#the prison

(A collection of thoughts, a rambled halfcocked theory, based on four weeks of 3 am maasverse brain worms.)

THE SISTER PEAKS — Three Mountains, Three Sisters, Three Fates:

Let’s begin where Eris tipped the entire board: in ACOSF, he calls out three sacred mountains, ancient peaks carved underneath by unknown hands—each one tied to power, mystery, and, apparently, a destiny shared by three sisters. He names:

• Ramiel – sacred to the Illyrians, crowned with the monolith

• The Prison Mountain – now revealed in HOFAS to actually be the Dusk Court palace, buried and sealed in ancient magics

• The ‘heart of prythian’ Mountain & Under the Mountain – aka Amarantha’s lair from ACOTAR

And then there’s the kicker: Eris calls them sister peaks. And well… three ancient mountains. Three Archeron sisters. Nothing is that poetic in this universe by accident. ( similarly 3 brothers x 3 sisters buuuut not the point right now.)

Let’s break down the matches:

• Feyre went Under the Mountain in ACOTAR — the first descent, the first test, the first thread of fate.

• Nesta conquered Ramiel in the Blood Rite, and explored the tunnels under the Prison alongside Bryce and Azriel in HOFAS.

• Elain is the only one who hasn’t truly descended yet—but one peak remains unexplored beneath. Ramiel. And that’s the mountain with the monolith, which HOFAS reveals to be the original resting place of the Cauldron itself.

Nesta may have climbed it. But Elain? She may have to go beneath it.

The tunnels that run between these mountains — glimpsed in HOFAS — connect the Dusk Court’s underground palace— the Prison, the Court of Nightmares, and potentially even more. They span beneath Prythian like veins through a living body — the Mother’s map, drawn in stone. This whole system is waiting to be explored, and unraveled.

And Ramiel… Ramiel is dormant. A slumbering beast. Cassian says so in ACOFAS. And in ACOWAR, when Nesta scries for the Cauldron? It is described as a slumbering beast opening an eye. What if those aren’t just metaphors? What if the Cauldron, the monolith, and Ramiel itself are all one system — a sealed, sentient source of magic waiting to awaken?

Now let’s look here:

The Blood Rite might be a tradition to the Illyrians, and now Valkyries, but It is confirmed to be a magical tithe — a siphon of blood and power to fuel the asteri. But with the asteri gone now, what does that expenditure of magic fuel?

• the cauldron base, the monolith?

• another asteri like vespera?

• fueling a core of first light, or even a greater well of power the cauldron used to draw from through the monolith?

What we know: The Illyrians were Asteri-made. Engineered and then made to be their soldier assasins, & do the rite to eat their magic. But now that the Asteri are (allegedly) gone — where is that power going?

now let’s talk about the blades:

THE MADE, THE BLADES, THE WHY:

We know of only two Cauldron-forged blades that matter right now:

• Truth-Teller — carried by Azriel, gifted to Elain- briefly.

• Starsword/Gwydion — twin to Truth-Teller, passed from Bryce to Nesta.

In ACOWAR, Cassian tries to give Elain a blade. She can’t even look at it. But Azriel gives her Truth-Teller, and she takes it without hesitation. He tells her it’s magic. Always strikes true. And when she uses it? She steps from a shadow and slays the King of Hybern.

That’s Elain’s first act of violence. A kill from the shadows, a starborn blade, a moment of truth. Her weapon of choice responds to her. Like calls to like. We see the exchange of truth teller, as a possible romantic nod at Azriel, but what if it also was given to her by him, because he felt the pull of the magic to her?

And Nesta? She ends up wielding the Starsword. ( and being told to figure out what the star tattoo means.) After holding Ramiel’s pass in the Blood Rite — the same pass that ancient warrior Enalius once held in a battle 10,000 years ago, supposedly with truth teller. (Yes a little after but still wholly relevant.)

Two sisters. Two blades. And one mysterious connection:

• Elain was the first of them to wield a Cauldron-forged blade.

• Nesta now wields the twin.

these are not simple weapons. They’re keys. Symbols. Prophecy tools. They’re tied to the girls, the mountains, the magic, destiny.

A third, Narben, is rumored to have been cast into the sea by Amarantha. And it stays there in this theory. Why? Because Narben’s absence preserves the sacred duality of the other two. These twin blades were made by the Cauldron. Just like Nesta and Elain. This is deliberate removal of the third blade, unless it is due to make a comeback in the hands of the high lady. (High queen?)

Now let’s talk about the magic for a moment and how it parallel to both blades, and both sisters, the why behind the blades resonating in their hands:

Nesta = Starfire / Silver Flame

• possible mirror to Helena

• Burns with silver fire, similar in nature only to the burn of the star born power

• given Starsword

• Was made by the Cauldron, but stole her power — took it by force

• Is the one who conquered Ramiel

• Explores the Prison and its tunnels with Az and Bryce in HOFAS

• Helps Bryce, a Starborn Queen, wield the trove and rid the Asteri- receiving blade and being told to find out what her tattoo means.

Elain = Shadows / Seer / Truth

• possible mirror to silene

• Possibly wields shadows, either innately or only when in contact with Truth-Teller

• Was given her power by the Cauldron — and it purred at her presence

• The Cauldron did not strike Nesta down in ACOWAR because Elain killed for her

• First to kill the King of Hybern, in a blow both precise and prophetic

• Sees the truth — even if it comes cloaked in mist and shadow when she cannot read it fully.

• May be the one to ultimately restore the Cauldron to its rightful place on Ramiel

Nesta and Elain are opposites in many ways. Fire and bloom. Rage and grace.

But both are Made. Both were claimed by the Cauldron. And now both have had hands on its legendary weapons, at least once. Not even including the trove.

There’s no room for coincidence here.

Because this is what it looks like when fate aligns:

The daughters of mortal blood made holy — wielding blades forged in the cauldron they were reborn from.

( let’s call back to Amren mentioning in acomaf, feyres being made rerouting the board of an ancient game they’ve been playing. i.e. hybern. Could the same be said of Nesta and Elain, for the starborn plot left in prythian? Especially if Rhys and feyre are linked to high queen and king, does that make Nesta and Elain princesses?)

And if the Cauldron made them to fix what was broken? Then the blades are keys to that restoration.

SISTER PEAKS, SACRED PATHWAYS, AND THE CAULDRON:

AGAIN:::: Remember that blurb from Eris in ACOSF?

The one where he calls out the three sacred mountains — Ramiel, Under the Mountain, and the Prison/Dusk Court?

He refers to them as “sister peaks.” Three ancient pillars, their roots carved out by ancient hands. All housing secrets beneath.

And we’re told only one of those mountains — Ramiel — has yet to be explored underneath.

But the symmetry… the symmetry is everything. Because just like the three peaks, we have the three sisters:

• Feyre goes Under the Mountain in ACOTAR

• Nesta conquers Ramiel in ACOSF and travels the tunnels beneath the Prison

• Elain? She’s the only one who hasn’t gone under yet…

But what remains? Ramiel’s underside.

We’ve climbed the mountain — Nesta literally held the line at its pass. But we haven’t gone beneath it. Eris’s comment isn’t just lore — it’s prophecy in disguise. Each sister gets a mountain. Each mountain holds a piece of the story’s truth.

And the missing piece? It’s Ramiel’s heart — its underbelly, the monolith, the original stand of the Cauldron itself.

Because House of Flame and Shadow revealed this wild bombshell:

Ramiel’s peak — the very top of the Blood Rite mountain — is the original resting place of the Cauldron.

Meaning?

It’s not where it belongs now. And we know it. Right now, the Cauldron lies dormant in Cretea, hidden away with Drakon and his people. It is silent. Sleeping. out of sight for a while now.

But what if it’s waiting to be restored? What if it has to be brought back to Ramiel — returned to the top of the mountain, to the monolith that was designed to hold it?

And here’s where it gets more twisted:

AGAIN, Cassian once described Ramiel as a slumbering beast ACOFAS. When Nesta scried for the Cauldron in ACOWAR, feyre within her mind described it as “a slumbering ancient beast, opening an eye.”

Which begs the question, when Cassian said that in ACOFAS, was he referring to the other ties of the cauldrons power left within the mountain and monolith?

Because the Cauldron’s base — that monolith on Ramiel — is now empty. Is it a piece of its sentience left behind, or something else?

And the Blood Rite, the Illyrian tradition of power, was originally designed as a tithe of magic — a blood offering. A siphon ritual. Ancient. Violent. Purposeful. (Don’t even get me started on the actual siphons they wear.)

So if the Asteri are dead… where is that magic going now?

• Back into Ramiel, into a first light core?

• Into the monolith?

• feeding a greater power pource, a well of power tied to the cauldron, that would’ve bolstered its usage when it rested atop the mountain?

• another asteri like vespera beneath the prison?

And the ones to discover all of it? At minimum Elain, most likely in conjunction with Nesta.

Not just because of what they’ve done or could potentially do— but because of what they are.

Now let’s reroute for a moment—

THE PRISON, DUSK COURT, AND THE DEEP TUNNELS BENEATH:

We now know that the Prison isn’t just some isolated holding cell built into a mountain. It’s actually the ancient Dusk Court palace — buried beneath centuries of enchantment, memory, and fear. Hidden in plain sight.

(As is UTM, and CON.)

And in House of Flame and Shadow, Nesta, Azriel, and Bryce travel those ancient tunnels that connect the Court of Nightmares and the Prison — but they never quite reach the other two mountains. Not all the way.

Which raises the question:

How deep do these tunnels go? What else do they connect?

Because if the Dusk Court palace connects to the Prison, and if Ramiel is linked to the Cauldron’s resting place, and Under the Mountain is a site of ancient torture and magic…

Then the tunnels may run between all three sister peaks, like arteries connecting organs — each housing part of a networked magical system. (More interesting when you also take into the explaining of magical ley lines in Crescent city from the first light core, does all the power in prythian well from ramiel, the cauldrons base, and spiral outward, under the same rules of ley lines?)

And if one of those places — like the Prison — was hiding an Asteri (Vespera) deep below in a suspended magical state…

What if each mountain hides something?

A vault, a ritual, a palace, a slumbering god, a first light core, power to claim, more lore?

And if that’s true — then these peaks aren’t just symbolic. They’re staging grounds. For what’s to come. For what must be restored or released or defeated.

• feyre released prythian form amarantha, restored the highlords power, defeated amarantha.

• nesta released the harp, restored the trove, defeated lanthys.

• Elain will release something, restore the cauldron?, defeat… something?

THE BOG OF OORID — FIONN’S REST, MAGIC’S ROT:

And then there’s the Bog. Oorid. The horrible middle. playground of evil.

The land so corrupted by the death of High King Fionn that it rotted magic itself. Becoming a place of death. Of monsters. Of lost things. Of decay.

But if HOFAS taught us anything, it’s that nothing — not even a dead court — is beyond redemption. Bryce restored Avallen through Starborn magic. And Oorid… Oorid may need the same.

Because all three sisters have been there. At least once, in spirit:

• Feyre, hunted there, defeated the weaver, saved the suriel.

• Nesta, defeated the kelpie, received the mask.

• Elain… whose powers are still mysterious, yes, though personality wise associated with bringing life to barren places— could be the one to cleanse it— she’s set eyes on it before at least magically when finding the suriel in ACOWAR.

so what does this mean?

We have to reawaken what lies beneath. To restore not just a mountain or a court, but the land itself. To free it from whatever damage was sustained in the wake of Fionns death. Elain may be the one to do it.

Back tracking to the cauldron once again:

THE MOTHER’S… or something else’s* PLAN?:

If the Mother once used the Cauldron to pour life into the world…

Then nothing is a coincidence. Not that it ever is. Especially though the sequence of events.

Not feyre killing the wolf, going to prythian, seeing the mural of the cauldrons creation myth in ACOTAR book one. Not her being made Fae — made by the High Lords’ powers themselves. Not her gaining all seven courts’ magic, not her mating to Rhys, who just so happens to be a direct descendant of Silene, one of Theia’s shadow and starborn daughters. Not her then literally fixing the Cauldron after it had been broken — a Cauldron which we now know from HOFAS had been tampered with by the Asteri. Which had a kill switch installed, hence the near implosion of the world when it broke.

And not the Book of Breathings — which was made by the Asteri to instruct how to control the Cauldron — being lost to the void when Feyre fixed it.

Feyre was the first. The prophesied beginning. The “High Queen” by power alone, even if not in title. Though, now definitely by blood if her power alone wasn’t enough, due to Rhysands bloodline.

(Also This does not even go into the mother’s connection between the three worlds of the maasiverse, and feyres events being the catalyst of all three worlds being set free. But, I digress.)

Then came Nesta and Elain. Thrown into the Cauldron. Made. Not by accident. Not a consequence. But a divine continuation.

Elain kills the King of Hybern. Steps from a shadow. Drives Truth-Teller home.

Nesta kills the crone human queen, harnesses the trove. And later? Assists in Killing an Asteri — by using the magic she took from the Cauldron to protect the last starborn heir.

At this point we’re not talking random empowerment. We’re talking divinely orchestrated reincarnations of lost magic, of god-tier bloodlines, of restoration. Purposeful guiding of destiny. Each sister a phase of a plan to reawaken what was siphoned, rotted, buried, or corrupted.

( haven’t mentioned this so far but, the courts and their stagnation of magic, set in place after the death of theia, when silene returned to prythian. Feyre is the most likely restorer of that with her having the power of all the courts, in addition to rhysands, when/if they take their place as high king and queen.)

all of this also makes me think about the forgotten gods in general, considering the gods fueled the narratives in both TOG and CC behind the scenes…. and Amrens comment on the ‘players of the ancient game’, makes me wonder at times if the entire lives of the characters we’re seeing have been orchestrated specifically so they all end up in orbit of one another, for a greater purpose. (Batboys x archerons.)

Which then brings me to the 8 pointed star as We know it of the starborn lineage… that nesta wore at one point— but what do those extra points within the star add to the greater story? The forgotten gods. Their place, in the guiding of fate too, and a blood line that may be born directly of them and not directly of their world.

We see it on Bryce’s chest, we see it in nestas tattoo, in the other staborn imagery… but we also see it in Throne of glass too. A high priestess wearing it on her brow, giving thanks to the gods in ceremony….

And then takes me to the 6 pointed star. Explained by hypaxia in crescent city, worn on feyres finger within her ring, feyre being the catalyst of the acotar world… hence why it’s so important.

So what did hypaxia say exactly?

“It’s a symbol of balance. Two intersecting triangles. Male and female, dark and light, above and below…. The power that lies in the place where they meet. It is in the place of balance where I will focus power.”

This sets up, and confirms, the three batboys x archerons. And that their pairings are also guided by fate. The mother. The… gods? especially if you take that six pointed star, add the two extra points to make it eight, and add the new players to the proverbial game…. It makes: male and female and god. Dark and light and other. Above and below and within/without.

(Unless the other two points in the star, is a nod at Amren and mor.)

two cauldron made females, a combined highlord power made female, the most powerful highlord in history with starborn blood, two of the most powerful Illyrians in history— one with the additional power of a shadowsinger.

The relationships here, are just as important as whatever the girls do next.

Which then leads me to the next step in fate for the plot of acotar—

THE MATING BOND, THE BROKEN EDDIES, AND THE CORRUPTION OF FATE:

Let’s talk about the cauldron’s corrupted waters — aka the swirling eddies of power Rhys mentions in ACOWAR.

Feyre says, “Why not make them mates?” about Elain and Azriel. Then she asks, “what decides it? Who decides it?”

Rhys answers, “The mother, fate, the cauldrons swirling eddies?”

He doesn’t know exactly, though gives us a tidbit on rejections and that most matings are not a true tether of paired souls, sometimes just a base instinct— to create powerful offspring as a byproduct of the bond.

But we know exactly what is going on, don’t we?

House of Flame and Shadow confirmed the Asteri tampered with the Cauldron. Installed a kill switch.

Used it to control breeding, matching up individuals not for love, but for magical offspring that they could siphon, used to siphon magic off the land in a tithe.

And if that’s the case?

Then Elain’s bond with Lucien might not be sacred fate. It might be corrupted programming.

Even Azriel questions it. What if the Cauldron was wrong?

Elain, who the Cauldron purred at. Who it seemed to love, even sparing Nesta in ACOWAR because Elain had cared for her. Who it might have given power to — while Nesta stole from it.

If Elain is the one meant to restore the Cauldron — to reset what was broken… Then she may also be the one to break the false bond it created.

To sever the corrupted eddies, and return it to its original, Mother-guided purpose.

That’s not even to say that she will have to sever the bond, but if her bond to Lucien is not mother blessed or fate blessed, born only of the corruption from the cauldron, then would its restoration simply erase that bond all together?

We theorize at times her bond to Lucien being a spell, and what if that is true? But instead of it being hybern, or koschei, or whoever else, it’s a spell placed onto the cauldron by the asteri when they corrupted it to ensure the power amongst bloodlines got stronger for them to siphon even more?

Now let’s look at the emotional arc between Elain and Nesta, and where this could lead when talking on the blades, plot, and moving forward-

SISTERHOOD, EGO, AND THE MAGIC THAT CHOOSES FOR THEM:

And that takes us to one of the most emotionally loaded pieces of this theory: Nesta and Elain.

Because let’s not forget: in ACOSF, Nesta refused to let Elain help with the Dread Trove. In front of everyone. She dismissed her — and it became a sore point.

Nesta, who has always wanted to protect Elain, may now have to accept that the magic demands Elain’s involvement.

That the Cauldron, the blades, the tunnels, the mountains, the lands tied up, the restoration of power… all want Elain in the game.

And Nesta — in order to grow, in order for Elain to grow— will have to stand beside her, not in front of her.

Will have to trust that Elain can choose her own path.

Will have to respect her not just as a sister, but as an equal player in the divine plan.

They will need each other. And the magic will not let them separate anymore. forcing them to do this together, as the blades were made together, as they were made together.

CONCLUSION & RECAP:

• two blades, two sisters

• 3 sisters, 3 peaks, 3 bat boys

• cauldrons restoration on ramiel, fixing the magic of prythian, ending false mating bonds and corruption.

• discovering underneath ramiel, its ties of power in relation to the rest of the world, what lies inside.

• dusk court, oorid, stagnant court specific magic and lands.

• the fates that are tied together within the IC.

what it boils down too is Elains pov in acotar 6. Part of the plot connecting to nesta, linking them by the blades, the cauldron, and the dusk court. part of it linking Elain to Azriel, for their arc, and the eventual handing over of truth teller.

Potentially linking beast and Elain together to discover what lies inside ramiel, putting back and restoring the cauldron, and restoring oorid. (Though this is something Elain alone could do, maybe? If she’s to conquer her own mountain without her sisters as they did within their own stories with their own respective bat boys.)

restoring the cauldron, means dissolving the false mating bond, fixing the cauldrons tampering, restoring fate, and choosing. (Bat boys x sisters.)

Potentially— in the next book, in the future, or otherwise— releasing the stagnation of the court magic and court lands by feyre and/or Rhys, becoming high king and queen.

maybe a greater weave of fate being pulled by additional gods, the mother etc, for a big bad like koschei, or something worse, to be defeated.. by nudging the lives of the characters into their places to take up mantles, and end up with the specific people tailored to the balance of the 6/8 pointed stars to do whatever the prophecy suggests.

Let’s discuss why Nesta is the only one connected to the Prison/Dusk Court, and how she has been linked to it in not one, but two books in different series (ACOTAR and CC):

This is how the magic works. Theia (Starborn - World - Walker) chose the land, and the land chose her right back. Then, from her magic, the very same magic that tied her to the land, she gave a piece to each of her daughters.

"My father became High King, and my mother his queen, yet this island on which you stand, this place...my mother claimed it for herself. The very island where she had once served as a slave became her domain, her sanctuary. The Daglan female who'd ruled it before her had chosen it for its natural defensive location, the mists that kept it veiled from the others. So, too, did my mother. But more than that, she told me many times that she and her heirs were the only ones worthy of tending this island."

"And with the Daglan gone, as the centuries passed, as the tithe was no longer demanded of us or the land, our powers strengthened. The land strengthened. It returned to what it had been before the Daglan's arrival millennia before. We returned to what we'd been before that time, too, creatures whose very magic was tied to this land. Thus the land's powers became my mother's. Dusk, twilight - that's what the island was in its long-buried heart, what her power bloomed into, the lands rising with it. It was, as she said, as if the island had a soul that now blossomed under her care, nurtured by the court she built here."

“Pulling her daughters close, Theia flared with starlight. And in the small space between their bodies, Bryce could just make out Theia plucking a low string on the Harp. In answer, a star - akin to the one Bryce could pull from her own chest - emerged from Theia’s body. It split into three shimmering balls of light, one drifting into Silene’s chest and another to Helena’s before the final one, as if it were the mother from which the other two stars had been born, returned to Theia’s body. For a moment, all three of them glowed. Even Truth-Teller, in Selene’s hand, seemed to ripple, a dark countermelody to how Gwydion flashes in Theia’s hand, its light a heartbeat. “She gave us what protection her magic could offer, transferring it from her body into our own using the Harp.”

Theia's magic on the land always manifested itself like an eight-pointed star.

“Silene studied the spot where she knelt on the eight-pointed star in the center of the room. The only adornment. She slowly set the Harp atop the star.”

Absolutely everything involving the Dusk Court (the Prison) revolves around the eight-pointed star logo, which is the sign of the Starborn. Nesta gets her bargain tattoo in the shape of an eight-pointed star, so it is clear that Theia’s and the land’s magic chose her and marked her so that the magic responds to her. She found the Harp on top of an eight-pointed star on the ground and was allowed to pick it up despite the heavy wards. Even then, The Prison itself didn't seem to want to let Nesta go:

"The words tumbled out as Nesta waded back through the ward-heavy cavern, feeling that center spot, the star at its heart, like a physical presence at her back. Those vast, light hands seemed to pull at her, trying to make her return, but she ignored them."

There was also this scene (which I find very interesting), where the Prison in Prythian answered to Nesta instead of Bryce. It seems Bryce has the connection to Helena’s side of the caves in Midgard, while Nesta has the connection to Selene’s side in Prythian:

“The lowest spike on the star extended down, right in front of Bryce. So she laid a hand on the metal and pushed. It didn't budge. Nesta stalked to Bryce's side, tapping a hand on the metal. A dull thud reverberated against the cave walls. "Did you really think it'd move?"Bryce grimaced. "It was worth a shot."Nesta opened her mouth to say something - to make fun of Bryce, probably - but was silenced by groaning metal. She staggered  back a step. Azriel threw an arm in front of her, blue light wreathing his scarred hand.”

Notice how the doors opened for Nesta and not Bryce? Because the land in the Prison chose Nesta. See how she can just walk into any room she pleases, no matter the wards??

“At first, nothing happened as Bryce stood atop the eight-pointed star. “Well—“ Nesta began. Light flared from the star at Bryce’s feet, from her chest, merging and blending, and then a hologram of a dark-haired young female— High Fae— appeared. As if she were addressing an audience. Bryce knew that heart-shaped face. The long hair. “Silene,” Bryce murmured. “From the carvings?” Nesta asked, and as Bryce glanced to her, the warrior stepped through the wards as if they were nothing. Like she could’ve done so all along.”

This is not because she’s “Made”, this is something very specific to NESTA. And yes, the Starborn are the descendants of Theia, but Bryce and Nesta seem to be Worldwalkers too. A different kind of ability. That’s why the lands in thin places answer to them.

“The black salt only repels the Asteri; the mists repel everyone else. But certain people, with certain gifts, can access the power of thin places—on any world. World-walkers.” Aidas gestured gracefully to Bryce. “You are one of them. So were Helena and Theia. Their natural abilities lent themselves to moving through the mists.”