I think that Laurent Aden, the privateer that Anjelica ran away with, is Cas, Kel's friend from the Orfelinat. Here are the reasons why:
Their descriptions match! In Sword Catcher prologue, Cas was described to have blonde hair, blue eyes, and freckles. We learn in Ragpicker King that he has blonde hair & blue eyes.
Laurent states that Castellane is "the place of his birth" during his POV.
The only times Kel thinks of Cas during Ragpicker King is when he's thinking of Laurent Aden and reminisces on how he and Cas wanted to be pirates when they were young.
Kel never sees Laurent up close/face-to-face. He sees him in person at the Solstice Ball but Laurent has a mask on his face, and Kel is far away from him. The single time they interact is when Kel is in Anjelica's room trying to convince her to not leave and Kel hears Laurent speak out the window. They never see each other but...Kel RECOGNIZES HIS VOICE, saying his voice was oddly familiar but he couldn't place it. He thinks that maybe he heard his voice at the Solstice Ball, but they weren't even in the vicinity of one another. This is the biggest piece of evidence that Laurent is Cas.
In the final scene with Laurent waiting outside for Anjelica, Laurent literally says to her that she should tell Kel that he needs to get out of here and that there's enough room on Sedai for Kel to escape with them. He obviously knows who Kel is and wants him to escape with them and live.
Maybe I am spending too much time trying to make Cas exist in this series, but I am CONFIDENT that Laurent is Cas. All these things line up too well.
I know Witchshadow hasn't been released yet, but I have it pre-ordered and will be using the tags #witchshadow spoilers and #ws when posting about it during my reading
Girl I just devoured Witchshadow and I need to reread the whole series and develop some more crackpot theories based on missed details from earlier books welp
Just a bit from one of my fav books of the moment, A darker shade of magic (book 1). I’m trying some new stuff, decided to do this one with a more stylised approach. Always thought ADSOM would make a great animated seriesÂ
Bloodwitch spoilers (actually spoilers for the whole series really) follow under the line so read at my crackpot theories at your own risk :) AND LEMME KNOW WHAT Y’ALL THINK. I really and truly need to procrastinate studying for finals right now so interaction really welcomed <3
I’m rereading the series after reading Bloodwitch, and I’m trying to wrap my head around how the hell the Cahr Awen fit into the world of the Paladins. So first, I’m going to set out the relevant facts from the books.
Here’s what we know about the Cahr Awen:
Every single pair has been an Aetherwitch and a Voidwitch
They’re the only ones (as far as we know) who can reach the center of the Origin Wells
There’s an estimate of 60 pairs, but only Memory Records for 40 pairs
The last pair was about 600 years prior to the present day of the story
The Carawen monks were created to protect, defend, and support the Cahr Awen. Their symbol is... “the rook and tree”!
Here’s some of what we know about the Paladins:
The Paladins were very much alive and in power 1000 years prior to the present day (re: the timeline in Sightwitch)
They’re reincarnated, and there’s a strong inference that each reincarnation remembers their past lives, and has access to their past lives. Something about that fight changed the nature of how magic works in the Witchlands (since the reincarnated Paladins don’t remember their lives, and since that’s when the Wells sprung)
The element Paladins have full control of their respective element. I’m going to go ahead and write out who in the present day has been confirmed and who most likely is a Paladin.
Kullen (Air) who was Bastien/The Fury and is confirmed
Stix (Water) who is confirmed and was most likely Baile based on her connection to the under-city & the weird moment with Baile’s eyes
Dirdra/Owl (Earth) who is not confirmed, but we can make a very strong inference she is one as well based on her sudden knowledge of the doors which also suggests she was Saria who helped Eridysi with the doors
We don’t know what power the Rook King had, but I’m about to go into that in my theories. We just know that he’s one of the 6 rebel Paladins. And he has a pet Rook. And he was able to interact with Iseult.
OK THEORY TIME:
The Cahr Awen were two of the Paladins - there’s no way for the timelines to work out otherwise. That wasn’t all that clear to me until...
The Rook King was the Voidwitch half of the Cahr Awen.
His pet Rook has been making himself available to numerous characters (Ryber, Aeduan, & Safi) but the Rook King himself only ever showed up in Iseult’s dreams. If Paladins can access their past lives, then it’s reasonable to assume that Iseult’s past life was the Rook King, who is a confirmed Paladin. And Iseult’s power comes from the Void. I realize it hasn’t actually been confirmed yet, but we can very much assume that at least Iseult is 1/2 of the legendary pair.
Also the fact that the symbol of the Carawen monastery includes a “rook” which I highly doubt is a coincidence. The Rook King most likely established the Carawens himself - him and whoever stands for the “tree” bit.
The Rook King was probably the Paladin who “betrayed” the others. He’s notably missing in Eridysi’s journal entry. His Aetherwitch half was probably one of the Exalted Ones. And b/c they’re a pair, his half was able to convince him or use him somehow to get the information about the Rebel Paladins. And the two set up the Carawens not to support the Cahr Awen, but to protect future reincarnations from the vengeance of the awake rebel Paladins.
Habim, Matthew, and Eron are “awake” Paladins: Habim (fire), Matthew (aether), and we don’t know about Eron. Actually, Eron’s a weird situation. He used to have some sort of witchery, and then he became a Hell-Bard so he’s technically dead, and therefore, no longer a Paladin. But I’d venture a guess these three guys “woke up”, are heavily invested in Safi because they can sense she’s the Aetherwitch of the Cahr Awen. And if my theory about the Aetherwitch half being an Exalted One is correct, then this would all work together because those three are also Exalted ones. Their super schemes to take down the empires is to take back their own land and power. Would also explain why they randomly visited the Sightwitch convent - to find the hidden doorways, duh!
Also these people as other Paladins:
There’s also a strong inference that Noden - the Nubrevnan God - is a Paladin since the temple in Lovats has him standing between Lady Baile and The Fury, two confirmed Paladins. We just don’t know what his particular power and/or present-day identity is.
Corlant (Void) who Aeduan knows to have grown up with Ragnor since they’re both from the same tribe. Grown up with - not just from the same tribe. Ragnor was very much an adult and not with his tribe when he entered into the sleeping ice. Corlant is referencing his past life who knew Ragnor, not the current one.
This is less a theory and more or less confirmed in Sightwitch but wasn’t explicitly clear: Something is happening to Sirmaya (the source of all Witchlands magic) - presumably, Esme’s Cleaving is corrupting the magic somehow resulting in dead wells. The Cahr Awen can heal wells... they can probably heal Sirmaya as well.
*bloodwitch excerpt spoilers* AEDUAN CALLED HIM MOM DYSI
Ikr! Which confirms Aeduan’s mom was Eridysi and he is the general’s son. Who is the Raider King. But now I’m confused as to what is the reason for his army gathering, like does he want to remove the Paladins who are set to make a comeback, or does he want the different set of six to win, because we also know that Kullen (evil Kullen I mean) who is a Paladin, is affiliated to him to some extent, and is actively trying to cause harm.
We also know that Raider King is definitely not a good person, as confirmed by Aeduan to some extent when he says in the flashback scene that the bloodscent of his father had changed slightly and there was no longer the scent of loving hounds or warmth. And where had he gone leaving Eridysi and Aeduan? Aeduan also says his daughters are dead, so maybe Lisbet and Cora are dead. Or they are still stuck in the ice. Not sure.
I’m so so excited for Bloodwitch, and honestly I can’t wait for all the Aeduan we’re going to get!
I think they’re still stuck in the ice!! Ryber notices there’s still two child sized shapes in Eridysi’s tomb next to the two adult sized ones so they’re still in the sleeping ice. But to Ragnor, I imagine he just considers them dead since he can’t and probably hasn’t been able to get them out
I just reread the Witchlands series by Susan Dennard to get hype for Bloodwitch (waiting is agony), and I noticed things I didnt notice before, especially in Sightwitch! ~Spoilers following~
The three men visiting the convent seem like Eron, Mathew and Habim to me! Wonder what they were doing there, and how their schemes involve the Convent! Seems like Eron has some pretty big plans. Plus there’s the theory floating around that he’s the mysterious scent Aeduan tracks, and that it’s so elusive because he’s removing his Hell-Bard noose… I’m not certain, but it does make me wonder what kind of witchery he had to be a heretic?
Is Dirdra Owl? If she is, how did she meet the mountain bat??? Why was the woman trying to get rid of her? And since it seems like she is speaking again per the sneak peek, why hasn’t she told Aeduan and Iseult her name?
Pin’s Keep was totally Paladin’s Keep I think. Makes sense, as it leads to the underground city.
Ahhhh, I’m just so excited for Bloodwitch! I can’t wait to read it.
Yeah that’s what I assumed also about Pin’s Keep being Paladin’s Keep! The underground city in Windwitch must be the same one that Bastien and the other Paladins were working on in Sightwitch. Clever of SD for writing down Merik’s observation that some of the letters were worn away from the sign!
yea pretty convinced Owl/Dirdra is a Paladin and it makes most sense for her to be Saria since presumably she’s a Earthwitch Paladin that rebelled and had intimate knowledge of the blue door network! Also it’s safe to say that Stix is probably Baile and I saw somewhere around here that Habim is a Paladin too since Aeduan remarks in the first book that Habim is the most powerful Firewitch he’s encountered and that can’t be a coincidence
you remember that scene in EoS when Dorian looks around and finds it interesting that everyone around them involved in this crazy situation is gods-blessed? and you know how SJM likes to use specific words or outright says when a character is aligned with a god? and ok, there’s that thing where all the gods wanted to rip apart Erawan and his spawn. so 12 gods. 12 gods-blessed characters. what if the gods channelled their power through their blessed and everything valg once and for all?
if someone wants to add each god and the character they’re with, pls do. also link me to any posts that already expand on this!!
ok so yet again did a re-read of the entire series to be completely refreshed for tower of dawn as soon as i get my hands on it and can someone pls explain something about the Lock to me?
Mala gave up her mortal body to forge the Lock, and it is her power that was used to “charge” it. That power was there, and it was expected that Brannon with his power use it to close the gates. A millennia later, the Lock is broken and a new one must be made and the life force of someone powerful from Mala’s bloodline must be used (since we don’t know whether it’s Aelin or Dorian).Â
okay so first: was Brannon supposed to live after using the Lock? What was his purpose in being the person ultimately wielding it? If Mala drained her mortal life force, was Brannon expected to give up his too?
and second: with the above in mind, how does that work for this new group? Is the person charging the Lock also the person wielding it?
I guess the second question can be answered by the first so someone pls explain the mechanisms of the first iteration of the Lock to me because I’m definitely missing something.
How did spoilers even happen for ACOMAF?! With ToG, we were LUCKY that SJM released anything yet fans are stumbling across these snippets, some got early copies, and now we basically know the endgame and what happens so that’s fun
