Though Threshing Day, the recent companion collection in the Empyrean series, isn’t in the main series of Fourth Wing, it’s changed the way we see dragons forever. Threshing Day explores multiple characters’ POVs on the titular day when the future riders at Basgiath War College seek to bond with a dragon. Rebecca Yarros’ enormously popular fantasy books rely on the relationships between dragons and their riders throughout the series. Without dragons, the kingdom of Navarre, where the novels are set, wouldn’t stand a chance against the threat of the Venin.
Yarros has never been afraid to throw massive twists into her stories, leaving audiences on the edge of their seats wondering what will happen to the characters next. Though Threshing Day doesn’t focus on Violet Sorrengail, the series’ protagonist, it gives vital insight into characters who haven’t been explored as deeply, as well as the dragons they’re bonded to. Threshing Day‘s dragon changes prove to readers that the dragons haven’t been what they seem, and that their hidden designs will alter the fate of the characters in the next Fourth Wing book.
The Dragons Are Lying (A Lot) In Threshing Day
Before Threshing Day, the audience believed, along with the characters, that a bond between a dragon and their rider happened through the right circumstances and sudden connection on Threshing Day. However, after the events of the short stories in the new collection, it’s clear that the dragons not only stake their claim and identify their riders before Threshing Day, but will lie in order to get what they want. Several dragons, including Chradh and Glane, are lying about their ages and identities, calling their intentions into question.
Threshing Day describes Chradh as having a deep voice and scars, leading the reader to believe that he’s older than he wants the people of Navarre to believe. What’s even more interesting is that Glane hides her true lineage to bond with Imogene, since Glane was Imogene’s grandmother’s dragon. It’s well known that this is forbidden, as it creates signets that are overpowered, so Glane must have a deeper purpose and intention behind her choice to obfuscate the truth to bond with Imogene.
Threshing Day confirms theories and creates new questions throughout the 13 stories in the book. It was shocking to find out that dragons might choose their riders before Threshing Day, as demonstrated in the interaction between Sawyer Henrick and Sliseag, the dragon he bonds with. Sliseag tells Sawyer he had to go through Threshing Day twice, as he didn’t bond the first time, because he needed to grow emotionally. This could mean that Sliseag always intended to bond with him, throwing the concept of Threshing Day into question.
Why Are The Dragons Lying?
The dragons are smart and have their own designs, but Threshing Day makes it all the more clear that the dragons have an agenda that hasn’t been fully revealed yet. It’s in the dragons’ lies that Threshing Day provides some hints about their intentions. Their true allegiances might not be what the readers and characters believe.
Anything’s possible, but it would be too much of a coincidence that dragons seem to be seeking out marked ones on purpose. If dragons are consciously aligning themselves with rebels, this could make for some explosive twists in Fourth Wing book four. The reader’s relationship to marked ones has changed a lot throughout the Empyrean series. While they once represented danger for Violet and her family, it’s quickly become clear that their marks give them additional powers and further potential to develop double signets. More signets, and more power, is likely something the dragons are hoping to achieve through their deception.
If the dragons are forming their own plan to defeat the Venin and protect Navarre through careful, subtle manipulation of events and their riders, then the next installment of Fourth Wing needs to confirm this further. The fight against the Venin has gotten more intense than ever, and whatever the dragons are plotting could be the boost of power Violet and her allies need.
Threshing Day is available for purchase here.
- Publisher(s)
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Red Tower Books
- Publication Date
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2023-04-05
- ISBN#
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9781649374042
- Author(s)
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Rebecca Yarros
- Genre(s)
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Fantasy, Romance
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
