There has been a lot of discussion about how the next Book (ACOTAR 6, 7, and 8 together) cannot possibly be Elain’s (or elriel) because she doesn’t have enough to fill three books. And that is, honestly, ludicrous. Just like Feyre had enough to tell over the course of three books, Elain’s story can certainly fill a Book that is going to be potentially up to 2,000 pages long.
Here are some of the things I suspect we could (will) see in Elain’s book, in part based on theories of so many brilliant elriels, many of whom I am forgetting. I am not going to link to everything, but please check out theories by @offtorivendell @wingedblooms @psychologynerd @psychee92 @merymoonbeam @mrspettyferr @icedflames @elriell @cassianfanclub amongst others for further insight. (Also, @wingedblooms has this fantastic post from a while ago with her thoughts on what we’ll see in Elain’s book, which I highly recommend reading, and which supports her getting this Book as well):
Elain’s healing journey from her trauma
Elain coming to terms with being fae and no longer being human
Elain exploring the bond with Lucien (and, as part of that, possibly acting in a diplomatic role with the human realm)
Elain learning that she can reject the bond, and how to do it
Elain’s choice re the bond
The fallout from the bond rejection
The blood duel
Elain and Azriel’s relationship journey to eventual HEA 🩷💙
Elain possibly creating a true mate bond with Azriel, or discovering they are true mates
Elain learning what her powers* are and how to use them
Elain (and us) finding out what Elain is
Elain learning to use the harp 💖🎶💖
Spy Elain
Elain’s friendship with Nuala and Cerridwen
Elain’s dreams and visions
Elain and Azriel traveling to various parts of Prythian to search for answers about Fionn, the Illyrians, the dread trove, Koschei, and the Asteri/Daglan
Exploring under Ramiel and possibly the other mountains (and maybe going to Hel????)
Elain freeing Koschei
Koschei stealing Elain with him, and the subsequent search for her
Reviving Dusk, which I suspect is Hybern, as @offtorivendell has theorized here, a post I will eventually reblog with my additional thoughts (@offtorivendell I have had a reblog in my drafts for ages 😅😅😅)
The ultimate defeat of Koschei, likely by the three Archeron sisters and Vassa, or maybe by the three brothers and three sisters
Elain healing the land (as @wingedblooms theorized in this amazing post)
An ending with Elain (with others?) opening the portals to Erilea and Midgard and potentially kicking off the intergalactic asteri battle, as @wingedblooms theorized here???? 🤯
Sounds like enough to fill a 2,000 page, three-volume Book to me!!!
*Elain’s powers could include visions (duh), starborn (as @offtorivendell theorized here and I theorized here), healing (as @wingedblooms theorized here), lifesinging, shifting (as @wingedblooms theorized here), witch (as @wingedblooms theorized here), amongst others. Also, I apologize if I missed posts I should have tagged 😭
@wingedblooms and I were talking about this, and we also suspect that Sarah might use Elain as a vehicle to play with the narrative structure a bit, given that Elain has visions and also sometimes seems a little…crazy. This, along with her use of the harp, might create a narrative where time is fluid at points, and that allows us to go both to the past and the future throughout the story, and maybe see parts of ACOMAF-ACOSF through Elain’s view when we didn’t have that opportunity before.
I truly cannot wait for this Book and to see Elain’s journey. I think it’s going to be incredible.
**BN: I would not be surprised if we see other POVs woven through the Book (other than Azriel’s who’s a given), for example Lucien’s in all three, Vassa’s, Mor’s, and maybe even some Feysand and Nessian in book 7 or 8. But I strongly suspect this is going to be Elain’s story, even if it is multi-POV, and she (and her relationship with Azriel) will be the focus of this Book
On CHD SJM Just Confirmed What Elriels Have Been Saying for YEARS
And what *they* mocked and ridiculed us over
TRUE MATES
SJM: “It's kind of like your destined true love in a way, but it's complicated, because there's a biological component to it, where you can be mated to someone that is not actually your true love. So, there's, like, true, true mates, and then there's kind of, like, nature made a mistake, like Rhys's parents did not love each other, like, it was not a great relationship, but they were mates, and it was, like, there's a biological thing where they're, like, we want to be together, but then it's, like, we're fucking miserable with each other, especially his [Rhys's] mom, so it's tricky, but then when you find your perfect mate, like, Rhys and Feyre, Cassian and Nesta, like, that is the last little piece of your soul that was, like, kind of a little broken and now you found your person.”
We have been saying there are two types of bonds: a biological bond, and a “true mate” bond:
From this post about mating bonds, originally from February 2022.
Elriels have talked for years about how there are two types of bonds*—a normal mating bond that is more biological but can be “wrong”, and a true mate or a soul mate bond. And Sarah just confirmed that.
*we still don’t know if these are actually two different bonds themselves, or two different types of mating bonds. Sarah did not say one way or the other.
ELAIN’S CHOICE AND PREDESTINY VS FREE WILL
SJM: “[Elain has gone through so much trauma, she was human and then is turned fae] And like surprise, you’ve been like forcibly like essentially married to a stranger who like also was involved in bringing you into this world and betraying and like shoving you into the cauldron. And so like exploring a concept of free will, like what does that look like with a mating bond? Does nature like get it wrong sometimes? Does it get it right sometimes? Like what—. As a writer, I like to find things that make me interested. Like, what if you’re mated to someone and you don’t want to be mated. I’m like look, what do you do? You’re like stuck with this person? Like, what? Like, what do you do? … it’s something that I find to be a really interesting concept, versus Feyre and Nesta where it was so easy for them. Like, nature picked right.”
Again, we’ve been saying for years that Elain’s story is going to be about the interplay between her free will and the mating bond that was forced on her:
From this post about why I think ACOSF made it obvious Elain’s book is next, originally from March 2021.
From this post about the Azriel and Lucien setup and why I think it means Elain’s book is next, originally from October 2021.
Elain’s arc has always been about free will and her choice, and the tension between her predestiny and what she actually wants and chooses for herself. And Sarah just confirmed that loud and clear.
And I am not the only elriel who has made these posts. Countless of us have, including @wingedblooms @offtorivendell @icedflames @psychee92 @elriell @psychologynerd @cassianfanclub @dancingwithfae @merymoonbeam and so many others I’m forgetting to name right now I’m sorry. But I am so glad to finally hear Sarah confirm out of her own mouth what we’ve been theorizing about re the mating bond and Elain’s arc for years.
And everything Sarah said last night tells me that she has been writing Elain’s story, that she’s excited to show us Elain’s journey, and that she is really interested in showing us what happens when a mating bond is wrong and the pairing decides to exercise their free will.
Why (I think) ACOSF made it *obvious* Elain’s book is next
I know there have been a bunch of posts on this point, but I find it so interesting how I see so many posts assuming Azriel’s book is next (based mainly, I think, on his bonus chapter). I had the exact opposite reaction when I finished ACOSF and when I finished the bonus chapters. I came away thinking “the next book is 100% about Elain” and it wasn’t until I started interacting with different parts of the fandom that I realized most people were assuming Az’s book was definitely next. So I thought I would compile what made it obvious to me that the next book is Elain’s (and Azriel’s too, but that’s beside the point lol).
Elain’s Powers
We’re told there’s been no signs of Elain’s power since the war.
Elain, too, had revealed no indication of her seer’s abilities since then.
But there is quite a bit of foreshadowing that Elain still has them, which made me think we’re going to see them very soon.
All three sisters were now High Fae with considerable powers, though only Feyre’s were let loose. Even Amren had no idea whether Elain’s and Nesta’s powers remained.
“The last time we involved ourselves with the Cauldron, it abducted you,” Nesta countered, fighting her shaking. She found the words, the weapons she sought. “I thought you didn’t have powers anymore.” Elain pursed her lips. “I thought you didn’t, either.”
But Elain had confirmed it for everyone: both sisters still possessed their Cauldron-gifted powers. Whether they were as powerful as before, he had no idea.
Elain Coming Out Of Her Shell
We get several scenes showing Elain is coming out of her shell and that she’s not as weak/docile/nice as everyone seems to think she is, telling us, the readers, that there’s a lot more for us to learn about Elain. All of this to me seemed to be preparing us for Elain’s book, and telling us that her story is coming next.
Elain stiffened, but refused to balk from whatever she beheld in Nesta’s gaze. “You think I’m to blame for his death?” Challenge filled each word. Challenge—from Elain, of all people. “No one but the King of Hybern is to blame for that.” The quaver in her voice belied her firm words.
Elain remained in the doorway, her face pale but her expression harder than Nesta had ever seen it. “You do not decide what I can and cannot do, Nesta.”
Elain said, “Then I will find it. I might require some time to … reacquaint myself with my powers, but I could start today.” “Absolutely not,” Nesta spat, fingers curling at her sides. “Absolutely not.” “Why?” Elain demanded. “Shall I tend to my little garden forever?” When Nesta flinched, Elain said, “You can’t have it both ways. You cannot resent my decision to lead a small, quiet life while also refusing to let me do anything greater.”
Elain cut in sharply, “I am not a child to be fought over.”
But Nesta cut her off, seething at the pity about to be thrown her way. “Look who decided to grow claws after all,” she crooned. “Maybe you’ll become interesting at last, Elain.”
But Elain said, “I went into the Cauldron, too, you know. And it captured me. And yet somehow all you think of is what my trauma did to you.”
Nesta was wrong, Cassian realized, to think Elain as loyal and loving as a dog. Elain saw every single thing Nesta had done, and understood why.
“Oh, fuck you,” Nesta snapped, and then choked. Elain blinked. Nesta blinked back, horror lurching through her. And then Elain burst out laughing. Howling, half-sobbing laughs that sent her bending over at the waist, gasping for breath. Nesta just stared, torn between questions and wanting to throw herself into the icy Sidra. “I— I’m so sorry—” Elain held up a hand, wiping her eyes with the other. “You’ve never said such a thing to me!” She laughed again. “I think that’s a good sign, isn’t it?”
Predestiny vs. Choice
We also get several moments of how Cassian and Nesta see Elain that to me at least screamed “this is how Elain is seen, but this is not who Elain is or who Elain is going to choose to be.” These scenes to me are setting up the dichotomy between Elain’s predestiny and how everyone sees Elain, vsersus who Elain really is and chooses to be.
Lucien vs. Az (I don’t have a quote for this, but clearly this is set up as predestiny vs. choice)
It was always that way between them: Elain, sweet and oblivious, and Nesta, the snarling wolf at her side, poised to shred anyone who threatened her. Elain is pleasant to look at, her mother had once mused while Nesta sat beside her dressing table, a servant silently brushing her mother’s gold-brown hair, but she has no ambition. She does not dream beyond her garden and pretty clothes. She will be an asset on the marriage market for us one day, if that beauty holds, but it will be our own maneuverings, Nesta, not hers, that win us an advantageous match.
Elain could make her own choices. And had chosen to thoroughly shut the door on Nesta. Even as she fully embraced Feyre and her world. Nesta’s chest tightened, but she refused to think of it, acknowledge it. Elain was like a dog, loyal to whatever master kept her fed and in comfort.
Elain would love this place. So many flowers, all in bloom, so much green—the light, vibrant green of new grass—so many birds singing and such warm, buttery sunshine. Nesta felt like a storm cloud standing amid it all. But Elain … The Spring Court had been made for someone like her.
Elain in black was ridiculous. Yes, she was beautiful, but the color of her long-sleeved, modest gown leeched the brightness from her face. It wore her, rather than the other way around. And he knew the cruelty of the Hewn City troubled her. But she hadn’t hesitated to come. When Feyre had offered to let her remain home, Elain had squared her shoulders and declared that she was a part of this court—and would do whatever was needed. So Elain had let her golden-brown hair down tonight, and pinned it back with twin combs of pearl. He’d never once in the two years he’d known her found Elain to be plain, but wearing black, no matter how much she claimed to be part of this court … It sucked the life from her.
We’re given signs that Elain is over Graysen.
Elain cocked her head. Didn’t dissolve into the crying mess she usually became when Graysen came up. Instead she said, “You’re angry with me.”
We got hints of #spyelain
Elain spoke from the doorway, having appeared so silently that they all twisted toward her, “Using me.”
Elain had already departed with Feyre, claiming she had to be up with the dawn to tend to an elderly faerie’s garden. Cassian didn’t exactly know why he suspected this wasn’t true. There had been some tightness in Elain’s face as she’d said it. Normally when she made such excuses, Lucien was around, but the male remained in the human lands with Jurian and Vassa.
“You came,” Elain said behind her, and Nesta started, not having heard her sister approach. She scanned Elain from head to toe, wondering if she’d been taking lessons in stealth either from Azriel or the two half-wraiths she called friends.
While we also got quite a bit of Azriel in this book (admittedly more than Elain) and got hints that he’s unhappy and avoiding the river house for “mysterious reasons” (that are not mysterious at all after the bonus chapter), we didn’t get the same kind of in-your-face foreshadowing about Az that we did Elain. (And to me, after the bonus, it seems like all the mysterious things that were raised about Az might revolve around Elain and his feelings for her 👀).
Then the bonus chapters. I don’t have physical copies of those and don’t really want to go take screenshots, so I’m going to paraphrase what about them made me think Elain’s book is certainly next (aside from the fact that she was featured prominently in both).
Feysand
We learn Elain refuses to use Lucien’s gift from solstice the previous year (and would apparently rather get cut and dirty than do so)
We learn Elain has no problem getting her hands dirty and risking pain
Feyre says that maybe Elain is not as docile as everyone thinks she is, basically foreshadowing that there’s more to Elain than meets the eye
Feyre says they should focus on helping one sister before they turn to helping the next 🚨🚨🚨:
Azriel
We learn both Az and Elain can read each other well
We learn they both have sexual feelings for each other
We learn Az has been avoiding family dinners because of Elain
We learn there have been lingering glances and grazing of fingers between them off the page that we haven’t seen 👀
We know that Elain is certainly confused after their near kiss, likely feels rejected, and returns the necklace
Based on all of this, I am *convinced* that Elain’s book is next (and that one of the purposes of Az’s bonus chapter was to tell us that the next book will also be his). That is what is most obvious to me about the next book. I feel a lot more certain about the next book when I look at it from the perspective of Elain than I do Az.
Now, this isn’t really an Elriel post, but I have to add that if Elain’s book is next, I’m also *convinced* it’s Elriel. Az and Gwyn just don’t have enough connections (if any) to the overarching plot of this trilogy to be the last book. Not to mention all signs currently point to Elriel at this point (both parts of ACOSF and Az’s bonus chapter). And I think if Elucien is going to happen, it needs a book of some further development between before it can happen (for example, Elain going to the human lands during Gwynriel’s book to help with something, which allows them to get to know each other better).
And, can I just say, I for one cannot wait to finally get inside Elain’s head and learn her story ❤️
Reblogging to add external evidence from Sarah and some logic for why I believe Elain’s book is next:
In the ACOWAR tour and the Catwoman tour in 2017, SJM said that she knew who the first two books of the new trilogy were about, but she was still deciding between five possible ships for the third.
At the end of ACOFAS, there is an interview with SJM in which she confirms that she’s been doing research and writing scenes for Elain’s book.
In the US tour for ACOSF, SJM confirmed that Elain is getting a book, and that she knew from when she pitched the new trilogy that both Elain and Nesta would get books.
In either the Australian or Indian ACOSF tour, SJM confirmed that everything she pitched to her editor in 2016 about the new trilogy has stayed the same, but the world has expanded.
Thus, her original plan for who the first two books would be about has not changed.
Gwyn did not exist when Sarah was drafting ACOWAR.
There are not five possible ships for Elain (especially if Azriel is removed from the equation, which he would have to be since the next book would be his and Gwyn’s if Elain’s is last).
ERGO:
If Sarah has always known Elain and Nesta were getting books, and
Sarah knew who the first two books were about in 2017 but not the third, and
Sarah’s overarching plan for the books has not changed since then,
Then Elain’s book must be the second book in the new trilogy. Meaning Elain’s book is next.
And I think Elain—Elain would like it, too. Though she’d probably cling to Azriel, just to have some peace and quiet.” I smiled at the thought—at how handsome they would be together.
Elain and Azriel have always been comfortable with each other, their compatibility is worth questioning the cauldron and I can't wait to see them grow together!
elain has come a long way from the meek girl in the cabin, hiding behind her sister. this is the girl that kicked naga hounds in the face with her bare feet, the girl who shoots straight whiskey, who “hopes they all burn in hell,” who wielded shadows and truth teller to bring down a king.
elain is a woman who both shines in her gentle femininity and isn’t scared to get dirty to protect those she loves. she’s gone through the worst thing she can imagine, sank into the depths of despair, and came out the other side still filled with hope and kindness, a different kind of strength.
and through all this, she sees azriel’s darkness, and does not balk from it. and he sees her, maybe the first to ever truly do so. she went from being a normal human girl with a healthy fear of the fae to seeking out the company of one of the most fearsome fae males there is.
no longer the delicate socialite doing what is demanded of her, instead she is fighting fate, destiny, and the suffocating weight of everyone else’s expectations just for a chance to take control of her own future for the first time in her life.
elain has come so far, and i can’t wait to see where she goes from here.
‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚.‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚.
thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to @celestarly for bringing this art to life in the most beautiful way! it’s more stunning than i could have possibly imagined and i love all the little touches you added that i couldn’t have thought up on my own. thank you endlessly for your patience while i navigate one of my first times commissioning, i couldn’t have asked for a better artist 💜
Here it is the last part of the commissions 🥹🫶🏽 and of course I had to end the day with my loves, my babies and my absolute favorite ship from acotar
This is a small gift from me to all my elriel girlies who have been here since 21 gate 😭 when the internet broke and hell started for us but we are still here and stronger than ever 🫶🏽 y’all mean the world to me, thank you
Thank you to @semspaced for such a lovely work as always 🥹 a pleasure to work with such a talented person who is also just so wonderful to talk with too.
…and the Archeron Starborn Era is about to begin on Prythian. LFG!!!!
The Archeron Sisters are Starborn
As @offtorivendell has theorized here, @wingedblooms has theorized here, I have theorized here and here, we think each of the Archeron sisters is starborn and has part of Theia’s (or her children’s) light.
Elain has Helena’s.
Nesta has Silene’s.
Feyre has Theia’s (or maybe her son’s if that crack theory is right lol).
Though I wonder about Nesta’s Starborn power, and if she gave some of it back to the Cauldron at the end of ACOSF…and what that might mean for her ability to use Gwydion or TT at all on her own, like Bryce can. So what does that mean?
We get hints that Elain has strong starborn power:
So will Elain at first be the one to wield Gwydion and TT as she (and Az) go on their quests? Potentially to revive Dusk, or other parts of Prythian, as @offtorivendell and @wingedblooms have theorized?
And might she in part use them to help herself? To unMake her bond with Lucien using TT to free them both of it, and to potentially Make a new bond with Az (if a bond doesn’t already exist), either using her powers, or using Gwydion?
Together They Can Activate TT and Gwydion
Only united can Theia’s starborn power activate Gwydion and TT and be used to kill the unkillable. The Asteri in Midgard. Koschei in ACOTAR?
The Sisters’ Bonds
Right now, the bonds between the sisters are somewhat fractured, particularly still between Nesta and Elain.
Those bonds will need to finally heal so that they can come together to use Gwydion and TT to save Prythian.
Gardeners, I think, dream bigger dreams than emperors. (Mary Cantwell)
This meta is a continuation of my thoughts over the years, but especially the ones expressed in the following links. Please be aware that there are major hofas spoilers in this post and avoid if needed.
Secret, lovely seer / Forbidden secrets
A rose in the thorns / Elain and the flower of life
Since my first meta, I have been fixated on Elain’s connection to the Mother, Cauldron, and Fate (let's call her Urd) and her potential powers, including sight, shapeshifting, and healing. They are all related when you’re talking about Urd, though I am not here to say what I have written is what Sarah has planned. This post is more a love letter to Sarah’s mystical and earthy depiction of Elain and what I would love to see in her story based on all the seeds she’s planted (and if there is an actual magical bean seed involved, I’ll love her all the more for it). Thanks especially to @psychologynerd for previewing this fever dream of a post.
I gazed again at that sad, dark house—the place that had been a prison. Elain had said she missed it, and I wondered what she saw when she looked at the cottage. If she beheld not a prison but a shelter—a shelter from a world that had possessed so little good, but she tried to find it anyway, even if it had seemed foolish and useless to me. She had looked at that cottage with hope; I had looked at it with nothing but hatred. And I knew which one of us had been stronger. (acotar)
From the first book in the series, Feyre recognizes that Elain views things differently. She views things that are sad and dark with hope, and that’s why Sarah has called her the quiet dreamer. It’s a strength that sets her apart. I like to think that’s also what the Cauldron—though warped by the Asteri—saw when she was forced into its womb.
The Cauldron seemed to realize what she’d done, too, as his head thumped onto the mossy ground. That Elain…Elain had defended this thief. Elain, who it had gifted with such powers, found her so lovely it had wanted to give her something…It would not harm Elain, even in its hunt to reclaim what had been taken. (acowar)
@silverlinedeyes and I wondered if it may have recognized Elain as a kindred spirit, some echo of its Mother form. A creator, life-bringer. Were the waters of the Cauldron more like Silba’s Womb—a darkness of creation, sweet and lovely—when Elain was immersed? Or is it possible that when Elain entered its dark womb she viewed it differently than her sister? Did she see a wounded creator to help rather than an enemy to combat?
Elain’s hopeful perspective might be why it gifted her with such powers, powers that we know allow her to see differently than others. And since it may have enhanced her unique perception, I wonder if it also enhanced her ability to bring life and beauty into the world. As a gardener, Elain is well acquainted with the task of envisioning her garden and then getting her hands dirty to make that vision a reality. Dream and reality are entwined in gardening, just like her Sight.
“She loves to garden. Always loved growing things. Even when we were destitute, she managed to tend a little garden in the warmer months. And when–when our fortune returned, she took to tending and planting the most beautiful gardens you’ve ever seen. Even in Prythian. It drove the servants mad, because they were supposed to do the work and ladies were only meant to clip a rose here and there, but Elain would put on a hat and gloves and kneel in the dirt, weeding. She acted like a purebred lady in every regard but that.” (acowar)
If Elain was a blooming flower in this army camp, then Nesta…she was a freshly forged sword, waiting to draw blood. [...] Nesta stared them all down. Elain kept her focus on the dry, rocky ground. (acowar)
She had no mental shields, no barriers. The gates to her mind…Solid iron, covered in vines of flowers–or it would have been. The blossoms were all sealed, sleeping buds tucked into tangles of leaves and thorns. (acowar)
If Elain’s mental gates were those of a sleeping garden, Nesta’s…They belonged to an ancient fortress, sharp and brutal. The sort I imagined they once impaled people upon. (acowar)
“What now?” Elain mused, at last answering my question from moments ago as her attention drifted to the windows facing the sunny street. That smile grew, bright enough that it lit up even Azriel’s shadows across the room. “I would like to build a garden,” she declared. “After all of this…I think the world needs more gardens.” (acowar)
As we saw in acosf for Nesta—a new type of warrior who forges magical swords and retrieves the Harp from an ancient fortress (the Prison) connected to the Starborn—these descriptions are clearly meant to foreshadow what occurs in the sisters’ stories. While Nesta is a freshly forged sword, Elain is blooming life in Illyria. And what do we learn in hofas?
“The Cauldron,” Nesta said hours later, pointing to yet another carving on the wall. It indeed showed a giant cauldron, perched atop what seemed to be a barren mountain peak with three stars above it.
Azriel halted, angling his head. “That’s Ramiel.” At Bryce’s questioning look, he explained, “A mountain sacred to the Illyrians.”
Bryce nodded to the carving. “What’s the big deal about a cauldron?”
[...]
“All life came and comes from it,” Azriel said with something like reverence. “The Mother poured it into this world, and from it, life blossomed.” (hofas)
We receive confirmation that the Cauldron is associated with the sister peaks, as I suspected, and Ramiel in particular as @merymoonbeam has previously suggested.
Before Bryce could contemplate this further, Silene went on, But my mother and father knew they needed the most valuable of all the Daglan’s weapons.
Bryce tensed. This had to be the thing that had given them the edge—
The snows around Ramiel parted, revealing a massive bowl of iron at the foot of the monolith. Even through the vision, its presence leaked into the world, a heavy, ominous thing.
“The Cauldron,” Nesta said, dread lacing her voice.
[…]
“The Cauldron was of our world, our heritage. But upon arriving here, the Daglan captured it and used their powers to warp it. To turn it from what it had been into something deadlier. No longer just a tool of creation, but of destruction. And the horrors it produced…those, too, my parents would turn to their advantage.”
[...]
“They fought the Daglan and won, she went on. Using the Daglan’s own weapons, they destroyed them. Yet my parents did not think to learn the Daglan’s other secrets—they were too weary, too eager to leave the past behind.” (hofas)
In Forbidden secrets, I theorized that Elain’s powers might allow her to map the secrets of the land in order to heal it. It seems like the Asteri did indeed leave secrets behind, which might explain why certain places continue to be forbidden and barren. But we are given hope that they do not need to remain that way. In hofas, Bryce wakes and wields the land belonging to her Starborn ancestors on the Prison island:
And precisely as Theia had gifted her own power to Silene … perhaps Silene had in turn left that same power here, to be claimed by a future scion.
One by one, rapid as shooting stars, the thoughts raced through Bryce. More on instinct than anything else, she dropped to her knees and slammed her hand atop the eight-pointed star. Bryce reached with her mind, through layers of rock and earth—and there it was. Slumbering beneath her.
Not firstlight, not as she knew it on Midgard—but raw Fae power from a time before the Drop. The power ascended toward her through the stone, like a glimmering arrow fired into the dark—
[...]
Like a small sun emerging from the stone itself, a ball of light burst from the floor. A star, twin to the one in Bryce’s chest. Her starlight at last awoke again, as if reaching with shining fingers for that star hovering inches away.
With trembling hands, Bryce guided the star to the one gleaming on her chest. Into her body.
White light erupted everywhere.
Power, uncut and ancient, scorched through her veins. The hair on her head rose. Debris floated upward. She was everywhere and nowhere. She was the evening star and the last rays of color before the dark.
Azriel had nearly reached the tunnel. Another flap of his wings and he’d be swallowed by its dark mouth.
But at a mere thought from Bryce, stalactites and stalagmites formed, closing in on him. The room became a wolf, its jaws snapping for the winged warrior—
The rock had moved for her, as it had for Silene.
“Stop him,” she said in a voice that was more like her father’s than anything she’d ever heard come out of her mouth.
Azriel swept for the tunnel archway—and slammed into a wall of stone. The exit had sealed.
Slowly, he turned, wings rustling. Blood trickled out of his nose from his face-first collision with the rock now in his path. He spread his wings, bracing for a fight.
The mountain shook, the chamber with it. Debris fell from the ceiling. Walls began shifting, rock groaning against rock. As if the place this had once been was fighting to emerge from the stone.
[...]
From far away, she could sense it: the things lurking within the mountain, her mountain. Twisted, wretched creatures. Some had been here since Silene had trapped them. Had been contemplating their escape and revenge all this time. She’d let them out if she restored the mountain to its former glory.
And in that moment, the mountain—the island—spoke to her.
Alone. It was so alone—it had been waiting all this time. Cold and adrift in this thrashing gray sea. If she could reach out, if she could open her heart to it…it might sing again. Awaken. There was a beating, vibrant heart locked away, far beneath them. If she freed it, the land would rise from its slumber, and such wonders would spring again from its earth— (hofas)
The mountain–Bryce’s mountain–speaks to her, asking her to open her heart to it so it can finally rise from its slumber. Cue internal screaming, my friends, because this language was intentional and it might finally explain Elain’s conversation in this scene:
She looked away—toward the windows. “I can hear your heart,” she said quietly.
He wasn’t sure how to respond, so he said nothing, and drained his tea, even as it burned his mouth.
“When I sleep,” she murmured, “I can hear your heart beating through the stone.” She angled her head, as if the city view held some answer. “Can you hear mine?”
He wasn’t sure if she truly meant to address him, but he said, “No, lady. I cannot.” (acowar)
Elain’s hearing is a source of concern after she is Made because it is unusually heightened; she hears so many things, usually connected to the nature around her as @silverlinedeyes theorized. Like calls to like, and so she might be able to hear the beating heart of the land around her, even as it slumbers. Perhaps that is why her eyes were drawn to the barren ground in Illyria.
Vesperus, an Asteri trapped in a glass coffin below the Prison, tells us more about the connection between the Cauldron and the land:
“I am the Evening Star,” Vesperus seethed.
Bryce rolled her eyes. “Fine, we’ll call you the Evening Star, too. Happy?”
“Is it not fitting?” A wave of long fingers capped in sharp nails. “I drank from the land’s magic, and the land’s magic drank from me.”
[...]
Vesperus folded her hands in her lap. “A planet that was once green, as this one is.”
“And that wasn’t good enough?”
“We grew too populous. Wars broke out between the various beings on our world. Some of us saw the changes in the land beginning—rivers run dry, clouds so thick the sun could not pierce them—and left. Our brightest minds found ways to bend the fabric of worlds. To travel between them. Wayfarers, we called them. World-walkers.”
[...]
“Once we left our home world, our powers began to dim. Too late, we realized that we had been dependent on our land’s inherent magic. The magic in other worlds was not potent enough. Yet we could not find the way back home. Those of us who ventured here found ways to amplify that power, thanks to the gifts of the land. We pooled our power, and imbued those gifts into the Cauldron so that it would work our will. We Made the Trove from it. And then bound the very essence of the Cauldron to the soul of this world.”
Solas. “So destroy the Cauldron…”
“And you destroy this world. One cannot exist without the other.”
This should come as no surprise because we saw this play out in acowar, but the Cauldron is tied to the soul of their world. The term soul is intentional, and we will return to it in a bit, but I started to wonder in Forbidden secrets about that connection. The influence of Urd is especially clear in the sacred peaks, where the Asteri left behind their secrets. Could Elain unravel the Asteri’s magic from the slumbering heart of the earth, and unbind the Cauldron as a result? Or will she need to go to Cretea to retrieve and purify the magic of the Asteri from the Cauldron like a healer would, in body and in spirit? (Hello, Nephelle celebrations, let’s go.) Nothing feels more right than seeing our strong-willed gardener get her hands dirty as she rips out the Asteri from the root, or beating heart, of their world. Sarah may have even hinted at this role for Elain as she describes getting into her mind for her book:
“There was literally ivy everywhere: in the garden beds, wrapped around the trees, crawling up the sides of the house. So I went into this obsessive, I-need-to-rip-out-every-last-strand-of-ivy-before-I-have-this-baby mode. And I remember the entire time I was ripping out the ivy, and trying to get some semblance of order into the garden beds, I just slipped into Elain’s head. Elain is a gardener, and everything I did during those weeks became research for her book. I’m not even joking. Elain’s now going to have dreams about ripping ivy out and the ivy creeping in through the windows to strangle her at night, because let me tell you, that ivy does not want to go.” (Sarah’s interview in acofas)
English ivy is an aggressive invader and its hosts decline over time before they die. That’s exactly what the Asteri are: aggressive invaders that feed off of their hosts, warping the power of the land for their sole benefit, until it begins to wither away. In hofas, we learn that the Asteri hid their power throughout the land, including at the root of sacred mountains:
Vesperus backed up a half step, hissing at the gleaming weapon. “We hid pockets of our power throughout the lands, in case the vermin should cause … problems. It seems our wisdom did not fail us.”
“There are no such places,” Azriel countered coldly.
“Are there not?” Vesperus grinned broadly, showing all of her too-white teeth. “Have you looked beneath every sacred mountain? At their very roots? The magic draws all sorts of creatures. I can sense them even now, slithering about, gnawing on the magic. My magic. They’re as much vermin as the rest of you.” (hofas)
And we see the moment Bryce discovers that Vesperus has hidden her power in the root of the Prison mountain, which is what sustains her and weakens the land:
Bryce clutched the Starsword tighter. Its power thudded into her palms like a heartbeat. “But why store your power here? It’s an island—not exactly an easy pit stop.”
“There are certain places, girl, that are better suited to hold power than others. Places where the veil between worlds is thin, and magic naturally abounds. Our light thrives in such environments, sustained by the regenerative magic of the land.” She gestured around them. “This island is a thin place—the mists around it declare it so.”
[…]
“Every world has at least one thin place,” Vesperus drawled. “And there are always certain people more suited to exploit it—to claim its powers, to travel through them to other worlds.”
[…]
“Theia had the gift,” Vesperus said, “but did not understand how to claim the light. I made sure never to reveal how during her training—how she might light up entire worlds, if she wished, if she seized the power to amplify her own. But you, Light-Stealer…She must have passed the gift down to you. And it seems you have learned what she did not.”
Vesperus peered at her bare feet, the rock beneath. “Theia never learned how to access the power I cached beneath my palace. She had no choice but to leave it there, buried in the veins of this mountain. Her loss—and my gain.”
Oh gods. There was a fucking firstlight core here, far beneath their feet— (hofas)
These thin places are where ley lines—highways for magic and communication—overlap, allowing travel for those who are suited to it (wayfarers). Starborn and Asteri alike seem to be suited to these places, and have used them to store their power, causing the land around it to wither.
“Ley lines,” Bryce breathed.
Aidas nodded. “These lines are capable of moving magic, but also carrying communications across great distances.” Like those between the Gates of Crescent City, the way she’d spoken to Danika the day she’d made the Drop. “There are ley lines across the whole of the universe. And the planets—like Midgard, like Hel, like the home world of the Fae—atop those lines are joined by time and space and the Void itself. It thins the veils separating us. The Asteri have long chosen worlds that are on the ley lines for that exact purpose. It made it easier to move between them, to colonize those planets. There are certain places on each of these worlds where the most ley lines overlap, and thus the barrier between worlds is at its weakest.”
Everything slotted together. “Thin places,” Bryce said with sudden certainty.
“Precisely,” Apollion answered for Aidas with an approving nod. “The Northern Rift, the Southern Rift—both lie atop a tremendous knot of ley lines. And while those under Avallen are not as strong, the island is unique as a thin place thanks to the presence of black salt—which ties it to Hel.”
“And the mists?” Hunt asked. “What’s the deal with them?”
“The mists are a result of the ley lines’ power,” Aidas said. “They’re an indication of a thin place. Hoping to find a ley line strong enough to help her transfer and hide Theia’s power, Helena sent a fleet of Fae with earth magic to scour every misty place they could find on Midgard. When they told her of a place wreathed in mists so thick they could not pierce them, Helena went to investigate. The mists parted for her—as if they had been waiting. She found the small network of caves on Avallen … and the black salt beneath the surface.”
All of the sister peaks thrum with power and are at odds with the land around them. Barren. They might all be thin places, interconnected through ley lines...and hiding a cache of magic in the root (heart) of their souls.
Bryce’s ancestors, separated by the Void, planted clues for those with the gifts and vision to see it.
What had looked like etched seas or rivers of stars now filled in with starlight, became … alive. Moving, cascading, coursing. A secret illustration, only for those with the gifts and vision to see it. (hofas)
A secret carved in stone. What secrets remain under other sacred mountains, such as Ramiel? Is it any coincidence that Enalius, who defended Ramiel, was the owner of Truth-Teller? Or that the Cauldron is depicted there? Who would be equipped with the gifts and vision to uncover those secrets and finally set the soul of the land free, like Bryce?
“Light blasted up through the blades into her hands, her arms, her heart. Bryce could hear it through her feet, through the stone. The song of the land beneath her. Quiet and old and forgotten, but there.
She heard how Avallen had yielded its joy, its bright green lands and skies and flowers, so it might hold the power as it was bid, waiting all this time for someone to unleash it. To free it.
[…]
Helena had bound the soul of this land in magical chains. No more. No more would Bryce allow the Fae to lay claim over anything.
“You’re free,” Bryce whispered to Avallen, to the land and the pure, inherent magic beneath it. “Be free.”
And it was. (hofas)
Helena bound the soul of Avallen in magical chains. Doesn't that sound like what the Asteri did with the Cauldron and the land? There are so many hints that Elain is set up to address this plot, but the one I find the most compelling is given by the Under-King when he confirms who Urd is:
The Under-King lounged on a throne beneath a behemoth statue of a figure holding a black metal bowl between her upraised hands. Symbols were carved all over the bowl, continuing down her fingers, her arms, her body. Ithan could only assume it was meant to represent Urd. No other temples ever depicted the goddess, no one even dared—most people claimed that fate was impossible to portray in any one form. But it seemed that the dead, unlike the living, had a vision of her. And those symbols running from the bowl onto her skin…they were like tattoos.”
[…]
“And she,” the Under-King went on, gesturing to that unusual depiction of Urd towering above him, “was not a goddess, but a force that governed worlds. A cauldron of life, brimming with the language of creation. Urd, they call her here—a bastardized version of her true name. Wyrd, we called her in that old world.” (hofas)
Now, doesn't that sound familiar?
Her gaze shifted to the carved wooden rose she’d placed upon the mantel, half-hidden in the shadows beside a figurine of a supple-bodied female, her upraised arms clasping a full moon between them. Some sort of primal goddess—perhaps even the Mother herself. Nesta hadn’t let herself dwell on why she’d felt the need to set the rose there. Why she hadn’t just thrown it in a drawer. (acosf)
The statues are essentially the same and Urd has already been described in terms that evoke the Mother, Cauldron, and Fate (Forces That Be). And Nesta just happened to feel the need (fateful tug?) to place Elain’s rose—a symbol of life and joy and beauty—right next to Urd, and drew our attention to it again in the final scene of her story. What do you want to bet that Urd, the Stone Mother, gave her favorite gardener the gifts and vision she needs to make her dream of building more gardens, of breathing life and beauty into the land, a reality?
Sarah has confirmed that the main female characters in her books are helped by others, usually a love interest and friends. So who might be foreshadowed to help Elain?
I dragged a hand over my face before going to Elain and touching her too-bony shoulder. “Can I set you up in the garden? The herbs you planted are coming in nicely.”
“I can help her,” said Azriel, stepping to the table as Elain silently rose. No shadows at his ear, no darkness ringing his fingers as he extended a hand. (acowar)
-
“I’ll help you,” Nesta offered.
But Elain shook her head. “Nuala and Cerridwen will help me.”
Then she was gone–shoulders a little squarer.
-
It was three by the time the others went to bed. [...] Azriel and Elain remained in the sitting room, my sister showing him the plans she’d sketched to expand the garden in the back of the town house, using the seeds and tools my family had given her tonight. (acofas)
It’s no coincidence that the characters closest to Elain possess unique powers that complement her own and relate specifically to the elements of Stone Mother. Azriel learned to speak the language of shadow and wind and stone, while the half-wraith twins are nothing but shadow and mist, able to walk through walls, stone. Their magic likely thrives in thin parts of the world. It also isn't a coincidence that Nesta noticed and wondered this:
“You came,” Elain said behind her, and Nesta started, not having heard her sister approach. She scanned Elain from head to toe, wondering if she’d been taking lessons in stealth either from Azriel or the two half-wraiths she called friends. (acosf)
Their beautiful, wraith-like team has the gifts necessary to traverse the slumbering heart of the earth as easily as foreign courts, which is a hard combination to find and is uniquely suited for Elain’s mission to release the Cauldron and land from the magical chains of the Asteri. Especially since we learn that Bryce uses both blades of the Starborn to free Avallen from its magical chains:
On an exhale, she plunged the weapons into the slits in the eight-pointed star. The small one for the knife. The larger one for the sword.
And like a key turning in a lock, they released what lay beneath. (hofas)
They even help Bryce rid the land of the Asteri and their core of power, creating a larger void to devour the one the Asteri set in place. Back in acowar, as many have noticed, Sarah already planted this moment between Azriel and Elain:
I saw the painting in my mind: the lovely fawn, blooming spring vibrant behind her. Standing before Death, shadows and terrors lurking over his shoulder. Light and dark, the space between their bodies a blend of the two. The only bridge of connection…that knife. (acowar)
She and Azriel seem to represent the balance of light and dark in the Starsword and Truth-Teller, as @merymoonbeam theorized. The Starborn blade—the one belonging to Enalius—is a bridge of connection between them. Bryce leaves the Starsword (Gwydion) and Truth-Teller with Nesta, encouraging her to learn about her connection to the Starborn (eight-pointed star). That might mean the Archeron Starborn connection may happen after all. I could see Elain wielding those blades when needed, activating their magic as she seemed to do with Truth-Teller, to release the land from its magical chains. It would also be interesting if Elain and Azriel functioned like the Made blades themselves, releasing the Asteri’s chains with their own blend of raw magic, and watching joyously as life blooms in earnest again.
Once they remove the magical chains of the Asteri—on the land and their sacred Cauldron—perhaps we’ll also discover what exists between Elain and Azriel at last:
Elain sat silently at one of the wrought-iron tables, a cup of tea before her. Azriel was sprawled on the chaise longue across the gray stones, sunning his wings and reading what looked to be a stack of reports–likely information on the Autumn Court that he planned to present to Rhys once he’d sorted through it all. Already dressed for the Hewn City–the brutal, beautiful armor so at odds with the lovely garden. And my sister sitting within it.
“Why not make them mates?” I mused. “Why Lucien?”
“I’d keep that question from Lucien.”
“I’m serious.” I turned toward him and crossed my arms. “What decides it? Who decides it?”
Rhys straightened his lapels before plucking an invisible piece of lint from them. “Fate, the Mother, the Cauldron’s swirling eddies…” (acowar)
@silverlinedeyes, @offtorivendell, @elriell and others have written extensively about mating bonds, so I won’t discuss that in depth here. Essentially, Feysand and Nessian appear to have bonds that are true in spirit, and they are described as living threads of pure golden light between their souls.
Thread after thread of pure golden light flowed into him, and he met it with his own. Where those threads wove together, life glowed like starfire, and she had never seen anything more beautiful, felt anything more beautiful. (acosf)
This living light reminds me of the dawn, which is associated with healing and new beginnings. When Feysand and Nessian bind their souls together in these scenes, the dawn is invoked each time:
Feysand
…I was his and he was mine, and we were the beginning and middle and end. We were a song that had been sung from the very first ember of light in the world. (acomaf)
Nessian
Cassian roared as he came, and the sound was the summons of a hunt, a symphony, a single clear horn playing as dawn broke over the world. (acosf)
And when Azriel first sees Elain in his bonus chapter, her hair is unbound and she appears like the dawn, gilded in living light on the longest night of the year.
Soft steps padded from under the stair archway, and there she was.
The Faelights gilded Elain’s unbound hair, making her glow like the sun at dawn. (Azriel’s bonus chapter)
Is it possible that, with Elain’s connection to Urd and the land, her own threads of life are similarly chained, or warped? Perhaps when Elain clears away the Asteri’s power, we will finally see the truth blooming between them: threads of golden light twining together in an endless, earthy melody.
How Azriel/Elain in the Bonus POV mirror Ruhn/Lidia in HOFAS | Spoilers
I haven't posted anything in years, but the release of HOFAS—and all the crumbs we've gotten, everything we've learned that will directly impact future ACOTAR events—brought me back.
I might post more in the upcoming weeks, but wanted to first share something with my Elriels because I'm tired of the narrative being spun about Azriel's Bonus POV.
Beware: HOFAS spoilers under the cut
This is a scene between Ruhn and Lidia. It reminded me a lot of what happens between Azriel and Elain in his bonus POV, including how they react to each other.
He took one more step, and he could see her trembling. With fear or restraint, he had no idea.
“Lidia,” he murmured, in front of her at last, and she closed her eyes, the pulse in her throat fluttering.
Her scent shifted—like flowers unfurling under the morning sun. That scent was pure arousal. His cock tightened painfully.
vs.
Azriel's fingers lingered at her nape, atop the first knob of her spine. Slowly, Elain pivoted into his touch. Until his palm lay flat against her neck.
Azriel's cock strained behind his pants, aching so fiercely he could hardly think. He prayed she didn't peer down. Prayed she didn't understand the shift in his scent.
And
He didn’t care that they were in the middle of a hallway with his awful cousins running amok. He slid a hand onto her waist, nearly groaning at the steep curve, the way it fit his hand perfectly.
vs.
Wrong -- it was so wrong.
He didn't care.
He nearly groaned with relief and need as he lowered his head toward hers.
And
She kept her eyes closed, her pulse still flickering. So he took his other hand and tilted her head to the side. Leaned down and brushed his mouth over that fluttering spot.
Her breathing hitched, and his eyes nearly rolled back in his head. She tasted … fuck. He needed more. His teeth grazed the soft skin of her throat, and his tongue skimmed along the space just under her ear. His cock throbbed in answer.
vs.
Azriel's hand slid up her neck, burying in her thick hair. Tilting her face the way he wanted it. Elain's mouth parted slightly, her eyes scanning his before fluttering shut.
Her arousal drifted up to him, and his eyes nearly rolled back in his head at the sweet scent. He'd beg on his knees for a chance to taste it. But Azriel just stroked her neck again.
And
Her body loosened, pliant in his hands, and her head tipped a little further to the side. An invitation. He licked up the column of her throat, hand drifting from her waist down to her ass—
vs.
"Yes," he said, his thumb sweeping in long strokes along the side of her throat.
Elain shuddered, drifting closer. So close one deep breath would brush her breasts against his chest.
Offer and permission.
And
She stiffened. Pulled away.
He stood there like a fucking moron, panting slightly, cock fully hard and straining against his pants, and she just … stared at him. Wide-eyed.
“I …” He had no idea what to say. What to do.
vs.
Rhys vanished, and Azriel was left standing before Elain, who still awaited his kiss. His stomach twisted as he pulled his hand from her hair and stepped back. Forced himself to say, "This was a mistake.”
She opened her eyes, hurt and confusion warring there before she whispered, "I’m sorry."
“You don't -- Don't apologize,” he managed to say. "Never apologize. It's I who should…”
And
“Good night,” he rasped, and turned to his own room before he could make a greater fool of himself.
She didn’t stop him.
vs.
He shook his head, unable to stand the bleakness he'd brought to her expression. "Goodnight.”
Azriel winnowed into shadows before she could say anything
And the part that caught my attention the most:
His head swam. This female had so much blood on her hands, yet—
vs.
[...] that he knew she had no idea that he had done unspeakable things that sullied his hands far beyond their scars.
The funny thing is, the Ruhn and Lidia interaction is VERY similar to the Nesta/Cassian interaction in Cassian's bonus POV—AND an interaction between Rowan and Aelin. And yet, some still refuse to see what's right in front of them.
Either way, HOFAS has been amazing so far, and I cannot wait to see what the future will hold.
