u/Historical_Tune165

How come they have chocolate and coffee on the Continent if all trade has (officially) ceased for centuries?

Cocoa and coffee are both very tropical plants. While coffee is slightly easier to get going in a greenhouse, the conditions required for cocoa are damn near impossible to replicate and attempts can result in chocolate that tastes off, apparently. Also Violet knows what vanilla is, yet another tropical plant. That one also does fair better being grown in a greenhouse, so lets allow it for now.

How did Xaden grow up having chocolate cake regularly in Aretia? They just have it casually lying around in the kitchens when Violet goes to get him some in Iron Flame, so its apparently something they just make quite often. Fair enough, we don't hear of it being served in other places, so maybe it is an unusual, more of a rich people food. But how are they sourcing the main ingredient? On Hedotis, they say the chocolate comes from Deverelli, which is entirely believable, they seem to have the perfect climate for it. But Xaden had no idea his father had been in contact with Deverelli, or even that they traded officially with them up until a century prior, so they've not buying it directly from them, if it's being traded for, its through another party (Cordyn?). We know Navarre has been secretly having dealings with Deverelli the whole time, is there a black market too?

Is this where plant wielders come in? This signet was just barely introduced in Onyx Storm, with very little detail other than its a common signet, so its not quite clear yet how exactly it works. Can they just materialize a food-yielding plant? Do they still need the seeds? I have questions.

Initially, I was also extremely confused how they have oranges and lemons for all that lemonade Violet loves so much if they live in a place where it snows until March. Then I remembered Basgiath War College is built high up on the side of a mountain, so maybe it is possible to grow them at lower elevation and just deliver them up the road in wagons.

Also, one thing I've yet to see someone fully address is the large-scale loss of arable soil due to the venin invasion. I'm assuming draining the earth makes the soil unusable, at least for quite some time. Wasn't Navarre importing grain and produce from Poromiel? I know the terms of the trade agreement Violet cites in the beginning are propaganda and can't be fully trusted, but is this going to be a problem? Are we looking at severe food shortages in the near future? The King of Deverelli said supplying people at war is where the money is. Weapons, forces and knowledge are all safe bets for what he meant, but is Violet also going to have to negotiate for some food imports?

And what about what the dragons eat? They seem to have a preference for sheep, which is odd. They have endless access to wild game, but they still prefer for the humans to deliver them sheep?

That always cracks me up that they like sheep so much, it always reminds me of the Eragon books, where Saphira, the main dragon says she doesn't like sheep because the wool gets stuck in her teeth. And they're not burning the sheep first, like the ASOIAF dragons, because Andarna hunts and gobbles them up before she can breathe fire.

And how are the humans getting the sheep up there if they're not allowed in the Vale? Very well trained sheep-dogs? Is that a lie and some humans secretly are allowed? Can you sneak into the Vale by using the sheep paths?

And what are they hunting on the Isles? How big are each of the Isles? What kind of wildlife do they get that is big enough to sustain a dragon? I know some island nations in our world do have deer, either native or introduced, as well as some wild or feral goat subspecies. That must be it, but I'm curious. Since the Isles are so varied, I wish they specified. And since Deverelli is tropical, did someone straight up go and hunt an alligator? Or the dolphins? (nobody tell Violet)

We have Riorgail. We have Slain. We need an official ship name for Garrick and Imogen.

Most upvoted comment stays. Go.

Do you think she went back to talking to Xaden after she first yelled at him that time beyond the wards?

After he channeled for the first time, Sgaeyl didn't speak to him for around a month. This hurt Xaden deeply, but he crossed a terrible line, and while she didn't abandon him, she didn't let him off the hook either. Until he slipped during a fight to protect civilians and drew from the earth without even realizing. It was Sgaeyl's voice that snapped him out of it and got him to regain control and stop and possibly saved him from fully progressing to asim and losing his soul right there and then.

My question is: did Sgaeyl realize how much of a stablizing presence she is for Xaden and begin speaking to him again after that, or did she mostly still stay quiet except for yelling at him again in Zehyllna and talking to him during his POV at the end? I don't know, I'd assumed the latter before, but rereading Onyx Storm right now, I'm starting to wonder.

There's no doubt in my mind that she loves him, and I do fully believe she has gone with him and will help anchor him and stay focused on their goal. My question is if this she was already playing this role during Onyx Storm. Did she begin speaking to him again and, in her way, support him as he worked to retain control and stablize his progression? What do you guys think?

I know we'll find out what went down eventually. Hopefully it's revealed in Threshing Day, and we don't have to wait all the way until book 4 or 5.

But what are your theories/opinions on why the records are incorrect and everyone thinks Sgaeyl bonded Xaden's great-uncle instead of his grandfather?

Me personally, I really like the theory that his grandfather and great-uncle were twins who swapped places, and gave each other's names on Conscription Day, then went into the Riders and Infantry respectively.

Prior to Xaden becoming the Duke of Tyrrendor in Onyx Storm, no rider had sat in the Senarium for a ''few centuries'' and heirs of nobility were highly discouraged from becoming riders. So if his grandfather was a firstborn and he really wanted to be a rider, he could've swapped with his twin. Then when he died, his pregnant girlfriend married the twin and had Fen Riorson. And because he was the son of the true heir anyway, they just upkept this secret and the twin carried on living with his brother's identity.

I think I like that better than it turning out the guy just had an affair with his brother's wife which is where my mind went first. And if Bohdi's mother was born of the twin and the same mother, her and Fen would still be genetic full siblings, so the stricking family resemblance still tracks.

What do you guys think went down? Twins? Affair? Something else? Let's discuss.

Another post here recently pointed out how similar Lilith and Xaden actually are to each other and it got me thinking again about how Violet and Xaden are basically Lilith and Asher with the genders flipped.

Then a commenter suggested Xaden might go on a rampage similar to how Lilith burnt Aretia to the ground and rounded up everyone for execution once Fen Riorson shot Brennan in the chest and he "died", like history repeating itself. And that got me thinking of the Violet/Asher side of this.

We know Asher went on prolongued travels that never officially happened. Officially Navarre had strictly closed broders for almost its entire existence and even trade and contact with the Isles had completely ceased for over a century. Only in Onyx Storm do we learn that this isn't true, people still got in (Talia) and out (Asher). But Asher's travels weren't public knowledge, officially, they never happened. And we know Violet isn't going to be content to stay put, she will not stop searching for answers, and for a lead on a cure for Xaden.

So will she ever also disapear off for months on trips that officially "never happened"? What was the cover story when Asher took of with baby Violet to Unnbriel and they were gone for months? Will a similar cover story be used for Violet and whoever goes with her? Will rumors start popping up? Like, I know RY already said she won't do the pregnancy trope, but a fun twist on it would be if that was a rumor people started whispering about after nobody had seen the Duchess for a while, that she was pregnant and on bedrest and then she comes back and is like "oh, for fuck's sake!".

I've seen people say that Dain gets treated badly so this is just me going over his relationships with the other characters and my thoughts on them.

Violet spends a lot of time believing he was in on what was waiting at Resson, that he was fully and knowingly a part of the plan to send them all to die and spiralling, wondering how many times he spyed on her and violated her privacy. She doesn't learn otherwise until later and it takes a while to let go of her anger, and unlearn what she thought was the truth about him. They talk and begin repairing not only that, but also the rift that formed between them during the first book. Dain recognizes the Quadrant did change him in the year the were apart and he didn't listen like he used to but Violet also starts seeing things from his perspective and where he was coming from.

At the point they're at in Onyx Storm, their relationship is still healing but Dain is commited to be there for Violet in a way he hadn't been during Fourth Wing, actually helping her, supporting her and trusting her skill. Violet is not just using Dain, he *wants* to help. He wants to put his skills to use, do his part.

They're not seen hanging out as much because, not only is their friendship still recovering, both Dain and Violet are extremely busy and no longer on the same squad. Dain has his Wingleader responsibilities that he takes very seriously and third years are also being called out to fill in at outposts more than they ever were before. Violet says at more than one point in the book that her time when she's not in class is a blur of research and training to the point where *everyone* barely sees her.

The teasing he gets isn't even that bad. Rhiannon calls him out once on taking himself too seriously on the turred in Iron Flame and reminds him that Xaden didn't act the way he was acting to get the respect he's aiming for and Ridoc makes the comment about Dain still turning out "halfway normal" with the upbringing he got and thinks he's not quite ready yet to handle the venin bombshell in a productive and helpful manner. Mira is a hardass, but when has that ever been news? But its not like he's getting jeered and bullied and iced out.

The greastest culprit is Xaden. Their dynamic is complicated. During Fourth Wing, Dain can't be trusted, especially not with his signet and his familial proximity with somebody with the power to really screw them over. He assumes that he's like the other navarrian loyalists we see and that assumption isn't exactly coming out of nowhere at that point. He also doesn't like the way he treats Violet. In his POVs he makes note of him holding her too tight right where the wound on her arm is, him fussing over her and smothering her, him not helping her get better at sparring the way a squad leader is supposed to and it pisses him off.

But at the same time, he's still jealous because he has a whole fifteen years worth of history with Violet that he was not a part of it. Yes his shift in behaviour at Narelle's was abrupt, but hearing they were so inseparable that her father had assumed she'd be with Dain touched a nerve. *Especially * since, at that point in time he thinks Dain still has feelings for Violet. He doesn't know he's began to move on, he wasn't present in the scene where he's hitting on a healer at the bar and the Slain hints hadn't started yet by that point in the book. Xaden doesn't feel worthy of Violet's love and he does carry insecurity about not being good enough for her and thinking she deserves better.

Xaden is still having trouble trusting Dain. He does blame himself for Liam's death, he says as much in Iron Flame, but Dain's part in it was still painful. He has full confidence in Violet's judgement to trust him, but he's not quite there yet himself, he's still prickly. There's just too much to get untagled all at once. But Xaden is showing progress slowly and he did save him during the battle.

I think Dain will be more involved in the inner circle now that he's about to be an Aretian Lieutenant instead of an overworked Wingleader and Violet as Duchess will need to keep her friends close more than ever.