u/Sophia_Mallva

The Black Swan made it very clear on numerous occasions that Sophie was made to help their world see all the unfair prejudices, hence her human upbringing. That was their inutial goal.

And the Neverseen never looked like the Black Swan's №1 enemy. I mean, both groups have been present FOR A WHILE, but it's only, like, in Everblaze that we actually discover the Neverseen's name, so it's either the Neverseen are really good at hiding or the Black Swan never cared about them. The reason why the Black Swan is onto the Neverseen now is because the latter kidnapped Sophie and Dex, which was their first real move.

BUT if Sophie wasn't designed to fight the Neverseen, why give her all the abilities? She was meant to be a warrior, a fighter. But who did the Black Swan want her to fight against? The Council? Or have Forkle always considered them going to war with someone else?

not really a theory or anything, just a detail I've noticed while rereading Lodestar.

>!When dying, Forkle tells Sophie that he "has lived five lives", meaning his five identities. We for sure know three of them: Mr Forkle, Sir Astin, Magnate Leto. One identity is his birth identity, which leaves with only one other identity to figure out!<

>!and I'm really curious whether we'll ever know his birth identity or not!<

Rereading the series, I've noticed this little detail:

in Book 1 when Sophie moves in to Grady and Edaline Alden says that he has personally chosen them as Sophie's guardians

in Book 8, though, Oralie claims it's her who's suggested Grady and Edaline to the Council

thoughts on this?

so I've been to this school trip recently, where we all had lots of fun and formed our own *friend* group, which is like basically me and a couple of other kids hanging out together, yk. Sitting at luch together, sitting in a bus together: the kind of a friend group which only exists during this specific trip. My very best friend's in there too, and she was the one who brought other people in. They all seem to be really enthusiastic about continueing to hang out together, so we could all keep this group outside of school. But I'm really not into these people, honestly. They're fine, just not my vibe. I don't wanna miss out on all the fun, but I also think that I don't wanna be friends witht them really, I mean, close friends. But I don't wanna be rude, since I see their pov (nah, it's just nerds grasping onto a chance of not being outcasts anymore. that's really what it is. but nerds aren't my type, socially speaking, and no offense to anyone out there). I generally like keeping my friend group small and *exclusive*

Not sure what exactly I'm asking with this, but what should I do? Hint at that I'd prefer to keep myself out of it or got for it no matter what and see where it leads to?

Okay, so I've been really thinking about what is the plot twist with Elysian and here's what I've come up with!

First of all, Elysian is an Ancient . Like, really really ancient, since it's obvious she's been around ever since the first Council of three came into place. And Keefe's new powers are clearly connected to Elysian's. They have something to do with abilities, but we are yet to determine what exactly they do. Aaand, since step 3 is still not completed, there may be more to Keefe's powers than we know for now. When encountered Elysian, everyone's abilities are gone. It's described that they are basically Talentless, and Elysian says that it happens naturally around her. She herself didn't do anything. So, I think it's safe to say that Elysian kinda can turn someone's abilities on and off (we're unsure about the "on" part, but still).

I've been trying to read into Shannon's words about how Elysian is the biggest secret the Lost Cities have and that she's been leading to this particular reveal for this whole time.

And what could possibly be the secret that, if discovered, would topple elvin world?

Here's what I think: since Book 1, when Sophie was first brought into the Lost Cities, she's been introduced to how elves are superior to everyone else and basically rule the world. Elves pretty much think of themselves as an ultimate race, even if they don't express it openly. They are the first to come to help different species (like with gnomes), they're the ones who sign peace treaties with everyone, the ones who offer them in the first place. Elves took the lead during a conflict with humans by deciding to hide and stop it. So, elves are the good guys. And humans in particular are bad guys, and that's been stated as early in the series as Book 1. Fitz tells this Sophie when they first snuck out into the Lost Cities.

But what if the elves aren't the good guys? What if elves aren't superior?

I mean, yeah, throughout the series we've seean A BUNCH of examples, when, for example, the Council made unfair and questionable decisions, and elves aren't good by definition. But here I want to come back to the original conflict with humans. Fitz says that humans rejected elves' treaty and decided they wanted to rule the world instead. But the history is being told by the victors, so if anything, elves could always tell an alternative story to officially paint humans bad and smudge their own part in the story.

What if elves were the ones to initiate the conflict and wanted to rule humans out, but failed and just went away?

I think that humans and elves used to be of the same species (humans), until someone stumled upon Elysian (a quintessence of the world's elements, pure power of the Nature) which accidentally granted them their abilities. Basically, turned humans into elves. Having a special ability is a unique elvin trait. No other species has these powers in this specific form. And newly made elves decided to preserve Elysian for themselves. They gained immortality, control over light and immediately knew they were special. Then they left everyone else out, and when other humans wanted the same power (very rightfully), elves didn't give it to them, and humans started the infamous conflict.

With time the Council understood that having Elysian out there basically meant everyone could become an elf if they managed to find her, which was definitely not the right way to have it. So they locked Elysian away.

Wouldn't it be terrifying for the elves to find out that they're not that different from humans, whom they despise?