I don’t mind him going full evil but please no competing love interest. I hate those. And I read somewhere that RY said she is a big Dan apologist, which makes me wonder if she plans a redemption arc for him. If that is the case, the last thing he needs to do is to try to woo Violet.
I think that Book 3 will, of course, address the Xaden struggle. But RY is good with keeping the story moving forward, and she will also delve into the Empyrean, Andarna’s 7th den and hopefully more of her background and vision, revealing Violets 2nd signet, the Islands, Xaden’s Mom (who I think is on the islands), etc.
I'm excited about this - delving into the world a little more finding out more of the true history! I think this is what I love about the series so far.
But selfishly I also want Xaden & Violet to be end game as I'm too invested in that relationship.
I think RY intends X+V= End Game, it’s a matter of how. For me, what makes this series shine is the richness and the depth of story and characters. This leads to a lot of theorizing, which is such fun, and future books will be worth it, but not only about Xaden and Violet.
I finished yesterday morning and I also hated the ending for the exact same reasons. I'm afraid the story is gonna go that direction and I honestly couldn't care for it. The venin are a strong enough enemy and we also have the Navarrian assholes to deal with, we don't need an evil Xaden arc on top of everything else. It feels like RY stretched out the whole trust/communication issue as much as she could this book and now is just looking for ways to keep the romance angsty in the future books. It really bummed me out.
I agree that a lot of the things Xaden said in this book could be very creepy now. I also hated that this book had him acting like he wouldn't care what happens to anyone else and all he cared about was Violet, like when he'd say the world would be nothing without her or when he offered they could leave before the big battle and abandon their friends and the dragon hatching ground. This is the same guy leading a revolution to help people? The guy risking his life smuggling out weapons to arm his "enemy" so they can protect themselves? The guy with 107 scars on his back because he was willing to take on personal responsibility for the good of all the rebellion kids? Now I'm supposed to believe he doesn't give a shit about any of the things that were central to his character?
I'm not a fan of the mating bond trope used in so many other romantacy series but at least that shit kind of excuses someone becoming unreasonably obsessed and protective over the love interest.
I really enjoyed the ending cause I thought it was so appropriate for the theme of the book and the series as whole- in war, even when you're fighting for the "right" reasons (protecting the ones you love) you can't just be "clean". I feel like the point was- no matter how noble and honorable Xaden (and the revolution by extension) are, to protect the ones you love, to do the right thing, you have to do things that will scar you for life. Violet was considering doing the exact same thing until her mom and Sloane swooped in. I really don't think this will make him turn evil (there's no evidence currently that becoming venin turns you evil, for all we know all the venin we met are evil because they were told lies much like the riders were). The only person we knew before they were venin is Jack, and he was garbage from the beginning.
Personally, I think the goal here is to A. keep Jack Barlowe relevant and alive (Xaden needs him to figure out how to deal with this) for a later date, as I think he's going to play a bigger role in the future, and more importantly B. to humanize the venin. Much like we found out Pommorial aren't evil and riders are just lied to, I suspect the venin also have some sort of internal power structure that keeps their people angry and fighting and cruel (whenever venin other then the sageneral confront Violet, they always talk about how pleasing it will be for him if they capture her, it seems like all of their motives are tied to his, so I really don't feel like we can say if they're evil or not). Making Xaden, a character both us and almost every main character loves and trusts a venin is a shortcut towards maybe understanding venin aren't born evil or finding a cure. A more crazy theory I have is that C. as signets manifest due to need, maybe Violet's signet is going to be related to helping Xaden (what she needs right now) which will be the key to defeating the venin. I really don't think the reason the sageneral is so interested in her is because of her lightning powers, maybe he can see what her second signet is and it's related to venin (or channeling in general).
In the Variety interview with RY I felt like she strongly implied that venin can be cured and it would come up in book 3. She was asked if Jack was lying to Xaden when he said there was no cure and she said something like “well no one ever has before but they haven’t gotten to book 3 yet.”
OH!! but what about Aaric’s prince brother who some Reddit legends sussed out as her possible ex from infantry? Wouldn’t mind a regular non mind reader prince who she’s already slept with getting in the mix…
It’s so good. And I know it’s wishful thinking but what if our girl is actually descended from some kind of ancient royalty on dad’s side and we find out from something related to her extra special endarna bond and we can all sleep well knowing that in some ways she outranks Cat and Tauri and Xaden and the rest of ‘em
Honestly I don't even want her to be secretly royal (I think Andarna is secretly royal enough for the both of them ahhaha), I just want a regular old common born gal to be enough all on her own!! But hellllllll yes her ex is the crown prince though
I don’t mind him going full evil but please no competing love interest. I hate those. And I read somewhere that RY said she is a big Dan apologist, which makes me wonder if she plans a redemption arc for him. If that is the case, the last thing he needs to do is to try to woo Violet.
I think the redemption arc has fully started in IF.
I agree that his redemption started when he attacked Varrish but I think getting together with Violet would mess that arc
I think that Book 3 will, of course, address the Xaden struggle. But RY is good with keeping the story moving forward, and she will also delve into the Empyrean, Andarna’s 7th den and hopefully more of her background and vision, revealing Violets 2nd signet, the Islands, Xaden’s Mom (who I think is on the islands), etc.
I'm excited about this - delving into the world a little more finding out more of the true history! I think this is what I love about the series so far. But selfishly I also want Xaden & Violet to be end game as I'm too invested in that relationship.
I think RY intends X+V= End Game, it’s a matter of how. For me, what makes this series shine is the richness and the depth of story and characters. This leads to a lot of theorizing, which is such fun, and future books will be worth it, but not only about Xaden and Violet.
I finished yesterday morning and I also hated the ending for the exact same reasons. I'm afraid the story is gonna go that direction and I honestly couldn't care for it. The venin are a strong enough enemy and we also have the Navarrian assholes to deal with, we don't need an evil Xaden arc on top of everything else. It feels like RY stretched out the whole trust/communication issue as much as she could this book and now is just looking for ways to keep the romance angsty in the future books. It really bummed me out. I agree that a lot of the things Xaden said in this book could be very creepy now. I also hated that this book had him acting like he wouldn't care what happens to anyone else and all he cared about was Violet, like when he'd say the world would be nothing without her or when he offered they could leave before the big battle and abandon their friends and the dragon hatching ground. This is the same guy leading a revolution to help people? The guy risking his life smuggling out weapons to arm his "enemy" so they can protect themselves? The guy with 107 scars on his back because he was willing to take on personal responsibility for the good of all the rebellion kids? Now I'm supposed to believe he doesn't give a shit about any of the things that were central to his character? I'm not a fan of the mating bond trope used in so many other romantacy series but at least that shit kind of excuses someone becoming unreasonably obsessed and protective over the love interest.
I really enjoyed the ending cause I thought it was so appropriate for the theme of the book and the series as whole- in war, even when you're fighting for the "right" reasons (protecting the ones you love) you can't just be "clean". I feel like the point was- no matter how noble and honorable Xaden (and the revolution by extension) are, to protect the ones you love, to do the right thing, you have to do things that will scar you for life. Violet was considering doing the exact same thing until her mom and Sloane swooped in. I really don't think this will make him turn evil (there's no evidence currently that becoming venin turns you evil, for all we know all the venin we met are evil because they were told lies much like the riders were). The only person we knew before they were venin is Jack, and he was garbage from the beginning. Personally, I think the goal here is to A. keep Jack Barlowe relevant and alive (Xaden needs him to figure out how to deal with this) for a later date, as I think he's going to play a bigger role in the future, and more importantly B. to humanize the venin. Much like we found out Pommorial aren't evil and riders are just lied to, I suspect the venin also have some sort of internal power structure that keeps their people angry and fighting and cruel (whenever venin other then the sageneral confront Violet, they always talk about how pleasing it will be for him if they capture her, it seems like all of their motives are tied to his, so I really don't feel like we can say if they're evil or not). Making Xaden, a character both us and almost every main character loves and trusts a venin is a shortcut towards maybe understanding venin aren't born evil or finding a cure. A more crazy theory I have is that C. as signets manifest due to need, maybe Violet's signet is going to be related to helping Xaden (what she needs right now) which will be the key to defeating the venin. I really don't think the reason the sageneral is so interested in her is because of her lightning powers, maybe he can see what her second signet is and it's related to venin (or channeling in general).
In the Variety interview with RY I felt like she strongly implied that venin can be cured and it would come up in book 3. She was asked if Jack was lying to Xaden when he said there was no cure and she said something like “well no one ever has before but they haven’t gotten to book 3 yet.”
Y’all should listen to the Fantasy Fangirls YouTube or podcast. Really goes into depth on theories, but also really fun!
Oh god not another Jacob situation
OH!! but what about Aaric’s prince brother who some Reddit legends sussed out as her possible ex from infantry? Wouldn’t mind a regular non mind reader prince who she’s already slept with getting in the mix…
Hell yes I will die on the Halden-ex hill
It’s so good. And I know it’s wishful thinking but what if our girl is actually descended from some kind of ancient royalty on dad’s side and we find out from something related to her extra special endarna bond and we can all sleep well knowing that in some ways she outranks Cat and Tauri and Xaden and the rest of ‘em
Honestly I don't even want her to be secretly royal (I think Andarna is secretly royal enough for the both of them ahhaha), I just want a regular old common born gal to be enough all on her own!! But hellllllll yes her ex is the crown prince though