Frozen wasteland - Elriel - The Middle
We are going to dive deep into this quote and how it connects to elriel and the middle.
I watched the light shift inside the sapphire Siphon instead, as if it were the great eye of some half slumbering beast from a frozen wasteland.
Firstly thanks to @amethystblooms for this quote bc without her I wouldnt have found this whole connection.
The quote explains how Azriel's siphon is some great eye of half slumbering = Elain? Bc she is a seer. And beast as in "fanged beast and trembling fawn"?
And frozen wasteland part...I made a theory post before how the middle seems to take inspo from wasteland mythology/motif.
Basically the wasteland happens when a king gets wounded and his land suffers with him...it is literally what happens to the middle and fionn.
The image shifted to some sort of marsh—a bog. Fionn rode a horse between the islands of grass, bow at the ready as he ducked beneath trees in bloom. My parents often went hunting in the vast slice of land the Daglan had kept for their private game park, where they had crafted terrible monsters to serve as worthy prey. It was there that he met his death. A dark-haired, pale creature that could have been the relative of the nøkk in Jesiba’s gallery dragged a bound and gagged Fionn into the inky depths of the bog, the once-proud king screaming as he went under. Horror rooted Bryce to the spot. Theia and Pelias stood at the water’s edge, faces impassive. Petals began falling from the trees. Leaves with them. Birds took flight. As if sudden winter gripped the bog. As if the land had died with its king.
And the middle actually described as a wasteland.
Oorid stretched before them. She had never seen a place so dead. A place that made the still-human part of her recoil, whispering that it was wrong wrong wrong to be here.Azriel winced. The shadowsinger of the Night Court winced as the full brunt of Oorid’s oppressive air and scent and stillness hit him. The three of them surveyed the wasteland.
Sudden winter = middle is wasteland = frozen wasteland
Now how this connects to Elriel.
I said that first quote is about Azriel's siphons. Eye could be elain and frozen wasteland as we talked about is the middle.
I made a post before how Elain will be the one to revive the middle.
Elain in acowar
Devlon let out a grunt at the sight of her. But Elain wrapped her own blue cloak around herself, averting her eyes from all of those towering, muscled warriors, the army camp bustling toward the horizon … She was a rose bloom in a mud field. Filled with galloping horses.
The middle in acosf
Islands of grass dotted the expanse, some so crowded with brambles that he could find no safe place to land. The tangles of thorns were a mockery of what might have been—as if Oorid had ever produced roses. Not a single flower bloomed.
The middle when Fionn dies
The image shifted to some sort of marsh—a bog. Fionn rode a horse between the islands of grass, bow at the ready as he ducked beneath trees in bloom. My parents often went hunting in the vast slice of land the Daglan had kept for their private game park, where they had crafted terrible monsters to serve as worthy prey. It was there that he met his death. A dark-haired, pale creature that could have been the relative of the nøkk in Jesiba’s gallery dragged a bound and gagged Fionn into the inky depths of the bog, the once-proud king screaming as he went under. Horror rooted Bryce to the spot. Theia and Pelias stood at the water’s edge, faces impassive. Petals began falling from the trees. Leaves with them. Birds took flight. As if sudden winter gripped the bog. As if the land had died with its king.
As you can see it fits perfectly with how Fionn dies and the middle.
I also suspect that "half slumbering beast" could be about Fionn or maybe his power.
In my wild hunt post I theorized that Fionn is not dead but sleeping. In real life mythology it is explained like this:
According to the most popular account of Fionn's death, he is not dead at all, rather, he sleeps in a cave, surrounded by the Fianna. One day he will awake and defend Ireland in the hour of her greatest need. In one account, it is said that he will arise when the Dord Fiann, the hunting horn of the Fianna, is sounded three times, and he will be as strong and as well as he ever was.
This fits with the wasteland myth as well and I explained it all in post I added above. 🫡
Another part now...
I made a post aboıt winter and elriel connection. How there is so many stuff connecting them to it.
Winter solstice explained by Nuala:
Nuala went on, “It’s a time of rest, too. And a time to reflect on the darkness—how it lets the light shine.” “Is there a ceremony?” The half-wraith shrugged. “Yes, but none of us go. It’s more for those who wish to honor the light’s rebirth, usually by spending the entire night sitting in absolute darkness.”
Elriel TT scene
Elain looked up at Azriel, their eyes meeting, his hand still lingering on the hilt of the blade.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.”
As you can see they are very much connected to winter and this elain quote
She set down the tray and wiped her flour-coated hands on the apron she wore over her dusty-pink gown. Even in the middle of winter, she was a bloom of color and sunshine.
And in this post I talked about how Elain's smile can light up even Azriel's shadows...can it do the same for the middle.
Elain nodded, smiling up at me, and it was tentative joy—and life that shone in her eyes. A promise of the future, gleaming and sweet. I led her into the sitting room, where Cassian had a bottle of amber-colored liquor in each hand, Azriel was already rubbing his temples, and Mor was grabbing fine-cut crystal glasses off a shelf. “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.”
More gardens = revive the place was turned into wasteland.
Also I suspect that Elain and Azriel have both Fionn's powers.
Fionn in real life mythology has seer powers. = Elain
And in acotar world Fionn probably has shadowsinger powers.
Is it the land of the middle connected more to Elriel than we thought? Or is it as I suspect that maybe before dying fionn bind his powers to the middle to make it "wasteland" as Helena did with Avallen island?
the avallen island was like the prison island because Helena hid 1/3 of theia's power there and once bryce claimed that power...the island went back to what it was.
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.
It was no longer gray and thrashing, but a vibrant, clear turquoise. And rising from the water, just as they had seen on the map Declan had found, were islands, large and small. Lush and green with life. Forests erupted on the island they stood on, soon joined by mountains and rivers.
Can we do the same to the middle? Turn it back to what it was before it became a wasteland?
Is it how "Elain lightning up Azriel's shadows" will affect the middle? Bc Fionn bind his powers to the middle and Elain will do the same as Azriel's shadows...get rid of the darkness 👀
That's about it. Thanks for reading. It got a little out of hand. 🩷💙
