u/twothruthz

I will die on this hill: TOG was based on a second chance timeline. The first timeline failed, and the board was reset / the fabric of time rewoven after someone (probably the King) bargained with the Stygain spiders.

So at the end of KOA whilst the kingdom might have been saved (unlike the first timeline) - perhaps it was without realising that pulling tight on one side of the web to fix a broken loop, creates immense tension and structural fractures everywhere else. Maybe it fractured threads in other worlds within the Massverse i.e creating a “splintered harmony". And perhaps “forgotten melodies” are from past / original timelines that were reset?

A world doesn't exist in a vacuum; if you yank a single thread in the grand tapestry of the Maasverse, the neighboring threads in Prythian are bound to snap, fray, or splinter. Perhaps this explains why the harmony is broken - the "fix" for one reality became the fracture for another.

SPOILERS

Reposting my TOG theory because did I spy a Stygian Spider on SJM’s website?

I have held onto this theory from early on in the series that connects the Stygian Spiders and some sort of time loop.

So I keep coming back to some of Dorian's experiences in the early books:

1. The sudden panic attack he gets in Celaena's bedroom
   - after Chaol killed Cain and Celaena became the king's champion.

2. The fact that he personally went to save Celaena from Endovier.

3. That sense of familiarity when he hears Celaena play the piano.

4. Brushing against Celaena’s smooth, unscarred wrist at the ball in The Assassin's Blade, almost like his soul remembers a version of her that was scarred.

So my theory is that Dorian no. 1 fails to save the world, gets possessed by the Valg, and loses everything. In a final, desperate act, he bargains with the fate-weaving Stygian Spiders to spin his soul back into the tapestry of time.

The result: He is reborn as his own son (Dorian no. 2).
Hence the identical names. It means Dorian no. Il is living a second-chance timeline with no direct awareness, just these intense subconscious memories and sensory triggers guiding him to protect her.

Think about the end of CoM when Celaena tells Chaol, "It was always you."

If Dorian No. 1's timeline failed, the timeline had to be manipulated to give the world a second chance. What if Chaol was the necessary anchor to alter the course of events? In the first timeline, Celaena might have chosen Dorian, leading to their downfall. Shifting her focus to Chaol completely rearranged the chess board as he clearly played a role in keeping Celaena alive so she could safely reach Wendlyn and unlock her magic. To me, this takes on a whole new meaning when Celaena says to Chaol “it was always you” 😮

Is this theory going to become a reality? If so, I am so here for it!

SPOILERS

Okay, I have a TOG theory that I have held onto from early on in the series that connects the Stygian Spiders and some sort of time loop.

Note: I have read ACOTAR series and just started CC.

So I keep coming back to some of Dorian’s experiences in the early books:

1. The sudden panic attack he gets in Celaena's bedroom - after Chaol killed Cain and Celaena became the king's champion.
2. The fact that he personally went to save Celaena from Endovier.
3. That sense of familiarity when he hears Celaena play the piano.
4. Brushing against her smooth, unscarred wrist at the ball in The Assassin's Blade, almost like his soul remembers a version of her that was scarred.

So my theory is that Dorian no. 1 fails to save the world, gets possessed by the Valg, and loses everything. In a final, desperate act, he bargains with the fate-weaving Stygian Spiders to spin his soul back into the tapestry of time.

The result: He is reborn as his own son (Dorian no. 2). Hence the identical names. It means Dorian no. II is living a second-chance timeline with no direct awareness, just these intense subconscious memories and sensory triggers guiding him to protect her.

Are there any similar theories out there in the fandom?