#seitarius

In the fanart you guys have seen with Aranel pressing his forehead to a very sad Meizan I was attempting to do some seitarius imagery in their designs. Aranel once described Meizan as seeming like a “lone wolf” and we see Meizan be very interested in healing, so I attempted to make Meizan’s hair resemble a wolf design. With Aranel, Meizan once described him as being “as fierce as a nagamor” so I always make Aranel’s hair a bit more slicked back and in the art he’s a bit taller and curving over Meizan, sort of like the slickness of a nagamor. I don’t know if I succeeded but that is what I had in mind. So, the still with Azyaka behind Aranel and Sherka behind Meizan made me really happy.

major spoilers so...

(dont scroll if u dont want spoielrs)

ok here we gooooo

so i think the final bonders are gonna be

himalia > megarya

aina > vandragor

meizan > nagamor

mirya > gazarou

We don't really touch on this much in the first book, but the entire time I was reading Wheel of Wrath, I kept thinking about the duality of the Beasts.

The first time we see this, it's front & center with Sherka, and I love that AA Vora set this up with the "good" Beast first. Everything comes with a price, as things must be balanced. Yes, you can have peace and healing...but too much, and you get addicted to the stuff. I particularly loved how we saw this in both Aranel & Aina in regards to their grief (and how it showcases their humanity-- in grief, there are no differences between uppers & lowers).

However, we do see Aina start to heal from her grief after her visit to Narakh. I'm sure we'll get more into the specifics next book as we learn more about what the vandraghor *actually* did by sucking up the excess blood in her keiza, but that is the turning point for her. She starts to heal mentally.

Which I absolutely love.

The whole time, this whole series, has been about Balance.

But it seems pretty unbalanced to just put all the *bad* people somewhere and determine that two Beasts are *bad* with them. I know they discussed briefly how Andraken took it all on himself, and I don't have the exact quote in front of me, but it was somewhere along the lines of how he must be full of evil and hatred because of it.

And I'm sure there's rage and ill-intent (as with Azyaka too), but they are very quick to dismiss the possibility of good within those two. Especially when we can see first-hand that Sherka isn't capable of healing everything. She seems to be more physical, and even appeared distressed when Aranel's mind wasn't healing with time as simply as a physical wound. But a vandraghor helped heal Aina's mind/emotions.

The duality of this reminds me of two things: Firebending in AtLA and Sadness in Inside Out. Firebending is initially seen as bad (fair enough) throughout most of the show but the turning point comes when Zuko realizes he doesn't need hatred to firebend. Similarly, Joy realizes that life needs Sadness sometimes too in order to appreciate the happy.

My point is: I'm really excited to learn more of the twists of the Beasts' bonded affects, and the affects on their realm on the whole. We are intimate with Sherka and we got glimpses of Aina finding some sort of middle ground/acceptance in her depression when she was in Narakh...which is inside of Andraken.

I'm really excited to see what the twists are with Azyaka & Sorken. (and learn in general about the other two)

I'm still very much set on Azyaka being destruction in all forms - physical and mental. Which means she needs someone to help her see other sides. Which brings me back to...

I really really hope Meizan gets the bond and is Azyaka's bonder. It would be cute to have him get Sherka, but honestly? I think Azyaka needs someone who understands violence and has found another way. Isn't Meizan already enabling the destruction of Kanjellan's old ways? He can revel in the violence and he can see the benefits when it's needed, but I think him being able to put that in to practice with someone else (especially now that he doesn't have Aranel there with him physically--but he will certainly have his painful memories/visions ;) ) I don't know if the bonders can affect the Beasts a lot, but I think it'd be really cool if they could.

Continuing, I hope that Aranel somehow keeps Sherka even if he's been sent elsewhere for the time being. Especially because I feel they are parallels of one another - Sherka wants so badly to heal everyone, and tries her best to help with mental pain - but it makes it worse in the long run. Just like Aranel. The whole book was him trying (and failing) to make the right decision. I think for his character arc it'd be really satisfying to get him to a place of redemption and maybe even finding a way with Sherka to stave the affects of the fur because she can also learn how sometimes, helping isn't always *helping*.

Aina bonding Andraken seems like the vibe simply because everything thinks he is the villain and for a time, Aina herself wanted to act like the villain. But what if they could both be more and what if they could both find love in the unique way it could present itself in this?? Maybe they will be the ones who save the day- the ones who have constantly been feared/avoided/seen as worthless. She seems the closest to accepting that death & hunger & sadness & fear are all a part of life, even if it sucks sometimes, and only associating negativity with those does more harm in the long run. Also her popping out of Narakh bonded to the Big Bad Scary Seitarius™ like Elle Woods like "oh it's hard to not lose yourself?" would be very funny XD

Lastly, I have less thoughts on Himalia and Sorken since we have seen them less than the others, but I have a feeling the shortfall will be something with intelligence. Cursed to know but can't say? I haven't given this one as much thought simply because their purpose so far was more lore-related, but I am very intrigued to see how their bond continues. Like Kyrian, everything isn't always what it seems.

This turned into a longer meta ramble & I haven't really gone back to proofread, but I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts on this: @marielaure & @arazan-universe

I'd love to hear more about this if you were interested in expanding!!! I totally forgot/missed the mention of a vandraghor in Ashkator + a whole clan being swallowed, but sadly I can see the Preservation kidnapping kids to indoctrinate them/eventually use them (like how they found the perfect bonders)

Ha! Yeah I deleted it since I felt like I was getting off track/confusing 😄

But since you’re interested…

1. Yeah I wasn’t quite sure whether the children we see in Ashkator from Zenyra’s memories were all orphans taken in or kidnapped children (I’m just going to assume a mix of both).

Now, Zenyra’s younger sister Lehar squeaked out this specific fear: “Don’t eat me!” after a member of the Preservation introduced himself (WoW Ch. 6). This scene hints the Preservation was not in good standing with the other clans (or at least Amaratir). If the Preservation were kidnapping children, that creates a lot of interesting tensions that could have fueled the war during Kal Ekana. The clans not only need children to keep their groups intact, but children were also the only ones who could bond to beasts…child soldiers would’ve been the key to winning battles given the lack of universal channeling. I can see the Preservation stating a ‘noble’ reason for kidnapping future bestial warriors, (in an attempt to cease the fighting!)—but it cannot be all good intentions as we see their need for soul bonders too. (And as you point out the indoctrination)

2. This “Don’t eat me!” fear is the exact belief characters have towards vandraghor:

“You know the old rumors? About how no clan could ally with the vandraghor during Kal Ekana because the beasts liked to…well, eat whoever came close.” (Ch. 42).

…

“Maybe they were eaten like those poor sods who bonded with the vandraghor!” (Ch. 45).

…

Who bonded with the vandraghor during KE? There is no mention of who. The only thing recorded was this:

How does this relate to the Preservation? I’m not exactly sure—also knowing my luck these rumors could all be separate fears. However, my weird little theory is that some bonders rumored to have been bonded to vandraghor were actually Preservers who deserted their clan. I mean maybe some bonders died…but I do not believe ALL did. (This part of the post is a bit of a reach 😄)

I also have a little weird theory that vandraghor bonders received visions and that’s how they came to the conclusion to bond with the seitarius (I don’t see anyone having that idea or know how to find the seitarius without some sort of help).

So you were wondering if there were vandraghor in Ashkator…I say yes given the habitat we see, Zenyra’s mentions of baby gazarou and kapizer, and this scene between a young Kaldrav and Kyrian:

“The second, wild-haired and scarred, let out a bark of laughter. “Stealing my words again. Sure you’re up to bonding with a megarya, Kyrian? An obsessive freak like you—”

“You’ve got some nerve saying that when your beast’s the freakish one…”

They may be talking about the seitarius, but I guess that the Preservers’ “training and series of trials” to determine seitarius-bonders were to see which six children could bond to various planetary beasts they had onsite. And this Kaldrav/Kyrian scene is them doing some hands on training.

Aina —> Sorken

I think Sorken is also dealing with grief and since Aina had to deal with that this whole book, she has the experience and emotional intelligence to help Sorken deal with his sorrow. Also, Sorken needs someone to motivate and direct him a bit 😄. We see the god has an adventurous spirit but is easily sidetracked. He’s also way too laid back if the goal is to save the universe, I personally think Aina has the personality to get Sorken motivated.

ALSO, I do believe Sorken is a bit like Aina in they both have a lot of power within them, but can’t really control it well. (Or know how /what to do with that power)

This passage either helps this point OR is a Himalia-problem but:

This just reminded me of Aranel remarking that Aina would probably be the strongest out of all of them if she just had better control.

I think Aina knows what she wants to do, but she just can’t channel, so I can see Aina/Sorken duo being Aina making the calls and Sorken following through with the channeling.

Himalia —> Andraken

When I think of the word ‘undaunted’ (like Andraken the Undaunted), Himalia’s personality comes to mind. She’s the only character so far who had a specific goal (her research) and saw it through. She is also the only character not phased by Andraken and has a fascination with vandraghor:

Himalia seeks out knowledge of Andraken/vandraghor out of pure curiosity multiple times (a lot more unprompted than Aina).

Also, with Andraken’s hallucinations/visions and his power of warping time and space…I can see Himalia being the only character intelligent enough to fit with the planetary vandraghor. (Quote below expanding on this)

…BUT also here is the reverse theory because I must admit @bri-notthecheese and @arazan-universe your soul bonder picks have textual backing as well:

Aina —> Andraken

In Narakh (inside Andraken) Aina always hears her mother’s voice and Andraken has the ability to “warp time and space”. This quote might just be foreshadowing for the end of Book 2, but I can also see this as Aina/Andraken bond foreshadowing. In my mind “distorting reality” and “warping time and space” mean basically the same thing.

Andraken gave Aina forgotten memories that not only helped her process grief, but this passage makes me think there was some sort of message in the memories of her mother. Aina thinks this after receiving those memories:

(^When thinking about whether Himalia could bond to Andraken, I wondered if Himalia could piece together “the something important”—Aina needed/needs these moments for closure but Himalia wouldn’t)

*Back to the regularly scheduled program*

I also find the image of Aina bonding with Andraken to just be really badass so there’s that evidence for that part of the theory 😄

Himalia —> Sorken

I also love Himalia/Sorken just being chill nerds BUT I also think Sorken is important to Himalia’s gender questioning stuff that seems to be going on: