Empire of Storms Part 2 | Episode 26

 WARNING: THIS PODCAST HAS SPOILERS

Join us for our version of book club as we dive into different books and tasty libations every Thursday!

This week we dive into Part 2 of Empire of Storms by SJM with a special guest boo, Heather!

Empire of Storms is the fifth book in Sarah J. Maas's Throne of Glass fantasy series, following Aelin Galathynius as she fights to reclaim her throne amidst brewing war, broken loyalties, and emerging dark forces, requiring her to make difficult sacrifices to save her world.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Okay, hi. I'm back.

SPEAKER_05 0:04

You just look like an old little hobby.

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Welcome back to Books with Boo. I'm JD. I'm back. We got Heather back in the gusty right there. They are going to be talking about Empire of Storms. Part two. Part two. So uh once again, I don't want to be here. So I'm here for the good part, the rattler. We're gonna be drinking a rattler today. Um I have some really cool regulars that will pick up six packs or crawlers from our brewery and then take them and try to trade them with other breweries that they visit in their towns or towns that they visit. So this one's from Billsburg Brewing. Brewed and canned in Jamestown. Oh, sorry, Williamsburg, Virginia.

SPEAKER_04 0:55

Very nice. And we love I love Rattlers. You've never had I haven't had a rattler, so it's a moment of truth.

SPEAKER_05 1:03

Yeah. But it's lemonade and beer.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

So like half lager, half lemonade.

SPEAKER_04 1:11

Oh, that's good. Yeah. I love rattlers. That is very good. Definitely in the summertime. Yeah. JD, can we have a rattler? He did one.

SPEAKER_00 1:21

The summer shandy is one.

SPEAKER_04 1:22

Yeah, and then it kept running out really fast. And I would be mad because that was my favorite beer he's ever made.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Well, I just re-brewed it, so it's in the tank right now. Brewed it last week. Um, this is four and a half percent. That is tasty. I like it.

SPEAKER_04 1:38

Very good with the lemonade in it.

SPEAKER_05 1:40

It is very tasty with the lemonade with it.

SPEAKER_04 1:41

Do you do it with the lemonade? We do just cheese.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

We've done lemonade and then also strawberry lemonade.

SPEAKER_04 1:46

Ooh, the strawberry lemonade was amazing.

unknown 1:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:48

Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

So when it comes back, you'll have to try it.

SPEAKER_02 1:51

I will. All right. You're converting me from my blonde.

SPEAKER_00 1:55

Hey, the blonde's our number one seller. So.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

And then my coffee blonde when you have it.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

That one's our number two whenever it's there.

unknown 2:01

All right.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

Well, I'm out. You guys have fun.

SPEAKER_03 2:03

Thanks.

SPEAKER_04 2:05

Spoilers, spoilers, spoilers. This is part two of Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Mass. So word is character arc, and that's a sequence of psychological or emotional changes a character undergoes throughout a story. And then there is a subword under that. It's anagnosis. I'm probably saying that wrong. It's the climax of realization. So it's the exact moment in a story where a character makes a critical discovery of experiences or experiences, a sudden realization about their true identity, flaws, or the truth of their situation. So for that, I'm thinking Ailen after the bloodhound slash ilkin attack. And this is chapter 48. And Fenry's had said, and this is after um Manon had talked about the creatures of Morath. And then Ailen kind of went silent, and um Manon was like, snap out of it.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 3:10

And then they were talking about maybe getting Maeve's alliance if she wasn't if she was coming there to help because they heard about the Armada. But then Feneris says, nameless is the price of Maeve's allegiance. It can't be purchased. And right after that, Ailen goes still. And then there's talk of Yellow Legs being an oracle. And if you remember, in I believe it was Crown of Midnight, Baba Yellow Legs, that was the first mention of Nameless is our price or is my price. And then um Rowan's POV in that same chapter, Aileen locks herself in the bathroom throwing up. Yeah. And then she asks for Lysandra. That is the moment that she realized her fate. Yep. So I thought that was a pretty fitting word or words for this part two of the of the book.

SPEAKER_02 4:00

That plus, okay. That plus Gavr Gavril, Fenris, and Lorkin all realizing about Mave.

SPEAKER_04 4:12

I actually have something written down where it was like Fenris in chapter 53, Gavriel and him tell Rowan that they're grateful for the time that Maeve unintentionally gave them. Yes. Then in chapter 47, after he was injured by that Ilkin attack on the ship, he tells Avan that Maeve has a mockery of what Ailen Rowan and her court have. Yeah. And they protect, serve, and cherish. Maeve says they do that, but they don't.

SPEAKER_02 4:40

They don't. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 4:41

And then a side note, Adian asks Gabriel if he feels the same. And he answers with a non-answer that he only wanted to leave once.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

When implying.

SPEAKER_04 4:52

Implying because of Adian's mom.

SPEAKER_02 4:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 4:55

But yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

So yeah, it's a double there. But I like that. That was a good.

SPEAKER_05 4:59

This is a good. Yeah. There's a lot that happened in part two. Yeah, like literally my notes, it's just like, and then this and this and this.

SPEAKER_02 5:07

Well, that's why like I like was starting. Like, if you notice, like my notes, they're like long, and then it was like long. And then it got like witch mirror, yellow legs plan. It's the first ally. Like it got short and short and short. Because I was like, this is too much.

SPEAKER_04 5:23

Yeah, that's that was me. Like my handwriting gets worse and worse. And you could see it just like, what did I write? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:30

I was like, I gotta get short and sweet. And I hope I really remember what I was gonna say.

SPEAKER_04 5:35

Oh, you're gonna be fine. Yeah, you're gonna be fine. But I figured we can start with a couple of things that I found very interesting that have to do with the massiverse.

SPEAKER_02 5:48

Okay. Cause I, yeah, let's go. Wait, have we explained we've explained the massiverse?

SPEAKER_04 5:54

No, we have it. Would you like to?

SPEAKER_02 5:56

Sure. So for those who don't know the massiverse, backtrack two seconds. Sarah J. Mass has written Throne of Glass, Crescent City, and a Avatar, a quarter throne of Roses series, which she's continuing in October. October. I was about to say September, October. So the Massiverse is all three of these series are connected and interwoven. And if you've read all three, you have picked up the little clues and hints. And I will say before we continue, if you haven't read all three series, I highly recommend before you start Googling and going down the rabbit hole to finish reading all the series and then Google and then reread because it's really fun finding them after you educate yourself.

SPEAKER_04 6:42

Well, it's funny because I I was reading part two and then I'm like, I know that city. Oh, right.

SPEAKER_05 6:48

I was like, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:50

Chapter 43. This was Lorcan's POV. Okay, they were um fleeing from the carnival because they had reported them and they're in the barge. Yep. And then um oh no, this is right before that. Sorry. You're good. But they were standing by the river where the barges were, and on page 403, Lorkin is thinking the clockworkers, sailors, and merchants monitored to the clouds too as if they as they scurried about. Some lingered to tie up the long, flat-bellied barges and latch down the smooth poles they used to navigate the river. He'd seen a kingdom, perhaps 300 years ago, that relied on barges to sail its goods from one end to another. Its name eluded him, lost to the catacombs of his memory. Lorkin wondered if it still existed, tucked away between two mountain ranges on either on the other side of the world.

SPEAKER_02 7:52

Is that Valaris? I think so because also I think uh Rihanna is Vila uh Akatar's Valkyrie. Because she held the line.

SPEAKER_03 8:06

Oh, I didn't catch that. This is so funny.

SPEAKER_02 8:10

Okay, but we have to have a whole separate scene.

SPEAKER_04 8:12

Yeah, disconnecting everything. Yeah, yeah. But it's funny because it's like in Akatar, Reese says that once people leave, they don't remember the name of the city and that so well that I think that yes.

SPEAKER_02 8:28

And then while you're flipping to your other one, um, chapter 52. When they get to the marshes, I need to go back. I did not have time to double check and look exactly, but the place, how he Lorcan describes it is older than Lorcan. Okay, it's part of a kingdom that is now gone, a lost people who wandered in merch with those of different lands. Water shoved down their throats and in their noses. And if you've read Avatar, that's very familiar.

SPEAKER_05 9:08

Yes. Um I didn't catch that.

unknown 9:11

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 9:12

Sarah J. Mass is just so good at this.

SPEAKER_02 9:15

She is, she is, and that's why I'm like, finish reading the series, then do the Googling. Because then when you reread, you'll pick up on the little things. Yeah. Because a friend even sent me, she's getting ready to do her reread. Uh, we were talking in what order she's gonna do her reread um before the new Avatar book comes out. And she was like, Did you see that apparently the worm in everything is somehow in the throne of class? And I was like, I'm sorry, what? Yeah, where exactly. I was like, okay, we're gonna have to figure this out.

SPEAKER_04 9:46

Yeah, because I don't I don't remember that.

SPEAKER_02 9:49

Me either. So we're gonna have to figure this out as we're finished reading the rest of the series.

SPEAKER_04 9:53

Well, maybe hopefully we see it in the rest because you weren't here for the beginning.

SPEAKER_02 9:56

I know, but I may have to come back and be like, hey, JD, you missed this.

SPEAKER_04 10:00

Well, he was kind of checked out. Yeah, it's like it's fine, it's fine. Okay, the second one is chapter 65. Okay. And this is when Alina was showing things in the witch mirror.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 10:12

Um, and this was after shutting or using the lock.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 10:17

Okay. Not just gods, and the gods showed up, not just gods, but the beings of higher, different existence. They had not been born in this world, perhaps had become trapped here after wandering through a word gate, and they had struck some bargain with her father, with Ma to at last send them home, banishing Erewan with them, and she had ruined it. But how she described perhaps they were trapped here, and then when they're talking to them, is that the hysterie?

SPEAKER_01 10:52

It could be.

SPEAKER_02 10:55

It could be because I have is it too no, it's too early to say this. No. Because you could be wondering this already. Dorian's brother.

SPEAKER_04 11:07

Yeah. Why is he so corrupt?

SPEAKER_02 11:10

Well, not even that. He left him. We don't hear about Dorian's brother ever again.

SPEAKER_04 11:14

Oh, yeah, that's true. Just randomly thinking of them.

SPEAKER_02 11:19

What if he moved to a different world and maybe became a king of a different continent with a certain cauldron?

SPEAKER_04 11:31

I've heard that one. Potentially. That would be interesting, but I'm sure as more books come out, I know. I know, because there's even one more Kaltane as the cereal. It's like, uh maybe not because of certain points, but I want her to be, but she she's not. Stuff like that. So I guess.

SPEAKER_02 11:49

And I will say, like, for this is how I defer to Taylor Swift's Easter eggs. There are people who find them a lot better than I do. Same. So I wait for the people who are better than I to find them and then I read up on them.

SPEAKER_04 12:05

Yeah, I agree with that.

SPEAKER_02 12:07

But it's fun making my own connections at the same time.

SPEAKER_04 12:09

It is. That's why when these two popped out, up on I was like, oh my gosh. But especially the Valar Valaris one.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

Yeah, no, that's because okay. I mean, yes, this is my favorite series, but I Valaris is it's Valaris. Valaris. I would love there.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:27

Yeah. I would too. Okay. You ready to get into it?

SPEAKER_02 12:32

Yes, let's get into it. The actual book, not because we can keep talking about it.

SPEAKER_04 12:37

We definitely could. So I was wondering what you thought of a lead's promise. And this is chapter 41. Um, after the Ilkin attacked the carnival, Lorkin had confronted her because he found out from the Ilkin that her name wasn't Marion. She was a lead. Yes. And um they get into kind of a little fight, but she tells Lorcan on page 386 if you try to bring me to Morath, I will end my own life before you can carry me over the keeps bridge.

SPEAKER_02 13:11

So I had that quoted too. I think it's just like what Dorian says later on in the marshes. It's very similar. Those they, Elite and Dorian, plus Manon, have truly witnessed the horrors of what's going on. Like, yes, the others have in different ways, but like truly witnessed of everything. Not everything, but you know what I mean. So I think her promising that is like I refuse to be a weak person again. I refuse to be vulnerable in that state again. I refuse to be um the words escaping me.

SPEAKER_04 13:50

Well, especially being free for this little bit of time, she's been free. Like imagine being locked in a tower for 10 years and then chained and then made to serve, be a slave. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:03

And now she's free. And I I I applauded her because I applauded her in the sense of no, I don't support that in any way, shape, or form. But if that was her only option.

SPEAKER_04 14:16

Yeah. Well, you see it in chapter 49. Yes, because she almost yeah, but I will say 49.50.

SPEAKER_02 14:24

49.50. I will say, I did write down for chapter 50, she's she said she would rather die than go back. And then Lorcan prevented it. So we know Lorcan's caught feelings because he was like, Nope, not gonna let you do that. I'm here to save the day.

SPEAKER_03 14:39

Well, but I have something about that.

SPEAKER_02 14:44

Hold on, but I am she became a badass in that next because she fought back.

SPEAKER_04 14:50

Yeah, she was that's her growing, like we talked about last time. She's growing into herself. She's like, I'm standing up for myself. And then with the Ilkin afterwards, she was like, actually, never mind. Your friend is already on the way with my uncle. Yep. Like she, but yeah, yeah. Yeah, good job, Alid.

SPEAKER_02 15:11

Which I like because before we get to that, real quick, she's been growing with Lorcan, which Lorcan, but she's been growing with Lorcan in the sense of you see her standing up for herself with Lorcan. And now it's playing out outside of Lorcan, and it's like, yes, you're growing, you go, and everything. It's like we're proud mamas.

SPEAKER_04 15:35

Yeah, we're proud mamas. Well, uh, Lorcan, uh, going off of what you said earlier, uh, his little quote from his POV was prove she was proving she wasn't bluffing on her claim to never return to Morath. For the first time in five centuries, Lorcan knew fear as a lead turned that knife on herself. And then as it was touching her leathers, yeah, that's when his hatchet moved her wrist out of the way. Exactly. So, like good job for having a great aim, but also like you see them him realizing in that moment that I I she can't be lost right now.

SPEAKER_02 16:14

Well, that and it almost it didn't say this outright, but I almost makes me wonder if the God guiding him guided that as well.

SPEAKER_04 16:23

Yeah, knowing how she fits. Yeah. Well, if I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, I wouldn't either because um like even in the Stone Marshes when they reunited with the whole group, um Lead was being told C C C and that was right before Lorkin was attacked. So that whole scene. I know we'll get into it.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

We'll get into that. Um, no, no, go ahead.

SPEAKER_04 16:54

Well, after that, they always promise to find one another, and then sh later she tells him he always has a place in Parenth. And then later in his POV, he basically says that that's the first home he's ever been offered. She offered him a home.

SPEAKER_02 17:10

Yeah, because Maeve's home isn't a home, it's a house. Yeah, it's like the how people say, like, you have a house or you have a home. Like people feel the difference.

SPEAKER_04 17:17

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I know I can walk around in my towel over here. Like, I don't have to do that. Can't do that in anyone else's house.

SPEAKER_02 17:28

I mean, not to be weird, but you're welcome to. But it's just it goes into, and I think it supports Mae's house not being a home because a little later I wrote it down at some point. Um Gavril and Fenris are telling Rowan like what happened, who Maeve added to their cadre. Karen. Karen.

SPEAKER_04 17:56

Screw Karen.

SPEAKER_02 17:57

Yeah, we'll get into that.

SPEAKER_04 17:59

He's like grandma.

SPEAKER_02 18:00

But Kairn being who he is in the sense of he is a sadistic person. He's a very sadistic person. It just reinforces it's not a home.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 18:12

Because Rowan did everything he could to discipline this out of him, but because he served under Rowan and everything, but did everything he could.

SPEAKER_04 18:21

And he gave up, gave him to Lor Lorcan.

SPEAKER_02 18:23

Yeah, and because he couldn't. And he was like, I can't do this. Lorcan tag, you're it. And just nothing happened. But the fact that he everyone recognizes that, it just reinforces that Maeve's losing her shit and her control and her people.

SPEAKER_04 18:38

Oh yeah. Maeve, she thinks she's in control.

SPEAKER_02 18:42

Yeah, she thinks she's in control. I mean, even the armada turning against her, that was awesome.

SPEAKER_04 18:47

I know. Oh, so much to talk about with that. So much. We shall consider it. Or I shall consider it.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

Yeah. Oh.

SPEAKER_04 18:56

You ready for another? Uh-huh. Okay. I'm trying to decide what to talk about. Um, Manon. Which part of Manon? Because there's so much about Manon. The last living Kroken Queen. Yes. What did you want to talk about with her?

SPEAKER_05 19:15

She laughed. I know. She did laugh. So that flies. So I wrote it down. Um. And she smiled at Dorian.

SPEAKER_04 19:28

She smiled at Dorian.

SPEAKER_02 19:30

But when Ansel showed up, and then Ansel's telling the story of like, here's how I showed up. And everyone's just like, the rest, Aiden and Rowan are just like, what? And Manage just busts out laughing and everything. I was like, oh Manon, welcome to a court.

SPEAKER_04 19:48

In a way, it's like she's healing and actually starting to feel stuff. And then it's also like, Maiden, you just laughed.

SPEAKER_02 19:56

Yes. But I do think I think she hadn't been accepting it or facing it yet.

SPEAKER_04 20:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:04

Okay. Aileen was pushing her buttons with it. Don't get me wrong. But until Ansel showed up, when Aylon was like, She's the queen of waste, by the way.

unknown 20:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:15

That was a funny little Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:16

And Manon's like, no. And Aylen's like, no one of y'all have showed up, Crocken or Iron T. Yeah. So yeah, she's the queen of the waste.

SPEAKER_05 20:27

She fought for it. And y'all can't even grow a blade of grass.

SPEAKER_04 20:30

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 20:31

So she's protecting the people. But I think I don't think it really flipped for Manon what it meant until they stepped into the mirror.

SPEAKER_04 20:43

Yeah. I agree with that.

SPEAKER_02 20:45

Yeah, that's a because she was probably internally accepting. I think between the mirror and then the 13 saying, like, yeah, so what? What are we gonna do now?

SPEAKER_04 20:56

Yeah, I think I definitely think the 13 is saying that. So yeah, the shadows t told us, but like we don't care.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

What's the plan?

SPEAKER_04 21:03

Yeah. That I think that's that was the final thing that solidified that for her. But when they were in the mirror and she saw Rihanna Cochrane hanging out with Alina and Gavin, um they saw that she was her twin. Just different colored hair. Yeah. So that was like, wow, I am her. I am someone who can lead or someone who can be a part of this.

SPEAKER_02 21:34

Um well, not even someone who can, but someone who is predestined.

SPEAKER_04 21:38

Yes, predestined to be part of this.

SPEAKER_02 21:41

Because, like, even I mean, Lysandra said it earlier in part one how like to Aiden House, some of this all feels predestined, rewritten hundreds of thousands of years ago. And even Gavril and Fenris say it at one part.

SPEAKER_04 21:56

Yeah, it's chapter 53. Yeah, right there that. Ro he tells Rowan that Manon and Ailen's lives are intertwined. Both are half-breeds. They cover the three main races of the world, share symbols, and they're both queens.

SPEAKER_02 22:09

And two females who've whose path crossed tonight in a way we've rarely witnessed. Yep. And everything. Um so it's just like everything, and then we see it just reconfirmed with a mirror. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:24

It's those damn good. They can even get in the mirror without working together.

SPEAKER_01 22:30

Yeah, that too.

SPEAKER_04 22:31

Yeah. And it was Deanna's um words that that gave Dorian the idea. Yeah. Yeah. I know. That was I forgot what chapter, but uh, it was later on. I wrote it down somewhere, but I don't even know what it's okay.

SPEAKER_02 22:50

Um it was 61, 62, I think. It was right when Maeve showed up.

SPEAKER_04 22:55

Yeah, that sounds about right.

SPEAKER_02 22:57

Um it was 61, yes.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

61.

SPEAKER_02 23:03

Yes. Um, because then they're hearing how it was predestined, how the how the goddess, and I say they in the sense of man and ailen, how the goddesses were like, well, since you screwed up, you one of the heirs is gonna have to fix it. And then essentially Nahima and um Alina Alina, thank you, decided it was going to be Ailen because Dorian wasn't ready. Because no offense to Dorian, because he has had such character girth, but he was a little bitch prince in the beginning.

SPEAKER_04 23:39

Yeah, yeah. He he had some moments. He had he was a playboy, he was a comfortable prince. It's like Ailen, she was arrogant and not as mature, and then he was definitely not mature, not at all. Um, but then he was like throwing, wasn't throwing tantrums, but he was like throwing tantrums like it's so unfair. My dad's mean and stuff like that. But I mean, everyone hates your dad. It's okay. Yeah. Um, I don't know, but they both have grown a lot, and he is definitely a favorite after the hand scene. Let's just say that.

SPEAKER_02 24:17

Um yeah, we could go into that. I don't think we're ready to go into that yet.

SPEAKER_04 24:21

No, we're not. We'll save that. What about Manon and Dorian? Do you have any thoughts as to about them?

SPEAKER_02 24:30

As a couple? And like they're they're growing together?

SPEAKER_04 24:33

Yeah. And then why Dorian would choose her?

SPEAKER_02 24:37

Because she's not human.

SPEAKER_04 24:38

Yep. I have that written down.

SPEAKER_02 24:41

He like in they he basically said that to her.

SPEAKER_04 24:43

He did outright say it to her. Yeah, it was uh chapter 48 after the Ilkin and Bloodhound attacked a ship. Um, page 456, Manon says, Do not mistake me for a human woman, Prince Ling. And Dorian says, I have no interest in human women too breakable.

SPEAKER_01 24:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:00

And that just goes off of chapter 45 when Adan was asking Lysandr Lysandra why Dorian would want a witch. And it's because and Land Lysandra says, past clients, whenever they would lose someone close to them, they would always want something different. Yeah. And that just reinforced the fact that Dorian loved Sorcia and he he's found comfort in someone so different from her because he knows she can take care of herself.

SPEAKER_02 25:31

Well, that plus I think I don't think he's still in love with Aitlin. Okay. I don't think no, no, but I think Manon kind of reminds him of Ailen in the sense of Ailen didn't let him get away with shit. Oh, yeah. Manon's not gonna let him get away with anything either. That is very true. So, like they say like iron sharpens iron, like to play on the whole iron teeth, like they're going to grow together in the sense of like Dorian's soft uh softening her and everything. And like Manon's gonna be like, you're not gonna be a little bitch prince again or bitch king.

SPEAKER_04 26:07

Not gonna be a princeling anymore.

SPEAKER_02 26:09

Yes, exactly. So I like the three relationships that are coming out of this particular book.

SPEAKER_04 26:16

Do you have a favorite?

SPEAKER_02 26:17

Yeah, Rowan and Ailen, duh.

SPEAKER_04 26:20

Yeah. I feel like theirs is only strengthening, though. Um, yes. I feel like you I at least got really hit by their relationship in not Air of Fire, but Queen of Shadows. Because like when he first reappeared, she just ran to him and cried and said it was because uh he stunk so bad, not because she actually missed him.

SPEAKER_02 26:42

Not because she actually missed him or anything. No, well, he even says uh in chapter 44, when she was dreaming and basically woke up and she had set the ship on fire. And mind you, if you're gonna set a ship on fire, might as well be on the open ocean. Um, but you can see, I think he senses that Aylen's afraid of herself because it's like she's afraid of her true potential being conquer, being conquered, everything that could go wrong, everything that the worst case scenario and everything, and the unknown, and but still having to face it. And he looks at her and says, I see you, I see every part of you, and um I am not afraid.

SPEAKER_04 27:29

Yeah, I think that was a very important conversation that she needed to hear.

SPEAKER_03 27:34

Hi, Marley.

SPEAKER_04 27:35

That she needed to hear those words from his lips. Yeah, and it's it's not the first time he said it, right? No, but I think in that moment, because they knew about Maves Armada, they knew about um the forces gathering in Morath, they heard from Manon about what was going on with the witches, not fully, but they heard. And then there's the added parts of like Adian breathing down her neck, like where are our allies? Okay, and like I think in that so in that moment she needed that calm from him for sure.

SPEAKER_02 28:13

When I think hopeless romantic in me, so funny. Um, I actually was having a conversation with another close friend this past weekend because she's like dipping her toes back in the dating world, and she's like, I don't know, like I'm not finding what I want and what I want and everything, and like it's not what you think you want, it's what you need at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_04 28:36

Well, also it's like for me and JD, sorry, personal moment here. Yeah, sorry, I'm personal. I was like, screw guys, I don't want anything to do with them. And then here comes JD, and now it's 14 years later, you know? Like sometimes it just happens to so well.

SPEAKER_01 28:57

I mean, give give her support.

SPEAKER_02 28:59

Give her support, exactly. Well, that's what I told her. I was like, personal again, Joe's the like the last person, like anyone probably probably would have picked for me. But y'all work so well together. We do like he balances me because I am the fun, outgoing, like children. Like the fun, outgoing. I see the good in everybody. I'm so trusting. I'm like the hope, the hope is the mentor's the person. He he in the most helpful, nicest, loving way, he keeps me in check to make sure I stay protected.

SPEAKER_05 29:34

You know that is so funny.

SPEAKER_02 29:36

And he does it in like the nice in his nicest way. He's like, why would you talk to that person? And I'm like, well, and he's like, Heather, think about it. And I'm like, oh. Like he does let me figure it out, but he does like like, hey, like I see you, I love you, but I need you to think.

unknown 29:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 30:00

I love that.

SPEAKER_02 30:01

But I think they each relationship that we see, like they are balancing each other.

SPEAKER_04 30:06

They are, and some are unexpected. Yeah, Allegiant Lorkin. Yeah. I'm ha I I really like Alita and Lorkin, though. Like, because she I think she does more for him than he could ever do for her.

SPEAKER_02 30:22

Yes, but I was a little afraid when I was first reading this because I was like, I know this isn't like the first woman like he's been with.

SPEAKER_04 30:30

But it's her first.

SPEAKER_02 30:32

But it's yes, guy. But it's her first real, and I'm like, this man hurts her. Yeah, I was all when Ailen and Aiden.

SPEAKER_04 30:40

Well, it was Ailen, Manon, and Aiden, and they're like, and Manon said, your claim on her is laugh.

SPEAKER_02 30:48

I was like, okay, this man hurts her. And then when she said that, I was like, yep, what Manon said, like, and Aiden was like, I know Ailen will melt your bones, but I'm pretty sure she'll let me break a few first.

SPEAKER_04 30:59

Like the fact that all of them are just like, don't mess with the lead, she's ours, she's ours, even though he's they all just remet her, except for Manon. But it's just so funny because yeah, she is the human, the normal one of the group. Yeah, she has no powers. No, I mean she has really great intuition, but she does how that's aided by Anith.

SPEAKER_02 31:20

Yes, but she's not she's not a warrior, she's not like Aiden. She can't, well, she can kind of she can defend herself. We've seen it before.

SPEAKER_04 31:27

I mean with the Ilkin.

SPEAKER_02 31:28

Yeah, she can't wield a blade like Aiden. She does not have like the she has black uh iron teeth blood in her, but yeah, she doesn't have like true power or speed or anything like that, and she doesn't have fire magic or anything. So like she is a true human when you could put her in that court, yeah. She's the only human.

SPEAKER_04 31:51

Yeah, unless she unless KO comes back, but we'll talk about that later.

SPEAKER_02 31:55

If he if he needs it, if he if he recovers, yeah, we'll see about that.

SPEAKER_04 32:00

Well, based off your reaction, I think we need to talk about ADN.

SPEAKER_02 32:06

Yeah, I wanted to punch him in this part a couple times.

SPEAKER_04 32:10

When the Ilkin were coming into Stone Marshes, it was eight against 500. Yes. Aiden blames Ailen for this attack because she wanted to shout her power to the world. Where are our allies, Ailen? Where are our armies? All we have to show for our efforts is a pirate lord who might very well very I can't talk, might very well change his mind if he hears about this from the wrong lips. Ailen claims the first shot at the Elkin, and then Adian says, Don't miss this time.

SPEAKER_02 32:43

Yeah. So I think there's two parts to this. Looking at it, I still wanted to punch him for the record. Still punchable. He has a very punchable face in this part too, up till like the last couple chapters. Okay. Very punchable face. I think he was part scared. Oh, yeah. And part pissed because he's like, we can't catch a freaking break. Yeah. And everything. Because it's been one, one, one thing after another. And which is what, but that's war. Yeah. Because five out of the eight against the 500 have been in war.

SPEAKER_04 33:18

And they know what happened.

SPEAKER_02 33:20

And he's one of those five.

SPEAKER_04 33:22

So yeah. Well, also to go off of that, I think you're right to say that he was scared because in chapter 56, when she released her power on those Ilkin, um, he thought Ailen was no savior to rally behind, but a cataclysm to be weathered. There had to be a cost to such power. So he he was feeling those strong, fearful emotions, like, I love my cousin, but this is terrifying.

SPEAKER_02 33:47

Yeah. Like, what is the cost for her? Although I did love two things about Alain's response when he was like, Where are our allies? And she was like, So I guess like your perfect phase is over.

SPEAKER_04 33:57

Yeah, I did like that part.

SPEAKER_02 33:59

And then when she was so pissed, she's like, I get the first shot because like Aiden was pissing her off. Like she, it was just like, No, you need everyone is telling her what to do.

SPEAKER_04 34:09

She's just like, Leave me alone.

SPEAKER_02 34:11

And she's just like, I know exactly what I need to do. I've been siphoning, I've been going down. None of you know. You three Faye Vastors should have recognized that I've been doing this and everything. But then she, I like her doing what she did, I think was a giant middle finger to them as well. Yeah. Of like, by the way, I can still do this. That is true.

SPEAKER_04 34:33

But the well, he in He was a little redeemable though. Yeah, because in chapter 59, he was it after seeing Ansel, it had been he his POV had said he was mad at Ailen for not trusting or telling him of Ansel, uh the Ansel plan. Yes, but he admitted to himself that he never considered the wastes as an ally.

SPEAKER_02 34:57

Well, because they're I say they are in the sense of like Rowan, Gavril, Aiden, Aiden are not thinking like Alen is in the sense of thieves and assassins.

SPEAKER_04 35:11

Because she knows who these people are.

SPEAKER_02 35:13

Exactly. They're thinking in the old traditional Daro allies. Yep. I will say he did redeem himself, I think in 50, I think it was in 57 or 58 when Ansel shows up. And he's like, I I I shouldn't have said, like, where are our allies and everything? Like clearly, she's five steps ahead and everything. But I will say I did see something when I was scrolling on either Instagram or TikTok. Um, and I was going down a rabbit hole unbeknownst to myself because I just started scrolling and scrolling and scrolling.

SPEAKER_04 35:45

Doom scrolling. It was very good.

SPEAKER_02 35:46

Doom scroll, but it was like, and it made me think of this because we were talking about Skulls Bay in part one. Maybe why a little bit of why Aileen isn't sharing all her plans because the last person Aylen shared a plan with.

SPEAKER_04 36:02

Yeah, I talked about that last, I think last book with JD.

SPEAKER_02 36:06

Was Sam?

SPEAKER_04 36:07

Yeah. I have a whole reel on that.

SPEAKER_02 36:09

I was like, I know, but we need to talk about that.

SPEAKER_04 36:12

Well, there was a scene in Queen of Shadows where he had gone up to her and said, Why won't you tell us these things? This was after the reading of the will. And um, she said something along the lines of, What if it cost you your life? Yeah. And yeah, so he knows that's where she's coming from. But ever since she let pl Sam help her plan, she hasn't really let anyone else except for Lysandra.

SPEAKER_02 36:41

Except for Lysandra.

SPEAKER_04 36:42

Because Lysandra kind of thinks along the same lines as she does, I feel like.

SPEAKER_02 36:46

When I think Lysandra is the only excuse me. And I think Lysandra is the only one that's connected to Sam and connected to her past. Like I was kind of saying, who knows how Selena slash Aylen thinks. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 37:05

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 37:05

So she knows she can give a little, and Lysandra's gonna be like, cool. I know I need to know just this little bit. I don't need to know the whole plan. And then figure out the rest. I'd like the sea dragons. The sea dragons. Like she's like, Aileen's gonna tell me this much. I'm gonna figure out this much on my own.

SPEAKER_04 37:22

Well, she's thinking with her whole whole brain, unlike some other characters.

SPEAKER_02 37:25

With half their brain, dudes. I'm just gonna say it. Um, but I will like he he felt guilty for questioning her. And I'm glad he felt guilty because then Ansel shows up and I adore her.

SPEAKER_04 37:38

I know her first words were who gave you permission to use my name in pitfights, Ailen? And then it was like, hello traitor and hello bitch.

SPEAKER_03 37:46

Yeah, something like that. She's like, heck yeah.

SPEAKER_05 37:50

I was like, oh, another friend.

SPEAKER_04 37:53

Well, also with Ansel, like in chapter 60, it had she had been on her way to get Ailen out of Endovir. Which when Selena Selena was set free.

SPEAKER_02 38:08

Can we talk about that for a second?

SPEAKER_04 38:10

Ansel, the one that she tried to kill, even though she gave her a minute.

SPEAKER_02 38:15

An extra minute, an extra minute, actively went to try to get her out of no offense to anyone else on the car court, out of everyone else on that court.

SPEAKER_04 38:28

Well, half of them didn't know her then, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:30

Yeah, yeah, but you know what I mean? Like Aiden didn't even realize he was he was like right over the mountain. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 38:37

But he didn't know she was Selena.

SPEAKER_02 38:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 38:39

So it was just like And out of all the people though, it's Ansel.

SPEAKER_02 38:43

Yeah. Which I think makes it that much better because it's just another person like Lysandra.

SPEAKER_04 38:51

Yeah, and it just proves to everyone else in the court why she asked for her help.

SPEAKER_02 38:56

Well, I think it proves another of like, hey, trust her that she knows what she's doing.

SPEAKER_04 39:03

Well, she also uh what was there was something else about her. Um, oh she started planning that in Queen of Shadows when she was in the fighting pit. She had red hair not just for Arabin's plan, but to get her attention.

SPEAKER_02 39:17

Yeah, and for her to be like, yeah, there was a reason why I had red hair.

SPEAKER_04 39:22

Like, not just one reason, multiple reasons.

SPEAKER_02 39:24

There was multiple, and this was one of them because she knew if her girl heard that somebody was in the fighting pits with red hair and using her name. She'd be like, I know that that's there's only one person, one person who would be bold enough to do that. Because I think if the roles would were reversed and Ansel went in with blonde hair somehow to try to make her red hair blonde, and it said, My name's Selena Sardosian.

SPEAKER_04 39:51

Yeah, it'd be like, Okay, we need to go. Yeah, right away she would have heard that and been like, Who the heck?

SPEAKER_05 39:57

And then been like, okay, we need to go.

SPEAKER_04 40:00

Well, did you want to talk about what happened at the end? The multiple chapters that basically tore everything apart.

SPEAKER_02 40:09

So, yeah, trigger warnings, tear warning, damage, emotional damage, like we said last chapter. But before we do, I forgot about this real quick. We were talking about uh Elite's character growth in chapter 63. Elite stood up to Aiden.

SPEAKER_04 40:28

I know of all people.

SPEAKER_02 40:31

Yeah, because like and then he snapped at her. Yeah, like he snapped at her and was like, and she turned around and be like, I'm not the only one that's afraid that she's not gonna show back up, so chill, kind of thing.

SPEAKER_04 40:42

So it's like because he's family, he can have a bigger like blow up about her freaking lover can.

SPEAKER_02 40:52

True, true. Um, but wait, before we talk about the end, do we want to talk about them reuniting? Do we want wait? Do we want to do happy before the sad or sad and then happy? Let's go ahead and do happy. Okay. You want to do happy and then sad? Yeah, okay. So in chapter 57, our court comes back together.

SPEAKER_01 41:16

I know.

SPEAKER_02 41:18

It's it made me so happy because first I'm gonna backtrack a little bit because in 56 it's where Ali first sees Aitlin, like right before she and leases her fire and everything, and she like stops and like just goes slack because it's the first time in over 10 years that she sees her, and it like just hits her, like, holy crap, she's alive.

SPEAKER_04 41:44

And I've been traveling all this way to find her, and oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 41:46

There she is, kind of thing. Like it's and then holy cow, she's about to use her fire, like talking cover as best as you can in that kind of situation. And then in 57, they obviously get reunited, and but Ali putting herself in front of Lorcan, yeah, when Fenris and Gavel were trying to kill him, the guilt that Fenris felt, I know, because you like it even says, like you could see it in his eyes, so you could see it in his eyes and everything. Poor I I know he felt guilty.

SPEAKER_04 42:19

And well, he kept in one of her POVs, it's like he wouldn't stop apologizing or something like that. Yeah, and I get that.

SPEAKER_02 42:24

I would be too like poor human girl, you just bit her arm, but he they're literally just all reunited because I even wrote down like while she's getting healed by Gavril, she's looking for Aileen. She's like, Where is Ailen? Like, I just saw her, where is she? And the fact that Ailen walks up, and then Aiden walks up, and she's like, Oh my gosh, there you are.

SPEAKER_04 42:53

And the Manon of it.

SPEAKER_02 42:54

And then Manon, and then Manon mouths the word hope of all things.

SPEAKER_04 42:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 43:00

And then, of course, they she then goes into like, I was given the sown, like, which goes into what you were talking about, the small acts of kindness of giving the wool well in cloak chapter 58.

SPEAKER_04 43:14

A Dorian was amazed and felt so ashamed by how harshly he judged Kaltaine for that. Well, in his but I agree, I would have hated her too.

SPEAKER_02 43:27

Yeah, I was about to say, in his defense, you you can judge someone on their actions.

SPEAKER_05 43:31

You try not to judge, but you can judge her on her actions a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 43:35

Oh, yeah, but you can feel you can have pity and empathy for her.

SPEAKER_04 43:38

That's true, but you're correct. It's that small acts of kindness.

SPEAKER_02 43:43

Small acts of yes, and then it all came together because she is literally she turned the tides of everything.

SPEAKER_04 43:50

She did, and Dorian even stated that he's like she just turned the tides in this war.

SPEAKER_02 43:55

Well, and the fact that Lorkin even admitted to Ailen because Aileen was like, Why didn't you take This.

SPEAKER_04 44:00

It wasn't mine to take. Yes. Because of that kindness.

SPEAKER_02 44:04

Because of that kindness. Yep. Because I think he also knew it would have broken a lead.

SPEAKER_04 44:10

Oh, he said that. He there was a moment in the book where he was like, I know if I took this object from her that it would break her because she's never had nothing in her life. Yeah. And I can't do that for I couldn't live with myself if I did that. I've that was I actually wrote down that whole section of what he said or his POV in that moment. And I just didn't add it to my talking notes because I knew we would blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

SPEAKER_02 44:37

We recorded an hour and a half blah far. Yeah. Um, but the fact that when they all came together, because like obviously Aylen's knees hit the ground, Aiden's knees hit the ground, Lead's knees hit the ground, and Manon walks up, and it's just like I felt like it's a great moment. Their little sister came home. Yeah. Basically, she's basically there. Because they also, Ailen and Aiden didn't realize she was alive until Manon told them.

SPEAKER_04 45:05

And then when she was in that delusional state, Manon, she kept remembering people coming in and yelling at her to tell them about a lead. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 45:14

So it was just a happy moment for the tear jerking emotional damage that this book ended on.

SPEAKER_04 45:22

Especially when Aileen told her what her mother said. Tell my lead, I love her so very much or so much.

SPEAKER_02 45:29

Yes, because it even says like she's been holding that by herself for 10 years. For 10 years.

SPEAKER_04 45:35

Sorry if you guys can hear the dog in the background.

SPEAKER_02 45:38

She's the best. As her lawyer, as Emma likes to say for my five-month-old puppy, as her lawyer, she's fine.

SPEAKER_04 45:45

She's just an old lady trying to get comfy.

SPEAKER_02 45:48

Exactly. She's fine.

SPEAKER_04 45:50

Well, did you want to go into the the horrible part?

SPEAKER_02 45:53

Yeah. Maeve's a bitch.

unknown 45:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 45:56

She made Ailen use all of her power, all of her reserves by setting the fire because she knew she'd try to put it out, by whispering to Morath about where she would be in the stone marshes. So the ilking came. And then her other plan was the battle, but she didn't know Ailen would skip it out on that for the witch.

SPEAKER_02 46:16

Yeah, she wasn't planning on that.

SPEAKER_04 46:17

But but she made sure Ailen was drained or nearly drained by the time Manon strolled in and said, Hey, you're coming with me.

SPEAKER_02 46:26

I mean, she's not not smart.

SPEAKER_01 46:29

I say Manon, Mave.

SPEAKER_02 46:30

Sorry, I knew what she meant. But like she's not not smart. That doesn't make her any less of a bitch, though.

SPEAKER_04 46:36

I know. She's horrible. And the way she was like, because Gabriel values honor, yeah, right away severed his bond, because she knows Fenris would want to be a part of something like Aileen has, yes, keeps him chained to her. And because Lorcan, this one's debatable, but because like he was self-righteous, I think she said, um she has no use for him in her court. So severed his bond. But I get that. I'm kind of glad.

SPEAKER_02 47:09

I would be glad if I were Lorcan, but I mean, I would first of all, I obviously cried when I read this. Second of all, I hated Lorcan. Oh yeah. When first reading this because it was very much like Lorcan put out the call.

SPEAKER_04 47:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 47:28

She showed up.

SPEAKER_04 47:29

And Ailen knew that yes, it was a warning that the Ilkin were coming, but also knew it was a summing summoning for Maeve. She knew and she planned accordingly. Yeah. AKA spoilers marrying Rowan. So Terrison had a king.

SPEAKER_02 47:46

Because she didn't plan on coming back.

SPEAKER_04 47:48

Yeah. Making sure Lace Lysandra could act as her. But there were Lorcan, his POV right before the end of the very end of the book, he could only think of the blood that was surrounding him and the hole in his chest.

SPEAKER_02 48:06

Um yeah, because Alid was like, go the hell away. I am not loyal to you anymore. You just I just got my queen back and you ripped her away from me.

SPEAKER_04 48:16

That was justified, I feel like. Yeah. But he looked at Rowan and he he was like, I can't believe her action. She gave Terracine a king. She admitted he admitted to himself that he had been so wrong. And he was just, he couldn't process how wrong he had been in that moment. And I was like, good, suffer, think that, because you were wrong in that moment.

SPEAKER_02 48:41

He was because even throughout this part too, I wish I would have counted actually, look thinking about it now. He very rarely referred to her Aileen by her name. Oh yeah. No. She was bitch queen, fire breathing bitch queen, and everything. I think your queen. Your queen. Like it was very anger. So I mean, I hate to say I can get why.

SPEAKER_04 49:04

I do too, but also it's like, dude. Yeah, come on.

SPEAKER_02 49:09

But it's the fact that it was then used as a punishment that Kairn was the one to torture Rowan's lover after Rowan was the one who disciplined him, is also another layer.

SPEAKER_04 49:28

Sorry, I had to let the dog out. You're good. It's true though. And it's Kairn just bringing that up, like wasn't it Karen who punished all of them after Miss Word whipped them?

SPEAKER_02 49:46

Yes. Yeah. He did. Because he strung up Lorkin to the post for two days and would whip him at his leisure.

SPEAKER_04 49:51

And then um Aileen her whipping on the beach.

SPEAKER_02 49:57

Oh, he got sick pleasure out of that.

SPEAKER_04 49:59

Oh yeah. And the fact that like there was so much blood, more than a lot it was mentioned in a lot of POVs, more than any of them had seen after some a whipping like that or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 50:13

Yeah.

unknown 50:16

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 50:17

It's just it's just because hard to imagine. It's very hard to imagine because Maeve kept making her start over the count because wasn't it 10 lashes? Yeah, but she wouldn't count. She wouldn't count because she was trying to buy time. She was trying to stall. Yep.

SPEAKER_04 50:32

And well, that's another thing is the whole time she was like saying, um her only tool and her downfall, she had run out of it and had no idea what to do. And that's when Maeve Armada Armada had shown up.

SPEAKER_01 50:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 50:51

And you see it over and over again, the time thing, but especially when she heard that soldier soldier say that, hey, people are coming. We should leave. Resume this another time.

SPEAKER_01 51:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 51:06

And he he was right there. Rowan was right there.

SPEAKER_02 51:09

Right there. And the fact that I'm surprised Lorcan was able to walk off that beach. Yeah. I mean, considering how testy Rowan was, like, even like after they, you know, got intimate and like and everything, and the fact that Lorcan still had his head.

SPEAKER_04 51:28

Well, immediately after, where is my wife?

SPEAKER_02 51:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 51:32

And that's the first time we find out they're all married, they're married.

SPEAKER_02 51:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 51:35

But it's also like he had just heard about the mate thing too. Lorcan had heard about that. They're mate. You have to tell Rowan. Yeah. And then Rowan's like, I suspect it, but I didn't want to accept it because of Lyria. Which I get, but like, Maeve is just a conniving bitch.

SPEAKER_02 51:55

I know. And like the fact that she forced him to mate with Lyria. Like, there's no other, like, there probably is a much better, like, intelligent way to say it, but there really isn't in my eyes at this moment that Maeve is a conniving bitch. Yeah, she is.

SPEAKER_04 52:09

She really is. I mean, all she wanted is to take Ailen, yeah, make her hers, and then get the word keys. Speaking of word keys, yay for Mana and having them in her pocket.

SPEAKER_02 52:21

Well, Ailen for thinking five steps ahead to keep Maeve distracted to be able to slip them to Mana.

SPEAKER_04 52:27

Yeah. In front of everyone because everyone was looking at her. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 52:30

But because she's a thief and she can reverse.

SPEAKER_03 52:35

The dog opened the door.

SPEAKER_02 52:38

You opened the door? Hi, sweet girl. Can you lay down? Marley? Sit. Good girl. Good girl, Marley girl. That's my Marley girl.

SPEAKER_04 52:47

Don't lick. Thank you. No licking. Um but the first time I ever read this book, and Maeve was just standing there. I was like, why won't you do something? Especially with a lead there. You love a lead. But then the keys. It makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 53:09

But for Manon, yes. For Manon, yes. I recognizing that now. But also I I think at that point, Manon, at that point, she hadn't realized the 13 were alive either. So she didn't realize well, the 12, but she hadn't realized how they were part of the uh battle. Okay. So I don't think she had truly decided until then how she was going to be part of the war. Oh no, she just knew she had to hold on to the keys away from get them to Rowan and Dorian and everything like that. So I knew she was like, I know this is my role, but Lorcan, like I understand why a lead was so heartbreak broken and pissed because she was like, You just stood there. Yeah. You you stood there. Gavril at least tried to fight it. Fenris in his own right tried. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 54:01

Well, Devil's advocate. Yeah, Lorcan was under Maeve's control, Devil's Advocate. Yeah. But yes, the other two did try to fight it more.

SPEAKER_02 54:12

Because they knew it was wrong. Yep. But like Elite even says, I wish um I wrote it down.

SPEAKER_04 54:20

She was like, I will always see you crawling to him or her after her.

SPEAKER_02 54:23

Yeah. Yeah. The woman you love. Yeah. If you want it. Yeah. Actually.

SPEAKER_04 54:28

I will always see you crawling to her. That was like chapter 70, maybe.

SPEAKER_05 54:33

My bookmarks.

SPEAKER_04 54:36

Yeah. Well keep going. The one thing that the first time I read this was as soon as as soon as they had their little moment and they were just standing around, they see Ansel coming up on her robot. Robot. Robo. Gosh, I am sorry. I'm having a moment tonight. Um on her longboat with Ind and Celine. I think no, Celine wasn't there, but with Inda. Um they see another longboat coming.

SPEAKER_01 55:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 55:14

But she was this close. Ailen was that close to seeing Galen show up. Yeah. And then now even five minutes later, to seeing Ilias show up. And then seeing these massive boats out in the distance and hundreds of silent assassins. That's the part that kills me. Is she was that close to seeing them all.

SPEAKER_02 55:40

She was. She was so close. And even like Well, here's I haven't gotten to it, but even here, um, Maeve is like, uh, why don't why doesn't my second tell me so busy, Lorkin? You've been so, so busy these months. His voice was hoarse as he lowered his head. I did it for you, Majesty. Then where is my ring? Where are my keys? A ring. Alid was willing to bet it was the golden one on her own finger, hidden beneath her other hand as she clenched them before her. But Lorcan pointed his chin toward Ailen. She has them. Two keys. Cold clang through Alid. Lorcan. The guard's blade twitched at her throat. Ailen only leveled a cool stare at Logan. He didn't look at either Alid or Ailen. Didn't so much as acknowledge their existence as he went on. Ailen has two and probably has a good inkling where uh Erwin hides the third. Lorcan, Alid pleaded. No, no, he wasn't about to do this, about to betray them again. Yep. Be quiet, he growled at her, meaning Alid.

SPEAKER_05 56:40

So he could still say his own words. Be quiet.

SPEAKER_04 56:43

Yeah. Yeah. He was it was bad. It was um. It was chapter 74, I think. Probably.

SPEAKER_02 56:55

Hold on, I'm getting there.

SPEAKER_04 56:57

I think. But yeah.

SPEAKER_02 57:03

So here it is again. Sorry. I'm I'm like You're good.

SPEAKER_05 57:06

I want to hear.

SPEAKER_02 57:07

Um Fenris and Gavril show up. Let her go, Fenris growled at the dark queen advancing a step. Let her go now. Maeve turn her head, that darkness still lashing Ailen. Look who finally arrived. Another set of traitors. What a valiant effort you made, Fenris, delaying your arrival on this beach for as long as you could withstand my summons. Did you enjoy playing loyal subject while panting after the young queen of fire? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 57:34

He prov he stayed away as long as he could.

SPEAKER_02 57:36

Yeah. Stop it, Fenris snapped. Mave, please, Gavril said, exposing his palms to her. Mave, the queen crooned, not majesty. Has the line gone a bit feral? Perhaps too much time with his unchecked half-breed bastard.

SPEAKER_04 57:53

AKA Gavriel. Oh, wait. Aiden. Aiden. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 57:57

But it's even like they have changed. Gavril and Fenris have changed and everything, but I'm not gonna find it. They have.

SPEAKER_04 58:04

Oh no, it's like in 74.

SPEAKER_02 58:08

Nope. Oh, we passed it. You find it. Okay. But basically, Elite is like pissed at him for not doing anything and betraying them after already signaling the call and calling Maeve there. And she's basically very it's after the 13 arrive. Because I want to say she goes to Astron at one point after basically telling Lorcan off.

SPEAKER_04 58:30

It's right there.

SPEAKER_02 58:32

74.

SPEAKER_04 58:33

Page 673. Nothing of her, nothing of her in the raw voice, as Alid said to Lorcan, I hope you spend the rest of your miserable, immortal life suffering. I hope you spend it alone. I hope you live with regret and guilt in your heart and never find a way to endure it. Then she was heading for the 13.

SPEAKER_02 58:54

Yes. See, I knew it was she was heading to 13. So I was like, it's after 13 show up.

SPEAKER_04 58:59

Yeah. And then, well, before that, even Adian snapped to Lysand Lysandra, you can go to hell. You can go to hell, you lying bitch. So they're all like fracturing in some small way.

SPEAKER_02 59:10

Yeah, because this was after Lysandra and Aiden um promised they would go forward with honesty in their relationship.

SPEAKER_04 59:18

True.

SPEAKER_02 59:19

But Lysandra was willing to sacrifice her future, herself, for her queen. For her queen. Yep. By pretending to be her, shape-shifting into Ailen.

SPEAKER_04 59:32

Well, be also because Aileen was willing to sacrifice herself for all of them.

SPEAKER_02 59:35

For all of them. A. B, Manon even says it for a Iron Teeth, which is how the 13 then get involved of like, we're this is what we're gonna do. But then it goes into, like you said, their fracturing. So Rowan just lost his wife. Lysandra lied to Adian, and Vorkin betrayed Elite. And it's like Aylen leaves, shit hits the fan.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:05

Yeah, that's basically what happens. Well, also, it's so traumatic how she is taken. Um, she's put in an iron coffin with a mask over her face, laying bare chested, but on her raw back that was just ripped, she has uh chains around her ankles and wrists, and she has one around her neck.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:27

Which is just it's worse than what she had in a Dover, too.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:30

Yeah, it is. And Manon in her POV, when she sees her being loaded, she says, I hope that she passes out and is not awake for this whole whole trip, but I also hope she survives so she can come back and kill or be killed for all of us again.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:48

Like it's sad. It's so sad because it's just But I feel like there was there was a little bit of hope at the end too, because it was um Rowan, I think, was looking at all the allies and he was like, he added, hopefully Kale and Nessaran would fr would come back with with Southern Continent support. Ailen had given us hope. And then when you're reading about Dorian planning to go off with the 13, there is another sense of hope there because she's gonna go find the Krockens. Yeah, then there's another sense of hope when it's Gavriel, Lorcan, Alid, and Rowan planning all to go together.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:28

Yeah, to go get because they knew Fenris was gonna leave them clues. Like it even says, like Fenris is with her, she he's going to try to leave. Yeah. And I think of all between Gavril, Lorcan, and Fenris to be the ones to be chained, still chained to Mave to go back with Ailen. It needed to be Fenris.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:48

It did. Especially when we get to his next part in Kingdom of Ash. Yes. For those who have not read it, we're not gonna spoil it, but no, no. It is probably he is probably the most underrated side character in any series. That's how I feel about Fenris.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:06

Which is yes, and just to add on that, I wish there was another book to just continue on. Anyways, it'll happen.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:16

Any anything else you want to say?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:18

Yeah, I got lots of things. Okay, hold on. So to go back to the Mass first, really quickly. In chapter 52, before, like the first time I read this, before we realized it was Ilkin, the way they described it, okay, it was darkness had begun to spread across the stars, wiping them out one by one. That's like Reese out of Akatar, which like so. When I first read this, I like dropped my book and I was like, Is what is it? Do we have another ally? And like I picked it up, I was like, shit. It's not, but that's okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:00

It's funny because I read Throne of Glass first out of all the series. Then it was Avatar, then Crescent City.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:06

So I read Akatar, Throne of Glass, then Crescent City. Which makes sense. Yeah. Well, Crescent City was hard for me to get through. Not to well, that's a different the first book was hard for me to get to.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:17

It's funny because same, but I still like the first book of Crescent City way better than the other two.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:23

I like the ending of the first book.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:24

Me too. The vacuum? Okay. Wait, no off topic. No off topic. The vacuum topic.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:31

Um, and then even more so, like I just said, I read Akatar, then Throne of Glass, then Crescent City. So something I was talking to Hema about before we hit record was also before you move on.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:42

Yeah, there's talks that Mave and Reese are kind of like the same because of that.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:49

Like oh, that power, yeah, the darkness.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:52

Okay, keep going. Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:54

Well, that's what makes me think. Yeah, I know. We that's a whole other conversation. Um, and everything. You guys snap, sweet girl. Um we were to I brought this up because Akitar was the first series I read. And if you read Akatar, you know the intimate scenes are much more graphic. Yes. So I just said, Tamma, I was like, I think it's very interesting that these scenes here with the three couples are more implied. Yes, compared to how detailed they were in Akatar. But also she was younger when she wrote this.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:34

Yeah, but well, actually, no, not this one. I think she was starting to write, yeah, because that was out already. Akatar was? Yeah, Court of Mist Inferior was out already. Yeah, so so never mind. Maybe she was just sticking with the style maybe, but it means it's a subplot in Throne of Glass.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:53

It is very much a subplot, which I think is very interesting because it was almost a subplot. It's kind of a plot, but it's like a sub-subplot.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:02

In Aquatar. But I just find it very interesting that here it's more implied. Yes. We don't get to see any future heirs.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:11

But in Avatar, we do. Marley and everything. So it's like, okay, Sarah J. Mass, just very curious. I mean, if you want to experiment on her writing style, love it. But also, okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:28

Just like if you tell us you wanted more without telling us you want more.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:31

No, I was just like, I well, because I when I read it, I was like, what? Like I went back and I was like, oh, this is very much just implied.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:40

Yeah, a lot of it is like there are some parts that are like she spells it out, but a lot of it is very implied for sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:46

In this series, yes. And like after reading like the three page intimate scene in one of the Avatar books.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:53

Chapter 55.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:54

Something like that. And then just having like a paragraph where this is implied. You can see where it was like, what?

SPEAKER_04 1:06:00

Especially in uh Kingdom of Ash.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:04

Yeah, see. See?

SPEAKER_02 1:06:06

Anyway, what did he do? Exactly. Um 56. When they all when Lorkin sees the court, Gavril, Fenris, and everything before she unleashes, he notes it of a court that wouldn't just change the world. It would start the world over.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:30

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:31

A court that could conquer this world and any other if it wished. Um, which made me also link it back to yes, technically the series is done.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:52

I'm not saying she went and conquered any more worlds, but what reach influence I'm hoping that there will be more connections, kind of like how Crescent City connected with Akatar.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:05

And Throne of Glass. Yeah, but like Because what's her face is heir of Branham.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:09

Yeah, true. But I mean more connections. So hopefully.

unknown 1:07:14

More, more, more.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:15

I need more. Um, I did think it was kind of a fun little back throwback of in chapter 53 when they're all sitting down and eating, and I Aiden looks at Aylen and then they're talking about Dorian, and yeah, he goes, He still eats like a fine lady.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:37

Yeah, that was great. That was great.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:39

Because it's just, oh, let's just comment on that because 10 years ago is when life changed for everyone. So it was nice, a lot, nice little fun moment. Um in 48, chapter 48 is when Manon and Ailen get reunited in the sense of manon's healed a little bit. Yes. That kind of thing. I noted it as two sisters fighting.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:07

It can read like that for sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:09

Because it's very much Manon can call Ailen out of things like and still keep her head. Yep. Yeah. And then although it sound advice from and it sound advice from someone else that has been at war, because then that goes into the Nameless is my price whole thing as well. Um my notes.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:37

There's just so much that happens in part two.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:40

There is there's there's a lot. Oh, we haven't talked about this. We mentioned it, but Nahima.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:50

Yeah. When she saw her again, looking so young and healthy.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:53

Well, that and how I don't want to say Nahima set things in motion, but Nahima was a bigger part in what we all originally thought.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:05

When you read these parts for the first time, when they see everything in the witch mirror, it is in a way more devastating. And can we talk going off of that? But like her you said it earlier, her Alina and Nahemia had basically chosen Ailen. Yeah. Chose to break her so she can become who she needed to be. Yes. But Alina, she wanted Ailen to live and even saved her. Gave up, yeah, she gave up her eternal soul to go home with Gavin and her kids and all that, um, to save Ailen in that moment when she fell into the river because they were gonna take her then.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:50

And to like fix everything then, so to speak. And I say fix in very loose quotation marks, but then at the same time, like you said, Alina chose to save her because she's like, No, she wanted Ailen to have some sort of life.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:04

Well, the first m moment was when she was fighting to hold on to that log, she said, You did not yield. Yeah. Alina said that, and that's a very good quote that we will see again. But she couldn't let a child not live after fighting so hard to live. And even though there was even a quote where she said, even though I knew who he was, she had a flick of magic, brought Arabin over, and he saved saved her.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:35

Well, I think she saw the fight in her and was like, if anyone's gonna train the fight in her, it's gonna be Arabin. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:43

But um Yeah, she gave up her eternal life with Gavin to save it, give Ailen a few more years.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:50

Do you think it's I think part of it is she wanted her to have some of a life, but I think part of it is guilt for Oh, there's definitely guilt. The guilt for extending that this is gonna have to be passed on to another generation.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:04

She definitely Alina feels so guilty for that. Oh yeah. She she was like, I I didn't know and I'm so so sorry, but also I she thought a future person in her bloodline would be uh okay to deal with in Mala's bloodline. Yeah, she'd be like, it's a stranger, and then she watched Aileen and it became more of a like, I want to say more of like a daughter to her. Yeah, it became someone I'm guiding uh that's not just a cyan. She is someone that I've come to care about her life and how she's living it.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:42

Yes. But then I I just hated that I don't want to say hated, I just did not like that. Nahima went looking.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:50

She was called, went looking. She was ready to, she thought she was the one who had to be sacrificed.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:57

Which kudos for her being ready.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:00

But also then the decision was made for Ailen. It was another decision made for Ailen by someone that Ailen ended up trusting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:11

It's that whole thing where she has always been chained. She has never really been free.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:16

And that was a big thing in throwing a glass. Like telling Kale I've or and in Crown of Midnight too, I've never been free.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:26

Right, Mark? Well, even now she's not. I mean, literally and figuratively, like she's chained to these expectations of her crown her throne. She's changed, uh, chained literally to Maeve at this point at the end of this book, and so on and so forth. And like she's chained to Nameless is my price.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:44

And even when Elite first saw her, she noticed the chain scars on her wrists.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:49

Yeah. That was one of the, if not the first thing.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:52

Oh, yeah. It's it's just how much she su suffered and then uh uh to be chosen for this uh again. Was it just heartbreaking? Emotional damage, such emotional damage.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:06

And I wish like this episode would be happier, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:09

But this part two is just such emotional damage, and then like when you read it, you are actually in it, and especially for the first time, you're just like, oh my gosh, what did I just read? Yeah, and it is so heartbreaking, and but it's what makes this so good because you are rooting for these characters, you very much are, and then all of a sudden it's like, yeah, they have hope, and I have a little bit after reading that part about the allies, but also at the same time, it's like, where's Aileen? Yeah, how are they gonna get her? And then when you finally do get to Kingdom of Ash, it's like, holy cow, this is bad.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:46

It's it's it's it's that suspense that has you sitting on the edge of your seat. And I'm very grateful that when I read this, all the books were out, so I did not have to wait. I had to wait a couple of years. I I'm very thankful for that. Like I'm having to deal with that right now with Fourth Wing. You're having to deal with that with Fourth Wing too.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:05

Like I at this point, I'm just like, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:09

I just in the sense of like uh when I first read, like I downloaded all these. I did end up getting physical copies of this series and everything, but I downloaded all of them. And this was one of the series, like, oh nope. Started one, went to the other, went to the next, went to the next, went to the next. Like it was a couple of 3 a.m. kind of mornings of reading. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:33

It's one you can't put down.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:34

No, it's absolutely not. Um, hold on. I mentioned the Bitch Queen. Uh oh, I did say, uh, because Lorcan even had this thought in chapter 43 if how Mave got a lead. And I literally wrote, Mave can't have a lead. We riot if Lorcan would let that happen. Plus, because Lorcan thought if uh Maeve would find her useful. Um, but at least he partly dreaded the thought.

unknown 1:15:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:07

Because then he goes on, it's when he was mad at her, and then he goes on to explain how Ailen and Selena are the same person, um, which he wasn't asked for how he did that.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:18

Yeah, he said, if you're gonna judge me, you better judge your queen.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:21

Queen. Yeah, well, bitch queen. It was a bitch queen again. Um, but I think he's more pissed because he got tricked by a child, and Elite is not a child, but compared to his 500-year-old.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:35

Yeah, but he is she is this wisp of a human that's yes, yes, yes, yes. Barely in her adult years.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:42

Do you remember in chapter 42? Bring uh circling back to Nahima real quick, she sketched a word mark over Dorian's chest. Do you remember when that happened?

SPEAKER_04 1:15:56

Yeah, they were at the uh a party slash bowl, and um Dorian was watching Kale dance with Selena outside. And she's like, You should leave them alone. I and he's like, I've already planned to. Okay. And then she's like, You and I are different, and then she started poking at his chest, but really she was okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:19

Okay, that's I was like, I I did not go back and start reading from one. I literally picked up Empire Storms and picked up from there to read. So I was like, when did this happen again?

SPEAKER_04 1:16:31

That was Crown of Midnight for sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:33

Okay, and then I did think it was interesting how Fenris's power was slipping between folds in the world, is how is it it's described. Yep. So what about the other worlds? Yep. But I also want to say because we learned more about Fenris's uh background, like we learned a little bit more of Lorcan's in part one. I forgot that his mother was a warrior, yeah, like both of his parents were, but definitely his mother. And I think it's partly why he likes Ailen so much because she reminds him of her mom.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:05

Yeah, yeah, even though she did stay home with the twins, she still defended their land. She was a warrior. Um, yeah, she was definitely a strong woman, and that's why I think he said yes, or Connell said yes to Maeve because he wanted that warrior mother figure again or something. And Connell had thought that it would be something like Ailen's court, even though Ailen didn't have a court then. Yeah. And then Finries knew right away it wasn't gonna be like their mom. No, it wasn't gonna be like someone like Ailen.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:39

Not at all. That's why he joined to protect his brother. His brother breaks my heart.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:47

Um, but no, I think um, I mentioned the witch mirror. Oh, I did not mention this in the last part, and I want to mention again before I forgot again. Okay. Um Manon, okay, was basically put on trial. It goes back to the similarities of Manon and Ailen's parallel.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:06

Manon was put on trial for killing a low yellow legs after Ailen had killed yellow legs.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:14

Even though she denied it and it was a um defense.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:18

It was self-defense. I don't know what you're talking about. Yeah, that's really good. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:23

Um, but no, I think this one, I think this one, because of how it ended, it's not so like it's definitely not, we're not laughing, laughing like we were last part. But it's still, I feel like it's so impactful because we were laughing so much last part. We are, and then this part, you're we're just like, oh, you know, it's yeah, it's just it's sad, it's very sad.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:45

There were some, I mean, there were some fun parts, but yeah, it's a it's a heavy part, it's a detailed, heavy part, too.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:53

This is when you were correct last episode saying this is the beginning of the end, basically. Like it is. This is the chain reaction that's finishes it all.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:07

Yep. And we have to wait.

unknown 1:19:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:10

Not like you rate it. I will rate it. Um, I will still say uh I'm gonna go with a three.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:18

Cool. I did three, six just because of the emotional damage.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:23

See, I knock off points for emotional damage.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:26

Uh-uh. You give me emotional damage, and I'm like, yes. I don't have enough emotional damage. I don't need more. Well, it distracts me from other parts of craziness of life. That is true.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:37

That is true. But our next one is gonna, well, no, you and JD.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:42

Yeah, so JD he misses talking to everyone and in the mic, so he wanted to come back. So we're giving Heather a break this time.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:51

Oh, darn.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:52

And for JD, we are reading the only one left. This is by Riley Sager and it is a thriller. It's a gothic house of horrors that carries you along effortlessly before delivering a symphony of twists so shocking it took my breath away. That was a quote or blurb by Megan Abbott.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:11

Ooh.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:12

But basically, it is a thriller, kind of like a mystery of what a crime that happened in the past. So I've heard three-fall let me.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:20

Yeah, very good things. It's on my list. I have four TBRs, if I'm being honest, that are just endlessly long. But after me and JD do that one, then we're gonna do Tower of Dawn. My least favorite book in the series. It's not my least favorite. I didn't understand why KL got his own book for well.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:41

I guess we're gonna need to talk about that when we meet next. Yes, we will.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:46

We will, but Jadine wants to come and JD Boo can come back for a week.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:51

Yeah. Just a week. Just a week. But thanks for coming to our sad TED Talk. Uh thank you, have you? Of course, Emma Boo.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:01

Hopefully, we'll not be so sad on the next one together, but we won't be.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:07

But you guys comment, like, subscribe. Hopefully, you enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_05 1:21:12

Bye. Bye.