I read the last chapters over and over, to such an extent that I think I might be able to recite them back to you. I think maybe my job should have been that of a researcher or something similar, seeing as I love doing this for fun.
The question in Onyx Stom is who is missing at the end. If we figure out who is missing at the end, we can figure out who turned venin. Rebecca Yarros said to pay attention to who is missing at the end. Now, she didn’t say in the last chapter. Nor did she say at the Battle of Draithus. Because the issue is that there are different people missing.
So let’s play back and recreate the timeline to see who is actually missing at the end.
Who is part of the Iron Squad? Second Squad, Flame Section, Fourth Wing?
Violet Sorrengail, Imogen Cardulo, Quinn Hollis, Rhiannon Matthias, Sawyer Henrick, Ridoc Gamlyn, Sloane Mairi, Aaric Greycastle, Avalynn, Baylor, Lynx. We also have Catriona Cordella, Maren Zina, Bragen, Neve, Trager and Kai.
We subtract Trager since luck took him from us. We add Xaden, Garrick and Bodhi since they are central characters as well.
Avalynn has manifested fire, Baylor has manifested farsight, Lynx has manifested shadows and Aaric is a precog.
Alright, I believe now we have all the information we need to begin the timeline.
Chapter 59
Sloane gives Brennan a little more power than he needed. There is the odd observation about the lack of a mark on Dain’s wrist and Brennan’s neck, but she notices a mark on his palm.
Brennan LOOKS at Violet and as far as we know, there is no red around his eyes. At least Violet doesn’t seem to notice anything.
Brennan takes Mira and heads towards Marbh.
Xaden leaves. Violet remains with Bodhi behind.
Chapter 60
Teine doesn’t seem to wake. Tairn leaves with Teine to take him behind the wards.
We realise that Bodhi’s signet does not work on Theo. Cuir forcefully removed Bodhi from the field.
Chapter 61 and Chapter 62
I believe these two chapters are happening simultaneously.
Imogen and Quinn are together protecting Draithus. Violet is battling Theo. Rhi sees Tairn take Teine to safety.
With Rhi we take stock of Cat, Maren, Sawyer and Ridoc.
At this moment in time, we know that both Riorson and Durran were spotted near the city walls.
The first years are pulling the civilians to safety but not in the battle. We know that Baylor is there using his farsight. He sees 17 wyverns. Against three dragons (Rhi, Sawyer and Ridoc) and four gryphons (Cat, Maren, Bragen and Neve)
Out of 17 wyverns, 7 get away. Cat, Maren, Bragen and Neve each kill one. Three are left to tackle.
How do I know that these two chapters are happening at the same time? Because we just saw from Rhi’s POV that dragons and gryphons fill the sky against wyverns just as Violet notices. Also, Tairn’s still out of reach. In Rhi’s POV we just saw him taking Teine to safety.
Xaden is in combat and Sgaeyl comes to help Violet. The Spare (Aaric) brings the advance party from Zehyllna.
Violet wields over and over and over to kill as many wyverns as humanly possible.
This is where this particular timeline “ends” so to speak.
I believe that the next chapters also happen simultaneously from this moment onward! We have a mix of Imogen, Violet and Xaden’s POV but all three chapters happen at the very same time.
Chapter 63, Chapter 64 and Chapter 65
So here it goes. Imogen states, “There are still too many wyverns despite the inhuman amount Sorrengail just dispatched” – further reiterating that we’re continuing the timeline now.
“and where the fuck is Riorson?” – He’s already been summoned. Sgaeyl is not sharing information with Tairn either. He’s already in the canyon, right?
“I haven’t seen a trace of a shadow in the last twenty minutes.” – So for the last 20 minutes, Sgaeyl withdrew from Tairn, Violet dispatched all those wyverns, and Xaden essentially…disappeared. It’s fair to assume, indeed, he’d been summoned. And if that’s the case, he is already there, in the canyon with Panchek and his new brother!
So from Imogen’s POV, we know where Felix is. We know where Garrick is. We know where Aetos is and we can account for Bodhi.
“where Felix works beside cases of alloy-hilted daggers”
“Where are you going?” I shout at Garrick’s back. “I can’t walk again. Even if I made it to Aretia, I’d never be strong enough to get back,” he calls over his shoulder. “So, I’d better find some fucking way to do something.”
This is tricky:
“Then I make my way back inside, slip Quinn’s last dagger from her thigh sheath, and reach for Glane. […] Outside, the sky darkens further.”
We can interpret this as she goes inside, then she immediately goes outside, and looks up at the sky. If that’s the case, then the sky is getting darker because Xaden had started his shadow show.
At this moment in time, we have a few missing people: after Rhi ordered a shield formation (in the previous chapter, so in the immediately preceding timeline), we do not know what happened to Ridoc, Sawyer, Neve, Bragen, or Rhi. We know that Aaric brought the infantry, so technically he’d been accounted for. We assume Brennan is still at the top of the pass. We have not touched on Sloane, Lynx, Baylor, Avalynn and Kai. We assume that the first years are being kept safe by helping civilians at the top of the pass.
Now moving to Violet’s POV, which happens at the very same time as Imogen’s and Xaden’s, we feel the roar of unfettered agony. Sgaeyl, it is assumed, is being brought down by the net. This again explains why Imogen hadn’t seen Xaden for 20 minutes. He was in the canyon, summoned. So far the timeline checks.
Tairn is also under the net at this point.
Xaden’s POV shows us, again, the same timeline. Again, we “felt” the agonising pain, assuming that when the wyvern bit Sgaeyl and then the net hit her.
Xaden says: “Violet will free Tairn. That’s the only outcome I allow to exist.” -> Again, same timeline, just as Tairn is under the net too. All this is happening in parallel.
Which means, at this very moment, Xaden is already seeing his new brother. But from the parallel timelines, we know it is not Aetos since he was with Imogen, not Garrick as she’d literally just seen him, or Bodhi, seeing as Imogen saw him retching on all fours.
So who is unaccounted for? Well, again, we have no idea what happened to Rhi’s half a squad. We have no idea where Brennan is. Is he still tending to Mira and Teine? Is Aaric in combat or not?
Then we have the line that gets all confused: now that my Sage has another sibling he can use against me. Sibling. It still tells us that sibling means the new venin has a brother or sister and not that they are Xaden’s new sibling. Because later on, Xaden still refers to the new venin as his new brother.
“To my new brother […]How could he do this? Choose this after watching me stumble and fall over the last five months.”
This is another problem. Who has known since December 21st? Garrick, Bodhi and Imogen.
We know that Ridoc, Sawyer, Rhi and Jesinia found out sometime in March (March twenty-eighth is the last day of the interrogation after the return from the isle and immediately after Battle Brief, Ridoc and Violet tell the rest what’s going on -> Xaden is venin).
We know that at the end of March (last day of March, to be precise, when Felix comes to Basgiath to train Violet; it’s also Xaden’s bday!)
Chapter 46: “Three weeks later.” Puts us roughly on the third week of April. “Are we still leaving for Aretia the day after tomorrow?”
Then there is conversation that the wards have a month at most. At this rate, they’ll reach the city walls in a matter of weeks.
So it’s roughly the end of April with chapter 48. Also, they are in Aretia for two weeks. That’s what Violet says. They will stay until roughly mid May, right, with their rotation of two weeks.
We also know that it’d been seventy-six days since Xaden channelled in Deverelli. So our timeline is correct. Sometimes end of April, beginning of May. This is when Leothan fires the wards. Andarna leaves, and for the next 3 days, Violet doesn’t leave her room. On the fourth morning, Mira comes to visit. Still we’re at the beginning of May.
At chapter 55, we have 2 days pass without Mira telling anyone. The squad is still in Aretia, so it’s not mid May quite yet. And there we have it, Theo asks for Jack and the big battle happens.
So yeah, The Battle of Draithus is sometimes just before mid May. Which means, we’re looking at either Bodhi or Garrick, right? Seeing as Ridoc and Sawyer had found out not even two months prior.
Who is the variable here? Brennan. Brennan knows. But when did Brennan find out? We do not know. We just know that at the end of April he came out and told Violet that he know about Xaden.
Alright, who is actually missing at the very end of the book?
Five riders missing. Four now that Violet is there with them. Xaden is one of the missing as per the comments “But after that display, we all know Riorson did this. I bet the other three are already dead.”
So that’s three riders missing (well four, but one of them is Riorson) Tavis is one of them too. “I haven’t seen him since yesterday,” she says, her voice low, almost monotone. “Lieutenant Tavis?” “Among the missing,”
So another TWO missing, two unknowns.
Brennan is here, clearly not missing. But apart from Brennan, well, as far as we’re concerned, everyone else is.
So…a little bit back to square 1. If you like fun theories, we go with the idea that Brennan turned. If you go with who is missing at the end…technically, Garrick is missing at the very end.
Leave a Reply