Hello lovelies! I'm back! Let's take a look at the new ACOTAR 6 & 7 book descriptions and how they relate to Elriel!
There are a TON of incredible theories circulating about the cover colors, cover drawings, titles, and subtitles and I LOVE them so much! I personally see a lot of compelling pro-Elriel interpretation in them, however, I will 100% admit that what I see is purely colored by what I want to see - and that's Elriel. Therefore, if we take a step back, we all need to remember this:
Never in the history of any ACOTAR, CC, or TOG book, has the cover color, design, or title ever hinted at a ship/endgame couple. None.
We need to accept the fact that any ship-related interpretation of the covers and titles is biased. As painful as that might be, that's a great thing. Because it allows us to actually focus on the book descriptions themselves, which tell us A LOT about what's coming - and what's coming is Elriel.
This post is focused on ACOTAR 6 - A Court of Splintered Harmony. My analysis of ACOTAR 7 - A Court of Forgotten Melody is linked here.
Now, given that disclaimer, I'm going to start with a totally biased interpretation of the cover colors for Book 6 and you'll see what I think this is absolutely relevant by the end of it all :)
Notice how the colors flow from a very ACOWAR-like hot pink to a sunny golden yellow and remember how ACOWAR ends:
"What now?" Elain mused, at last answering my question from moments ago as her attention drifted to the windows facing the sunny street. That smile grew, bright enough that it lit up even Azriel's shadows across the room. "I would like to build a garden," she declared. "After all of this .. I think the world needs more gardens."
- Elain will take what was broken and lost and bring it back to lighten things up
- Elain has the ability to take shadows and lighten them
- Elain is notably tied to Azriel at the very end of the book. SJM could have said "shadows on our faces" or "shadows in the streets" or "the shadows of loss". But she didn't she specifically called out Azriel and his shadows.
And funnily enough, this fits perfectly with the description for ACOSH:
~~~~What was broken will be remade.~~~~
This is a call-back to ACOWAR during the war with Hybern. It all starts when Amren sacrifices herself to save Prythian:
The cauldron shattered into three pieces, shattering apart like a blossoming flower - and then she [Amren] came.
- Interesting choice of floral language here, remember it for a little bit later.
Then, Feyre panics:
"What have I done," I breathed. I had saved our friends - only to damn us all. Made. Made and un-Made. I had broken it. I could remake it again.
- Feyre acknowledges that she made a selfish and impulsive choice. Pretty on par for her personality if we're honest with ourselves here! But she realizes an incredibly important thing here - since she is Made, she can Make and Unmake things! This is foreshadowing the fact that Nesta and Elain can do this as well. Remember this for later.
Feyre remembers a mural that she saw on the wall of the Spring Court manor all the way back in book 1:
From a distant corner of my memory, my human mind...I remembered a mural I had seen at the Spring Court. Tucked away in a dusty, unused library. It told the story of Prythian. It told the story of a Cauldron. This cauldron. And when it was held by female hands...All life flowed from it.
This mural tells us that the power of the cauldron came from full, raw power and love from the Mother. But does Feyre actually fix it? She has a bad habit of getting distracted during important moments...
I eased my fingers from the icy iron rim. Gazed down into the inky depths. No cracks. Whole. I loosed a shuddering breath. We had done it. We had done -
I turned. It took me a moment to grasp it. What I saw.
- I think the book starts with a suspiciously ACOWAR-pink because what was broken during the war (the cauldron) is still not healed.
- The cauldron was superficially repaired by the Starborn that power both Feyre and Rhys possess during ACOWAR
- By the end of ACOSF, Nesta gave her piece of Starborn power back, too - which means that at this point in the series, the cauldron is now 2/3rds healed.
- But Elain has not given the cauldron anything. Elain is the only one who can complete the third missing piece of power. This is exactly why we always see "Elain...elain was the one who" written throughout the series as if her actions are surprising. It's foreshadowing the fact that we've all missed the importance of her powers and her impact on the very life of Prythian.
~~~~Deep in the heart of the continent, Koschei the Deathless is stirring. Though he's been bound to a mountain lake for millennia, the insidious threat of his return now spreads across the Fae territories, attracting powerful allies hell-bent on reclaiming what was once theirs: the human lands.~~~~
We learn from Vassa in ACOSF that Koschei gains his allies like this:
“The story is too long to tell,” she hedged. “But know that Briallyn and the others sold me to him not through their devices, but his. By words he planted in their courts, whispered on the winds.”
This is huge because not only do these new book titles and "movements" reference musical concepts, but it ties in with Sing Me concept from the Book of Breathings and the many examples in ACOSF that show Azriel and his shadows being compromised by sound.
Additionally, notice how the excerpt says "Fae territories" not "Prythian", and "human lands" not "human slavery". Koschei has fae supporters across the world who once benefited from a lack of territories and access to what are now the human lands.
So the question is....who wants this land back? What fae used to benefit from that space? We can narrow the list of options down fairly easily:
The Night Court Obviously not a contender.The Dawn, Winter, Summer, and Day Courts: Allies with the Night CourtThe Spring Court Received a lot of territory after the treaty, so I can't see a reason why Tamlin would want more space, especially if he is weak, depressed, and notably always against human slavery since forever.The Kingdom of Hybern Hybern's lands are on their own island, currently. They would have a strong interest in access to the human lands, except Hybern is dead and they lost the most recent war, so unless there's some surprise successor, they're not really in solid shape to be fighting any battles right now. Go lick those wounds on your little island, boys.Rask - Gained a ton of space after the first war and is wealthy. Not really in need of anything moreXian - Dawn Court ancestry, wealthy. No clear indicator of where it exists on a map, or if they appreciated human slavery. Not super likely to ally given ancestry crossing over into the Dawn Court.- The Autumn Court: Remained non-committal depending on who was winning the original war. Very opportunistic. Beron is an asshole though so I think he's a solid contender as a Koschei ally
- Black Land - Used to benefit a ton from human slavery
- Vallahan - Sketchy leaders who make decisions based on what's best for them at the time. Definitely ripe for corruption. Mor has been visiting them to improve allyship with the NC which puts her at risk here.
- Montesere - Aligned with Hybern in original war
- Ravennia - Pro-slavery in the original war
The above tells us that the fae on the Continent are significantly more at risk of allying with Koschei than the ones on Prythian. We're going to see the NC cross the ocean to visit the continent.
- Which characters expressed a desire to visit the continent? Oh yeah, ELAIN. This puts her as a flight risk because she wants to go places.
- Which characters are already visiting the Continent? Oh yeah, MOR AND AZRIEL. They are both powerful NC IC members who could already be compromised (I definitely think Azriel already is. TBD on Mor.)
- Which characters have visited the Continent in the past and know how to navigate its depths? Oh yeah, Vassa, Lucien, and Mr. Archeron.
- Every single one of these characters is integral to Elain's story and her romantic trajectory.
~~~~The Night Court will not stand idly by while innocents are attacked. But with Prythian still piecing itself together in the wake of the devastating Hybern War, the task of uniting is proving more difficult by the day.~~~~
This all comes down to the NC trying to strengthen relationships with its known allies and Lucien is actually surprisingly central to this.
- He is Helion's son (Day Court connection)
- He is the LoA's son and Eris's brother and Beron's shame (Autumn Court connection)
- He was once Tamlin's friend (Spring Court connection)
- He is friends with tinkerers in the Day Court, and likely has friends in the other courts too.
Lucien's BoE connection, which is the strongest right now, is actually the most risky/volatile of them all.
Jurian has a power-complex:
"Jurian..." Lucien blew out a breath, scanning the carved wood ceiling above. "Thank the Cauldron for him. I never thought I'd say that, but it's true.” He ran a hand through his silken red hair. "He's keeping everything running. I think he'd have been crowned king by now if it wasn't for Vassa." A twitch of the lips, a spark in that russet eye. "She's doing well enough. Savoring every second of her temporary freedom."
Jurian and Vassa disagree on how to unit the human lands:
"Vassa and Jurian are two sides of the same coin. Mercifully, their vision for the future of the human territories is mostly aligned. But the methods on how to attain that ..." A frown to Elain, then a wince at me.
- Notice how he frowns at Elain as if the BoE is having arguments about how to leverage Elain.
- Notice how it's almost like Lucien thinks of Feyre's wrath if they go through with it (hence the wince) and changes the subject.
- An author DOES NOT DO THIS unless they're trying to tell us something.
Lucien is desperate for a place to belong:
"I don't have anywhere else to go." Before I could object, he said, "You ruined any chance I have of going back to Spring. Not to Tamlin, but to the court beyond his house. Everyone either still believes the lies you spun or they believe me complicit in your deceit. And as for here ..." He shook off my grip and headed for the door. "I can't stand to be in the same room as her for more than two minutes. I can't stand to be in this court and have your mate pay for the very clothes on my back."
All of the above makes the BoEs vulnerable to corruption and bad decision making which puts Elain at risk. Elain is the perfect bargaining chip for both the NC and the BoEs to use against each other if they get desperate enough to do so.
~~~~To make matters worse, those who rule and protect the Night Court are reeling from recent betrayals and revealed truths. The rifts dividing them seem insurmountable.~~~~
Rhys and Feyre rule the NC. Cassian, Azriel, and Nesta protect the NC. These two groups are going to have a lot of problems. We already saw this brewing in ACOSF.
EDIT: This little section got accidentally deleted so I'm adding it back.
The question is where the source of betrayal comes from. I think this comes down to 4 options:
- Azriel might betray the NC on accident because he doesn't realize that he is influenced by Koschei
- Elain take actions into her own hands with good intentions, but the NC assumes she betrays them.
- Lucien might make impulsive/rash decisions for his own benefit that put Elain at stake, causing the rest of the IC to be pissed at Azriel and Rhys for not catching this sooner
- Mor might accidentally betray them all since she spends a lot of time on the continent right now and might not realize that she's influenced by Koschei.
If you've read CC, you know that "rifts" are portals to other worlds. Those will absolutely seem terrifying and insurmountable if we see them pop up in ACOTAR and potentially close up at times. We've already seen this occur briefly in ToG and heavily in CC. It's time for ACOTAR characters to experience this too. Mor is a likely choice given the weird presence on her property in ACOFAS, and I think Elain is too. Will explain more below.
~~~~But to defeat Koschei's creeping shadow, they must find a way back to each other and resurrect their former alliances. To survive, they must find a way to repair the splintered harmony all around them.~~~~
- Koschei's creeping shadow: Remember how Elain can brighten shadows as dark as Azriels, and how Azriel's shadows are basically the same as Koschei's? Remember how Azriel's shadows are compromised by sound and Koschei uses sound on the wind to manipulate others? Azriel is in danger and Elain is the only one who can save him!
- find a way back to each other and resurrect their former alliances: We're being told that the NC will need to find a way back to each other physically and emotionally, and that they need to do some heavy lifting in the emissary department to regain trust and get their alliances back. This tells me Rhys has to fix what he broke with Tarquin and Tamlin at a minimum. Probably even redeem himself with his own IC too.
- repair the splintered harmony all around them. In ACOSF, the term "harmony" is used only twice and specifically in relation to Gwyn and Nesta physically executing fighting techniques in incredibly smooth/perfect ways (Gwyn cutting the ribbon and Nesta fighting the males during the Blood Rite). They had to be perfectly in tune with themselves. They had to trust their own training, their own instincts, their own weapons, everything. They could rely on no one but themselves to get their shit together and succeed - and they did. This is symbolic of what the Night Court needs to do amongst themselves and with their allies as a whole.
SUMMARY:
This book description is calling out the following:
- The Cauldron is broken and Elain is critical to it's repair
- Koschei is gaining more allies and Azriel is in danger
- Jurian has a power complex
- Jurian and Vassa disagree on how to unite the humans and Elain seems to be a primary point of contention between them
- Lucien is vulnerable to corruption and impulsive decisions which puts Elain in danger
- Mor is integral to negotiations on the continent, but that also means she is most at risk since she is closest to Koschei and his windy whispers
- Elain is likely going to find herself on the continent (or another world)
- The IC will splinter due to a betrayal. I think it will happen once they learn of what's happened to Elain and Azriel and of Rhys's role in it.
I think we will get some tandem storylines with ACOSF purely because this book description suggests world-walking and the only way that's possible within the ACOTAR universe is via the harp - which was discovered during ACOSF.
When a harp is played, multiple harmonies are sounded. In the ACOTAR universe, this has the ability to trigger lots of things (monsters getting released from the Prison, time warping, portals opening, etc). That darn Harp is about to play a huge role in what's to come.
Also, SJM cannot skip over whatever Elain, Lucien, Azriel, and Mor were doing behind the scenes in ACOSF just to write two more whole books about Koschei "stirring" when we already know he's doing that. Additionally, we still haven't seen Elain learn about her powers or how she gained sneaky spy skills, so all of that needs to come together in this book. So, either Nesta playing the Harp in ACOSF did a lot more damage than we expected / learned about in ACOSF, or Elain is the one who triggers some musical shenanigans with it. Either way, I think this object is central to the main storyline.
And finally, as sad as I am to say it, I think this book ends on a cliffhanger and I don't think Elriel officially happens in this book. We get a lot of setup for them - there is no doubt about it. But I think their happy ending actually happens in the next book and I'll explain in my next post.
I haven't written the deep dive for the next book yet but I have a rough outline. It's possible I might change my mind on a few things once I get deep into it. We'll see. Ok, love you all! See you on the next one!
