Iron Flame | Sorrengail Sibling Smackdown

Welcome wonderful listeners to Episode 19 of the Shadow and Starlight Podcast | Sorrengail Sibling Smackdown! In this beefy stretch of chapters, we will discuss torture, PDA, sibling drama, and piping hot love triangle tea. 

• For next week, please read chapters 45-58 | pages 431-551 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 wherever you get your podcasts!
• Email: shadowandstarlightpod@gmail.com

Transcript

0:24

Welcome. Wonderful listeners to the Shadow and Starlight podcast. We're two friends deep dive into popular fantasy and romanticy books. We get into the stories, characters, world building lore, and so much more. So book 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 30 through 44 of Iron Flame by Rebecca Yaros. First and foremost, please listen carefully to our content warning. These are adult books we talk about 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, check out the link in the description. Please come back after you do so. 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, dig deeper into the theories, and really appreciate the masterful foreshadowing of Rebekah Yaros. So going forward, all episodes on our show will contain spoilers for the whole series in question. 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 new episode, as a taller podcast, we would love to hear your feedback to better ourselves and expand our book loving community. Please feel free to give us a views, reach out to social media and follow us on Tik TOK, Instagram, and watch us on YouTube. Yeah. All right. This is our first episode of 2025. So happy new year. Okay. So update on Kenzie's fourth wing trial by trivia punishment. she's been sick and also she has a big girl job now, so we cut her some slack, but she's working on it. And by the time this episode airs, it should be on our social media. So go check it out. I actually had her and her boyfriend. Oh, sorry, her fiance, cause someone got engaged on Christmas. Woo, woo, woo, woo. She going to be a wife, wife, wife, wife. Okay. But anyways, she and her fiance are going to do the Sprite challenge because why not? That's the best one I could come up with. uh, drink of the pot. I'm just drinking water because I'm severely dehydrated. Same. Cause as Kana said, I'm sick and I'm trying to keep fluids in my body. This is the longest straw I've ever seen. Well, okay, so And I've seen a lot of long things. So, I don't have a straw to fit this cup. So this is a straw that goes to one of my 40 ounces. I can tell. Alright, Onyx Storm countdown! We are 19 days away and we are officially in January, the month of the release. Holy shit, this is crazy! Okay, yeah, I'm a little excited. But, yeah, let us know, message us, or comment, let us know your plans for when Onyx Storm comes out. If you're gonna lock yourself away and binge it, or tell us how you will be reading it. And then, review of our January schedule. So, on Episode 4 and 5 of Iron Flame is going to be releasing January 9th and January 16th. Our Onyx Storm Predictions and Second Signet Discussion episode is going to be releasing January 17th and the Onyx Storm Reactions episode is going to be releasing January 27th. So we are just going to smash this book in a few days and we'll have a reaction episode up for you guys within the week and we'll have a spoiler section and a non spoiler section. And then our very first Onyx Storm Deep Dive will release January 30th and there will be Four to five more episodes after that, depending on how beefy the book is and how much shit happens in it. So we might even do more than five. We'll see. So I actually saw on TikTok, Rebecca Yarls posted the books on her shelf. People were pointing out how Onyx Storm is smaller than Iron Flame. Everybody was like, bruh. I didn't see that, but I'm wondering if the print is smaller, maybe. I saw on Rebecca Yaros Instagram today, she's on a family vacation and her niece was reading Onyx Storm and she was doing a video of her niece and her niece was like, Oh my god or said something like that and I was like, what are you reading? What is happening? I want to know I'm, so jealous Have you already pre ordered the book yet? No, my plan is to go to a midnight release party at some bookstore and snatch it Yes, i'm assuming that's gonna work out because i've seen a lot of people that pre ordered that their delivery day changed Uh, yeah a day or so after and i'm like i'm not gonna risk that i'll probably Only thing is So it comes out on a Tuesday, which most books release on Tuesdays. so I have to work the next day, I have to work on Tuesday. And I was going to use my time, you know the plan, you know the plan I was going to use. But I don't have any time at work because I had to take off, sick, because my trainer got me sick and I'm still going through it. So thanks to her, I don't have time. You're not going to get any sleep that way. So, I'm going to have to go as soon as I get off of work. Hopefully they have some left. If not, I could just buy it on Kindle, honestly, I'm not tripping. That's true. You could just do that. That's the worst case scenario if I somehow can't get it at some point. Yeah. It's not over guys. I'm gonna, I'm going to get my hands on that book. I actually might just get it on my Kindle, because I read faster on my Kindle. I wanted to get the special edition, but I'm stupid. You have no special editions for me. Got a wedding to play for now. I'm excited, I'm like, oh my gosh, this sounds expensive. To kick off our episode, Katelyn is going to lead us across the parapet as she takes us through her Shadow and Starlight synopsis, aka her unhinged summary details of the events of these chapters.

Kaina G: 5:55

Shocker! Violet's super awesome friends don't turn her in for treason. Instead, ready to be little accomplices to the ward research side quest. They're not even a little mad. Who could have predicted that? Zayden and Violet are intentionally kept apart, and it's October 1st. Happy threshing. Aric and Sloane bond some fierce dragons, and afterwards, Violet narrowly escapes another assassination attempt, thanks to JB. I wish it was Justin Bieber, but unfortunately it's Jack fucking Barlow. That weekend, Zayden somehow manages to keep his cool, While learning about all the people Violet told their deepest, darkest secrets to in their archives heist with the princeling. speaking of which, Zayden actually killed Ark's brother during a past threshing. With that particular beef on the back burner, it's time for a heist with a secret entrance, limited time, and deadly consequences. Tugging Violet in with him to help, the princeling frantically searches for Lyra O Wars diaries down to the wire and panicking. They locate the journals and squeeze out of the archives. In the nick of time, everyone splits according to the plan and a giddy violet begins to feel hope That is until Nolan drugs her and major pain in my ass. Bearish takes her to interrogation. Waking up in the brig, Violet quickly remembers just how royally fucked she is. Knowing how many lives are at stake, she carefully reveals selective truths, but cannot avoid the torture coming. Days later, our girl is down real bad. A mess of blood and brokenness, Violet has not uttered a word, clinging to hallucinations of Liam, and the satisfaction that Taryn is undoubtedly hunting Solas. Barely conscious, Violet still jolts in shock hearing Dane's voice. This time, he does listen to Varys's poison and cups Violet's face one last time. We hope. Using her brilliance as a last line of defense, she shoves a rest in flashback to the forefront of her memory. After reporting the weapon smuggling, Dane asks to see a Venom slaying And then, holy fucking guacamole, Dane stabs Varys. What? The first time I read this, I had to go back and reread this whole chapter to process what the fuck was happening because it was so outrageously unexpected to me. But anyways, I guess Dane is getting a head start on that redemption arc. As they make their way out, the first truth sayer in our story gets her throat slit by a wrath filled Zayden After finishing off Varys and hearing Zayden finally say those three little words, Violet and gang run right into Mama Sorengale, who is shockingly on the good side. After filling her daughter in on Zayden's obligation to keep her safe and reminding her that Sorengills are never carried, Lilith disappears. Determined to be better than Navarre, formation is called and all cadets are told the truth, leaving with half the quadrant and professors who passed the vibe check, they head for erasure. Violet, a limp noodle in the saddle, and we have reached part two of Iron Flame. On the flip side of the insane rollercoaster that is chapters 35 and 36, we are treated to some oration spice and after our two lovebirds head to the council to figure out what to do with the hundreds of new revolution members and yay! The sassy teen dragon we all know and love is awake and ready to test the limits of Taryn's patience. Back in the full swing of classes. Violet continues to try translating a journal, Terran parents, and then Darna sees how many sheep she can stuff in her ma and everyone gets an update on the war on both fronts. They are interrupted by a ride of dragons approaching Mira in the lead. After a confirmation that Zayden is the one that gave them directions, the sisters have a tender moment. And then, big sister finds out big brother hasn't really been dead for six years. A bam! Punch first, ask questions later. Yes, Mira. Honestly, Violet should have done that too. While Brennan gets some ice on that nose, Mira interrogates him in her personal style until the long lost siblings bond over how disgusting Violet and Zayden making out is. Violet pauses climbing her man like a tree to let them know she has figured out how to raise the wards. After trying and failing, Violet grapples with what to do next. Zayden still refuses to take her to Tkaris, but she's got siblings who just might say yes. Next chapter, Violet comes to the difficult realization that she basically knows nothing about her power and that Professor Carr is an idiot. Well, we knew that already. It turns out she can wield lightning from her hands with a bit of practice. The first task is control and Felix gives her a condiment in the meantime. Hours later, the Sorengale trio pulls up to Corden to broker for a luminary, to find a rather unhappy Zayden waiting for them. In a short amount of time, Violet puts together that the reason Zayden is oh so familiar with this estate is because Cat is the niece of Takaris, and he had a room here. After giving Zayden a piece of her mind and telling him he's acting like Dane, True. Violet dresses for evening dinner. After failing at defending against Cat's mind work, she and Zayden have yet another public display of affection. When it's time for a lightning display, Violet is horrified that she will have to aim at a chest, and then double horrified when a dark wielder bursts out of said chest. The next chapter details a super epic fight scene with the Sorengale siblings working in tandem and Mira expanding the limits of her wardweaving ability and Violet again displaying her quick thinking. After talking Zayden down for murder, time to negotiate. After agreeing to take a hundred flier cadets with them, Tyrandor has secured a luminary. Unfortunately, Brennan wants cadets and fliers. To hike the cliffs of Dreylor, team bonding, or something like that. While some headway is made between Maren and Violet, it is pretty much a shit show spurred by years of hatred and killing and made even worse by Wyvern and traps. Great fucking idea, Brennan, you idiot. One casualty and forted Wyvern later, the descent into Tyrandor begins. And that's where this crazy stretch ends. Now that we've crossed the parapet, time to head into our battle brief section, where we will discuss all of the things in this chapter, including foreshadowing theories and our favorite parts. Yeah. All right. First foreshadowing we're going to talk about is this weird ass JB behavior. Now that Justice Beaver is back. I'm sorry, Jack Barlow. It is time to talk about his whack ass behavior, the stretch of chapters. So we've talked about this previously, but Jack was essentially resurrected by Nolan in an air wielder. And that prompts a big question. Did he meet Malick? This is referenced two different times. First, when someone from the inner circle contemplates, quote, It's like he met Malick and decided to come back a decent guy. The second was from Jack himself after saving Violet's life, quote, Death was kind of a second chance for me. You don't know who you really are until you face down Malick. So I don't really know if he met Malick, but I think it's a possibility. But I do think his weird ass behavior is him trying to gain everyone's trust back, particularly Violet, so that he can succeed later on in the book and his Venon plans of taking down the Wardstone. It doesn't really serve him to draw attention to himself by being a total asshole again when he's on a secret Venon mission this time around, so that's why he's not acting like a total dick, or at least that's why I think so. And in terms of his behavior towards Violet, I think he was maybe let in on the fact that the Venon want Zayden slash Violet, And he wants to gain her trust for his own gain later on. That's the only reason I can think of for saving her life. And he may not know the details of why the Venom want our main characters, but we do know he's ambitious and probably wants to move up in the Venom ranks. So that's the only explanation I got. I do think that it's a part of his big evil scheme because I feel like if he drew too much attention, and so like you said, it's not really Well, it is in his nature, but lucky cause he wants to be the biggest, baddest, but it, I feel like he drew too much attention to himself or too much bad attention and people be like, what? I'm pretty sure somebody knows that he has been in somebody in leadership though. And they're trusting him to fix him. Do you think he actually met Malik when he died? I don't know. I'm like, hmm. I don't think that's the reason for his behavior, but I think he may have. I don't know. I'm going to say yes only because Violet was the one who killed him. Because she was giving Malik a soul for saving. Liam's life. But then his soul came back. So is that why Liam died? Maybe., alright, this next section of foreshadowing is called, Excuse me, Brennan?, Anyways, let's get into it. More Brennan suspicion. While the Iron Squad is discussing Brennan's name change, there is this little info drop that caught my attention. Quote, I like his name, it's tierced for resurrected. That's something Violet says. What? What? Okay, this is too many coincidences for me. Let's break it down. We know that Jack Barlow is basically resurrected from the dead, so it is possible. And his new name, Aeserai Brennans, means resurrected, and his dragon's name, Marb, means dead or corpse in Scottish Gaelic. What? That's just so much evidence right there. And the biggest mystery is what happened six years ago with Naylin. I'm getting pretty comfortable in assuming that Brennan did die and Naylin became Benin to resurrect him, or something like that. And maybe that explains the rune scar on his palm. But all those names, speaking about dead and resurrected, crazy. Can you yeah. I did find that interesting that his new name means resurrected. I think it was on purpose. Obviously he gave himself that name because he is resurrected, but yeah, I definitely think it was intentional. Next we're going to talk about Zayden and Lilith's deal. So we've talked about this quite a bit on the show, but we hear it from Mama Sorigan herself on why she forced her daughter into the Rodgers project. And we know that she forced Violet into the Quadrant to give her a shot at surviving because she knew that Violet's merciful traits would cost her life in the Squad Cropped Quadrant. Why? Because they learned about Benidorm Wyvern and she was going to find that out eventually and find out that they were lying about all the history for 400 years and they were Leaving stuff out and getting rid of stuff and she probably would have just exposed it all to the whole continent and they probably Killed her for it. So just like Papa swine girl, but anyways, she called in her favor from Zayden He owed her in return for allowing the mark ones to join the writers quote You were that favor if you survive parapet on your own All he had to do was see that no one killed you outside of challenges or your own naivety Na na naivety. Nai vity. Naiv It's one of those I don't know how to say that either. It's one of those but yeah, recently we were debating on if mama's work, I actually cared about her children and love her children. And I think that she has a weird way of swore her love. But I think that this kind of shows that she actually cared because she didn't want violence end up dying because she knew who about what violet was at her core, that she wouldn't be able to stand wise that a bar was telling all like all the innocent people and the people that were dying beyond the wards. So. Not only did she potentially make Violet tougher by making her join the Riders Quadrant and have her prove to everyone else and to herself that she isn't as weak as she and everybody thinks she is, but she also secured her survival through Zayden in the Quadrant, which she absolutely knew this. It was no dying with Zayden. But Zayden there was no, she wasn't dying. Next we're gonna talk about Liam's subconscious visit and for the first time since Liam dies we get a little snippet of our buddy he's back kind of in the conscious, in the conscious. So this is in the scene where Violet is getting interrogated and she's going through all this pain she's feeling all these things. different things in the midst of all that she's getting a sense of comfort from subconsciously i'm here who's kind of holding her through it holding her hand through the whole thing and like pushing her to survive and this was really cool and really sweet and this is the first time that this happens right he comes back Eventually, like in the, in the subconscious or is this the only time that happens? I think it's the only time it happened, but not to say it couldn't happen again. But also I hope it doesn't because I don't want her to be that down bad again. Yeah. Alright. Our next foreshadowing topic is Andarna, cause girl is awake from her coma, so we gotta talk about her. At this point in Iron Flame, we're getting major hints toward exactly who she is, her heritage, and just interesting characters slash dragon developments. She has been in the dreamless sleep longer than any other adolescent and is a rather curious reflective color and has a bad wing. So I'm guessing her extra long coma is likely from how much energy she expended at resson but I also wonder could this be a seventh breed of dragon type thing where they are in the dreamless sleep longer. Aside from these things, Taryn let Violet know that Indarna will, quote, fly, but she'll never bear a rider. My heart broke when I read that. Especially because Indarna herself has not recognized it, and they had to shield her out of the conversation. I was like, oh my gosh. And, of course, Violet wants to take the blame for this, which makes me feel even worse about everything, I don't really think that this is the case. I can totally see a future epic moment where Andarna needs to carry Violet for her or them to survive and she will find the strength to do it and I think it will be really cool. Or maybe Violet's second signet will allow her to ride Andarna. Or Violet might be a dragon shifter so she don't need no ride. Maybe? Maybe, maybe, who knows? That would be cool.. So now we're going to talk about Taron and Kota's maybe beef in the future. And we get a little bit foreshadowing in this stretch. Because when Aric asks if Taron can take Kota, which is General Milgen's dragon, something interesting happens. So quote, I don't even want to read this. The answer to that question and Taryn is suspicious, suspiciously quiet. End quote. So how do we take this? Maybe this is like Terrence Pratt like him being quiet because he doesn't want to like boast and be like, oh, yeah I can take them and I think this is definitely some prideful act from Taron, for sure. Cause he's not like, oh yeah, I can take him, but he's also not like, no, I can't take him. So I think, it'll be a very interesting fight. Cause that's a good matchup compared to all the other dragons that he threatens in this book. Yeah, I'm wondering if they ever do fight, does that mean that General Mergen slash Koda are like Venon adjacent or Venon? That's the only reason I can picture them actually having a big fight unless there's some other thing that prompts them to do it. But that I don't know that would definitely be an interesting matchup. I'd be scared that terrible. Yeah Well, also like the Empyrean is split. So I don't know Dragon be yeah so this next section is very brief. I just want to highlight some of the signets that are evolving throughout the books, because obviously they started channeling a long time ago, but some of them are getting a lot stronger and I want to highlight how. These signets could be very beneficial in war. So first, Quinn and her astral projection, She actually now can project as another person, Or another object thing, Or whatever, an animal or something like that. So she actually low key kind of shapeshifts, And then projects herself into a different place, which is actually really cool. And then Bodhi is able to counter Signets, which is actually kind of badass. I love how all the Mark Ones got these crazy Signets that literally could destroy everybody. I know. I'm curious to see if Bodhi's able, I don't think he will be, but able to counter Venon abilities. I don't know. I wonder if he's able to even counter, Griffin abilities. I don't know. Because, yeah, I feel like Griffin abilities are low key like Cygnus. They channeled their magic from the Griffins. They are basically, they're just mind work signals. But um, and then obviously Zayden and his intrinsic abilities, bro, I don't know how I did not. Like going back, okay, this is off topic, but going back and rereading this book, I don't know how we didn't realize that he had intrinsic abilities, like, it's just all over the place, all over the place. It's everywhere, literally everywhere. I don't think many people did, to be honest. It's very suspicious. Oh, and Sloane being a siphoner, as long as she lives, I'm assuming. Alright, theory time, my favorite time, let's get into it. So my first one is actually about Liam and Violet's connection to Malik. And several times, we've hinted toward Violet's possible connection to Malik. She might be a ward of Malik, or something about her allows her to communicate with him whether she knows it or not, and to risk offending him without consequence. While there are many differing opinions on Liam being present during the interrogation, I actually think that this could be further proof of her connection to Malik. Liam says to her, quote, maybe Malik sent me as a kindness. And I think if Liam was a figment of her imagination, it makes more logical sense for him to be agreeing with her internal monologue. But instead, he is rigidly convincing her that Zayden is coming and to hold the line until then, when she keeps repeating, like, he's not gonna come for me. There's too much at stake. Zayden's going to rip this place apart brick by brick. You just have to survive. Which we know is true, since Zayden deserted almost immediately. And if a deceased Liam is communicating through hallucination, this is the truth and was sent to Violet by Malik to hold her down in one of her darkest times So I think this is definitely a possibility But do play devil's advocate other options are Violet's second segment has to do with the dead or Malik and that's why she's seen Liam Which I've seen a lot of people bring that up. I don't know I have all my eggs in that bucket, but I could definitely see it being a possibility or she was really just hallucinating because of her state and Liam was a coping mechanism because of their relationship. Yeah. Alright. next theory is about Venon, Varish, and Zayden. At this point, it's common knowledge on this podcast that Varish is most definitely Venon adjacent. But further proof, if we needed any, was him commenting on how unpredictable Jack Barlow, Venon, is. We know it is highly likely that Barish knows Jack was Venon since he was friends with Atos, who sent the Venon assassins and headed the JB Resurrection Project. Need I say any more? These people are Venon. During the interrogation, Varish admits, quote, You have no idea the joy it gives me to know that Fen Ryerson's son will break Codex by abandoning his post to come to your aid, that he'll be strapped to this chair next, and he will give me the answers I seek. Hmm. Hmm. So looking at the context of Varish as a Venon, and looking at this, lots of questions, versus him just being a Military who wants to interrogate the son of the rebellion, I think it's more than that. And at this point we have been theorizing that Zayden is actually the one that the Venon wants so desperately, and if Varys knows this, the ultimate prize is Zayden. And the Venon that comes out of the chest in Corden also says, quote, how I'll be rewarded when I return with you talking about Violet, who I think the Venon want to use to manipulate Satan. And since Violet is one of the biggest threats to Venon, it speaks volumes that they collectively want her alive. Wouldn't they want her dead? But they want her alive for what possible reason to manipulate Zayden. And then later in the stretch, Felix breaks down the line of this thinking for us and for Violet. Quote, in that moment, you wielded him, our unyielding, uncompromising, headstrong, hair apparent. So both Felix and Varys and the Venon know that this woman is Zayden's weakness and this is how they're going to manipulate him to their will. And I'm just, I think I'm right about this, but I don't know. I cannot wait to see if I'm right. I think you are too. It's just too much stuff that points to Varys, all right time to move into Our favorite and notable moments This is a lot of book that we got this stretch So it's a lot to choose from so like my first Not really my favorite moment, but it was like a aha moment. I knew it was nolan's Betrayal it was just when he walked up even in my first read. I like marked it I was like, this is fishy like something's going on and it's like no one He trusted you and you turn us in wow But also like violet The satchel, why would you walk around with a scribe satchel and not a writer satchel? I mean that was just like, she was just so high on accomplishing the heist. She forgot about it, I guess Next I want to discuss Zayden Cuz he has some really Quote worthy moments in this stretch. He has so many but I have to choose this quote because I feel like it was the funniest out of all of them and I don't know Zayden's kind of funny. So he said, quote, me argue with you about books. He shakes his head, sliding his hand to my cheek. I only pick fights I can win. He lowers his mouth an inch by slow inch then stops a breath away. It's your turn to talk now. End quote. he's a smart man. Only pick fights you can win because you're going to argue with her about the archives. Please never win that fight. I mean, Zayden can't win any fight, literally. When it comes to violence, He's a sucker. He's not winning a vice. It's true.. I also love when they were doing the archive heist, how he was looking at violent in the scribe robes. And he was like, I feel like I'm looking at what could have been. She's like, oh yeah? And he's like, she looks better in black. Yeah, she does. Yeah, she does. She really had to make us fall as hard as possible for Zayden before he turns up. Of course, this whole redemption era with him. And my next favorite part was obviously the death of Varys. Kena causes Dain's redemption arc, but I mean, I don't think so. I am glad that he, I'm glad that Varys died and I'm glad that Dain finally came to his senses, but it's like for him to even be like, you should have trusted me sooner. How? Sorry, you stole my memories. How was I supposed to trust you? Okay My next favorite part is all the cat love triangle drama. You guys know I love me some drama And I love how zaden. Okay, so the scene where they were at Takara's at his house and they were, about to go to dinner and she's like, if you don't know by now that Zayden doesn't lose control, then you're the stupid one or something like that. And then he heard it and he's like, Oh, I just can't keep my control when it comes to violence. She's like, Okay. I just love the pettiness. I love all the petty stuff that's going on. It's very petty shit that's happening. All right, my favorite moment. Oh my gosh. Zayden's rescue. I love a trope of an MMC character who will let the whole world burn to protect the woman they love. And I feel like That's Zayden. There's something so hot and morally grey about that that it's oof. Viola is torn up thinking she ruined everything Zayden has worked for, to which he says, quote, to the fucking ground if it means you live. Ah! I love that. And again, like I just said, why do you have to make me fall so hard again before you go and turn Van in? But anyways, I love that. The whole crazy roller coaster that was these few chapters where Dane starts his redemption arc And Zayden Rescues him and Marish dies. It was just all so fun to read and I loved his rescue Especially because Violet thought that he wouldn't come for her and that broke my heart But the fact that he did But of course, our man deserted immediately, killed a bunch of wyverns and buys a guy with a military just to get to his girl, as he should have. All right, my next favorite part is the similarities that we're starting to see between Violet and Andarna up to this point. The more the plot develops, the more I love their connection. And at first, it's inevitable that we, the reader, view Andarna as the weaker dragon, because Taryn is obviously a badass, but similar to how everyone views Violet as weak due to her size and her EDS. But as time passes, you see her for the badass that she truly is, and Andarna has that in common with her. And I think this is why they have such a closeness and Violet can go to her when she doesn't have anyone else. It's because they're so similar. And on top of that, I thought it was really cool that Indarna later reveals herself to be a poison barb scorpion tail. And Violet! is a poison master. Queens. I love that. Poison queens. And this is even more interesting because we learned that dragon tales are a matter of choice and need and I'm wondering if Andarna chose or felt like she needed a scorpion tale is because Violet is a poison master all right, folks, time to close out our battle 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 wards. feel free to skip ahead to our mini series if you feel like you're already an expert. So, for our mythology, we're going to get into some more dragon names and cover some of the ones that we haven't touched on. And we did part one of the dragon name mythology in our fourth wing episode, so if you missed it, be sure to check it out. I mentioned this earlier, Marb, Brennan's dragon, who's not so dead. Curiously, his dragon's name is an Irish Gaelic word that means dead or corpse, like I said earlier. And I already went crazy on it, so I'm not going to say really much more, but I am convinced that Brennan was resurrected from the dead, from Niollin, who is mysteriously missing and unbonded to Teyrn, and quite possibly a dark wielding Venon. Ooh, mouthful. Whew. I'm convinced. All right. The next one. Schmack. That is schmocked. I don't know how to say it, but it smelled S M A C H D. Schmack. This is a professor Kaori's dragon, and it means control, discipline, or rule in Scottish Gaelic. Not necessarily a connection there, but I find it cool to learn what their names mean, even if it's not a direct connection and D, yep, our boy Liam's dragon, R. I. P. Nobody cry, but interestingly, D is an alternative form of the Scottish Gaelic word, a, er, e, yeah, I don't know, basically without the D, that's the word it's derived from, and it means ice, and we had a whole Section about Liam wielding ice in our last fourth wing episode and this is a big coincidence I gotta say and I've seen people say that it was confirmed in the interview with her Becky R us that Liam wielding ice Wasn't editing mistake. I haven't been able to find the interviewer that happens But this just seems like a crazy coincidence that he was wielding ice and then his dragon's name means ice I don't know. So if you know the interview where she said that, or, you know, for sure it was, there wasn't an editing mistake, reach out and let us know, cause we're having trouble finding it, but I thought that was interesting. maybe she initially Was going to have him be an ice wielder and she like connected the dragon name with ice water and she was like, yeah, she changed it. And then they forgot to take all of it out. Like that part in wrestling. I don't know. Yeah. I think if there's not another meaning to that, I feel like she just was like, I'll leave the dragon name, but he's not going to want ice. All right. So first we got brew gun. Bruegam. Bruegun. I like Bruegun better. Is Professor Carr's dragon and its name is a Gaelic word for lies. Hmm, I hate this man. So his dragon's name being lies is probably perfect because he's a great big lie conspirator. You, Mr. You. Then we have Cath, which is Dane's dragon. Why would you give me this? It's a shorter Oh my God, you can't be allergic to all the Dane sections. I can't be the only one talking about it. Yes. Because I don't believe he's having a redemption era. It's not redemption. I think he is, bruh. It's the bare minimum. Actually, the bare minimum is laying down his life for her. So anything else is invalid. So Daisy's dragon name is a short version of Catherine, a Greek name. Meaning pure. Hmm. Interesting. Hmm. Okay. Atrium? Riddick's Dragon's name means lightweight in scottish. Gaelic and trum means heavyweight on the flip side since he is a metal wielder This is a subtle connection Very nice, very nice. Very very nice. Now let's talk about the wards breakdown. So wards are protective, invisible Shields, powered by magic, a mutual benefit to the collaboration of dragons and writers. Dragons provide the magic and humans provide the thumbs needed to weave wards or rooms. Magic wielders can create lesser magic wards, such as warding a doorway, but they need dragon power and war stones to get them on a larger scale to shield an entire kingdom. So third year could, Ryder cadets at best guy. I'll take a class on war weeping. Yeah. All right. So let's talk about ward stones since this is a big part of Ironflame. So this is a magical object made of alloy capable of powering wards preventing any magic within except dragon and rider magic. In terms of physical description, wardstone are large pillars with intricate runes carved into them that project circular protective wards equidistant from the pillar. When activated, a black crystal is formed. Flame, known as the Iron Flame, burns atop the pillar. To extend the wards, additional magic and alloy caches within strategically positioned outposts is necessary. This alloy is made up of a few other ores, and dragon eggshells, making it And this material is smelted into daggers that are capable of holding power, which riders then imbue with their own power every so often. And Navar's Wardstone was activated by the First Six over 600 years ago, and after that, the creation of new Wardstones was a lost magic until Violet motherfuckin Sorengale figured her out with her brilliant Scrap Brain. I think the war is one of my favorite Mythology aspects of the series. So cool because it has to do with the dragons 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 They won't be the same every week. So keep tuning in for all the fun Today we're gonna do predictions and theories on The actual title of onyx storm and what it's referring to and then we're gonna do some would you rather Yeah, so fun, all right, i'll go first I have Two theories, so let me break them down for you. Theory number one! My thinking on the title is that it's referencing Zayden, and here's why. Number one, Violet refers to his eyes as Onyx by far more than she ever refers to anything else as Onyx. Minus, Andarna, but later on in book two. Like we discussed last episode, Zayden said they had to build a relationship strong enough to withstand a storm. The Storm is Onyx Daddy Zayden fighting the good and evil within himself and around him. And I think more proof of this is the song that Rebecca shared on her story, talking about Onyx Storm, Half a Man by Dean Lewis, references this internal struggle that he has. Quote, how can I love you when I don't even love who I am? So that's my first theory. I think Onyx Storm is going to be about the storm, that their relationship is going to have to survive, and it's really going to be focused on Zayden dealing with the internal struggle. Theory number two. In book two, we didn't know the meaning of Iron Flame until the very end when Mamasaur and Gale sacrificed herself. So I'm thinking Onyx Storm could be the same, except for the title will refer to a storm of wyvern raining down upon our crew, or Cause on page 540 of Iron Flame, Mira digs into a wyvern carcass and finds, quote, a polished chunk of what appeared to be Onyx marked with a complex rune. So that's another thing that is mentioned as Onyx. And if this is the case, I think Violet's journey to find allies and her continuing to master her powers will coagulate at the end with her taking down a literal storm of Wyvern. So that's my second theory. And fun fact, the first two book titles are Fourth Wing and Iron Flame connecting to the section in Wings of Asgaeth. And the Greek word for Onyx can mean claw, So that's pretty much in line with the first two titles. So I found that on Reddit. I don't remember who I saw it from, but yeah, thank you. You're the best. I love your fun facts. Cause I looked this up. Yeah. I absolutely agree with everything you said. I do think also that Onyx does refer to Zayden and Adorna in a way because she does describe Zayden as having Onyx eyes and Adorna being Onyx. She describes her as Onyx. I think that this kind of like foreshadows both, her saving Zayden, obviously, you know, that's probably the premise of the next book, but also Andarna playing a very big role in his rescue slash war. We also know that feather tails were only researched by Papa Sorengale and we can assume that she will also dive into his research next book as well since she has to find out different information to save her lover and Storm has been used a lot in teasers and throughout, Iron Flame, and the Storm most likely again refers to the war that is waging, and like Kayla said, his internal war, and Violet being the most valuable thing that can save them all. And we also know, lastly, that Violet loves peace, so I think that she will also be the reason that the Bard lives peacefully. Peacefully with people outside the wars as well as Griffin flyers. Yes, I agree. I don't know if the Onyx is going to be referring to something specific or if it's just collectively referring to the roles that Zayden and Adarna and the Wyvern will play. I don't know. I feel like since Iron Flame was so specific, I'm expecting it to be something really specific again. We'll see. I feel like it's going to be a lot. It's a lot to unpack. You got the Venom. You got the Wyvern. You got the War. You got Zayden. You gotta be saved. You got Andarna. You got Papasorgas research. You got so much stuff is going on that we did not get answers for in Iron Flame. So it's like, Rebecca, how the heck did you write this book? I feel like some of this stuff still won't even get answered by the end of this book because it's supposed to be what, five books? And somebody's gonna die. I can just feel it. Oh, for sure. I saw this one TikTok and this girl was like, praying to Malik that, Rebecca doesn't kill one of my favorite characters. Yeah. All right. Would you rather? Would you rather? Let's go. Would you rather undergo a day of torture by Varys or have to marry Dain for at least one year? And yes, you have to perform your wifely duties. Shit. Um, I undergo torture by bearish only because if I cheat on Dane, if I'm not happy and I cheat on him, he would he could be able to see it. So by touching me so Yeah. Wow. Would rather be tortured for 24 hours by the most Terrible. Yeah, you're crazy. I think I would marry Dane because well, you already know I don't hate him as much as you do So I could last I wouldn't like it, but I would last In honor of this cat in violet. Would you rather fight a war alongside all of Weston's exes, or would you rather him become a villain? I'm like, what do you think, hotter? He'd have red eyes. He'd have magical powers. Man. I feel like I'd rather fight a war alongside his exes. So I could like, I'm secure in my relationship, but also I'd be like, I don't like you, but I don't want him to turn. Cause same. Yeah. I think we're making a healthy decision. All right. Would you rather spend one night with Zayden or try your luck at bonding? A Griffin. But you don't die if you don't bond to Griffin because they cliff jump basically. So then where would I go after my one night with Zayden? I guess you'd have to go back to Violet. But I'm saying like, I don't really care about bonding to Griffin, they're birds. Like I would just rather. I'm sorry. You don't want to be bonded to a super awesome magical creature? If dragon? You don't have mind work abilities. Well And I can spend a night with a guy that has a dragon. I can ride his badass dragon. I mean, Sigil probably wouldn't have that, yeah. If Sigil lets you. Yep. There's so many like, what is there? But Terrence can be softy so I can probably convince him to convince to go to convince Terrence to let me ride on the back of him. How many people are you going to convince to convince Terrence? You know what, just go with Zayden, you won't regret it. I feel like I would try my luck at bodybuilding. Seems kind of fun. they sound cool. So, yeah, you can still ride it. Hopefully they could carry me, I'm so tall. Well, I was one tall girl. Anyways, your turn. Would you rather spar against Kat or Imogen? Kat. Probably same. Well, they would both fuck me up, but I feel like I would want to punch Kat more. Probably same, yeah. Yeah, yeah, although I love Imogen, I want to be her friend. Maybe I could convince her to become my friend while we spar. All right, would you rather be a Navarre infantry soldier or a dark wielding demon? Infantry soldier, mm hmm, yeah. I'm going back! I don't want to be infantry, they're like dragon fodder. We can be Venom besties. Oh, we got a lot of Venom scenarios here. Okay, so, would you rather, kind of like Brennan, someone you're close to, fake their death, unless you believe they're dead, for years, or become a Venom to save them, like Zayden did, to save the world? Mmm, that's a good one. It just really stresses me out that I wouldn't be able to find a cure. So, I'm gonna do the first one, even though I'll be super pissed. At the end of the day, there's still a lot. You just don't know it. You just go through all the grief. And all the emotions. But they're still alive. Yeah, well I don't have Violet to save me with her genius brain about how to cure the venomous. Cause Weston's smart, but I don't trust him to cure me from venom. Yeah, I don't. Yeah. Cameron could never. Yeah, I would probably, yeah, same. Same, same? Yeah. Same, same. Same, same. Nice, nice. Alright, before we close out 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 who has the most points between hosts and loser has to do something embarrassing or funny or crazy that the winner or you guys as fans come up with. And we will love your feedback and ideas and participation in the section. Let us know if you get the trivia questions right. And the current score is I have four and Mackenzie has two and a half. She's gonna need to step it up. I feel like my questions aren't really good and they're very specific. So All right number one How many riders and dragons were in the first drift to erasure? 167 well, it's two separate numbers. There was a certain amount of dragons and there was a certain amount of riders. Oh There was definitely more riders, so I'm gonna go like 150 been in 170 riders I mean, not bad in dragons. I think there were less riders than dragons. I know the numbers were 200 and 101. I'm pretty sure 101 was the riders, it would be more dragons because there's some coming from the veil. So, yeah, it was 200 and 101. Okay. Name at least two professors who come to Arisha, Araysha. Um, uh, Dabera, and, uh, Imatero, Imatero, Im, yeah, him, the sparring guy, Imatero. Yeah, got it. Yay! You got it! Okay, you have a point. Thanks, okay. All right. What colors? Are used on the map in a ratio and what do the colors represent what two colors? Red and orange and they represent Writings I'll give you half a point trolls attacks I'll give you half a point because the colors are right. Red represented the Benin's old movement and orange was their new movement. So they were kind of tracking them. Okay. Yeah. I see you. All right. Um, what is the highest elevation of the cliff? Um, I know this, I know it. I know it. It's something thousand. I know that for sure. For sure. The Griffins can only go, they can barely go past like 8, 000. So I'm going to say 12, 000 feet. Oh, you're right. I'm mad that you're right because now we're tied. Damn good. Yeah. I see you paying attention. Okay. So we're tied now. We both have four and a half points. Oh God. So we're going to step it up. I'm going to make my questions harder. Well, you still did good though. Even with my very specific questions. The first one I feel like though is a good thing that I have complicated questions because there's always a chance for half points because I feel like if you would have got at least one of the dragon or the right is right you could have a point yeah they're very specific whatever all right that's a wrap folks once again happy freaking new year and happy freaking onyx storm january we cannot wait to get our hands on this book and talk about it with you guys so thank you for tuning in So join us next Thursday as we continue Iron Flame where we will be covering, where we will be going over chapters 45 through 58, pages 431 through 551 for your reread or to refresh your memory. Yeah. And it really does mean the world To both of us to hear feedback from you guys. So please, if you take the time to leave us a review, we'd really appreciate it. Check out our socials. Go look at Kenzie's Sprite Challenge punishment. I'm sure it'll be funny. But yeah, reach out to us if you want to tell us what you liked, what you didn't, or just to talk about books because we could do that all day. And then make sure to subscribe to us on YouTube and all major podcast platforms for a freshly baked episode to be delivered to you directly next week. So bye friends. See you next week. Bye friends! We'll