Itās time for my craziest Queen of Nothing theory yet
So, I think Cardanās going to transform into a giant snake. Literally. I know you think Iāve officially lost it, but hear me out.
We donāt know the full prophesy depicted in Cardanās star chart, but whenever he says anything about the prophesy he always mentions one specific word: āmonster.ā
In the deleted scenes of TWK, Cardan thinks about his star chart: āLord Baphen said he was going to be the ruination of the throne and a monsterā (TWK 333).
Also, in āThe Lament of Lutie-Looā the short story at the end of the new bind-up edition of The Modern Faerie Tale Series, Cardan specifically mentions that heās āprophesied to be a monsterā (777).
It could be argued that Cardan is already a monster due to his cruelty or that he could become a tyrant and become a figurative monster. But The Queen of Nothing cover and the poster at Book Con with the giant snake made me think⦠What if becoming a monster is literal?Ā
So, what if Cardan turned into a giant snake? More accurately, what if he turned into a a wyrm or lindworm? (dragonlike creatures that are depicted similarly to a snake)
Faeries transforming into monsters due to extremely strong emotions are cannon in the Holly Black Fae-verse. In The Darkest Part of the Forest, one of the faeries transforms into a monster after her mortal husband is murdered: āHer grief transformed her. She became a monster, a nightmare creature of grief and sorrowā (TDPoTF 206).
Also, magical transformations are a common trope in fairytales and faery folk lore. A few stories that come to mind are: the ballad of āTamlinā (which Holly Blackās book Tithe was inspired from), āThe Prince Lindwormā and of course, āBeauty and the Beast.ā
If there is a curse on Cardan, I think thereās a certain human who can break it. Hereās a quote from the Barns and Nobel description of The Queen of Nothing: āWhen a dark curse is unveiled, Jude must become the first mortal Queen of Faerie and uncover how to break the curse, or risk upsetting the balance of the whole Faerie world.ā
Assuming that Cardan turns into a snakelike creature (Iām going to guess a lindworm), it could be an interesting adaption of the āPrince Lindwormā story. Itās one of my favorite fairy tales so Iāll just leave a link to the story here. The element that I think would be adapted from the fairy tale in TQoN is how the curse is broken. (If anyone wants to write fanfiction of this, I will sing your praises until the end of time.)
Anyways, I donāt think this theory is likely. Elfhame freezing over, Cardan transforming into lindworm and back, and the possible outbreak of war would be a lot to fit into a book thatās 300-400 pgs.Ā
But @fangirlinghard-spoilerson and everyone else, let me know what you think! What do you think the curse is? And what does the snake on the book cover mean?