S6 : Ep 21 — The Ballad of Falling Dragons by Sarah A. Parker : Part 3

Hei näin, että sä kun marja ja jussimen. Hei, ja topsy-ikret, jo no. Tai siis niiden salaisuus on herkku kalamesterin kravilohi. Ruokatorilta tai herkku-premiumus kaiken. Ja siis nukkallissa iran hyviä. Jokakokilla on salaisuudensa. Herkukriin stuotteet vain valituista hook elannon ruokakaupoista ruokatorilta. Olen Shannon Maldonado. Käsin tehtyjä artessaanituotteita myyvän jaui- ja kauppan perustaja. Valitisin Shopify, koska alustoja testatessani totesin sen ehdottomasti yhdeksi helpokäyttöisimmistä alustoista. Minulla oli tärkeää pohtia kehittymistä me tulevaisuudessa. Kaikki myyntiin tarvittavat työkalut, kuten varaston suunnittelu ovat kätevästi dashboardissa. Aloita ilmainen kokeilu Shopify piste komsi-ustolla. வishin. delivershojen, atual régionaja aurfieldota ja erityisee segilliset eli Seuraavistay paikall eithern Vielen enemmän Eurookseanda aapia. K kiinnittää käs событиja ärtää ja beberkkat jo - LEGO-P Entonces,وي tällaissétait sinun auto continu��면. 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Ja onko kertaa. Ja onko kertaa. Kaelis wrote the book. gag to a chair. Arkin is sitting at the head of the table. She is sat down as well, caught in her iron shackles. They cannot access their elemental songs. And Arkin reveals that he is the head of the fear duoth, which is the rebel group that Rave has been fighting for. She has been a part of the rebel group and Serim was her interim person that she would talk to when they would get their orders from the head of the rebel group called the Elding, which I remember in chapter a cast and we got to the reveal that Arkin had an Elding bird the way you and I were like, "Hold on! Hold the phone! Are you telling me that the rebel group that Rave has been fighting for the children and the women that she has been rescuing and sending to the flourish is actually run by Arkin? That? We suspected that but then to get this reveal here was brutal." And brutal for Rave. It's so twisted. It tracks for Arkin but it is so twisted and hard for Rave to grapple with in this moment. Not only was she working for Arkin but she actually never escaped and that's the real kicker is that she thinks she escaped his oppressive control but all she did was bind herself to Serim and Serim was doing her bidding from Arkin and Arkin let it happen. Like that is such a mind fog. It's horrible. This quote from Arkin is so well done. He goes, "You should have known better, Fire Lark truly." Oh, he is so evil. He is such a good villain because he makes us feel these things. We went into this in-depth last week why he's such a good villain and this is a perfect example in these moments where you are like he is so twisted and also interesting to read on page because he brings out these feelings. He is so unsettling in so many ways. When we were doing our dress rehearsal for this you said he reminds you kind of the Joker. He's just the definition of unsettling. Rave gets this reveal and it breaks her and there's this wonderful quote her inner model like she says, "Because I wasn't reborn fearless it was burnt from me in bits now caught in the clenched fists of a male who stalks my slumber terrors." Hmm. Her worst fear is being realized. Everyone she loves is at the hands of the monster who created the person that she is today. Exactly. She is the way she is because of all the torture she endured under Arkin. Yes. And there is this really great cinematic moment where Arkin is just the epitome of evil and he's staring at her and he keeps feeding her food and she's not touching it but she also knows she can't egg him on. She knows how psychologically fucked he is and she's like I can't aggravate him. I have to kind of play this very very carefully and meanwhile Khan is across the room rattling in his chair gagged wanting to get to Rave and she is imploring him with her eyes like stop you gotta play the game. I played this game for years. I am shifting back into what I have to do and I need you to follow my lead. I mean it's impossible for him given what is happening to Rave. So Avie is brought in and Rave is like I can't let him know that I care about Avie so she tenses up and like doesn't make eye contact. And Arkin says well it's important you know that it was never my intention for the child to die. The Michigan 412 certain outcomes based on the information we provided you and the actions of your binder. It was just a little game fire-lark another song for you to dance to. Oh God. And then he goes though I must say I love being forced to resort to such measures to simply and then he screams get your attention. The way he snaps. Yes so quickly. Yes. Like it's another little song for you to dance to. It's so unsettling and at this point he's like slapping bits of meat on her plate to the point where blood is like splattering on her. It is so unsettling and again like we've said it's a Joker thing is a villain moment that really sticks with you in a way that was not pleasant but really well crafted. So this brings us to the moment at the dinner party from hell where Arkin decides to bring out a little family reading time. And he comes out with Eloen's diary. This was so traumatic to read in a way that you have wanted these characters to have this experience of learning this knowledge together or at this point majority of two books and to have it told to them by Arkin in this really horrible way was so rough to read. It's also a moment that is climactic we've been working our way here for so long for everyone to understand these reveals for all the secrets to be like a better word put out on the table laid out there. Yeah. In true Arkin fashion he does it in the cruelest way. He is taunting them reading this diary and he reveals to them that Kaisari is their child and then we get this quote from Rafe. Khan finally meets my gaze as twin tears slip down his cheeks as my own loosen falling. He stares at me with eyes that bear a crushing amount of pain. The pile already sitting on my chest now growing too heavy to breathe beneath because I already know the outcome. I already know how this ends. With Khan not knowing he had a daughter now caged in the same cell I lived in for phases. A beautiful daughter raised by his younger brother in the shades decorated capital whom I hugged and cradled moments ago without knowing she was mine. Hours. A daughter born of our undying love into a world that's left her beaten broken barely clinging to life in a world that's failed her just like I've failed her by not listening to Khan. Not letting him tell me the important truths I so desperately wanted to avoid by cowering from my past. Käsintehti and artessaanitua teita myüven jauhi lahia kaupan perustaja. Valitzin Shopify koska alusto ja testa testa ni totesin sen ehdottomasti yhdeksi helpokäyttöisimmista alustoista. Minulo oli tärkeä pohtia kehittymistame tulevaisuudessa. Kaikki myüntiin tarvittava työkalut, kuten varaston suunitelu, ovat kätevasti dashboardissa. Aloita ilmainen kokeilu Shopify piste kom sivustolla. Perustin pyöräilyva teita valmistavan ornotin vuonna 2013. Mielestä ni parasta Shopify saan se, että voime harioittaa liiketoimintaa ilman teknistausaamista. Voime hallinoida yrityksen taustajärjestelmien ja frontendia sekä myüden verkossa. Vaivatta. Jos Shopify olisi pyöräilyvaruste, sollisi mielestä ni itse polku pyörä. Sillä asiat hoidetaan ja meida liiketoiminta me hoituu Shopify'sa. This is so hard because we've gone on such a journey with Rave. Yeah. And her getting to this point and being mad at herself for the journey, being mad at herself for the way she handled her past is so realistic in this moment that she's taking this blame and, you know, shining it inward. And we see Khan do the same thing when we're later in the fighting pits. He's like, I failed them. I failed both of them. And it's so hard to read because you're like, you've done such a good job, Rave, you've come so far. But of course she's taking it this way. And it is so hard for them also to see each other going through this at the same time. It's not just themselves, they're seeing the other one go through this. Yes. While being orchestrated by Arcan. And there's a quote later, where Khan admits that he wished that he could tell Qaisari, that he has wished that Qaisari was his every day since she was born. And it's so sad. And it's heartbreaking. But again, it leads them to where plot-wise we need to be. We've spent basically the past two years since the end of book one, wanting this moment of Khan and Rave to just go full model bear pop of air and try and get her back and get to that point where they know this and they're at their full strength. We don't get them at their full strength for a little bit, but we do get these moments of rage in them. And this building up of these wildly intense emotions. And we get this from Rave. I don't roar. Don't speak a single word. Instead, I go deathly silent. A river that just cut a path into the shade and solidified. A quiet ferocity injecting through my veins, or perhaps it was always there. Waiting, knowing. My essence shifts around it sharpening. Forges me into something that should frighten me. Given the urges now wrestling with my heartstrings, stretching them long and tight enough to anchor the thumping organ. I'm not frightened. All I feel is cold, blooded rage. Oh, it's good. This part is so well done because Arcan slowly unravels this whole truth about the diary and what this is and Rave is being forced to face memories that she was going to have to face eventually, but it's just absolutely the last resort of what we wanted. It's right after this where Arcan approaches her and you know that she is about to endure fire torture again. And this is when she tells Khan to close his eyes into not watch. And it's such a reforging moment for her because the other always made sure that she would slip into Rave's consciousness during these points and that she never made a sound and she never screamed or whatever, but Rave is afraid of fire. I got the impression that the other does not take over at this point. Not at this point. No, I think this is her accepting it. It almost felt like she was taking it as a punishment. Oh, like I need to feel this because I have a daughter in there who is suffered. And I need to reforge myself. I have to be stronger. I have to battle this out because I'm going to come back for her and I'm going to save her. Yeah, I took it as her basically saying I'm taking this and channeling it inward, but I have something to live for and to survive for in a different way now. And I'm channeling it not so much as punishment, but as fuel to reforge me. Yes. Into what I need to be and this ferocity inside her. And in that, she is not only strong for Kaisari, she's strong for Khan. And it's this moment where she's like, "Closureize," and Khan is the one in that moment where he does. He's like, "I'm gonna let her take the lead here. She's gonna be the strong one. And tell me to close my eyes, and I'm gonna do it." Yeah. Something about the fact that he actually does it and closes his eyes, just breaks me. But he is breaking in that moment. And she is accepting that she is not going to be broken by this. No. Arcan is trying to break her, and she is accepting that I can be fire-like again, and I will. Yes. But it won't break me to do it. Almost like she's taking back the name. Yeah. I feel like it's a full circle moment from our first episode on this coverage where we talk about how Raive and Khan are equals and how they both allow the other one to take the lead. And I think here she is saying, "I've got this." This is my monster, and you can sit this one out because I know how to handle this. And I'm ready. And because I don't want you to go through watching this happen to me, it would absolutely break him. So all of that brings us to, which again, we theorized what's going to happen, the fighting pits. Yes. Arcan said he wanted his fire-lark back, and here he is. He's throwing her and Khan into the fighting pit together. And this is just such a major moment for both of them. Separately, Arcan instructs both Khan and Raive that they need to give the crowd a performance worthy of the fire-lark. Essentially a battle to the death, right? He wants, "Are you not entertained?" Yes. It is very much giving the Gladiator movie. Basically. The first thing, though, that happens is Raive enters, and she comes into the pit. She is not fully herself. Slotra has essentially taken over her mind and body. So initially, Khan is actually not fighting Raive. He's fighting her body, but it's Slotra through Raive. And we learned throughout the book that this is something Slotra used to do when Raive was originally captured by the scavenger king during those first years in the fighting pits. Slotra would take over Raive's consciousness as a way, obviously, to protect her, allowing only Ignos's voice and song to surface when Slotra was controlling Raive's body, not when Raive was present mentally. That makes sense. And I also think that it was important that we already got on page Khan, recognizing and understanding that Slotra does present this way through Raive in ways to protect her. He has now seen this. He's spoken to Slotra through Raive. And I think that was important. We got that on page before this happened, so that Khan can have that sense of peace, that it's Slotra doing this, not Raive. Yes, exactly. And I think there's something that relieves him about that. Yeah. If it really is a fight to the death, which is what they both believe at this point, that that is the only escape out of there. Khan is like, I want it to be Slotra. I don't want Raive to be the one to kill me. Exactly. So Raive walks out and Khan notes that she's in her fighting armor. But more importantly, there's like a fiery, yet icy white wings, is what it says, that seem to be unfurling from her back, which I think are Slotra's moon plume wings. Ooh, I love that. It's in the smoke. It's very theatrical. Again, she's living up to the fire-alark name. Yes. And Khan notes her glittery black eyes. So they're fighting Slotra kind of takes over. I'm sure Khan kind of lets her win, because again, he's like, I will not kill you. I can't do it. And so he's on his knees. He looks into her eyes. And he's speaking directly to Raive. And he's like, tell her I'm sorry. And I love her. And then what Slotra says back is, when you see Raive, tell her that my heart still beats with hers. Her cheeks fill with a soft melon-colleys smile. And that I'm waiting for her to come to me. Khan interrupts her. But then Slotra closes her eyes and those flaming wings sputter before a silver shimmer tangles around both her hands. Something I've seen before when we were in buffane, which is very interesting. Again, the silver thread. Where is that going? Oh my god. It's woven into so many parts of this book, woven. Yes. It's the silver thread. It's everywhere. And that tangling around the hands. And we saw this again, whenever she was bonding with Leary and the Slotra and those threads specifically around her hands. But then it's the silver thread and silver ribbons are basically in everyone's storylines. Yeah. All the POVs we see them at some point, I think, maybe besides they is. It's really wild. So I want to pin this quote from Slotra when she says, "Tell her I'm waiting for her to come to me. I want you guys to pin that for when we get to the ending with Ellowyn's chapter." Yeah. "With Ellowyn's diary entry." So Khan falls with knees again. He says, "I love you." So Raive comes back. She takes back over her body. And this is interesting. So earlier at the dinner table scene, when Raive is reforging herself, she makes the choice to go into her icy lake and she is deciding to face all of her fears. Right? She has slowly been relearning all of the elemental songs, but the last one left is Ignos. And we obviously all know why she's been avoiding that one. But this is what she says in her inner monologue. Then I swim to the spot where I last spotted the stone that looked like a lump of coal, knowing what it is, what it contains. Should I just give it substance to feast from? Something I believe my other was protecting me from, waiting until I grew ready to face the creator who spent so much time hurting me. Via Arkins bidding. Something I could have gone an entire lifetime without, except Khan's bird and beaten, chained to a chair, being preyed on by his blood-lusting brother, except our daughters lying half dead in the same cell that took my fallen. They are mine. I am theirs. And they will see the sky again. Or creators hear me. The world will rupture beneath my fingertips. Oh, yes, I love it. I love when we get that main female character energy and they just unleash. And that is what this is. She comes back from under the icy lake, which I think the other took over, not just because that's what she used to do for Firelark, but it's because Rae is burrowing into the icy lake trying to relearn the language and the other is buying her time. I agree. And so when Rae v. surfaces, she doesn't control one, two, or three. She controls all four. And for what we know, she's the only fey and existence who can control all four songs. Yes. Hayas erupts. She uses the magic. She uses fire and boulder mostly to create a bubbling earth like lava and destroys the fighting pits. But this is interesting. So we think Arkyn dies, but he doesn't because the Eldingbird shows up and he jumps on the Eldingbird's back and flies off. At the same time, Rhygan shows up. Yes. And Khan jumps on Rhygan's back and flies off to chase after Arkyn and the Eldingbird. But before those two escape on the backs of their flying animals, there is a really important conversation that happens here in Christina. Can you walk us through that? This is really important conversation. And it really leads to this really interesting parallel of Rae v. Now here in this moment versus Rae at the end of book one. Because at the end of book one, we remember Rae chose to chase her bloodlust to avengesy who was alive. But she didn't know that. Still does it. Yeah. But that was her choice. Remember Khan said chase death moon beam. Khan also has told her revenge is the loneliest deity of them all. We see her here in this film at the end of book two, not choosing to chase death, but choosing to chase love, not choosing her bloodlust, but choosing love and her family and motherhood. And this thing that she has been so scared to acknowledge. And Khan basically is saying, "Our daughter needs one of us right now." And he cups Rae's cheek, her jaw tensing beneath my bloody palm. Reagan will gladly carry you north so you can hunt him down, talk about Argan. And she says, "I don't want that." Her voice is cracked through, becoming stiffer and more sturdy. I just want her. I'll hide it. Oh, and then Khan thinks the declaration packs me full of compounding relief and deep, primal pride. As I realize that this time, she's not choosing to chase death, but life, she's choosing our daughter. She's choosing love. I bind her close, press my lips, against her forehead and squeeze my eyes shut. Go to her moonbeam. Oh, God, this parallel to the end of book one. It's so good. Instead of chase death moonbeam, he's saying go to her moonbeam. Go to our daughter. The beautiful arc here, like you said, from where we were in book one. And when she first sees that moon, and he says, "Chase death moonbeam." And I hope it brings you the same piece, knowing the feeling that I get, just knowing that you exist or something like that. It's just such a beautiful, full circle moment that we get. I love it. We needed this. And it does feel like just that. A full circle moment that was placed here so purposely in the outlining of arcs. This is where we were leading to. Mm-hmm. So from here, she escapes through the underground city. The fate-hunter has been leading Véa and Kaisari out, and they're little Michigan as well. And they are all about to converge. But first, we need to talk about Khan. Yes. As a juxtaposition to end of book one, Khan also has a juxtaposition here, where we leave him at the end of book two. It's very interesting. Like we said, Rave is chasing the blood loss at the end of book one, and here, Khan is doing it for her. I think he's got like a elevated version of it. He's only doing it because somebody's got to go after Argan. We can't let the guy live. Well, also, she heard his daughter, and he burned his love, and he did all these things. I think there's a lot of motivation there from him. Oh, totally. Yeah. I think that he wants to go after him because we can't let him live because he could keep coming after the family. Of course not. So he rides on Rigen's back. He chases after Argan on the Elding Bird, further and further south, and just a reminder that Savorcyth Dragons do not do well in the cold. Yeah. So this is physically weakening Rigen, the closer they get to the shade. And long story short, Rigen uses a loss of his strength to tackle the Elding Bird to the ground. Khan grabs Argan and, for a while, lack of a better phrase beats the ever-loving shit out of him. Oh God, he says, "You hurt my love. You hurt my daughter." It's a very like, yes. We needed this moment. Khan needed to unleash this after everything that was revealed. This is what we've been leading to. We've been wanting this moment from Khan since book one. I do listeners want to make a very important note here that Khan severs Arkins head from his body. I cannot stress that enough for when we get to the epilogue. So please pin that for later. The Elding Bird also turns back into a woman with flaming red hair and she crawls over and dies on top of Arkins. And again, like we talked about in part two with Essie, red hair, Elding Bird's, it's all adding up. It is. We've never seen his Elding Bird as a woman in her female form. No. So I don't know if that's something he didn't really allow her to do. Yeah, that's interesting to me. We don't know much about this relationship. Besides the fact that we do know this Elding Bird saved him when he was burned to his father. Meet the future of Shopee Fighters and come to the music show. So, let's start at the end of the show. Ok. And if you can't do that, you can go straight to the next stage. Ok, Valmina? Yes. Yes, OK. Watch the next one. Um. Resistance. We're coming. This is a final boss. Resilience. Yes! Good! Woohoo! Take care of your sister. We're Dive. Really, really sad part here is Rhygan's death. Yeah. I'm gonna be honest, Sarah's so far. I don't trust her when people die now. Ha ha ha. I'm like, but did you die because even when you show me a body, somebody comes back? Yeah. So, I grieved Rhygan's death. But I totally get through both three. I'm like, is he dead? Kenna Silver, a warber ribbon, come down and strike him. Who's to say? I'm still hopeful. So, Rhygan dies though and it is really sad to read. He doesn't fly up to sky. He doesn't have the energy. He doesn't want to leave Khan. And instead, he wraps Khan in his wings and he seems to solidify in the snow the way he would have up in the sky. And he leaves a little peak in his holding of Khan so Khan can look up. And Khan, I think, thinks he's dying at that point as well. And this is the quote. "Something shifts above. A piked shadow so big, I'd almost mistake it for Rhygan's spirit, soaring skyward. We're not for the silver scales glinting from the light of the scattered moon shards. A mighty roar cleaves the silence before a gentle darkness takes me." Listeners, I think that this is Grim on his silver sabersight. Mmm. We know that he was flying south after he gets on the sabersight back. Yeah. And it says, "We're not for the silver scales glinting from the light." Silver. The only other silver dragon that we are aware of. And also the fact that it's a giant shadow that almost reminds him of Rhygan. It's literally called the giant silver sabersight. Yeah. So to me, I think this is Grim. Also, that allows us maybe some thought that we could bring Rhygan back because of the silver ribbon attached to Grim. So, yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. We'll see. But yes, he is rescued. And it's really hard to read. Khan is prepared to die there with Rhygan. And they are both preparing themselves to die. And they're just feeling guilty that Rhygan is not able to go up to the sky and that they're going to do it together. And it's really so devastating to read. I was never actually scared the commas going to die here. I was like, "There's no way we've done all this. And we're not going to get to see him be a dad." No. But I did think that at first read, this was leery saving them for some reason. I actually did too. I think that I was confused with the silver. And I know she's more opalescent. But I do think that Grim makes sense. Really quickly, something that struck me on both reads is that when Rhygan is dying and Khan is wrapped in his wings, Khan just seems to be okay with going into the afterworld. He's not like, "I need to fight to be with my daughter and Rave." I don't know if it's just because Rhygan in a way that they're bonded is so intense. It's almost like you can't live without the other one. That pain we see Grim is in a very dark place, all of book one, after his dragon's death. So I don't know if that's just simply the issue is the way you bond, it changes you. I was like, "K, Khan, let's not go bye bye yet." Right, let's fight a little harder. That to me spoke to how dire his wounds were. Yes. That is what made me think, "Oh, he doesn't have time to get to a healer." He's not doing well. We're going to die, you know? Got it. That's probably what it was. We'll go with that one. Let's move along here. Pretty much as I said, the Michigan and the Fate Herder show up to help Vaya and Kaisari escape. And Mungsdoray Shorter, they end up outside in the snow on this rocky cliff. And Unau, our cutie little Michigan, tells Vaya, "We better go hide, because the god of ethers about to be unleashed once they remove the iron shackles from Kaisari." And Vaya's like, "No, I've got this." No, you don't, sweetheart. Kale shows up and it's because Hurricane Force wins and Vaya is thrown about to just like, "Oh, I see what you meant. Now you could have been clearer, Unau." Yeah. But basically, here is how this is described, a striking otherworldly male draped in a silver cloak that's frayed at the hymn. Pinnat, gusting with the pulsating waves, he boasts a swath of pitch black hair, ebony skin, and startling silver eyes that glint like distant suns. A light with equal amounts of fury and devotion. They sweep over Kaisari inspecting every bruise, cut, and speck of dirt she's marred with. Silver ribbons continue to sketch out the shape of him as with the gentleness of a rising aurora. He eases Kaisari into his arms, his mouth also moving in silent verses. We're singing, we're singing. Words I can't hear, but can feel etching against my skin like runes. He curls his arms, brushing her limp body against his braille chest in such a way that I picture bolder hugging rain, trying to keep her in one piece. Even though it's hopeless. An ooz of silver light seeps from the being into Kaisari's mini wounds and eye gasp looking up, meet those unbridled silver eyes. Guys, if you are not watching this video on Patreon or on YouTube, you are missing out. Anna is losing her mind while I read that quote about theories here. Okay, it's true there's a lot to unpack. But just to finish the section, I saw realizing it's all in vain because amidst the heavy gloom the two have shifted. Kaisari's no longer limp lifeless and crushed against the male's chest. No, she's on her feet with her hands flat on his chest, her white hair billowing her skin unblemished and lit with a healthy luminous glow. So all this talk of silver breathing life back into Kaisari, she is healed. And not only that she's glowing, she has risen. She's luminous. It is Easter, she has risen. So is Kaisari now like Slotra? Is she gonna have some otherworldly kind of power? I don't know if she's gonna have otherworldly power, but similar to how when Ellowin dies and Slotra brings her up to the sky and she threads a silvery thread into the mortal wound that Tyruf gives her, I think that is very similar to what happens here. Yes, this silver thread is life giving force. Yes. I would bet everything on that. I think that is what's happening and I think then whether or not Kaisari and Raive can share that life force with others, I don't know. We know Slotra can, we've seen her do it. That's very interesting. What's interesting is that the giant saber-siphed did not do it for her young. Well, she couldn't yet, right? No, she was already silver. She's already been struck by the silver Aurora ribbons. That was my understanding. And her tail just flickers along it as they're going through because the silver Aurora ribbons say that they gifted it to her. I was a plea and then she accepted it phases ago. Oh, I thought that was current. Okay, I understand. That was my understanding because that's why she's the giant silver saber-siphed. She has this in her already. Okay. Hmm, interesting. And then this is Vea. Still singing. Kaisari melts into the embrace looking more at ease than I've ever seen her more at home. And I realize how stupid I was to doubt her when she told me her heart already belonged to a creator. It all makes perfect sense now. This is him, the god of ether, two perfect parts of a hole. I'm so enraptured, breathless from the blunt force of their catastrophic love. Wow. That I don't notice some of the moons jiggling from their lofty purchase and plummeting toward the snow-covered plains until the first one strikes. Yup. Wow, there's a lot here. One, the moons are falling. Two, the perfect parts of a hole. Hmm, and their catastrophic love is very telling language. Also, we're singing. We're so much singing and silver, there's so much going on in this little section. The fact that first of all, Kais is somehow able to come out of the stone. And that doesn't seem to have ever happened before. I don't know if that just has to do with through love all as possible. And he is coming out of the stone because Kaisari is who Kaisari is and she's able to sing his elemental song and nobody else can. And I just am very curious to get into this more in book three because there's not a lot we can go off of here. But it is very interesting and I am nervous about this catastrophic love if the prophecy of the Kalu and Kaisari is the daughter of the Kalu. If somehow the way that we tether the moons permanently to the sky is that Kaisari has to tether herself with Kaisari somehow. and tether herself to the sky. - Because then there would be whole. - That's what I wonder. - I do think it's interesting the note that he has come out of the ether stone and I think the fact that we haven't seen him out of the ether stone, he comes out of the ether stone to save her life. - Yeah. - Because that to him is worth anything. But I think that happening at the same time that the moons are falling, to me means that him being out of the ether stone is why the moons are falling. - Oh yeah, for sure. - And therefore that's why they're a catastrophic love because she's gonna die. - They can't be together. - And so he was like, well then nothing else matters. I will come out untethered the moons to save her. That's what's gonna keep happening. - I agree. I think that's what catastrophic love means that there's no way for them to be together without the world ending. - Yeah. - And I think what that means though, is that possibly the only way they can be together is almost like her unbinding herself in this human form and having to like bind herself to him and like telling themselves, that's what I am worried is going to happen. - Interesting. - Or to make him whole somehow. The ribbons are trying to make other things whole to then make him whole. There's something there with making things whole. - He's always been this empty space is what it's described. - Yeah. - And so I am really curious and he's made of stars. His skin is almost like a milky way is described. Is the way I thought of it. - But here it's almost like he is very tangible. Like they are holding each other, you know? - They are, but his skin is like a moving star of stars. - Oh, interesting. - He's not physical the way Kaisari is. He's not flesh and bone. - Ah. - I'm like, but could he, is there a way to bind him into a human form? That would be really interesting. We're gonna have to see it go one way or the other, I think. - So one of the other really impactful, important things here at the end, right in this section is Kaisari and Raive. - Yes. - Raive now has all the knowledge of the diary and everything from her past and she does what we said. She goes to get her daughter and this is what's happening. She escapes with the fighting pits and she follows the trail that Uno, actually the Michigan left very cleverly behind and she follows out and she comes into the hurricane force winds. Veia is holding onto a rock and she sees her daughter. She's in the embrace of this unknown otherworldly man and Raive's initial reaction is an overprotectiveness like who is this person holding my child? And then it goes, and I realize quite suddenly that our daughter found her great love before we even found her that in the time I've been gone or lost in the unknowing, in the time Khan has spent believing Kaisari is the daughter of his brother, she's outgrown her youth. We missed it every little bit. That line as a parent, there's a couple worst fears I have with my kids, but the idea that I would miss out on things with them that I won't be here to experience it is honestly unfathomable. - I mean, I was sobbing for like an hour because I had a real family thing I had to do for my grandmother and I missed muffins with mom. I cannot imagine this idea that she just missed all of it. And in that moment she realizes that we missed it every little bit. That was so well crafted to stab us in the heart and it was effective, Sarah. My God. - I'm gonna read some of these quotes together because it's really important and beautifully well done and it's also the first moment that we see Raive be able to approach her daughter. So she's trying to make her way slowly to Kayless but it's the winds and everything and Kayless is very protective of Kaisari at this time. She says, "It's like being unpackaged from a box, "everything lifted, peered through, bound in a soft cloth "and set back down again and although I should feel "intruded on, too seen, neither of those feelings come "because as he's reading me, he's also feeding me "verses of himself, of aloneliness, "more endless than the sky, "of a crushing, missing, hacking pain, "like nothing I thought imaginable." And if you guys remember in the prologue from Book One, Kayless has always felt unseen. He's always felt alone and for various reasons, the other creators bound him into the Aetherstone because they blame him for the first moonfall that happened millennia ago. And he's just always been lonely and I think that's why when Kaisari screams, it says it was a scream of loneliness, of feeling all utterly alone and with no power. And that's why Kayless answers her call. And that's why I think what they bond over. One of the things. - Yeah. - So when she finally gets to Kayless, she says, "I dip my head in silent gratitude "but don't let the moment linger, "fearing that if I do, he'll change his mind, "decide I'm unworthy and toss me off the mountain." And then she walks up into Kaisari's arms. She gasps, tipping her head to look at me, startling blue eyes that catch my heart and cradle it, hauling a whimper up my throat. She stops singing, stops breathing. Doesn't so much as blink as Kayless plumes back into the stone eradicating the strange clamor. God, it's so beautiful. Despite it, I hold her with every ounce of my being, one hand flat against her shoulders, the other coming up to touch the side of her face, mended, healthy alive. And then Kaisari goes, "You're here." She croaks. Oh, oh my God, that's so great. I was searching my eyes with such frenzy. I'm sure she's hunting for something in them. I just wish I knew what, wish I knew her tells and quirks anything about her. You came, she says. Oh, God. I open my mouth, close it, struggle to find the right words to speak to this beautiful, grown female who's looking at me like I shaped the world, hand in hand with the creators. I didn't. All she had for me is a lark telling her to shore up when she no doubt needed me the most. And then she takes Khan's malmer and she puts it around Kaisari's neck. And she has this inner monologue where she's like, she's grown and we missed it, we missed it all. And all she says back is, "I wish I got here sooner." And then Kaisari falls and she catches her and she like creedles her. Yeah, wow. It's so beautiful and so impactful and gorgeously written. And I love this understanding moment between Kaelis and Raive. I think that was so interesting and so well done. And tells us a little bit about Kaelis, the character and his protectiveness and his ability with people to sense their intentions almost. Yeah. It was really beautiful and I loved this moment from Raive. And that he trusted Raive. And that first part of the quote that I read he's looking into her and she says he's unpacking me. He is making sure I'm worthy of my daughter. Yes. Because I wasn't here. I didn't know she existed but I still wasn't here. Yes. And he was and now he said, okay. Yeah. That's really, really beautiful. One quick note before Christina walks us through this final elo and diary entry is Raive makes this note towards the very end of the book about the Aetherstone. And she says it's supposed to be some great honor to guard the Aetherstone but I can't shake the feeling that this is no honor at all. But despite everything I saw atop that mountain bearing the diadem's weight is somehow hurting her. I tried to move the feeling aside but it continues to gnaw. Yeah. And I really think this is foreshadowing something again with Kaelis in book three. And where we are possibly going with the Aetherstone and the god of Aether and Kaelis and all of that. So I'm excited. I totally agree and I think that's important and gonna be interesting to unpack here. This idea that she's like, I have to get this off my daughter. This is a parasite on her. What are we doing? Yeah. But also she loves the man in it. So it's very complicated. "Kasintehtja artesaanituotteita" "myyven jaui lahia kaupan perustaja". "Valitsin Shopify" "Koska alusto ja testa testa" "Ni totesin sen ehdottomasti yhdeksi helpokäyttöisimmistä alustoista". "Minulo oli tärkeä pohtia kehittymistä me tulevaisuudessa". "Kai ki myyntiin tarvittava työkalut, kuten varaston suunnittelu, ovat kättevästi dashboardissa". "Aloita ilmainen kokeilu Shopify piste komsi vustolla". Hey, one shot to the end. No. "Mi hemmennöt sitten laitannata öliyyyy". "Rapatsin korkin mikä on sida muutturin päällä". "Tarki sitko mikä visko sitte etti sulla on". "Ehm, mä vial visko not to tämihinkä". "Reku sisetta mitä sinä puullosta lukee". "Ei, täst loi moda gu extra virgin". "Ota sku mäkin tu käymään". "Helpa me te etti kuis sanot". "Motonet". "Montu pit, motonet". Okay, and then full circle with this diary you guys. We get "Eloon's Diary" again. Now, this is so beautiful. It's so well done. "Rave is lying between Kahn and Kaisari". They are both healed. They're next to her. And she has a moment with Slaatra. Anna, you had talked about this earlier kind of pinning this idea that in the fighting pits when Slaatra had said, "Tell her I'm waiting for her". This was your call out that you think that this is what she meant. Yeah, I think what she meant wasn't a final goodbye. When I first read that, that's what I thought. But I think it was her saying, "I'm waiting for her in that she's about to be ready to face some of the darker memories". And I'll be there. And I'm ready to walk her through them and to show her the final moments of her life. And I think that's what this is. And that's what Rave does here is she goes to Slaatra and she says, "I'm ready. Let's do it". And it's beautiful. It's a gift for a gift. And she realized that Slaatra's showing her the moment she met her daughter. We all finally learned the truth that Tyra did use the blood lace and he knew that Kaisari was not his daughter. And he knew that if the news ever got out that he would lose claim to his throne. And so he does stab and kill Eloen/Rave. And we also learn that Kaisari is the middle name of Eloen's mother. And we get this quote that again is so heartbreaking, absolutely utterly gut-wrenching where Eloen in this moment realizes, "Then I realize I never told Kaisari I love her and my soul shatters like a fallen moon. My heartstrings from Oh God. I hate that. So we see Slotcher collect Ellowyn's body, fly her up to the sky to perch as a moon, and then this quote is incredibly important. Except she doesn't give herself to death. Instead, she unbinds that silver ribbon, tangled through the fibers of her soul, gently unwinds every loose thread until it's a restless spool, surging with the very essence of existence. Then she shifts it from behind her ribs, plants it deep in Ellowyn's chest, though it disappears swallowed by the terminal chasm within her precious little one. She finds quiet peace in the hope that it will take root, that it will grow and surge and pulse with life. So Ellowyn has the chance to come back to her own precious little one. So she has the chance to tell her that she loves her. We can't wait to unpack that in a minute. Wow, wow, wow, so that happens. Rave wakes up from this memory and she thinks Ty Rothfegor murdered me. Ripped my newborn daughter from my breast planted the diadem on her brow, a burden that belonged to me. There is not a force in this world that's great enough for him to hide behind. I will have vengeance for Khan, for Khaizari, for Slotcher and for my fucking self. Yes. I love this. God, what a good way to end the book. Woo, what a final great quote for the book. It's so good. Well, we then have the ablog, but this is the final moment with Rave and wow, what a beautiful way to end it with Rave. And just bringing all of the history of Ellowyn, but into her as Rave and the bad Assyrian, getting that revenge in book three. Wow, it's going to be amazing. All right, so we have finally reached the part where we are going to go through our silver ribbon chapter and theory. I know the book is technically ended at this point. But we needed to save it for the end because we needed to get through all of the silver bits. And there's so much silver. We have the silver chapter. It's literally, I think, like a page long in the book. It is so short. Remember, this is from the POV of the silver Aurora ribbon. Yes. An inanimate, yet living object, very interesting. So in the silver's ribbons POV, it says, the saber's life doesn't jolt or even so much a slash her tail at its presence, already so innately familiar. For it was she who the ribbon gave some of itself to so many phases ago, not that the saber's side seemed to mind. She gleaned the gift for what it was, a plea for help. What that plea is, we're not quite sure, but moving on, the ribbon may be pretty ever orbiting the world that does not spin, helping folk track the passage of time, but it's not there by choice. It's shackled to the sky, for the ribbons were once part of something more, something whole, and threading the many lost pieces of Kayla's back together could not be done without solid entities to do the stitching. The ribbons know that, have been doing their part to make things right, slow going as it is. Okay, so really quick here. We have said, and I feel like this is kind of canon from the prologue, that the silver Aurora ribbons are Kayla's cloak because it was not fully destroyed and the cloak is silver. Yes. In order for Kayla's to be whole again, he has to be sewn back together, but he needs physical entities to do that. Is that somehow also tied to why slotronids are moond to be whole? There's a lot of talks of things being whole. Yeah. Something about this part of something more, something whole, threading many lost pieces back together, but they couldn't do it without solid entities. But then also it's saying that the ribbon was a plea for help. Yeah. It helps stitching us back together. Yeah. I think it's okay for help, and though dragon recognize what that was. And maybe that's what slotron means when she says everything is temporary, once the stitching is done, she won't have access to this life giving force anymore. Is that what it means? I don't know. Everything is temporary until this endeavor is complete. But then does that mean if you're touched by silver and you're a solid entity that is helping them become whole, then you also disappear when Kayla's becomes whole? I don't even know if it means you disappear. Because what Kayla's wants more than anything is to not feel lonely. Right. Is him possibly weaving parts of himself into physical entities his way of not feeling alone so that when he is stitched back together, maybe there are parts of him that live in other things because he's jealous of the fact that everybody can see rain, physically feel rain and see bolder and the five senses are involved with all of the other creators, but not him. Okay. Yeah. And I don't know if there's like a part of him that has always missed that. I like that. And if maybe the physical entities can live outside of him, if he is stitched back together, he can be incorporated into this. He won't be alone. I like that theory. I think that makes sense. I think there's still something about the giving life and the humming and the thing that I just don't understand. Yes. But I do agree that that makes sense to me when we think about the prologue and book one, especially. And the last sentence of the Silver's POV chapter, it says, "The Silver Ribbon hopes Grim understands, if not now, then eventually, that everything has a place, a purpose, and some things they were always meant to be." It's just real big. Also, the Silver Ribbon hopes Grim understands, makes me feel like something's going to happen to Grim. He doesn't want to happen. I hope he understands. Yeah. That feels negative. I don't know if this is important, but Grim has white hair. His eyes are considered like shards of ice, which to me is blue. He's very oddly similarly described as Kaisari. Yeah. So I don't know if he's a member of the Nevin line and from the shade. And we didn't know it or something. Oh, interesting. Okay. Oh. Hmm. No. I was going to say, would he rather eat their stone? Oh, maybe. I don't know. But anyways, but I want to quickly run through things that are silver. Okay. Great. There's a lot. So two silver moon plume, Slotra and Alum. There's also the silver saber-cyth, which Grim is now riding. Slotra turns silver when the Aurora Ribbon splashed against her, quote, "casting her hide silver." That was done. I don't know how old dragons are, but very, very long ago. Yes. In another POV flashback, it says, "Not for the first time, she considers that Silver Ribbon that splashed against her all those rises ago, both a bounty and a curse to be bonded with the ebb and flow of a fate." The flies in one direction never slowing. Because these opportunities are precious view and they won't always fit together as they do right now. Yes. Nor they always have each other, but they do have this moment, this now. And so the other binds tight. Again, this whole talk of temporary and that things are fleeting. This is when Ellowyn is still alive and she's young. And if this is just the other somehow having foresight, that she won't be able to hug Ellowyn the way she does right now, because maybe she knows the future. She could change and that she might not have Ellowyn the way she does right now. I don't know. The book of white. Rowan says that the book of white melted into a "cloud of silver particles" and then prowled out the door. Okay? Then we have this quote about the book of white. That silver sheen coils around the black plinth in the center of the room as if the fate herder just talked around itself and readyed for slumber. Except it doesn't appear instead a small silver book, no bigger than my hand, manifest into existence. Thicker than the height of my thumb, then it says this about the book of white. It's bound by a black belt hooked in place by an urgent saber longer than my finger, blended at the tip, a saber my eyes narrow on. I'm sure I've seen teeth like that before. Now, "Argent" is another word for silver. So the book of white is silver. It's held like a lock by a saber tooth. Yes. Slotra has a silver saber tooth in her icy lake. Oh, right! That rave sees when she's down in the very first POV chapter in the beginning of the book. Yes. So I don't know how one of Slotra's teeth ended up bound around the book. Do they lose their teeth like humans do? I don't know. It's very interesting, though. There's a lot of silver. Also, we can't forget what Sarah said to you in our interview. I asked her, "Am I going kuku for crazy puffs over the silver thing?" and she goes, "No. You can plant your flag on the hill." Is what she said. So, let the spirals continue. We don't know what it means, but we know it's important. So really quickly, the last thing about this silver is that in Pyrox POV, he notes that "S.E. is studying a bunch of rocks." And I want to read this quote, "A lump of glittery black stone catches my eye. Split in half. It's core a marble of swirling silver, like it's liquid, but not." Now, this is really important in the first prologue of book one. What it says is, "Minsing Kaelis's essence into pieces small enough to trap in a cage of ebony crystal." That is what the etherstone is. Ebony crystal crystal sparkles. And here she is studying a glittery black stone. Oh my god. And he's trapped in an ebony crystal. And we know S.E. is obsessed with the book of void. Kaelis supposedly wrote the book of void. I'm just saying I think S.E. is onto something that we don't even know about yet. S.E. is going to figure it out. Wow. I'm really excited to like discuss more of silver, and maybe we'll do another theory's episode of book three, or. Yes. When book three comes out, but we are on silver watch. From here on out. Oh my gosh. Absolutely. Last quick thing to run through here is the epilogue where. Surprise, surprise! It's from Syriemes POV. I hated this. I was not expecting it. And at this point I was like, I have so much in my brain I'm ready to work through Sarah. I don't understand what to do with this. The main takeaways for me were Arkyn being turned into an Elding bird. And Haydien is back. So Haydien is back. It's literally a blip of a sentence. And it says just like the Michigan foretold, she knew she had to be there. We do know that his moon fell. I'm thinking because she's having to dig him out of snow. And the fact that it seems like Haydien has been walking for quite a ways that this is maybe a couple days later. Oh, because he's already wrapped in a cloak. How did he go? get a cloak he would have just fallen. I think he's been walking a little bit. Oh interesting. So I just wanted to note that just timing-wise. I don't know if that means anything when we get the next book. A couple other things is the Elding Bird, the female, is dead dead I think. She says she purposely does not light her on fire. She's like ensuring that she does not rise from the ashes is the direct quote. Yes. So then she cuts off a piece of Arkins finger and blood binds it. She puts it into a stopper that she wears around her neck just like she did for rave. So she says it better safe than sorry. I think she wants to make sure that no matter what she controls Arkins. Yep. She literally says there is no fury like a female scorn. She is pissed. Yep. She keeps calling him like a piece of shit. She tosses a wield on top of Arkins body and it erupts into hissing spinning fire. Oh god. It says Serine watches him burn from a safe distance away for the wonder that re-gifted Arkins life so many phases ago to grip him by the throat and transform him into something that will never turn on her again. Yep. And she talks about having other worldly devotion exactly like she deserves. And then out of the flames begin to ride and surge, thrashing with a hatch of ruddy, ruddy means red, ruddy gold-tipped plumage that makes the male's eyes bulge like Hades and Seas is happening. So that's a fire. Bird. So Arkins turning into an elding bird. He's an elding bird. Yeah. But his head was taken from his body off of his body. Is there like a timeframe here? How soon do you need to get to the body? Turns out you don't need to have your head attached to be turned back in Genlead Bird. So pretty much what she's saying is that when the elding bird brought him back to life or saved him. Yeah. He has since then had the elding bird gene in him. But he just hasn't been set on fire yet. And so now that he's set on fire, he's becoming an elding bird. Yeah. So that to me means did his elding bird that saved him, that woman that just laid down and died next to him. Did she give him her blood the same way? I see he gave pyrock her blood. Therefore, pyrock isn't going to be an elding bird unless he set on fire. The same way that Arkins wasn't an elding bird until he was set on fire. There's so many different ways we could do this, right? Pyrox at death store. Does that mean that if you're at death store and you're given the life force of an elding bird and then you're lit on fire, right? I mean, I don't think she's going to light him on fire while he's alive. So then he won't turn into a bird until the next time he dies. And till he's lit on fire, right? Yeah. Yeah. So we're just waiting around for people to die and then you get turned into a bird. Like Essie. Yeah. So then maybe the first time you shift, then you're able to shift back and forth, willy nilly. Right. Like Essie. That would be interesting. I like that. And this could go toward my theory from last week of the devotion because she is saying that she's setting Arkins on fire. Therefore, he's going to be devoted to her. She could also mean the blood bind. But if it's the person who sets you ablaze, that is rave to Essie. You control, which is maybe why all the elding birds wanted to escape back into the book of void and why they were hunted to extinction. It's like a genie in a bottle. Yeah. But if you're the person who lights them on flame, then you're the one that gets to control them. Oh, you're right. So then does that mean rave controls Essie? I don't know if it's control. It's like devotion is the word, right? It always struck me strangely, the smelling and the frenzy about rave that Essie has. In a way that does feel like devotion. Yeah. Very interesting. So much to unpack. This was so fun. Wow. What a journey. And thank you for being on it with us. Yeah. Really, thank you all so much. This wraps up our Ballad of Falling Dragons coverage. It has been a whirlwind. It really has. And if you haven't already, if you've dressed finishing the book, please go listen to our interview with Sarah Aparker. She was an absolute delight. And it was so fun to kind of pick her brain about how she created this book, the story, the characters and the reveals. It was just wonderful to talk to her. And with that, we'll see you next time. Cheers. Happy reading. Bye. Bye. Well, friends, that wraps up another episode of Flight of Fantasy podcast. Don't forget to join our book club community on Instagram and TikTok at Flight of Fantasy podcast, where you can share your thoughts, theories and favorite moments with us and fellow listeners. We'd love to hear from you. If you enjoyed today's episode, please write and review us on your favorite podcast platform. Your support helps us spread the magic of romanticity to even more book lovers. Until next time, keep dreaming, keep reading and remember, every good story deserves to take flight. Olen Schennen-Maldonado. Käsintehtüja artessaanituotteita myüven jaui-lachakaupanperustaja. Valitsin Shopify, because of the development and testing, was a very important piece of information to the development. I was also interested in the development of the book and the development of the book. Every week, I was able to find a way to make it happen, as the story was published in the dashboard. The company's company, the company's company, is also in the form of a commercial company. I was also interested in the development and testing. Every week, I was able to find a way to make it happen, as the company's company, the company's company, is also in the dashboard. I'm looking forward to the new company's company's company.