Daughter of Bones and Night

This is the plot twist that I never knew I wanted until someone brought it up, and now I can’t unsee it. I know that there are many posts about this out there, so my post only adds more evidence to the Elriel = true mates theory. Please keep in mind that this is a pro-Elriel theory/post so if that’s not your cup of tea, this is where you should stop reading.

I will begin with the scene that inspired this post because it made me connect it to something that Feyre says in both, ACOMAF and ACOWAR:

We know that Feyre was influenced by the mating bond—the silence, the emptiness in her chest—was due to Rhys’s powers being contained, him being hurt, or (ACOWAR Spoiler) him being dead.

But how could Azriel know what that feeling in your chest—the one caused by your mate being restrained, hurt, or dead—means?

He couldn’t… unless he’s experienced it before.

Chapter 39 of ACOMAF: “I assumed seeing Nesta went about as poorly as could be imagined, because my lesson the following morning was longer and harder than it’d been in previous days”

Nesta talking about Azriel, takes place after his POV

Chapter 59 of ACOSF: “He’d been replaced in training by a stone-faced Azriel, who was more aloof than usual and wouldn’t even give her a smile.”

This post is a continuation of all my previous ones, and will focus on why I think that ACOTAR 5 is Elain’s book. Once again, please take your shipping and preference for other characters out of the equation if you plan on reading this post.

Isn’t it interesting how everything that is significant to the plot (death gods, objects, sisters, brothers, mountains, stars) comes in threes?

When I was reading this quote, I went back and searched through all the books to see if “sister peaks” has ever been mentioned before. It hasn’t.

It seems odd, then, that it would be mentioned now, in a book that constantly drew the attention of the reader to the three sisters.

So now we have three sisters and three sister peaks.

And what do we know about these sacred mountains?

Under the Mountain was at the heart of Feyre’s journey.

Similarly, climbing Ramiel was the final turning point of Nesta’s journey.

All that is left now is the Prison. And Elain.

One sister peak. One sister. One last journey.

I am going to repeat this over and over again—nothing is a coincidence. Why are there three sacred mountains? Three sister peaks? Three sisters?

SJM is leaving the best for last: the Prison.

“The Prison is law unto itself; the island may be even an eighth court”

“The bone-gates swung open silently, revealing a cavern of black so inky I had never seen its like, even Under the Mountain.”

“With the small lights floating ahead, I tried not to look too long at the gray walls. Especially when they were so rough-hewn that the jagged bits could have been a nose, or a craggy brow, or a set of sneering lips.”

“And there was silence. Utter silence as we rounded a bend, and the last of the light from the misty world faded into inky black.”

“I focused on my breathing. I couldn’t be trapped here; I couldn’t be locked in this horrible, dead place.”

“My words were so soft they were devoured by the dark. Even that thrumming power in my veins had vanished, burrowing somewhere in my bones.”

“Once the sentence is given and a prisoner passes those gates … They belong to the Prison. It will never let them out.”

“There were no doors. No lights. No sounds. Not even a trickle of water.

But I could feel them. I could feel them sleeping, pacing, running hands and claws over the other side of the walls.

They were ancient, and cruel in a way I had never known, not even with Amarantha. They were infinite, and patient, and had learned the language of darkness, of stone.”

“Down and down we went, and time lost its grip. It could have been hours or days, and we paused only when my useless, wasted body demanded water. Even while I drank, he didn’t let go of my hand. As if the rock would swallow me up forever.”

“The hall continued down—down into the ageless dark. The air here was tight, compact. Even my puffs of breath on the chill air seemed short-lived.”

Who is the last person you could picture in this environment? A mountain filled with the worst creatures you can think of—creatures we know nothing about? Who is the character who is the least likely to survive in such a place, let alone conquer it?

Elain. Sweet, gentle Elain.

The antithesis of everything the Prison is.

“But Elain, the flower-grower, the gentle heart … Nesta would go down swinging for her.”

“I marveled at it, actually—that those years of poverty hadn’t stripped away that light from Elain. Perhaps buried it a bit, but she was generous, loving, and kind—a woman I found myself proud to know, to call sister.”

“I gazed again at that sad, dark house—the place that had been a prison. Elain had said she missed it, and I wondered what she saw when she looked at the cottage. If she beheld not a prison but a shelter—a shelter from a world that had possessed so little good, but she tried to find it anyway, even if it had seemed foolish and useless to me.”

“She had looked at it that cottage with hope; I had looked at it with nothing but hatred. And I knew which one of us had been stronger.”

“Nesta hadn’t wanted any dealings with the Fae, and Elain was so gentle, so sweet … how could I bring them into this?

“Beautiful—she’d always been the most beautiful of us. Soft and lovely, like a summer dawn.”

“My sister Elain can convince anyone to do anything with a few smiles.”

“Elain, who had been gentle and sweet. Elain, who was to marry a lord’s son who hated faeries …”

“Elain had always been gentle and sweet—and I had considered it a different sort of strength. A better strength. To look at the hardness of the world and choose, over and over, to love, to be kind. She had been always so full of light.”

“Even wasted away by grief and despair, Elain’s beauty was remarkable. Hers was a face that could bring kings to their knees.”

“Elain nodded, smiling up at me, and it was tentative joy—and life that shone in her eyes. A promise of the future, gleaming and sweet.”

“That smile grew, bright enough that it lit up even Azriel’s shadows across the room.”

“Elain’s smile was as bright as the setting sun beyond the windows.”

“Elain had gone from lovely to devastatingly beautiful. Elain never seemed to realize it.”

Can you picture her in the Prison? No? Neither can I. Yet.

Out of all the sisters, Elain is described as the most gentle. The warmest. Sweetest. Loveliest. Kindest.

And out of the three sacred mountains, the Prison is described as the worst. The coldest. The most barren. The most lifeless.

What will happen when the gentle grower of things enters the Prison? Will the Prison dim the light that is inside her, or will she infuse the mountain with warmth?

We’ll have to wait and see because, as Amren said,

Anyway, the thing is I will be SO surprise if the next book isn’t about Elain or if Elriel isn’t endgame. SJM was also surprise to hear that for some people wasn’t obvious, but... It kind is? If we focus in what we already have from the books, and put our personal wishes aside, it is very clear. In ACOSF we basically have all of those moments saying that we don’t know Elain. We never had her POV or more than a few lines about her. We don’t know what was like for her to be able to hear and see things the others didn’t after the Cauldron. We don’t know her powers. We don’t know if it is difficult for her to accept what she has become, her new body. Some people think she is predictable, but then SJM is saying WAIT AND SEE with all letters. And she is changing; Feyre says that she’s never seen Elain so “confrontational”. So we have a character that we don’t know much who is passing through some internal change, which is a great opportunity for a development arc. Besides we are talking about a character who is the ONLY PERSON (except for Nesta) that can find the fourth Trove. She also has a connection with Korschei. So narratively speaking, all signs are pointing for Elain’s book.

I read an AMAZING theory about Elain becoming a spy (but I don’t remember who wrote it) and I love it because again it makes sense. At this point we know SJM. We know her patterns. In every book we have a female character learning something and going through an overcoming journey. I mean before ACOSF, some people defended that Nesta would not become a warrior, and now she is practically the female version of Enalius and is thinking about commanding a small unit of females). So if I had to bet, I’d say that Elain is going to learn something with Azriel.

Now about the romantic part, I will say two things: 1) SJM knew exactly what she was doing when she wrote Az’s chapter; 2) SJM writes about choices.

Before someone hate me, let me say that she needs us to be interested in her books. And by “us” I don’t mean us, people who write and read fanfics or even discuss it on Tumblr, I am talking about normal people (LOL) who just like her books and don’t participate in fandons. So when I was reading ACOSF I was feeling zero romantic tension (can I call it that?) between Azriel and Gwyn (I really hope we get to see more of her , Nesta and Emerie btw, I love them so much). So when I read the bonus chapter my first thought was “SARAH, YOUR SMARTASS”. So yes, to me she was just messing with us and it worked super well, right? In one chapter, she initiated a war about who is ending up with whom, established a forbidden romance and got us thirsty as hell for the next book. So smart. I love her.

I also love her because she writes about choices. Feyre is always talking about how Rhys respects her choices. In ACOSF we get to see this as well. And this time it will not be different. We’ve seen Elain reject the bond, maybe not formally, but she is not interested in Lucien. I also think he is not truly interested in her and the bond is the only thing between them. There is no spark. None. In four books. Sarah would probably give us some moment between them by now if it was going to happen.

And then in Az’s POV we get to see that she wanted that kiss, too. She wanted him. She chose him. And he could be interested in her for more than a year. Honestly there are so many moments in ACOSF when Az reacts different when it comes to Elain. All of this is in the book. And after that we have the Blood Duel mentioned and it is basically two males fighting over a female, but the female doesn’t get a saying??? This is against everything SJM stands for in her books. So I honestly believe that the next book is going to be about Elain making her own choices and growing up as a charater.

This is another theory post, one that somewhat ties into my previous posts about Elain, the Prison being the 8th Court, and the three brothers/three sisters prophecy.

Arguably the biggest hint about the plot of future books lies in “The Death of Koschei the Deathless,” a Russian fairytale that SJM is clearly inspired by (she didn’t even bother changing the name of the villain). This particular fairytale inspired many others that are somewhat similar to it (the magical number three can be found in each one, always in the form of three sisters), but before I continue, let’s look at what happens in the original fairytale:

When the story opens, Ivan and his three sisters are approaching the death of their parents. Ivan is tasked with ensuring that the young women each find a husband. Indeed, suitors come for each woman: Princess Marya weds a youth who transforms into a falcon; Princess Olga marries a youth who transforms into an eagle; and Princess Anna marries a youth who transforms into a raven.

This is one version. Another one:

Russian folklorist Alexander Afanasyev, stated that the eagle, the falcon and the raven (or crow) are connected to weather phenomena, like storm, rain, wind. He also saw a parallel between the avian suitors from the tale Marya Morevna with the suitors from other Slavic folktales, where they are the Sun, the Moon, and the Wind. 

And another one:

In the Eastern European tale of The Story of Argilius and the Flame-King (Zauberhelene) after his sisters are married to the Sun-king, the Wind-king (or Storm-king) and the Moon-king, […]

And another one:

In another Russian variant, “Ivan Tsarevich and Marya Marevna,"  the young Ivan Tsarevich takes his sisters for a walk in the garden, when, suddenly, three whirlwinds capture the ladies. Three years later, the Tsarevich intends to court princess Marya Morevna, when, in his travels, he finds three old men, who reveal themselves as the whirlwinds and assume an avian form (the first a raven, the second an eagle and the third a falcon).

And another one:

A Czech fairy tale, O Slunečníku, Měsíčníku a Větrníku, where the prince’s sisters are married to the Sun, the Moon and the Wind.

And another one:

A Croatian variant titled "The Tsar’s Son and the Víla.” In this tale, the Wind-King, the Sun-King and the Moon-King (in that order) wish to marry the tsar’s daughters.

I could honestly go on and on because almost every single culture/country has its own version of the same fairytale, always involving three sisters/daughters, and their three husbands, who are somehow related (either by them all being birds or having a bird-form, or by them being elements).

Now, let’s look at ACOTAR. We have three sisters (Nesta, Elain, and Feyre) and three men who can fly (a raven, an eagle, and a falcon). Or, we could look at it differently. We have three sisters (Nesta, Elain, and Feyre) and three brothers who are bonded in spirit (the Sun, the Moon, and the Wind).

Does this sound familiar?

Or even:

The matreshka-style measures protecting Koschei’s mortality are, in this case, symbolic representations of the world. The ocean-sea is water, the basin for life; the island is the soil that nurtures it; the oak tree is life itself; the animals are subsistence for the living; and the chest contains natural resources, the most precious one being the egg. 

Fun fact: Koschei is derived from the Slavic word for bone (kostka).

Another fun fact: According to legend, Koschei’s mortality is contained in a needle that’s placed somewhere highly inconvenient and very far. But, finding and breaking it is the only way to destroy him. It’s hidden in an egg, inside a duck, inside a hare that’s inside a chest; the chest is buried under the roots of an oak tree, which grows on the invisible island of Buyan, at an undisclosed location in the middle of the ocean-sea.

What does this remind us of?

Which brings me back to the original fairytale: 

Ivan had three sisters. After his parents die and his sisters marry three wizards, he leaves his home in search of his sisters. He meets Marya Morevna, the beautiful warrior princess, and marries her. After a while she announces she is going to go to war and tells Ivan not to open the door of the dungeon in the castle they live in while she will be away. Overcome by the desire to know what the dungeon holds, he opens the door soon after her departure and finds Koschei, chained and emaciated. Koschei asks Ivan to bring him some water; Ivan does so. After Koschei drinks twelve buckets of water, his magic powers return to him, he tears his chains and disappears. Soon after Ivan finds out that Koschei took Marya Morevna away, and chases him. When he gets him for the first time, Koschei tells Ivan to let him go, but Ivan doesn’t give in, and Koschei kills him, puts his remains into a barrel and throws it into the sea. Ivan is revived by his sisters’ husbands, powerful wizards, who can transform into birds of prey. They tell him Koschei has a magic horse and Ivan should go to Baba Yaga to get one too, or else he won’t be able to defeat Koschei. After Ivan stands Yaga’s tests and gets the horse, he fights with Koschei, kills him and burns his body. Marya Morevna returns to Ivan, and they celebrate his victory with his sisters and their husbands.

My question is this: What if we are looking at this wrong? What if this is not what is to come, but a version of what happened when Koschei was imprisoned by the female Fae warrior (Marya Morevna)? This is what we know about the female warrior from the Bone Carver:

Which brings me to Vassa. At first, I thought that maybe the bloodline runs through the Archeron family, but what if it runs through Vassa’s?

So why did Koschei want Vassa, specifically? Is it because the female fae’s bloodline runs through her veins? Could it be because she might be the key—or at least part of the key—that will free him from his lake?

Let’s look at this differently. So far, we have:

Koschei

Marya Morevna (Vassa)

Ivan (Lucien? Jurian? Both?)

Three sisters (Nesta, Elain, Feyre)

Three males who have “bird-form” (Rhys, Cassian, Azriel)

All the players of the original fairytale, coming together again. What if it really is a prophecy? What if this is not a coincidence? What if the Cauldron, as Azriel said, WAS wrong, but was wrong on purpose? To prevent a prophecy from coming true, one that could free Koschei from his prison and unleash him upon the world?

I could go on and on with this post (and I might make another one that involves Elain and how she is directly involved in all of this), but until then, think about it. Three sisters and three brothers might not be as cliché/ridiculous/far-fetched as you might think.

“The Cauldron chose three sisters. Tell me how it’s possible that my two brothers are with two of those sisters, yet the third was given to another.”

“All three sisters were now High Fae with considerable powers, though only Feyre’s were let loose.”

I think Elain looking plain in black was INTENTIONAL. Nesta and Elain have both been described as devastatingly beautiful, and Feyre had made it clear that Elain was to be kept away from Eris.

Why would Feyre/Mor/Rhys intentionally make Elain look plain? It’s to keep Eris/Keir’s people’s attention away from her. They wanted to keep Elain safe, and had even offered to leave her at home.

This post is a continuation of this, this, AND this post.

Ever since SJM’s interview with Eva Chen, where she specifically mentioned Elain’s future journey (namely, the crumbs she’s scattered in previous books, such as ACOMAF and ACOWAR), I went back and started combing through some parts that always struck me as odd. Even back when I was reading ACOWAR, before I was even aware of SJM’s plans for Elain, I could see a connection between the Bone Carver and Elain. Today, I’ll analyze this a bit more.

The biggest similarities between them:

Both have powerful siblings

Both are considered “weaker,” and are easily overlooked/forgotten

Both can see the future (Elain due to her Seer abilities; the Bone Carver due to him being a death-god)

Their siblings share some similarities (the Bone Carver once compared Nesta to his sister, Stryga - “A queen, as my sister once was. Terrible and proud; beautiful as a winter sunrise.”)

There is more to both than meets the eye

In ACOWAR, when Feyre and Cassian go to the Prison, this sentence struck me as odd (because SJM likes to use this exact wording when talking about hints/foreshadowing):

“I waited and waited and waited, picking apart the story he laid out like crumbs of bread.”

It is in this scene where he reveals his own backstory, and we learn of Koschei and Stryga, his siblings. This scene also hints at some of his motives. What struck me the most was this passage:

“This cell, Cursebreaker, is where I wish to be.” The Carver patted the dirt beside him. “Do you think I let them trap me without good reason?”

“Had I been braver, I might have bided my time—waited for their power to fade, for that long-ago Fae warrior to trick Stryga into diminishing her power and becoming confined to the Middle. Koschei, too—confined and bound by his little lake on the continent.”

He smiled, perhaps a bit sadly. “No one remembers her name. But I do. She would have been my salvation, had I not made my choice long before she walked this earth.”

“She could not kill them in the end—they were too strong. They could only be contained.” The Carver wiped a hand through the circles he’d drawn, erasing them wholly. “I knew that long before she ever trapped them—took it upon myself to find my way here.”

So, the Bone Carver was never trapped in the Prison. Rather, he was there by choice—the Prison was where he wanted to be, and he made his choice long before the Fae warrior trapped Stryga and Koschei. The question is: why?

“The Carver’s eyes burned like the hottest flame. “To hide from my siblings.”

“I am forgotten, that’s what I am. And that’s how I prefer to be.” The Carver rested his head against the wall of rock behind him. “So you will find that I do not wish to leave. That I have no desire to remind my sister and brother that I am alive and in the world.”

Again, why hide? Could it be because he had stolen something?

In my previous post, I analyzed “The Death of Koschei the Deathless,” a Russian fairytale that SJM is clearly inspired by.

As we all know, the only way that Koschei can be killed is by finding, and destroying, his mortality. The only problem is, it’s hidden:

According to legend, Koschei’s mortality is contained in a needle that’s placed somewhere highly inconvenient and very far. But, finding and breaking it is the only way to destroy him. It’s hidden in an egg, inside a duck, inside a hare that’s inside a chest; the chest is buried under the roots of an oak tree, which grows on the invisible island of Buyan, at an undisclosed location in the middle of the ocean-sea.

Now, why does this sound familiar?

Under the roots of an oak tree - beneath the roots of the mountain

The Prison is located on an island

The island is surrounded by the sea

I also found this gesture very telling:

Why is he reluctant to leave the Prison? Why is his cell beneath the roots of the mountain? His siblings are both contained—so what is keeping the Bone Carver there?

Could it be that he stole something? Took something from them? Something that was hidden in an onyx box, perhaps?

Koschei possesses the onyx box—but what if it’s empty?

Regardless, we know that Elain is the only one who can see it, meaning that she is the only one who can retrieve it, or help retrieve it. Each Archeron sister had some ties to the Prison, and there is too much foreshadowing about it—and too many things left unsaid about the Bone Carver himself (we don’t even know his name)—for this to be a mere coincidence.

But it goes even beyond this—the Bone Carver and Elain share similar abilities. She might be the only one who could understand and help decipher the mysteries of his cell.

There is so much more to this story that we have yet to understand, but the crumbs have all been scattered, and they all point in the same direction: to Elain.

Which brings me to my last (and most important) point: the 4th object.

And then, we have this:

Coincidence? Perhaps—but we never see or hear about this scimitar again.

“The sunset was at its peak, the sky ablaze with pink and blue and gold and purple,” [ACOSF]

So this is how SJM describes Dusk during ACOSF, which generally speaking we already had a good idea about… minus the addition of Gold.

But it is interesting that these colours all represent Elain. 

Pinks

“Elain at last slid into the chair near Mor’s, her dawn-pink dress—”

“Elain didn’t turn. She was wearing a pale pink gown that did little to complement her sallow skin, ”

“Elain straightened from the piping-hot loaves of bread she’d hauled from the oven, her hair half up, the apron over her rose-pink gown dusted with flour.”

Blues

“Elain’s dark blue cloak, still warm from her body”

“But my sister remained near the stairs. She’d covered her nightgown with a silk shawl of palest blue, ”

“Elain seemed to realize it, too. She peered down at herself, at the simple blue gown she wore.”

“Elain rasped, “Nice to meet you,” before hustling after her, the silk skirts of her cobalt dress whispering over the parquet floor.”

Purples

“Gone was the ill-suited black dress from the ball, replaced by a gown of amethyst velvet, her hair half-up and curling down to her waist. ”

“Elain headed for the doors, purple dress sweeping behind her.”

“Elain stood at the wall of windows, clad in a lilac gown whose close-fitting bodice showed how well her sister had filled out since those initial days in the Night Court.”

“I found Elain studying it, beautiful in her amethyst-colored gown. I made to move toward her, but someone beat me to it. The shadowsinger was clad in a black jacket and pants similar to Rhysand’s—the fabric immaculately tailored and built to fit his wings.”

“From the edge of my vision, purple and gold flashed—Elain. ”

Golds

“Elain asked, the faelight of the chandelier catching in the ripples of her golden-brown braid.”

“So Elain had let her golden-brown hair down tonight, and pinned it back with twin combs of pearl.”

Here hair literally always described as golden so that’s just two examples, or I would be here forever listing them. 

I think another interesting thing to note is after Solstice in ACOFAS, we continually see her in shades of purple, as if there is a significant change after said date. With the exception of the Ball when she is in black and they remark on how it doesn’t suit her.

It might mean nothing or it might be a little foreshadowing. These are certainly her colours and I don’t think that is a coincidence, along with a 8th Court being mentioned, and having every manner of Court except a Dusk court. To many coincidences for me…

ALL HAIL HIGH LADY ELAIN OF THE DUSK COURT!

I put dates so I can actually count. I know there’s a calendar already made but I want to do this just to be petty because some people are actually becoming really petty about this.

Dec 21: Winter Solstice (I used the 2014 date)

Dec 28: (1 week after WS) 2 weeks before wedding

Dec 29: (1 day after) Tithe next month mentioned

Jan 10: (1 day before wedding) Nynsar mentioned ‘months and months from now’

Jan 11: Wedding day, Rhys arrives, start of NC week 1

Jan 18: (1 week after) NC week 1 ends, back at Spring Court

Jan 25: (1 week after) Tithe

Feb 8: (2 weeks after Tithe) Feyre and Tamlin getting ok

Feb 11: (one month since the bargain started) Start of NC week 2

Feb 18: (1 week after) NC week 2 ends, back at SC

Feb 19: (next day) sentries are back, Tamlin in borders

Feb 27: (8 days after) Tamlin back, meeting with Lucien about Feyre powers

Feb 28: (1 day after, afternoon) Feyre locked in the house, Mor rescue

Mar 1: (next day) wake up at dawn, Velaris, meet Inner Circle

(next March dates are not that important in counting but let’s include them)

Mar 2: (next day) Prison attempt

Mar 3: (next day) Amren’s amulet, Prison

Mar 4: (next day) Weaver

Mar 5: (next day) mortal realms

Mar 6: (next day) Attor, Velaris at night

Mar 7: (next day) afternoon training with Cassian

Mar 11: (4 days later) Summer Court invitation

Mar 12: (next day) Summer Court, approaching Nynsar, Calanmai soon after

Mar 13: (next day) jewels trove

Mar 15: (2 days after) saw the hiding place of the Book

Mar 16: (next day) mainland tour, last day in Summer, Book mission

Mar 17: (next day) Book in early morning, back in Velaris, blood rubies afternoon, dinner with Mor

Mar 18: (2am next day) Rhys nightmare

During weeks of waiting: insert Wings and Embers scene(?)

(Got a bit of trouble here because of the time skip but let’s assume a date from Feyre’s thoughts)

Assuming Apr 19: meeting with queens, Feyre nearly 2 months in Velaris

Apr 20: (next day, afternoon) Court of Nightmares, Veritas orb

Apr 21: (next day) leaving Velaris in 2 days, Starfall/Nynsar tomorrow

Apr 22: (next day) Starfall

Apr 23: (next day) Illyrian camp

Apr 24: (next day) training, Lucien, inn 👀

Apr 25: (next day) got attacked in the evening

Apr 26: (next day, early morning) Suriel, mating bond reveal, Mor winnows Feyre to mountain cabin

Apr 27: (next day) Feyre painting

Apr 28: (next day) painting again, Mor stayed overnight

Apr 29: (next day) Mor left at breakfast

May 1: (five days passed - since coming to cabin I think?) Rhys arrives, mating bond 👀👀👀

Then Feyre’s thoughts in ACOWAR when she was talking to Lucien about the Great Rite.

So Calanmai is in May. The Great Rite happened in May. You know where I’m going with this already. Let’s not mention it anymore.

ELAIN IS THE KINGSLAYER. 

I will scream it with my whole chest. Elain, who has never killed anything in her life, never picked up a bow and shot an animal, never held a sword or a dagger, never did anything remotely to train, stepped out of shadows and rammed Truth-Teller in the king’s neck.

This is not a ding against Nesta but Nesta was done. She was on the ground, covering her body over Cassian. She and Cassian are lucky to be alive. Elain is the only reason they are alive and the king is dead.

At the moment Sarah’s hasn’t confirmed anything regarding who’s next book will be about, but she’s has mentioned that it is pretty obvious. If we follow the narrative ACOTAR is the Archeron sisters journey so why wouldn’t Elain’s be next? Sarah has said multiple times that she’s researched for Elain’s book. In ACOSF we also see a new side of her character, we get more mentions of the possibility of a mating bond being rejected, how she isn’t making any effort to interact more with Lucien, her commitment with the Night Court, her friendship with Nuala and Cerridwen and the blood duel and its consequences. Additionally Azriel also has more focus and he even gets an exclusive POV. Without going into detail about both exclusive chapters (as not everyone in the world has access to them) from a general readers perspective all signs point to Elriel being a possibility as there has been hints since ACOMAF. Furthermore why have all this hints if she won’t do anything about them?

Now I can’t speak for every casual reader but I’ve been speaking with some people (friends mostly) who have read the books and don’t ship anything and they agree that there’s a major possibility that Elriel will be endgame and are open to all possibilities.

If we took into consideration those exclusive chapters, what do they have in common? Both have mentions of Elain and Azriel’s POV confirms there are feelings involved. But as I said in a previous post for me they aren’t conclusive as only a really small part of the readers have access to them and from a writers perspective you cannot undo something that has been building for 4 books in a couple of pages that not all your audience has access to. Besides Azriel’s chapter timeline is the middle of ACOSF and if the Gwynriel interaction was that important it would have been mentioned in the book itself.

If you search the Eriel tag it’s full of well researched theories that are backed up by quotes so if the hate is getting you down or it’s making you doubt just go ahead and read them they’ll for sure make you less anxious. And if all this hate is making you more anxious just take a step back, pick up one of your comfortable reads and when you feel ready come back. This characters will always be here, reading shouldn’t be an anxiety triggering experience. Another thing I’ve seen with this fandom is how other opinions affect the reading experience so just focus on what you’re feeling and don’t mind what other people are saying!

Regarding the ship wars, we need to focus on Elain and Elriel and just try to ignore the bullshit/hate they are spreading about us! We have the theories, metas and characters analysis. The hints and foreshadowing are there for all to see. We shouldn’t forget that at the end of the day this are Sarah’s books and we are only here for the ride.

I just say this because I’ve been in war ships before that lasted years and even received death threats for shipping something one part of the fandom didn’t like. So in my personal experience it’s better for all parts involved if we don’t instigate hate, stay in our tags and ignore them. Block anything if it makes it easier for you to have the experience you want.

Idk if this rambling makes sense but I needed to get it out of my chest. I apologize if there’s any mistake, English is my third language!

Thank you @forget-me-not-s! After encountering all the hate some people of the fandom are spewing, I don’t think I’m alone in needing to hear this! I’ve been so filled with anxiety after ACOSF, and all you lovelies calmly reassuring us Elriel people that they’re still in fact endgame, has given me life!! There are so many good accounts on here giving sanity to the diehard Elriel stans (I’m new on here and I’m still trying to figure everything out, but I’m going to try and list a few at the bottom);I’m so appreciative of y’alls kindness and steadfast assurances. I hope everyone has a wonderful day!!

All of this and above. You can still love and support your ship without being hateful towards others. I still follow plenty of other blogs that actively promote ships I don’t like or don’t care for, but I just scroll through and move on.

You don’t have to say hateful things because you don’t agree with someone. And what’s worse is to make artists, writers, and other creative content people feel nervous to post something because of the backlash they could receive. THIS IS NOT OKAY.

I’m pretty sure we’ve all heard this before, but in case you haven’t “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

I put dates so I can actually count. I know there’s a calendar already made but I want to do this just to be petty because some people are actually becoming really petty about this.

Dec 21: Winter Solstice (I used the 2014 date)

Dec 28: (1 week after WS) 2 weeks before wedding

Dec 29: (1 day after) Tithe next month mentioned

Jan 10: (1 day before wedding) Nynsar mentioned ‘months and months from now’

Jan 11: Wedding day, Rhys arrives, start of NC week 1

Jan 18: (1 week after) NC week 1 ends, back at Spring Court

Jan 25: (1 week after) Tithe

Feb 8: (2 weeks after Tithe) Feyre and Tamlin getting ok

Feb 11: (one month since the bargain started) Start of NC week 2

Feb 18: (1 week after) NC week 2 ends, back at SC

Feb 19: (next day) sentries are back, Tamlin in borders

Feb 27: (8 days after) Tamlin back, meeting with Lucien about Feyre powers

Feb 28: (1 day after, afternoon) Feyre locked in the house, Mor rescue

Mar 1: (next day) wake up at dawn, Velaris, meet Inner Circle

(next March dates are not that important in counting but let’s include them)

Mar 2: (next day) Prison attempt

Mar 3: (next day) Amren’s amulet, Prison

Mar 4: (next day) Weaver

Mar 5: (next day) mortal realms

Mar 6: (next day) Attor, Velaris at night

Mar 7: (next day) afternoon training with Cassian

Mar 11: (4 days later) Summer Court invitation

Mar 12: (next day) Summer Court, approaching Nynsar, Calanmai soon after

Mar 13: (next day) jewels trove

Mar 15: (2 days after) saw the hiding place of the Book

Mar 16: (next day) mainland tour, last day in Summer, Book mission

Mar 17: (next day) Book in early morning, back in Velaris, blood rubies afternoon, dinner with Mor

Mar 18: (2am next day) Rhys nightmare

During weeks of waiting: insert Wings and Embers scene(?)

(Got a bit of trouble here because of the time skip but let’s assume a date from Feyre’s thoughts)

Assuming Apr 19: meeting with queens, Feyre nearly 2 months in Velaris

Apr 20: (next day, afternoon) Court of Nightmares, Veritas orb

Apr 21: (next day) leaving Velaris in 2 days, Starfall/Nynsar tomorrow

Apr 22: (next day) Starfall

Apr 23: (next day) Illyrian camp

Apr 24: (next day) training, Lucien, inn 👀

Apr 25: (next day) got attacked in the evening

Apr 26: (next day, early morning) Suriel, mating bond reveal, Mor winnows Feyre to mountain cabin

Apr 27: (next day) Feyre painting

Apr 28: (next day) painting again, Mor stayed overnight

Apr 29: (next day) Mor left at breakfast

May 1: (five days passed - since coming to cabin I think?) Rhys arrives, mating bond 👀👀👀

Then Feyre’s thoughts in ACOWAR when she was talking to Lucien about the Great Rite.

So Calanmai is in May. The Great Rite happened in May. You know where I’m going with this already. Let’s not mention it anymore.

Why They’re Important for Endgame

Ever since I read this post by @breaking-shadows a few days ago (you should all read it, it’s amazingly explained and incredibly analyzed!!!), I’ve been aching to add my own two cents from what I know as an aspiring writer, too. @breaking-shadows does a great job of showing you how the Stakes have built up from the start regarding Elriel and I will try to explain, to the best of my capabilities, what Stakes are, a few types of Stakes, how we see them in Elriel, and why that helps me confidently (99% because in the end SJM can do whatever) say that Elriel is endgame.

Because I’m not a published author or writing expert, I’m going to cite people who are and attach the links to the pages where I got the info from, in case you’d like to learn more or simply corroborate. This way no one can say I, as a newb, cannot be trusted.

This is going to be a long ass post, you were warned.