While most of the fandom has been running around like little headless chickens panicking over Aelin’s ancient-fated demise, I’ve been scouring the series for clues…clues to what SJM is up to, little hidden tokens that whisper of secrets and plots and plans set in motion at the time Aelin was promised.
And what I’ve found intrigues me. It’s not much. It’s small. It’s seemingly insignificant and brushed over as if it’s nothing. But I believe I might have found a very important piece of our puzzle.
Molded by Brannon himself. For a seemingly simple purpose…watch over Elena’s tomb for eternity, annoy the devils out anyone who should come snooping, and guide Nehemiah and Aelin in their quest to save the world from its fast approaching doom. We find out through short snippets of conversation and flashbacks that Mort was certainly more helpful to Nehemiah than he was to Aelin, but I think that’s simply because Aelin rivals him for smartass-ery and sassiness.
Empire of Storms (p 622-3)
The message on the back of the Amulet of Orynth was the only warning he could offer, the only apology for what his daughter had done, even as it contained a secret inside so deadly no one must know, no one could ever be told.
But there would be clues. For her. To finish what they’d started.
Brannon built Elena’s tomb with his own hands. Carved the messages there for Aelin, too.
The riddles and clues. The best he could offer to explain the truth while keeping those keys hidden from the world, from powers who would use them to rule, to destroy.
Then he made Mort, the metal for the door knocker gifted by Rhiannon Crochan, who brushed a hand over the king’s cheek before she left the tomb.
Thanks to Manon, we know that Witch Mirrors can give one a look into the past, present, and even the future.
What if Rhiannon and Brannon had done just that…sought out the future, to prepare, to guide, or perhaps even to save Brannon’s heir from the sacrifice the gods demanded she make?
What if they found a way around said sacrifice? What if they hid their findings from the gods, secreted away the clues in a bronze door knocker, whose knowledge could one day alter the very fate of the Queen who was promised?
I find it interesting that, although no one was able to find a way down to the tomb after the destruction of the clocktower, SJM never insinuated that Mort had been destroyed. Quiet the opposite, really. It seemed to me that there were many hints and clues that Mort is very much alive. At least as alive as an inanimate object can be.
I think Mort knows more than he has ever let on. And he’s been waiting for just the right moment, for Aelin to be emotionally, physically, and mentally ready for the war-altering information he will give her. I believe Mort might very well hold the key to Aelin’s salvation. The key to the future. Of the world. Of Terrasen. Of Erawan and the gods. Of Rowan and Aelin.
A key that could rattle the stars. Hidden right in plain sight with a sassy bronze door knocker.
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