I recently posted a theory about the relation between Gods, dragons and colours. I made a cute little table to show the thought process and added information from other invested readers too.

The issue I’m having right now is that during the read‐along of chapter 30, I realise that perhaps I overlooked Dunne’s symbol a little. Let me show you what I mean:

“I glance at their chest plates and find the etched symbol of two crossed swords gripped in the center by a claw—the emblem of Dunne.”

The claw—the emblem of Dunne! It’s confirmed for us.

“It’s similar to ours,” I tell Tairn as we cross under the thick gate. “They have a claw in her symbol, suggesting a common origin.”

Violet tells us flat out that the claw is the emblem of Dunne. But then we have two crossed swords, gripped by the claw, right?

At first, I debated that perhaps, as per the original theory, the swords belong to another God. Almost as if we have partnerships—so Amari and Dunne together, perhaps? Or something similar?

Almost like the Gods are in pairs. But then I thought that doesn’t quite make sense.

Then I recalled the theory I wrote about Violet and Xaden being Gods. That doesn’t work out really well either, seeing as Violet was touched by a god (well, I think two) but isn’t actually a god.

Despite all this, there is something that tells me just how related Xaden is to Dunne.

He rides a navy blue dragon—Sgaeyl, who is ruthless and ready for battle at a moment’s notice. Dunne’s followers wear blue robes. Xaden wears two swords, in the same way as Dunne’s symbol is described:

I pivot and see Xaden striding our way, the hilts of two swords strapped to his back rising above his shoulders.

light catching on the two swords Xaden has strapped to his back.

Sgaeyl’s shoulder. Moonlight catches on his swords as he
dismounts.

the hilts of the two swords he keeps strapped to his back peeking
above his shoulders

…honestly, this is mentioned over and over and over! He carries two crossed swords on his back, just like Dunne’s symbol.

And yet, there is more.

“I look up into the wrath of Dunne in the form of gold-flecked onyx eyes.”

Is Xaden the symbol of Dunne somehow? Two swords gripped by a claw? Sgaeyl? Maybe.

But we also know that there are a total of six symbols: Sword, Shield, Fire, Water, Claw, Book. Right now, we are using two of them for one single God. Greedy, right? So what else could it be?

A bit unhinged, perhaps, but we always seem to forget about gryphons. They are just as important and have just as much access to magic.

“A pair of gryphon riders stands in the meadow about thirty feet away, their beasts eerily silent behind them. They’re a third of the size of our dragons, but those beaks and claws look capable of shredding skin and scale just the same.”

Violet always refers to them as being all beaks and claws. So what if every God has two symbols: one from riders and one from fliers?

But then again, Violet says “They have a claw in her symbol, suggesting a common origin,” implying that in Navarre they only use the claw as the symbol for Dunne. So what of the swords?

I find it highly unlikely that Navarrians would keep the flier symbol for a God. What if the swords are related to Tyrrendor then? Seeing as Xaden is very much linked to Tyrrendor, it does make me believe that perhaps the Navarrians removed that origin of the symbol instead.

Or, to make it even more twisted, I do believe the continent was split into two: Amaralys and Amelekis—West and East. The western part had the royal seat in Tyrrendor and the eastern in Krovla, somehow.

Since I believe Tyrrendor was the original royal seat for the continent (or at least for its west), perhaps Navarre kept the “claw” in an attempt to erase any link to the swords, which are related to Tyrrendor. It’s getting… complex and maybe too complicated.

As I write and debate this, I still find that things don’t fully make sense. I’m twisting and turning. I do feel that Violet and Xaden are definitely related to the Gods somehow—more than merely touched by them one way or another. I also feel that Dunne’s symbol is not just the claw (as per Violet’s comment), but the claw and the swords combined. Perhaps the Gods had relationships or partnerships. And seeing as Dunness River runs very close to Braevick, where the ancient hatchling grounds for the red dragons were, perhaps the partnership was between Blues and Reds.

Red dragons are quick to anger, right? They seem spirited. They both like warmer weather as they are from a very similar land. The hatching grounds of the blues used to be near Cordyn before the Great War. Red dragons’ ancestral hatching grounds were along the limestone cliffs at the edge of the Dunness River. It seems fit that perhaps they had more of a connection and partnership. Now, they also have in common the fact that they are both now in Poromiel. Poromiel does call the continent Amelekis. The Bay of Malek? In Poromiel…

Where does the Dunness River head towards? Bay of Malek? Are the reds connected to Malek?

But this is where it gets, again, very complicated. We assume that Tairn is related to Malek. He is black, he is cunning, he is scary. And he is our favourite.

Tairn’s ancestral hatchling ground is in Aretia. Aretia seems to be all about Amari, and not Malek. Yet Tyrrendor has always had a good relationship with Poromiel, trying to create connections and maintain peace between the two.

Which again leads me to the same conclusion: could it be that the continent was split differently? Not West and East, but North and South?

And if that’s the case, could it be that the north had a large temple for Dunne and Malek, and Tyrrendor for Amari, to sort of… keep peace and ensure that all Gods are kept happy? Think of them as… embassies for all gods on foreign lands.

Hmm… okay. But then I started looking into the Greek pantheon again. And what strikes me as interesting is that none of the Olympian Gods are assigned just one colour—or just one symbol. Besides, they were highly interconnected.

Just as I think I can pinpoint something, I realise that perhaps I’m overlooking others. While there is no doubt that our author borrowed some things from the Greek pantheon, she cleverly made it her own, hence making it just so very difficult to understand the true nature of the Empyrean pantheon here.

As you can see, nothing quite…fits. Ok, maybe just Hades and black, Malek and black.

The only thing that comes to mind, is that perhaps, our lovely red dragons, might not be related to loial, but somehow more to war and violence. Hmm…that also wouldn’t make sense.

In conclusion, I think the sword and the claw are a symbol of a partnership of gods. Sure, all tools of warfare, but when put together, they represent the values of one god, which is adjancent to another. Red and Blue: claw and sword. I can see the connection. Beyond this, I’m not going to lie, I am a little lost.

What are your thoughts?