It goes without saying that THERE ARE MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. If you haven’t read this chapter of Onyx Storm, please go read it first.

The chapter opens with an epigraph about dragons and their bonds. Dragons protect dragons first and foremost. There is no loyalty to riders… Reading this makes me extremely sad, as I somehow imagine dragons and humans being equals in their partnership. And yet, we know it’s not the case. I think this is a bit of an Easter egg for what the dragons say and do later in the book. It feels like perhaps, Kaori might not have the right information that applies to ALL dragons.

“Bring us, say… twelve eggs—two of each breed—and I’ll bring my army to the Continent.”

Marlis wants dragons—not fully grown, as apparently humans on the Continent allowed dragons to become too arrogant. This begs the question… were dragons more subdued before? Perhaps because of the Gods?

Also, notice that the word Continent is italicized. She doesn’t call it Amaralys or Amalekis; she calls it the Continent. I don’t know why, but I feel this is very relevant. Note: we don’t find out the relevancy in this book tho.

And we finally get to understand what happened during the second Krovlan uprising. Violet says Unnbriel was not seeking dragon eggs for the feathertail gifts but because they were malleable. I don’t think that’s true but again, we won’t know more about this topic until Book 4.

Queen Marlis stares up at Sgaeyl, utterly enthralled. “What do you say?”

I know it’s probably a wild jump, but I can’t help but notice how, in some instances, certain people look with such admiration toward specific breeds of dragon. Queen Marlis didn’t look like this toward Tairn—but she did toward Sgaeyl. Is it because Sgaeyl is somehow connected to Dunne?

Right now, Amaralys and Amalekis seem to be the only places with dragons. Would a God isle having each breed of dragon tip the scales and make them somehow the Queen or King of Gods? Is that why Unnbriel wants dragons? To rule over the other gods?

“Surely a queen is worthy.” She lifts her hand as if she might actually try to touch Sgaeyl.

Again, interesting—she is not frightened. Marlis wants to touch Sgaeyl. What does she see? Power? Dunne? Magic?

“Sgaeyl’s growl rises in pitch as she opens her jaw: “Trust me, she’s not impressed by titles.” Xaden looks over at Sgaeyl. “If you want to, I understand, but her death would be incredibly inconvenient. Can you pick a guard or something?” The absolute lack of emotion in his voice sends a chill up the back of my neck.

Have you noticed this part? Do you think it’s a joke and Xaden is pretending to hear Sgaeyl? Or do you think Sgaeyl can actually hear him? They cannot communicate—it’s strange.

Here’s another interesting remark from the queen: “From what I know of them, they’re rather dedicated to protecting their own.”

Dedicated… Even Violet notices the word. Much like how others are dedicated to Gods, it feels like dragons are dedicated to their own. By whom? Elders? Is it like a dragon cult going on?

“There’s no magic here. Why do I have to keep reminding people about that? Can you wield?”

“No, of course not, but you can still speak to your dragons.”

Mira is worried. She thinks Violet can wield here—perhaps because she knows more about Violet and Dunne’s connection from Grandma Niara than we do at this point.

We’re finally moving on from this violent isle and onto Hedotis. I do have to say something rather fun about Rebecca Yarros’ writing style. I believe she always uses violence and action to cover the most inconspicuous subtleties and clues. We’re so caught up in the action—holding our breath for the characters to survive—that it’s easy to miss what she so cleverly hides. When I read Onyx Storm the first time, I honestly paid very little heed to what actually happened on Unnbriel. The second time around, however, I started noticing so many hidden meanings left for us to decipher. Or at least attempt to.

Hedotis was by far my favorite isle—dedicated to knowledge and peace, and yet so much remains to be uncovered.

The vegetation is paler here, and the Vidirys is cream-stoned in color.

“This looks like tarsilla, but the bark is nearly white.” “Perhaps magic weakens the farther from the Continent one gets?” Tairn muses, “Though I’m not sure how it can be much less than nonexistent.”

This is a clue. The bark is nearly white, as we thought: the farther from the Continent, the paler everything gets. But Tairn’s point is excellent. If all isles are equally non-magical, how can some be more “drained” than others?

“I do not like this place.” Andarna scrapes a single talon through the grass, revealing only damp sand. “My kind would not settle here. We should leave.”

This is so strong to read. Andarna immediately senses that something is wrong. And in our theory about Hedotis, we explore just why she can potentially feel… unnerved by this isle.

“They razed the original structures about a hundred and fifty years ago and rebuilt them with what Dad called intention.”

150 years ago. The Continent has been at war for 400 years. The Great War happened about 600 years ago. So many questions again… What exactly happened 150 years ago? What are they hiding?

“And there’s no port. It’s a coastal city with no port.” […] For being the isle of wisdom, it’s far from a logical approach.

Right away, something is off. Violet can tell that for an isle dedicated to wisdom, they lack logic. What happened here? What made people raze something and rebuild it with purpose? Normally, the only time this happens in real life is during war—when cities are occupied, razed to the ground, and rebuilt to hide the past cultures and the past histories. Unsettling, to say the least.

We witness a little more of Mira and Drake, and I think we’re about to get another enemy-to-lovers romance here. I like Mira. She deserves to find love.

Two strange things I noticed, for which I have absolutely no answer: “Drake, you’re starting to annoy me,” Xaden warns with a sideways glance. “You should stop that.” His tone ices over. Garrick glances my way, and his mouth tenses. Surely something so innocuous wouldn’t trigger—”

Wouldn’t trigger what? Also, there is no magic. Is Xaden becoming stressed because there is no magic? Tying in with this theory about addiction? I also recall that epigraph a few chapters back about how asims behave when they don’t channel.

“In the first twenty-four hours of removal from source magic, the subject—an asim—presented as even-tempered. But withdrawal quickly revealed the subject’s true nature, requiring the subject’s immediate transfer to stage two of the study.” Is this what’s happening to Xaden? He was already icy on Unnbriel. Is he…in withdrawal?

Another part that made no sense to me is related to the dead bird on the beach, mentioned when Mira and Drake were discussing. Why point that out? Again, nothing that RY writes is redundant.

As we progress with the story, a couple of other things to note here: the gem in Faris’ cane. I’ve never seen anyone with a cane… except for venin. Also, the gem is red. Gems are important when discussing theories of Gods and colors, but also when we think of the green of Tyrrendor.

“the intricate metallic embroidery of his tunic speaks to money, as does the sparkling red gem at the top of his cane.”

“It’s the brightest pop of color I’ve seen on the isle so far.” – Does it contain magic? Much like how the citrine contained magic until the venin drained it in Anca?

“You have very unusual eyes—not entirely blue, or green, or gold, but an amalgamation of all. Fascinating.“

Another fun thing to note is that we finally understand a little more about Violet’s eyes. We knew they were hazel, and from Xaden’s comments we learned that sometimes they change from blue to green. But gold in them? Hmm… Do colors matter when it comes to Violet? Perhaps the Gods that touched her? The dragons? I don’t have the answers; I’m mainly discussing it with you in hopes we can come up with a solid theory.

We learn that the people on Hedotis have purple eyes. Interesting, since this color is usually seen around venin more often than not (purple robes).

Are you excited that we finally get to know about Xaden’s mother? Talia is Xaden’s mom. Many of you thought she was on the isles somewhere, while others thought she was venin. I’m glad she’s not venin, honestly. I personally thought perhaps she was related to Dunne, so I was wrong in my theory.

The other thing to notice is that Talia wears pale green. Colors, colors…when will we figure them out?

Onyx Storm Read Along

• Onyx Storm Read Along: Prologue
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 1
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 2
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 3
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 4
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 5
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 6
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 7
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 8
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 9
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 10
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 11
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 12
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 13
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 14
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 15
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 16
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 17
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 18
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 19
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 20
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 21
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 22
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 23
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 24
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 25
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 26
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 27
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 28
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 29
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 30
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 31
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 32
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 33
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 34
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 35
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 36
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 37
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 38
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 39
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 40
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 41
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 42
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 43
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 44
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 45
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 46
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 47
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 48
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 49
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 50
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 51
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 52
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 53
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 54
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 55
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 56
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 57
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 58
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 59
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 60
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 61
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 62
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 63
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 64
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 65
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 66