#cc theory

If Elain does end up working in the intelligence field in some capacity, it would make complete sense for her actions to remain as hidden as possible, given her very public identity. Additionally, if Theia* was a Seer - and I wouldn't be surprised, Theia being the Greek goddess of Light and Sight - it would fit with the theory that Seers, and the fact that Cauldron Made beings, can make themselves be forgotten.

“Made objects tend to not wish to be found by just anyone,” Amren cautioned. “That they have faded from memory, that even I didn’t think of them immediately in the fight against Hybern, suggests that perhaps they willed it that way. Wanted to stay hidden. True things of power have such gifts.” - ACOSF, chapter 20

Given Nesta didn't think, even once, of Elain's crucial actions when Gwyn asked her about the King of Hybern's death, I lean towards Elain - who is Made - or another being - maybe a mystic or god, who can nudge psychic threads - being responsible for this (consciously or not on Elain's behalf), and not Nesta deciding that Elain needed to be protected, though I could be incorrect, of course.

Is Elain Truth-Teller's chosen wielder?

This is an incomplete discussion, because metas are hard work, but consider the following... we saw Truth-Teller devour sunlight in ACOWAR:

Elain’s eyes widened at the obsidian-hilted blade in Azriel’s scarred hand. The runes on the dark scabbard. “It has never failed me once,” the shadowsinger said, the midday sun devoured by the dark blade. “Some people say it is magic and will always strike true.” He gently took her hand and pressed the hilt of the legendary blade into it. “It will serve you well.” - ACOWAR, chapter 69

And then in HOSAB, Truth-Teller and Gwydion's (aka the Starsword) relationship was revealed:

The male dropped the dagger to the plush carpet. All of them retreated as it flared with dark light, as if in answer. Alpha and Omega. “Gwydion,” the dark-haired female whispered, indicating the Starsword. - CC HOSAB, chapter 78

Elain "stepped out of a shadow" to save Nesta and Cassian, answering Feyre's prayers.

Elain, in Hebrew, means my god has answered me.

I've been wondering for a while if the dark light with which Truth-Teller flared in answer to the Starsword could potentially be shadows, similar to Azriel's own, because we don't actually know what Az's shadows truly are. So, did Truth-Teller...

Allow Elain to focus some latent shadow magic of her own; ie. could she be a Singer of some sort? These posts here, here and here discuss this,* but additionally, I wouldn't be surprised if Truth-Teller allowed Elain to pierce the fabric of reality and shadow walk to save her sister.

Forge a carranam bond with Azriel that let her access his powers?

Does the magic reside within the blade itself, and Elain managed to recharge it with her (hypothetical) light?

* Reblogs of posts by @silverlinedeyes and @wingedblooms.

Could it be a combination of these scenarios, or something else entirely?

“You honestly think he’d ever give up Truth-Teller?” “He gave it to Elain,” Mor said, admiring a moonstone necklace in the counter’s glass case. “She gave it back,” I amended, failing to block out the image of the black blade piercing through the King of Hybern’s throat. But Elain had given it back—had pressed it into Azriel’s hands after the battle, just as he had pressed it into hers before. And then walked away without looking back. Mor hummed to herself. - ACOFAS, chapter 4

Given the above ACOFAS quote with Mor and Feyre it wouldn't surprise me if Elain wielded Truth-Teller once more... or even permanently. This could lead to another parallel between Elain and Bryce Quinlan, who currently wields Gwydion/the Starsword.

Bryce and the Starsword seems to be a foregone conclusion:

Given the a possible link between:

Theia (and now Bryce) wielding Gwydion, which is known in Midgard as the Starsword,

Elain wielding Truth-Teller, Gwydion's paired blade, and

The blades hypothetically being known for their deeds, rather than the person who used them...

How will this affect Bryce going forward? Will her actions also be forgotten by history, or be labelled with the Starsword's name? Or is this phenomenon only applicable in Prythian? Alternatively, will something change in the future, as the Starsword and Truth-Teller have now been reunited, or perhaps only once the Asteri have been defeated?

I know I've mentioned it before, but I do hope that any link between Elain and Bryce is more intrinsic to themselves, and not just because they are the hypothetical "chosen" of each blade - which, I really think they may be, as each blade was found by a shadowy male (Azriel and Ruhn, respectively) who is important to them, and then used by him for years, but they were never fully utilised, as Bryce and Elain appeared to do so with little training.

As if it was meant to be.

What could this mean for Azriel?

These parallels are part of why I think Azriel could be Starborn, with a little light. Like Ruhn Danaan, is Azriel's (hypothetical) Starborn light hidden beneath his shadows, and could his discovery of Truth-Teller parallel how Ruhn once found the Starsword (aka Gwydion) during his ordeal?

How could this impact the plot?

The Starsword belongs to Bryce (and Ruhn), but could Azriel wield it for a time? In ACOSF, Azriel mentioned that he preferred swordplay to close quarters fighting... could that have been a hint that he would wield Gwydion, while Elain used Truth-Teller (thus fulfilling the ACOFAS conversation between Feyre and Mor)?

Will there be some sort of lending of the blades between their worlds - and is there a difference in timelines that could allow this - such that they can each use the magics at full strength to defeat their respective enemies and then give the blades back? Could Hunt possibly use Truth-Teller to power up the Starsword from a distance, instead of the risky and inconvenient practice of throwing lightning bolts at Bryce?

Is Aidas the cat in the Library in the House of Wind, and is Aidas going to come to Prythian at the end of ACOTAR 5?

Much credit for this delightful crack theory goes to my dear friend, @sketchedabow, and to my other friends, @offtorivendell (who I think first made the cat connection, ETA in this post, which I either had totally forgotten about or hadn’t seen!! 😅) and @wingedblooms (who made the Bryaxis connection). I truly love my friends.

In ACOSF, we have this really interesting scene in the Library under the House of Wind, where Nesta senses this darkness in the depths of the library:

She’s talking about the seventh level of the library, which she is standing above on level six. And she says that the ramp down to the seventh is like “an entry into some dark pit of hell.”

Nesta describes the darkness she observes down there as almost alive; it feels like it’s breathing. The darkness pulses.

When Gwyn finds her, they have this exchange about the darkness and what’s below:

Nesta says she saw “pure darkness” below.

But here is where it gets interesting: Gwyn says that she feels something “like a cat. Small and clever and curious. It’s watching.”

What a weird specific thing to say. Like a cat.

You know who appears as a cat, and who is from some dark pit of Hel?

Aidas.

I discuss it more in depth in this post, but I really Theia’s second daughter went back to Prythian through the rift with Truth-Teller before the rift closed. And I think it’s possible Aidas helped her get through the rift with protection from demons from Hel.

And Aidas loved Theia:

And he also seems to have betrayed her, leading to her death:

(HOEAB)

(HOSAB)

This raises so many questions for me:

Is Aidas the cat in the library in the HoW?

Can Aidas appear there in cat form like he does in Midgard?

Or is there some kind of portal to Hel in the deepest part of the HoW?

Does Aidas come to watch over Theia’s descendants? To atone for his betrayal of his love?

Is Bryaxis a demon from the Pit that Aidas planted there to observe and keep him informed? Like the shepherd Thanatos planted in the bone quarter as an informant?

And my crackiest theory:

I’m convinced that if CC3 is next, it’s because CC3 is going to be important to the end of ACOTAR 5, and something from CC3 is going to appear in ACOTAR at the end. I imagine in this scenario that the last chapter of HOSAB occurs sometime in the middle of ACOTAR 5, and then in the last chapter, something from CC3 is going to come into play. (For example, Bryce returning with Gwydion and maybe TT, or some of the starborn returning to colonize Dusk, or something like that.)

But will this be Aidas? Is he going to hear of the dire threat to Theia’s descendants in Prythian and return to help?

And how might Aidas play into the ACOTAR plot? Is he related to the Illyrians, or maybe even to Koschei? Were Koschei and the Carver and Stryga children of the Void, just like the Princes of Hel and the Under-King?

First things first, here are the most important pages of ACOSF, at least the pages that hold the most clues for future books and the main plot ( or maybe I'm crazy, which is an option ). This are the pages of chapter 55 of ACOSF.

“The Fae were not the first masters of this world. According to our oldest legends, most now forgotten, we were created by beings who were near-gods—and monsters. The Daglan. They ruled “for millennia, and enslaved us and the humans. They were petty and cruel and drank the magic of the land like wine.”.... “Some strains of the mythology claim that one of the Fae heroes who rose up to overthrow them was Fionn, who was given the great sword Gwydion by the High Priestess Oleanna, who had dipped it into the Cauldron itself. Fionn and Gwydion overthrew the Daglan. A millennium of peace followed, and the lands were divided into rough territories that were the precursors to the courts—but at the end of those thousand years, they were at each other’s throats, on the brink of war.” ... “Fionn unified them and set himself above them as High King. The first and only High King this land has ever had.” ... “Fionn was betrayed by his queen, who had been leader of her own territory, and by his dearest friend, who was his general. They killed him, taking some of his bloodline’s most powerful and precious weapons, and then out of the chaos that followed, the seven High Lords rose, and the courts have been in place ever since.” A Court of Silver Flames, chapter 55Sarah J. Maas

It is curious how here Rhys when is telling this story, does not refer at any time to the land as Prythian but refers to it as world or land, but not as Prythian.which, as we will see below, means that this is a period that could be called the prehistory of Prythian.

What do these pages explain? 

 That the Daglan ruled for millennia. That they were almost gods and monsters and that they created the Fae? Curious because in ACOTAR (chapter 13) Feyre tells us the story of the Cauldron and the Mother and how they created Prythia and the world (she does not say that the created the Fae) and how on that same map were the beings that had once ruled over humans. Could those beings be the Daglan? Probably.

 “The story of … of Prythian.It began with a cauldron.A mighty black cauldron held by glowing, slender female hands in a starry, endless night. Those hands tipped it over, golden sparkling liquid pouring out over the lip. No—not sparkling, but … effervescent with small symbols, perhaps of some ancient faerie language. Whatever was written there, whatever it was, the contents of the cauldron were dumped into the void below, pooling on the earth to form our world …”  “Each territory was marked and colored, some with intricate, ornate depictions of the beings who had once ruled over lands that now belonged to humans.”Acotar chapter 13

It tells the story of Fionn, one of the heroes who overthrew the Daglan with his Gwyndon Sword, created by a Priestess directly from the Cauldron.

After defeating the Daglan, they had 1000 years of peace and the precursors of the Courts were formed.

Peace ended, war ensued and Fionn proclaimed himself High King, the first and only High King there ever was.

Fionn was betrayed by his queen (who ruled before one of the territories precursors of the courts) and his best friend and General .(Theia and Pelias?? or Enalius??)

After Fionn's death the seven High Lords rose up and the courts have been established from there.

Then they ask about Amren, our little minion who, let's remember, is 15000 years old (ACOWAR chapter 14).

⚠️Edited : this publication is from before HOSAB, in HOSAB it is said that Amren has not heard the ancient language of the FAE in 15000 years, in ACOSF Rhys says the same , therefore, the high king Fionn was betrayed 15000 years ago and Amren had to arrive before (if or if ) to Prythian, therefore the age of Amren that Sarah gives us in ACOWAR , IS WRONG 🙃😒( unless you count the age of Amrem since she leaves prison ) .⚠️

“From what I’ve gleaned, she arrived during those years before Fionn and Gwydion rose, and went into the Prison during the Age of Legends—the “time when this land was full of heroic figures who were keen to hunt down the last members of their former masters’ race. They feared Amren, believing her one of their enemies, and threw her into the Prison. When she emerged again, she’d missed Fionn’s fall and the loss of Gwydion, and found the High Lords ruling.”ACOSF chapter 55.

Amren arrived in this world "shortly before" Fionn rebelled against the Daglan, so she arrived in what we could call, the Daglan period.

And she was locked up in The Prison during the Age of Legends, which is the Age of legends? Rhysand says when she came out of prison she had missed the fall of Fionn and that the High Lords already ruled the land. Conclusion Amren was locked up before the formation of Prythian. So let's say that the Age of Legends is the time period that encompasses, the 1000 years of peace and Fionn's reign (which we don't know how many years it lasted).

Throughout the saga reference is made to the creation of Prythian. And to the history before Prythian. Which we can understand as the creation of Prythian as a "country". When can we say that the year 0 of our history is found? Prythian arises with the death of Fionn and the uprising of the High Lords.

“Those are legends that predate our courts,” Eris said” ACOSF capítulo 7

“This place,” he said, “was made before High Lords existed. Before Prythian was Prythian ” . ACOMAF chapter 17

“All before Prythian, before the land was carved up and any High Lord was crowned.” ACOWAR chapter 23.

The next question that could be asked is how long ago was Prythian created?we know that Amrem is 15000 and that he arrived before Prythian was created, so Prythian has to be less than 15000 years old. But in ACOWAR when Feyre goes to the relic chamber of the night court he makes the following mention.

“Ten thousand years’ worth of treasure.”ACOWAR chp 41.

10.000 years of treasures, 10.000 years that the High Lords of the Night Court have been accumulating relics, 10.000 years since the rise of the High Lord of the Night Court, 10.000 years since the death of Fionn and the birth of Prythian.

⚠️It doesn't match what we learn in HOSAB, Queen Theia and General Pelias go to Midgard 15,000 years before CC's story, the timeline of Cc and ACOTAR is the same (I doubt Sarah has also introduced time travel) therefore Queen Theia betrayed Fionn 15,000 years ago, and 15,000 years ago Prythian was formed.⚠️

If Amrem is 15.000 years old and Prythian was created 10.000 years ago, that means that in the first 5.000 years that Amrem spent in this world, the end of the Daglan Reign and the Age of Legends took place.

So to summarize so far, we can highlight the following epochs in this world.

Reign of the Daglan.

Age of Legends (+ Fionn's reign) duration between 1.000-5.000 years

Prythian and High Lords. Duration 10.000. Here would be included the history of Prythian from the original triology as follows AFTER HOSAB this was 15000 years ago

1 war against Hybern + treaty + wall (500 years before ACOWAR)

Reign of Amarantha (50 years pre-ACOTAR -ACOTAR)

2 War against Hybern + new treaty (ACOWAR)

Which in turn we can synthesize between

Before Prythian (BP) reign of the Daglan+ Age of Legends

After Prythian (AP).  or just Prythian.

Do you understand anything? I hope so, does any of this make sense? I hope so.

Well, let's move on because we have to talk about the prison and Koschei and the Bone Craver.

What do we know about the prison? (And why do I think it's impossible for the Dusk Court to be there?)

“This place,” he said, “was made before High Lords existed. Before Prythian was Prythian ” . ACOMAF chapter 17

The prison was made before Prythian was Prythian and as I mentioned above, that means that the prison was built before the High Lords ruled Prythian. Which if you have paid attention to the analysis we already knew because Amrem was imprisoned during the Age of Legends. Another detail that is emphasized is that the prison was made. The fact that the prison, the sacred mountain, was created is a fact, which is emphasized again in Acosf.

Let's remember that the pegasus come from that island, not from the mountain itself, but from the island.

“According to legend, the pegasuses had come from the island the Prison sat upon—had once fed in fair meadows that had long given way to moss and mist. Perhaps that was part of the decline: their homeland had vanished,” ACOSF chapter 41

And let's also remember Nesta's vision.

“Fae screamed, pounding on stone that hadn’t been there a moment before, pleading for their children’s sakes, begging to be let out let out let out” ACOSF ch53

(In another post I will talk about what it means that one of the sacred mountains of Prythian has been created, and who I think are the people who were trapped inside it, because as I mentioned in this one I can continue writing to infinity).

Now when was the prison created? 

option 1: during the reign of the Daglan.

option 2: right at the beginning of the Age of Legends, right at the beginning of the 1.000 years of peace that followed the fall of the Daglan .Remember that Amren (and the bone craver) were locked in the prison during the Age of Legends, so it should already exist by then.

after HOSAB I think it may have formed when Theia's second daughter (Rhys's ancestor) fled Midgard with the harp and closed the rifts between worlds, (or when Theia,her two daughters, Pelias and the rest of the Fae fleed to Midgard) doesn't quite add up, but maybe the story Rhys and the others know not be true.

My theory, ⚠️and this is theory that is not supported by any part of the book⚠️ is that the prison was created right before the defeat of the Daglan. But this is not the important thing, the important thing is that the prison had to exist at the beginning of the Age of Legends, so Dusk Court could not exist as a court as such because courts are created with the rise of the High Lords. Ah, you might think, but during the Age of Legends, during those 1.000 years of peace that exist before Fionn is crowned as High King, the precursors of the courts arise, then the Dusk Court despite not having been an "official court" could have been a "precursor court". Yes and No. Yes, the Dusk Court could have been a precursor court. But No, the Dusk Court could not have been located on the prison island, because the prison at the latest was created at the beginning of the Age of Legends.

(As I said above in another post I will develop my thoughts about the Prison and the other two sacred mountains in another post). (Spoiler i think that the dusk court was the Middle )

And now, finally let's talk about the other creatures we know that are older than Amren, our 3 brothers, Gods of Death💀, The Bone Craver, Stryga and Koschei.

All 3 brothers are ancient, very ancient,

“For if he’d been here before even Amren had arrived … Tens of thousands of years—longer, perhaps. I shoved against the sinking sensation in my gut.” ACOWAR chapter 23

“But Koschei is as old as the sea—older.”ACOSF chapter 7

Tens of thousands of years before Amren, meaning they came to this world during the Daglan Reign.

The ancient Fae claimed them as Gods of Death. Who are the ancient Fae? Can the Daglan be considered as Fae? Or by ancient Fae can we understand the Fae who were slaves of the Daglan? I dont know, I know nothing, I need answers Sarah.

“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. All before Prythian, before the land was carved up and any High Lord was crowned.”“Clever, that Fae warrior. Her bloodline is long gone now—though a trace still runs through some human line.” ACOWAR chapter 23

Koschei, Stryga and the Bone Craver were confined by a FAE warrior before the Prythian High Lords existed, i.e. during the Age of legends (just like Amren).

“Age of Legends- the “time when this land was full of heroic figures who were keen to hunt down the last members of their former masters’ race. They feared Amren, believing her one of their enemies, and threw her into the Prison. When she emerged again, she’d missed Fionn’s fall and the loss of Gwydion, and found the High Lords ruling.” ACOSF chp 55

Koschei was confined in the lake by a Fae, a Fae warrior whose lineage only survives in human lines.which human characters do we know? 

Jurian

Grayson 

the 6 human queens (now only 3 are left and Vassa) 

and the Archeron.

Of these people most of you will think that the ones descended from this lineage are either Vassa or the Archeron.and...my bet⚠️is that the Archeron are descended from this lineage.⚠️

Now what does Koschei want?💀

“Koschei is no mere sorcerer. He’s confined to the lake only due to an ancient spell. Because he was outsmarted once. Everything he does is to free himself.”.... “I fear what may happen if he ever gets free of the lake. If he sees this world on the cusp of disaster and knows he could strike, and strike hard, and make himself its master. As he once tried to do, long ago.” ACOSF chapter 7

“And all Koschei wants is to be free from his lake?” Rhys asked Azriel.But Amren answered. “No one really knows the full scope of the Trove’s powers. Beyond freeing him from his lake, Koschei may very well know something about the Trove that we don’t—some greater power that manifests when all three are united” ACOSF Chapter 20

So Koschei wants to free himself from the lake and use the 4 Troves (remember that Nesta saw a fourth Trove) for an unknown purpose, which is probably to control the world as the Daglan did.

And what relation do Koschei's goals have with the Prythian story? That Koschei was confined in the lake before the creation of Prythian in the BP era, and that just as the original triology explored AP history (High Lords, the first war against Hybern, The Treaty, second war against Hybern) this new Triology (ACOSF  , ACOTAR5 and ACOTAR 6) will explore the BP history, the history of the legendary swords, the history of how they defeated the Daglan, the history of the Daglan and The Wild Hunt and the history of Fionn, the first and only High King of Prythian and his queen and the general who betrayed him.

Sarah is doing a great job expanding the world of ACOTAR and independent of Shipwar I think the next stories promise a lot.

This is it, thank you very much for reading all of this, all of this may mean something or it may mean nothing, if you have any doubts or any pointers to this one leave them to me in the comments. If you think I'm crazy and that it doesn't make any sense you can also leave it to me in the comments.

But please comment with respect.

Theory 1 : Spell-Made Mating Bonds

Starborn power originated in Dusk Court and migrated to Day Court.

- Dusk Court confirmed in HOSAB, birthplace of Theia and Starborn powers. 8th Court of Prythian that is now the island that is the Prison.

- Pegasus confirmed in ACOSF (p.420) migrated from the Prison to Day Court.

Lucien and Bryce have the Starborn powers found in Dusk and Day Courts.

- Feyre glows after sex with Rhys and they comment that that's a power she inherited from the Day Court.

- Bryce also glows after sex with Hunt.

- Lucien's father is Helion, High Lord of Day Court. It can be assumed that he's inherited some of his Starborn/Day Court powers.

A precursor to Lucien/Elain and Hunt/Bryce mating bonds is a dangerous situation and a burst of light.

Elucien and Quinlar mating bonds have scents that are noted.

- Typical mating bonds scents aren't noticeable till after the bond is accepted.

- Azriel is bothered by Elucien's mating bond scent, no one elses.

- Ruhn remarks on Quinlar's mating bond scent, after the flash of light in the Bone Quarter.