to be super long because we're covering more chapters in a stretch because Iron Flame is a thick book. It's a thick book. So, just a heads up. yeah. Buckle your seatbelts, we're about to get into it. Iron Flame opens up with Violet munching on some biscuits and staring down her not so dead brother. After a quick conversation, he heads to the council meeting, which Violet follows to spy on with the other Marked Ones. The leaders of the revolution, Zayden at their head, argue about returning Bazgayeth and what to do with that pesky lightning wielder. A far cry from the girl who walked the parapet a year ago, Violet enters the chat and speaks her mind. After finally coming to an agreement, it's time It's time for our FMC to get answers. Violet debriefs her brother and he attempts to explain the last six years as well as the status of the revolution. It's finally dragon time with a big surprise for Violet. And Darna is black, fucking huge, and has an even bigger attitude. And it's also time for her to take a really long nap, meaning the crew has to head back to Bazgaia. Thanks to selective truths from Zayden and Violet, the surviving Athamean riders escape execution, yay, and get to go back to their death college. Yay! Father and son Atos both get their asses handed to them from mama and daughter Sorengale, which is oh so satisfying. Although I think a swift kick in the balls would have been the cherry on top, but whatever. Zayden gets his lieutenant orders and the Iron Squad revels in their first year accomplishment, despite the outrageously underwhelming graduation ceremony. Before their next year starts, the second and third years have a mere five days, instead of Some light therapy or taking time to process, you know, the year full of trauma they had, they party in the clerb, aka the gathering hall, celebrating the improbability of their survival thus far. The squad chats over drinks, Violet trying to pretend like she didn't have one of the most traumatic experiences of her life and almost die a few days ago. As Violet says, she is pleasantly fuddled but not entirely sloshed, which is how I am going to say how drunk I am anytime I have to report to my friends on a night out. Her and Zayden start to argue goodbyes, interrupted by father father atos and major pain in my ass bearish imparting some seriously bad news and death threats. On the flip side, Violet then gets some good news, Rhi is squad leader this year. Go girl. And ugh, Dane is unfortunately the wing leader. Orientation Day opens up with RSE, aka a class on how to survive torture. Bad news for Vi, who has a buttload of information worth torturing her over. Frantic after this discovery, she heads to the Archives, determined to get involved to quell the rising panic concerning her reality. Meeting Decenia, she requests a tome on the wards. On Conscription Day, we get a few surprises. One, King Tory's son ran away from Poppy to ride dragons. And Sloane absolutely despises Violet, blaming her for Liam's death. Ouch. Later, Dane offers an olive branch by assigning Sloane to their squad, the least he could do at this point. Although if you ask Kenzie, the least he could do is sacrifice himself to save Violet. The bare minimum. That's the bare minimum. Dragons fly in to intimidate the newbies, and just like last year, we got some runners. Unlike last year, there's an extra murderous orange dragon that torches the runners, part of third squad including Ciaran and almost Sloane. Saved by Violet's quick thinking. Just as Solace gets ready to roast again, Daddy Taron answers the chat to protect his rider. You do not burn, what is my name? I've never seen Lord of the Wings, but I love it. I love it. Yeah, so for some context listeners, I was um, Gardened. Writing this episode. Okay. And I just randomly put in parentheses, Smeagol voice. And I put the Taron quote and yeah, I hope you liked it. Plagued by nightmares, Imogen and Violet take up a new hobby. Running. With the next year in full swing, it's time for assessment day. Silly little Sloane, who can't throw a punch to save her life, wants to spar Violet, which Emitteria quickly denies. However, this little exchange caught the attention of the sadistic bull of a first year, aka Jack Barlow Jr., when Nadine commits identity theft, she gets her neck snapped. After a moment of shock and horror, Violet springs into action to avenge her squadmate. Badass as her girl is, she is nearly choked out by a frickin Venon assassin, who should be an O line men for Ohio State football, before giving him a fatal wound. To no surprise, Father Father Ato sent him. I smell a Venon conspiracy, y'all. And I will be getting into it in the theories section. After sucking it up through the rest of her classes, concussed and covered in blood because God forbid anybody show any weakness around here, Violet returns to find Zayden in her room. The two catch up and dibble and dabble in some arguments paired with some devastating sexual tension until he has to go fulfill his revolution responsibilities. On the bright side, he leaves our girl with a love letter. Violet is smitten as a kitten the next morning, and Imogen knows exactly why. Dissidia comes to deliver another book on the first six until a cadet is dragged out of class for borrowing a particular book from the archives. Spoiler alert! He ain't gon make it. On the way to the flight field, we learn that Riddick is a navigation god. Navarre leadership is redacting Mira's letters to Violet, and Varys stops by to order in Darna's presence. Sorry dude, she be nappin Time for Violet to take a weekend getaway to Samara, where we get a tiiiid bit of spice to hold us over until this duo gets over themselves and decides to destroy more furniture. On the return flight back, Violet is summoned by Varys for her punishment that is actually just military sanctioned sadistic torture. He pushes her to a dangerous cliff of burnout while Karr just stands there, and Tyrion rushes her to the river to cool her scalding body. In Sparring Practice later, a jumpy Violet almost kills Riddick, and her squad is then suddenly Kidnapped. Yep, it's time for a land navigation exercise. After their bonds with their dragons were non consensually severed, the squad has to work with infantry and a scribe to find a location from the maps they are given. And it goes as well as we think it will. They fail epically because the two groups cannot communicate to save their lives. Literally, since it costs Tomás his life. RIP. At the end of the stretch, lying to her friends and being apart from her man, who's no longer her man, is beginning to take a toll on Violet. Yes. Dang. I just absolutely bossed that shit out. You did. You did really good. Except for all the times I stopped to laugh at myself. It's so crazy because in just 15 chapters, so much happened. Oh my god. So much stuff happened in 15 chapters. I was like dividing up the chapters. I would see where we would start one episode and then where we would finish and I would be like, holy fucking shit. It's a whole journey. Well, guys, as you guys have survived the parapet. It's time to head into our battle brief section, where we will discuss all notable things in this stretch of chapters, including foreshadowing theories and our favorite parts. Yes, so we're going to dig into the Empyrean foreshadowing first. And once again, we're going to point out that the series is literally called the Empyrean series, and it is primarily about dragon politics through the stories of our FMC. So in chapter 7, we get an interesting reveal about the dragon government from Terran. He tells Violet that the reason fewer dragons are bonding is because the Empyrean knows about the Venon. This confuses Violet, to which he explains, quote, I can foresee this conflict in Dragon Government coming to a head, possibly very soon in the series, since the war against the Benin is progressing so rapidly. And Navar isn't the only one, and military leadership isn't the only one, that's gonna have to make decisions to protect their home, or in this case, the Vale. And this leaves us with a little bit of information about the Empyrean, but honestly, we still really don't know anything. But it does give an insight into the dynamics there and leaves us with a lot more questions on what exactly is happening with the Empyrean. Why are the dragons divided? Is it for some of the same reasons as Navar's willful ignorance? I'm so curious why the dragons wouldn't want to get involved. I'm guessing it's just because they maybe think that they're safe within the wards too. But I don't know, I feel like it's maybe something more than that. But I just wanted to shout it out since It's called the Empyrean series again and dragon politics is cool. Yeah, I do think it's interesting because we do know that the dragons and humans kind of depend on each other because without the dragons the humans don't have magic and without the humans the dragons aren't really safe because they can't make their own wards. So they are going to have to figure out. This divide somehow in order to win this war because they can't fight it separately. So it's very interesting. I love how when Taryn was explaining why dragons bonded to humans in the first place, he was like, we don't have opposable thumbs that we've warred. I was like, okay, good point. Need thumbs to make wards. I guess I like see the fingers to do all the magic and stuff. Next, we're going to discuss the topic of war. So we do know that in this book, we're prepping for a war. At the end of fourth wing, we know that Violet and the Mark ones fought against have been in the Wyvern. This is kind of like, that was kind of foreshadowing to the war that they will fight in this book. And now going back to about midway of the last book, Violet found a map in her mom's office. When they were doing the squad games, and the map was of the entire continent and the map was color coordinated according to certain aspects and one of them being Griffin attacks that were being Documented throughout the continent bring in had an identical map in Satan's house in a ratio But it was marked with all of the bidding attacks. Brennan is tracking their patterns and according to him They only have six Six months before war happens. And we know that it happens a lot earlier than six months. Quote the red flags are off in the last year, the last few years, and the orange are the last few months at the right, there've been the rate they've been expanding, not only in their numbers of wiring, but in territory, I think they're headed straight up to the stone water river. And we have six months. Months or less until they're strong enough to come for Navar. Not that the assembly will listen, quote. But this is very important to note because again, we did get a bit of foreshadowing of how this world would look and what they need to prep for, when they fight these bending.'cause they are very powerful. They literally can suck the magic out of the ground, like the one ing in that scene where she was like sucking on the magic and everything on that part of the ground that was being drained. Just died like, yeah. And that's when Soleil died, I think. Yeah. Yeah, she literally sucked the life right out and they got slurpy. And they also learned that they have to kill the Venon in order to kill their Wyvern and the Venon are really hard to kill and they have to figure out what weapons they can use to not get so close because right now they only have those daggers that you have to do hand on hand combat with those Venon and they adjust to combat very quickly. Quickly, so they have to figure out ways to just to bend in, spot in, and sell and how to kill them from afar. So they don't have to get too close. So yeah, not looking too good. No, it's stressing me out. I read all these fantasy books and till the very end of the series, they're severely the underdog. And I'm like, there's no way they're gonna win. And then they do. Well, sometimes. All right. Next, we're going to dig into the first six. So, we know from the second half of this book that there is a big mystery surrounding the first six and also the history of Navarre around unification. we learned a lot of information like something killed off the men in 600 years ago. And a lot of this book is Violet trying to figure out things from the first six and the wards and everything. this is really important. So, we just wanted to talk really briefly about the foreshadowing around this topic. The first six riders were desperate to save their people when they approached the dens over 600 years ago. Those dragons formed the Empyrean and bonded humans only to protect their hatching grounds from Venon, who were the bigger threat. We don't exactly have opposable thumbs for weaving wards or runes. Neither species has ever been entirely truthful, both using the other for their own reasons and nothing more. The first six are also responsible for raising the wars in Bazgayeth and for fighting in the Great War against General Darumor that decimated the Barrens, aka the scary land that's Superdrained by Venon. I just wanted to say, it feels like we're missing so much information about the Great War. that could be important to understand, and more about, like, General Daremore, the enemy they're fighting against, I'm sure it's probably gonna connect to the plot and it just all seems so interconnected, and there's a big mystery there, and so I'm thinking that As the books continue, we'll slowly get to unravel this, we know that something killed off the event in 600 years ago, around all the time the shit was going down, like, what is it? And is it connected to the first six, the great war, feather tails, all the above? I need answers, Rebecca. Okay. Stop playing with me. Yeah, I do think it'll all connect because we know that the first six. Again in bonded dragons and they came together to fight off Benin. So how did they do it? How'd they achieve this? Who's gonna discover it? I feel like Papa Sauron girl most likely has answers on this and we just gotta find his research Driving me nuts because she knows where it is. I'm like, could you just maybe I go get it? Please It's definitely very pointed that she hasn't gone to get it yet. Yeah, that's all I'll say. Oh my gosh. Random thought. Sorry. I think it was a recent interview or snippet or whatever, Rebecca, and they were asking her what her favorite signet was and she said that it hasn't come into the series yet. I'm like, Oh my God, is it Violet's second signet? Or we also don't know Garrick's signet. Which is interesting. So it could be that one either, but I'm thinking it's Violet's second signet and it's going to be so awesome. Hmm. Interesting. Totally random. But interesting. Very much. Very much interesting. All right, now let's talk about the Varian leadership erasing Venon from history. In the cryptic letter that Papa Sorengel left Violet, he mentioned that it only takes one generation to change or erase history, and the Varian leadership got rid of any trace or evidence of Venon from the archive. So we know this because Violet requested a copy of the book of fables and her father read to her as a child and they didn't have anything regarding around wyverns or the book of fables or venon. I feel like from what's being taught at best guy, if this goes against everything they stand for and just to sit back behind protected wards while innocent people are being killed, it just doesn't really sit well. And at the same time, what was the point? Like, I understand the first six. And the dragons defeated Venon at one point in time, but we know that Venon come from dark wielders and it's not just because you erased all of them at that time doesn't mean they're not going to reappear. So why not have this documented in history so that we know how to, defeat them again, if it happens. And it just raises a lot of flags, why they keep the secret for so long and why are we not preparing for war? I know. I get it for however many hundreds of years after. All this happened in their race history. For a time, you could just be in your blissful, willful ignorance and be like, this is working. But I feel like at this point, like eventually it's going to happen. You're going to have to go to war. Like maybe we should, educate people about what actually happened. Yes. And I feel like they were so naive to think that they could be safe behind their wards, because we know from this book that the Venom had been disguised as Scraps, like they found their way inside the wards. I know, bruh. Especially since they're already faltering so much at this point. Oh, side note, since we've been Theorizing on why the wards are failing. I think it was Brennan, or I don't know, someone was telling Violet that the reason the wards are failing is because they have to imbue the alloy in the daggers with power to keep the wards going. But can't you just constantly imbue them? Hmm, I don't know. I'm confused. That confused me. Well I guess that also again explains why they were feeling too because the griffins were taking the daggers are those are daggers that they were taking Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Well, I don't know if it's daggers in the outposts or just raw alloy that powers the wards and then they steal it to make it the daggers. I don't know. Why don't I know these things? I've read this book so many times. All right, so we're going to talk a little bit Scribes and the role that they're going to play in this upcoming war. So we know that in this book, the dragon riders and the griffon flyers will join forces and train together to fight in this upcoming war against the Venon, but strength and weapons is not the only thing that we need. We've learned all that's like that knowledge is also power quote in a world of dragon riders, Griffin flyers, and dark wielders, it's scribes who hold all the power, which we know to be true since they literally were able to erase history and change the mindset of a whole country. Continent. Continent. Well, yeah. I think it is. I don't know. I know there's a whole continent, but I don't know what the bar is. All right. Anyways, and Violet is very much proof of this, as people have often relied on her knowledge to get through several challenges. And she acknowledges this power herself, saying that, scribe in its ranks, but it has me. So I think this is also foreshadowing to the role of scribes in the war, and I think her and Jessenia will have a super awesome scribe team up in the grander plot of the book, and I'm really excited to see it. And I also want to just learn more about Jessenia, she's cool. Yeah, and of course we know that she's the one that transcribes it, so she's really badass. She gets to document these. And we know she doesn't die, so we can get attached to her. She's going to be one of the key factors in changing history here, because she is putting it all on paper. Yes. All right, now briefly we'll discuss the first six. So we know that all of this, like the Van and Wyvern, comes from the Book of Fables again. And this is where the tale originated from, especially in regard to the characters. I'm remembering correctly, because I forgot to fact check, that there were three brothers. The two of them decided to wield from the sky and use dragons and griffins to help balance their magic. And then we had another brother who I'm assuming was very greedy and jealous and turned to dark magic. And this is where we get, I call them the OGs. And for some reason, like Kena said a while ago, in our fourth wing coverage. I feel like the OG mage, like whoever's over the dark waters is someone we know. And I want to, I don't know. the way I see it in my head is like, I know there's one brother that's over Dragon Riders, and there's one brother over the Griffin Riders. I feel like the other one is who's going to be over Dark Willows. But I don't know who these people are, but I just feel like they're all interconnected somehow. And they're the ones that started this tale. So I feel like it'll be like, a trifecta almost. I don't know. Yes. Well, I'm convinced it's Neoland, but I don't know. So yeah, we're gonna keep our foreshadowing section short because if we talked about everything that was foreshadowed in this stretch of chapters, this beefy stretch of chapters, we would be talking forever. But we do get a lot of hints to other things, notably Jack Barlow's reappearance. Very soon and a lot of other really small things that we think we should get into an episode where it's a little more prominent. So because all of this is going to reappear at some point, like all this is going to be reiterated. So yes, but it's time to get in my favorite section, the theories and oh my gosh, I was just like typing so fast when I was doing these. I had so many thoughts. So buckle up. First I want to talk about, that I gave a shout out to in our synopsis, is my theory around the Venon assassins and the leadership conspiracy. So in our fourth wing episodes, I went on a bit of a theory rampage about how Father, Father Atos is likely colluding with the Venon. And I have more evidence for you. Before he leaves for his newly assigned outpost, because He did Mamasaur and Gil wrong. He tells our two main characters, quote, Secrets make for poor leverage. They die with the people who keep them. And then the assassin that attacks Violet at assessment says the exact same thing. So we know for sure that he was sent by Atos. And this assassin is a Venon with red rimmed eyes. So this has me thinking that Varys and Colonel Atos are likely working together with the Venon or possibly are Venon, as it is confirmed that they are friends in the Stretch of Chapters and appear to be sadistic buddies, I guess. And this is just too many coincidences for me not to have a super detailed theory. And Barish is exactly the type who would go evil, and the fact that Dane's father is friends with him just speaks volumes about who Dane's father is. Which is crazy because I feel like Dane has his father on a pedestal, so he's clearly not seeing the side of him that's friends with Barish, who's like, literally the devil. And I already theorized about these two, but I think Atos passed over his Jack fuckin Barlow project to his little friend on the way out. And the fact that they seem to have authority over this operation, and that Jack is a menin too, is just, uh All of these things are just lining up and it's so suspicious. And on top of all this, Varish is actually inquiring about Papasaur and Gale's research in chapter 11, which is something Father Father Atos has also done in the past, which makes me think that this feathertail research is something crucially related to the Venon. And something very interesting I noted when this happened was that, uh, When Barish asked her about the research, Violet reflects in her internal monologue that quote, Andarna has gone silent at the mention of this research. What? That's so pointed. the fact that Andarna was silent and we know everything we know at the end of this book about how special Andarna is. And again, the research we keep talking about what this is very pointed. Rebecca, I see you. I'm paying attention. Yes. I do also think that Barish and Atos are probably working together or inside Rats. Because we know that when Atos was setting up the Mark I's, he lured the, Venon to the outpost and F F in and the one that been in was like that's what we were caught here We don't know if they were caught here by her sage so we don't know if they like, she's was, that they were caught there by their sage or by Nevarian leadership, who was trying to set up some work lines. We don't know. So. Yeah, we did get confirmation in the stretch that the box and resin was allure and it was of Nevarian craftsmanship. So. Definitely a trap. All right, we're gonna talk about violent and her connection to Malik, we've discussed the many mentions to Malik in book one over the last five episodes and it continues into this book as well. Quote, I've danced with Malik more than my fair share over the last year and told him to fuck right off every single time. Maybe Sloane is right and he doesn't want me. End quote. This feels like foreshadowing again to Violet having some special connection with Malik as Kana has said throughout the whole Fourth Wing book. Once again, we feel like this will turn into something significant later on and possibly connect to the Benin. And I also have a theory on this that I'm going to talk about at the end of this coverage. It's inspired by you, Kano. I feel so special. CNS on the Iron Flame map, the Bay of Malik is right next to the Barrens and we're just pointing out all these coincidences. That is such a weird word, coincidence. You get tripped up by the weirdest words, man. There's so many syllables in that word. Coincidences. Coincidences. Aurora. Coincidences. Coincidences. Goddamn, how many syllables is that? It's five. It's a lot less than what it seems like, but it like, when you say it, it's like, yeah, also It was a sick burn that Sloan says she hopes no one commends Violet's soul to Malik. Ouch. She said that I was like, dang. I might start saying the way I just want to curse fantasy curse words all the time. And then also I want to like roast people, fantasy things. Like I hope no one commends your soul to Malik, bitch. And they're like, well, what are you talking about? All right. The last theory. I wonder if anyone can guess what it is. It's time for me to hate on Brennan for real. I titled this theory, I'm watching you, Brennan. Since we have finally arrived at book two, it's time for me to spew my Brennan suspicions. And in the short time we get with him in the beginning, there are some things to note. One, Brennan has a mysterious rune shaped scar on his palm. Hmm. What the heck is that? This has something to do with what happened six years ago. Maybe I had a crazy thought, maybe it's a rune to hide his actions. If he is a traitor to the revolution, that would be pretty wild. But this is definitely like a very pointed thing to notice. Like why do you have a scar on your palm, sir? And it's also not mentioned again in Iron Flame, I don't think. So we don't actually know what it is yet. Two, he is super vague explaining what happens to Nalen, saying that he didn't fail but it cost him anything. Like, can you elaborate? Is he dead, bro? Like, why are you not Can you And then, three, on top of that, Taryn refuses to talk about Nalen. And I'm wondering, maybe a betrayal happened similar to the end of Iron Flame with Zayden Segale and that's why he doesn't like to talk about it. maybe Nalen is alive and I'm in it now, and maybe Taryn severed the bond between them. I I don't know. Yeah. There's some serious E in history there. Yes. And we know that Taryn is not ashamed of lying by omission. So. And four, my last suspicion is that Brennan mentions that Sigele doesn't like him and never has. And I don't know about you, but this is one of the biggest red flags for me because you know, I like Sigele, I feel like she has a good breed on people. And that also creates more mystery around what happened with Naomi and when Brennan was blah, blah, blah, yeah. Yeah. I just lost my train of thought. Yeah. But you get what I'm saying. I don't know. It's weird because if Naomi's alive, why is Taron bonded to another writer? I think they can sever the bond. if he's He's what you think and he's over the dark wielders and he severed that bond to protect Navar or prep Navar and bond the next badass, weapon to the war, the last thing I want to add about that theory is, maybe, I'm going too far and he's not a traitor to the revolution, but I do feel like something's just off there. And in the short time we get with him, there's a lot of moments that I just had to point out. So we'll see where this goes with Brennan. I hope I'm not wrong. It also kind of makes me sad though. If their writers turn into Venons becomes like a big factor in their bond because we know that Sigil and Zayden's bond isn't as strong later on in the book, when he becomes Venon. So I don't know. Yeah. I don't know, man. So many, so many questions, not very many. Right. Right. Let's get into our favorite and notable moments. And I first want to talk about Dane getting his ass handed to him repeatedly. Ever since we have started deep diving the series, my hatred for Dane has reached a fever pitch. And Kenzie is not helping with that. She's making it worse. She really hates this man. but thank God Dane got his ass handled in the stretch of chapters. Not just from Violet, but also Zayden and Rhiannon. it was cracking me up that they wouldn't handle his ass and then he would be speechless. I'm like, well, you're reaping what you sow. My favorite line was the first thing out of Violet's mouth when he tries to cut her damn face again upon seeing her for the first time since they returned from Athbin. And she says this, quote, Touch me and I swear to gods, I'll cut your fucking hands off and let the quadrant source you out in the next round of challenges, Dane Atos. Yep, we have been waiting for these words for an entire book and damn, do they feel And the cherry on top of this is then watching Dane try to fill Zayden's wing leader shoes, which, of course, it's not going to happen. Not even close. And then later on, Rihanna even reminds him that Zayden didn't need everyone to supplicate to him as week leader to do his job. And I was like, damn. You're not wrong. Okay, I just want to piggyback off of what you said cuz she beat me to the punch and it's not a lot to say, like you covered it all. I'm so glad that Violet was able to be like, and I love the fact that Zayden takes a punch in his pride. I just, I love this little. I don't know why they're like low key fighting for Violet, but Zayden already knows that he won. So he's not fazed by it. And he's just throwing punches left and right. And he's like, yeah, take that. So delicious. My next favorite part is the beginning of Imogen and Violet's friendship. Even though Imogen calls them quote, co conspirators with a vested interest in keeping each other alive. Damn it girl, you guys are friends and you freaking know it. But anyways, I loved rereading this and watched their friendship blossom from the beginning. Ever since Imogen started weight training her and now they went through battle together and now they're running together. This is such a stark difference because Imogen Literally snapped Violet's shoulder in hatred the first day that they were around each other and this has transformed into them protecting each other's lives and having such a fun dynamic and clearly Imogen has a lot of respect for Violet now saying quote if it wasn't right for Ryerson or in Sorengale We'd all be dead and quote which shocks Violet and she said that's the closest thing to a compliment she's ever given and Imogen is just standing there looking at Violet with nothing but respect in her eyes and And For what we know about Imogen, her to say this is basically a glowing recommendation. So yes, you guys are friends, okay? But I really appreciated their relationship at this point in the story, because we know that Violet can no longer confide in Rhiannon, and is actively avoiding her. So I'm glad that we get some female friendship while that sorts itself out. It actually makes me really sad that Rhiannon and Violet are Well, I don't know. I don't know, it just makes me really sad. I know. Well, at least it doesn't last for more than half a book. I know if she can't be truthful with her friends, she doesn't want to be close to her and continue to build a relationship of friendship off of lies, but I also think she's overthinking it. Cause there's so many things that she could say. That wouldn't be lying. And she's just freaks out and runs away. It's so funny how she does it. She's like, okay, she just like runs off. She's like, I gotta go run. Yeah, I know. It does make me sad, but understandable. especially after Atos basically threatened Mira and her friends so like, I get it, but also. I feel like if she would have thought it through a little bit more because eventually she does tell them, she comes to a point where she's like, I can't do this anymore. Yeah. I'm like, yeah, maybe you should have just done it earlier if you were gonna do it in the first place, but I also get it. Because it also could affect them, too. Because if they're preparing for a war against a bigger enemy, you would want your closest friends to know so they can prepare. Mm hmm. Yeah, man. All right, my last favorite moment is the dragon banter, of course. Oh my gosh. I love the dynamic between the dragons and Violet even more this book because, of course, what grumpy daddy Taryn needed was a sassy teenage sister dragon. And it's so comical that Andarna now loves to tell Taryn that he is wrong at every opportunity. We only get some of the conversations, but I can just imagine how every conversation is going in between them. And I gotta say, this man, or dragon, sorry, has a lot of patience, and my favorite example from this stretch is when they are pulling up to Baskaioth. Terran says, quote, a rolling dismount would tear you limb from limb on impact. You don't know that! Violet says, I'd watch it, he might get tired and drop you. His pride would never allow it, says the dragon who spent 20 minutes refusing to put on her harness. I love how we get these little funny comments and then I just have this total picture in my head of Antara sitting there. She's like, I'm not putting on my harness, I can fly myself. But uh, I just love it. I know Violet's got problems on top of problems on top of problems in this book, but at least she and us as readers are very entertained by the dragons. Yes. Yes. So my, it was really hard for me to pick specific favorite moments, stuff like the whole first 15 chapters that we're covering, it's just a really great introduction to what's going to happen. So the biggest thing that I was excited about was us learning about the revolution and us moving into this new setting and this new plot now that we've gotten through fourth wing. And for some reason, I just love that Zayden is following his father's footsteps to save innocent people because the way the bar paints it they make it seem like Finn was the big enemy and he, went against his loyalty against the bar to start a rebellion. That, uh, but really he was trying to help innocent people because the bar are, they're the true enemies here. They're the two bad guys. And it just shows that there are still good people in this world, and not everyone is turning their heads to the corruption outside the wards. And sometimes new settings really piss me off in fantasy books, and Kenna knows this because I'm struggling to get through Throne of Glass because we keep switching settings and it's so hard for me to get back into the new world. But Yarrow's rotes. The intro to, Iron Flame is such an underwhelming way, and I say that in a good way, because it's not as hard to get into when she's introducing Aresha and Brennan in the house of Bryerson. It's really, it's like an easy flow. It's easy to get into. It's easy to picture. It's not very overwhelming with all the different, Settings that we have this book going back and forth between Araysha and Navar, so I do appreciate that, and I just can't wait for us to go back to Araysha, for some reason this book, I hate when they're at Vesgaia, I want them to go back, I love the time they have. Really? Yeah. I'm the opposite. It's just because all the juicy, drama that happens when they go back to the place. I can't wait for us to get to that part, but there is a lot. It's definitely fun. I remember waiting for Iron Flame to come out and I was like, Oh, I really want them to go back to Bas Gaia because I love reading about their time there. But I was like, what if they never get to go back? I don't know. When I first started reading fourth wing, I love the setting of best guy, because I love when we have magical colleges or boarding schools, like I told you about wings club. I love watching these couples run up because it was a little like magical beings all under one roof. And they were going to school and learn how to control their magic and stuff like that. And I feel like that's so cool. And when best guys became corrupted, I was like, well, damn, now we need to get a new spot. And so they went to a ratio and then they're learning new skills. And they're like, I don't know. I just like it. I like the setting. Yeah. I'm pretty sure it's a ratio. Arisha, it's fine. I don't know now. I'm questioning everything. Oh well. All right, folks, I'm gonna close out. I better breathe and move on to the Book of where we will divide, where we will divide? Where we will dive into the mythology that inspired Iron Flame. We'll do long division. I actually don't know how to do long division anymore. Yeah, I forgot. It's been too long. Oh, damn. Well, we will dive into the mythology that inspired Iron Flame as well as continue our Signet breakdown from last episode of 4th Wing. Feel free to skip ahead to our mini series if you feel like you're already an expert. Yes, so we're not going to dig into any mythology today, especially since this is such a long intro chapter where we're getting the hang of things. There's not really a lot of mythology that we could talk about here. So we're not going to do that. And also the segments will take us a while to get through. That's why we had to split in between our last episode of fourth wing and our first episode of iron flame because there's so many segments and we have a lot to say about them. So we're just going to focus on that for our myths and magic today. And then next episode, we'll get back into our mythology. We're gonna continue our discussion on documented signets and what we know about them. object summoning, we know that Rhiannon has the signet and we are not sure yet how much Rhi will be able to accomplish with the signet, but we know that she can pull things through walls. And I am wondering if she'll be able to summon something she has never seen before or summon something as large as a person who has fallen off their dragon. Or how far away she can summon things. This potentially, this could, I put those two words together. Did you hear me? Yeah. This could potentially be interesting with Quinn's astral projection if she were to project into a distant room and describe what Reese needs to summon without her seeing it. Can't wait to see her powers grow. Next we're gonna talk about, uh, retro, retro cogni, God dammit. Retro, retro, retro, right, bro, retro cognition, which we know is Dane Atos. Sickname. This is the ability I can tell when you're gonna struggle over a word cause you just have this look in your face where you pause for a second and you're like Well, I paused that time cause I said dang a toes. I didn't realize I said dang a toes and I was like, oop. I had a second of like, oop. Brother, oop. This is the ability to read someone's memories through touch. It is unknown how recent I'm getting major PTSD from this sickname. I'm sorry. It is Oh my god. I'm just thinking of the shit he's done in the past book. It is unknown how recent the memories have to be for them to be read. In certain cases, the person whose memories are being viewed have a little control, over what the person sees. And we know this from the scene where he's interrogating Violet. Next we have Shadow Wielding, which is Danny Ryerson. They're incredibly rare and highly coveted battle sickness. Coveted. S s s s s s s s s s s s c c c c c coveted? Yeah, Coveted. Coveted. Coveted has two Ts? I don't even know if Coveted is a word, I'm gonna be honest. Never heard of that one. This should be called the mispronouncing shit podcast. It's always when I get to the mythology section, I'm like, hmm. Oh god, it's the most notorious section for mispronouncing shit. Well, this signet is this incredibly rare and highly coveted battle signet and it's the ability to wield existing shadows It can black out large areas and manipulate objects within the shadows. it can also be used as a dragon lasso, as we saw in the resin scene. It can break a fall from great heights. Historically used to disorient entire drifts of griffins or take them down depending on the strength of the signet. And we also saw this when she was fighting the Venon and he made it really dark. To even the plan feel, this isn't it really reflects Zayden's secretive side of who he really is. Next is siphoning, which we know is Naolan and Sloane. This is a significant signet, which is the ability to absorb power from various other sources, including dragons and other riders to use or redistribute among a riot. It's definitely a useful signet to have on the battlefield. In my mind, this is one of the most badass signets. I don't know why. I just feel like that would be really cool if you have the power, like, control the power on a battlefield. who gets more? And I don't know. It's cool. I feel like that would be really cool. This signet is also very similar to the power of the Benin. Mmm. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Naomi, I think that not coming for you yet. Sloan, but maybe I'm just kidding. I think she'll be like, okay. So, you know, like a math, how to the same thing, counsel each other out. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like this is kind of it. If Naomi is the Benin, then Sloan is the one that could come in and Cancel that out. I don't know. I love the girl math. What's happening? Who thought we were going to talk about math twice in this episode? Okay, size changes the ability to make bigger things smaller or small things bigger. Wink, wink. Right, sound seekers, the ability to hear sounds from across far distances, even miles apart. Oh, that's a lame signet. I mean, I mean, yes and no, like it is cool, but in there, I feel like I'd rather have that signet than, farsight maybe, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know that just kind of the sound seeker also reminds me of vampire diaries because they can hear things from far away. Oh my God. if we ever record an episode and you don't mention vampire diaries, I need to take you to the hospital. That was actually my first time. This episode we've been thinking of vampire diaries. All right, so the next segment we want to talk about is storm wielding, which is Mama Soringale's signet, and it's the ability to wield the weather and seems to be somewhat connected to the wielder's emotions. A truth sayer, so in the interrogation scene with Barish, he brings in Nora, who is a truth sayer, and this is the rare ability to detect whether or not someone is lying. And They're very similar to intenzics, but somehow they're allowed to live and some truth sayers detect lies through bodily functions, which is kind of weird Like what's weird that your signet would connect to observing other bodily Functions. Wait, what bodily functions? Like peeing? No, You know, when you take a polygraph and it's observing, your heartbeat, and your blood pressure, I don't know. Oh, you know what? Don't even. Heh. Heh. What I thought, I don't know why, the first thing that came to my mind when you said bodily functions was to go to the bathroom, I don't know. I mean, I guess it is the first thing that comes to mind for me as well, some people also speculate if this will be Violet's second signet. And I can see the reasoning here since Violet is someone who needs knowledge and she needs the truth. That could definitely be a signet that reflects who she is at her core. So we will dig into this a little bit as our Iron Flame episodes continue. And we may even have a Violet's second signet theories. So stay tuned, we may get into the truth sing theory. underwater breathing, pretty self explanatory, and this is heat and signet. seems pretty useless, I'm not gonna lie. When would, when would they ever use this? I don't know. I don't know. It's very lame. It's very lame. Yeah. Okay, Ward Weaver Signet is something Nadine had before she died, and it's the ability to unweave wards and possibly do more. We really don't know much about it, but we know she's dead now, so maybe it won't matter. That really sucks. And weakness. We need her. I know. She's like, I am Violet. Bam, you're dead. Bad time to die. Commit identity theft. Anyways, weakness detection is Burton Ish's, signe and God, his name sucks. Burton bur butt, Burt Face, buttface Burton Verish, or as I like call him major pain in my ass, He has the signe that has the ability to look at someone with their mental shields down and find out what their greatest weaknesses. And this is a very insidious signe and it's makes sense considering he's known for. interrogations and torture. Next we're going to mention characters with unknown signets at this point. So some of them are more important than others. Caroline Ashton, we don't know her signet and she's Jack's bestie. Colonel Atos, we also don't know his signet. Garrick Tavis, we don't know his signet. I feel like that's kind of pointed, like what is it? Because he's pretty important to our story. We don't know Professor Devera, Professor Amaterios, or Professor Grady's signet as well. I'm not sure if they're going to be important in the future. And then obviously, Violet Sorengale, we do not know her second signet. And boy oh boy, I cannot wait to talk about this. And we will very soon. Surprisingly, not in this episode, but probably next one. Yeah. And then lastly, so key characters awaiting manifestation of a signet is Arc Greycastle, King Tari's son. this is especially notable since he will likely have some role to play in the upcoming plot since he is a member of Navarre royalty and someone that actually believes in the revolution and hates what his father is doing. And his connection to Violet will make him a reoccurring character unless he dies, obviously. And I am thinking he will likely manifest a really strong and significant signate. Later on in these episodes, I do wanna talk about theories on what his signate may be. And I actually have an idea that it could be a distance wielder because distance wielding has been mentioned a few times and we don't know anyone else that has a signe. There's again theories that that might be Violet's second signet but that doesn't really make sense to me so I feel like maybe Aric could have it or possibly if Violet isn't a truth sayer maybe Aric will since it's core to who he is like he doesn't want to continue the lies of his father and he wants to help perpetuate the truth so maybe he could be a truth sayer I don't know but I feel like his signet is going to be important. Same. Yeah. All right, moving on. Time to head to the flight field where every week Kenna and 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 talk about Zayden and Violet's character development and we're going to talk about Zodiac signs. Yes. Yeah. All right. I am going to talk about Violet's character development from where we started this and where we are now. And I really just love, especially on a reread, seeing our FMC embrace the growth she has made over the past week because it is a lot. And one quote that stuck with me, really early in Iron Flame, quote, each head in the room turns toward us and I fight the instinct to retreat as almost every set of eyes narrows on me. Who do they see? Lilith's daughter or Brennan's sister? I lift my chin because I'm both and I feel like neither. This really sums up her coming into her own identity even though she's not all the way there yet, but she's so much more confident than she was a year ago. And I just feel like this quote really captures how much she's grown and how much she's changed from what she went across the parapet. And her growth is shown in ways like how she sets boundaries for Dane now and, you know. Handles his ass and she also has confidence in speaking up to authority, like the council. She wasn't afraid to go in there and be like, try speaking to me, not about me. And then Barish and Ato, she's not afraid to snap back at them. of course she's respectful still, but she's confident to correct them sometimes. And I just love that. And she's also confident enough now to tell selective truth. She stood up in front of the entire Formation at graduation ceremony and just boss that shit and she's also just really unfazed by danger Well, she still is retaining her compassionate side. I just really love how she didn't lose parts of who she is like her compassion But she is just a completely different person than she was from book one And in book one she viewed herself as weak and tried to stay under the radar and now it's just complete opposite. Zayden. Well, our MMC's growth is not as prominent. There's definitely some things they want to acknowledge. I think it took a lot for him to let down his emotional boundaries. Throughout fourth wing and allow for a loss of control at times and knowing everything we know about him and the years of hardship and secrets and mistrust and resentment that he's been harboring him, being able to let Violet in and trust her as much as he can. It speaks volumes. And the keystone of his growth is letting grow of his iron grip on his resentment and his control of everything around him, which I'm sure was very scary to him since he's probably been. The Zayden we initially met in book one for years and years, I do think being with Violet is making him embrace a more compassionate side, but at the end of the day I think he will always still be the ruthless shadow daddy we know and love. Yes. Oh, I want to start with Zayden, just because I want to save Violet for last because she's a little bit more. Yeah, so we know, like Kenneth said at first, Zayden came off as very mysterious and controlled and over time this has changed drastically. And I do think that Violet played a huge role in his development too. And I love that our, FMC is almost the sole reason that our FMC is here. MMC has even had character development because with Violet, he would just be this boring, mysterious guy that doesn't talk and have all these secrets. And we would, yeah. But, we know that he was a man of many secrets and it was really hard to understand him at first, but the more Violet interacted with him, the more glimpses of his character we got. And he went from dark and broody to light and sexy. And like Kena said, he really has started to lose his grip on his control. Especially around Violet. Now, Violet Sorengale. Though I love dual POV and I really wish that we can get Zayden's point of view. I also love the fact that this book is only Violet's point of view. And I think this makes her development a lot more personal. from chapter one of fourth wing, we heard what people thought about her, ability to survive, over and over and over again, she was viewed as weak and fragile. And she even started to believe that herself, but the more she achieved within the quadrant, the more she started to believe in herself and became more confident. And I love this because she never let herself down or the worst of others. overpower her will or influence her to quit. And if anything, this was encouragement for her to keep pushing and prove everybody wrong. I think this was very personal, especially for me, because I feel like other people doubt me, it just makes me want to go 10 times harder, like prove them wrong. All right. So next we're going to get into the Zodiac and what astrology signs that we think our characters are. And you're going to be hating on me in about two minutes, but just remember, I love you. I love you too. okay. Violet, I think is a Cancer and this is cheating a little because the books actually tells us this is what correlates to her birthday. And. You know, it's cheating, I guess, but if the boot fits, so she loves super hard and is very protective of those she loves. And that's a keystone of cancer. So it fits. I desperately wanted her to be a Virgo like me, but sadly, no. Although I do feel like the intellect associated with Virgos is definitely a fit for her and the need for knowledge. Zayden, I think is a Scorpio. Yeah, this man is not a Pisces. That's what his sign would be according to his birthday in the book. But that's, no, absolutely not. He's passionate. Very, very passionate. He's mysterious, loyal to who he loves, intuitive and strategic. Yep. That sums up our wing leader. Now Dane I think he's a Capricorn. I'm laughing. Which is Mackenzie's sign. I'm laughing because I put him as a Virgo. It was so unintentional. I didn't even make the connection until you just said you were a Virgo. I was literally researching Zodiac and I was like nothing fits except for Capricorn or Dane. Okay? But anyways, yeah, don't kill me, but I think he's a Capricorn. So, some stereotypes associated with Capricorns led me to believe this. He's very firm in what he believes and struggles when the right thing isn't clear. He's practical, a control freak, and ambitious, which are all, again, traits associated with male Capricorns. And he really values his work ethic, so yeah. Yeah. I'm sorry, buddy. Rhiannon, I think is a Taurus. She is super grounded and emotionally even throughout the books. And that makes her a very dependable and consistent friend for Violet, who definitely needs that in her life. And she's also just an independent woman who don't need no man or woman in her case, but I feel like Taurus fits her perfectly. And Riddick, I had to choose a sign for one of my favorite comedians. And I chose Gemini and. I chose this because of traits associated with male Geminis, that he's social, quick witted, charming, and playful, and we know Riddick never takes anything serious, and he's always making everyone laugh, so. Yes. Yes. King Slayer. All right. I actually found some very interesting things during like my research. I feel like I learn something new every time we do this because I don't know a lot about astrological signs, but I learn new things. So I think that Zayden is an Aries, cause like Kanan said, I don't think that he was a Pisces. I didn't think he was a Pisces. So I looked up the dates for end of March and it. Correlates with Aries and Aries are fire signs and they're naturally playful, which I think Zayden, like once he let's go and he, drops those barriers, he is naturally playful and he's always smirking and yeah, he's very adventurous. I don't think he's going to venture at all. Like he's really running headfirst into a fire. It's just like, okay. He has a, they have bad tempers. Which I also feel like Zayden killing half a dozen people with the snap of a finger because they're trying to get to his girl. It's just proof of that. They're very passionate and very forward in the bedroom, which we all know is Zayden. True dat. Or in the throne room. Yeah, and interestingly enough, Onyx is one of the Aries crystals, which I found very interesting. I did not know that. That's cool. And the Emperor is one of their tarot cards. Well, he's basically the Emperor of Arisha. All right. Now, Violet, I think she's a Cancer. And I agree with Kena, and I'm also cheating, because the book literally tells us. But during my research, I found something interesting. Cancers in Aries are actually incompatible. And Aries often hurt Cancers with their natural traits. Hmmmm. Ha ha ha! Their incompatibility could also be why Zayden often repeats that Violet would be the death to him throughout the book. Very interesting. And if Rebecca based these also off of their astrological signs, that'd be so cool. That they fit so well. maybe she's really into astrology because she does mention their birthdays specifically. Yeah. I literally feel like in no book have we really gotten a specific birthday. Like I know we'll have some times where like, oh it's my birthday, but I don't think we ever get the month or the date. And we all know that Rebecca Yarrow writes with intention. I think that her highlighting these months is really important. And the fact that these lined up so perfectly, it's just kind of weird. I don't know. It's interesting. Yeah. So Rhiannon, I also agree with Kanan on Rhiannon. My sister is a Taurus. And if my sister could be related to any character in this book, it would definitely be Rhiannon. they have the same. Personalities, but yeah, I definitely agree with Cain on that one. So I don't need to elaborate. Dane, unintentionally, I put him as a Virgo, not thinking of Cain as a Zodiac sign. I love how we gave each other, we both put Dane as each other's Zodiac signs. Well, Virgos and Capricorns have similar personality traits, which is probably why we're besties. Oh, well, there you go. There's a bright side to everything. Virgos are also very hardworking. They play a very close attention to detail and they're very careful about what they do. And this could be why Dane has the thing that he's, that he has. his attention to detail could be why he can see people's memories and get certain details and be a war weapon in interrogation. there are natural leaders and very organized and tend to get stuck in the details, wanting everything to be perfect. Dyschordic. Codex Levin son of a gun. This is probably why he's like that. And then one of their flaws is their ability to be over considerate. Hmm, probably his constant dragging in the mud with Violet. With him trying to protect her, quote unquote. Well, I definitely see why you would put Dane as a Virgo. I feel like that makes sense. And I can't confirm all those are Virgo traits because it's very much me, even though I don't like that I'm putting me and Dane in the same box. I promise I was not taking a view when I wrote this. He's definitely the worst type of Virgo. Yeah, he is. I feel like everybody's different and yes, we all have the same general personality traits when it comes to the astrological signs. but I feel like it's how their character builds off those character traits. So I don't think that just because you think he's a Capricorn, I think he's a Virgo that that's like exactly how we are. Cause we're different types of Capricorns and we're also female and female and male signs are totally different. They're a little bit more aggressive. I definitely, that helped me when I was trying to figure out who's, who was what sign as I started looking up female and male Differences between each side. I was like, okay, that makes me feel better. That's why I emphasize these are male Capricorn traits. And lastly, I'm going to talk about Liam because he's one of my favorite side characters. I think that he's a Sagittarius because Liam is very easygoing, but also funny. I feel like he was more so like a playboy, even though he was phalangistinian, he never really made his move. He was just like flirting with her. And I feel like that's kind of Sagittarius too. And sometimes they can promise more than they can deliver. And they are very generous. Are you talking about like he promised to protect Violet forever and then he was like, and then he died. Come do. Yeah. Damn. You're a little over ambitious there. Calling out a dead man, bro. I'm sorry. It was the perfect setup. It was. I would've done the same thing. Before we close our episode today, it's time to spar. Each week, Mackenzie and I will give each other and our listeners two trivia questions. At the end of our Iron Flame coverage, we will tally up who has the most points between hosts. Loser will have to do something embarrassing or funny that the winner or you guys fans come up with. So please let us know your feedback, ideas, and participation in the section. And go check out our social media today. We will be posting the challenge for whoever lost fourth wing trial by trivia. We actually haven't finished filming the last half of that episode, weirdly, because my computer glitched. So we actually don't know who won yet, but we will be posting whoever lost and their consequence and it should be pretty iconic. So go look at our social media at shadow and starlight pods. All right. My first question is. How many years ago did the first six in Dragons come together to protect their people from Benin 600? Yeah, I kind of figured you would get that one because it was in your, synopsis. Okay. You scroll up, Brad. Yeah. Can't be too careful with you. What? Alright. How many How many prisoners died during Barish's interrogations before he was eventually reassigned to Bazgaya? Three. Yes. Damn. Okay. I see you. I only know that because I almost made that one of your questions. Damn. Shit. I feel like my next question is easy too, goddammit. I feel like my question is probably easy. Okay. How many votes does the assembly need to make a decision? Either four or five. Pick one, bro. Three to five is my final answer. Pick one, it's not three. Definitely not three. Five. Yes! Oh my god, I almost went with four. That was close. All right, who on the Oration Council has a streak of silver hair? Searing. I almost made that your question too, but I remember that you were good with names. I was like, nah, she's not gonna get that. Wow, we just killed that. Okay, so this usually never happens, but we both got them right. And it's currently tied two to two. So yeah, it's gonna be a very exciting trial by trivia for this book. So stay tuned. I feel like you also messed yourself up too, because We both listened to the dramaticized version while I was there. So I was like listening to different things. Oh yeah, I literally brought up the silver hair. God damn it. I need to think this through. All right, that's a wrap, folks. Thank you so much for tuning in to our coverage of Iron Flame by Rebecca Yaros. We're getting so close to the onyx storm and we are so happy you're here with us and can't wait to keep repairing with you. Join us next Thursday as we continue our iron flame coverage where we will be covering where we've been going over a chapter 16 through 29 pages 149 through 271. Big boy. We are reread or it's a refresher memory. Yeah, this book is fat. I'm wondering how many pages Onyx Storm is going to be because we may need to do six or seven episodes just because there's going to be so much. But we'll see. All right. so yeah, it really does mean the world to us to hear your feedback. So please take the time to leave us a review. Check out our socials and reach out to us if you want to tell us what you liked, what you didn't, or if you just want to talk about books with either one of us. We will love to. So make sure to subscribe on YouTube and all major podcast platforms for a freshly baked episode to be delivered directly to you next week. Bye friends. See you next week. Bye friends. See you next week.