I'm making another Skandar post! Specifically, how the water element haunts the hell out of Skandar's narrative.
The first thing we learn about Skandar, is that his favourite Chaos Cup Rider is Aspen McGrath and New-Age Frost, a water wielder. And she becomes the Commodore of Chaos, during what will be his Hatchling Year, providing he passes the Hatchery Exam. And it is this water wielder whom Skandar makes the deal with that he can continue his spirit wielder training. His last name is Smith, one of the most common ones, like water is one of the most common elements. Water makes up 70% of humans and covers 71% of Earth. It is essential for living. He lives in Margate, on the coast, on an island, surrounded by sea, by WATER.
He then gets to the Island, by flying over the sea, on Artic Swansong, which, whilst being a spirit unicorn, has a watery/icy first name, and second name: swan is a bird often found on water. They land on FISHERman's Beach, a water-based trade, named after the First Rider.
(ALSO, Albert makes connections between Kenna and The First Rider, but I think we're meant to see the parallels between Skandar and George instead. Both living on the coast, drawn to the Island by a sense of adventure. Rebel Spirit, his unicorn, his literally Skandar, I'm sure he's actually called the rebel/rebellious spirit wielder at one point. And Scoundrel's Luck: Luck, the thing that brought Skandar, George, and Rose to the Island in the first place, more or less, and a Scoundrel, a pirate, like Rose. ALSO, Rose - Rosemary, the fake name of Skandar's mother. A WATER-allied SILVER, whom George falls in love with. So, the First Rider, who unexpectedly came to the Island, befriended/bonded with a rebellious, mischievous unicorn, fell in love with a Silver, and irrevocably changed the Island. Like Skandar, except Flo is earth-allied, but rose/ rosemary are flowers/herbs, so it still matches. AND, Skandar meets the First/Phantom Rider in the second book, the WATER themed book. Where, on the cover, unlike the others, it is just Skandar and Scoundrel, and the water spirit, no other riders.)
And when on the Divide, Skandar chooses to go down the water line, partly because he feels it's safest, but also probably because in another life, water is what he would want to be allied to, as it was his mother's favourite element. And Instructor O'Sullivan, the WATER instructor, is the main instructor who looks out for Skandar. Now, I'm sure the others would have done their best for Skandar if he'd chosen them, but I think Persephone (named after the Queen of the Underworld, spirit is the death element, Steadman is very clever with her names), went above and beyond to support Skandar.
In choosing a quartet, his is the odd one out, for it doesn't contain a water wielder. This lack of water is a recurring flaw that will be an obstacle for Skandar. Also, Skandar spends a lot of the first book and smaller moments throughout the series wishing he had just been a water wielder, as his life would have been a lot easier.
Flo's Mum hadn't made a spirit paint yet, so Skandar had to use the blue, but he could've painted the sky or ice, or whatever. No, he painted the sea, the body of water right outside his Mainland home, where things weren't perfect, but he still had Kenna (I'm going to do a separate post about her and the air element), as his older sister, without a forged bond to wild unicorn foal, and people weren't trying to kill him. And out of that water crest/surf, his quartet make spirit symbols. Out of water, within the fading edges of a wave, is where Skandar's spirit lay.
The Well/The Sanctuary: A Well can be filled with water, but it can also be filled with nothingness, which is where spirit resides. And if someone seeks sanctuary, they will probably need food and water upon arrival.
When his quartet entered the First Rider's Tomb, he had to face the water element alone, using his fast flying skills to outmanoeuvre it, which he learnt in the Peregrine Society, led by Rickesh, a water wielder. When they have to put the bone staff in the divide, the lack of water element nearly ruins it, but Kenna saves them with her forged bond, but it is unnatural.
During the Chaos Trials, it is the WATER stone that Skandar is missing. And he chooses the air stone for Flo, his adored earth wielder. Whom he makes snow for, a water based ability. Again, earth is a key secondary element for both Smith siblings, if water/air is their primary ones that haunt their respective spirit arcs.
The Skeleton Curse is almost derailed from Kenna's POV, as she didn't kill Tsunami Herald, because she felt a kinship with Bobby, an older air wielder sister who wanted to protect her younger water wielder sibling. And Isa, Ira, Niamh, Rickesh, Kobi, and others that I can't quite remember, are all key-ish secondary characters who are allied to water.
And in the Spirit War, the water dragon is the first one they fight to turn off magic on the Mainland, and all of this is to fight an air wielder, whose element is most vulnerable to water, if I remember correctly.
But none of this would matter, if Skandar wasn't a spirit wielder. Because spirit is formed in the abstract, negative space of things that are missing. And Skandar is constantly missing the water element on his adventures. And he has spent his life missing people: his mother, his dad, his aunt, his sister, his friends, his girlfriend, his unicorn. Even if they came back, at one point or another, Skandar had lost them. For however long at a time, there were negative spaces in his life where people should be. And water can fill any space. But he is not a water wielder. So those holes were empty, and that's where his power grew. That's why Skandar is the main character, because the world told him he was evil, and history told him he would one day fall to the darkness. But he didn't.
And water is many things: adaptable, flexible, able to sustain life, etc. But spirit is unknown, and rooted in loss. And Skandar is ultimately a boy who lost everyone and everything. Including the element he should've had. If he wasn't Skandar Smith.
Anyway, there may be more examples, but those are the main ones.
TL;DR: Anytime something significant happens to Skandar, water is somehow related. Because he is a water spirit wielder, but a spirit wielder nonetheless.
