Episode 5 - Chapter 3v1

The hosts of the Reader's Quadrant podcast discuss the upcoming release of the third book in the Empyrean series. They share that the release date on Goodreads is not accurate and that the author, Rebecca Yaros, has not yet started writing it. They hope that the publisher takes their time to ensure better quality, as there were some issues with the previous book. The hosts also mention that they will be doing a weekly podcast and express their gratitude for the support they have received so far. They briefly discuss a playlist of songs that Yaros listened to while writing the second book, Iron Flame. The chapter recap includes Violet parting ways with Jack and being found by Rhiannon. Dane, a squad leader, checks on Violet's knee and is introduced to Rhiannon. The hosts express their dislike for Dane. Hello, and welcome to the Reader's Quadrant, an Empyrean podcast. I'm Kelsey. And I'm Samantha. We are doing a chapter-by-chapter reread and analysis of the Empyrean book series written by Rebecca Yaros. We do swear and we are not spoiler-free. You have been warned. We will be discussing connections from this chapter to Iron Flame at the end of the episode. We didn't want to spoil Iron Flame for those who haven't had a chance to finish it, but we didn't want to totally ignore it either. So before we get into our chapter recap, let's go into the battle brief section. So if you are like Samantha and I on social media, you've probably seen posts with exclamation marks excitedly proclaiming that on January 1st, 2024, book three in the series is going to come out because that's what it says on Goodreads. And we are here to make your day a little worse and tell you that Rebecca Yaros has confirmed that that's in fact not true as she has not even started writing it. So yeah, that will not be happening. No, I mean, closest to that would be Crescent City 3 if you're into that series too. Yeah, at least that'll tide us over for a few days. Yeah. And then I have seen other stuff that say it's going to come out next December. Like at any point, like that you see a date, guys, that's just, it's just guesswork. Nobody knows. There is no date that has officially been released. So until that comes from Red Tower Books or Rebecca Yaros herself, I wouldn't believe anything that we're seeing online. Yeah, because she's also said how she basically had to speed write both of these books to get them out in the timeframe that she did. And she made it sound like she doesn't want to do that again. She made it sound like she wants to take her time more with this one. And for the sake of quality control issues that happened with Iron Flame and the fourth and holiday edition, I sincerely hope that they do take their time. Yeah, especially with the language. I think that's part of the reason why there were so many issues with using the Gaelic words, because she didn't have that time. And so now she is taking that time. She's gotten a tutor, she's trying to actually learn it so that she can use it more appropriately. And that just takes time. I'm just really hoping that her publisher really takes this time to reflect on themselves and think about what they've done in terms of all of the issues that have happened. So I think the more time for them, the better. But I mean, Iron Flame is a 250,000 word book. And people had issues, had their own issues with it. So I think it's for the best that we don't get the third one for a while. Let her sit on it. I mean, she says she has the whole series plotted out as it is. So let her take her time and get it as good as it can possibly be is what I say. Yeah, I agree. I'm always willing to wait for better quality. Yeah, exactly. And until that point in time, you'll have Samantha and I's lovely voices taking you through the first two books, chapter by chapter. So yeah, you can have a great time. You can always join us weekly. Now we've just made a decision we are going to be a weekly podcast. Yes, we want to keep bringing you our content. We're just kind of segues nicely to our next thing. We are currently at about 1350 listens total of our podcast, which is just mind blowing. Like, I can't even believe it. I guess it's amazing. You guys are all amazing. Thank you. We love you. Please, you know, keep listening and share us with your friends. It's just it's been an amazing ride. And we're excited to see where it goes. Yeah, it's it's so exciting seeing those numbers go up every week. It's such an exciting time. We are constantly sending screenshots to each other. Oh my god, we just hit this number. We hit this number and it's it's crazy. Also, not a joke. We literally do. We literally screenshot each other. You can see our chat. It's just screenshots and GIFs. Screenshots and GIFs. Yep. And then the last thing we kind of wanted to chat about here, which is something cool is Rebecca Yarrow shared her Iron Flame Spotify playlist. And so this is apparently the songs that she listened to while she was writing Iron Flame. So we'll post a link to that in our show notes of this episode if you want to take a look at the inspiration for the book. I think it's pretty cool. I think so too. She did the same thing with Fourth Wing. So you can always find that playlist as well. The other songs she listened to while writing it and also just songs that she felt fit the theme and tone of the book. Yeah. So it kind of can give you, you know, it can give you some insight into maybe if you've wanted to take, you know, and dissect the lyrics if you want to. But I don't know if I would go that far, but you never know. Yeah. Who knows? I'm just here for the vibe. Clearly she likes the same type of music that we do also because I have not like had any problems with any of the songs in them. No, I'm a big fan. So that looks like should conclude our battle brief. So we're going to go ahead and move into our recap. In the last chapter, we accompanied Violet across the parapet, where we got a lot of exposition about Navarre and the various provinces within it. In the end, there was a dangerous encounter with the one and only Jack Barlow, which ended with Violet officially becoming a cadet. And ended with Jack possibly having some important parts cut off. Yeah, he could have been best friends with a Theon. Reek. Like I'm in besties. Poor Theon. His favorite toy. Oh no. Moving on to chapter three. So this chapter starts with a quote. The quote is, Blue Dragons descend from the extraordinary Gautam Thales line. Known for their formidable size, they are the most ruthless, especially in the case of the rare blue dagger tail, whose knife-like spikes at the tip of their tail can disembowel an enemy with one flick. And that's from Colonel Kaori's Field Guide to Dragonkind. Okay, the thing that makes me laugh about this so much, though, is Sigeil is a dagger tail, right? Yes. Okay. And so it's saying that the blue dagger tail can disembowel an enemy with one flick. But if you just think about the one scar that Zayden got from Sigeil, is that like, really artistic, sexy cut, like across his eyebrow. Oh, yeah. Can you imagine? She's like, no, just hold so still. Let me just... You know what? I bet she just has that good of control. She's like, you don't understand. I bet that's all her. You don't understand, the girls will go crazy. I also just want to, before we get too distracted. So the name of the dragon that these descend from, which I really hope I tried, I listened to the video. As far as I can tell, it's from Gautam Bhalas. And so according to our favorite TikToker, Miren, if I'm pronouncing her name correctly, too, Gautam means blue, and Bhalas means shadow. She points out that in true Gaelic, these would be flipped, because it goes, they should just be flipped grammatically. But I find it kind of interesting since Zayden's segment is shadows. So I just find that kind of an interesting little tie in. So it's just a little history on the blue dragons before we meet one. Okay, so and then we meet Colonel Kyori later. So as we move into the chapter, Violet and Jack have some parting words. And then he just kind of wanders off, which is fine. Rhiannon finds Violet and then they celebrate together for a hot second before Violet's knee gives out. Real quick though, Rhiannon mentions that she saw a second ear with pink streaks in her hair. Is that Imogen? I think it must be. I'm pretty sure. Or is her hair purple? No. I thought it was pink though. Because I also make note in my section that there is another glimpse of a girl with half pink hair. And I also asked the same question, is that Imogen? And I think it is. Okay, I think so too. She also mentioned seeing a person, a man with dragon scale tattoo up his arm. I don't think we've met that person yet. Unless I'm just forgetting someone. It's very possible that I've forgotten someone, the person who has this tattoo. But it just seems interesting to point out if we're not going to see that person later. So there's that. And then lucky for her, I guess, Dane finds her at that moment. And Violet thinks he's just so gorgeous now. He's just gone from cute and attractive to gorgeous. Barf. So he takes her to the side and Rhiannon, rightfully so, is immediately suspicious of him. Dane checks Violet over and she tells him that she hurt her knee. I also want to point out this is the first time that he touches her face. He touches her face and moves it from side to side to check her. I also just want to, going back to the line about, sometime in the last year, Dane Atos went from attractive and cute to gorgeous. And just compare and contrast that with the line where she first sees Zayden, where he's the most exquisite man I've ever seen. So yes, take that Dane, take that. Um, Dane is surprised that she has daggers with her when he really shouldn't be. Like, come on, dude, she's just crossed the parapet. She's in the writer's quadrant. You didn't think Mira or, frankly, even her mother would send her with nothing, did you? I don't know. He seems a little dumb there, too. I'm going to warn everyone right now that if you're a fan of Dane, this is going to be a really hard chapter for you to get through with us. Yeah, there's a lot of Dane hate in this. So, sorry, but this chapter is going to be kind of a Dane hate fest, because it's our first time meeting him and there's so much Dane. Um, Rhiannon and Violet change their boots back and Dane introduces himself to Rhiannon, revealing that he's a squad leader. Violet notes that only exceptional second years become squad leaders, even though we literally only see second years as squad leaders. Yeah, that's besides the point. That was weird to me, too. I was like, I'm very confused by this. Like, I feel like this is just a mistake. Yeah, kind of like how in, like, ACOTAR mates are rare, but then everybody has a freaking mate. Yeah, I feel like Rebecca Yaros just wanted to show us that Dane is, like, exceptionally skilled. But, yeah, like, there's better ways to do that, though. Like, if you've read Iron Flame. We'll talk about that later. Yeah. And then Dane sends Rhiannon to go have both herself and Violet put in his squad. So, after Rhiannon leaves, Dane takes Violet to go wrap her knee in private in his room. And right off the bat, he shows no faith in Violet. He says, quote, you're gonna die if we don't find you a way out of here, which kind of becomes his mantra throughout this entire freaking book. It's always, you're gonna, it's like, it's like in a Christmas story. You're gonna shoot your eye out. You're gonna die in here. I also want to point out, just going back a page, Rhiannon introduces herself as Violet's friend. Like, they're already. She does pause, though. She pauses when she says friend. But she says it. And then when Dane says, if anyone asks, then you tell them exactly what I said. It's just adrenaline working out of her system. And then Rhiannon, her reply to that is amazing. If no one's business, what's going on is Violet. So, I wouldn't say shit. She's already showing more, like, faithfulness. And, oh, she has faith in Violet's abilities than Dane is. And Dane is supposedly the one who knows her best outside of her family. Yeah. We all deserve Rhiannon in our life. This is so true. So, then Violet shares, or kind of tells Dane that her mother is why she's in the Writer's Quadrant, of course. And Dane just kind of goes off about it again. He, Violet also notes when she says her knee is sore, that she's known Dane since they were five and six. It's like, they've been friends since they were really, really young. And that his father is one of her mother's most trusted advisors. And she also knows that Dane was the one who was there for her when Mira left and when Brennan died. So, I mean, which is also kind of sad. I mean, her parents were both alive for both of those. And so, like, I know they were going through their own grief. But at the same time, they had their, you know, Violet was still young-ish. She was, what, just into a teen. She was, what, 14 when that happened? Because she's 20. Yep. Yeah. They note that she's technically not supposed to be in a second-year dorm. So, she teases Dane that she can just tell people that she's there to sleep with them. Again, barf. And then she also notes that Dane can use magic now since he has a dragon. And she just kind of, she's surprised, but also realizes that she shouldn't be surprised. They have a lot of sexual tension and teasing of each other and admit that they miss each other. Violet wraps her knee and it's kind of revealed, incidentally, that they have seen each other naked before. Because when she goes to change to put the wrap on, he turns away and she says, well, it's nothing you haven't seen before. And he says, well, we're not sneaking away to swim in the river. So, it's mentioned on a page before this about how Dane has a book on the Krohlin language that Violet gave him from last summer. And that just kind of ties into what we've been seeing so much about different languages in just the first three chapters of this book, which is, yeah, just like so many different languages mentioned. I mean, this whole book has been translated from another language. Yeah. Into the quote-unquote modern language, whatever that is. Grudgingly, I admit that Dane is evidently smart. He can read other languages. Do we want to admit that? I mean, I can't really read another language, so, you know, he has that up on me. Yeah, I suppose. We'll give him that. He can have one thing. I mean, that's probably what made him and Violet so close to begin with. They both have a love for, like, written word. True. True. So, after she fixes her knee and wraps it and it feels better, they start to leave and head back. They talk some more about Lilith's decision to send Violet to the Writers' Quadrant. And Violet notes that Lilith made her decree after Violet passed the exam. And the reason I mentioned that is because after she says that, Violet notes with pride that Major Gilstead would be pleased to see that she made it across, which I thought was great. Because she says he'll be so proud when he reads the roles tomorrow and sees that I'm not on them. She doesn't even say, like, oh, her mom will be so proud. No. That's what Major Gilstead. Well, they have a very strange relationship right now. Then Dane tells Violet his plan to get her to the Scribe Quadrant through the Healer's Quadrant, which then causes her to literally stop in her tracks. Violet, like, stops and she's like, what? Like, what are you talking about? And Dane says, the Scribe Quadrant. And Violet's like, I can't go to the Scribe Quadrant. So this is the first instance, I believe, of Dane not believing in her. Since the start of the book, that's all anyone other than her own mother has done. Like, questioned her abilities, thought less of her. And it's just on and on. And I guess up until this point, Rhiannon also never said anything. Frankly, even Jack. Yeah, although I thought Jack said, like, the wind will, like, throw you off the parapet or whatever. True, but once she got, like, across, like, made it, you know, a certain point, he's like, well, when you're across or something. Yeah. I forget exactly what his wording was, but he implied that she was going to finish crossing. Yeah. So then Dane's like, oh, this place is going to kill you. And Violet's like, shut up. Like, what I don't understand about all these people is, do you think that she is not aware, like, of her own limitations? I know. Yeah. I do love how she stands up to him, though. I agree. It's amazing. I just, whenever people point out another person's flaws, I was like, do you not think that that other person already knows that and thinks about that, like, all the time? Why are you pointing this out? So then Dane continues. She's fighting back against him, and he continues, and he says, you'll break the first time they put you in the sparring ring. And that's before the dragon sensed that you're dot, dot, dot. He's such a dick, like, he's saying that she's fragile. And then he has the gall to say, stop putting words in my mouth. Yes, and it's like, what were you going to say? They sense that you're amazing, like, so strong, so incredible. That is not what you were going to say. So this fight continues on. And then Dane also says, there's no guarantee a dragon will bond you. Like, she has just crossed the parapet, and he's already thinking ahead to other ways that she's going to fail. She won't be able to beat someone in the sparring mat. The dragon's not going to bond her, like, she's going to be a failure. Why? Also, she knows that dragons don't bond everybody. She knows that. It doesn't need to be said, because he says, you know, last year they had 34 unbonded cadets. You don't think she doesn't already know that? Yeah, and she knows everything. You don't think that she already doesn't think that she's going to be the one that's got bonded? Like, so Violet thinks to herself, next to Mira, Dane is the person who knows me the best on the entire damn continent. And even he thinks I can't hack it here. So it hurts her that Dane thinks this. And it hurts her even more that Dane put her in his squad just to get her to leave. Like, when he put her in his squad, I'm pretty sure she thought initially, like, oh, wow, like, he wants to, like, be near me, like, maybe help me get through this. No, he wants to do it so he can get close to her to, like, take her to the scribe squadron. And, like, I just question this, like, in what possible world would that work? Like, are you allowed to do that? I know. No, god, no. Come on. They'd feed you to a dragon. That's desertion right there. Yeah. They said putting on leathers doesn't make you a rider. They're going to tear you to shreds. And if they don't, the dragons will. Like, dear lord, why is this man your friend? I know. And also, I kind of, I wonder what his dragon is saying to him hearing this conversation. You know what I mean? Like, is his dragon agreeing with him? Like, yeah, they'll, they'll notice it. Or is his dragon like, dude, you might want to just chill? I don't know. Because we don't really know much about his dragon or its personality. Yeah, not at this point. No. So then Violet tells him, like, yeah, my mother has told me that I can't leave. And he's like, oh, shit. But then he's like, okay, well, we'll find another way. He is not listening to her at all. Like, she wants to stay at this point. She does not want to leave. And it's not even a case of miscommunication. She is explicitly stating, no, I am not leaving. Actually, I am staying. She is using her words, and he is not listening. And he doesn't listen to her for the entire book. No. So they keep walking, and then we get a description of the courtyard. So we see here that it easily fits a thousand riders. It's shaped like an angular teardrop alongside the stone walls. There's one end for academics, one for dorms. And the rotunda linking the two buildings serves as the entrance to the gathering hall, commons, and the library. And then the commandant and the vice commandant are both in full military dress there. So they hang out in this courtyard. And they wait for another two hours until the last cadets pass the parapet. Like, this thing takes all day. So, okay, the last of the cadets walk into the courtyard, followed by the three riders from the other turret. Does that mean that Zayden and those other riders had to walk across the parapet again? No. There's another way that they can go across. They just make all the cadets cross the parapet, but there is a different way to get in and out. Because I was like, Zayden for sure would walk across because, like, even when Violet finds him later in this book, and he's just sitting out in the middle of there. Yeah. That's a great scene, by the way. I do love that scene. So, anyways, Zayden is among the three that enter the room, and Violet notes that other riders, like, move around to give him a wide berth. So, I am unsure at this point if this is because of his reputation at Basquiat, or if this is just because he's, like, a rebel kid. Like, what do you think? I think it's both, honestly. Because the people who are there, they already know his dragon, like, who his dragon is, and Scale's a badass bitch. Yeah. So, I think they don't want to mess with her rider. And I think it is also because of who his father is. Another thing I just want to note, too, is that, going back a little bit, Rhiannon introduces Violet to Terra, who is from the Moraine province to the north, along the coast of the Emerald Sea. And she reminds Violet of Mira. And I could be wrong. Isn't Terra one of the ones that ends up dying? Isn't Terra the one that Rhiannon has a relationship with? Oh, you're right. You're right. I'm sorry. Yes, that's her girlfriend. Yeah. Well, they're on and off. I don't know that they're exclusive. So, we know that 301 people have survived the Parapet, which means that 20% died, which is more than usual. Because I think we discussed last time that, like, 15% normally die, I think was the number. So, there's some talking, I think they're talking about General Melgrin. And there's Commandant Pancheck. He's chatting about how 67 people died and he's, like, smiling. It's kind of gross, but, you know. Yeah, because they say it's like a politician's smile. And Terra says that the position is a stepping stone for him because he wants General Melgrin's job. And I didn't look up their names. Did you? Pancheck and Melgrin? Did we discuss those? Melgrin, I think we said was, like, middleman. And Pancheck, I can't remember. Anyways, Violet says that, oh, Pancheck will never get Melgrin's job because Melgrin's signet allows him to see the battle's outcome before it happens. So, like, how could you possibly take that general position? There's just no way. Okay, so statistics say that a quarter of the 301 people will live to graduate. That's approximately 75 people, which is kind of crazy. I just looked up what Pancheck means. And according to the Hindu calendar, there are five days in every month in which it is not considered good to do auspicious work. So, they're bad days, basically. These days are called Panchecks. We're getting so, such a variety of, like, origins of these names and words, which is fun. Yeah. It is a slight, it's a slight spelling difference. It says C-H-A-K instead of E-K, but otherwise. I mean, at least this time she's changing the spelling of some of these. So, Violet says, every cadet in this courtyard thinks they have what it takes to become one of the elite, a dragon rider. I can't help but wonder for the smallest of seconds if maybe I do, too. Maybe I can do more than just survive. I feel like she's really taken a hit to her confidence. Like, if you see what. Well, yeah, anybody would. Like, literally every single person important to her is telling her, you can't do this. I'm like, this is such a shitty day for them to say that to her. Okay, so we learn that discipline falls to your wing leader, which will play a part in just a second here. So, then we get into where they're getting called into the different wing sections. So, Jack is called into the flame section of first wing. Rhiannon and Violet are called to second section of the second squad flame section. So, this whole page is really just military speak. Violet explaining squads and sections. And this didn't make sense to me until I saw, like, the diagram at the front of iron flame. So, if you have a physical copy of iron flame, just go look at that and that'll help you more. It's really helpful. Even if you don't have a copy of iron flame, you can probably find it online. Yeah, just Google it. It'll do better at explaining it than I can. Yeah, well, actually, we'll post a picture of it in our Instagram so you can all see it. Oh, good idea. So, we get our second glimpse of Imogen here. There's two stars on her uniform. She has a half shaved, half pink hair, and she has a rebellion relic that winds around her forearm from her wrist to above her elbow. And I, I love Imogen. Yeah, me too. She's great. I am a fan of her. I was just gonna say. Oh, okay. Yeah. I am just laughing at this because next we see that Violet is a physical representation of me because she says, I have exactly two shades when it comes to the sun. Pale and burnt. Now, I am a redhead. A very pale redhead. So, I relate to this. I relate to this. I feel seen. Like the Irish girl on the beach? No, not her. The other one? Yeah, exactly. So, Violet notices Dayton watching her. She lifts her chin, he clocks an eyebrow, and talks to the second wing, wing leader. Dayton, like, hisses at Rhiannon to be quiet because he's the worst. Yeah. Because he's the worst. Like, they're not really doing anything. Rhiannon just said, what do you think they're talking about? Dayton's like, quiet. Oh my god, chill. Yeah, he's like, he's like Hermione, but like, when she was bad in the first look, if that makes sense. Like, before the troll. Yeah, like, it's no wonder she hasn't gotten any friends. He's that Hermione. Yeah, he's so obsessed with the rules. He is so uptight. Yeah. Anyways. So, yeah, Zayden's talking to the second wing, wing leader, and then Violet's section gets moved to fourth wing. And there we have the meaning behind the name of the book. This is Zayden's wing. And as we just learned, wing leaders are in charge of discipline for the wing. So, I mean, Violet's going to be seeing a lot of Zayden, clearly. So then Zayden begins his speech. He said, the only people, only people in your squad aren't allowed to kill you. He kind of plays off the arrogance of the cadets. And he's like, I bet you feel pretty badass. And they're all like, yeah. It's honestly, it's honestly kind of cringe. Like, bet you feel invincible after the parapet. And they're all like, yeah. And then there's wings. And then they all kind of shit their pants because the dragon's come. And what I found interesting, I don't think I got this when I first read it, is that the dragon's wings, their wings are described as semi-translucent. I never noticed that before. So you can like kind of see through their wings. It's kind of freaky to me. It's kind of freaky. It kind of reminds me of like a dragonfly's wings. Because they're kind of, or like you can see them, but they're like a bat. Because like in the light, if the light is behind a bat, you can kind of see like the veins and stuff. Oh yeah, that's true. So okay, so this five, is it five? Oh, there's eight. Okay, so eight dragons land on the wall. And then the cadets scream. And I made a note here, I was like, I doubt it's the rebel kids that are screaming. So what the hell are these other people doing there? You chose to be there. Yep. And you're screaming at dragons? Maybe it's one of those things where you don't know what it is until you experience it. You know what I mean? Like these people, most of them have never seen a dragon. They just hear about dragon riders. And they think they sound so cool and badass. It's like, yeah, I want to ride a dragon. Then they actually see it when they're like, oh fuck. I actually don't want to ride a dragon. I changed my mind. Except once you get into the rider's quadrant, you can't change your mind. Nope, can't leave. So a navy blue one lands directly in front of Violet. This is Scale. Yes. Sick. I love Scale. She's awesome. She is. So she has glistening blue horns that rise above her head in elegant lethal sweeps. And on the tip of their top twin of their wing is crowned by a single fierce talon. They're all deadly, all these dragons. And then Dane. Oh, we're going to have to bring in the masons again. As chunks of rock crumble under the dragon's grips. Like what? What? What? What the hell does that have to do with him? Why does he care? Also, you just yelled at Rhiannon for talking. Hypocrite. Is he in charge of the maintenance of the fucking courtyard? Like... Also, I do like how earlier before that, like, Violet's like, the edge of the fortress is a fucking perch. Or she says a damned perch. But it's still... This just annoyed... This just annoyed me though, because I was like, why? Why do you care? They have to call in the masons. Is this coming out of your personal allowance? Like, oh, we're gonna have to call the masons again. Like... Do you think the masons are like people who are doing this by hand? Or do you think that they are people with sickness who can, like, mold rock? I think they're people who are doing it by hand. Oh, that sucks. Yeah, it would suck. But I mean, you know, the economy. Jobs and whatnot. Just us. Okay, so there's three dragons. Various shades of red. Two shades of green. One brown, one orange, and then the navy blue one. So we're kind of getting the taste of the rainbow here. I think the only color we're missing right here is the black out of the dragons that are available. Yeah. So Violet notes that dragons need riders to develop their own sickness and weave the words. So there was a lot of questions about why would dragons, like, ever let humans ride them? That's why. They cannot harness their own magic. Yeah. So they need the riders to channel that. And they don't have hands. They literally, it's just they don't have hands with which to do the intricate magic and things like that. I have a big head and tiny arms. Oh, okay. Moving on. So seeing all these dragons, a cadet begins to run. And he's straight up burnt. Yep, burnt. And then two more cadets are as well. My question is, I'm like, you people are so stupid. You see this first guy run. He literally gets burned to death. And then you think to yourself, oh yeah, that's a good idea. Did they run after? Yep. Oh, yeah. A cadet bolts out of third wing screaming as he makes a run to the stone keep behind us. The red dragon opens its mouth, fire erupts. Heat from the flames blasts out of my face as I direct my attention forward. If anyone else runs and is likewise executed, I don't want to see it. More screaming sounds around me. I lock my jaw as hard as I can to keep quiet. There are two more gusts of heat, one to my left and another to my right. So yeah, after. So then the navy dragon staring directly at Violet. The dragon blinks, which might be a sign of approval or boredom, and looks away. What do you think this line means? It kind of reminds me of a cat. Honestly, like it's a cat. Do you think she's talking to Zayden right now? Probably. And I think this sounds really dumb. Like if a cat looks at you and like slow blinks at you, that means it's saying hello. And so that's what my brain kind of goes to. I mean, boredom, yeah, maybe. But I have a feeling that she's not bored here. Like why would she be bored here? That doesn't make sense. Yeah, I just I just thought it was interesting because it's like, do you think in this moment Zayden was thinking about Violet? And that's why Scale like kind of turned her head to look at her? I have a thought on that, but it'll have to wait till the end. Oh, okie dokie. So Zayden in his speech mentioned King Tauri's second son, who died during the threshing. So he's just making that point to say that literally no one is safe. Now everyone is kind of shitting their pants. They're not so macho anymore. And Zayden ends the chapter by telling everyone that you're not untouchable or special to the dragons. To them, you're just the prey. Nice and warm and fuzzy sentiments from our main man. I will say though, he is a very good public speaker. Like his whole speech, like from start to end is a very good speech. Like he knows how to command an audience. Yeah, because he's like, oh, you think you're king shit? No, you're not. Exactly. Like these kids needed to be humbled. Let's be real. Oh, yeah. Okay, so let's move into our assembly meeting. We had a couple of questions from our Discord. So the first one, Marguerite says, when Vi is standing in front of Scale and lifts her chin and refuses to squirm, I wonder what Scale thinks. Like I wonder if this first impression of Vi is what leads to her, leads her to share with Tern when she defends Andarna. Maybe. I feel like, yes, there's definitely, Scale is assessing, like Samantha and I were just talking about, Scale is clearly assessing Violet. Yeah. Trying to like, read her. And like we were just saying, I think probably Zayden was, they were talking in that moment. I don't know what her first impression of Vi is. I don't, I am not under the impression that Scale is like a huge fan of Violet, if I'm being honest. Probably not at this point. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Like, I don't think, I don't think she, well, how could she have a lot of respect for her? She doesn't know who she is. She hasn't seen anything, but. All she knows is that she's Lillith's daughter. I think she's curious, because this is a tiny, scrawny little girl who is like staring directly at her and not looking away. So I think she's curious, and I think she's probably talking to Zayden, but I don't know. She sees, you know, this scrawny girl standing in front of her, like holding her own to what we know to be one of the most terrifying dragons, like one of the most formidable and fearsome of all of them. And so I think that would have to earn at least some modicum of respect. Yeah. Okay. And then Emily Isabel asks, do you remember what you thought of either Dane or Zayden during your first encounter? Do you remember what you thought of either Dane or Zayden during your first read through, first impressions? I don't, I didn't, I don't know that I had any serious dislike for Dane at this point in time on my first read of Fourth Wing. I thought he was just overly concerned, like maybe a little annoying with the way that he like wouldn't listen, but I didn't have any like deep disdain. Yeah, kind of sane. Like I didn't have a problem with Dane at first. Um, I kind of liked him, honestly, for a very long time until I didn't. In all honesty, in all honesty, what I probably was thinking was, oh, okay, here is the third part of our love triangle. Yeah. This is the third piece. Which is not wrong. Um, yeah, more of a one-sided. Although once we started seeing more and more of Zayden, I definitely was like, ooh, this guy. Yeah, Zayden, uh, first impressions is very much giving Rhysand from Akatar. Yeah. Yeah, like they're kind of similar characters. Just the descriptions, like Samantha and I were talking about earlier in the chapter, the first description of Zayden is, this is the most exquisite man I've ever seen. Which is almost pervader. And then Dane, yeah, Dane is like, oh yeah, he's, he's gorgeous, but it's not quite on the same level of this is the most exquisite man I've ever seen. And then she has like a visceral, physical reaction to seeing Zayden. Whereas Dane, it's like warm fuzzies because this is her childhood friend. Yeah. So yeah, I was probably like, okay, love triangle incoming. This guy is the one maybe we're supposed to root for. Yeah. Because he'll be representing the quote unquote nice guy. Right. And also she's had a crush on him like forever. What we seem to indicate as an unrequited crush. So I mean, for her, it's like, oh my God, my crush finally likes me. Oh my God. You know, so she's trying to wrestle with that. Okay. So those are the two questions that we had. So if you ever have questions for us that you'd like to be answered on future episodes about future chapters, join our Discord. Lots of great discussions happening in there. Yeah. Um, or send us a message on Instagram, email us, you know, whatever tickles your fancy. Oh, okay. So what have we been up to this past week? For myself, I binged the first four episodes of season six of The Crown because I am freaking obsessed with that show because I don't like the Royals. And I think this paints them in a really terrible light. I don't even care if it's true. Like, I just live for the drama. Right. I, well, plus I especially liked the first two seasons are honestly my favorite because I like that kind of period stuff with it. Yeah. And I love that glamour of that kind of era in a way. But I got rid of Netflix a long time ago, a while ago. So I haven't seen any of the, um, oh, shoot. What's her name? The newest act. Olivia Colman. Oh, um, yes. I have not seen any of the Amelda Staunton seasons. She's good. And I might even be missing one of the Olivia Colman ones. I just, these, it's harder for me watching these seasons because now it's like recent memory. Like I was alive. Right. And so I'm like, oh, okay. Yeah. But it's still good. Like I'm still dying to watch the last four episodes. I can't wait. Is that the last season, season six? This is going to be the last season. Yeah. I think they're ending with, um, William and Kate meeting each other at university. I know she's supposed to be in it because I saw that they cast her. Yeah. And I don't know if it'll be like the last episode, like only in one episode or if that's what they're going to focus on for the rest of the season. Like if they're going to do a little bit of another time jump, I guess we'll see. I think it comes out like mid-December. So we'll see. Uh, as far as reading goes, I have just started. I think it might be a little crazy. I'm starting an entire SJM universe reread. So I just started with Throne of Glass. I love that book. It's so good. What order are you doing for that series? I do Throne of Glass. Okay. So I go one, two, three, and then I go back to Assassin's Blade. And then I do, I'll do the tandem read. Oh, okay. Okay. So I know everybody has, I would say, I just know that everybody kind of has their own different way that they order, you know, that they do the series a little bit. I found this one online and I really liked it when I read it the first time through. So why mess with a good thing, right? Yeah. And then what I've been doing, actually, what Samantha and I have been doing and obsessing over is Dancing with the Stars. Yes. And we literally just watched the semifinal. Oh my lord. Right before we started recording. And probably nobody listening is going to care about this, but our minds were blown because the elimination. Oh my god. What you need to understand about this current season of Dancing with the Stars is there are four couples. Well, there are four celebrities that are pretty decent dancers. And then there's one, Alison Hannigan, who, bless her heart, is just not on the same level. She just isn't. She's trying so hard, though. So we get to the eliminations, like I said before, bear in mind, this is the semifinal. And we get to the eliminations, Samantha and I are like, okay, yeah, it's her time to go. Like, we love her, but she's just not as good. Also, at the end of the night, she was in the bottom and the next person above her was six points ahead of her. Like, it wasn't close. Yeah. No, it's not close. All the top teams are within, like, three points of each other. And then there's Alison and Alison is way at the bottom. But so we get to where they're calling the elimination. And so the host is like, okay, the first couple that is safe to dance in the final is Alison and Sasha. And I'm like, what? And Samantha and I are like, what? I wish you all could see the progression of my messages to Kelsey during this. And then, okay, so we're sitting there and we're like, oh, okay, okay. So it is not Alison. That must mean that it's the bachelorette contestant that is on this year because she's like, she's one of the better dancers, but I don't know that she has that big of a fan base. Yeah. And she kind of like, there's, she's good with the technical part, but there's other parts that she doesn't quite get as well. And so everybody online and Samantha and I are agreed. Okay. So if Alison's not the one going home, it must be Charity. And then the host is like, okay, the second couple that's safe to dance in the final is Charity and Artem. And we were like, wait, wait, wait a second. Uh, no. Isn't that last Jason Mraz, who's amazing. All right. Ariana Maddix, who's also amazing. From Vanderpump. And then Xochitl Gomez, the Marvel star, who is also amazing. She's great. We're just like, no, not one of these three. And so then honestly, Samantha, I was like, okay, going off of fan bases, I was like, okay, at this point, I think that it might be Jason now, because I don't know that he's as popular because Xochitl Gomez has the Gen Z people and to the Marvel. Yes. And then Ariana Maddix had arguably the biggest scandal of the year. And she was so talked about that it was on mainstream media, not just reality blogs. I had no idea who she was at the start of the year. And then I got utterly consumed in Scandal and I was obsessed. And then I binged all 10 seasons of Vanderpump Rules in the two month period. So I could be able to watch the reunion. It was all a ploy for the ratings. Anyways, well, Tom Sandoval is a piece of scum. He was here. I cannot stand him. He was in Champaign here like last couple weeks ago. Like some people I know- Was it Tom Sandoval in the most extra? Yeah, it was like his band, yeah. His cover band, let's get this straight. His cover band, who he has to pay to play with him, like they don't play with him because they like him. He has to, he pays them and they have no original songs. I'm not saying this to shit on his band. I'm saying this to shit on Tom Sandoval. He is a scum in human form. I don't even care. Anyways, all this to say, I was like, okay, okay. This is sad, but it's going to be Jason. And then he's called safe. So the bottom two are Ariana and Xochitl. And they're the best two, arguably the best two. My mind at this point was blown. I was so sad. I know that in the grand scheme of things, why do I care about Dancing with the Stars? I'm invested, okay? At this point, I'm invested. I've been watching for nine weeks. Yes, we've been watching this entire time. So I'm just sitting there trying to process these two women, like poor them. They're literally about to start crying. Yeah, Ariana was about to vomit, literally. And Xochitl was tearing up. Oh, yeah. And Xochitl's like 17 years old. I know. And so they're silent, silent, silent. And the host is like, okay, the team that is safe to dance in the finale is both of you. What the fuck is happening right now? I don't understand. It makes no sense. Honestly, that's the energy that we came into this recording with, because we just watched it, like right before we started recording. Yeah, it's kind of our routine. We watch Dancing with the Stars, and then we come and record. Yeah, but that ends next week. I know. It's upsetting. It's very sad. But how are they going to do the finale with five people? Yeah, I don't know. Because each team gets a freestyle and then a redemption dance, apparently. Apparently Jason Mraz is performing. Charlie D'Amelio and Mark Ballas are performing, the winners from last year. The pros are performing something, because Julianne Hough is evidently doing something. I'm like, is this going to be like a three-hour show? Probably. Honestly. I don't know. I mean, it's already a two-hour show. What's one more hour? Yeah, this is true. I'm excited. I'm sorry if you didn't want us to go on a 10-minute rant about Dancing with the Stars, but you know, that's just where my head's at right now. It was intense and horrifying at the same time. But at the end of it then, I was like, well, I just wasted two hours. What was the point of that? Yeah, like this whole episode didn't matter then. Everything's made up, but the points don't matter. Frustrating. Anyways, what have you been reading? I am still reading A Promised Land by Barack Obama, because that book is hella long. And I am busy. I was going to say, it's not surprising to me, because I feel like that is a thick with three Cs. It's over 700 pages of nonfiction, which... He's a wordy guy. He's very wordy. I mean, although he does make it very... It's an easy read. It's not like a hurt-your-brain kind of nonfiction read, but it's still time consuming. And I'm usually a pretty fast reader, so it's just taking time. I'm like 20 or 30% of the way through it, I think, which is not bad. No, that's not bad. As for what I've been watching besides Dancing with the Stars, my husband and I watched all of Loki Season 2 over the last couple days. My plan is to watch that over my Christmas vacation. There you go. Personally, I was not a fan of the ending, but you'll have to let me know what you thought of it. I shall. I don't think that spoils anything for you. And then other than that, I've just been kind of doing work stuff because I am a realtor, so I'm on... It doesn't stop. So I've just been kind of going through my databases and trying to get things to work the way I want them to work, which is frustrating sometimes with technology and CRMs and such. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I am an accountant, like a finance manager, and so I spend my days dealing with Excel, so I know all about frustrating. Well, especially since we have like three or we have like two or three different databases too, which they have like the bulk of them to the same thing, but there's subtle differences that make it worth it to have the other one, but it's still frustrating because then I feel like I'm putting in everything twice, and I hate that. I want just one thing. Yeah. Okay, so we will be discussing Iron Flame Connections shortly, but first, be sure to subscribe, rate, and review our podcast wherever you're listening to us. This really helps us like move up the charts, gain more visibility, so if you could do that, leave us a review when you rate, that would be great. Apparently we're ranked in Canada. Yeah. Yeah, and Norway. Oh, and Norway. All right. And the Czech Republic. Awesome. Shout out to those listeners. You can find our Instagram at readersquadrantpodcast, and you can email us at readersquadpod at gmail.com. And we've been hyping it up all episode, but be sure to join our Discord. A link is posted on our Instagram bio. I post it in our stories occasionally. It's also posted in the show notes to this episode. It's a ton of fun. So just hop on there. You can chat with us. You can argue with my sister about how Dane is actually the worst. You can also submit questions for us to read on our podcast, so if you want to be part of the assembly meeting, you can do that as well. And we don't just discuss fourth wing. Like you can talk about literally whatever you want. You could share a picture of your adorable pet, or talk about how you're working out, or what you're cooking, or even what you're watching or reading. Anyway, warning, warning, warning. We will now be discussing any connections from this chapter to Iron Flame. If you have not yet read Iron Flame, this will be your last chance to stop listening. We will see you next week. So for my path, I have Dane touches her face after he finds her in the courtyard. Do you think he read her memories then? I know he said he only did it the once, but I don't buy it. I feel like we don't know how much control he had over his stigma at this point in time. I feel like he probably did get better as the year goes on, because everyone does. The more you learn about it, the better you get. I don't know. He's such a piece of shit. I'm inclined to say yes. Whether or not it was on purpose, that I don't know. Fair. Then, as we talked about, he has a book on the Krovan language. Was that the language that he used, or that she asked him to help with translating for those journals? I honestly, I don't know. I couldn't say. Because it was like one that she was like, Dane knows this language, and Dane's like, oh, we got to talk to him. Yes. I think it might have been. I think it might have been. Yeah. Just to kind of call back to our assembly meeting with Marguerite's question, that is actually kind of discussed in the holiday edition chapters of Fourth Wing. Um, you kind of learned a little bit about that. And frankly, I didn't want to say this during the regular episode. I think maybe she's kind of checking Violet out, because she knows that Zayden is going to have to protect her now, now that Violet crossed the parapet. Like, she knows about that deal. So she's probably like, okay, let me see this girl we got to protect now. Oh, and evidently, the Empyrean has been discussing Violet. Yes. Because they know that Andarna heard these discussions when she was in an egg. Yes. She heard the elders talking about it. So, I mean. Yeah. They already knew. So I would assume all the dragons are curious about her at this point. Maybe that's why eight of them showed up. Maybe. That seems like a lot. Because, okay, what was it? Okay, it was the Four Wing leaders. Yeah, who else was it? It's a lot of dragons. Because it wasn't General Melgen's black dragon. We know that much. No, there's no black dragon there. So maybe it was Panchex. Maybe. But like, what are the other three? Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Interesting. I have, okay, so we now know that Zayden moved Violet into his wing so that he could better protect her to keep the promise he made to her mother. Yes. This is totally at odds with what Violet thinks. I know. She believes that he's doing it so that he can punish her, which is funny because he wouldn't because he made this agreement. Like, even before he falls in love with her, like, he's not going to hurt her because he made this bargain. Yeah, but she also has everybody, like, especially Dane, like, in her head telling her that, oh, he's going to kill you. He's going to kill you. Oh, fuck. Like, I can't forget. I know, like, especially once we get, especially once we get into, like, I think it's next chapter where Zayden, like, looks at Violet and Dane's like, run, Violet, run. Yeah, what the fuck is that about? It's a little dramatic. It's a lot. And it never gets brought up again. Like, just never. Zayden's never like, why did you run away? Like, it's never brought up again, ever. Okay, so then we noted that there was, like, this wide variety, like, dragons of every color, pretty much. And the only ones that were missing was Yellow, which we see, and Darna is later. Is it Yellow? Or no, I mean, like, when she's a Feathertail, she's gold. Oh, yes, when she's a Feathertail, yeah. But I think all, are all Feathertails gold? I think that's the understanding that they have, but they hardly ever see them, so I don't know. I thought, because I think- I think so, because they don't know what color they're going to be. Yeah, because I think Taryn mentions that they don't know, like, the Elders know, but that's it. So, like, they must be, like, the same color to everybody else, I'm guessing. Yeah, so there's that. So, and Darna at this point in time kind of fills that void. And then it's interesting, because Violet kind of represents White. Like we said last time, Violet is more the absence of color than any, like, actual color. Then you have Taryn, who's Black, and then Darna in Iron Flame kind of represents all the colors that the other two don't have, because she can kind of, like, shift and meld into her surroundings and everything. Yeah. And then the last note I have is that Violet says dragons need the riders to weave the wards. And we now know that the riders actually need the dragons to get the wards up if they're fired. It's a very symbiotic thing, in a way. Yeah, yeah. So I feel like that just tells you, at this point in time, how little they know- they actually know about the wards. Like, nobody really understands them. And just how much was lost to time. I feel like that is such a huge oversight. Like, your wards are failing, and nobody even thought to, like, maybe we should, you know, look into this. I think it's just arrogance. They have their dragons, and so they're just like, you know, it's just hubris. They think they're fine because they have their dragons, and the wards are not fully down. They're getting there, but it's like they're able to patch the holes up in the meantime. Hmm. And then another thing I wanted to point out is that, learning about General Malgren's signet in this, we learn in Ironflame that it's not nearly as powerful as previously thought. Yeah. But what do you think it is about the Rebellion Relics that hinders that connection? Yeah, that is so weird. I mean, we learned about that in Forkling, I believe. I think I remember that we learning about that there. That he can't see it with three chests. Yeah, it's almost like the dragons... I feel like the dragons did it on purpose. Like, they felt bad about what the humans were doing. Like, they didn't think it was right either, and so they were trying to do what small part they could to help those kids. Yeah, I mean, do you think it's some kind of ruin? Like, rune? Oh, maybe. Like, that kind of magic? And maybe, I wonder what else it can do. I don't know, because it's just like, what about that? Because, okay, the relics were given by whose dragon? Oh, was it Melgrin's? Or was it... Was it Melgrin's? Or was it Lillith's? They were created by Kodat, the dragon of General Melgrin. Interesting. Do you think he did that on purpose? He would almost have to, right? As they always say, dragons don't make mistakes. What the hell? Maybe him and his writer aren't on the same page. I mean, they can keep secrets from their writers. What the hell? Or maybe it was an accident, you know? Maybe dragons don't know everything that they can do. I just never thought about that. Melgrin's dragon gave the kids the Rebellion relics, and yet, Melgrin's ability doesn't let him see anything with three Rebellion kids or more. It's kind of ironic, actually. It's interesting. I'm sorry if this has been glaringly obvious to everyone else, but like, that just kind of blew my mind. Yeah. Just, I guess that combined with the way that Kodat acts at the end of Iron Flame, he took convincing to help get the work back up. That's why I'm a little iffy on if he's like, totally in line with what the other, like, the like, Scale and Terran and those people are doing. I wonder if he feels that Navar are being cowards. He's a giant, giant black dragon. Yeah, because he's bigger than Terran. Yeah, he's not a coward. He wants to go out and fight, in my opinion. So, I bet he feels that the humans of Navar are just being cowards, hiding within their wards, and he wants to show them, no, we're not doing this anymore. I don't know. Or he wants to show Melgrin, like, you think you're in charge, but I'm actually in charge. Like, I decide how you use this power. Yeah, Melgrin tends to forget that the dragons are actually in charge. As we saw. Yeah, much like Jack. Yeah, kind of like when they're trying to say, oh, no, Violet can't have two dragons. And they're like, no, bitch. That's our decision, not yours. Yeah, actually, you don't get a say. Nope. So, that's all we have for now. So, thank you all again so much for listening. And remember, the right way isn't the only way. We would like to thank Kevin MacLeod for the use of his song, The Pyre, for our intro and outro music.