Iron Flame | Kiss Me Like It’s Treason

Welcome wonderful listeners to Episode 18 of the Shadow and Starlight Podcast | Kiss Me Like It’s Treason!! We FINALLY get to Iron Flame spice, but first - arguments, treason, assassinations, and relationship advice. 

• For next week, please read chapters 30-44 | pages 272-430 of Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros for your reread or to refresh your memory.
• This episode is based on Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros. Intro Music by Boomer, graphics by @reeseplantedesign. 
• Follow us on TikTok and Instagram @shadowandstarlightpod, watch us on YouTube, and listen to us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!
• Email: shadowandstarlightpod@gmail.com

Transcript

Iron Flame 2: 0:24

Welcome wonderful listeners to the Shadow and Satellite podcast where two friends deep dive into popular fantasy and romanticy books. We get into the stories, characters, world building, lore, and much more. 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 16 through 29 of Iron Plane by Rebecca Yaros. First and foremost, please listen carefully to our content warning. These are adult books we're covering and neither of us have a filter. So this podcast is rated R and for those 18 plus. Regarding spoilers. If you have not finished the entire fourth wing and iron flame books, please come back after doing so while we are discussing a certain stretch of chapters, we will be doing so with perspective of what happens in both books, that way we can really dig deeper into the theories and appreciate the masterful foreshadowing of Rebecca Yaros. So going forward, all episodes on our show will contain spoilers for the whole series being covered. Next. If you like what you hear 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 toddler podcast We would 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 West Twilight Pod. Yes, and Merry Christmas from your hosts You heard it straight from us And I hope everyone had a good holiday and they don't have to do too much until New Year's because that's always the best drinking the pod and drinking coffee and it's eight o'clock at night. So. Yeah, that's where I'm at. Is it 8 o'clock there? Jeez. I think. It's 7. It's 7 here. It's almost 8 o'clock. I'm drinking water. Cause if you can't tell, I'm a little congested. So, gotta stay hydrated. Alright, well, we're 26 days away from Onyx Storm. Fun fact, my birthday is. Before Onyx Storm comes out. Hell yeah. it's a big month. January's a big month. And it's my husband's birthday, so January's gonna be a Oh yay! It's a lot happening. His birthday is on release day, right? Yeah! And I'm also launching my podcast the day Onyx Storm releases it. I'm really setting myself up for failure. You got this. I'm literally not going to sleep that week. I had to do it on the 21st because 21 is my lucky number, so. There you go. Mmm. Because my birthday's on the 21st, so it's my wedding anniversary, so I got a good feeling about January 21st. May 21st? Yeah. Nice. Nice. All right, people. Time to cross the parapet. Kana's going to lead us across the parapet with her shadow and sunlight synopsis, aka her summary, detailing the events of these chapters. Yep, and we got another beefy one. It's ridiculously long, so buckle your seatbelts. Alright, the first chapter in this stretch opens up with Violet visiting her scribe buddy and ends with Jessenia becoming an accomplice to treason. After watching Sloane get her ass whipped and saving her with a classic Sorengale poison maneuver, our FMC tells Sloane she better start training if she wants the letters from her brother. Not that Imogen would ever admit. either of these things, but she gives Violet a compliment on her clever mind and their friendship continues to deepen. Later, a whistling Violet is in a darn good mood after a good book, relatable, and heads out to Samara, but wait, time for a search and escort by major pain in my ass bearish. Unfortunately, Violet doesn't even get to see her man on this little weekend trip. After getting some Imogen style relationship advice that we probably all needed, Violet undergoes a discussion and battle brief that is pointing to the rising crisis outside the wards. Literally having a meltdown and holding onto her power by a third. It's Zayden's turn for a weekend visit, and boy oh boy is he pissed when he finds out Violet recruited Jessenia as an accomplice and insists on going to intimidate her. After they get into a big fight about secrets, trust, revolution, blah blah blah blah just Say you love her and just I think Imogen's relationship advice may or may not be rubbing off on me. No longer able to postpone flight maneuvers, Violet is a ball of anxiety as Varys and Solas eagerly await torturing her. When Varys slides on over to do just that, Daddy Taryn does just what he said he would. Handle that shit. And the way I read this for the first time and jumped off the couch and was screaming, Yes, Tarn! Let's go! Man, this scene is very satisfying. And to emphasize his point that Varys is a puny human who does not have the power to summon even the smallest of dragons, he puts Solas in a chokehold and makes Varys not only apologize, but kneel before Violet. Sweet, sweet revenge. Later, Rhiannon walks Violet to the fight field and they have their own little bestie fight, lit by Rhi's anger at a distant Violet and the tempest of Violet's emotions. Guilt, frustration, loneliness, and the mounting pressure of saving the world from Venon. Right before our girl word vomits the truth, freaking Varys has to search her bag again. Bruh. In Samara, Violet and Zayden are forced to To kiss, since big sister Mira is also stationed there now, and they have to keep up their pretense of a relationship. Mira tries and fails to understand their relationship that's not a relationship, eventually giving up and the sisters go to throw daggers together and catch up about how deadly Bazgayeth is, specifically RSC, and eventually circle back to the Zayden talk and Violet not so casually brings up the topic of wards and, ooh, wyvern, to which Mia responds, bitch are you crazy? Get some sleep. When Zayden slides into bed later, they comfort each other instead of fight and Violet begins to ask him the right questions and also learns that our morally gray badass dragon riding MFC likes to weave knots. No one saw that coming. In Battle Brief, back at Bazgaia, the assassinations, the assassinations, the assassinations of the Ressen gang continue with the death of Mason, and we all fall a little bit more in love with Professor D'Vera. Dane tries to weasel himself back into a friendship with Violet at the sparring gym later, and Violet gives him the finger. Yes, bitch. Tragically, this man does not take no for an answer. Can I just comment on that? Yeah. On that whole sparring ring scene. I don't know, it just kind of gave me the ick. Because, how dare this man try to act like Zayden Ryerson and challenge Violet on the sparring ring to get close to her. It was so cringey. He's low key obsessed with Zayden did, and also Zayden was the wing leader, and he was trying and failing. He ended up looking like an asshole because he literally got mad and just spewed some stuff that could wreck her relationship because he wasn't getting in his way. We're not that surprised, but yeah. Okay, so this man doesn't take no for an answer and challenges Violet on the map. They clear up some of their issues. Violet reaffirming her boundaries and Dane spilling the tea. Lilith, bad mommy Sorengale, is the one who carved the 107 scars on Zayden's back. Rhiannon pulls rank to get answers out of Violet and investigator Mateus is getting dangerously close to figuring out the truth until Violet escapes yet again to take the princeling to the infirmary. Another shock makes its way on the pages. Aric knows about the Venon and that's exactly why he is here. Next chapter, Zayden and Violet are off on some revolution business, right up until she is nabbed for interrogation by Grady and Varysh. After taking away their weapons and sharing juicy secrets, Violet and the gang undergo torture. Varysh shows up with Dayne, who shockingly defends Violet and refuses to look in her memories. Alright, I'll give you two minutes. One cool point for that dude. Maybe, you know what, maybe a half a point, because after that whole situation with the sparring gym. With an assist from Nolan and unlocking Rune on Violet's Venon slaying dagger, they once again prove why they are the Iron Squad. Back in Battle Brief, the class gets a missive announcing the destruction of Zillia from Dragonfire. Why burn fire? Later, this is confirmed to be true, but of course Markham comes in and says it's an exercise in identifying propaganda. To distract everyone from this big frickin news. Guess who's back? Jack motherfuckin Barlow. And this isn't the last bombshell of the day. Samara was attacked by three drifts and one rider was severely wounded. Overcome by Terran's and her panic, Violet sprints out of class and heads to check on her man who isn't her man. After making sure her big sister's unharmed, Violet finds Zayden in the sparring room, completely recovered. He takes her into the gym's bathing chamber. Nyeh. That's all I've heard. To calm her down enough to get Taryn out of her head. Also, he wants to know whose fucking flight jacket she's wearing. Ha! This works to jolt Violet out of her panic and to straight rage at Zayden's jealousy after she basically just fucked her whole military career to check on her boyfriend, who's not her boyfriend. After a few lines that have both of your hosts drooling on the flow, we get our first spy scene of the book and it is a yummy, a me likey. And also me wish my husband was an intrinsic so he can anticipate everything I want and need in bed. But anyways. Several lightning strikes later, Violet accompanies Zayden on a supply drop to the Griffins. Protective and grumpy Daddy Taron insists Violet stay in her seat and she observes Zayden giving them a mouthful about the attack on Samara. And a particularly beautiful looking flyer is checking out Zayden, looking at him like he's a snack. Enter Kat, who Violet soon discovers is Zayden's ex that Bodhi mentioned earlier. Fighting jealousy, Violet gets some vital reminders from her badass dragon. Instead of questioning him about his ex, our girl wants to low down on Viscount Dacarys and the Luminary and update Zayden on the shit show of her life in college. Violet is heading back to Vazgayeth with another Venom Sling dagger and almost makes it to her room before Varys shows up. Thanks to Professor Kaori sticking up for his favorite student and her badass friend with summoning skills, she avoids getting caught for treason and getting all the marked ones killed. Reunited with her friends, Violet finally tells them the truth. And that's where this episode ends off. Summary wise. Woo! It's a beefy one. Now that we have crossed the parapet and we didn't fall to our deaths, it's time to head into our battle brief section. We will discuss a lot of things in this stretch of chapters, including foreshadowing, theories, and our favorite parts. Also, side note, sorry if my voice is annoying. I'm trying to get over this cold., We're going to talk about all the secrets that she's keeping and how they're affecting our relationships between the Wyvern, and the Venon, and Indarna, and her brother, and the revolution, Violet is full of secrets, and with secrets come lies. But, it is difficult for our main female character to lie, so she is avoiding all of her close friends and her squad to avoid secrets. but Rihanna is picking up on this and she demands answers as Kayla said earlier and like Zayden, sorry to compare you to Zayden and Violet, but this is kind of how you're acting. She isn't willing to reveal much, which leaves some pretty heavy tension between the two and they also have their first big fight. Fight. Intense. So, throughout the stretch, we really just see the strain that Violet Secrets are keeping all of her relationships. And yes, we know these aren't her secrets to tell, but I think she's kind of being a hypocrite in this stretch, just because, like, she's, her friends are her. Walking into unknown danger. They don't know what's going on. And the secrecy keeping can potentially affect whether they live or die. And yes, she could risk the movement and the revolution, but I think that she wouldn't be friends with these people if she thought. They weren't trustworthy enough to share these secrets with. I don't know. And I know that Zayden's given her a lot of pressure about lying to them and stuff like that, but she's not Zayden. I don't think that she should have to go about it the way he does. Cause they're different people. And that's why their relationship is hindering so much because he's not being truthful with her. So, yeah. Yeah. I'm glad that her lying to her friends or avoiding them didn't last all book. I was actually worried it was on my first read. Yeah. So I'm glad that. After this episode, the Iron Squad will all know. So I'm glad. Because it was really brutal reading through the fight between her and Riannon. Right. So the next piece of foreshadowing we're going to talk about is Zayden the Intrinsic. For the short amount of time that Violet keeps her little ward research a secret, we do get some key clues to Zayden's big reveal before the final battle in this book. And while our girl may not be a good liar, Zayden knows freakishly fast that she is hiding something from him. In her internal monologue she says, He knows, or he guesses that was fast. I'm like, maybe you read your mind later when Violet questions how he will be able to determine Jessenia's trustworthiness, he says this, quote, I'll know, I'm an incredible judge of character. yeah, dude, you probably are when you can basically read people's minds or their intentions. And speaking of Zayden, hmm, I got a bone to pick with you, my dude. And yes, you do. Later, I will be giving a dissertation on why you are the best in about 10 minutes when we get to our favorite moments, so right now, I'm pissed. Violet says internally that she draws the line at outright lying to him, but Zayden clearly doesn't. And this is, again, lies of omission, not telling his girl the full truth. And I got a serious problem with that. But on the bright side, in addition to being a regular sex god, he also knows exactly what Violet wants and needs. in that department. So there's a bonus to his, intrinsic abilities, but also I'm super pissed. Yeah. Huh. Say then. Okay. I don't really know what to say. I want to touch more on this in a second, but yeah. He gave me a headache. This book, that's all I'm going to say right now. I feel like it's going to be that non ex storm too. I think he's gonna be pushing her away because he's, vending and shit. So, the thing that pisses me off the most is the fact that he's so arrogant about it. He sees how his lying affects Violet and he like, Laughs it off I don't know. It's just it's kind of annoying that he's not taking her seriously. I know he has a certain tactic that he's going for but we could have avoided all this if you would just fess up bruh. I hate how he turns on her and he's like well just tell me you love me. Like you don't know this already. Yeah I know. First of all she's the one that said it You're gonna make her say it first again. Rude. Literally. And then she, nevermind, we'll get into it later. I'm getting ahead of myself. We can talk about this for a while. While we're on the topic of Zayden, let's discuss how he is secretly preparing Violet for what's to come later on in this book. So we all know that Zayden is very calculated and he's always ready for any outcome. And in Fourth Wing, Zayden pushes Violet to her limits to challenge her and prepare her for what was actually beyond the ward. Okay. And just like before, he's winning again by first giving her the book on weaving, which will come in handy later. And then, we learned that her daggers that were gifted to her, from Zayden are able to open doors with their rooms and they're just really cool. Nice daggers, Nick. They got a lot of stuff going on with them, with the runes. I want one of them daggers. All right, and this stretch of chapters also foreshadows to our next book on next storm. And it says, quote, you and I are not easy people. What we build together has to be strong enough to withstand a storm or award. Easy isn't going to give that to us. We know in this book and in RNA, so I'm there getting ready to face off a big war like they're about to fight a really big enemy and we know that they're the pretty dynamic duo. Everybody's been saying this for the past two books, how powerful they will be together. And, they're probably going to bring hell. Next book. But yeah, this is pretty heavy foreshadowing because we are preparing for a really big war and obviously the next book is called Onyx Storm and he's saying here that together they can withstand. Any storm, which is kind of cute, but yeah, I bet you, she knew the title of the third book was going to be when she put that quote in this book. I'm pretty sure she has an idea of what everything's going to be. I didn't realize how she described his eyes as onyx until onyx storm title was released. And then we're going back and rereading and I'm constantly seeing the word onyx. I did not realize this. My first read. Yeah. So in our next episode, one of the mini series is going to be us giving our thoughts and breaking down what could Onyx Storm mean. So tune in to episode 3 of Iron Flame to hear us talk about that a little bit more because I have a lot of thoughts. Our next bit of foreshadowing I'm going to talk about is how this great big lie that Navarre has perpetuated is slow. Well, not even slowly. It's rapidly unraveling. And by the end of book two, we know that all of Navarre will have to face that their military has been lying to them and that the world just might end like. Really fast. So we love that for Navarre. Not really. over the course of this book, Rebecca really lays out the foundation for this dramatic shift in plot. Cause we went from everything being as normal as it can be at Bazgayeth to the end of the book. Everything has changed. And it really makes it believable for both readers and those at Bazgayeth when they are faced with the truth. About halfway through when Violet goes and tells them all. Here's what's happening. So clue number one, Mira spots Wyvern right over the border at Samara and she remarks that it's a riot of dragons. And we know that this is not a riot of dragons, it's a riot of wyverns. And if they're patrolling this close to a Nevarrian outpost, this close to the wards, this speaks volumes in itself that they're gonna make a big move soon. Which is true clue. Number two, Violet learns via Zayden that Navarre kills those who try to cross the border. And then it happens actually all the time, which is really messed up. And this piece of information furthers our thought process from when Rihanna and brought a missive from her family to class that warns the Barian citizens basically never taken strangers. And a whole bunch of fear mongering bullshit. Clue number three, with Markham gone, Professor Devera actually takes an opportunity to drop some hints to the class in Battle Brief that relate to the costs of Nevar unifying so long ago. Quote, there is always a cost, that doesn't mean it's not worth it, but not being aware of the price we pay to live under the protection of the wards is how rebellions happen. So that's one quote, and then another I thought was important as well, quote, the question we must all ask ourselves as we enter services. Are our sacrifices worth it to keep the citizens of Navarre safe? No, they are not, but I do love when Markham wasn't there, she really took this opportunity to put some seeds of wisdom and get the wheels turning for a lot of the people at Bezgaioth. And to a group of kids that have a largely negative view of Tyrandor and the Rebellion, she's really trying to prime them for the truth. And this is effective because I think all of these clues and people picking up on this is what helps half of Asgaeth gather the courage to leave and go to Ereshia later. And the last clue that things are escalating outside the wars is that Zolia fell to Dragonfire. Wyvernfire. So basically anywhere outside Noir is fucked because there is now no place to train their key line of defense, which is the griffon flyers. So things are clearly escalating and I feel like the timeline makes sense and how she placed all these little info dumps and little hints. It makes sense from going to start of the book to end of the book and how drastic the shift is. Yes. The bear is the goat., i'm gonna actually save the ex girlfriend drama for favorite parts because it's not really foreshadowing So i'm gonna come back to that now we're going to discuss a little bit about Venom at best Gaia Question mark. Oh, interesting. So, from the Onyx Storm snippet, we know that the Venom were at the War College way before we know this, and I completely overlooked this part, completely overlooked this part, but we do get a quote dissection that kind of proves that theory. It's not really a theory, it proves that fact. So, quote, a scribe cadet walks by, but I can't see who it is with the hood up. That's odd. Usually they're only in the quadrant for death rows or whenever Markham needs extra people, end quote. So this is actually before the whole Jack Barlow makes his grand reappearance. So it could be possible that they were here for him or because of him. And I think the Jack was feeding bad Gaia, false hope while being mended in order to give in and within the border so they could attack ORs and I'm just assuming that Markum and Nolan knew that he was vent in at this point because didn't they say that that there was meant his soul or something? well, I guess people that know about the Veon probably know. There's a lot of gray area there. I do think that the people that were overheading the Jack Barlow project knew that he was the Benin. I just don't know if everyone else knew that he was Benin as well, or if they were just like, They're amending the soul of someone who died. I don't know. Yeah, well, yeah, how my thought process is going, like, of course, like Barish, he was over at Barish and Nolan and Markham, probably knew that he was Ven, and when every time they said they amended his soul, my thought process was they were trying to cure him or fix him. Because, you know, there is no care for me and Venon, so I think Nolan was trying to see if it was possible to mend their souls and take away all the dark magic. But yeah, that's kind of where my head was going. Watch out. Yup. They hear. And it's not even halfway through book two. Which is wild. Because what have they been doing? the rest of this book, or however long they've been sneaking in. What are they doing? What are they doing in there? Well, obviously, Jack was the inside man, and they were making him do all the dirty work while they tried to stay undetected because, he was the one that ended up, um, what is it? The work zone down. Yeah. And then two, they were probably snatching people one by one and we didn't even realize they were probably killing people and training people up their magic. Oh yeah. I bet the undercover Venons have been there for a while and that's probably how Jack Barlow learned about it. I'm guessing they recruited him. Like they recruited a lot of other people. Yeah. Possibly. Yeah. We'll see. So, while we're on the topic of JB. Not Justin Bieber, but Jack Bartlow. Welcome back to the party. Not really. So as we know, he was supposedly crushed by the tower that Violet struck with her lightning, but us assuming that he was already wielding dark magic, this is the reason he did not die and we also know that Rebecca said his name was never on the death row, which was another clue that he was not quite dead yet. What are your thoughts? Cane of Boo Boo. Um, I just think this is so interesting because also in the stretch when Jack Barlow reenters our story. So we were just like, how was there anything left to mend after he had an entire mountain crush him? And I think the only answer here is that his venon ness probably preserved his body enough to mend despite him being dead. And I'm assuming he's actually dead maybe that's just assumed because they say they're mending his soul. And I'm assuming he was dead for a certain length of time because Nolan, when he was mending him, he was working with an air wielder. So I think the air wheeler was getting his breathing back up and going, well, Nolan was mending his soul and his body. But this is really interesting because. If he was really dead, resurrection is possible and in one of the chapter headers It's specifically stated. It's not possible, which of course is just like it's foreshadowing, of course, and If resurrection is possible in this way, I also wonder who else might have been resurrected Brennan with Naomi, okay It's possible. But anyways, yeah, welcome back, JB. I hate you. We hate you. I literally hate you so much. Can you die already? For real this time. My question is, did Jack just randomly reappear? Or did they go hunt for his body? they just miss him so much, they're like, Let's bring Jack back to life, and they go look for his body. Or are they looking for his body to burn him and send him to Malik? Is that what they did? who was like, Let's go find Jack Braun's body under all this stuff? Debris. Colonel Atos. 100%. Well, I think that, cause Colonel Atos was heading over this project before Barish eventually comes in and takes over. And then also we know that there's Venon at Bazgayath that I think Father, Father Atos was actually working with. So I'm guessing that they all collectively knew that he was Venon and they were like, let's try to mend a soul. They probably phrased it that way to all the people that weren't venom colluding and they went and hunted down his body because I don't really think they would have if they weren't gonna do all this because they don't seem to care about how many kids die and whether they get burned and blah blah blah blah blah. Yeah. That was guy that's hardcore. Okay. So, our next foreshadowing segment is Revolving Venom, dragons, and of course, Marish. I want to talk about a quote that he said in the Stretch of Chapters that really had me thinking. And here it is, quote, Some of us do not bow to the whims of our dragons. In fact, we influence them. And, Okay. At this point, I am 99. 9 percent convinced that Varys is a Venon or Venon adjacent, likely a recruiter, as I have mentioned several times up to this point. And the other 0. 001 percent of me, if he's not a Venon, he is just the most sadistically evil motherfucker ever and has the motherfucking time to make everyone around him suffer and enjoys it. But anyways, all around the Varus talk, I think when he chose pushing burnout as a form of torture for Violet was to actually try to force her to pull from the source of magic and become Venon herself. I saw that theory on TikTok, I'm really sorry I don't remember who said it, but ever since then I was like, okay, that could be really true because I think we know that the Benin want Zayden and they want Violet to be able to control him. So him turning Violet into Benin would be the perfect tool to do that or explanation number two. It could have just been because he wanted her to accidentally die. But ever since I thought about this, I just. I can't say it another way. Anyways, we know from Taryn that the Empyrean is divided on what to do about this whole possible Venon end of world situation. And this quote from Varys goes against the grain of what we think we know, because up to this point, everything we've heard about dragons leads us to think that they will never side with the Venon and that they will never bow to the whims of humans and that they view humans as puny but crazier things have happened. Maybe some dragons know about the reality outside the wards and think it's inevitable that the Venon are going to take over. So I'm wondering if there's a split in the Empyrean that maybe some dragons are working with the Venon. That's true. I think Solas is working with Varys with the Venon. So, I don't know. We're gonna, I'm really curious to learn more about what the dragons exactly are thinking and why they're so divided, but I think it's definitely possible that some of the dragons are gonna be You know, going with the venom, because you never know. I find that very interesting, because Various is just a sneaky snake. I never thought about it that way. Yeah, That was a very interesting quote. He said that, Solas obviously heard it, and his dragon wasn't offended that he said that. Which is interesting. Well, that just means he has a weak dragon. Because Terran is not born for that. At all. Nah. Never. No. Alright, let's get into our theories! And I got some ones I'm really excited about, as per usual. I want to talk about the Isle Kingdoms. So in the Onyx Storm synopsis, it says Violet will have to travel to new places to forge alliances, which I am very, very, very, very convinced This is the Isle Kingdoms, which is a place on the map we haven't actually visited, we've just picked up tidbits of information here and there. and the Isle Kingdoms were key to helping defeat General Daremoor in the Great War. And I'm assuming this Daremoor dude was probably Venon? I think that's maybe safe to assume. So this kingdom probably actually has and knows more accurate history on what happened 600 years ago. So I'm assuming if Violet travels there, she will be able to access this. And while researching, Violet comes across a tome that goes into the Great War, the First Six, labeling the enemy as General Darmor and our allies as the Isle of Kingdoms. So Navar and the Isle of Kingdoms have worked together before to stop the Venon. And now, here is time for my unhinged part of this theory, sponsored by Glass Half Filled on Reddit. I think the Isle Kingdoms contain the hatching grounds of the seventh breed of dragon, so up to this point, we've learned where I think almost all of the hatching grounds for each breed of dragon are. And, I think they could be on the Isle Kingdom and I think it's very possible also that Andarna was left behind as the last of her kind as a fail safe for getting the wards up again. we know that the first six bonded dragons after the war, but maybe they were the first in Nevar, not everywhere. And maybe there are dragons, riders, slash wards in the Isle Kingdoms that will be able to assist in this war. And even more unhinged thought, maybe Zayden's mom will be there? Gonna throw it out. So we know that she fled after her political marriage requirements were filled and we have no clue where she is. And I've actually seen a theory as well, don't remember where it's from, I'm sorry, but there's a theory that she's royal lineage in the isle kingdoms and that Violet's gonna meet her when she travels there. So, I don't know. I'm pretty convinced that she's gonna go to the Isle of Kingdoms for sure. I love when you do theories because it feels like I'm listening to a podcast. Are we forgetting that you are the podcast? Because I don't really touch the theories too often, but yeah. That's my shit. I always wondered about, Nan's mom. Mm-hmm I am in agreeance with you on the aisle kingdoms because it's not anywhere that we've been, but we've heard about them in this book. And also, like you said, we've found out pretty much about all the Hatcher grounds minus where Adorna's from. Cause obviously nobody knows about Adorna, but her father. it's very, very suspicious, but like a lot of clues are pointing that way. we'll find out what happens. Yes, all right, we're going to talk about Zayden's family. So, the first thing we're going to talk about is siblings, question mark. So, when speaking to Mira, Violet has a thought about Xenon never understanding because quote, he doesn't have a sister. This is just the first and there is at least one other instance referring to the lack of siblings and Zayden's mother is also brought up in the stretch. Very pointed considering this is Rebecca Yarles we are talking about and both mentions seem at odds. Irrelevant times. Definitely Rebecca Yar's foreshadowing. Also, Bode could be Zayden's half sibling since they look so much alike and we know that his parents had a toxic political marriage. Anyways, we think this is very plausible theory and many people on Reddit have many opinions on if or how this would be revealed. Personally, we think if he does have a sibling it would be someone in the league with the Venom and the Venom seems to want Zayden more than Violet and want to keep Violet alive to control Zayden which only makes sense. if someone within the bidding ranks knows or is related to Zayden, yeah, I'm curious to see where that goes. I feel like his family's bound to pop up at some point, whether it's his mother or sibling or Bodhi's half sibling and he finds that out. I don't know. I just find it so funny how we know so much about everybody else and then Zayden is just this There's something, something in his past or in his family that's going to resurface that's going to explain why the Venon, why I'm so bad. And that never really bothered me. Before doing the podcast, not knowing all this never bothered me until now. Before I did the podcast, I was like, I mean, maybe we'll find out eventually, whatever. And now that I'm doing the podcast, I'm like, I cannot stop theorizing about literally everything this woman says. Yeah. All right. So our last theory, we have arrived at our first second segment theory. I have so many, we're going to dig into the theory that Violet Second Signet is that she is a truth sayer. And I've got to say this one probably isn't my top three guesses, but it has gotten a lot of attention. So I'm going to give it the spotlight. We know Signets reflect who the writer is at their core, and with the mind of a scribe, Violet desires knowledge and truth to keep her grounded. And this would make sense for her to be a truth sayer, but I'm not really that excited about it. Our first hint to the Signet is in the chapter header before her interrogation, which is obviously referencing Nora, who doesn't live very long, for us to get a glimpse of her Signet. Truth Slayers are described as more terrifying than an intrinsic, which makes me pause and think, why would she be saying all this stuff about Truth Slayers and making us be like, ooh, and then Nora's alive for a couple pages. If it's not Violet, it's going to be someone else, but this signet is definitely going to resurface again. The best proof on the pages is when the three Sorengales meet with Milgren and Lilith later on in this book, and Violet says, quote, he said exactly what he meant. Regarding Melgren, and she doesn't elaborate on how she knows he is or isn't lying, but kind of interesting. And then Andarna's bond is also mentioned in the scene as well, as Violet shields out everything but her and Terran's power. So I'm thinking maybe Andarna's power being on the pages could possibly prove that. Her second signet is being used in this conversation. And then also, since we're talking about proof on the pages, she seems to cipher through information and ask herself questions to get to the truth. And we know she is smart, but I feel like this could also denote to her being a truth sayer. Another piece of evidence is every time Violet discovers a secret or truth, she has a pretty significant physical reaction that causes her to like, hold up. Pause for a second. And a lot of these revelations, like realizing the Venom's plan at the end of this book, seem to come out of the blue and super suddenly. maybe that could be related to the Truth Sayers? We really don't know that much about them, but I'm assuming it's probably like Intensics, where not every Intensic is the same. And then another piece of proof. Yeah, that's a lot. Zayden has said he can't lie to her. if she asks the right question, she gets the right answers. And we know that, you know, he probably doesn't want to lie to her because that would really make her mad. But it's just the way he said it. He's like, he can't lie to her. Maybe that has something to do with her being a truth sayer and people physically cannot lie to her. And I do think her being a truth sayer would really level the playing field with Zayden being an intrinsic and maybe, maybe she could be the most powerful truth sayer to ever exist and maybe, maybe she could be able to see to the heart of everything even without a lie being told so she would be able to find truth without having someone say a truth or a lie. But I do want to say Devil's Advocate, considering we know Indarna is super special. I don't feel like the Sixth Signet would be particularly useful as the plot progresses, except for specific situations and leadership and obviously her uncovering the truth of certain things. I think Violet's will be something even more rare and will tie into how they're going to overcome the Venom. And like I said earlier, if it ain't Violet, it's someone else. And I'm going to bet that Arik will either be a distance wielder or a truth sayer, since these two signets have been mentioned on occasion and no one else has manifested them. So we'll be on the lookout for another truth there. And if it's Violet, I'll happily say I'm wrong, but I'll be like, dang, thought it would be something else. The more you talk about her being a truth sayer, the more convinced I am. Cause at first, when I was hearing all the truth sayer rumors, I was like, Hmm, okay. But this stretch really convinced me a little bit more because she is so caught up on the truth and the whole ordeal between her and Zayden is kind of convincing me even more, but. When I was doing all this research, I was slightly convincing myself more, but I still don't, I don't know. It's probably like number five on my list of what I think her second signal is gonna be, but I don't know. Crazier things have happened. I feel like it could be useful, because it's kind of similar to an intrinsic. Not quite the same, but it's kind of similar. So now we're going to talk about our favorite and notable moment Okay First I want to talk about The baby mama drama we get little glimpses. It's not even a baby mama. Baby mama drama. I don't know, maybe they had a turtle or a frog or something. Fish. Zayden having a fish? Zayden probably would feel very inconvenienced by a dog. I feel like if he had a pet it would be a fish. Yeah. Alright. Hot take of the day. Oddly, I love when Kat is introduced. Cause I am here for the ex girlfriend drama. I love it. And it might be just the toxicity in me, but I love the drama. I think that it's funny because I can't really even imagine Zayden being with anybody else. Seeing how he is with Violet, I never thought that anybody came before her until Bodhi was like, uh, I feel like Zayden is just so mean and the parts of him that Violet has seen, I can't imagine anybody else experiencing it and Kat didn't really experience that either. Like, she got maybe a crumb of what Violet is getting from Zaynin so, yeah, I like that. And then I love that you're here for the drama. I am. I was like, I hate you, can I get out of my get out of my pages. My next favorite part. I'm not going to talk too much on this because I know that you're going to talk about this is the interrogation scene. So on my first read I was like really anticipating her coming out with the truth to her friends And I feel like it was the exact same this time reading like this time around reading I was like, oh my gosh Hurry up and tell them already this is killing me and I was nervous all over again from the part of the truth and I just love like the whole how the whole scene of like the interrogation was set up and Them really having to trust each other and trust her even though she's holding a lot of secrets and everything. And we're not even gonna talk about Dane because that wasn't even a redemption for me. Like, yeah. All right. He did what was right. He was supposed to do that anyways. If he would've did that last year, we wouldn't be in this predicament. So. lastly, I want to talk about Zayden's ruthlessness. surprisingly, me being the sucker for romance that I am, I could really care less about her Zayden's redemption era. I am a hater of second chance romance. I hate that trope so much. this whole book kind of annoyed me, low key. Not talking bad about the book. I love the book, and it's just my personal preference I just hate second chance romance tropes. So aside from the actual drama between her and Zayden, I am just enjoying watching Zayden grow and prosper as a leader. I feel like it's really cool seeing him step into his father's footsteps and this scene with Serena and Kat just gave me chills. The amount of ultimate boredom he expressed while talking to them was hilarious. Like he was a total badass. It's just cool to see how hard he's worked for the movement and how he's not willing to risk his life and the lives of the Mark Ones or his girl Violet, for the Griffins, even though he is trying to help them. he's like, we're allies, but at the same time, I still have a revolution elite. You're not going to mess this up for me. If it comes between, My life and your life and our wards we're going to keep the wars in our lives and you could just die. Cause without me, you're nothing. You can't do anything without me. I'm helping you. Alright, my favorite moment, Riddick who can't even take interrogation and torture seriously. And I also found another thing me and Riddick have in common besides our stupidly amateur humor is that we despise snakes and we'll scream like a toddler if we see one. So yeah, me and Riddick are basically the same person. it cracked me up that this was the secret he shared for interrogation and everyone else's was Kind of personal. And he was like, yeah, I'll scream like a toddler. If I see, I'm like, all right, cool. And I want to thank him for the comic relief during this scene, because it was pretty brutal. I like McKenzie. I did enjoy seeing them have to trust each other and another chance where they proved why they are the iron squad, but it was pretty brutal to read through when they start torturing Violet and I think Riddick for the comic relief, but I wanted to highlight something he said that made me laugh and before they get started, he has a nerve to say. Quote, is now a good time to admit that I haven't done this portion of the reading? And his squad is like, dude, shut up, but I, I died laughing. So thank you. yeah, like I said earlier, I'm going to talk about how much I love Zayden, even though he pissed me off, but I'm basically forgot all about that once we got to the shower. He won me back with that smooth mouth and I'm not even mad anymore, Oh my gosh, there were so many lines to choose from before they do it in the shower. But here is my favorite quote. I'm just as reckless for you as you are for me. Holy fucking guacamole. Talk about matching her freak. Yeah. I also love in this scene too, not just Zayden, but I love that Violet made him risk his own heart and fight for her. Because that's a big point of my frustration with him, is that he's like, say those three words to her, and blah blah blah, and she's like, no, you do it. And, I love it. He did it. And he did other things too that were really hot. Anyways, let's move on. last here moment is Tarn and relationship advice. I have to have a moment for Tarn. Once again, everything this dragon said was noteworthy, but I really did appreciate the advice he gave to Violet after she met Catriona and was in her jealous little feelings. Quote, I'll remind you that not a single dragon chose her. You were selected by two. Pull yourself together, cease this line of thinking. It does not serve to make you stronger. Oh, I love it. I was torn on this being my favorite turn moment or when he makes bearish his little bitch. But I decided to go with this because honestly, it's wisdom that we could all use at one point or another. And not even just about being jealous. I just love this Dragon's Pep Talks for Violet because I feel like they all heal us a little bit in a way. He's like, Violet's father figure, but I also feel like he's the reader's father figure sometimes. And I just love the way he's written. And, uh, yeah, I'll stop there. Yeah, I forgot to talk about the whole very special thing. But that was also one of my favorite moments. Yes, very satisfying. I don't know, I love when Taron stands up for Violet. I love the fact that he feel like he doesn't have to. But in that moment it became dragon beef. And he already had beef with Solas. Right? Is that Solas? Yeah, he took his life. when I say Solas, I think of Quicksilver. The sword. So I was like, Is it solace? Yeah. So I didn't even put that together because they're spelled differently. the whole beef was kind of funny in him. Like, I know. I want to hear more apologize to their beef eventually on your knees. Alright folks, time to close out our brother brief and move on to the book of Justinian where we will dive into the mythology that inspired Iron Flame as well as doing a breakdown on everything we know about Fennin and her deadly abilities. Feel free to skip ahead to our mini series if you feel like you're already an expert. Okay, so for our mythology, we're diving back in and we're gonna go over some character name and surnames and the mythology behind it, because some of them actually have really cool meanings. Auric is a modern boy's name of Old Norse origin, that means ever ruler or ever powerful. This definitely fits with his royal lineage and his position of power, and this is also more evidence that dude is going to manifest a super powerful signet, at least to me. Brennan, of course I had to talk about Brennan. his name really doesn't mean that much, but let's talk about it just because I wanted to try and pronounce this. So Brennan has a Gaelic connection is derived from the Gaelic name. Oh, bring your name. Yeah. Oh, Brainin, Brainin, Brainin, Brainin, Brainin. Crying myself over right now. Anyways, in Gaelic it means drop or sorrow. So this isn't really related to Brennan, but I just thought it was kind of interesting. Alright. I mean, he did make his family feel sorrow. For a few years, six years. Well, there you go. There's that connection. All right. Dane Atos. So I looked up Dane's name and I had a good little laugh, so I wanted to share it with you and his name comes from many cultures, but Dane is the name of a dwarf in Norse mythology and I was like, Oh, little man, little name, little dwarf. Yep. But now that we've had our laugh time to be deadly serious. Cause I found Another interesting tidbit about his last name, Atos. In Greek mythology, Atos, meaning eagle, is an earthborn childhood companion of Zeus, king of the gods. And Atos, aka eagle, served as the origin of the eagle of Zeus. And this is actually the most prominent symbol of the god of thunder, which is very interesting because we know that Terianak's name means thunder, but Violet is a lightning wielder. And it's interesting because there's a connection to Zeus there, who was a lightning wielder, I guess. And it's interesting in this mythology that Atos slash Eagle was a childhood friend to Zeus and assisted him because. There's connections between Violet, her dragon, and Zeus, and she has a childhood friend named Dane, whose last name is Atos, who means eagle, who means bleh, yeah, you can see the parent roles here. I just thought that was really interesting, definitely found a connection. Nice. Not really. Cause it's Dane. The whole Dane, it's not so great, but cool connections. The surname Ryerson is an Americanized. Version of Dutch variant Ryon Ryerson means the son of Ryers, which is Ryder. And this is actually really cool because we know that Finn Ryerson was a writer as well, which is rare since not many leadership positions our writers due to the high death rate and amount of concentrated power Zayden Ryerson is the son of a writer. What? So Mira is a multicultural name that derives from many origins But notably means female ruler admirable and peace peace might not be the right association but she is a total girl boss. Yes, she is. Facts. Sloan. This name is from Irish origin. Hey, I have some Irish in my lineage on my dad's side. Apparently an Irish man named Mac moved to America and came to Fay County to start his family. That's where my family comes from. that's where my grandpa and my dad's name come from. Mac has been passed down in my family for a while. Anyways, sorry, I got chat tricked. the name Sloan is derived from Irish origin, from the clan name, of course. I gave you the worst word to pronounce because I'm evil. The name O'Slogan. Dead. S slain. SA dog. It's like slog. S slog, Yeah. It translates Slog had ha, that's how it's spelled. slog had ha slog, sain. Sane. We'll go that on. this word translates to raider or warrior Ding ding ding our girl's a badass or it's on her way to be one I feel like she'll have a big role in the plot since she is a very useful and powerful signet alright so our world building topic of the day is basically a breakdown on Venon and their abilities and I'm gonna do the whole thing because Kenzie's sick and her voice is dying. So you just rest that voice over there girl. Alright now that we are officially entering the part of the series featuring Venon as our main villain and the battle with them. Let's dive into everything we know at this point. So in terms of their backstory, we really don't know the full story yet, but we do know the folklore tale of three brothers, one of whom was so jealous he drew magic from the source, losing his soul and waging war on his other brothers. And according to this tale, channeling magic this way without the checks and balances of a magical creature Corrupts a person's soul beyond salvation. And Venna and Arbelain for the lack of life in the Barrens assumed to live there, but they've pretty much drained all the Barrens. And according to Violet's Dream, there is at least one sage that is centuries old, so these mofos can live forever. Basically forever, I'm assuming. In terms of powers and abilities, observed powers from the Venon include, but are not limited to, fire wielding, pain projection, gravity manipulation, shield creation, and general destruction disintegration. And also Teleporting slash winnowing, whatever we want to call it. Those are their observed powers abilities include, but again, are not limited to rapid fighting, adaptation, immunity to dragon fire, except in Darna's obviously, and previously we thought Vennon couldn't channel while within the wards, but thanks to Jack fucking Barlow, we know that it is possible to turn Vennon within the wards, channel within them, and also that it is possible for Venon to control their dragon and live if they die. Alright, now that we've learned how super terribly awesome and powerful these dudes are, let's talk about their weaknesses. Venon can be killed with the metal alloy forged into weapons and this alloy is made of an amalgamation of talidium, various ores, and dragon eggshells. And this is, again, what powers the warts. They can also be killed by pure power in the form of lightning, and they can be contained with runes and a serum at Bezgayeth that blocks them from channeling from the source. Venon also have a hierarchy, ranked based on their age and experience being evil dudes. Initiate, this is the lowest level of Venon, and also Zayden's Venon ranking in Onyx Storm. Their eyes have red rims around them, depending on how often they are channeling. Asim is the next rank, and their eyes fluctuate in varying degrees of red and the veins dis descend. When riled sages are responsible for the initiates, basically they're little teachers with permanently red eyes and veins that spiderweb toward their temples and expand with h. Mavens are the equivalent to generals and we know that they are very, very, very powerful considering Zayden himself. Who is basically Supreme Badass, can't defeat one in Iron Flame without becoming Benin himself. And we also know that a Maven has never been captured or studied at this point, so we really don't know that much about them, but I'm predicting maybe we're going to face off against a Maven in Onyx Storm. And we'll learn more about them. Hopefully. Beautiful. Beautiful. All right, moving on. Time to head to the flight field where every week can and I will do two to three miniseries unique to our podcast. It won't be the same every week. So keep tuning in for all the fun. This week we're going to do, a discussion on the Onyx Storm synopsis, and then we're going to do Karsian's Best Guide? Yeah. So I'll do a little refresher and read the Onyx Storm synopsis so that it's fresh in everyone's brains as we get into our discussion about it, and you guys can maybe theorize with us. So here it is! After nearly 18 months at Bazgayath War College, Violet Sorengale knows there's no more time for lessons, no more time for uncertainty, because the battle has truly begun. And with enemies closing in from outside their walls and within their ranks, it's impossible to know who to trust. Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, Luck and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves, her dragons, her family, her home, and him. Even if it means keeping a secret so big it could destroy everything. They need an army, they need power, they need magic, and they need the one thing only Violet can find, the truth. But a storm is coming and not everyone can survive its wrath. Ooh, backdrop. Okay, I did keep my thoughts on this very brief. So, It's okay, I got a lot of thoughts. Yeah, I saw that and I also didn't want to talk too much. My initial thoughts were maybe the synopsis, since we were talking about the truth sayer earlier, was maybe she is a truth sayer, because this book is literally all about saving Zayden and finding out the truth. And then I also think that. Somebody's probably gonna die this book like I could just feel it cuz I don't think anybody really major died in I inflame so I feel like somebody well, I'll wait her mom died Yeah, let's say yeah, I feel like somebody's gonna die and I feel like she's compromising a lot To save Zayden. She's actually compromised a lot for Zayden. All three books. So, somebody's definitely gonna get hurt in the process. And then, second chance romance again. Not too fond about it, but I mean, I'm here for it. It's in a different context as far as it being been in. So, cool. But really, I'm just curious. I really don't have any concrete thoughts on it because my head is in so many different places. But I'm just kind of curious to see how it all unfolds and I'm excited for the adventure. I definitely someone's going to die again, especially with that last line, not everyone's going to survive it. I'm like, ah, shit, that doesn't sound good, Rebecca. But anyways, okay, so I want to get into my thoughts about it. And it smells like I'm going to be right about a Benin conspiracy within Bezgeith military ranks. And we get a mention of that. It says within their ranks in the synopsis. So that's basically a confirmation. And since it will be impossible to know who to trust with so many enemies within their ranks, I definitely think some military will reveal themselves to be Venon or at least in league with the Venon or Slash J Venon recruiter. I already got my theory about the Isle Kingdoms, but I definitely think that she is going to journey there in book three and we get to see an entire new island, lots of new characters, and maybe the seventh breed hatching grounds. I'm also curious on this little journey that Violet's going to take. Is she going alone? Is she going with Zayden? I don't know. I'm curious to see. Or if she's just going to go alone and meet a ton of new people. That would be interesting. But I hope the Iron Squad goes with her because I just love them all together. Anyways, you cannot convince me that Violet finding the quote unquote truth isn't her going to finally get her fucking father's feathertail research. Since she is supposedly the only one that can find it and in the Onyx Arms synopsis she's the only one that can find the truth. Okay, I think we all know what's happening here. But, I guess we'll see. And last thought is, is she keeping Zayden's Benin identity a secret? Because Bazgayeth and or the revolution would turn on him if they knew? And is that the big secret that could cost everything that the synopsis is referring to? I have a lot of questions here and I definitely think either way it shakes out it's going to be a hot freaking mess. But anyways, please, please, Violet, I am begging you, do not lie to your super awesome friends. Even about Zayden being abandoned because clearly they are ride or dies. So I really hope we don't have to go through a whole situation where she has to lie and avoid them. But I don't think she would make that mistake again. But also, I don't know. That is the only thing I'm like really hoping for in the next book is that we don't get a whole nother second chance romance ordeal here. We're trying to figure their way out again. And also her and the whole situation with her friends. It's very close to being a repeat of book two, but obviously the context is different. It's a little bit deeper. We're preparing for war, but I'm kind of scared because I'm like, don't put me through this whirlwind of emotions again. You're killing me, bro. I cannot handle it. It would just feel too repetitive, I think. So I'm really hoping that doesn't happen. Yeah. All right. We're gonna do Cards Against Baz Gayath. we did this in our fourth wing coverage and basically, if you missed that, I made a whole Cards Against Humanity, but it's fourth wing edition. And I made all the answers and cards myself. They're super inappropriate and also super funny. So enjoy. All right. Our first Black card or what is it called premise card? Yeah. All right. Our first card is the question, what will always get you laid? I'm just going to draw five and Kenzie's going to let me know what she thinks is the funniest. And then listeners, you can also comment, let us know which one you thought was the funniest, or if you have a better answer, let us know that as well. Cause we love to laugh over here. All right. What will always get you laid? Violet, Lightning, Mildred, Sorengale. I mean. I love how you cough every time you laugh because this is like the first game. Oh my god. I'm scared. what will always get you laid? A tramp stamp dragon relic. She's gonna be a whole lot of coughing, but she's really laughing. My laugh has really been substituted for a cough, y'all. I've had this, whatever this is, for a week now. It's annoying. You're doing great, sweetie. Thank you. Alright, what will always get you laid? Solving problems with violence. Yes. Accurate. Taryn's grumpy dad energy. I think that would be the opposite. It's protectiveness. Maybe? It's unclear. Okay, what will always get you laid? Griffin writers. which one was your fave? The tramp stamp. That was obviously the best one. Tramp stamp. Alright, the next card. Zayden's next tattoo features blank. This one should be interesting. Zayden's next tattoo features my inner demons. I'm like, are you laughing or do you just really gotta cough? I've been like, I'm trying to hold it in. All right, Zayden's next tattoo features sexual tension. Well, we know how much he loves that. Yeah. Ooh. Ooh. Zayden's next tattoo features becoming a venom. Damn. Yeah, that one hits hard. That one's not wrong. All right, Zayden's next tattoo features Vice Commandant Varish's microcog. That's a nice tattoo. Very small tattoo. Anyways, okay. Very small. Zayden's next tattoo features fan art of Zayden. So, basically a self portrait. I gotta go with microcog. Yes, that's the one I was gonna pick too. Hell yeah, we think alike! Alright, last card. My therapist knows too much about blank. Hmm. Hmm. Oh! My therapist knows too much about a mating display. My therapist knows too much about strong female characters. That one's pretty hard, I'm not gonna lie. You can never know too much. Uh, oh! I can't even control myself when I read the card. My therapist knows too much about Zayden's balls slapping against my thighs. Whoa! I was not expecting that. Okay. I actually got that from, um, When we played Cards Against Prithian, which is the Akatar version of this game, and there's a card that was like Cassian's Balls slapping you in the face. And I was like, I just gotta put that one in here. But yeah, yeah, yeah, Oh my god. My therapist knows too much about dripping silent tears into my scrambled eggs. Damn. Oh my god. I'm cracking myself up with these cards that I wrote. My therapist knows too much about finally getting a dragon and its name being Robert. Whose dragon name is Robert? I just made it up. Oh, okay. I'm Robert. What's up? Or some dumb name like Robertthonium and they call me Robert They call him Rob Rob, what's up Rob? All right, which one's your fave? Zayden's Balls. Balls. Of course it means balls, you little slut. All right, well, that's our mini series today. I hope you guys enjoy. We'll probably do cards against Bezgayath when we cover Onyx Storm because there's a lot of material in there. I have two full decks of cards and they're all crazy. But yeah. Nice. Okay. Before we close out today's episode, it is time to spar. So each week, Kenzie and I will give each other and our listeners two trivia questions. And at the end of our fourth wing coverage, we will tally up who has the most points between hosts. Loser has to do something embarrassing or funny that the winner or you guys fans come up with. So we would love to hear your feedback, ideas, participation in this section, and let us know if you get the trivia questions right. Ready brah? Yep, brah. Okay. Here we go. How many? Griffins, complete adrift. Seven? Yeah. Really? Yeah. I just guessed. Fuck. That was literally the first number that came to my brain. I was like, well I was number seven in college when I played volleyball, so I'm just gonna go with that number. Cause 21 is too high and that's my lucky number, so seven is my second luckiest number in all my college. Ugh. Alright, what is the Griffin Flyer School in Zulia formally called? The school of griffin flyers It's called cliff spain academy. Yep. I read that did not retain that at all Okay name at least two out of the three patches they were on bodies flight leathers Section leader. Okay. Fourth wing. Okay. You want to try to guess the last one? Yeah. Is it his signet? Cause I don't remember what his signet is right now. I'm blanking. No, I don't even remember what his signet is either. I mean, you already got the point. It's his third year rank. Okay, sorry. That was a great question. That was a very solid question. It was just smart. Yeah, I mean, you should've had me name all three. I would've fucked it up. What What line do the green dragons descend from? The fuck? I don't even know how to pronounce half those words. I'm coming for you. They talk about this the stretch. Mm hmm. It starts with a C. I'll give you a hint ends in an E Um, come dumb I'll give you a half point. Close enough Well, I'm going to give you a half point because the gibberish was close enough, And that was just a really mean question and I don't know how to pronounce it either. It's like the Kruidhwain line. Oh, nice. Yeah, you got close enough. Alright, so our current score is I have four points and Kenzie has two and a half. Stay tuned. It's gonna get interesting. Alright, well that's a wrap folks. Thank you so much for tuning in to our coverage of Iron Flame by Rebecca Yaros. We cannot wait to cover Onyx Storm with you guys so soon. It's a month away. Join us next Thursday as we continue Iron Flame where we will be covering chapters 30 through 44 pages 272 through 430 for your reread or to refresh your memory. it means the world to both of us to hear feedback from you guys, our wonderful listeners. So please take the time, 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 just talk about books because that's our favorite topic and we could talk about it all day. And make sure to subscribe. Subscribe on YouTube and all major podcast platforms for a freshly baked episode to be delivered to you directly next week. Bye friends. See you next week. Also, sorry about my voice, I know it's annoying. Let's just give a hand clap for Mackenzie because she really powered through this episode. But yes, Merry fucking Christmas and bye friends, we'll see you next week. We did it!