Rebecca Yarros’ Empyrean series is brimming with intricate world-building, lost histories, and tantalizing clues about the past. As Iron Flame unveils more about Tyrrendor, the Riorson family, and the role of runes, a compelling theory emerges—one that reshapes our understanding of the world’s forgotten rulers, magic, and the divine. Thank you so much to Poppy Peaslee for deep diving into the history of Tyrrendor and coming up with this theory.

Onyx Storm is full of nuggets of information related to Gods. I’ve said it before, I still think there is a connection between Gods, dragons and riders. Especially the most powerful six. Six Gods, six most powerful signets. Let’s go back to analyze important information about Tyrrendor to understand a little bit more about this province.

In Iron Flame, Chapter 33, Violet and Imogen discuss an overlooked detail in Navarre’s history:

“You know that no rider has ever been named king, right?” Imogen asks through the archway.

“That’s not entirely true—” I start, opening the top drawer.”

This brief exchange confirms that, at some point before the official historical record, a dragon rider was a king. However, within the 600-year history taught at Basgiath, this fact has been erased. Given that Tyrrendor predates Navarre’s current structure, could it be that the first rider was also the first king of Tyrrendor?

Riorson House: A Fortress for Dragons

Chapter 37’s epigraph adds further weight to this theory:

“Half palace, half barracks, but entirely a fortress, Riorson House has never been breached by army. It survived countless sieges and three full-out assaults before falling under the flame of the very dragons it existed to serve.”

This passage implies that Riorson House was not just a noble estate but a center of power, possibly a royal seat, built in service to dragons. The description aligns with the idea that the Riorsons were descended from powerful rulers—perhaps even from the first bonded rider (or bonded dragon brother).

For a little Onyx Storm Easter Egg here in Iron Flame as well “Stone doesn’t burn. That’s what Xaden told me“. And nicely enough, that seems to be Imogen’s second signet. As we know, Imogen is from Tyrrendor.

Further supporting this idea is the throne Violet observes in Tyrrendor:

“I glance at the high, intricately constructed back and the figure of a sleeping dragon perched on its pointed tip… one half is a rich polished walnut, and the other has a black sheen to it, as if someone polished and sealed burned firewood… as if the chair has been half burned.”

Wait, there is one more important thing here.

“It is the valley above Riorson House, heated by natural thermal energy, that is its greatest asset. For there lie the original hatching grounds of the Dubhmadinn Line, from which two of the greatest dragons of our time—Codagh and Tairn—descend.”

Two things here, Codagh and Tairn are of the same den. The black dragons’ have their ancestral hatchling grounds in Tyrrendor, Aretia to be precise. Without getting much too ahead of myself, could it be that there is a connection between Tairn and Amari? Tairn is always presented as being a leader. A general even! He doesn’t answer to any other dragon. He is always in the center when waiting for his rider and every other dragon listens to HIM. Even Andarna wants to be like him, although she is the head of her own den.

There is more: I know exactly who and what you are, Violet Sorrengail. That’s what Tairn tells Violet on their first ride as bonded. WHAT exactly is Violet, that even a general like Tairn, would bend and make amendments for someone as frail as Violet?

Aretia, Wardstones, and the Legacy of Gryphon Alliances

Here is some more info that Poppy put together for us:

• We know that after the Great War, dragons “claimed the western lands (Tyrrendor?), gryphons the central ones, abandoning the Barrens and the memory of General Daramor…”
• Before the Great War, one brother bonded a dragon, the other a gryphon, the other became jealous and channeled directly.

Could it be that one of the first riders was also the first king of Tyrrendor? Could that explain the deeper connection between Xaden and Berwyn?

What if Berwyn isn’t Naolin at all, as many have speculated—but instead, an ancient king from Tyrrendor?

Xaden’s last name is tied to the title, as we learn in Onyx Storm (though he’s very willing to take Violet’s if she prefers…). Are the Riorsons actually descended from the first brother?

And while Tyrrendor was potentially created to serve dragons, could it be that it was first and foremost created to also serve Gods?
I’ll use Tyrrendor to protect you, not you to protect Tyrrendor.

The wardstone in Aretia was always going to allow gryphon fliers access to their magic—because Tyrrendor has always seen the gryphons as allies. But when they fired up the wards, something wasn’t right. The fliers could still channel.

Was this an intentional misdirection made by Rebecca Yarros? I think so.

Perhaps the true consequence of not having the wardstone activated by the seventh breed was simply that the wards naturally deteriorate over time. And now that the wards have been reignited by Leothan, perhaps the fliers will still be able to channel without an issue as intended originally.

After all, Tyrrendor has always sought alliances with Poromiel.

Perhaps this connection goes all the way back to the original brothers. A trust that was lost somewhere along the way—leading the first six to establish the wardstone at Basgiath. Perhaps even that Basgiath has the jealous brother to begin with?

War is spreading, and Tyrrendor is opening its borders to Poromiel citizens. Meanwhile, Navarre refuses to do so—and goes even further, demanding that the Duke of Tyrrendor stop offering refuge.

And if we look at history, this isn’t surprising. Tyrrendor was the last province to join the Kingdom of Navarre.

During Fen’s rebellion, they wanted nothing more than to sever ties entirely.

Now follow us down another rabbit hole… RUNES.

This is important history because Tyrrendor is built on runes. And so is Basgiath!

Runes were the one piece of their culture that wasn’t erased under unification. The Tyrrish kept them and continued to teach them to their children.

Runes have been described as a logosyllabic language by Violet, much like Old Lucerish. Except runes hold magic.

You need to be able to channel magic to temper runes… Dragons can channel magic… so can gryphons… so can gods it seems, as we learn from Onyx Storm, when Violet stabs Theo with that dagger. Our guess? RUNES!

And the best part about Runes? They can work in places with no magic. Like the isles. Do you remember that on Onyx Storm?

[…]hands me a palm-size slice of what appears to be lilac-colored quartz, tempered with the same rune that labels the leather. “That one is supposed to shield you from sunlight. Carry it while we’re here for me, would you?” She lifts her brows. “Quietly, of course.”

But then immediately after Xaden tells Violet that she should go in as her nose is turning pink. A few chapters later…

That second day convinces Mira of what she’d already guessed on our first trip: some runes work off the Continent. Now to narrow down which ones and figure out why. We’re each supplied with a handful of multicolored quartz disks to test. I’m grateful not to be sunburned—though I can’t tell if it’s the amethyst disk or the same rune on one of the daggers Xaden gave me last year—but annoyed to all shit that runes are the only thing Mira is willing to talk to me about.

Runes are the great equalizer, they make magic accessible to the greater population that isn’t bonded to dragons or gryphons. BALANCING (key theme of the series) power. They also make gryphons able to compete with a lot of signets. So the question here is…do the dark wielders have signets or are they just very good at using runes?

Here is one seriously scary piece of the puzzle.

Berwyn just killed a dragon with a dagger.
How the fuck is that possible?

I will tell you, Xaden. RUNES! The same way as it was possible to kill Theophanie with a special dagger. This also further reiterates that a connection with Gods might be needed to access special powers from the runes. Something tells me that a simple rune might not just do the trick.

Alright, let’s continue with Poppy’s train of thoughts further.

The first landmark called out when we see Aretia for the first time is the Temple of Amari, Queen of the Gods. And it’s LARGE. Bodhi always praises Amari, seeing as he is from Tyrrendor.

Could runes be a/the language of the gods that the Tyrrish know because their kingdom was always favored/blessed by the gods? Did they have some sort of peaceful utopian society where dragons channeled from the right power alongside the gods and the people flourished in an “Ancient kingdom that spanned ocean to ocean” before someone took too much power… power became corrupted… and everything fell?

Could this be why the gods had to distance themselves? Why the dragons had to find new ways to channel? Could this be why they “pay no heed to our puny gods” because they remember being abandoned?

Final Thoughts: A Kingdom Forgotten, A Balance Broken

The Empyrean series constantly emphasizes balance—between power, elements, and alliances. If runes were the great equalizer of magic, making it available beyond those bonded to dragons and gryphons, then their decline could represent the loss of balance itself.

Perhaps the dragons’ bitterness toward gods stems from this ancient betrayal, and the key to restoring the world’s balance lies not just in defeating the venin but in rediscovering Tyrrendor’s lost history, the true purpose of runes, and the role dragons were meant to play.

My guess? The lost weapon they might be looking for, might just about be lost runes with power from Gods. Not irids.

What do you think? Was Tyrrendor once a dragon-ruled kingdom, destroyed by its own ambition? Could runes be the last connection to the gods? Share your thoughts!

Thank you, once again Poppy for fueling our imagination with your incredible research. Your attention to detail is incredible and I’m so excited to share this with the rest of the readers.