Managed to slide it over her waist and tuck her into him. She made a soft sound and nuzzled her head into his neck. Something deep in him shifted and settled. (HOEAB)
Gwyn smiled broadly. βThank you.β Azriel dipped his head in a sketch of a bow, something restless settling in him. Even his shadows had calmed. As if content to lounge on his shoulders and watch.
βYou could use some joy,β Hunt said quietly. Something bright sparked in her chest. βSo could you,β she said, attempting to press the opal back into his palm. (HOEAB)
She deserves something as beautiful as this. I thank you for the joy it shall bring to her. Something sparked in Azriel's chest, but he only nodded his thanks and left.
Hunt had done that for her. She'd never stop being grateful for itβfor him. Bryce's heart tightened and something brighter than starlight filled her veins. It remained, shimmering and secret, glowing inside her for the rest of the day. (HOSAB)
But Azriel tucked away the thought, consciously erasing the slight smile it brought to his face. Buried the image down deep, where it glowed quietly. A thing of secret, lovely beauty.
His lightning flowed into her like a river, and he could have sworn he heard a beautiful sort of music between their souls as Bryce said, "We need reinforcements." (HOSAB)
Azriel entered the warmth of the stairwell, and as he descended, he could have sworn a faint, beautiful singing followed him. Could have sworn his shadows sang in answer.
Managed to slide it over her waist and tuck her into him. She made a soft sound and nuzzled her head into his neck. Something deep in him shifted and settled. (HOEAB)
Gwyn smiled broadly. βThank you.β Azriel dipped his head in a sketch of a bow, something restless settling in him. Even his shadows had calmed. As if content to lounge on his shoulders and watch.
βYou could use some joy,β Hunt said quietly. Something bright sparked in her chest. βSo could you,β she said, attempting to press the opal back into his palm. (HOEAB)
She deserves something as beautiful as this. I thank you for the joy it shall bring to her. Something sparked in Azriel's chest, but he only nodded his thanks and left.
Hunt had done that for her. She'd never stop being grateful for itβfor him. Bryce's heart tightened and something brighter than starlight filled her veins. It remained, shimmering and secret, glowing inside her for the rest of the day. (HOSAB)
But Azriel tucked away the thought, consciously erasing the slight smile it brought to his face. Buried the image down deep, where it glowed quietly. A thing of secret, lovely beauty.
His lightning flowed into her like a river, and he could have sworn he heard a beautiful sort of music between their souls as Bryce said, "We need reinforcements." (HOSAB)
Azriel entered the warmth of the stairwell, and as he descended, he could have sworn a faint, beautiful singing followed him. Could have sworn his shadows sang in answer.
Theory: Were the Illyrians originally demons from Hel that Aidas (or Apollion or maybe even Theia) sent with Theiaβs second daughter through the Rift to protect her and Truth-Teller?
In HOSAB, we again learned that Theia (and Fionn) had two daughters: Helena, and a second daughter. While Helena was forced to wed Pelias and remained in Midgard, no one knows what happened to her second daughter. Indeed, Aidas*** says she disappeared into the night, and he never learned her fate.
(***the real Aidas of course might know where Theiaβs second daughter is)
The Starsword has a twin, without which the Starsword does not have (all of) itβs powers. As far as the history books show, Gwydionβs twin was lost sometime during the first wars:
We also learn in HOSAB that the Starsword is Gwydion, and that itβs twin is Truth-Teller, which is in Prythian:
Which means somehow Truth-Teller got from Midgard and Theia/Peliasβs possession back to Prythian.
So how did Truth-Teller get back to Prythian?
My best guess is that Theiaβs second daughter took Truth-Teller through the Rift to keep Pelias from being able to use it, and from being able to use Gwydion at its full power. Originally I wondered if she stole it from him after he killed her mother, but this passage gives me pause:
Here, Rigelus is talking about how the Asteriβs attempt to go back to Prythian to seek revenge on the Fae who defeated the daglan (asteri) there was thwarted by βyour ancestor who also bore that star on her chest.β Which to me is saying that a *female* closed the rift, not Pelias. So was it Theia before Pelias slew her, or was it Helena after Theia died? Which one had a scar like Bryceβs on her chest?
If it was Theia, did she give her second daughter the knife and tell her to flee with it through the rift to protect her people and stop Pelias from getting to full power?
If it was Helena, was this her last act of defiance to stop Pelias and the Asteri, and to protect her people? To take the knife from Pelias, and to stop the Asteri from returning to Prythian?
Anyways, back to the point: I think Theia and Fionnβs second daughter fled through the rift with Truth-Teller, returning it to Prythian.
And I donβt think she went alone.
At the beginning of HOSAB, Bryce is at the ballet looking at art of the first wars:
βAn army of winged demons swooping down from the skies upon a terrestrial army gathered on a plain below.β And Bryce later remembers the leathery wings of the demons she killed in HOEAB.
An army of winged soldiersβsounds familiar.
Hunt later describes Apollionβs wings as leathery:
And when Bryce sees Azriel, she says he has βdemon wingsβ and later describes his and Rhysβs wings as βleathery.β
β¦
Are Illyrians descended from demons? Do they descend from the flying winged demons in Helβs armies from the first war?
We also learn that Apollion slew Pelias for his brother Aidas, who loved Theia. To avenge what Pelias did to Theia.
Did Aidas or Apollion (or maybe even Theia) send a group of Helβs winged demon soldiers through the Rift with Theiaβs second daughter to protect her and see her through safely?
Indeed, the Illyrians are bred soldiers who are brutal and old-fashioned in their ways. Is this because they were born and bred warriors from Hel, trained to fight against the Asteri? (Thanks @wingedblooms for this connection)
And if the Rift is under or on Ramiel as I suspect it might be, did they come through in the Illyrian mountains and make their home there, guarding and hiding what Theiaβs daughter brought through the RiftβTruth-Teller?
Is that why there are Illyrian runes on the scabbard? And are those really runes from Hel?
Are the Illyrians still tasked with guarding the Rift, to stop the Asteri if they try to come back through to regain Prythian?
If the Rift is under Ramiel, what else might be there? What else might the Illyrians be protecting?
And one last thought (again, thanks to @wingedblooms for helping me with this idea and brainstorming with me):
Could Theiaβs second daughter have mated with one of the Illyrians/demons that helped her through, and could her (and Theia and Fionnβs) bloodline be in the Illyrian line?
We know Helena had shadow powers as well as starborn powersβcould her sister have had them too?
Could that be where Azrielβs shadowsinging ability comes fromβTheiaβs second daughter?
And if thatβs the case, he is an heir of Fionn, and to Truth-Teller:
Theia and Pelias killed Fionn, βtaking some of his bloodlineβs most powerful and precious weapons.β
Weapons. Not weapon. Gwydion and Truth-Teller are two of Fionnβs bloodlineβs most powerful weapons. And if Azriel descends from Theia and Fionn, theyβre his bloodlineβs weapons too.
And Azriel has one of them. Had had it for centuries.
Did it choose him? Is that how he found it? Was he drawn to it? Did Azriel βwinβ Truth-Teller in a similar way that Ruhn won the Starsword? And does that mean Azriel can wield Truth-Teller and its powers?
And does this mean that Rhys is also an heir to Gwydion and Truth-Teller, given the hints we got that Ruhn and Rhys are related? That Gwydion and Truth-Teller are Rhysβs bloodlineβs weapons as well?
I think Azriel and Elain are certain to go to Ramiel in ACOTAR 5 to search for the fourth trove or for the trove weapons. To see what is under Ramiel. And I wonder if we might discover more about the Illyrianβs history then, and what theyβve been guarding.
And one final question: was Elain also able to use Truth-Tellerβs powers, and how? Is it because she is starborn, or simply because she was made? Or is it something else? Was Truth-Teller pointing to several connections between Azriel and Elain when it formed that bridge between them? True mates, but also starborn, or heirs to TT?
Wait, a final final question! Is Theiaβs second daughter also the fae warrior that trapped Koschei????
Thanks as always to my friends for talking to me about my theories, especially @offtorivendell (who has a different theory about the Illyrians I think sheβll be posting about soon) @psychee92 @merymoonbeam @avallens and, as already mentioned, @wingedblooms
She looked up at him, her face so trusting and hopeful and open that he knew she had no idea that he had done unspeakable things that sullied his hands far beyond their scars. Such terrible things that it was a sacrilege for his fingers to skin, tainting her with his presence.
"The Cauldron chose three sisters. Tell me how it's possible that my two brothers are with two of those sisters, yet the third was given to another."
Azriel said nothing. He hadn't gotten that far with his planning, certainly not beyond the fantasies he pleasured himself to. Β
He'd been so vigilant about keeping away from Elain as much as possible, and had stayed up here to avoid her, and tonight...tonight had proved he 'd been right to do so. Β
I'll try to keep it simple, and if you are an Elr*el reading this I suggest you do not continue because you'll be upset and I won't even tag this post because it's my opinion after all. People can ship whomever they want and I'm not writing this post for people to stop shipping themβbut quit telling people they lack reading comprehension when they base their interpretation on what was presented in the canon text.
Elain and Azriel are not good for each other especially for a long-term relationship. Regardless of some of their sweet moments, they would've been better off as friends than lovers and allow me to explain.
I think Sarah used such a strong tone to showcase Azriel's sense of self worth that was so potent on page because we were in his head, and it felt so tangible and striking that it's just so... depressing. This is why his scene with Gwyn was a breath of fresh air when compared to this.
β’ He thinks he will taint Elain with his presence.
β’ He calls her βThe Thirdβ but she has a name?
β’ He says she was βgivenβ to another and implies but not to him, is she an accessory to be passed around?
β’ He hadn't thought beyond his fantasies.
β’ Last but not least, he did not fight to be with Elain or provide a convincing argument of why he wants her beyond β3 brothers + 3 sistersβ. Months passed since ACOSF Solstice and Azriel is... fine?
And this is not something I made up, it's literally from the text. This is literally from Azriel's head.
Anyhow, I'll preface by saying Sarah's couples tend to bring the best in each other and compliment one another and it's one of her biggest endgame signs. Well... I don't see that here.
Let alone the fact that Elain spoke out in front of everyone (with Azriel present) about how she wants to help and do something greater. Did he support her? despite that entire speech he still did not respect her choice enough that he went behind her back and asked the IC that she should not (but she made her ChOiCe?!). There are no excuses for it. He was not against the fact that Elain was being used as a tool to manipulate and force Nesta's hand and push her to scry instead of Elain.
It shouldn't have mattered to him whether Elain was mated to Lucien or not, or whether she was mated to him or not, what would've been more convincing is him wanting her to choose him regardless of the existence of a bond. Instead he is mad his brothers got the two sisters as mates but βthe thirdβ was given to someone elseβbut why should that stop him? Especially when he claims Elain has not interest in Lucien then he shouldn't feel threatened right? So what does she represent to him? A person he truly wants and loves or a person that represents something he is desperate to have (a mating bond?).
If I find his portion with Elain in the bonus chapter depressing and not romantic, that's because that is what the text presents to me and many readers shared similar thoughts on it.
I love Azriel and I disagree with some that claim he is a fuckboy when he absolutely is not. I'll call it an unhealthy attachment revolving around fantasies and putting the person he is into on a pedestal. I think there is a lot he needs to sort out and to not have his love for someone dependent on the existence of a magical bond.
there's absolutely zero foreshadowing or hinting of gwyn having anything to do with that sword and sjm loves dropping hints so she def would have left a clue.
the names are only similar because sjm commonly uses celtic/gaelic names...
like 80% of the names of people, objects and places in acotar are inspired by gaelic lore and gaelic history. gaelic being welsh, scottish or irish btw! :)
i am irish so i noticed all the gaelic theme immediately after starting to read the series lol
gwyn was chosen because its meaning related to the character. [gwyn/gwyneth is welsh and means; fair, white, blessed or holy. it also translates to happiness] this clearly relates to gwyns priestess storyline and her happy personality!
gwydion was likely chosen because it has a meaning related to the swords use or powers or whatever. [also welsh! it means 'born of trees'...the person in welsh history called gwydion was a magician, trickster and hero] we don't know how that meaning relates to the sword yet but i imagine we will in future books
as you can see, the meanings if the names have nothing to do with eachother. same way aelin and elain have similar sounding names but have nothing to do with eachother.
the name gwydion however is associated with lleu llaw gyffes and blodeuwedd (who sjm has canonically taken inspiration from for elains character! even saving a pic of blodeuwedd and commenting 'elain' on pinterestπ)
please stop trying to insert gwyn everywhere, she has nothing to do with that sword x
Why the forbidden love trope won't happen in ACOTAR 5
Anti e/riel and spoilers of HOSAB β οΈ
E/riels: forbidden love trope for E and A π₯°πππ€
SJM: *has the chance to use the forbidden love trope with quinlar but turns it into a sub-sub-sub-plot and kinda of a joke because it was resolved in like 5 pages and with only a couple dialogues*
SJM: *Also uses the forbidden love trope with Celestina and Hypaxia who have like REAL threats keeping them apart, like the certain of death if the Asteri find out about their relationship (same for Ruhnlidia)*
But yeah, SJM will write an entire book based in a forbidden love that could be easily resolved by a mature dialogue with Rhysand.
Like... E and A have no REAL threats keeping them apart.
If they were trying so hard to be together they could have been by the end of ACOSF. But it seemed like they weren't much interested in doing that, were they?
I'm concerned that Az dropped TT when it was reunited with Gwydion. What if it rejected him in that moment now that it's at its full power. Maybe that means that Bryce is the true owner
So I'm 100% convinced that Bryce will take Truth Teller with her when she leaves Prythian.
It's foreshadowed on 266 of HOSAB, when Bryce tells Ruhn: "When knife and sword are reunited, so shall our people be. You have the Starsword. What if...I don't know. What if there's a knife out there for me?"
And of course we see what happens to Truth Teller in the presence of Bryce and the Starsword. As far as I'm concerned, that's Bryce's knife now.
However, I am not concerned about Azriel because a) the dude has plenty of knives and daggers (he sleeps with one under his pillow, according to the bonus chapter, and don't think Gwyn isn't going to tease him about this) and b) SJM is setting him up for a healing arc in his own book. If anything, losing Truth Teller could catalyze that arc, and that's if we view the loss of this knife as a negative for him.
Another possibility: it's established in ACOSF that Azriel uses Truth Teller as an instrument of torture. Based on the way Azriel thinks about his hands and his history in the bonus chapter, this seems like something he'd like to stop doing. Losing Truth Teller, even if it hurts in the moment, could actually symbolize the beginning of Azriel's finding a space in the Night Court where he's flourishing.
And of course, if Bryce can pop in and out of Prythian, she can always bring it back to him in the future.
One way or another, he's going to get his happy ending, it just might not involve Truth Teller.
A Court of Silver Flames and House of Sky and Breath
SJM has confirmed that the ending of HOSAB has been planned from the beginning. Hence, whilst writing ACOSF, there is no way this mention of Merrill, and by default Gwyn, researching the connections between all their worlds is just a coincidence.
So, surely, weβll get Merrill and Gwyn heavily featured in the crossover portion of CC3, helping Bryce find her way to Hel and helping understand the reach of the Asteri.
Not to mention, there are at least 8 volumes of books pertaining to βThe Great War,β which is 8 potential volumes worth of history on the Asteri and their role in Prythian.
While I'm reluctant to make too many claims about what House of Sky and Breath might tell us about upcoming books in the ACOTAR series, I think it does make one thing clear: Azriel's book is next.
Let's start with the obvious. Azriel is the one who finds Bryce (HOSAB, 793), and he's the one who wields Truth Teller, the twin weapon to the Starsword (HOSAB, 796).
Anyone who could winnow or fly could have found Bryce at the end of HOSAB. We would have recognized Cassian about as quickly as Azriel, and can you imagine if Feyre had be the one to find her? I don't think that with this moment, SJM was going for the fan screams. I think she was foreshadowing, and I think it's likely that Azriel was uniquely able to detect Bryce's presence, which could have enormous implications.
I know that Nesta will likely be an important character in this arc because of her ability to locate objects Made by the Cauldron, but it's notable that she isn't highlighted in the final chapter of HOSAB. Her powers will come into play, but perhaps they're not central.
Moving on to Truth Teller, we know from House of Earth and Blood that the Starsword needs to be reunited with its twin knife (HOEAB, 458) in order to reunite the Fae. This might mean the meeting at the end of HOSAB, or it could mean more, particularly if Bryce needs to take Truth Teller back with her to Midgard. It could mean that Azriel has to travel with Bryce, or it could mean that Bryce just needs to take the knife with her. If she takes the knife, though, she will likely need to bring it back... especially since it's Azriel's, and this is a character who sleeps with a dagger under his pillow. Either way, this involvement is going to have some impact on his arc. At minimum, Azriel somehow got this very special blade in his possession. It marks him in some way. But it could mean even more.
After all, Bryce has to travel through worlds sometime in the course of the next book, whether to Hel, Midgard, or back to another planet. What we don't know is whether she will go there alone. While any ACOTAR character who can winnow seems like a potential candidate for traveling with Bryce, assuming that that power can link up with the Horn, Azriel seems the likeliest because, as Nesta and Cassian point out in ACOSF, his ability to winnow is different from that of the other characters:
"Illyrians do possess magic on one night a year, though: the night before the Blood Rite, when the war-band leaders can winnow the drugged novices into the wilds. Don't even ask me why that is. No one knows."
"Azriel can winnow all the time, though."
"Az is different. In a lot of ways." His tone didn't invite further questioning. (ACOSF, 191)
Is it possible that his unique method of winnowing, which, based on ACOMAF (240) and ACOSF (349), seems to be tied to being a shadowsinger rather than the usual winnowing power in Prythian, could make him an ideal candidate to travel with Bryce, with her connection to the Avallen fae?
In terms of knowledge and motivation, there are only a few characters in ACOTAR who seem particularly interested in other worlds: Rhys, Amren, Merrill, Gwyn, and Azriel. Cassian points out Rhys' and Azriel's interest early on in ACOSF (37), Amren has a vested interest and firsthand knowledge of other worlds, and Gwyn is helping Merrill research her theories of other worlds (154). I think it's reasonable to assume that these characters are going to be important during the Bryce-in-Prythian arc.
Incidentally, I also think that this is another subtle hint that Azriel and Gwyn are going to be drawn together more in the next ACOTAR books... but let's assume that happens in ACOTAR5, not in what I think will be Bryce's relatively short stint in Prythian.
Finally, in ACOSF, we see Azriel's "shadows curled around him, snakes ready to strike" (101). In HOSAB, SJM describe's Ruhn's shadows in a similar fashion, writing that, "His shadows swirled up his left arm like twining snakes" (57). Not only are their powers similar (though Azriel's abilities are more like Cormac's with the shadows + winnowing and no daemati abilities), but SJM uses the same metaphor to describe them. She wants us to see this.
While Bryce directly compares Ruhn and Rhys, we know that Rhys' arc in ACOTAR is more or less complete. He also has the bargain with Feyre that leaves him vulnerable, making him a bad candidate to go to other worlds or lead an army. Azriel, meanwhile, feels more disconnected from the Inner Circle (see: his bonus chapter in ACOSF; there are no page numbers, alas!) and, as spymaster and Carynthian, is able to gather information while being an active warrior. There are a lot of possibilities for what he could do! Even if it's just passing along information while he hands Bryce Truth Teller.
In terms of other similarities, this is how Bryce describes Azriel's wings: "Great, black wings. A demon's wings." (793) This evokes Hunt's description of Apollion's wings: "Wings rustled nearby -- not the soft feathers of his wings, but something leathery. Dry." (237)
We know that Bryce needs to go to Hel, and we know now that Hel is not a literal hell but rather another world (758). The comparison between Apollion's wings and Azriel's/the Illyrian's isn't an accident. Since we are likely going to see Hel in CC3, this similarity is likely to be important.
Given all the mysteries that swirl around Azriel, his possession of Truth Teller, his interest in other worlds, and his connections to some pivotal characters in HOSAB, it seems really likely that CC3 is going to set up his arc in ACOTAR5. As SJM once said... it seems pretty obvious.
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