Coming to you with a great theory about Malek, the God of death and the need to burn items for Malek. I am going to warn you, this is a fairly unhinged theory and one I do very much love.
This theory was developed in partnership with one of the readers here named hayruşş. Let’s dig right in.
Who is Malek and why do we burn for him?
Malek is the God of death. When someone dies, their souls are commended to Malek.
In the books, we quickly learn that things are getting burnt for Malek. All things. And nobody should keep any items from the deceased.
“The flames catch and whoosh as it becomes more fuel for the fire, just another tribute to Malek, the god of death.”
“It is a grave offense against Malek to keep the belongings of a dead loved one. They belong in the beyond with the god of death and the departed. In the absence of a proper temple, any fire will do. He who does not burn for Malek will be burned by Malek.”
The above is taken from “Major Rorilee’s Guide to Appeasing the Gods, Second Edition”. Please be mindful that this is the second edition and not the first. We do know that many books have been already “edited” to fit and suit the new Navarre history. Could this be another one of them?
There are items which we didn’t burn
There are a few items out there which we know about, that we didn’t burn.
Brennan’s journal is very important in Fourth Wing. This item was not burn but kept by Mira in secret.
Papa Sorrengail’s research continues to be somewhere. Violet kept it and kept it a secret when Lilith and Colonel Aetos asked about it. She also kept dad’s book of fables and his note.
Liam’s letters were not burnt either. Violet kept them and gave them to Sloane.
Why am I telling you this? Stay with me, I have a reason. But first, one more thing we need to discuss: runes.
Runes are not taught at Basgiath
Why are runes not taught at Basgiath?
“Everything in Tyrrish had to be changed. The only unique thing we kept were our runes because they’re in too much of our architecture to justify changing.”
“Runes?” I repeat like a bird, staring at the etched shapes.
“Yes. Runes. Wielded power woven for set purposes.” He exhales slowly. “Which you know nothing about because Basgiath doesn’t teach Tyrrish runes, even if the college was f*cking built on them. Guess we’ll ask Trissa to teach that class. She has the most patience out of the Assembly.”
“They banned runes so they wouldn’t fall into the wrong hands.” She glances at the fliers. “Your hands, specifically. Get good enough at runes, and you can compete with a fair amount of signets.”
Liam knew runes
Marked ones from Tyrrendor naturally know runes. Xaden, Imogen, Sloane, everyone knows runes. They are taught them from a very early age.
Do you remember the time when Liam was wielding ice in the sky when battling wyvern? That wasn’t his signet, he was just using…runes. At least that’s one of my theories.
The runes on Violet’s dagger? They are protective as well as useful for her.
So what is the theory? Runes can bring people back…maybe
Brennan Aisereigh. Aisereigh which means resurrected. Marbh, which means dead.
Brennan has a rune on his palm. Brennan’s items were not fully burnt. Could it be that he was somehow, brought back?
Liam was also brought back as a hallucination. Let’s not forget, he does say that he is not wandering but he is precisely where he needed to be. Could it be that some runes he created for himself (remember Liam, tinkering with wood all the time) as well as the fact that not all his items have been burnt, allowed him to “return” if only temporarily?
Could it be that in Onyx Storm, we will be able to communicate with Papa Sorrengail? By using runes and his unburnt research?
I don’t know if we could resurrect all dead people with runes and their items. But what if we could somehow? And by banning runes under the pretext that they will fall in enemy hands, as well as making people burn things for a God, Navarre created even more lies, to keep the dead…dead. And rule by fear.
I will leave you sit with theory and Professor Kaori’s words:
“After all, bonding makes you a rider, but resurrecting someone from the dead? Now, that makes you a god. I somehow don’t think that Malek takes kindly to a mortal treading on his territory.”
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