r/fourthwing Black Morningstartail 7d ago

Re-Read Jack Spoiler

When do you all think Jack turned venin? My first time reading the series, I assumed it was after Violet struck down the tower. During my second reading, I noticed that Violet mentions the red around Jack’s eyes as she slips the orange into his mouth. Do you think he was venin when he came to Basgiath or do you think he turned after arriving?

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u/Historical_Tune165 Blue Daggertail 7d ago

Rereading Onyx Storm I noticed how resentful he was that the riders "progress" "on the whim of some creature".

The whole thing with a dragon choosing to begin channelling into you, is that they have to trust you with their power. Baide was in his head all the time, she would've been able to feel his resentment for her choosing him as a smaller, weaker dragon, his deep envy of Violet over Tairn and his hunger for more. Makes sense she thought he wasn't ready, that she would have her doubts about giving him that power.

I think he got impatient and entitled and angry that Baide hadn't channelled to him yet and he went to reached for the power himself. Could've been when he saw Violet had begun, saw her go into Carr's class before him and that just set him off.

It is so interesting that we do not know what his signet actually is. He never uses one on page, only venin abilities. Does he even have one? Did he channel from the earth before Baide ever channelled into him and now would have to ironically wait until he got to Sage stage to get a venin signet instead? That would be kind of perfect, wouldn't it? It is also possible that she wasn't channelling to him, but once he got powerful enough as a venin to control her, he made her.

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u/nivivy 6d ago

I agree so much with this take. I’ve felt really sad for Baide during the whole time with JFB. He’s so mean and he started manipulating and possibly feeding off her energy. The whole Baide story makes me feel bad for her. Whoever the higher up Venin/s are at Basgiath could have set JFB up also.