Sjmobsession - Untitled

Throne of Glass Series

Elide Lochan & Lorcan Salvaterre

Lorcan reached out, grasping her chin and forcing her to look at him. Hopeless, bleak eyes met his. He brushed away a stray tear with his thumb. “I made a promise to protect you. I will not break it, Elide.” “I will always find you,” he swore to her. Her throat bobbed. Lorcan whispered, “I promise.”

A Court of Silver Flames and House of Sky and Breath

SJM has confirmed that the ending of HOSAB has been planned from the beginning. Hence, whilst writing ACOSF, there is no way this mention of Merrill, and by default Gwyn, researching the connections between all their worlds is just a coincidence.

So, surely, we’ll get Merrill and Gwyn heavily featured in the crossover portion of CC3, helping Bryce find her way to Hel and helping understand the reach of the Asteri.

Not to mention, there are at least 8 volumes of books pertaining to ‘The Great War,’ which is 8 potential volumes worth of history on the Asteri and their role in Prythian.

Quotes that made me scream:

“According to our oldest legends, most now forgotten, we were created by being souvenir gods—and monsters. The Daglan. They ruled for millennia enslaved us and humans. They were petty and cruel and drink the magic of the land like wine.” -ACOSF ch55

“— our initial attempt at revenge was foiled by your ancestor who also bore that star on her chest. The Fae has still not a tone for the desk of our brothers and sisters. Their homeworld was rich in magic. I crave more of it.” —Rigelus, HOSAB ch 76

“Your ancestors wielded the horn and another day object that allowed them to enter this world. Stolen, of course, from the original Masters are people. Our people, who built their some warriors in that world to be their army. All of them prototypes for the angels and this one. And all of them traitors to their creators, joining the Fae to overthrow my brothers and sisters 1000 years before we arrived on mid guard. They slew my siblings.” —Rigelus HOSAB

“ not your kind of Fae, of course—your breed dwelled in a lovely, verdant land, rich with magic. If it’s of any interest to you, your star born bloodline specifically hailed from the small isle a few miles from the mainland. And while the mainland had all manner of climbs, the isle existed in a beautiful near permanent twilight.” —HOSAB ch 73

This is definitely talking about the Prison and all the theories about it being the dusk court? SJM is setting things up.

HOSAB SPOILERS

After the end of House of Sky and Breath and learning about the Asteri's breeding programs (sidenote: ick), I started wondering what the implications would be for the mating bond, both in Crescent City and in ACOTAR.

Specifically: is the mating bond something that the Asteri bred into the Fae in order to make them magically stronger? Has it been romanticized to help the Fae cope with the darker aspects of their history. Though the Under-King is talking about the afterlife, I kept thinking about this comment he makes to Bryce and Hunt: "The rituals were all invented by you. Your ancestors. To endure the horror of the offering" (HOSAB, 336). Is this what we're seeing with the mating bond?

There are signs that it's possible. In ACOWAR, Rhys tells Feyre, "And sometimes, yes -- the bond picks poorly. Sometimes, the bond is nothing more than some...preordained guesswork at who will provide the strongest offspring. At its basest level, it's perhaps only that. Some natural function, not an indication of true, paired souls" (ACOWAR, 258)

Keep in mind that Rhys is talking to his beloved mate at this point, so he's inclined to believe that, even if all mating bonds aren't great, his is a perfect one. For anyone who feels they have found their soulmate, this is a familiar feeling: while you feel as if you have chosen this incredible person, there's also a part of you that believes you were made for each other. If things had gone differently, if I hadn't met them on exactly that day or in that location, you tell yourself, we would have found our way to each other. SJM makes the "fate" part literal with the mating bonds.

But if we remove Rhys' comments from their context, the mating bond becomes something sinister, a way of arranging for powerful magic. And since the Daglan/Asteri feed on magic (HOSAB, 784), they could have simply and horribly been trying to breed the Fae into more satisfying meals.

Speaking personally, I think this is an interesting story about the ways we survive inherited trauma, the ways we seek romance, the ways that we turn biological function into something spiritual, the ways that choice sometimes doesn't feel like enough. I think SJM could write this in an extremely compelling way if she chose to. Still, it calls mating bonds into question, with big implications for ACOTAR in particular. And, looking closer at HOSAB and ACOSF in particular, I think she's trying to do something different with the mating bond.

Let's start by looking at the arc of the relationship between Bryce and Hunt. Bryce starts off disparaging the mating bond, memorably saying: "And at least he’s not some psychotic alphahole who will demand a three-day sex marathon and then call me his mate, lock me in his house, and never let me out again ” (HOEAB, 32). She doesn't romanticize mates at all in HOEAB, and if this continued in HOSAB, I would have thought that this was ultimately the direction that SJM has chosen to go in.

Instead, we see Bryce and Hunt choosing to be mates and then, as their relationship grows and deepens, they become "true mates -- the way the Fae are mates, in [their] bodies and souls" (HOSAB, 492).

Beyond the beautiful fact that they choose each other before a biological function pulls them together, Bryce and Hunt seem to have a power that, when they wield it together, could bring down the Asteri. They are incredibly powerful individually, but together? They could remake their world.

If SJM wanted to, Bryce and Hunt could have fallen in love and had these complementary powers without being mates. They could have been a symbol of a new way of loving for her characters that was purely based on choice. Instead, choice and fate and biology all bring these two together. Bryce, who is skeptical of the mating bond, becomes enthusiastic when she decides on this relationship with Hunt, freely referring to him as her mate throughout HOSAB.

We also see her use similar language between the way the mating bond feels to Bryce and Hunt, to the way that Azriel experiences Gwyn's presence (see: the Bryce and Azriel bonus chapters in HOSAB and ACOSF, respectively). If SJM were pulling away from the mating bond, I don't know that she would be introducing such a possibility, and certainly not in such romantic terms.

If the mating bond were a symbol of oppression, we likely wouldn't see her introduce Danika's mate, particularly in the romantic context its presented, let alone the romance between Ruhn and Lidia that definitely seems like a mating bond based on everything we've seen before. Instead, these mating bonds actually strengthen the characters' resistance to the Asteri, creating a stronger possibility of a better world.

After all, love and community are poor tools for any authoritarian. It's why we see dictators vilify certain people groups. People are much easier to rule when they're separated, and a strong bond that makes mates sacrifice and choose each other doesn't seem to play into the Asteri's hands. Love simply could not be bred out of the Fae.

In the end, I think that, as messy as they are, the idea that the Mother/Urd gives these mating bonds, and the Asteri simply couldn't remove it, is going to be a through-line that not only leads to the incredible romance and thrilling twists we love so much, but freedom for our favorite characters in Midgard and Prythian.

Just finished House of Sky and Breath. I'm just supposed to go to sleep after Sarah J. Maas broke me like that?...

Anyway, now seeking friends to discuss this with at length.

❗️House of Sky and Breath spoilers and theories part 2 becaus none of my friends read fantasy:

- as another tumblr user has already pointed out: Hunt‘s last line is really concerning, it was something like „and then Hunt knew nothing“ plus the Asteri told him Hunt wouldn’t need the slave crown so the only thing I can imagine is Hunt getting his memories wiped and when Bryce comes back she sees him fighting for the Asteri and I don’t think my heart can take this

- it will be great for the Quinlar tension though not gonna lie

- I don’t know if this has already been pointed out but I think the Angels might have been created by the Asteri. They are their loyal servants and they should keep the other Vanir in check

- ok so I love the gang BUT I have to say that they sometimes acted super stupid like thinking Madoc wouldn’t smell them, or going to that rebel island and showing everyone their faces or going to the Asteri archives and NOT getting suspicious when there is literally NO guard, no one….

- ok so do you think Prythian gang will know about queen Theia? And I also kind of want Bryce to meet the Autumn court just to say something snarky

- so Truth Teller is the second sword, which is really cool and interesting

- because I think Bryce will take both swords back to her world and after she finished whatever she has to do with them she will take Truth Teller back to Azriel and that would be the PERFECT start for Azriel‘s POV book

- soooo I think CC3 will be the next book we are getting and ACOTAR5 will be later, everything else would be confusing, so you could still read Acotar without having to read CC

- I‘m really not sold about the motives the demon princes have, I think Aidas truly loved Theia and would do everything to help Bryce but what about the others? Didn’t Apollion say Bryce and Hunt are his final end bosses? Does he want to invade CC?

- because why would SJM include Ari the dragon when she can kill demons and not angels or Asteri with her fire?

- plus I like it that magical fire is a universal way to kill demons (Queen Aelin did it first)

- I also think Bryce hasn’t accessed her full potential. She said so herself that she can feel her power source but can’t reach it so we still have to get a full power up of her!!!

- I really want to know more about thunderbirds because why would SJM include them when it’s a dead end anyways? There has to be more about it since Bryce and Hunt basically BOTH have the thunderbird ability to suck in energy and reuse it

- I wonder if it was just foreshadowing to that being the ultimate power one would need to destroy the Asteri since they killed all Thunderbirds OR

- if one of the characters we know has Thunderbird blood in them

- I said it before and I say it again, if I don’t get my girl Aelin in a CC book I will riot!

- ok so I had another thought and question, how do we define the different worlds?! Are they different dimensions/universes (I think that’s what they told us in TOG) or are they just different planets? In CC both terms got used

- I really really like Baxian, I will protect him and I hope he gets the love and affection he deserves

- sooo Ithan and the Fendyr Alpha, huh?

- since she is a mysthic I am positive that she will help guide Bryce through the worlds at one point

- I still know nothing about Jesiba, I wanna know so bad who or what she really is and why she keeps helping Bryce

- I sometimes wondered if the Viper Queen might be a Valg? Since she could control Tharion and it gave me major Dorian flashbacks

- Tharion… boy I love you but what went through your brain when you offered yourself to the viper queen?!

- So does ANYONE know how many books will be in the CC series? Because I feel like 3 books isn‘t really a lot time to overthrow a whole government of Asteri, even if Hel should help (and I think that not all of the Hel princes would simply help Bryce and then return happily to their world)

- I still think about the orcale and Rhun a lot, why would the royal bloodline end with him?! If Bryce should become queen (which I actually don’t think will happen) the royal bloodline didn’t end

- so I think ultimately CC will establish some kind of democratic government, I don’t see how kings and queens would fit in there without the Asteri tbh

- Cormac dying was kind of sad since I felt like he had a lot of potential

- do you think we will see the Avallen territory? It’s kind of still a mystery and I feel like they might hide something

- ok so that’s it for now lol

‘ 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 '

I DONT ECEB KNOW WHAT TO SAY

SARAHHHH

WHAT A FUCKING CLIFFHANGER I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS:

IF RHYS LOOKS LIKE RUHN DOES BRYCE LOOK LIKE RHYS LITTLE SISTER????

IS AMREN LIKE FURY?????

IS THE LAND THE SHIFTERS CAME FROM THE TOG WORLD AND DOES THAT MEAN THE ASTARI ARE VALG?????

❗️House of Sky and Breath spoilers and theories

- Lidia and Rhun mate material

- i really though Day might be Celestina or Hypaxia first but I am so happy with Lidia

- I can’t wait for the enemies to lovers vibes between them in CC3, especially since she is the only one at the moment who can help Rhun and Hunt

- the ending… not gonna lie I was calling it after Kingdom of Ash that SJM would do a crossover, because why the hell not, she has established it since day 1

- I am so so so excited to see Bryce in Prythian

- I think Rhys will tesch her mind reading

- she might even visit the dusk court, since they are her ancestors

- Amren looks like Fury!!? Are they the same beings?!

- I wondered if Fury and/or Amren might be Thunderbirds or Asteri or maybe something different

- I still need to find out who Hunt‘s dad is, especially after it got said that he was breed to kill Demons and the bloodhound mentioned he didn’t smell like normal angels

- any guesses? Maybe an Asteri or a demon prince?

- SJM really bailed me with Aidas, he was barely in the book

- I really think we will see Beyce master world jumping since she basically is the horn, I don’t think she will need a portal in the future

- if the horn really is the 4th trove from acotar it’s super powerful and she could definitely pull off becoming a world jumper lol

- I‘m still not sold if the demon princes are all going to help Bryce some of them seem sus (Not you Aidas)

- I am really glad that Hunt and Bryce are mates, they deserve it and they had so many cute moments

- I really like Celestina as a character, I hope she will become more important

- shifters definitely are from Aelin‘s world

- and WHERE is my queen Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius?! She better be in CC3

- and the Avallan fae are probably from the night court and the starborn fae from the dusk court?! There sre probably fae that travelled from the other courts too (autumn king and his fire powers)

- my head is empty at the moment maybe I‘ll do a part 2 later, what are your thoughts?

Don’t read if you haven’t read KOA!

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Ok, so what if when Aelin saw Rhys and Feyre it was Starfall and that was why they were standing out there together and looking at the sky and Aelin was one of the spirit things and Rhys didn’t know that it was an actual person and he was just trying to make it last a little longer and that’s why she slowed down?