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Iron Flame Theory: We will have a new General in Book 3

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Written by: Cory

We will have a new General in Book 3 Empyrean Series

I recently started reading Fourth Wing and Iron Flame again. Yes, I can recite the books by now but I am just too excited about them. I actually started paying close attention to everyone’s military rank. To make it easier, I put together a post for you in case you need to visualise it as well.

We know that we have some Generals in Fourth Wing and Iron Flame: General Augustine Melgren, General Lilith Sorrengail and General Venin .

Since unfortunately Lilith Sorrengail is now dead, it is fair to assume that someone else will be promoted to the rank of commanding general of Basgiath.

If you know your military ranks, then you know that technically a lieutenant general will be taking her place. However, I notied that we are missing three ranks in the Empyrean Series:

  1. Brigadier General (BG)
  2. Major General (MG)
  3. Lieutenant General (LTG)

There may be introduced in book 3, of course, but with the current information for the fictional world of the Empyrean Series, it looks like it’s Colonel (like Colonel Aetos who is second in command for Lilith Sorrengail) and then General, then Commanding General of all Navarrian forces (Melgren).

Right, so that means that a Colonel will be promoted to General, right? And oh don’t we have some spicy options.

Colonel Aetos – it’s the most likely choice. Violet did say that her and Dain grew up together because their parents were stationed together. He was Lilith’s aid and chances are he will be promoted to General. Well it would be tragic for sure!

Colonel Kaori – he would be an excellent choice especially because he is part of the resistance, but let’s face it, we won’t get any good news here.

Colonel Nolon – Nolon is at the ripe age of 85. Chances are, he will not be promoted on this occasion because he is more important at his current post.

Colonel Markham – I can totally imagine Markham being promoted. But, it does feel a little unrealistic as he is a scribe. Presently, only the commander of the riders can be the commanding general. Lilith was a commanding general of Basgiath but not all Navarre’s forces. It’s possible that Markham could still take her place, because technically, he is not taking Melgren’s place.

“Healers, infantry, or even scribes could be the General of the Armies until about two hundred years ago with the second Krovlan uprising. After that, the commander of the riders commanded all Navarre’s forces.”

We have a few more colonels mentioned but none of them have been central to the story. Having said that, we did get Major Varrish involved out of the blue, and he was introduced as a new character.

Personally, I think the head of evil (Colon Aetos) will be taking General Sorrengail’s role. And I think Violet will need to hurry up and clear her room as soon as possible, get all those books out there, including her father’s research, we are so desperate to find and know more about…Because Aetos will be coming!

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Posted by:

Cory

Hello! I’m Cory, a devoted superfan of the Fourth Wing, Iron Flame and the Empyrean Series. My passion for these epic tales has led me to read and reread the books, each time uncovering new layers of information. I’ve created this site to share my insights and discoveries with fellow fans and anyone interested in exploring the rich world of Empyrean.

15 responses to “Iron Flame Theory: We will have a new General in Book 3”

  1. Diana Avatar
    Diana

    My bet is on Aetos.

    I’m waiting for Tairn to go after him like the way he went against Varrish, maybe this time it will be Andarna. There’s a modus operandi between the individual attacks of the riders that went to Resson, Bohdi in the restrooms, Imogen, Eya—who died in one of them, Violet with the one that killed Nadine AND the attack that received Mira in her cadet days.

    Reply
    1. Cory Avatar
      Cory

      My best is on Aetos as well. “Dain, whom I’ve known since we were five and six. Dain, whose father is one of my mother’s most trusted advisers.”
      C’mon…there will be no Varrish, but we will have a very angry Aetos! And I think there’s something bad going on with Dain too…

      Reply
      1. Emma Avatar
        Emma

        My bet is on Colonel Aetos as well. Or he will come back in some way.

        I listened in on the Waterstones interview with Rebecca last week and she mentioned that she does normally go down the complex family relationship themes in her books. You can see it with Vi and her mother, possibly Xaden and his mother and maybe now Dain and his father (possibly) if the Colonel was brought back to Basgaith.

        When you say something bad with Dain, what do you mean?😆🫣

        Reply
        1. Cory Avatar
          Cory

          Saw your other comment that you found the theory with the smells and Cath. Not saying he will be a bad guy, but I kinda do sense some weird dark turning here.

          Reply
      2. Emma Avatar
        Emma

        Actually – just read your article on the smells etc. I hope it is a coincidental comment, but as you say descriptions like this are hard to pass over. Or hopefully it is more of an influence being close to someone like Varrish and not coming from Dain himself.

        Reply
        1. Cory Avatar
          Cory

          I hope so too…but I just have this feeling we’re not quite done with Dain

          Reply
      3. Diana Avatar
        Diana

        Hi Cory,

        In Fourth Wing Chapter 16, the introduction quote is written by Kaori, and he says something that has been stuck in my mind:
        “[…] but I have not been able to discern how it is they make laws for themselves or at what point a dragon decided to bond only one rider, rather than to go with two.”

        There’s also this idea of Cath being demonized by Venin—the smell of his breath. And I’m very sure that the guy who killed Nadine was turning venin, his eyes were mentioned as red, and he said the exact words that Aetos said to Violet.

        Could it be possible that, as Violet got two dragons, Aetos started to think that he could also have another one? Varrish signet was to see weaknesses, maybe of dragons too.

        —I’m starting to think that’s why Varrish wanted to see Andarna, because that was the weakness of Violet at the moment—not her body but her sleepy dragon. She was very worried about her that day, asking Tairn.

        What if, somehow, Cath received the serum one night, and they managed to separate him from Dain. If it had failed, Aetos could have just convinced his son to shut up.
        —Remember when I said the thing about human kidnapping hatchlings? Now I’m scared.

        And then, Aetos convinced Cath to bond with him too. Maybe they were looking for a way to control a dragon and kill it in front of the wardstone. Aetos was sent to a coastal post and didn’t have access to Cath. He was alright in Aretia with Dain. They didn’t have Cath anymore, so they used Barlowe.

        Why Cath? Maybe he was the most approachable dragon to experiment with.

        Maybe the serum existed before the unification; venin was already demonizing dragons in the Fables of the Barren. Your last theory—the elixir developed by the leadership is not new—makes it more logical. Maybe they just wanted to know if it was possible to convince or force a second dragon to bond.

        Let’s bet that Varrish it’s still alive—because he’s venin—and sent Solas to kill Violet. She has only killed venin, wyberns and Varrish. Barlowe came back, why not Varrish?

        Reply
        1. Cory Avatar
          Cory

          I’ve been thinking of that quote too. Honestly? I thought it’s Rebecca trying to tell us that when a rider goes venin, the dragons might still have a chance to bond with another rider. But I’m not sure. If venin can honestly manipulate dragons, then yeah, it’s very possible that Cath is bonded or connected with Daddy Aetos and not just Dain.

          There is just nothing, nothing at all that points to the fact that Dain is a bad guy. Varrish does say that Coloen Aetos will be so disappointed in Dain.
          “If he already knows what Violet showed me, then I’m the one disappointed in him,” Dain counters, picking up his sword and raising it at Varrish.

          Oh no, no, no. Varrish cannot be alive. She used the alloy dagger to kill that ass. Barlowe came back because he wasn’t dead. Venin don’t burn and survive any sort of blow (as we’ve seen in Resson). They can only be killed with alloy infused daggers. In fact, Violet herself remarked that she used the wrong dagger on Jack. Luckily she did not make the same mistake with Varrish.

          “That’s fine,” I promise, gripping the alloy-hilted dagger in my right hand as my left lies uselessly at my side.[…]and Xaden holds me steady as I lift the dagger to his chest with a trembling, weak grip, resting the point above his heart, right between his ribs.
          That venin is DEAD!

          Reply
          1. Diana Avatar
            Diana

            Thank Zihnal he’s dead

        2. Emma Avatar
          Emma

          I was just reading the part about Cath being used to bring down the wards. I was thinking how messed up that would be. If Colonel Aetos wanted to kill Cath it would have resulted in the death of Dain. Would he be capable of killing his own son? But if he was venin – probably. And he did turn on Violet very quickly who he would have known since she was about 5. Or maybe they had a plan – if they killed Cath, they might have tried to turn Dain before he actually died!!

          Reply
          1. Cory Avatar
            Cory

            Ugh, I think Dain is in so much danger. If he is a good guy, oh gosh, I can’t even imagine all the issues there.

  2. Treya Avatar
    Treya

    My theory is actually Panchek, which was foreshadowed in Fourth Wing right after Parapet when he’s introduced. Something along the lines of his position just being a stepping stone for him and that he wants Gen. Sorrengails job and then Melgrens (to which Violet answers he’ll never get Melgrens and bc his signet would see aby attempts to kill him). I am actually really hopeful for him to take her place because I think he may be a potential ally and it will be interesting to see how he plays out!

    Reply
    1. Cory Avatar
      Cory

      It was, yes! I think Panchek makes a lot of sense but he doesn’t seem…involved. What I mean is that at first glance, Panchek getting the position is kind of like the best outcome. He is like a politician, right? And as you said, he might be an ally. But if Aetos gets the job…ugh!

      Reply
  3. Morgan Avatar
    Morgan

    My bet is on Aetos, because he was Lilith’s aid and is now very angry. If he replaced Lilith then I think that it will get very, very interesting since he is working with venin.

    Reply
    1. Cory Avatar
      Cory

      Sadly, same! It will also make sense to bring the story forward.

      Reply

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