Ep 4 Heat of the Everflame: Chapters 32-41

Summary

---

Fantasy Fangirls: Heat of the Everflame Deep Dive

Episode 4: Chapters 32–41
Hosts: Nicole & Lexi
Date: August 18, 2025
Currently covering: Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole
Spoilers through the end of Heat of the Everflame and previous series books

---

Episode Overview

In this epic, lore-rich episode, sisters Nicole and Lexi dissect chapters 32 through 41 of Penn Cole’s Heat of the Everflame. This stretch is packed with pivotal plot twists: the palace of Umbros, the reveal and impact of the Queen Yersel, an unforgettable library lore dump, and the emotional climax of the Luther-DM arc. The hosts provide detailed summaries, explore deep character motivations, unravel ancient world lore, and build wild and thoughtful theories about where the series is going. This episode is particularly notable for its sophisticated analysis of prophecy, politics, and the philosophy of power and sacrifice in the Kindred's Curse Saga.

---

Key Sections

[03:36] Royal Advisors: Chapter Summaries & Critical Plot Points

• Chapter 32–41 Quick Recap (Nicole, 06:50—13:47)
  • The party ascends (on foot!) to the decadent palace of Umbros, a place of excess governed by mind-magic and pleasure.
  • The group is coerced to stay by Queen Yersel, who wields her political power and vote in life-or-death matters.
  • DM navigates treacherous politics and romantic strife, most notably around Luther’s deteriorating state—kept secret until he’s literally on death’s door.
  • The highlight: access to Yersel’s library, where DM uncovers game-changing truths from ancient diaries and forbidden tomes.
  • A climactic, magical escape involves Gryvern battles, the unleashing of DM’s multifaceted powers, and Yersel’s ominous warnings.

“If you can smoke it, drink it or fuck it, you’ll find it here.” —Nicole (07:01)

• Major Themes:
  • Betrayal, loyalty, and the politics of survival (Zaleric’s betrayal, Yersel’s carrot-and-stick approach)
  • The cost of leadership and the heavy burden of choice for DM
  • Romantic devastation, misunderstandings, and unconditional trust (DM & Luther)
  • Ancient knowledge vs. censorship: how history shapes present struggles

[13:47] Forging Magic: Insights, Analysis, and Theories

The Queen of Umbros, Mind-Magic, and Power

• Queen Yersel’s Psychology and Magic ([21:07], [25:13])
  • Yersel is ruthless, wielding mind-magic both as power-flex and cultural norm.
  • In Umbros, mind-violation is normalized; outsiders, especially DM, are unsettled.
  • The episode covers the tension between societal consent, power, and violation.
  • Yersel sees DM as an equal and possibly a successor: “Only Diem can call her Yersel because they are equals.” —Lexi (25:13)

Politics, Prophecy, and Sacrifice

• High-Stakes Political Chessboard ([26:57], [29:21])

  • The fate of mortals and DM’s mother Aurelie rests on Yersel’s continued support—held hostage for DM’s cooperation.
  • “She wants Diem to stay at the Ambrose palace for three days. She’s got a lot to talk to her about, after all. And if Diem declines this offer? Oh well, Yersel might just consider changing her vote on Aurelie’s life.” —Nicole (28:46)

• Prophecy Breakdown & The Cost of Change ([39:27–42:57], [46:14–48:59])

  • The “Daughter of the Forgotten” prophecy is reevaluated: it may refer both to DM’s forgotten bloodline (Kindred and ancient mortals) and the legacy of Omnos/Ophiuchai.
  • Key Question: Can DM kill, not just die, for a new future?
  • “Dying is the easy shit. Anyone can die. But can Diem kill?” —Nicole (46:46)

Romance: Luther, Trust, and Tragedy

• The DM–Luther relationship is tested to the limit ([32:07], [101:31])
  • Misunderstandings engineered by palace schemers blur the lines between betrayal and survival.
  • Luther finally reveals his Godstone wound—far too late—and DM’s resolve to heal him shines.
  • “She trusts him wholeheartedly… love is about trust. And she’s telling him that she’s willing to stand in that trust, even though she doesn’t understand all for him.” —Nicole (151:23)

The Lore Bomb: Yersel’s Library

• Stained Glass and Symbolism ([55:11–60:36])

  • Nicole and Lexi theorize on the panels: are they chronicles of mortal wars, Kindred history, or glimpses of a deeper ancient faith?
  • “There are a few ways we can interpret the stained glass mural… The top panel above the other two—showing the Everflame with a red-haired man… No matter what happens on Amarian, even with the Kindreds arrival, the Everflame lives on.” —Lexi (57:16)
  • Red-haired mystery man: Pen Cole confirms he is crucial to learning about the old mortal religion (60:09).

• Diary of Montios ([75:09–96:12])

  • Reveals the Kindred’s tragic attempt: they tried to grant immortality to their mortal lovers, but instead sacrificed their own to age and die together.
  • The forging spell, Omnos’ refusal, and hints at the Kindred’s curse and the roots of the world’s oppressive systems.
  • “The Kindred tried to give their mortal lovers eternity… And they were willing to pay the highest price.” —Lexi (82:26)
  • Juicy, ripped-out pages possibly hold secrets about Omnos and the Kindreds’ mother.

Historical Parallels & Power of Knowledge

• “Don’t forget why they banned these books for mortals in the first place. Because an education is the most powerful weapon of them all.” —Yersel to DM (approx. 51:57)
  • The episode connects historical censorship in Omarion to our own world, examining propaganda, erasure of cultural identity, and the dangers—and hope—of knowing your history (54:59–62:29).

[110:01, 114:28] The Dinner Table & Psychic Games

• The chaotic centenaries’ dinner:
  • Ridiculous number of guests (100+), games of truth-or-die, mind-readers everywhere.
  • Mirror game exposes suppressed feelings (Taryn & Zaleric!), DM’s self-doubt, Alix’s fierce loyalty.
  • “The palace is burning and you can only save one other person—who do you choose?” This question, and DM’s answer (“I would try to save them all or die trying.”), foreshadows the moral crux of the next book, Burn.

[159:37–179:29] Escape, Battle, and the Cost of Choices

• Ingenious Gryvern escape sequence: magical illusions, wind and ice powers, desperate bargains.
• DM uses new powers from multiple Kindred lineages, embracing her “otherness” for the sake of those she loves.
• DM is forced to confront the question of sacrifice: is it possible to save all, or do hard choices have to be made?
• DM’s self-sacrificial streak directly mirrors what Yersel earlier warned would be her personal undoing.

[188:41] Sophos Library: Blood War Deep Dive

• The Blood War—defining tragedy of Amarian history ([188:56–196:00]):
  • Mortals vs. Descended, the battle for equality and survival.
  • Bloodlines, magic, political reforms, and lingering scars on society.
  • Aftermath: purity laws, erased histories, destruction of old gods’ legacies.

---

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• On Mind-Magic & Power Dynamics:
  “In Umbros, especially among the centenaries, they don’t see anything wrong with this mind magic… They play games with each other that are, in their minds, harmless. They have no problem searching the minds of everyone, or making someone stab themselves in the neck.” —Lexi (23:33)

• On the Weight of Ancient Lies:
  “Knowledge is power… In a world like Omarion, much of the mortals’ history has been banned, burned, or erased as a way to control what the mortals can think, what they can believe, what they can question.” —Nicole (51:57)

• On the Cost of Sacrifice:
  “Dying is the easy shit. Anyone can die. But can Diem kill?” —Nicole (46:46)

• Character Philosophy:
  “She always tries to find another way. And maybe Yersel is like, okay, we do need that… out-of-the-box thinking.” —Lexi (133:11)

• On Hidden Histories:
  “What if the old gods and the Kindred's gods are the same gods, but the Kindred and Descended erased that part of history to make their religion more front and center, as a way of controlling the people?” —Nicole (63:35)

• Romantic Devastation:
  “So keep your secrets, push me away if that is what you need. When you’re ready, I’ll still be here.” —Nicole (151:23)

---

Memorable & Impactful Moments

• [44:11, 60:09, 180:50] — Author Pen Cole Voice Memos:
  Direct insights into the lore and origin of critical lore details, such as the red-haired man and the absence of dragons.

• Taryn & Zaleric’s Triumphs and Turmoil:
  The hosts draw out the full emotional impact of their strained, secretive romance, made visible by the centenaries’ games and magical truth detection.

• The Epic Battle Escape:
  Nicole’s animated play-by-play brings climactic drama: “Struggling to hold on, DM throws out another plea… a blinding light fills the sky. Then, by a wave of sweltering heat… Yersel and her gryvern are dropping… burning as a bright, roaring lavender flame coats them.” ([176:06])

• Sophos Library & The Blood War:
  Lexi gives an authoritative, clear summary of the war's history, nuanced impacts, and the ripple effects still felt by the characters and world ([188:56]).

---

Running Theories & Foreshadowing

• The “Daughter of the Forgotten” likely refers both to the Kindred’s curse (Omnos/Ophiuchai) and to the lost mortal line, with DM embodying both legacies ([40:42], [72:25]).
• The Everflame and its connection to DM’s unique powers—could she be both the Kindred’s hope and the ancient religion’s prophesied savior? ([72:25], [136:03])
• Speculation on the final cost for DM: will she have to kill someone she loves, or become her own greatest adversary as Yersel warned?
• The future of the realms: will the current structure collapse in favor of something radically new?

---

Final Reflections & Favorite Moments

• Lexi:
  “There are so many great Zaleric moments… he pledges her his loyalty and picks up on her hesitancy, giving her a little wink and excuse to depart the conversation. I just love him so much.”
• Nicole:
  “What an underrated character. Oh, [Alix]'s so good. Of course, everything about DM and Sarai’s reunion… I missed this gryvern so much.”
• On humor amidst pain:
  “I just can’t help but giggle at all the Luther growling in the background… Henry Cavill needs to play every fantasy man ever. That is my hot take.” —Lexi & Nicole, [196:10]

---

Next Time & Resources

• Next Ep: September 1st, covering Heat chapters 42–55: Returning to Lumnos, curing Luther, and facing the king of Fortos—plus the last “Henry Hat” segment.
• Bonus: Shrek Deep Dive next Monday!

---

Support, Subscribe, and Engage

• Fan club info, event appearances, merch links, and exclusive content at fantasyfangirls.com/fanclub.
• Socials: @fantasyfangirlspod (Instagram/TikTok), battle reenactments & episodes on YouTube.

“Who will live and who will burn?”
—A question for DM, the episode, and all listeners until the finale!

Transcript

[Nicole]

I finally committed to getting back in.

[Lexi]

Shape, Hit the gym, ate clean, did everything right. But after two days I felt drained. My body just couldn't keep up. That's when I found Stem Regen. It supports the release of my own stem cells to repair, recover and actually rebuild from the inside out. Now I'm not just working out, I'm bouncing back. I feel stronger, more energized, and more like myself every single day.

[Nicole]

Stem Regen didn't just change my routine.

[Lexi]

It changed my recovery.

[Nicole]

Empower your body to recover from within. Whether you are focused on recovery, longev or just overall wellness, Stem Regen helps your body feel the best.

[Lexi]

It can release the best version of you. Try Stem Regen today at Stemregen co.

[Nicole]

Use code POD25 for 25% off your first order.

[Lexi]

Again, that's stemregen code POD25.

[Nicole]

Acast powers the world's Best Podcasts Here's a show that we recommend.

[Lexi]

With so much uncertainty in the economy, we need to rely on experts we can trust. So Money, hosted by me, Farnoosh Tarabi, is a Webby Award winning podcast now in its 10th year. The new York Times calls it one of the most respected personal finance shows out there. As a financial journalist for more than 20 years and best selling author, let me tell you it is a privilege to produce this show. And whether you want to save more, invest or negotiate a better salary, I've got you covered with fresh episodes three times a week. And here's something extra I'm giving giving away a free money call to one lucky listener every week. A chance for you and I to talk one on one and create a personal plan for your goals. Listen and subscribe to Sew Money wherever you get your podcasts. Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere.

[Nicole]

Acast.com.

[Lexi]

A new season means a wardrobe refresh is coming. I am so ready to break out my fall essentials for Cozy season and Quint nails it with luxe essentials that feel effortless and look polished, perfect for layering and mixing. Their styles are so versatile I find myself reaching for them again and again.

[Nicole]

Think chic cashmere and cotton sweaters Starting at just $40, washable silk tops and classic denim pants. Timeless styles you can always keep coming back to the best part. Everything with Quints is half the cost of similar brands. Between one of my new favorites, which is the Stretch cotton Chino Patch Pocket shorts and my all time favorite favorite pants, all time all time favorite pants which is the Bella Stretch Patch Pocket wide leg jeans. The amount of people I have sent this link to is hilarious.

[Lexi]

Including me.

[Nicole]

Including you.

[Lexi]

Elevate your fall wardrobe essentials with quint. Go to quint.comffg for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q U I N C E.comffg to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quint.comffg.

[Nicole]

Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Fantasy Fangirls podcast where two sisters dive deep into both love it, fantasy lore, characters, themed theories, and more.

[Lexi]

I'm Lexi, older sister and Fantasy lore nerd.

[Nicole]

And I'm Nicole, younger sister and romantic at heart.

[Lexi]

And today is Episode four for Heat of the Everflame by Pen Cole, where we are covering chapters 32 through 41. Before we begin this heat, episode four, please listen closely as always to our spoiler warning because all of these episodes have spoilers for all of book three of the Kindred's Curse Saga, Heat of the Everflame. Yes, that includes the ending.

[Nicole]

We've got a library scene today, friends. It is the reason this episode is so long and we cannot stress this enough for this episode more than ever. If you have not finished this book, if you don't know what happens in the last three chapters, then please go finish the series. We will be here when you're done.

[Lexi]

Next, we of Fantasy Fangirls are adults who say adult things about adult books. In other words, friends, this podcast is rated rich.

[Nicole]

Listen, we're parsing through a Kindred diary today. This is practically Lexi's version of chapter 72, so please be mindful of those little listening ears because my voice is.

[Lexi]

Gonna go up really high from excitement pretty much. Additionally, we are so excited to see you at upcoming live events.

[Nicole]

Next weekend we will be at the Everflame Ball with Pen Cole for the first ever Kindred's Curse Saga Ball on August 30th in Castle Rock, Colorado. I'm so excited.

[Lexi]

We are interviewing Rebecca Ross, author of Divine Rivals and Wild reverence. On September 15th in Denver, Colorado, we.

[Nicole]

Will be back at the Dragon Gauntlet in Boyne City, Michigan, September 12th through 13th.

[Lexi]

Then Romanecy Bookcon in Orlando, Florida, October 23rd through 25th where we are interviewing Rebecca Yarros again at Disney world. And on March 6th through 8th in Dallas, Texas, we will be podcast partners at Dreamers and Readers Festival.

[Nicole]

Check out our website or the links below for more information to all of these events, plus discount codes for some of them as well.

[Lexi]

Last thing before we jump into this heat of The Everflame Episode 4. If you love Fantasy Fangirls and want more events, more content, more community and so much more all around, please check out Fantasy Fan Club.

[Nicole]

We have three membership tiers that you can join. Number one, the Descended, which includes access to our Boppin Discord live Q&As from Lexi and myself, a book club, exclusive author interviews, community events like trivia, promo codes for live events, plus exclusive designs and 20% off all merch that is for $6 a month. Or you can join the Royal Family which includes everything from the Descended level plus early access to ad free episodes. Our full episode outlines if you want this one today, boy it's a good one and you also get special voting privileges, that is for $10 a month. Last but not least, we have the Crowns Council which includes everything from the previous two tiers plus behind the scenes content. A welcome gift giveaway is a private Discord Channel and your name shouted out on the podcast that is for 25amonth.

[Lexi]

Join the party at fantasy fangirls.com fan club. The link is also in the show Notes and as always, thank you so much for supporting us as we've turned this podcast into our livelihood. It is all because of you.

[Nicole]

And now it is time to parse through every single sentence the Great Umbros Queen says in this stretch of chapters.

[Lexi]

To start off every episode, Nicole does us the honor of summarizing this stretch of chapters, so gather round as we consult with our royal advisors to discuss what happens in chapters 32 through 41 of Heat of the Everflame.

[Nicole]

Take it away. Chapter 32 after an endless amount of stares that would give even Nesta, Archeron, ptsd, DM and company finally make it to the top of the Umbros palace and are greeted with room after room of incense, music and moans. That's right folks, the Umbros palace is a one stop shop for all your pleasure needs. If you can smoke it, drink it or or fuck it, you'll find it here. While Taryn and Zal are busy fighting out their sexual frustrations, the Queen of Umbros arrives in her throne room ready to force everyone to submission and have a good old laugh doing so. Talking with the Queen, Doom finds herself in quite the pickle. Not the pickle that's rubbing up against Umbros though. Deam is welcome to stay in the Umbrose palace for a few days and get some answers. But if she declines this offer, well, the Umbrose Queen is going to adjust her vote of the Crowns A vote that would send all Aurelie straight to the gallows. All right, looks like we're staying in Umbros.

[Lexi]

Yay.

[Nicole]

Chapter 33. Chilling in their gilded cage, our crew enjoys a private dinner. Well, almost the whole crew. Luther is too busy hiding out in his room, avoiding the inevitable. Zal gives the group a tldr on the Queen of Umbros and why Zal turned on them. After a long dinner discussion of theories and strategies sounds like an FFG recording. Zellarek pulls DM aside and drops the mother of all questions. Dm, how did you know about the betrayal? Alarm. Alarm. Abort.

[Lexi]

Abort.

[Nicole]

But Zal, seeing the real answer in DMs horrified look, immediately plays the Umbros game. AKA don't ask questions. Chapter 34. After having a heart to heart, Taryn and DM come face to face with Luther and oh boy, he looks awful. But as Luther says. Dm, we need to talk. Oh God, any sentence but that. Luther almost gets to spill the beans about everything. But Simond, the professional walking fucking nuisance arrives. Will somewhat just let Luther redeem himself.

[Lexi]

Please. Please.

[Nicole]

He's taken too many Ls. My heart can't take it anymore. After a costume change, DM finds herself in the dining room. From talks of prophecies, DMs plans for Omarion and how much DM is willing to sacrifice. DM finds herself with more questions for the all knowing Ambrose Queen. But Yersel might have some answers. Where do you ask? In her one and only personal library of the rarest books in Omarion. Chapter 35. A few hours later, DM is still heads down reading as much as she possibly can. The Queen's private library is a gift gold mine of lost mortal history, ancient religion and. What's this? A diary from the kindred that yes, we will be going through line by line. But before DM can keep reading all the juicy, juicy details, Simon shows up and interrupts her again. Seriously, this guy has the worst timing. Speaking of poor timing, DM gets back to their wing just in time to watch two female centenaries leave Luther's chambers talking about how big his eggplant is. Kudos for DM for not just murdering them right then and there. But there's no time to process that shit show because it's off to, you guessed it, the dining room. Throwing back a much needed drink, DM and company watches the Queen and her full squad of a hundred centenaries come swaggering in. Buckle up buttercups. Chapter 36. Once everyone is seated in the dining room, your cell asks the hardest question to date. Wanna play a game? But first, what's a teeny tiny little test between friends with your cell giving the group fun, Flameroot laced aphrodisiac drinks, and Diem, using her newfound Umbro's powers, stops her friends from drinking it? Well, almost. Taryn shot that shit back faster than Luther's rising temper. After several rounds of the worst version of Would you rather the Queen gives Diem a little nugget of info about the war? The next war will be fought over blood. Whose blood? Diem's. Chapter 37 after dinner, the crew is rushed out of the dining room and into a fire hazard. I mean, a pleasure hall with a few centenaries already going at it. You know it's gonna be a good night. When the orgy before dessert's even discussed, Taran idiom retreat for a sulky heart to heart with drinks. But before the two hopeless romantics can drink themselves stupid, your cell crashes their pity party with some totally bopping facts about death and fate. Note from our content researcher, Brooke I was gonna make a joke about how she sounds fun at parties, but then I remembered what's going on around them. Chapter 38 While everyone else stays doing Umbro snows wet, DM is ready to bust Luther's door down. She knocks. No answer. She knocks again. No answer. She knocks a third time. He answers. But maybe he shouldn't have. Cause homeboy be looking like a walking corpse and his room is not faring any better. And it's looking like DIA might actually get some answers. Finally, Psych. Luthor crumples like Nature Valley's crunchy granola bar. But it doesn't end there because he's bleeding, ripping his shirt open. Luther's secret is finally out. He's been wounded since Arboros with Godstone. Insert gasp here. Chapter 39 Everything makes so much more sense now. Why Luther won't let DM touch him. Why he's gotten so pissed that she's risked her own life. Why he has the temper the size of Texas. Calling for Sarai and gathering the others, DM starts hatching a plan. They need to leave now and get back to Lumnos tonight. With everyone packed and ready to go, all that's left to do is wait for Sarai and pray to Mother Lumnos that they can slip out into the night unseen. Chapter 40 Mother Lumnos must be pulling some strings today because the crew makes it to, you guessed it, the dining room with no Issues. But maybe I spoke too soon. Shortly after arriving in the dining room, the umbrose Gryvern lands and scopes out the scene. And they almost get away with it. The umbrous gryvern leaves, so there's not a gryvern fight, and makes way for Sarai to whisk them away. Well, everyone but dm, who stays behind, appearing to be sacrificing herself so the others can save Luther. Surrounded by the queen and her centenaries, DM holds her mental shield strong. But fighting off mental attacks is quite taxing. So taking a page out of the Flying Squirrel's Handbook, D.M. yeets herself off the balcony's edge. Chapter 41. Now she's free. Free falling. Swooping in from above, Sarai grabs DM and they ride off into the sunset with no issues and almost no deaths. Wait, that's just my wishful thinking. Racing off into the sun sky with Yircel hot on their heels, Elixe and Zellerick place an illusion over Sarai. But it's not quite enough. Tapping into her magic, DM thrusts out with two hands, unleashing a stream of ice. Then gusts of wind to aid Sarai. Huh? That's not Lumnos power, is it? Damn. But the queen isn't going to go down that easy. With a perfectly timed attack, Elixes knocked off Sarai and sent hurtling towards the sea. Using her wind magic again, DM is able to stop Elix just in time. But the Queen has one more trick up her sleeve. Reaching into everyone's minds, Yirssel turns the crew against each other. Rayda's DM is about to give up, not seeing any way she can save everyone she cares about. A burst of lavender flames erupts, sending Yirsel and her gryvern dropping like flies. And with the threat gone, it's time to go home to Lumnos.

[Lexi]

Fantastic job there, Nicole. All right, friends, it is time to reach for our forging magic and unravel key insights, character analysis, lore foreshadowing, lots of theories, and so much more. This is the Umbros episode we have been waiting for, because it is time to meet Queen Yersel. Carved into the canyons high above the city sits the palace of Umbros. Oh, and because our crew are foreigners, they are not allowed to use the fancy pulley system to get up to the palace. They are forced to walk an endless amount of spiral stairs to reach the palace. I'm assuming that anyone who lives in Umbros, like you, know how the Queen is the skin market's best customer. Or they get to go up on the pulley.

[Nicole]

That's interesting because I actually figured it was only the centenaries and the Queen who got to use the pulley system. So all the skin market workers and the deliveries or, you know, anything else, they have to go up the stairs. I mean, they're making dm, who's a crown, walk up the stairs.

[Lexi]

But she's also a foreigner. That's what it was saying that all the foreigners have to.

[Nicole]

So I like to think that the.

[Lexi]

Skin market, like, they don't want them to be all super sweaty when they get up there. They want, I mean, like they want them to be sweaty in different ways. They don't want to be tired when they get there.

[Nicole]

That's right. They need that little like power.

[Lexi]

Yes. When it comes to foreigners, I feel like this is part of the Queen's intimidation tactic, leaving them panted and exhausted and not in the fun way by the time they reach the top. Let's check in with our crew with this major change of plans. Capture to be taken to the Queen of Umbros because, yeah, our friends might be going to their deaths right now after, you know, Zalark betrayed them last episode. DM is wary and nervous, but determined to do pretty much anything right now to keep eyes off those around her. Remember, she was ready to let her group leave without her and stay behind to meet with the Queen after she found out about Zellaryk's betrayal. That way the group could still get what they want by going home and DM could get what she wanted by meeting with the Queen and her friends would stay safe. Right? But now they're all in this together. Caught trying to leave unnoticed and going to see the Queen. Luther is number one, pissed off that DM hid the fact that she knew Zeller turned on them. And number two, he's struggling really hard with the fact that he's dying and there is nothing he or anyone else can do about it. And nope, still no one knows about his injury yet except for the centenaries who are subtly taunting him about it while not telling anyone else. Like how Simon claps a hand hard against Luther's hip right where his wound is. And poor guy almost passes out while trying to play it cool. Elix is outwardly composed, watching and taking everything in, keeping her emotions and thoughts close to her chest, not letting them get in the way of duty to the Crown. She is in full professional mode, on her toes for the danger they may be in. Taran is pissed at both Zellaric and Diem. Zaleric because he turned on them when Taran thought they might have something building between them. And Diem because he sees her flirting with Simon as a betrayal against Luther. Let's talk about that Zellric betrayal though. I know we covered why he did what he had to do because he was cornered and caught last episode. But Taran certainly doesn't see it that way. If you read this without his bonus chapter context, we can absolutely feel Taryn's hurt through the pages. And we can put two and two together that something happened between him and Zell to make him this upset with the betrayal and how he had gotten friendly enough to call him Zal. But we talked about the bonus chapter and know what happened. These two flirted, they went to the skin markets and they started to hook up. We were in Taran's head and knew he was genuinely falling for Zal and that he didn't want to hurt Zaleric by abandoning him when his other loved ones have. And we know how unworthy Taran feels and how he yearns for love and connection. There was something special here with Zalrick. Yes, Zalerick betrayed the group, but Taran feels extra hurt and betrayed because he shared something more with Zal. But we can also see where DM is coming from with her sympathy for Zaleric and his difficult predicament. She can literally feel his sadness with her Umbro's magic. Though she doesn't fully realize that's what it is yet. She understands when someone who has had to earn everything he's made sometimes has to make difficult decisions. In other words, she knows that those who have to work hard have to make hard choices. Especially when people of power are involved like the Queen of Umbros. Zaleric, being a self made man with people he's responsible for, could not lie in the situation he was in. He would get caught no matter what. So why throw his life away in the process? DM understands why he had to do what he did and she's not going to hold it against him. That's one of the great things about DM that we've talked about so much. She can put herself in others shoes and she leads with empathy. Plus she recognizes Zaleric for the useful ally that he is. Okay, yes, Taran can blame him for getting caught. But Zaleric is the only one in this group who has experience with the Emperor's Queen in many different ways. So why wouldn't DM take advantage of having someone close who can help her navigate the situation with the umbrous queen. Now, whether DM listens to Zaleric's advice is another thing entirely. Like when Zaleric is like, okay, don't insult or threaten the queen of umbros. Be quiet and polite. And Taryn is like, we're all gonna die. You know dm Taryn has a point.

[Nicole]

He does Experiences.

[Lexi]

For us parents out there, making sure our children get the vitamins and nutrients they need is a top priority. But not all children's vitamins reach the high bar that we have for our kids. That's why Haya created a super powered chewable vitamin. While many children's vitamins are filled with 5 grams of sugar known to contribute to a variety of health issues, Haya is made with zero sugar and zero gummy additives, yet it tastes great and is perfect for picky eaters like my kids.

[Nicole]

Haya fills the most common nutrient gaps in modern children's diets to provide the full body nourishment your kids need with a yummy taste they love. And are you tired of battling with your kids to eat their greens? I know Lexi is Haya now has Kids Daily Greens plus Superfood, a chocolate flavored greens powder designed specifically for kids. Packed with 55 plus whole food ingredients to support brain power, development and digestion. Just scoop, shake and sip with milk or any non dairy beverage for a delicious and nutritious boost your kids will actually enjoy.

[Lexi]

Haya has become a staple in our family's morning routines. First of all, the kids absolutely love to pick out their vitamins. They always choose which color they each get and they love smoothies with the greens powder in them too. It makes me feel really great as a parent and they always want more. It's a win win for everybody.

[Nicole]

We've worked out a special deal with Haya for their best selling children's vitamin. Receive 55.0percent off your first order. To claim this deal you must go to HIA health.comffg this deal is not available on their regular website. Go to Hya H I Y A Health H E a l t h.com ffg to get your kids the full body nourishment they need to grow into healthy adults. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. In a previous professional life I spent a lot of time in the personal development space and honestly the noise sometimes just felt so loud. From cold plunges to 4am Morning routines, there's so much advice coming at you from all angles. But how do you know what advice works best for you and your situations? Using trusted resources and talking to live therapists can get you personalized recommendations and help you break through the noise.

[Lexi]

With over 30,000 therapists, BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform, Having served over 5 million people globally and it works with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 based on over 1.7 million client reviews. Nicole and I have always been loud about how essential therapy is for us and our lives and keeping that balance between work and for me, family and therapy serves as both a tool to help us keep improving and also as great a safe space for us to be able to just let it out sometimes.

[Nicole]

As the largest online therapy provider in the world, Better Help can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise. Talk it out with better help our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com FFG that's better. H E L p.com FFG and with that, it is time to meet the Queen, the star of this episode. Ysl When Yrsel and her Gryvern land, her power explodes through the room with a force that can only be intentional, coating the air so thickly that DM feels like she was breathing her power in. The Queen of Umbrose's power is incredible, the intensity of her aura rivaling Luther's big deal alert. YSL may be on DM's side and she is going to be a a good ally to dm. I do think so, but she's also a crown who's been around the block. She's not afraid to send out these massive ripples of power to remind not just DM but all of her companions as well, not to fuck with this Queen of Ambrose. Two centenaries rush out to help the Ambrose Queen down from her Gryvern, one of which drops to all fours to act as her step stool while the other helps her down. I love this. Everything about your cell screams power and sex. She's gliding smoothly, sauntering, her hips swaying, and as another show of power, just to prove that she can, Yersel forces everyone to kneel to her, including her centenaries and our Lumnos party. Basically everyone in the room except for dm. Why would she make her centenaries kneel, you ask? It's a good question, because it's fair to assume that they would have kneeled for her regardless, in many different ways. But Ambrose thrives on power, especially because using mind power is so normal for her. For the centenaries. But they see her as their untouchable queen, doing what she does best. Plus, as Zellaric notes, yr cell is ruthless when it comes to protecting her reputation. And she's got quite the big one that she needs to uphold. Because we're going to be seeing so much of this Ambrose power this episode, I want to pause real quick and look at the Ambrose magic from their perspective. Because outsiders fear this magic, they see it as a violation. So much so that YSL says the other Crowns would be happy to see their magic go extinct.

[Lexi]

She's not wrong.

[Nicole]

No, she's not. It's terrifying. I mean, she can literally do anything she wants. In Umbros, especially among the centenaries, they don't see anything wrong with this mind magic, with going into one's mind. They see it as Father Umbro's specific bestowing them this power. And why would they not use it? They play games with each other that are in their minds harmless. Like Simon dimensioning the thoughts he forces into dm, the ones that are very inappropriate. They are simply a prank. Not the massive, massive violation that they are. Or how they're going to literally make a drinking game later. This chapter stretch with the mirror game out of the reading someone's mind. For them, this massive flex of power is just part of their normal life and their kindred born right. As we will see, they have no problem searching the minds of everyone in this realm. They have no problem taking autonomy over someone's body or making someone stab themselves in the neck. They also have no problem erasing people's memories. They can even erase someone's existence. So they're nothing but a husk of skin. This is just their way of fighting. Like in Lunos, it's shadow and light. It's just power that is for them. And while DM is horrified by this non consensual ease in which Umbro's descended can use this magic, she does have one positive note about it. It's literally impossible for the centenaries to have secrets from each other. And that sounds wonderful to Diem. I'm gonna point this out a few times this episode. This is a sign that DM may have grown up in a we don't need to share everything with each other household. But that is not how this girl operates.

[Lexi]

Right off the bat with dm, the queen of Umbros, Yersel, greets her by calling her daughter of the Forgotten. And she establishes a kinship between the two queens. Only Diem can call her Yersel because They are equals. And while she flexes her upper hand with Diem being in her realm, mind to mind, Yersel has some advice for dm, who immediately taunts her to fight, because that is dm. But Yersel is not here to pick a fight if she can help it. Diem is a new young crowned who is rash and doesn't know the ropes. And Yersel wants to take her under her wing. She wants an alliance. She wants to offer DM guidance. But she also can't let DM get away with what she is trying to get away with right now, which is trying to fight her. So dm, be careful as yourself tells her mind to mind. She cannot let a challenge go unanswered in front of her centenaries. Maybe try this initial exchange again, dm, darling. And she's like, oh, okay.

[Nicole]

There's also this moment where your cell sees DM getting, you know, protective over Luther. And the Ambrose can Queen warns her centenary to back down. She says, quote, or else I'll be down as centenary. Like you're mentioning with her telling her to call her yourself. They're seeing each other as equals. This is also a huge sign of respect for DM and her powerful nature. She's not Talking down to DM's power like we've seen other Crowns do. And she's outright saying that her centenaries are not untouchable. Yes, she can feel DM's power, she's not stupid. But the fact that she's saying out loud and hey, if you keep egging on the Queen, you're dead is a pretty big deal. It's time to learn the game of politics. Now, dm, you made a little headway last book with standing up to some bullies. But you gotta get political maneuvering down with or.

[Lexi]

Eleanor is for the beginner level. Yourself is the advanced level.

[Nicole]

Massively advanced. But you know what? DM needs that massive crash course. Right now she is with Aurelie imprisoned in Fortos for, you know, planting bombs on Koreel and leading the rebellion attack. Her fate is in the hands of the Crowns who have the power to either execute her or free her with a majority vote. Whichever vote has six Crowns backing it. That is the way Aurelie's life will go. And right now it's not looking so good for Arlie. I'm not gonna lie though. She planted bombs on their sacred island. Yes, I see the Guardian's point of view, but also I see see why the Crowns are voting against her. Because there are five Crowns Right now voting for her execution. Igneous. Unsurprisingly, Thanos, Sophos, Fortos and Meros have all voted off with their heads. Our Boros has yet to respond though.

[Lexi]

Which really concerns dm. Last she saw, the Arboros Queen was being dragged away by the Guardians and there was a lot of subtle context that she was not going to be returning with a life. My guess is Arboros is staying very quiet right now since seen how things play out, so I guess she doesn't show her hand.

[Nicole]

That's exactly where I'm thinking. Yes. Montios has not responded because Montios is DM and she just doesn't know it yet. And Remus, who is still Regent, has declined to vote until Diem returns. Go Remus.

[Lexi]

I'm going to be very interested in how we do our analysis of Remus next episode as we learn what he's been preventing and how power hungry he is. He is on his own team. Yeah. So real.

[Nicole]

And of course there's Umbros, who has actually voted for Aurelie's staying alive. Good job yourself.

[Lexi]

At least for now, as she kind of like dangles the carrot in front of dm.

[Nicole]

I mean, to be fair, it's a very useful carrot to dangle. Oh, absolutely. But that brings us to the reason why Yersel is giving DM such a warm welcome. She wants Diem to stay at the Ambrose palace for three days. She's got a lot to talk to her about, after all. And if Diem declines this offer? Oh well, Yersel might just consider changing her vote on Aurelie's life. Which would then make it six votes in favor of Aurelie's execution. Which would kill her. So, staying in Umbros, it is Yersel's.

[Lexi]

Bargain for DM to, you know, stay a few extra days. Seems innocent, right? After all, it gives these two crowns more time to get to know one another. DM may understand there is something to this visit's time frame with your cells. You'll see response to DM's question about why three days. But the answer won't come to light until we are in Monteos and learn about Ophiuchai's attack on Ambrose that takes place what was supposed to be the final day of DM's trip. Unfortunately, the casualties of this upcoming attack are going to be very high. This upcoming attack will kill Yrssel's centenaries and every descendant they can find that lives in this melting pot of a realm. My heart hurts because I love the city. We've all come to love the city. And I refuse to believe the half mortal children at the inn are all dead.

[Nicole]

What? Every centenary is dead.

[Lexi]

Yocell says at the very end of the book when they're on Korea, she says they killed my centenaries and every descendant they could find. So she did not specify all of them, but she gave a blanket statement.

[Nicole]

That's shit. I know shit.

[Lexi]

Still wonder if Ophiuchai took the half mortal children. I cannot let go that they are still alive. Like how he took the the mirror's descended children. Or you know, that's what we assume, that they were the mirror's children were taken because they're all missing. But is that better?

[Nicole]

Is that better if he took them? Because that's.

[Lexi]

Because then I think that DM and company can save the descended children and the half mortals next book and they could all rally behind her.

[Nicole]

Okay.

[Lexi]

Okay.

[Nicole]

That's better. That's better. Got it.

[Lexi]

So your cell's real reason for DM staying three days is to ensure she is in the city to fight this fight. She's the only match for Ophiuchai. And yeah, Yirssel is going to consider the lives of her realm more important than Luther surviving a godstone wound. And I'm under the impression Yersel might even see DM winning this fight against Ophiuchai. Not just protecting her realm's people. Because when they will see each other again on Kuriel, Yircel will imply DM has set off a chain of fate that leads to more deaths. And now all of those Deaths are on DM's hands.

[Nicole]

I wonder if Father Umbros was going to bestow that information upon Yirsal. Here's how you kill Ophis Kai. Because she still doesn't know. And yourself was then going to be able to tell dm. I think she saw herself dying in that fight. DM taking up the Umbros crown and saving the city. And obviously that did not happen.

[Lexi]

Yeah.

[Nicole]

Yeah.

[Lexi]

So your cell's motivation behind this bargain for DM to stay three days is like, okay, I need to give DM the download of all this information that she needs to know. And then she can be here for this attack. And then together they can stop the this powerful man before he picks up too much steam. I'm very curious how this fits in with Lumnos vision of DM and Luther on the battlefield. Because we know that is a future battle, not what could have happened in Umbros. Because you know DM has the armor that doesn't exist yet and a weapon we find out in Sophos.

[Nicole]

We've been focusing so much on Diem and Ursel and politics. Let's switch our gears and look at the romance or the lack thereof because Luther is not doing so well, y'.

[Lexi]

All.

[Nicole]

The night that they arrived in the Umbros palace and were getting settled into their rooms, Luther decided to stay put in his own private room because he needed rest. Well, the next morning he's not looking very rested. To quote Taryn, he looks like shit with his stature slumped in the door frame, his hair matted to his forehead, his eyes have dark circles, and the skin around his face looks sallow and hollow. This is not Luther. And thank goodness Luther decided that this morning. It's finally time to talk to his queen and he tells her everything and she gets him help and they live happily ever after. The end. Sadly, that does not happen because first DM keeps interrupting him, I swear to fucking God, wanting to explain her side of the story from the tunnels yesterday and the seeming betrayal. After all, they promised each other brutal honesty, to which Luther grimaces with an audible. Before we get into the second interruption, we need to ask why is Luther seeing this moment as finally the moment to tell DM about his Godstone wound? I bet anything that he was up all night tossing and turning with this decision and finally with them now staying a few extra days and with this like I have to tell her everything when we get to Lumnose. Promise. Now to the wayside he sees this ticking clock. The truth is he's probably not going to make it to when they get back to Lumnos three days from now. And DMs not willing to leave early, seemingly because of your cells. I might change my mind on your mother vote threat.

[Lexi]

And Luther can understand that about DM's choice as much as it goes against everything he's been trying to do here in Umbros.

[Nicole]

So it is now or never. But before Luther can open up about his Godstone wound, Simon shows up and is all too happy to interrupt him. He brings an invitation. Her Majesty wishes for Diem to join her for lunch, but only Diem. The rest will have to stay behind. The timing of this literally could not be worse. As much as Luther wants Diem to stay, I mean he finally worked up the courage to tell her. He also knows that she needs to play at your soul's game. He knows politics maneuvering much better than Diem does, even if it means going with Simon, an idea that literally has Luther Threatening to, quote, take Simon down with him. So, with some encouragement, DM accepts the invitation to the dining room. If you're playing a drinking game of how many times I say the dining room, you're probably shitfaced right now.

[Lexi]

I know we've said it so many times and we'll continue to say it, but we just love Yersel's character. She is experienced, which brings with it wisdom, cleverness, authority, and perspective on Omarion and its crowns. The emperor's queen is feared by the other crowns. They don't want to get near her when she has her magic, and she doesn't bother with trying to play nice with them. But here's dm, who she not only is speaking to and welcoming as a formal guest, she's also giving DM advice on how to be a crown. Not just wear the crown, but own it. Be the crown and embrace the status and power that comes with it. Yecel has been waiting for DM to come around. Who knows when Father Ambrose first started talking to her about dm? Was it only recently which led Yersel to visit DM and give her the message to stop taking the flame route? Or has she been learning about this, receiving visions and such for a long time? And maybe when it became the Blood sun, that is when she knew today was the day. I feel like that might be the more likely option. Like, not like who her next era is going to be, because we know that that comes closer to when the end of their reign is. But we know that Luther got his vision about DM from Lumnos when he was a child, and we can assume that was decades ago. Your Cell recognizes at least part of her role with DM is to guide her. She's the best person for the job. After all, she can read minds. She was around during the Blood war. She imprisoned DM's father. So here she is, serving as a crown mentor for dm. Like how she coached DM through politics earlier. Mind to mind when DM was ready to fight dm. Wear your crown. You are a queen after all. And crowns bow to no one, not even other crowns. And she explains how she can feel the forging magic run through everything in the realm of. And how she has learned how to use it to her advantage over the centuries. It's like y' or Cell is reminding DM what she's also capable of. And I'll be so interested to see how DM uses this foraging magic to her full capability in burn well.

[Nicole]

And also, if she becomes the crown of all the Realms she could tap into the entire foraging magic, which would be just sick. Yeah, yeah. Conversation shifts to Aurelie specifically why YSL decided to save her mother instead of condemn her. While yr cell says some BS about how she against the other crown and it made the crowns furious. But certainly that is not the only reason. No, it is not. As yourself says, Aurelie has a role to play in what's to come. Okay, this is important. Let's talk about this. What role does Arlie have to play? I will bet money I will die on this. I'm going to die on a lot of hills this episode. That this is way more than what we've seen with her. With Arlie finally giving the download about DM's birth father and everything like that. Again, I am willing to die on the hill. That this is because Arleigh is a descendant of the Everflame. What that means I don't know. But I feel it in my bones that this is the role that your cell is referring to.

[Lexi]

I could definitely see that. I also wonder if it's about having a role to play in helping DM get allies like the good Guardians who don't want to kill all descended, as DM so eloquently put at one point. Even if Orly is starting to lose some of her credibility when we are in Luther's first three BURN chapters, I could see her being kind of like that bridge between DM and the Guardians. Her role might also be to sacrifice herself because I do not think Aurally is getting out of the series alive.

[Nicole]

Definitely agree with you that she's going to sacrifice herself in some way. I see the Guardians starting to distrust Arlie and Arlie actually becoming a real roadblock for DM to get to the Guardians because they're starting to turn on Arlie with how she's. She's putting a descended crown even though it is her daughter over the Guardian's mission. Like Cordelia is gonna call out in the first few chapters of burn.

[Lexi]

That is very true. Yes.

[Nicole]

So I actually see that being part of the adversary comment that Iris Cell's gonna that we're gonna get to in a moment.

[Lexi]

Ooh.

[Nicole]

Ooh.

[Lexi]

God, I love your cell doing what your cell does best. She enters DM's mind, but this time is notable because DM's godhood responds to fight the old Crone illusion your cell is creating in DM's mind. And the cool warmth is inside DM's head. Her skin begins to glow. We know what this means. And your Cell is kicked out of DM's mind. This has never happened to this mature, extremely powerful descendant, and she delights in it because if she didn't already have it, this is proof right here of how other DM is and that she is the destined daughter of the Forgotten that your cell has been waiting for. Plus, I say this very respectfully. Your Cell is old and has seen every trick. She loves Diem because she's new and exciting and livens life up with her unexpected magic. And she is the answer to the crowns and descendant having lost their way, which we will get way more into shortly.

[Nicole]

Going back a little bit, but when DM allows for her crown to be shown at the start of lunch, Yersel looks up at it and she says, incredible. It's almost like she sees the Montyos woven into it and she's just like, ah, it's happening. Wendy. And Ashley asks about the forging magic being disrupted and if it was because of the prophecy. First yr Cell commends her for being clever. But then Diem asks if this Forgotten blood on Heartstone Falls means that her father is the Forgotten. Yersel says, quote, words in prophecies can have many meanings, some quite obvious, some less so. We need to talk about this. We have strongly assumed, to the point of taking it almost as fact, that the daughter of the Forgotten refers to only Ophiuchai and the Forgotten Kindred. But I'm going to throw something else out as an addition. What if the Forgotten is also referring to the man with the red hair under the Everflame Tree? We know that almost all aspects of mortal religion, with the exception of the Everflame, have been lost. So what if he is also the Forgotten? Meaning we have a double meaning prophecy, which is my favorite shit ever. DM is the daughter of of two Forgottens.

[Lexi]

I love it.

[Nicole]

I came up with that and I was like, I'm brilliant.

[Lexi]

Your cell gives us a history lesson about the Crowns. This Vote of Six policy that they have here is a new creation instilled years after the Blood War, where it only takes a majority vote among the Amarian Crowns as they rule this continent. Like how Orly is a prisoner of the Amarian Crowns, so her execution has to have a majority vote. But as Yersel explains, a majority vote is not what the Kindred intended. The descended Crowns are supposed to act as one. There is a reason it takes all nine of them to renew the foraging magic. It was designed where they have to unanimously agree in order to act. But the Descendant have taken matters into their own hands and changed the rules that Kendra set up. They don't have to act as one unless it's recasting the foraging magic. They only need a majority. This reminds me of how the Lumnos descended put in place a challenging because of their political structure. Structure. I'm willing to bet that Lumnos does not like that. But this history lesson isn't just about the majority vote and how they should act as one. This is about how the descended have lost sight of what the Kindred intended. And now they will have to sacrifice so much in order to right these wrongs. Sacrifice the way of life as they know it, sacrifice far too many lives and who knows what else. And quite frankly, it pisses yourself off because she is playing by what the Kindred intended with opening her borders to anyone. And she has advised other Crowns to not piss off the Kindred with their egos, thinking that they know better with the way of the world. And she'll have to pay the price anyway. The descended lost so much in the Blood War when they had too much confidence that they would win. Their hubris cost them dearly. And your cell can see history repeating itself. These new crowns have learned nothing. All they see is power equals strength, and oppression is the answer. Amari. And heaven hit its tipping point. And as it goes over the edge, that's where DM comes in.

[Nicole]

Speaking of where DM comes in, YSL mentions how Father Abroast has much to say about this daughter of the forgotten. And I swear to God, this shit is gonna keep me up at night. We can imagine that he shared the prophecy that she's the Omnos descended, that she has power unlike anything we've ever seen before, that she's going to bring peace. Although it sounds like based off how Irisel chats with dm, that peace will only come at a great sacrifice.

[Lexi]

Meanwhile, DM still thinking that she's a Lumnos descended is like, why would Father Umbros have anything to say about me? Like me, she's into Lululand now about whether she truly is Lumnos. Because she knows.

[Nicole]

She knows.

[Lexi]

But that shouldn't be possible, like, literally whatsoever. And that's a lot to wrap around her head right now. No matter how many times she is reminded that she is very different from everyone else.

[Nicole]

Remember when she burst into flames in Igneos, and she's like, that was nothing. I'm going to give DM. I love DM so much. I think this is a 10 out of 10 in the DeLulu scale for DM right now.

[Lexi]

Like.

[Nicole]

Like I would give her a like. Oh, it's so other. It's so other. If it was only one instance of using another magic that was clearly in her face. She has had multiple. Yeah, yeah. But with this Father Umbros has much to say about you line. I decided to shoot my shot and I wanted to phone a pen and ask if there was anything that was not on the page that she was willing to share about what Father Umbros has said in the conference call with yourself. And here's what Pen said. I'm nervous.

[Pen]

Is there anything I can tell you about what Blessed Umbro said to Ursel about Diem?

[Nicole]

A lot.

[Pen]

There's a lot that he said. I don't know that there is much I can share with you. Ursul and Ambrose had a close relationship. And of all of the kindred who have spoken to people in the world, I would say they have interacted the most.

[Nicole]

It's.

[Pen]

I don't want to reveal what Ursel knew and what she didn't know. She really speaks to it herself. At the end of Heat, we see her say that, you know, Blessed Umbros warned her and try to steer her in a certain direction. And sometimes she followed those instructions and sometimes she didn't to vary consequences. I think that Ursul probably knows more about diem than almost anybody that's alive in this world today. But whether she will use that for good or for evil is yet to be seen.

[Lexi]

And on that note, Yosel goes on to confront Diem about her plans for a new Omarion. And it's not like she's trying to trap her into revealing a bit big secret. Your cell already knows. This is her confirming. And I'll say she doesn't know this just from reading Luther's mind. I think that she has learned a version of this and you know DM's plans for Amarian from Father Ambrose. As Mother Monteos will tell the montiose crown to pass along to DM. QUOTE 11 must fall for one to rise, share the gift, to pay the cost. A dying star will rekindle the spark. What is forgotten is not lost. That certainly sounds like a new version of Amarian. One that is more reminiscent of what was, which I'm going to conclude is the mortals not being oppressed and that there is still hope for peace and harmony, though it will look very different than before. And this is what your cell is testing DM on right now as she brings it up, especially with what she.

[Nicole]

Follows with as dm And Urcel know nothing comes easy. So Yr cel asks Diem the all important question. Or at least it seems like the all important question from Ursul's point of view. How far is Diem willing to go for the these plans to come to fruition? Of course DM mentions that she will die if she must.

[Lexi]

Shocking not just for dm, but for any FMC that we know and love. Like this is not just dm. This is part of their courage, their morality, their dedication for a better world.

[Nicole]

But as your cell points out, dying is the easy shit. Anyone can die. But can diem kill? So that is the all important question, isn't it? Side note, I think she's asking this because of Ophiuchai directly. I think she's like, can you. Oh yeah, like she is. She's checking in. Would you be able to kill someone like, oh, I don't know, your sire? Can she also watch the people she loves die? Can she watch all of them die? Can she keep going when everyone she cares about is lying in their grave? And can she diem be the one who puts them there? I'm more worried. More worried.

[Lexi]

More worried.

[Nicole]

This is concerning. We saw what happened to DM when her father died. Naturally. She's a human. She grieved. Of course she did. It was her father. But here Uracelle is basically saying, can you put grieving on the back burner and not shut down when that happens and instead fight through it to whatever end? That he pulled out the two when I did. There.

[Lexi]

Wow. I'm a little more preoccupied with yourself saying DM has to be prepared to be the one to put them in their graves.

[Nicole]

Henry. Henry, no.

[Lexi]

Do I think DM will directly be the one to kill loved ones?

[Nicole]

No.

[Lexi]

I just don't see that possible in any universe.

[Nicole]

No.

[Lexi]

But I could see her having to make the impossible decision where she is the indirect cause of loved ones deaths.

[Nicole]

Yes, yes, definitely. But anyway, for this world of peace and unity that DM is so desperately trying to build, exactly how much is she willing to give to see it come to fruition?

[Lexi]

And DM has a different answer than I would think her to give, to be entirely honest, because she answers instantly. Everything. And it's like that answer comes out before she can even think through it. With such innate certainty.

[Nicole]

It's almost like that's what her gut feels and her. What she knows she needs to do. But her mind is that adversary that keeps getting in her fucking way where she overanalyzes everything from everyone's point of view. And don't get me wrong, that is so helpful sometimes. And she wants some big big things and she's always saying I need to follow my gut. This is it right here.

[Lexi]

Yes, and I think that's an important detail for us. Whether that's her intuition knowing that this will be true and she will have to go through with it it or she can't let herself overthink because she knows this is the only possible answer no matter what it does to her. Like yourself says that she will have to be willing to set all of her soul ablaze and DM does not understand what that means yet, but she will. I believe DM understands this theoretically right now, but she will be put to a version of this test later this night. And from YSL's perspective, she might fail by choosing to focus on Luther and in turn hold her own soul together instead of stay and save a realm. Now DM does not know that your cell is wanting her to stay so that DM can be there for an attack. Yourself is very sneaky and not telling her that part. But YSL will say that she needs DM to stay for the lives of her people and diem's going to choose Luther and in turn her own soul staying intact instead. I believe this question how much of DM's soul is she truly willing to lose? Is going to be a big theme in Burn as she learns that everything has a price and a price must be paid. We're getting so much set up for that in this book. My only line of thinking with how this will play out is that DM will beat the odds. Try to save everyone from the burning fire, so to speak. Or die trying. Or almost everyone. Not everyone is going to make it out of the series alive. I think we can all agree on that.

[Nicole]

Definitely. All right folks, I think it is time for a wardrobe refresh and I know exactly where I'll be going first. Nordstrom Nordstrom has the best transitional styles with so many options from under $100 from brands we love, Free people, Favorite.

[Lexi]

Daughter, Reformat, and more. All with items perfect to transition you from summer into fall. From the latest trends to beauty must haves, Nordstrom has curated styles you'll wear on repeat with tons of styles under a hundred dollars. Free shipping, free returns and in store pickup make it easier than ever. Shop in stores [e-mail] don't we all love summer? The pool, the patio time, the warm glow of the sun. But one of the most important things about enjoying the Summer weather is staying fresh. That's why we swear by Me Undies. Their micro modal fabric is legit magic, super soft, breathable and somehow stays cool even when it's 90 degrees out and your AC is losing the battle. Meundies has a cut for every butt with over 20 different styles in a hundred different colors and prints. Meundies signature super soft micro modal fabric is breathable, stretchy and oh so comfy. Making it ideal for all day wear. If you need something even more breathable and soft summer proof, check out the Breathe line which has moisture wicking and anti odor technology. Perfect for working out or just keeping you extra cool on those sweltering days. I love going on hot mom walks. It is my favorite thing to do and yet it is really hot these days, if you didn't know. And I absolutely love wearing my Breathe fabric. I have matching underwear and bralette and it is always my go to for those hot walks because guess what? I don't get get sweaty butt. And it's amazing and I love it.

[Nicole]

We use Me Undies and you should too. Right now as listeners of our show, you can score sizzling summer deals like up to 55, 0% off meundies.com FFG and enter promo code FFG that's me undies.com FFG promo code FFG for up to 50% off meet comfort that's made for summer. It turns out that this everything answer was sufficient. Toot yourself. Because she decides to show DM the Umbros Crown library. Calm down Lexi. She says it's just because DM may have an affinity for books, but we know yourself better than that. She just heard from her future successor, who we can only assume Father Ambrose has been, you know, talking about how she's the salvation. Should she be able to sacrifice something though? And she just said she's willing to sacrifice everything. So now Yrsel's like okay, your head's in the right place. It's time for you to get some answers. Before she leaves DM alone with the books that are very much some of the rarest books in all of Amarian, she says something very interesting to diem that I want to highlight. She says, quote, don't forget why they banned these books for mortals in the first place. Because in education is the most powerful weapon of them all. Oh, I want to briefly discuss this line because wow, this is important. We've heard the term knowledge is power and in a world like Omarion, much of the mortals history has been banned, burned or erased as a way to control what the mortals can think, what they can believe, what they can fear, what they can idolize, and what they can question. If the mortals don't have their old history to rally behind, they are thus easier to control and shape in the world of the people who are controlling what they learned, AKA the Descended. We talked about this so much in book one, specifically when we learned that the mortals don't get to learn about the Descended powers in school and they have it instead as like a mystery and a fear tactic. That is just one example. Now in our world we have no shortage of these kinds of examples. Censorship, propaganda, book band to name a few have been sprinkled throughout our world history as a way to control the population. But what your cell is saying is that there's nothing more powerful than taking control of what you are putting into your head. So a reminder that cough cough. Not just an Omarion cough cough. There's a reason why things are redacted, there's a reason truth is not shared with the public, and there's a reason that words are burnt out of pages like we're about to see in the book. Because if everyone knew this information, they would have the power of critical thinking, they would have the awareness to make their own conclusive decisions, and they would be able to look at arguments from all sides because they knew where others were coming from rather than just rallying behind the sign that they've been molded to believe is right. After all, educated populations are not easy to control. So yes, yourself, an education is indeed the most powerful weapon we can all wield.

[Lexi]

With that, Yersel takes DM to her private library with a stained glass door depicting the history of Omarion. On one panel, bloody bodies are scattered over a red drenched battlefield. Pause.

[Nicole]

Did anyone else think about Luther and DM's vision? Because I sure did.

[Lexi]

I did not. Until now. On another panel, nine crown wearing figures stand on a circular black platform. But the panel on top shows the Everflame, a tree with branches engulfed in flames with a red haired man leaning against its base. Oh my goodness. We are not even in the library yet and need to stop and discuss. There are a few ways we can interpret the stained glass mural of the history of Omarion. So let's talk through the possibilities. Panel one depicts a bloody battlefield and we can draw the conclusion that this is portraying the mortal wars before the Kindred arrived, as Mantios will note in her diary. But I also want to bring up three other options even if they aren't likely that this is actually a battlefield from the Kindred's homeworld. Any depiction of what they left behind. Or it is a nod to a battle that we don't know about yet. That occurred after the Kindred arrived on Omarion but before they cast the foraging spell with only nine of them. Like Omnos could have been part of the cause of the battlefield. And he fought against his siblings and their wishes for the future of Omarion. I know I'm kind of stretching here, but just throwing out some ideas. And from Monteos diary we know that some of the mortals are restless with the Kindred's takeover. Could there be a battle against the Kindred before the foraging spell? That history erased? This panel could even refer to the Blood War. And Yro Sel had these murals go up at the entrance of the library after the war. Though with how much this library contains information before the Blood War, I really am leaning toward this mural representing earlier days and specifically that is the mortals before the Kindred arrived. The second panel of the Nine Crowns looks like a betrayal of them at the Kindred's temple on Kuril. Seems safe to say that this is the Kindred casting the forging spell. But that's the easy answer. This could also be their attempt to bind the mortals short lives to theirs and it doesn't work. Or it could even be what they do to sacrifice Ovnos. I do love how there's no description of the Heartstone or anything beyond them standing in the circle. Those other details are too hush hush for a mural. Lastly, we have to talk about the top panel above the other two showing the Everflame with a red haired man leaning against its face. Nicole is freaking out right now. The positioning of the Everflame on top of the other two panels is a very interesting and we both believe very deliberate position. We could infer this is chronologically the first panel like Omarion's roots and tied to the old God religions, you know, before the battles, before the Kindreds arrival. But I like to think of this Everflame panel as overarching the other two like that. No matter what happens on Amarian, even with the Kindreds arrival, the Everflame lives on. And I have to wonder, was it supposed to live on? There is so much mystery around the Everflame and how the Kindred seem to have cut it down for their Kindred temple. But they also did love their mortals. So it doesn't feel like this entirely fits with that line of thinking. It does open up the bigger question of the Everflame's history. What might have really happened to it? Or why might it have really been cut down? And how does the Everflame live on? In its own way. Especially with the introduction of the Kindred and their magic in this world.

[Nicole]

Redhead alert. This mysterious red haired man at the base of the Everflame Tree is Sus. We will see depictions of this man twice later in Sophos. Once at the ruins of a temple where they first meet Doriel. And then at the library in the in Sophos where my favorite scene happens in the entire book. In the temple, DM will wonder who this man is. And Luther will say, and I quote, with that hair, he must be related to your mother. I've read enough fantasy to know that this is not an accidental line. So we have to ask, who is this man who has the fiery rich red hair that Aurelie has? Teller has. And DM had before her hair went white. I think it's safe to say that Aurelie is. Is absolutely a descendant of this dude. I think we both agree on that, right?

[Lexi]

Yes. With a few more layers deep that we don't know.

[Nicole]

Okay then my next question is, who.

[Lexi]

The fuck is he?

[Nicole]

Was he a tender to the Everflame? Like did he light the Ever Flame? Did he keep it going? Did he spill his lifeblood and something in his blood made the Everflame never cease? Did he represent the Ever Flame and created the religion long, long time ago? Like his hair was like.

[Lexi]

No, this looks like. I love the idea that this was the keeper of the Everflame and that gave him his own godlike status.

[Nicole]

Yes.

[Lexi]

It might not be an accident that all these old mortal gods names are burned away and he's this mysterious man tied to the Everflame.

[Nicole]

Well, okay, so if he is this godlike creature, do you think that DM is going to talk to him and burn? Especially with the whole take the Rosebane comment. Is he going to be one of the gods that she talks to?

[Lexi]

I don't know. I will say I could absolutely visualize, you know, her taking the rosebane and ending up like at the Everflame with him there at the base. And then he stands to speak with her like he's been waiting for her. Like I can see that so vividly in my mind.

[Nicole]

So I asked Pen if she could tell us anything about this mysterious redhead. And here's what she said.

[Pen]

Does the man with red hair at the base of the Everflame Tree have something to do with the ancient mortal religion?

[Nicole]

Yes.

[Pen]

And I think that's all I will say about that, except that there's a lot more to learn about the old gods and the old mortal religion and the Everflame. And you will learn a lot more in book four.

[Nicole]

All right.

[Lexi]

Okay, now let's go inside the library, because we're not even in the library yet. That has books on mortals descended and even the Kindred. Yersel has some of the rarest books in Omarion. And only the Sofos Crown's library can hope to compete with her collection. With a key to this exclusive space, Yursel gives DM full access to everything in this library, which is something she doesn't even give her top centenary. Simon. Like nobody is allowed in here except the Queen. In fact, DMs welcome to come back anytime. She has an open invitation, despite the Queen warning DM that the next Umbro's Crown will be her greatest adversary. Oh, the irony. After all, Yro knows that DM is going to need this knowledge in the weeks to come. So DM begins reading and reading and reading and wow. These ancient tomes contain knowledge that were thought to be lost to the world. There's histories of mortal kind that stretch back before the Kindred's arrival. And references to Omarion's original cities, Names of which have been banned from knowing, let alone writing or speaking aloud. These are the cities that have been previously mentioned in the series, as long forgotten. But the knowledge is still there, at least stored somewhere to not be completely lost. I really am just clinging to we will get more of the old culture because these books do still have that information. There are treaties on systems of government the mortals had experimented with monarchies, councils, parliaments and even self rule. The mortals of old were learning from their mistakes, each successive attempt getting more open and more fair. Until the Kindred stopped that progress in its track by removing mortals from the governing process entirely. We will see in Montiose's diary that the mortals were fighting one another before the Kindred arrived. So I wonder if the Kindred thought that they were the answer to this peace, so to speak. And the mortals certainly seem to think that as well.

[Nicole]

Diem goes on to read the scriptures of old ancient religions that have been redacted to hide the true names of the old gods. Oh my God. We need to talk about this. Page by page. The names have been burned away, only leaving vague, ambiguous descriptions. This is important. I mean, Pen just said that we're going to learn more about the old Gods next book like this is so important. I Keep going back to this idea of what if the old Gods in the mortal religions and the Kindred's gods are the same gods, but through time and in order to gain power, the Kindred and the Descended erased that part of history to make the descended religion more front and center as a way of controlling the people. However, as the scripture goes on, it was the Kindred who believed in the power of Names.

[Lexi]

I will say that is DM's assumption. She thinks that because of the effort that went into burning these Names away, the Kindred believed in the power of Names. One could not hold on to what one could not define. In erasing a name, they erased everything that name once stood for.

[Nicole]

Well, because we know, at least Lumnos was not a fan of this, putting the mortals in their place. She wanted peace between the two races. And all the other Kindred mated with humans, except for Omnos. But that's not even mentioned here. So why would they thus erase the names and thus everything these names of the old Gods in these ancient religions stood for Again? Is it because their Gods are the same? And this was the Kindred thinking they were melding these two races together in unity that way?

[Lexi]

So I will say we don't know that it was the Kindred who erased these names. The earliest Ascended are really the ones who ensured that the Kindred's legacy was put on such a pedestal so I could see them being the Ones. And that is really what started the chain of reaction to the Descended over the generations, sucking more and more and more and being more and more oppressive of the mortals.

[Nicole]

As you said, we learn in Monteos diary that the other Kindred enjoy being called Gods. So what if the Kindred got there, they saw that the mortals were fighting and just a shit show, and they were like, well, they're thinking of us as Gods. What if we get rid of this thing that was causing so much discourse? We make ourselves the Gods, then they're gonna be fine because they like us.

[Lexi]

Okay, so I do agree with that, but that's not saying that the Kindred already have the same Gods.

[Nicole]

True. That's where I'm. I'm going down the hill.

[Lexi]

Because I was gonna say. Wait, I agree with that.

[Nicole]

However, this whole believing in the power of Names is really interesting to me because we know that the Kindred did have different names in their home world. Home, wherever. And then when they came to Amarian, they were called something else. And then the mortals decided to call them Lumnos, Fortos, the Latin names that we've Discussed. So another question thing is, could they have also erased the old God names because the old gods were actually their own names.

[Lexi]

I'm leaning toward this being an example of erasing history to change perspective. I think that no matter what, we are in agreement of that. And these old mortal God names were burned by the early descended who we know worship the Kindred. And from their perspective, the old mortal religions would not unite the two people. So the early descended, thinking that they were better than the mortals, they did all of this after maybe the Kindred were gone. Or, and this is a really big stretch, what if Omnos led the charge in erasing old histories? He's kind of becoming the scapegoat here. Considering how Pen has had these thought provoking societal themes, you know, just throughout her writing.

[Nicole]

Now I'm not gonna lie, I cannot help but think of another very popular series quote. It only takes one desperate generation to change history, even erase it. One generation to change the text. One generation chooses to teach that text and the next grows and the lies become history. This is Amarian right here. There's only one exception to this rule of erasing names from these ancient religions though. It is the Everflame. However, by giving the mortals one name to keep, it became a rallying cry around the rebellion. And like DM wonder if the Everflame had also been erased like all of the other gods names. Would the Guardians be united under this rallying cry? Or would they even exist at all? And it's a decent question.

[Lexi]

It is. Well. And the crowns think that, you know, they've learned their lesson now though Yro has a lot to say about that by making the mention of the Everflame forbidden. 2 After the Blood War, though mortals still revere it in private, yet it does lose more of its lore with each new generation. Because they don't have the text right. It's. It's forbidden. But with only the Everflame in name and symbol to cling to, it is continued to serve as the rallying cry for the rebels. The Everflame is the perfect representation of what the mortals have lost. Their old culture, their homeland, their religion, their freedom. The Everflame existed before the Kindred, just like the mortals existed before the Kindred. As the descended oppressed the mortals more and more after the Blood War, trying to smash any and all hopes of ever having repeat with their rebellion, their oppression became a pressure valve building up over the centuries as the mortals hold onto their symbol of hope and freedom. In these tomes, Diem also learns more about the old mortal religion that the descended have ensured are practically lost to history. For instance, the old gods once plucked flames from its branches and gave them as blessings. Flames that burned forever and kept their bearers warm even in the coldest of night. Knights. Yes, I bet that is what the red haired man would do.

[Nicole]

I bet you anything he was the tender of the flame. And when people needed the flame, he would like be the. The go between, basically. I also want to point out, and this just dawned on me, and I feel a little stupid for this just dawning on me, that if he was the symbol of the Everflame, the fact that generations later his, as we're assuming, descendant aurally is the guardian of the Everflame, the leader of the Guardians of the Everflame, like that's just such a cool one to one connection that I.

[Lexi]

Again just thought of and this part is quite interesting. The glacial pits of hell beneath the Everflame's roots were not eternal. Unworthy souls condemned to its ice could petition for a second chance to earn their way into the warm haven of the Undying Flame. This feels very important. Maybe it's a symbolic way of saying that even in death there is hope for salvation. We're still learning about the the concept of souls after death in this world, but we do know that the Kindred do not actually die, though they can and mates wait for the other half of their soul to go into the afterlife together. I don't have a concrete theory on all this yet, but I'm pointing this out as we continue. And this is a real stretch, but also like the fiery ices of hell and the hot flames of the Ever Flame. Like what if DM is like the balance of that or something?

[Nicole]

Balance. It goes back to that word that rings in her ear. Like the earth shattering nature that it is for her. I'm going to even throw out that, you know how she's always about second chances, fifth chances. Like she sounds to me like this guard of. Yeah, like you're saying that go between where she is also someone who does grant people second chances. So that just feels so interesting that she has that characteristic that the Undying Fire also did. While reading these stories around the Everflame, DM comes across something very interesting. As if everything else hasn't been interesting yet. She learns about how pregnant mothers would risk their lives to travel the seas once labor began, believing a child born on the Everflame's blessed soil would be imbued with its sacred power of life.

[Lexi]

Oh my God.

[Nicole]

Yeah.

[Lexi]

Yeah.

[Nicole]

Two Things here. One. Can you imagine being on a boat during labor?

[Lexi]

No, I was just thinking about that. I was like, dang, that is the worst commute ever.

[Nicole]

And they wouldn't even have the speedboats of Sophos because those were a. A recent invention and those are only allowed to be used by the crowns. You better hope that baby's not on the season slide. Let's talk about this. Because the Everflame's blessed soil is right on Kuril, where the Kindred Temple is now standing. And where was DM born on Kuril?

[Lexi]

This is extremely important. She is the only person in centuries, at the very minimum, most likely millennia. Millennia. Millennia. Who has been born on this island. And on the day that DM was born, there was a blood son.

[Nicole]

Yes. This could mean that she doesn't die at all. We've been speculating since literally episode one. If, based off the prophecy, if there's a way that DM is going to not make it out of this series alive. But like I've been adamant about there's going to be some way that she cheats death or that she comes back, I think this is it.

[Lexi]

I'm not sure if I'm quite on.

[Nicole]

That hill yet with you.

[Lexi]

I do think that this is the reason that the Everfling Spark response Diem when she goes to the sofa's library. Instead of it being solely because she is a descendant of the red haired man. It does seem very suspicious that her mother has the same hair as him. But I don't know if I'm willing to die on that hill yet. I also wonder if this is part of why DMs feeling this burning within her, even back since Spark. Like for example, how she has always described intimacy. There's some imbued magic of the Everflame within her. Even if by the time she was born, the Everflame was cut down. I don't think that matters. The soil is still there. I like to think its roots still exist beneath the Kindred Temple. Didn't her mother also have her like in the chamber below with Ophiuchai?

[Nicole]

Correct.

[Lexi]

So I don't know how that might play into this, but anyway. And if DM does destroy the Kindred Temple by the end of Burn, maybe the Everflame can regrow.

[Nicole]

Bingo.

[Lexi]

Yeah.

[Nicole]

Especially if she has the power of the Everflame. She can probably light the tree and it be the Undying Fire.

[Lexi]

Oh, and then that also goes into how this could all be a major reason for the names of these books.

[Nicole]

Yes.

[Lexi]

Bark of the Everflame. Glow of the Everflame. Heat of the Everflame. Burn of the Everflame. It's all part of DM's story. Her being of the Everflame in addition to the Kindred. And so this is her coming into her power. Yes, as a Kindred. But also she has the sacred power of life from the Everflame within her as she comes into her own. She is the balance of the Kindred and the Everflame. The daughter of the Forgotten. Yes, the tenth Kindred, but also the Everflame. The ancient mortals. I have chills right now. This is why we do these deep dives.

[Nicole]

I've been waiting for this episode for a reason.

[Lexi]

This is the reason DM spends the whole afternoon looking over these old mortal books, lost in reading as much of a lifetime's world worth of knowledge as she can. But she recognizes ancient mortal knowledge is not all that this library is about. As much as she's frustrated with the Kindred for what they've done to the Mortals, she wants to learn a little more about them. After all, they seem to have a lot of interest in her. So yes, dm, it is very important for you to maybe learn a little bit about them. Starting with a map.

[Nicole]

I'm so excited.

[Lexi]

This is the original map used by the Kindred themselves. The map they drew to create the realms of Amaria. Faint lines are still visible where old mortal borders had been erased and modified. Only one seems to have not been redrawn. A barely there scratch through the middle of Montios. As we will find out. The Kindred originally divided Omarion into 10 realms, one for each of the siblings. But when they sacrificed Omnos and recast the foraging spell so there were only nine Kindred and nine realms. Omnos Northern Realm Absorbed into Mantia. It's now known as the Forgotten Lands, because even those in Monteos don't really go there. It doesn't feel quite right there. Ah, I can't wait to get into all that in a few episodes when we go to these Forgotten Lands. At the center of this map, more erased lines peeked out from where the Everflame had once been labeled, obscured by a rough sketch of what would become the Kindred's temple. This kind of voids my earlier curiosity about the Kindred. Maybe not taking down the Everflame Tree because it their connection with the mortals. But I also don't think we can trust DM's narration here as she goes on and on about the Kindred's divine egos and how they rebuilt the mortals land and homage to themselves. Yes, Monteo says in her diary that her siblings like being considered gods here. But I think, and I hope that we're going to learn more about the Kindred and the mortals relationships as well as how Omnos fits into all of that and what happened on their homeland where Omnos speaks of it with reverence and how it doesn't scare him like it should have. I can see the puzzle pieces, but I just don't have the full picture yet.

[Nicole]

Finding a well worn notebook on a lavender pillow. DM picks it up. Hello Diary of Monteos.

[Lexi]

I even love the little detail of it being on a lavender pillow because you know, lavender is Montes color. And in this handwritten diary there are no dates or sections, which is aggravatingly.

[Nicole]

Convenient as you can probably assume. We are about to go line by line through this diary entry. So buckle up because this is our jam. Starting off with quote, the locals too are at war. The hate reminds us of home and all we have lost. It grieves me. I do not wish these people to know the despair we have seen. I would bet money this is the depicted image on the stained glass. These mortals at war at the entire entrance of the library. I truly think that this is why they deleted the old gods from memory. Because the mortals were fighting over it. There was bloodshed, and as Monteos is saying, this was reminding them of the homeworld and they're trying to learn from those mistakes. So they're actually saying let's start fresh. No gods.

[Lexi]

I think you might be right. Especially with the Kindred being divine like gods in and of themselves who are able to from their version, help the mortals in that way.

[Nicole]

I also want to just point out, raise your hand if you want to know what happened on the homeworld of the Kindred.

[Lexi]

Oh my God.

[Nicole]

I can't believe I didn't get my gutsy pants on for this one. And also ask a pen this question.

[Lexi]

I want to know so badly and I can't help but wonder if it'll be a theme of history repeating itself. No matter what world it is on or how much the Kindred set up this world for peace, it goes back to its old violent ways. Eventually, yes.

[Nicole]

Next line quote. We try to help them with our gifts. We end their diseases and feed their hungry. They call us saviors and bow to us as gods. My siblings welcome it. I do not. All right, hold up because I could absolutely see the Kindred minus Matios and I want to say Lumnos Too Wanting to start the world anew, like I said, with them as gods. So that's why they erase the name. So like this is why what I was saying earlier.

[Lexi]

Exactly. Yes. With thinking that. That this will be how the mortals can start fresh and have a peaceful world where history does not repeat itself.

[Nicole]

And it's almost like the devil, you know. If they think of us as gods, we know we're good and we can create unity on this realm. Next section. Quote. They even gave us names in their language. They call me Montios for my love of their beautiful mountains. We've discussed this. Each of the Kindreds had their own names in their home world that we don't know because we only know them by the names the mortals gave them that are based in Latin. Yet another sign that I think. Ophiuchai was actually his name in the homeworld and Omnos is his Amarian name.

[Lexi]

I find it very intriguing that the name Ophiuchi is derived from Ophiuchus, which is a large northern constellation that is represented by the figure of a man grasping a snake. So we can directly link Ophiuchai's name to astronomy. Like a different world, like a different homeworld. And the North. A northern constellation like where the forgotten lands are, where Omnos Realm used to be. Then there's all the symbolism of snakes throughout history that could spend the entire episode talking about that. But the two big references that I can think of here are the dual expression of good and evil, like Ophiuchi and Diem and the eternal cycle which we've talked so much about. How history is repeating itself. So either Ophiuchai is Omno or Omnos knows how to name his child very very well.

[Nicole]

Next, flipping to another page. When Lumnos fell, it was expected. Her heart is a soft place where love thrives. Nor were Meros or Umbros any surprise. They are drawn to pleasure. And we have all been lonely for so long. My siblings and I warned them against their unions. Then our eldest fell. Sophos, our guiding light. I. I could not believe it. This gives us quite a time stamp.

[Lexi]

So we can gather that this is after the Kindred have been in Amarian for a while. But they have not tried to do any spells yet on themselves or the land to make it known as what it is today. We also get a little more insight into Lumnos from one of her siblings. And it's exactly in line with what we've come to know about Lumnos. Of all the kindred, she had the softest heart for the mortals. So here is Monteos. Like yeah, no surprise she fell in love with one. But Sophos, the eldest and the wisest of the Kindred siblings, was indeed a surprise. I think the fact that these Kindred are falling in love with mortals also shows that, yes, they may be considered godlike figures here, but they are accessible, mingling and considerable with the mortals.

[Nicole]

Quote Though it may have been I who sealed our fate, I have always preferred solitude over the company of others. Once I found my love, that changed. When he and I steal away on Ramari to the mountains, I feel the peace I have always longed for. This section's pretty self explanatory, but it's also very sweet. And it's notable that I sealed our fate because she. It sounds to me like she was the last to fall in love other than Omnos, obviously.

[Lexi]

That's what I'm gathering from this too. This also gives us some insight into the Kindred finding peace and love and harmony with the mortals and how, because they found that for themselves, it's like they kind of project that that that's how it can be for everyone as well. And so they did not have this crazy idealistic idea of having peace and harmony with the mortals and living side by side with them because they were already experiencing that in their own day to day lives.

[Nicole]

Quote every day. Our beloved's age. The thought that haunts us all. Sophos believes there may be a way to bind their short lives to ours.

[Lexi]

So the Kindred originally planned to bind their mortals short lives to the Kindred's immortal lives because they do not want their beloveds to grow old while they live for eternity. We have not heard about phonos igneous or fortos yet here, but we can infer that at some point they had also fallen in love with mortals too. Because that's how history goes and why they're a descendant of all the realms. I am so curious about how and why Sophos believe believes this. Is there a spell book that we're going to come across at some point? I realize that's way too straightforward, but I sense that there might be something along the lines to serve as a guide to do this very big magic separate from each of their elemental powers.

[Nicole]

So this brings up a question. Do you think we're gonna see this in real time with someone in our world? The only couple I can think of is either Luther and dm where Luther gets eternal life. If we're assuming DM is that that kindred lifespan I Think that because she.

[Lexi]

Has mortal in her, she is not.

[Nicole]

That's true.

[Lexi]

Immortal. Yeah.

[Nicole]

So then do you think that we could see that with Teller and Lily, where Teller gets a descended lifespan?

[Lexi]

No, I just think that it was something part of history that they thought was going to happen and it didn't. It was kind of like they were trying to mess with immortality when that wasn't theirs to mess with.

[Nicole]

And so instead it went the other direction. Oh, so unromantic. But fine. Next section. Quote Whatever the cost is, I will pay it. An eternity with him is worth the highest price.

[Lexi]

This is big news. And honestly, until I reread this for the deep dive, I forgot about this very important reveal. That the Kindred didn't do the forging spell to bind themselves to their lover's lifespan. It was supposed to be the other way around. So I do want to apologize for a few inaccurate things I've said leading up to this episode. That's just what everyone does. Just think that the Kindred bound themselves to their mortals lifespan there. And that's just a key part of the Kindred history at this point. But here in Monteos, his own handwriting, we learn the truth. The Kindred tried to give their mortal lovers eternity with the Kindred. And they were willing to pay the highest, highest price. Whatever they did to make this happen, I'm going to guess didn't seem to work and had the opposite effect. Instead of them at the last minute like switching and being like, okay, no, like we will have our lives be the same as theirs. I think something went wrong. Quote Matios had hoped to give her lover eternal life. Instead she'd sacrificed her own immortality to age and die at his side. She had indeed paid the ultimate price. But in a twisted way, she hadn't expected. This is Dean thinking this. I have two theories on this. Number one, the true nature of the spell, or whatever it is, is not to give the mortal eternity with the Kindred, but rather give the Kindred the lifespan to live out their days with their mortal lovers. So the theory is basically what DM is saying. That it is a twisted way of paying the ultimate cost. The Kindred pay the price for their immortality to live their whole lives with their lovers. But I have a second theory too. So his way of binding their mortal lovers required the high price of maybe kiting down the Everflame tree. It was like their lovers sacrifice of their mortality to be immortal with their Kindred loves. And the Kindred underestimated the Everflame's power or something. To that effect. So instead of the Kindred making their lovers immortal, they paid the price of messing with the balance of nature and the Everflame. And it backfired. Last episode, we speculated what the Ancient wrong that must be righted could be. When Lumnos tells Luther about that in his bonus chapter. What if this is the Ancient wrong that must be righted? Or this has something to do with the Kindred's curse. And the Kindred's curse is tied to the Kindred's short lives or separate from the Everflame. The Ancient wrong was how the mortals were supposed to be immortal and live side by side with their Kindred. Now it's like things are not going to plan. So it's a wrong that must be righted. I think no matter what, DM is going to break this Kindred's curse with her own sacrifice at the highest price. And the Everflame will play a big part of that. I was having so much fun with theories.

[Nicole]

Oh, my God. I don't have words. I just went dial tone. That was so epic. Oh, my God, You're a genius. Okay, next, DM flips to the end of the book. So again, we're in a new timestamp, and she finds the final section ripped out of the notebook. Why are we not talking about this? What could be on that? My guess is that there's talk of Omnos on that piece of paper that.

[Lexi]

Was ripped with Papas Orchestra research. Yes. My guess is a million percent that the pages ripped out had to do with Omnos. Especially since when DM does go back a few pages from where it is ripped, the pages are literally talking about the youngest brother and how he is not scared of what happened on their homeland like he should be, and that Monteos fears him. Do we think that these pages are lost to history, burned or gone, or, you know, something else? Or do you think that they still exist somewhere?

[Nicole]

I don't. I think they're burned. Just with how it's so adamant that everything has been burned away, I'm. I'm sadly thinking that this is one of those things as well.

[Lexi]

I absolutely agree with you. Yes.

[Nicole]

Next, this reads, remember, this is a new timestamp camp quote. The locals are grateful, though some resent our presence. Ooh, things have changed. They fear Lumnos's unborn child, as well as the life growing in Fortos. Mate. What role will our descendants play in this new world?

[Lexi]

So we are already starting to see a little unrest and uneasiness toward the Kindred and Their offspring. I will say this, not necessarily the kindred, the themselves, but their offspring, which are the descended.

[Nicole]

Well, and there's mention of mates. It's already the descended language starting to overtake Amarian. They're not saying lover, they're not saying partner, they're not saying marriage, they're saying mate.

[Lexi]

But do you think that they actually were able to become mates, like, in the way that we know of? Absolutely. With mortals, though?

[Nicole]

I think so.

[Lexi]

So do you think that in the current world, a descended could mate with a mortal?

[Nicole]

Yeah. Well, and I love this passage because of this whole quote, what role will our descendants play in this new world? And I want to just scream at Montyos, like, if only you knew, but they're already seeing it.

[Lexi]

I love these diary entries so much because we've only heard about all of this play out in historical references so far, with how the kindred made their offspring, the descended, the rulers, to look over the mortals and this world and keep harmony and peace. But here we see before where they're just figuring out how their children, the descended, will fit into this new world, and they are questioning it themselves.

[Nicole]

Well, I think they assumed that because when they came, the mortals welcomed them practically because they solved a lot of their problems. And so they were, you know, they fell in love with mortals and now they're creating life with mortals. And I'm guessing that they assumed the mortals would feel exactly that same warm and fuzzy nature towards the. What we will now know as the descended. But it's almost like they probably saw it coming. Where those descendants would be revered, higher, above the mortals. There's already a hierarchy coming in.

[Lexi]

Exactly. So when the kindred came in, there's only 10 of them. And so it's kind of like a. Like, okay, like they are just that much more godlike, powerful. Right. But now they've created a second middle ground. Yeah, they've created a middle an in between here. And guess what? That just pushed the mortals lower on the podium. Right? Yeah.

[Nicole]

Then there's the quote. There is a plan, but our youngest will not agree. So we know the youngest is Omnos, because Monteos is the second youngest kindred. But what is this plan? She's referring to the forging spell.

[Lexi]

Oh, are we positive of that? Well, I think that it's a variation of it where the kindred ensure that when they die, their realms will pass to the strongest descendant and become the crown. And that's how the wyverns will continue to protect generations of the kindred's lineage. So I think that is what this plan is. But I'm guessing Omnos doesn't want to agree because he's like, no, I'm the only one without a lover or offspring. I don't need this. And maybe he's thinking he can rule over them all once he outlives his. His siblings and they aren't there to defend their half kindred, half mortal offspring. I'm not entirely sure how the plan would directly impact him, since he does not have any children, but it could absolutely involve a way of limiting his own magic and more specifically, his power.

[Nicole]

Well, I think you're right on the money here. I think he assumed that if he outlived all of his siblings, who would be the ruler of all of Amarian Omnos.

[Lexi]

Yes.

[Nicole]

And if they're putting in these forging spells where it's instead divided into ten different sections, he would only be nine in that way. Well, nine in that way. He would only be the ruler of his small little section. And then they obviously even took that away from him, so.

[Lexi]

And then he would have to be literally dealing with lesser people because the descendants are not Kindred.

[Nicole]

Exactly.

[Lexi]

Which also explains why Ophiucai hates the descendants so much. They are the reason his father or his siblings wanted to do some plan that. That he did not agree to.

[Nicole]

Bingo. Yes.

[Lexi]

As far as, like, timeline with which forging spells and all that kind of stuff. I know it's a little bit confusing. So, as I understand it, the Kindred already have their realms created. That might have happened when they bound themselves to their mortal love's lives. I'm not exactly sure. Hence why Monteos is referring to this new world. And the forging spell originally did include Omnos's realm. That's why the forging magic feels weird there. So maybe this plan is how they can create magical boundaries where the descendant can only use their magic in their own realms, as well as, like, all the eye color stuff. And the crowns, the gryverns, like, all the things that we now know of today as like, the final part two of the foraging spell here. That's my understanding.

[Nicole]

Next section. Quote. Our lives are shorter now. We must persuade him before our time expires. I don't think this happened. I don't think any persuasion happened. Or he lied and now he's like, I don't think this happened.

[Lexi]

Well, I think it did, but they did it after they got rid of Omnos. Because the Sophos crown will later tell diem. Quote. There are references to the Kindred making A great personal sacrifice to protect the mortals. After the foraging, the details were lost to history. But over the years, some Sophos crowns speculated that sacrifice was Omnos. Then they Dorial will go on to say he was the only Kindred who did not take a mate. So he never gave up his immortality like the others. He would have lived. Lived forever. And if he was immune to magic and could also steal their magic, I can see how that might make even the Kindred scared. Perhaps they feared what he might do once they were gone. Which Matios confirms in the next line of her journal entry, which states, quote.

[Nicole]

I confess some days I fear him. Omnos. What happened in our homeland did not scare him as it should have. Instead he speaks of it with reverence. Bad. Bad. This is bad. We know that in the homeland there was destruction. And based off how Montios was connecting it to the Omarion locals being at war and how she mentions there was hate at home, we can infer that there was some major war discourse against at least two groups of people back in their homelands. So is she saying here how Omnos looked at war and liked it checks out based on how Ophiuchai is running the show in the Forgotten Lands. He thrives off hate more than anything.

[Lexi]

I think that the Kendra end up doing the plan, which is the foraging spell that establishes the descendant as heir to the realm crowns and the terra mare and all those realm magical boundaries to help ease the tension with the mortals who are a little nervous about these new magical beings that will coexist with them. But Omnos never agrees to the plan because it creates limitations for himself. So to protect the world from him after they are gone, the Kindred sacrifice Omnos and then execute their plan.

[Nicole]

I'm hung up on that word sacrifice Omnos, because I mean, we can both agree, Omno, we don't think Omniscient is dead. We think Omnos is a fiakai. Yes, yes.

[Lexi]

So I don't know if like there had to be an actual sacrifice where they had to get rid of one of their own in order for this to work. Like that kind of like magical element behind it. I think that potentially they are using the word sacrifice because it is a softer word of eliminating him so that they could follow through this plan because in their eyes it is is sacrificing their youngest brother who is a danger to this world that they are creating with the mortals.

[Nicole]

You mean by them not giving him a slice of the world that was the sacrifice?

[Lexi]

I think they thought that they got rid of Him.

[Nicole]

Maybe he went back to the homeworld for a second and then came back to Amarian.

[Lexi]

Or somehow laid. I don't know how in the world he would lay low so long, but.

[Nicole]

Oh my God. All right, there's this last line. Even our mo. And then DM is interrupted by fucking simond. So mo, the M is capitalized. Add this to the list of shit that you've done that is just unforgivable, Simon. And I need the answers to this now. The only word I can imagine this being is mother, so it's even our ma. Because that would be capitalized. But what? Because what does this have to do with anything? I'm so lost. I love this book. Oh my God.

[Lexi]

So even her mother would definitely make the most sense. Like you're saying here, given the context and especially that capitalization about these 10 siblings. It's like. Because we're already talking about these 10 siblings and how Montios fears the youngest brother. But if Monteos is writing mother, that does of course bring up the question that Kindred had a mother, which with them being siblings, like biologically it makes sense. But my bigger question is her on Amarian. Or maybe their mother is still connected to their home world. Or Montyos is referring to their mother in a past tense from when they were on their home island.

[Nicole]

That's what I assumed.

[Lexi]

Maybe the mother is the moon.

[Nicole]

No, it can't be.

[Lexi]

No, I'm kidding, you asshole. Or Diem is actually representative of the Kindred Mother and not just a daughter of Omnos. But why would a page after this be ripped out? Is it specifically information taken regarding their mother and like the higher divinity than the Kindred? Did the same person rip this out who burnt the old Gods names in that documentation? Or was this even more recent? Did y' or cell rip it out herself to be found later by her worthy heir? Or maybe she ripped it out after they imprisoned Ophiuchai to help ensure he has forgotten to history. Which would definitely le more into the idea that Ophiuchai is Omnos. Which I do think that if that is the case, Uracelle knows. Okay, I can feel myself slipping down a rabbit hole. I gotta pull myself out.

[Nicole]

I'm definitely team she's she, meaning Montios is referring to the mother on the home planet. But the way that this sentence flows, it sounds like she's referring to something their mother would have said recently. Because she's talking about discourse between her siblings. So it's almost like. Like referring to even our Mu. And like even our Mother would have agreed. Or even our mother would. Well, I don't know because.

[Lexi]

No, because they're talking about on the home planet. Yeah. So I wonder if she's like, even, like, if it's something along the lines of like, even our mother back home was concerned about him. Him with all of this.

[Nicole]

Yeah, definitely. Which. That's some little sibling energy if I've ever heard it. Long story short, we think we're coming back to this exact library in Burn. Maybe to read more books. Maybe she'll connect something from something she read in Sophos with her new photographic memory with her Sophos magic. Maybe this is where the Rosebane is. Maybe to read more diaries, like the one that has the fucking missing page. That makes me want to just.

[Lexi]

Here's another crack theory of mine. What if Ophiuchai somehow gets in here during the attack the following day and when DM comes back, it's like all ransom and all the most important books, including this diary, will be gone or burned. Oh, my heart couldn't take that. Do you think, like. Yeah, just. Okay, scratching that theory. I think that DM is absolutely going to learn more in here. She will remember that there is essential information in here and come back to track it down. Maybe she'll be like, oh, maybe I should like, read the other pages in Matios's diary too. Well, and then based on what Pen literally just told us a few minutes ago is that we're going to learn so much more about the old mortal religions. I think that we are going to get a lot more in here from that.

[Nicole]

Yes, well, and as the new queen of Ambrose, at the end of this book, DM technically owns this library and she's also still got the key to it that Yrssel gives it to her.

[Lexi]

Yes, good thing Yersel thought to give her the key because, yep, she knows this is about to be DM's library.

[Nicole]

Jumping ahead a little bit. But when they get home from Umbros and are settling healthily back into the Lumna Palace, Diem takes the key from the Umbrose Crown Library from her bandeau that miraculously doesn't come off in the bottle we're covering later this episode because, yeah, we still have that to do. And she throws it into the back of her wardrobe.

[Lexi]

And then we have to remember that as she's leaving this library, DM thinks that there is something that she read that is gnawing at her, but she can't place what it is. I'm guessing that it's what she read in Montes diary about the youngest brother. Because she will bring that up later to Luther. And maybe her intuition, her godhood or Ambrose magic, whatever, is picking up on the fact that there is much more that she needs to uncover.

[Nicole]

Well, when she hears Omnos for the first time from Doriel, it's like this like. Like moment where it's like her godhood knows. And I think that's exactly what it is her godhood's like.

[Lexi]

Yeah, exactly. I also wonder if your cell will leave a note for DM in the library after DM leaves. And she knows that this is her last chance to pass vital information to dm, so she has to assume and hope that DM will return to the libraries. Or maybe she'll, like, just have like, a few books out that are like, here's the answers.

[Nicole]

Dm.

[Lexi]

My God.

[Nicole]

Honestly, she's kind of pissed DM right now. I could see her writing just this blatant fuck you and everything you stand for, and then leaving out the books because she knows that that's.

[Lexi]

Or it'll just be like, extra cryptic, just as a nice little extra fuck you. Like Nicole mentioned, Simon interrupts DM's time here in the library to escort her back to her quarters so that she can start prepping for dinner. Side note, should we be worried about the dried blood all over Simon? That he's like, ah, don't worry about it. It's just from someone who should have known better than to cross the Queen of Umbros. I'm taking this as like, another flex of power reminding DM how powerful their queen is and that she shouldn't cross her.

[Nicole]

I took it as exactly that. I feel like it's another reminder to hammer in. Hey, the thing you're gonna do tonight, it's bad like it is. You have a lot of danger that you are in.

[Lexi]

Anyway, whoever that poor person was, we commend their souls to Malik, whoever they were. But Simon's not just here to help DM stay timely for dinner. He has to pick up two of his centenaries in their guest wing of the palace, who, you see, were caring for one of the Lumnos guests all afternoon. L. For you, Simon. For. For purposefully leading DM to believe the worst of Luther. But maybe, you know, this is Simon's way of trying to help Luther and make DM not love him so much when he dies so that she won't be sad.

[Nicole]

Just kidding.

[Lexi]

He's being such a dick. And this is his idea. Fun. Speaking of Fun. Two female centenaries leave. Yep, you guessed it. Luther's room.

[Nicole]

Oh no.

[Lexi]

Talking about how much fun they had and how huge his scar and other things are and. Oh no. Oh dear. Simon realizes he shouldn't have let DMC that Luther had after all, asked for her not to be told. Okay, so obvious statement here. Anyone in this situation would come to the conclusion that Luther was intimate all afternoon with these two women. That's literally what they and Simon are happily leading DM to assume without outright line. And poor DM is devastated to. To put it very mildly, her first reaction is no, no, this cannot be what it seems. Good for you, girl. That's the growth from Glow shining through. But Luther's also been really weird since Ourobros avoiding DMs touch and distancing himself from her just to name a few tiny little things. So understandably, DM can't help but second guess her and Luther. Now he said she deserved more. Maybe he can't give her more. After all, he had been with Illyana and he he didn't have love for her. If Luther does want someone to touch him, does he need it to be without emotion or any strings attached? Is this why he can't be more with Diem? He's let her in in so many ways. But maybe this is where he draws the line at intimacy. So you know, he had to get his fill of pleasure with no strings attached from others.

[Nicole]

But we know our Luther much better than that. It turns out that at the bath house where yr cell sent him and all of the other luminance descended, Luther collapsed and the two centenaries brought him back. AKA also why they sell him naked. Then the Ambrose queen sent for two healers, which was quite nice of her. One from Fortos and one a mortal healer. And both agreed that nothing could be done. So the two centenaries who are leaving are not discussing their wild rumble in the sheets with the prince. They are referring to seeing him naked at the bathhouse and in his room while he was being examined. And the reason Luther is staring up at the ceiling is because he again just received the very grim odds of Sorry buddy, but you're gonna die.

[Lexi]

Later, on their way to dinner, DM will confront Luther that he was not at the bathhouse like he's saying that he was. In fact, she shares way more calmly than I would have that he was occupied with two centenary women. Oh, Luther is just horrified. And he tries figuring out how in the world to talk his way out of this. This without Revealing the truth because apparently he doesn't want to tell her the truth anymore. His inability to give her a proper response, however, and his anguish and how he ultimately brushes Diem off with formality, well, that just reinforces what it already looks like. And DM asks the question all the readers are wondering at this. What happened to you? What happened to Luther? What happened to these two together? She is so hurt and confused by him trying to get answers, and he just answers vaguely. You'll understand soon. May I please just give Luther one more L I get. At this point, he has pretty much given up on getting DM back home to Lumnos before he dies, and he knows that if he shares what's going on at this point, she will do exactly what she does end up doing, which is leave Umpros early and not get the answers that she needs. At this point, Luther is like, well, we made our bed. I'm gonna lie in it and die.

[Nicole]

I this hurts my heart, but I am going to retweet the L, because after, especially after the desire speech last episode, he was basically saying she is his life's blood, and now he's just at peace with her, believing that he cheated on her again. I get that his internal tennis match is happening with the Godstone, and all of that is trying to fuck with his head, and I would be so exhausted if I was DM with this. DIA may be having an existential crisis about her relationship, but she looks fabulous. She's dressed to the nines, and as Zellerik puts it, she's finally wearing a dress befitting of her status. The centenaries dressed her in a sheer black gossamer draped to cover as little as possible, with a plunging neckline that drops all the way to her navel and a slit that nearly runs up to her ribs. Not to do this again, but what's the underwear situation here? This dress has an array of tiny, glittering rubies that resemble blood after a gruesome kill. Oh, it's violent, it's sexual. It's perfectly suited for the court of Ambrose.

[Lexi]

Aha.

[Nicole]

Almost like Yr Cel planned this. She knows DM is about to be her successor. So it's almost like this dress is her way of saying, what? Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Dm. Hey, you're about to be the queen of this land. It's time. You'd look like it.

[Lexi]

Yes, exactly. Also, where were the attendants helping DM prepare for all of her Lumnos events here in Umbros? She had Centenaries bathing and dressing her, fixing her up and she didn't have that in Lumnos. My headcanon is that she denied any help then because that feels like something DM would do in her early crown days.

[Nicole]

I definitely agree that that sounds about right. I will also point out that that could be a wink wink nudge nudge to the Eleanor's evil crack theory that I have where Eleanor's way. I miss that next episode the others are all dressed in Lumnos traditional blue and silver, including Zelleric. Luther is characteristically formal in a high neck bricade jacket, even with formal dress gloves. Obviously these are hiding his injury. Alix is in a kicking ass flesh colored bodysuit with strategically placed diamond clusters and a navy overcoat that trailed in a pool behind her. Alix is my type dude. I love her. Taryn is wearing breeches of blue black leather and no shirt. Instead he wears a harness of straps and chains that leave his tanned muscles on display. His godstone injuries now nearly gone. Hooray. And and Zellerick is showing off his Lumnosian heritage with an open vest and billowing pants that are entirely fabricated from Shadow magic with glowing light made cuffs snaking up his forearms.

[Lexi]

Epic. I love it. But there is one thing we cannot forget about this fit watch, because earlier Yersel insisted Diem wear her crown. I'm sorry, I can't ever say that without thinking of Miss Congeniality. In other words, make it appear above her head since remember she's been hiding that since she was escaping with Brett back at the Guardians camp in Arboros. And even DM still hasn't gotten a good look at her crown in the mirror since it's back above her head though, as her group of friends comment here, the crown looks different than they've ever seen it before. And then remember how your soul gazed at it earlier and saying like oh, marvelous. And seemingly she knew something that DM didn't. Well, Diem's crown is different than it was before her coronation ceremony, and it has nothing to do with the coronation attempt itself. Like DM is thinking here, the dark thorny circlet of the Lumnose crown with glittering points of light has transformed now, with its circulate peak mirroring the opposite direction like a mountain, and shards of broken crystals seem to form and dissolve at random between the the glimmering light. Yes, ice. Put it all together and you get the Monteos crown once again. I am just so obsessed with magic in this world and how these two crowns have fused together to create something new. Even in DM and Luther's visions, he has said her crown looks like something he's never seen before. And he's starting to understand just how unique and part of all the realms she is. Even before seeing the combined crown atop her head. Now, this is not even the same crown that he's seen in the vision. That vision crown has more crowns. Last thing I want to mention about this fit watch is again, how much we see DM's attire serve as a mask and a part for her to play. She may look fierce, like a predator on the hunt, but inside she feels wrecked and vulnerable because of Luther refusing to talk to her and seeming to have two other women in his room. She's making herself embrace what she did back in Glow when she was out of her element and feeling so raw but knew she had to kill. Keep going. I just love seeing like what we've already seen in Glow because we've seen a lot of different things in Glow. It's like, oh, it's like nice to kind of get these little, I'll call them anchors here.

[Nicole]

Yeah. Now that everyone is dressed and starting to feel the effects of Taryn behind an open bar, it is dinner time. To the dining room. Seated at a long narrow table. And by long, I mean considerable length. It stretches the length of the room and is piled high with an arrangement of of food, flowers and candles. Yr cell and DM sit across from each other in the middle at the places of honor. And on Yrsel's right is Simon, who is across the table from Luther, who's on DMs left. A strategic move, no doubt. Taryn is on the other side of Luther. Then Alix and zelleric are on DMs right. I love that. Taran and Zellaryk are literally sitting on opposite ends of their little group huddle. It's so on brand. The rest of the table is. Is filled with all the centenaries. Every one of them. All 100. Mind reading, game playing, lust filled, descended. This dining table fits literally 106 people. That's stupid. But wait, if the centenaries are all here, who's watching the ports or guarding the city? Well, that's easy. Lumnose descended are hired to craft an illusion of centenaries throughout the city. And normally it's Zellaric, who's one of these Lumnos descended who creates an illusion of a centenary to collect the tariffs at the port. But after he always does that, his memory is Erased. Obviously he's not doing that tonight because he's sitting here in this room again. It's just showing that power that for the centenaries it's normal and valid, while it's literally them overtaking someone's body and then erasing it for them from their memory without their permission.

[Lexi]

God. Okay, so here's how I see it. It's using the Luminos descendant like Zellaryk to create an illusion on themselves. So they look like the centenaries and like I'm under the impression that Zellaryk, when he's doing this, knows about this job, but then his memory is erased.

[Nicole]

Yes.

[Lexi]

So. So it's like without his permanently remembered permission.

[Nicole]

Yes.

[Lexi]

So I do think I take this out without consent. No, but okay, so here's how I see it. Is that like this is one of the jobs that Zellaryk does and in the moment he knows what he is going to be doing and then it is erased from his memory.

[Nicole]

Yes. And he does it multiple times over and he never remembers himself doing it.

[Lexi]

Yes.

[Nicole]

Are you justifying this use of magic?

[Lexi]

I'm not saying that they are being like I don't know or I don't think that they're being completely controlled. I think that it is a job that they sign up to do and then it is erased from their memory afterwards.

[Nicole]

Yes.

[Lexi]

That sounds like a secret mission to me.

[Nicole]

Erased from their memory so they never remember doing it. So Zellary is hearing about this for what feels like the first time at a table in front of 105 other people and everyone's laughing because hahaha, he doesn't remember and he's like, yeah, that's not okay.

[Lexi]

But I think that they take over their minds and make them do it in the first place.

[Nicole]

I think that's ambiguous on purpose because they do not say willingly or anything. So I think that's supposed to be ambiguous.

[Lexi]

I agree. I just like to think that they give other. They give descended all these other jobs right in the city and that's why it's such a great melting pot and so they're not making them do these other things. It's like part of them just like getting a living. And Zellary knows that he does a lot of jobs that are shady and so they. This is one of those jobs and he didn't realize how shady it was. This makes the centenaries and the goings on in Umbros just all the more unique and intriguing. Yes. Even if it is bad. This is such a useful Luminos lights magic skill. And yet we really don't see it used like this until heat. So number one, is this illusionist magic used more often in Luminos than we think. Or maybe it's taboo to use there and they just kind of have different rules of it in the realm because even Elite she can hide somebody, but she doesn't make them look like somebody else. Like Zeller it can do. And then that brings me to number two is it's so out of the box of traditional Lumnose magic wielding that it's almost like this type of magic is, I'll call it discovered here. Not literally, but you know what I mean. Like it's just not known of in Lumnos because it is. They like their boxes there. And number three, maybe Zaleric teaches all the other Lumnos descended how to use this magic or one of them taught him how to do it it.

[Nicole]

See, I think that because in Lumnos half mortals are so, so taboo, they're either killed or they're sent elsewhere to places like Ambrose where they're more powerful and then that is where they have to learn on their own. Like we know Zellary is self taught, so it's almost like the only limit is their imagination and obviously their power. So I think that the reason that it's used in Umbros is because there's more half mortals here, there's more creativity, like you were saying in option two. But like we've suspected, half mortals half descended are more powerful and they're more populated in Umbros because of obvious reasons. We've talked to death on this podcast. Basically this dinner is a lot and made even more a lot with Taran starting a one man drinking game and he's absolutely shit faced as a result. If Simon pokes at Luther a small sip, someone gloats about how the queen has absolute control of her city. Take a drink. A centenary propositions one of the crew for sex. Finish the glass. I do want to point out that since we have the extra context from Taran's bonus chapter, he was saying that DM has not looked at him with that judgment that everyone else does around his drinking. But he was waiting for it to happen. She kind of does judge him. Before dinner she asks him, only half joking, if anyone has ever told him he has a drinking problem. While we don't know what's going on in Taryn's head in this scene, I wonder if some of this drinking game is from he just getting that reassurance of everyone thinking that he's a total fuck up and he's going to drown himself with alcohol as a result. And if everyone's going to think that, he might as well prove them right.

[Lexi]

We have to bring up practically every.

[Nicole]

Little thing that your soul says.

[Lexi]

And I have another one for us. As the centenaries explain that they can do anything to the mind when you control it. You can make someone say or do anything, believe they're someone else. Replace emotions with pain or pleasure, Erase or create memories, turn against loved ones. Before I keep going. Quick pause. Knowing that your cell centenaries will be killed, it is very possible that that DM will be one of the only or the only person with Umbro's magic by the end of Heat. So all this talk and potential foreshadowing about how Umbro's magic can turn the tides of a war. Do we think we'll see DM use this on say, Vance or Ophiuchai's army?

[Nicole]

Yes.

[Lexi]

I don't think. Yeah, Yeah. I don't think it'll work long. Since Ophiuchai can combat her like no one else can. But it's something to think about. Like using this. Umbro's controlling magic for the greater good. For working toward peace, acceptance. It doesn't last. So it would be a very temporary plan. But anyway, that's not what this is about here. Your cell warns DM that she can make DM into a walking corpse. And once a mind is crushed, there is no saving it. Quote, even blessed Father Ambrose cannot restore what no longer exists. And DM knows it's a message and a warning of a different kind. I'm waving my hands in the air and yelling foreshadowing here. Would Diem have the, for lack of a better word, stomach to do something like this to someone? Could she accidentally do this to someone? Is it how she potentially defeats her father? We know that this is possible. Essentially taking someone's soul away from them, everything that makes them who they are, and leaving only the husk of themselves left. Your cell literally does go on to say that DM does not understand now, but she will. What if this happens to one of DM's loved ones and she has to give them a death? I have so many questions on half past fake theories here.

[Nicole]

Oh, see, I was definitely team she would do this to Ophiucai real quickly.

[Lexi]

I will say too, that he can use the same kind of magic that she can. So true. So like, she could try to use it on him. I don't know if it would work.

[Nicole]

What I could see is this is presented at. I'll call it like one of her options to use with Ophiuchai as. Like a. As a part of warfare. I agree with you. He would be able to push her out of his mind. I don't think she would do this. I think she would see this as. As more cruel than death. I would hope so, because this is just them.

[Lexi]

Literally.

[Nicole]

Like you're saying, like, if this happens to a loved one of hers, I don't see her not killing them to put them out of that misery. That sucks. Oh, God.

[Lexi]

What if Ophiuchai has this power to do it to somebody else?

[Nicole]

I guarantee you he probably does. So that's deeply concerning. But what's that smell? DM Diem smells. Flameroot. Stop, everyone. And Lexi, do you want to guess what stop is written in?

[Lexi]

What? Nicole?

[Nicole]

Italics. The word in italics explodes in DM's head. And turns out everyone else is as well, with 105 others at the table instantly stilling, including yr cell. Allow me to hit the nail on the head. This is a big deal. Not only for DM to command so many people to just stop, but for her to command another queen, the most powerful in the realm. One of the most powerful crowns in Omarion. The one who is supposed to have an impenetrable shield. DM penetrated it, but duh. Something else could be quite odd about this exchange. Why is the Queen of Umbrals trying to drive DM and company with Flameroot? We don't really get a straight up answer other than Yersel applauding DM for being more clever than she thought. So the best way that I can think about this is it was a test for dm. Like, be smarter than when we first met Childe kind of test.

[Lexi]

That's kind of what I'm thinking, too. But also, she does know that there's going to be an attack on her city the next day. Yeah, so that's quite the bet on her realm that DM's not going to drink this flame root. Though my guess is it's just like a little bit of flame root, because, remember, we're used to, like, three spoonfuls full of guardians. I'll have to keep an eye on Taran to see if he says anything about, like, how long its effects last. Because he does say he can feel the nullification still right before their escape later this night. But that's not a very long time, right? So.

[Nicole]

Yeah, well, Speaking of Taran, DM's yelling stop was up right on time for everyone except for Taran, who swallowed his entire glass before the command went out.

[Lexi]

With the Umbros queen playing literal mind games with dm, DM thinks about wanting to craft a mental shield, and her godhood responds immediately, taking action to do just that. A mental shield where the Umbro's magic can't get into her mind to begin with. Pulsing ice and fire against the inside of my temples. I wonder if this is her umbro's magic creating a mental shield, as we know the most powerful can do. Or is this her special magic? I'm gonna go with umbros, even with the ice and fire descriptions we get here. But more importantly now with the mental shield, the buzz around the room, all these noises she's been hearing ever since she arrived in Umbros are gone. And this is the moment she realizes, holy. I have Umbro's magic. We've been getting lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of heads, some subtle and some not whatsoever, that DM has this magic since crossing the realm's border. I say this is the moment she realizes, but it's more like she did know before, but now is when she is consciously aware of exactly what she can do. While this umbrous magic capability unsettles her, it's also intriguing, which doesn't surprise me at all about dm. She has been kept in the dark, with too many secrets kept from her all her life. Like you were saying earlier, Nicole, about how the idea of not having secrets of secrets kind of sounds nice to her. This series is all about those secrets. Unraveling the idea of no secrets from her is kind of a nice concept, even though she won't feel like she can morally use it on loved ones. This is a very handy magic to have to sway people, to check for lies, to uncover secrets, to communicate. I would be intrigued too, dm. Earlier in this chapter, Stretch, the Lumnos group was saying how DM's powerful aura is something like they've never felt before. And DM is a strong, strongest descendant any of them have ever seen. Stronger than seems possible. She instinctively wanted to deny it. After all, she has spent her life living in delulu denial that she is a half mortal. She thought about how she wanted to be brave enough, strong enough to face the truth. Well, this is DM beginning to finally face the truth. She won't understand. She has all the magic of the realms she has visited until they're escaped on Sarai later. But here she's starting to put the.

[Nicole]

Pieces together with a new, notably not poisoned gardensium bottle. One of the centenaries that was in Luther's room earlier that DMS so kindly decided to call Hagface suggests they play the mirror game. Here's how this game works. The centenaries or the queen will ask a question, and our group has to answer the question. And if they answer truthfully, nothing happens. But if they lie, which all of the Umbros magic people in the room will be able to tell, the centenaries drink. The purpose of this game, according to Hagface, is to reveal who you truly are. But your cell jumps at this game very quickly. Since DM's arrival, she's been testing her soon to be successor, ensuring that DM is indeed up to the task of being the savior of the world. And this would absolutely fall into that category. And just to edge DM on a little bit more, if DM decides to play, your cell will answer DM's question about your cell and the upcoming war. I can also imagine that the centenaries are jumping for joy, Specifically Simon, at wondering how on earth Luther is going to handle this game, because they all know he has a godstone wound and he hasn't told them.

[Lexi]

So let's open the mirror game with question number one. If blessed mother Lumnos gave you the power to decide which of you wore the crown, who would you choose? First of all, I believe your cell is asking this question to get a gauge on the real loyalty of DM's inner circle. Do they truly believe DM is their best fit for the crown? As well? As they hear DM's response, does she believe she should have the crown? So let's go through everyone's responses and this is not in order. First we have Luther, who obviously says dm. Then Zalrick says himself. Not a surprise, considering he knows himself best and only trusts himself. Then Taryn says Queenie Lou never wanted the crown and DM makes his father miserable. That and Queenie is a much better name nickname than Kingy.

[Nicole]

Kingy. Kingy.

[Lexi]

Kingy.

[Nicole]

Kingy.

[Lexi]

Sounds like Kinky. Kinky. Kinky.

[Nicole]

I know, right?

[Lexi]

Obviously very good reasons to choose DM for the crown instead of Luther. But also it does show how well he knows Luther and would not want to make him king if, you know, Luther doesn't want it. Okay, you know, DM didn't want either, but that's, you know, different. DM says Luther. Again, not a surprise after everything we went through with her and Glow like that was basically her inner monologue for half of the book.

[Nicole]

Look.

[Lexi]

And how DM does genuinely believe he is the better candidate to be the crown of Lumnos yourself scrapes at her mental walls to confirm this truth, but it feels distant this time, muffled and frail. She is not able to get past DM's mental shield, which is. Oh shit, she's supposed to be able to get through everyone's.

[Nicole]

I do wonder if Yircelle wanted this to be DM's answer, or if she wanted DM to have the confidence to believe in herself, to say herself. So I wonder if this is also her testing to be like, fucking really? Is that your answer?

[Lexi]

DM might let yersel in for a moment so she can confirm this is the truth. But especially after that flameroot stunt, she does not trust the Umbros queen. Then we have Alix who answers dm and apparently that's the first lie of the night. I do think that Alix thought her answer of DM was true, but then she gets called out and even poor Elix is like, wait, what? Like, yes, it is true. Ultimately, Elix does think that Luther is more well known and respected, as well as level headed and capable of leading an army in wartime. She does believe this of herself too. And while DM has proven that she is a strong leader, deep down Alix believes that there is someone else in their group who is better equipped to be the leader needed right now. And that is Luther.

[Nicole]

Oh, that's gotta sting. Not because DM feels like Alix is wrong and not because we think Alix is wrong, but because DM knows that she's right. Alix is thinking deep down every self deprecating thought that DM has inside her own head. And to hear that someone you love and trust so deeply thinks these things about you. Yeah, that would really fucking hurt. And I also really commend DM though, for not shutting Alix out or feeling weird around her for very long after this. Like, I feel like that's very mature of dm.

[Lexi]

Yes, definitely. And that's really her and Alix's whole relationship, right? Yeah. Hag face butts in with the next question to, you know, just stir the pot and maybe get under DM's skin. She's definitely having fun messing with DM. Who in this room do you most wish to have in your bed?

[Nicole]

Luther, rather than stating the obvious, says that there's only one person he desires in his bed and she should know who he is. Me. Luther. Really? Oh my God, you shouldn't have. Jokes aside, everyone jokes that they already know who this she is. But honestly, Luther, my guy, it would not have killed you to say it out loud, because naturally, this answer just pisses DM off. How can she know if Luther is talking about her, if he's constantly pushing her away, or if he's making her think that he cheated on her with two women earlier this day? Like, I love you, Luther, so much, but I am 100% team DM here. Speaking of DM, what does her and her temper say is her answer? It is that she will only welcome a man who desires her and who wants her there. And as she's come to learn, those are two different things. Burn. If that didn't already make Luther go okay. Ow. Then when Simon volunteers as tribute to be that person in DM's bed, DM says a casual quote. We'll see where the night takes us. And a pulse of energy explodes through the room. Yeah, Luther is pissed.

[Lexi]

Can I give a gold star to DM for how she is handling thinking that her fan has cheated on her?

[Nicole]

Absolutely.

[Lexi]

She is handling this with grace and pettiness that I love.

[Nicole]

And here's the deal. Yes, Luther is wounded. Yes, he's dying. But she doesn't know that.

[Lexi]

And we don't, as a reader. We don't, as a reader, know this yet.

[Nicole]

Yeah, and he seemed like he was having a threesome earlier this day. I'm sorry, I'm so team DM here. And I will say this. This moment where Luther's aura, like, pulls pulses through the room, it's moments like this where I fucking love the jealousy trope. Delicious. But God. Let's move on to a less dramatic answer. Alix says that she would be happy to have any of the centenaries in her bed tonight. Or all of them. The more the merrier.

[Lexi]

Get it, girl?

[Nicole]

Holy shit. I love her. I will not have a crush on Alix. Calm down, Nicole. Taryn. However, in an attempt to claim the same sex origin that Alix did, the lie detector goes off. It's the second lie of the night. He amends that. Only, I guess, half of them. Sorry, ladies. Lie alarm goes off again. Okay, fine. He can't just pick one. They're all so handsome. Again, another lie. He doesn't technically say it because admitting that Zellaric is the one he wants in his bed is way too vulnerable for him right now. After all, remember, Zellaric, like, sold them out and betrayed them. And Taran is still pissed about it. I Think that Taran is trying to convince himself that this is the true answer. But obviously all of the centenaries know that that is not correct.

[Lexi]

Well, even at the skin markets, he was like, trying to kind of find somebody who he might want. Is like, I don't want anybody else I know, right?

[Nicole]

This guy right here. I love it.

[Lexi]

Speaking of this guy right here, you want to know Zaler's response? With all due respect to the two beautiful queens, he'd be better off alone than with anyone else here. Liar, liar, pants on fire. Shadowy pants on fire. Taryn asks if none of them are good enough for him, and Zelrick's like, no. And he's caught in another lie. Basically, he is lying for the exact same reason that Taran is. These two want each other so badly. And all after they fight a lot, they're gonna hook up, as DM will find out when she bangs on Taryn's door later. And he's like, got a little pillow over his penis. And finally we get to yourself's last question. The final question of the mirror game. The palace is burning and you can only save one other person. Who do you choose? Okay, there. This game just got a lot more serious. And don't think for a second yourself didn't do this on purpose. She is asking DM a variation of her earlier question. What is DM willing to do? To give, to sacrifice for the sake of humanity?

[Nicole]

She just won't stop testing dm. And honestly, I get it. She wants to make sure that DM to is going exactly who Father Umbros told her she would be. At least that's my assumption. So let's start with Zellaryc's answer. Who does he choose? Diem or Yrself? Well, shit, this was the exact situation that DM did not want him to be in when he said he would join the game. But he answers with a truthful he's only saving himself, which has the whole room in silence. Zelleric just basically said that he wouldn't save either of his queens. And in Umbros, that's. That's not good. Luckily, yr cell seems to be having a good hair day because all she does is laugh and praises Zellerick for his response. And DM agrees. She'd rather have his honesty than his loyalty, which makes Luther stiffen. Yeah, but feeling guilty. Now, the irony is that DM didn't even mean to poke Luther with this one, but she's not mad that it did. Again, I totally agree with you. I love how she's handling in this next Alix, do you save DM or she doesn't even wait for yourself to finish the question before answering. My queen looks like someone's feeling rather guilty from the first questions situation, especially when she notably exhales when Ursul declares her answer as truth. I really do feel for Alix like she was trying to convince herself. Like you were saying she thought that her answer was saying that DM was the best for the crown. She thought it was right. And she feels like she can't trust her own head now because these people can wiggle their way through it. Next is Taryn his queen or Luther? Easy. He would pick Diem. Not because of the fear of looking bad from Elix's answer, or because he knows Luther would murder him if he grabbed his friend over his queen. No, instead it's because Taran also took an oath to serve Diem. And while he may be slurring his words as he says this, you can feel the hurt that he has that he's not being taken as seriously as a member of her council. Luther's answer is also easy. It's Diem, obviously. But what about Diem? Who will live and who will burn? Burn is in italics. Hello, foreshadowing for the next book where this is going to be such a huge theme. Who will live and who will burn? But this answer is tricky because DM can't just name one person, not even Luther, because that would all be a lie. She would find a way to save them all or she would die trying.

[Lexi]

And honestly, none of us would expect any other answer from DM for every single reason we have discussed throughout this whole deep dive. So what's yourself's reaction to this very pointed question she asked of dm? Well, she declares Diem answer wins the game. No mirror could look deeper than that. Based on DM and Yersel's earlier discussion about sacrificing your soul and paying the ultimate price, do you think DMs answer here that she would save everyone or die trying is in line with her earlier answer everything? Or do you think it's the opposite? Because to me, on the one hand, it seems right up the alley of DMs first answer to Yersel. She's ready and willing to die for the cause. In this case, die in the burning building for her loved ones to have a hope of survival. But Yersel said earlier that's the easy answer. Answer is DM willing to sacrifice her loved ones, be the one to put them in their Graves to which this isn't DM willing to make those hard sacrifices. This is literally her essentially saying, I will die for the cause. And your soul's like, that's not what I'm asking. But I will say this. This is DM thinking differently. She's not willing to make those hard sacrifices because she always tries to find another way. And maybe your soul is like, okay, we do need that. That, like we do need some of this out of the box thinking, yeah, I don't know. These two conversations feel so closely connected, but also very conflicting.

[Nicole]

I think in order to answer the question of is it in alignment with what your cell was asking earlier, with the everything answer versus is it not in alignment? We would need to know what's happening. Like what's the driving force to get out of the burning palace? Like for instance, is it because Ophiuchai is outside and he's about to kill every single Umbros descended or every single Umbros citizen in the realm? And in order for her to save hundreds and thousands of lives, or however many people live in Ambrose, she has to leave five people behind. Because then, yes, I would say her answer here is in direct opposition to what she promised Uracelle earlier. But if it's just to save these people because the palace is burning, then I would actually say it is in congruency with the answer that she gave earlier, which is I would do everything to save people. It would entirely depend on why she's trying to get them out. Well, DM played the game. It's time for you to uphold your end of the bargain. Tell DM her stance, her planned involvement in the upcoming war. And she does it in the most ursel way possible with a biology lesson. Yr cell shares how in Sophos they've been researching blood through breeding mortals with descended than breeding that half descended with a mortal again and again and again for generations. And how. It's interesting. No matter how much mortal blood enters the bloodline, the kindred blood always outweighs any mortal involvement. But only one exception happens when two different descended. So a descended from Umbros and Meros, for example, the child that they have together will always end up with the more powerful Kindred blood flowing in their veins. Why is your cell sharing this with Diem? Because this war, as she puts it, will be fought over blood. Diem's blood. Okay, so we've got to break this down. Since a more powerful Kindred blood always prevails. And Diem has same kindred blood as Alfea. Kai, we can infer that your cell is talking about this war being fought over the most powerful blood of all. Now, whether or not that's her saying the war is two Omnoses descended on either side fighting each other.

[Lexi]

That's what I'm leaning toward. Or the blood of both mortal and descended combined. So, like, I don't think that it's necessarily Omnos blood that Yersel is specifically referring to with the war being fought over, but more so like good and evil. Or how DM's blood is other. It is not part of the Nine Realms, but something else entirely that can reach reshape a new world.

[Nicole]

I'll throw out another option. Is she referring to the war being fought over Omnos blood? Just in general. Especially if Omnos blood is indeed connected to the Kindred's Curse. So it's almost like the war is being fought over the Kindred's Curse.

[Lexi]

Oh, I love that.

[Nicole]

Yes.

[Lexi]

I just had a random thought. You know, the gift. What if DM's blood symbolizes the gift? I don't know how that fits into what Lumnos has said about a faithful heir needing it at the end of the and Monteo's saying, you know, share the gift to pay the cost. But what if Deem's blood is the gift?

[Nicole]

I could definitely.

[Lexi]

I think you might have even said that as an option previously, so I can't remember. Sorry. If it was on your original thought.

[Nicole]

And you judged me for it. I always remember. No. I said no. I said her heart. That was it.

[Lexi]

That's what it was.

[Nicole]

Never mind yourself. Does say one more very important thing. Quote Those who are most certain they will live will find themselves among the first to die. All right, it's time to play who's the cockiest people in the fight game? Ophiuchai. For sure. I feel like he's definitely cocky, but I don't see him at all being the first to die.

[Lexi]

I think that the first to die has already happened. The King of Fortos is cocky enough to think that he would win, that he was strong, blah, blah, blah. And he is is certainly among the first to die. So this has already come true. Potentially the same with the King of Igneous, which yourself is the cause of him dying. Big asterisk. He is not dead yet.

[Nicole]

I'll also throw out Vance. He is a martyr. Yes, but he's definitely passionate about their belief in winning the cause.

[Lexi]

He thinks his cause will win, but maybe not he himself.

[Nicole]

I'll also throw out Gareth. I'll even throw out Remus in that same category, Doriel, especially with their huge win at the end of this book. I was just listening to all the SOFO sections earlier this morning and I definitely don't think Dorial's making out of the series alive. And honestly, I don't know if I would put DM on this list though, because I don't feel like she's certain that she's gonna live through well, maybe.

[Lexi]

I don't know.

[Nicole]

Yeah, I'm gonna hold off on putting DM on this list.

[Lexi]

After dinner we get another delicious yourself and DM conversation Listeners do you understand why this episode is so long now? This particular conversation isn't about what Father Umbros has told Yersel, though she's insisting that has to wait until tomorrow. It's her little way of dangling information in front of dm, giving her just enough to show how much yourself does know and withhold even more to keep DM close. We cannot forget what Pen said a little while ago about how yourself probably knows more than anybody else, and when the author says probably in that kind of context, I think it's the truth. But Yersel does say that the Blessed Father Ambrose knows that she treats the mortals well and that's why he told her everything. That's why he showed her DMs and she cuts herself off, stopping herself from revealing more than she intends in the moment. I'm guessing yourself was going to say something along the lines of showed me your fate, so I'm guessing Ambrose is quite right here. And this is also why Lumnos has chosen Luther as her faithful servant and showed him a vision and Monty is to the King because they weren't, I'll say anti mortals since you know, they banned them from the mountains for their own good. I'm going to keep that in mind as we head into Burn with the Crowns who are more sympathetic to mortals and getting more information from their kindred there. Because it does seem so interesting that the Sophos crown has not seemed to get the same lowdown from their kindred. And it's the Arboros kindred saying to the Arboros queen, hey, maybe you should go ally with dm. Doesn't seem like it by any means. Anyway, I am going down so many rabbit holes this episode. DM is expressing her hope that the future Umbro's crown follows Yersel's example and allows the mortals to live freely in Umbros. To which Yersel laughs, stating the crown is not going to do any of this. This so what I personally take from this is there's not going to be the same kind of structure in the world for DM as the next crown to do any of this. And, like, everything's going to be different. Is that how you take it? Tunic?

[Nicole]

Kind of like we've talked about. I think that the Nine Realms are going to be completely torn apart and it's going to be rising as one. We'll talk about that with Monteos in a few episodes. So that's what I feel like she's referring to, is how, like, this state of the world is going to completely change. Like you're saying. Yes, yes.

[Lexi]

She tells DM that the crowns can always sense their own heirs, though most keep this information to themselves, unless they want their death happening sooner rather than later. But there's a catch. The knowledge only comes near the end of a crown's life, which is why Ulther was not able to definitely say who his heir was, because he was, you know, unconscious until the very end, at least when he gave that whole speech to dm, so. Meaning that since your soul knows who her successor is, her reign is coming to an end soon. But when that's going to happen is not known to the crowns. The awareness of one's crown can come months before death or mere minutes for other crowns.

[Nicole]

There is something quite sus about the successor of hers, though. As DM asks if your cell can point out who the successor is going to be, you know, maybe so they can preemptively become allies. Your cell says, nope.

[Lexi]

I love DM trying to shoot her shot.

[Nicole]

I know. I really resonate with DM this episode, because the next Ambrose Crown will be DM's most difficult adversary. They will stand in the way of what DM needs to do. They will drive a wedge between Diem and those she loves, and they will cost you a terrible price. Dm, darling. And there's a strong chance they'll put DM in an early grave. Oh, dear. We know from the end of this book the next umbrose crown is Diem herself, which makes this whole exchange just rich. DM is absolutely one of her most difficult opponents. As she promised yourself. She's willing to sacrifice everything to see the world she wants created, including watching those she loves die, including killing others. Yada, yada, yada. And while she says she's willing to risk everything, as we've seen, sometimes she doesn't really follow through on that. She absolutely stands in her own way of what needs needs to be done. At times, I have A deep feeling that this is going to happen with Ophiuchai. Because Diem doesn't want to kill her birth father, as we see. But now she literally has a blood oath sworn to do so.

[Lexi]

I absolutely agree with you, though. Even right before DM makes that bonded bargain with Sophos, she wants the opportunity to save Ophiuchai and love him as her father. Oh, honey. And she's going to be her own worst enemy as she. She has to realize what Luther will tell her soon. Some people are beyond redeeming.

[Nicole]

Oh, we're gonna. Oh, honey. DM a lot in the second half of this book. But what about this part, though? They will drive a wedge between DM and the ones she loves. I deeply worry about Diem and her inner circle next book, especially because DM needs to kill Ophi, and that would end the war a lot faster. And her hesitancy could be what cost her a terrible price. Like it costs. Costs her her family. I will also throw out another option. This costs you a terrible price. Could be someone she loves. This could be Henry. This could be Arlie. I'm just. I'm just throwing out Henry at any possibility. Could be Arlie.

[Lexi]

Like, if Henry is this terrible cost that must be paid. I think the fandom's going to the bank. Like, all right, what do we have to pay for this?

[Nicole]

I'll also throw out Teller because she's been keeping secrets, secrets from him. And that. Oh, that would be sad. But then there's this last part. There's a strong chance this new Umbro successor will put DM in an early grave again. Another instance of DMs gonna die foreshadowing. I'm worried. But then I go back to what I was saying earlier about the Everflame and how she has the power of this Everflame life in her, and I feel like that's gonna combat each other.

[Lexi]

I don't know what the power of the Everflame, though, would be like. Like an immortality sort of thing.

[Nicole]

Not immortality, but it's the sacred power of life.

[Lexi]

Oh, I see what you mean there. Yeah. Well, also, it is like, some heavy lifting with, like, a strong chance, probably. It's not concrete, set in stone, unchanged fate.

[Nicole]

Right?

[Lexi]

Yeah. And so I do think that kind of like what Lumnos was saying, where DMs choices are going to make or break the world, pretty much.

[Nicole]

No pressure.

[Lexi]

This actually does bring me to what I wanted to say next, and I won't get too far into it, because this episode is Honestly, too long to go into this much. But I really do want to highlight how your cell brings up unchangeable fate and how not everything is fated. This concept of fate is very popular in fantasy genres, and this is no different. As it asks what is truly set in stone. Fate and what can be changed. YSL has determined that her own fate is sealed. But then when DM does not not stay and Ophiuchai attacks the city, your cell will say, DM has set something unstoppable in motion. So was that DM changing her fate, making a choice that, you know, like, changed fate, or is it still guiding along the selected fate?

[Nicole]

But your cell's not done. She says, quote, the kindred are not dead. Child record scratch. This is huge because as she goes on to say, the kindred bound their physical bodies to this world so that they would age and pass their mates. But they did not die as mortals and descended, understand? Instead, their bodies perished, but they endured. What does this mean? Is this like how they talk to them? It's like their spirit lives on.

[Lexi]

I mean, like, kind of. Luther has talked to Lumnos multiple times, and other kindred have talked to Dima through their own crowns.

[Nicole]

I do genuinely wonder if this is their way of communicating. Like how Yersel and Luther communicate with their kindreds. And it's because the kindred spirit is swimming in the ether.

[Lexi]

As I understand it, the kindred are immortal beings. When they tried to make their mortals immortal, they ended up binding their physical bodies to mortal lives. But the kindred are otherworldly. That did not change. They are from an entirely different magical homeland. So when their bodies died, their spirit and their soul still endures because they are still, in so many ways, immortal. Only their physical body was not immortal anymore. Their spirit lives on where they can cause divine intervention. Like making a crown pass sooner than they need to. Like Teller said back in what spark? Chapter three or something. Or pushing DM's boat back to shore to save Luther and co, or sending visions to people they like, etc. Etc.

[Nicole]

Now, YSL does say that their kind can die, which I 1000% believe she's referring to Ophiuchai, maybe Diem, but I'm gonna lean towards Ophiuchai. And of course there's a very important bit of info of how to kill them that Father Ambrose never shared with Yersel. Rude.

[Lexi]

So I will say that I don't think Diem can die in the same way that Ophiuch. Like, she's not a kindred. She is not immortal because she has some mortalness in her.

[Nicole]

I am not convinced of that yet. I don't know why.

[Lexi]

Okay, so here's how I think Ophiucai can be killed is. And how it's possible for him to die because he did not bind himself to a mortal body. So if he is killed, his whole immortal self is killed.

[Nicole]

Oh.

[Lexi]

How to kill him though? That is the big question. If we knew the answer, it would shorten burn up by about half, I'm sure. I am still convinced that the Kindred Sword has something to do with it. And maybe a magical spell of unity will like find its way into the equation. So, you know, peace can triumph over violence. Like, that's just the vibes that I'm getting that we might get in Burns.

[Nicole]

I'm right there with you. Do you think that DM is going to ask the gods this when she takes takes the rosebane and gets zoomed in on the conference call?

[Lexi]

If she does ask it, I don't think that they're going to give her a clear answer. She's going to have to figure out the answer on her own. That's what I'm saying.

[Nicole]

Now I will throw out a new option because our content researcher, Brooke, had a great note that she threw in the outline, wondering if this enduring is actually referring to blood lineage. So as long as someone in that Kindred's bloodline is alive, the Kindred spirit lives on.

[Lexi]

Oh, that's good.

[Nicole]

Fuck yeah. Right?

[Lexi]

Because then the Kindred wouldn't have anyone left in this world attached to them.

[Nicole]

Yes.

[Lexi]

So, like, what would happen to the Gryvern?

[Nicole]

Why would you ask that question?

[Lexi]

They'd be free.

[Nicole]

They'd be free.

[Lexi]

So let's say that all of the centenaries are dead now after the attack. Does that make Umbros dead? If all them in your cell who are straight up from Umbros and not like dm, who is technically from a different one, but just has their magic.

[Nicole]

I'll tell you where my mind went.

[Lexi]

Because it was way more.

[Nicole]

Let's get to that Kumbaya you were.

[Lexi]

Talking about a second ago.

[Nicole]

If there's only two Omnos descended left that are Diem and Ophiuchai, and Diem dies and then Ophiuchai dies, the Omnos Kindred would cease to exist because no one from their bloodline lives on.

[Lexi]

After this conversation with Yersel, Diem spends the next hour just driving herself crazy debating whether or not to barge into Luther's room and share what's on her heart with him. But when she's at his door, DM knock, knocks. And it takes Luther a moment to drag himself to the door. And when he opens it to greet dm, oh dear. You know how he looked like shit earlier. That was nothing compared to now. This is bad, bad, bad. He's still dressed in his dinner attire, but everything is wrong. And his room isn't much better than him. Actually, it's honestly worse. His room is in total disarray. Friends, this is not Luther Courbois. He is not a messy person in any way.

[Nicole]

It just guts me that when DM looks into his room, she thinks that this is the room of a man who has given up.

[Lexi]

Like everything about Luther in this moment is the complete opposite of the man he's known to be. Gone is the perfectly calculated and curated image of a prince that can never be shaken. And all that remains is a man desperately trying to survive just one more day. And. And like Nicole said, kind of given up on that now. Something is wrong, bottom line.

[Nicole]

But dm, she has made up her mind. She needs to get this off her chest to Luther. No matter how badly her old patterns of commitment now want to make her turn around. DM tells him that yes, she obviously knows that something is wrong and he's keeping something from her. But she has released the need for brutal honesty from his him. Because every scenario she has thought of, every single one of them, the most innocent to the most unforgivable. None of these scenarios she's imagined change the way she feels about Luther. She trusts him wholeheartedly. He makes her feel safe at every turn. He's protected her. Her soul, her happiness. It is who he is at his core. And since the challenging, she promised herself that she would never doubt him or his his motives again. Especially as it drove her literally insane last book. However, he's holding something so close to his chest that she does want to know. But at the end of the day, love is about trust. And she's telling him that she's willing to stand in that trust, even though she doesn't understand all for him. Quote, so keep your secrets, push me away if that is what you need. When you're ready, I'll still be here.

[Lexi]

Oh, the irony.

[Nicole]

Luther was pushing her away in the hopes that would make her stop loving him. But sorry, buddy, you're too lovable. It looks like while this is very sweet, this is DM trying to emulate her parents love, where they did keep those major secrets from each other and decided to stand in that trust and the love, regardless of it. And I think this is her trying to model that. But yet there's multiple instances in this conversation, even where her better conscience breaks through and she's like, but why are you? And then she catches herself and saying that, never mind, it doesn't matter. It does matter. And I think that this is a great learning lesson for Diem, that the type of love that your parents emulated for you may not be what works for you. But as she kisses him and shares that she will always be here, her hand brushes his hip.

[Lexi]

It is time finally for Luther to come out, because. Oh dear. Her hand brushes against Luther's hip and it dawns on her that he is bleeding. What the fuck, Luther? Why are you bleeding? Luther has bled through his bandages and he can no longer hide that he is injured. He's so out of it right now, he. He's not even able to cohesively tell DM why or how he is wounded. But bit by bit, it comes out. Luther was wounded back in Arboros when Vance found them after they all escaped, just after Taryn was hurt. And it was a deeper cut than Taryn's two wounds. And it's located here on Luther's hip. He's been trying to heal himself using the same poultice that DM used on Taryn. And then he made it the same way as dm. After watching her very closely. He's been seen by a healer and I umbros there's nothing left to be done. But as DM can see, this is really, really bad. The wound is rank and festering, and black veins have webbed across his body's skin. I'm not going to get into any more detail than I have to with that. The only place it has not touched is above his heart. The same spot that his scar had mysteriously missed long, long ago. This is important to note here. Nothing can hit him at his heart. It's like Lumnos and slash or Diem is protecting it.

[Nicole]

I'll get more into that later in foreshadowing. But I do wonder if. If he ever would have died from the Godstone. Even when he is fully unconscious, it's still not around his heart.

[Lexi]

It is. Oh, it's like caged around his heart where it's gonna suffocate his heart. But his heart itself is still strong. But it's like the exterior is so.

[Nicole]

Yeah, everything begins clicking for dm. Him asking if she'd ever forgive him. Him telling her that. That they don't have enough time Him. I'm like trying to make light of this because I can't be here for one more moment than I have to be yelling about how terror taking a knife to the chest in igneous it should have been him. And while Luther's fears of dim, crumbling and true sorrow and feeling like laughing or smiling, it's a foreign concept, are coming true internally, that Bellator fire ignites. She's a healer and she is determined to heal him. I think that this is what Luther didn't fully I won't say factor in, but rely on as much as he should have. Yes, she fell apart when her father was murdered. Yes, she blamed herself for his death. But he was dead. There was no bringing him back or healing him. Luther is not gone yet. And that Bellator never give up the fight attitude. They will keep taking action and trying until the very last last breath. So the crumbling and sorrow that wants to take over her body is at war with DM's determination. And right now, the determination it is winning. Thank goodness.

[Lexi]

DM hurriedly and frantically gathers the rest of their crew, which yes, includes Taran and Zal naked together. Little has off for them despite all the surrounding very badness. And poor Taran is heartbroken when he comes to Luther's side trying to joke about how Luther just had to rescue him with when he told him to leave him behind. And these two cousins turned brothers start saying their goodbyes. Taryn recognizes this for how bad it is and it's not like he's ready to give up on Luther, but he is being realistic and he knows how bad of shape he had been in when he had the godstone wounds. And it's like that, but like way way way way way worse. But the moment that DMs like nope, I'm going to heal him. And I don't blame her for writing on sheer will right now and devoting herself to her skill she is more sure of than anything I else. That's when Taran's like, okay, let's give you some motivation, Luther. If he dies, Taran leaves Lumnos and abandons dm, which he might not ever let DM fend for herself. He loves her too much and is too loyal to her. But the truth of his hatred and loneliness in Lumnos or anywhere is all poor Darren.

[Nicole]

Let's go back to yr cell's personal private dining room. Oh, I missed the dining rooms where there is a balcony for the recently called Sarai to land on and take them home in the dead of night. Quick aside. Because as they're walking to the dining room, masked by Zelleric and Elise using light magic, DM notices that the moon is basically just a fuzzy glow tonight. Maybe my moonwatch is way too paranoid at this point, because I feel like this has to be notable, even if it is just literary symbolism. It's like whatever entity that is, the moon that has deep DMs back is mass. It's her ability to feel connected through it, whether the moon is standing in as a guardian or her power or whatever. But the fact that it's feeling fuzzy, it just. It feels very on the nose with how DM is right now. Everyone is prepared to sneak away. But there is one wild card. Will Zellerik join our crew to go back to Lumdos? His home has become Umbros over the years. His business is are in Ambrose. There are half mortal children who are counting on him. But his terror mare is Lumnos. And a man he's falling in love with is leaving and asking him to join him. Plus, who knows what will happen to Zellaric if he did choose to stay in Ambrose. Ophiucha attack aside, the queen will be pissed that DM and co all left. They could take that out on Zellaric. So he makes his decision. To Lumnos. We fly. I love that his stipulation is that he will not hide who he truly is, especially not from his fam Bam House Hanover. I cannot wait to see this showdown. And also how he says to Taryn, I will not be someone's dirty little secret. It's him saying, like, if I'm going, we're public, baby. And I love that. Side note, time to update our count. Because when DM calls Sarai, Luther's like, no, stay behind. You need answers from the queen of Umbro. The only response I'm going to dignify that with is, Luther, you are now at five points. DM is at four points. But ho ho, DM will not be outshone. Because moments later, DM thinks about how the queen and how big of a threat she is. She says maybe she should stay behind. And then Luther's like, no. So DM5, Luther 5. I love these two, but this is such a hard chapter because God damn it, pick a side.

[Lexi]

Y' all remember that whole reason Diem agreed to stay in Umbris for 3 days? Yersel's vote is the only thing preventing Aurelie's execution. And if DM pisses the Umbrous queen off by leaving early, then that's a big risk for her mother's life. So here DM is stuck in the situation that yourself provided at dinner. Who will she choose to save in this metaphorical burning building? Luther or her mother? More in a minute on how DM doesn't answer her own question and instead.

[Nicole]

Refuses to chooses to choose so she.

[Lexi]

Can try and save them all. Do I think Yersel would really cast her vote against Aurelie, knowing she has a role to play in what's to come? I'm kind of leaning no with how she will eventually cast her vote, even with all of this that goes down. But she's going to be pissed at DM for not staying like she said she would at the cost of her Umbros.

[Nicole]

People, who's ready for a classic fantasy fangirls battle walkthrough? Do you see why this episode is a million years long? Hearing a Gryvern approaching the balcony, DM and Alix are quick to realize that this is not Sarai. It would be impossible for her to get here this fast. So oh ho. It is the Umbros Gryvern.

[Lexi]

Everybody hide.

[Nicole]

Which isn't a perfect solution since the Gryvern will be able to smell and slash or hear them. With everyone hidden, Dan dumps a flagon of ale on the terrace entryway in the hopes that it will mask their scents long enough for the Grimer to just lose interest and fly away. Honestly, this is pretty brilliant. Now, with nowhere to hide, though, DM ducks behind a gauzy curtain. Less brilliant. Seconds before the Ambrose Gryvern lands, DM calls out to her godhood to help them and just sits back and waits. The Gryvern paces along the terrace's edge, nose to the floor, sniffing loudly, searching, searching, and when it finally gets to where DM and Elixe were, it freezes, turns around and sniffs before turning its attention to the dining room. Everyone holds still and is safe until a little trickle of blood drips from midair where Luther and Taryn are hiding. This is deeply concerning, not only because the Gryvern just spotted them, but mainly because Dean just changed Lutheran bandage and it's already seeped through. I don't know a whole lot about bandages and such, but I do know that this is very, very bad. Before the Gryvern can roast the two dudes alive, DM jumps out from her hiding spot, taking the attention off of them, attempting to negotiate with the beast. It's going pretty well. She asks the Gryvern if she knows that your cell will die soon and it starts to back down. It knows that DM is going to be the next crown. Or at least we can strongly assume that. But side note, with DM being the next crown of Ambrose at the end of this book, this gryvern is going to be the second one she will be in charge of have a connection to. Since Fortos and Mantios don't have Gryverns, so there is also this kinship there between them. Until she hears Sarai approaching.

[Lexi]

And what does Sarai do best? Protect dm. The umbrous Gryvern feels betrayed by dm, who is just assuring her that she means no harm. She only wants wants peace. And that she will protect the umbrous queen as best she can from her approaching death. And now, from the umbrous Griver's perspective, DM just lured her into a false sense of security. So the umbrous gryvern sounds the alarm with a deafening ra quick aside. Like you were saying there, Nicole. I do bet that the umbra's Gryver and senses DM will be the next crown. But I believe that she is so loyal and close to her queen yourself that she's still very much focused on protecting and helping her. Her current queen, unlike, I'll say like.

[Nicole]

Tybalt, who does not like his king.

[Lexi]

And is way more inclined to help dm.

[Nicole]

Yeah, well, YSL even says earlier she's like, unlike the igneous beast, my Gryvern actually likes me. So I definitely think you're right. With Sarai landing, it's time to mount up. Getting the group on the back of Sarai. Luther being belted to Taran twice. Shit. The centenaries are here. Which means your cell will not be far behind. But DM has a plan, however. She can't tell anyone about it. If she stays behind, even for just a moment, she might be able to convince yr cell to not change her vote on her mother's life. Remember, this was the whole reason Yersel told her to stay was so that she didn't change her vote. This is the mirror game. In real life, DM is choosing to try to save everyone, including her mother. But she will stay behind to convince yourself for only a few moments. She's unwilling to leave Luther right now. And she and her Gryvern have quite the pickup plan. But she can't share this with her friends since DM has the ability to block the centenaries and your cell out of her mind. And they won't be able to see what she's planning. But the moment she shares that with her crew, the Umbro's guards would know what she's doing instantly. The only soul who knows of her plan is Sarai and I'm guessing they're just not able to read Guyburn's minds, which makes sense in my opinion, because that's more fun. Thanos magic what does this plan mean though? Leaving Luther & Co out of the conversation. So DM tells Sarai to go and Luther sees this as her choosing to sacrifice herself and stay behind. Have we said that sentence before? While this is a short lived stay behind I am still going to give DM a point because Luther panics like she's going to sacrifice herself and this is still a very self sacrificial thing to do. She could have been hurt, she could have been killed. So Luther 5 die Diem 6 DM.

[Lexi]

Might be willing to temporarily stay back from her friends and she might be trying to bargain with Yersel that she'll come back and they can talk all the Umbral's Queen wants. But Yersel cannot let Diem leave as she says her people's lives are on the line, they don't have the luxury of waiting for DM to leave and come back. Every day he who we know is Ophiuchai grows stronger and soon even Diem will not be able to stop him. If that happens, this entire world will fall and and so will everyone in it. Well that's not an ominous thing to say right now to DM as she's trying to flee, especially with what we've slowly been learning about the unrest in the north and the newspaper from last episode that hinted at more of his gaining power, DM questions who this he is that Yersel is referring to, but Yersel will not tell DM unless she comes inside. With DM not making a decision one way or another, Yersel sets her centenaries after DM to bring her inside if forced by necessary and they oblige, each one scraping down DM's mental shields to get in. When DM holds them off with a physical shield as well, the Gryvern sends a burst of black flames at her instead. Instinctively, DM throws out her magic, coating half her shield in a blanket of glittering ice that held against the Dragon Fire assault that is so crazy that her ice held against the dragonfire. This obviously is Montyos magic, but the ice does not stop there as shimmering ice ice crystals form on her fingertips. Even with the centenaries doubling down on their mental attacks where DM can hear what they are demanding she do to be controlled. DM is holding out strong. Yircelle is the only one who is not surprised by this impossible magic that DM seems to be able to do. And she tries to lure her in by saying if DM stays, y' or cell will show her who she is and what she's meant to do. It's time for her to claim her inheritance in full. And despite fight DM's godhood. What is it? Nicole in agreement, wanting to claim that inheritance. DM is way too stubborn for that. Okay, so the centenaries can't get through DM's mental shield. Time to bring in the Queen. Who cuts through DM's mental shields like a flaming arrow.

[Nicole]

Pew.

[Lexi]

And tries one more time, one more time to appeal to her better nature. Well, yes, with some serious threats and warnings.

[Nicole]

But she also doesn't say, your birth father is coming to destroy my city. I. I think if she did, I still think DM would have made the same decision. I was gonna say, what do you.

[Lexi]

Think DM would do if any information that she. She would take the information and then she would leave.

[Nicole]

I'm fine with it. With the Queen in her head, trying to force DM to submit, DM looks at her and proudly declares that she is DM Bellator. And she kneels for no one. Cough. Cough. Except leave there. Cough. Dropping her shields, Diem allows the Queen into her mind. But instead of controlling her, it ignites her. That silvery moon bright glow shines from her skin, and waves of fire and frost coat Diem like armor. Throwing her arms out, Diem steps back, heels on the edge of the balcony, and she asks the Queen if she remembers the answer that DM gave her earlier that day. How much of her soul is she willing to set ablaze in order to see her place? And the answer was all of it. And DM tilts her head back and falls off the balcony.

[Lexi]

This is so cool.

[Nicole]

But DM does not fall for long when Sarai's talons close around her, snatching her out of thin air like another dragon we know and love, pulling up.

[Lexi]

And disappearing into the clouds. The crew gets maybe one minute of peace before all hell breaks loose. A piercing shriek rings out from below as Yirssel and her Gryvern appear. Feeling DM's fear, Sarai shoots higher into the sky. Above the clouds. A whole new world. On a normal day, Sarai could just speed away with no issues.

[Nicole]

Zoom, zoom, zoom.

[Lexi]

But she's overloaded with five people on her back and worn down from her urgent flight across the sea. Together, Elix and Celeric use their illusion magic to hide Sarai and the group. Just in time for yersel to burn. Forced from the clouds. But your soul knows they're up here. Even if she can't say no one will get hurt if DM just comes back to Umbros.

[Nicole]

Your last chance here, dm.

[Lexi]

This queen is also willing to do anything for her people. And to save her people, she needs DM to stay back. DM conjures a flock of shadow beasts that tangle in yourselves hair and dress and smack at the graver's wings.

[Nicole]

Pow. Pow. Pow.

[Lexi]

Again and again. Surai zigzags, dodging waves of flight fire at them that are getting a little too close. But during this attack, Sarai has been slowly losing altitude and her claws are now in the clouds, revealing their location to the queen. Uh oh. Right. As the Umbros Gryvern unleashes a dark inferno at them, DM's magic speaks up.

[Nicole]

Fight.

[Lexi]

Thrusting her palms out with two hands, an ice wall slams into the fire before vaporizing into steam. More Montios magic. I'm thinking that the Monteus magic is coming naturally to her now, as she's accidentally using it more since she got the crown, right? And I think that it's for that very reason. Diem is now the Monteus crown. And her godhead is more in tune with that magic within her. So when she's doing these like reactionary magical things, Monteuse magic is coming forth just as easily as her light and shadow magic.

[Nicole]

I could not agree more. Yes, and I love the moment where your cell, despite being attacked with ice and you know, in a Gryvern chain face, she smiles like this display of power from DM is pleasing her. Because it is. God, I love it. But wait just a darn minute. While we at FFG have been talking about DM having the power of all the Kindred since literally episode one of Spark, this is just now fully dawning on dm. It cannot be said enough how impossible they this idea is. DM feels like she wants to plead with her magic for this to not be true, like she has done previously. After all, she was really just coming to terms with the fact that she's descended or the fact that she's a queen. Something that she heavily denied in book one and of course denied in book two, as our DeLulu DMs stated. With this acceptance though, she found a home, she found a family. She found a place where she belonged. But if she has the power of all the kindred, which again, should be impossible. This puts DM yet again back into that bucket of other. It's unfamiliar, it's uncertain. She doesn't know who or what she is. But I really do commend DM here because as old instincts of Delulu Diem start to take over and insist that she denies what she's seeing with her two hands. Instead she decides that yes, this is overwhelming, yes, this is terrifying. But right now, if she embraces it, she can help them get out of this situation. Points for DM breaking the Delulu cycle without her permission.

[Lexi]

Her body reacts. It's Mira's wind magic time. Raising her hands, DM's hair dances around her shoulders on a gust of warm whirling wind. As she sings the colors of the wind with shimmering magic flowing from her palms, air fills Sarai's wings, relieving the strain of her muscles and giving her lift, pushing them forward. Go Sarai, go. DM offers up her rage to her magic, the wind bowing to her will. As air slams into your cells, Gryvern. The beast topples sideways. Oh dear. Sending both falling down, down, down into the clouds. Miros Wind magic for the wind. Although I'll be honest, I like the Empress Queen and want answer from her too badly to be cheering her falling down, down, down through the clouds so much. But like, why can't they just get along? God damn it.

[Nicole]

After a few moments of being lulled into a false sense of safety, DM asks Alix and Zel to drop the illusions to save their magic. I get it, I get it. One second DM is talking to her friends and the next she's flying through the air. Quickly, DM grabs onto Sarai with Taryn and Luther now dangling below, thankfully still connected by the belt's buddy system, Zalerik pulls DM up to her seat on Sarai's back. But there's some bad news. Elixe has been knocked off and is tumbling through the sky. Oh no. Sarai shoots down after Elix, but the sea is closing in and she's out of reach from even her magic aiding her her fall. Seeing the acceptance on Alixa's face, DM throws out her magic one last time and the wind curls beneath Alix, falling and jerks her to a stop. Ow. Ah, but I love seeing Nero's wind on display. Taryn is able to grab Elix with her boot, just barely skimming the water's surface. That is how close Alix was to going splat and with the help from Zellerik, the crew gets her onto Sarai's back. Talk about a close fucking call.

[Lexi]

But guess who's back Back Yourself. With DM adamant on leaving for Luther's sake, your cell decides she'll just have to remove him from the picture instead. Well that's not very nice yourself. And it's like. Kind of like we're back in igneous here, right? But anyway. Luther and Taran dangle below DM with the belt connecting them hooked on Sarai's claw. The claw and oh. Both men go slack jawed and stiff. Your cell is starting to control both their minds. Luther's arms go limp at his sides and. And Taryn's right arm wraps around Luther's throat. Oh dear. Though their expressions are vacant, terror blazes in both their eyes. When Taran's hold involuntarily tightens. He's about to choke out his best friend. His chosen brother. No. Anything but this. Elise throws out her magic, wrapping it around Taran's arm to yank it away. But even the sizzling and blistering welts on his skin do nothing to affect his grip. Your cell has full control of his actions right now. When DM threatens to end Yir Cell's reign tonight, Yir Cell reaches into the minds of Elix and Sal, causing them to willingly just fall off the side of Sarai. DM can't save them all. Despite trying her hardest, she's physically holding onto a link so she doesn't fall completely off Sarai and using her wind magic to hold Sal up after his fall. But down below, Luther is still struggling for air. Everything is fucked. And Sarai is willing and has her talons ready to trade Taran's life for Luther's. The claw. She knows how much this pains dm. This is a decision DM can't possibly make. Though Terr is ready to let Sarai take his life, he'd rather die than live with the knowledge he has murdered his best friend. Then there's Zal following backwards cause can't forget about him. And right with when DM grabs for him, Elix pitches sideways, almost taking DM with her friends. You should really watch this on YouTube right now. DMs crying up to the gods above, begging them not to make her a murderer.

[Nicole]

I'm so sorry to interrupt this Oscar winning demonstration. This is one more callback though to yourself saying that DM is going to be her biggest obstacle. Cause here she is is literally been like don't make me a murderer. When this was exactly the question that he was saying.

[Lexi]

Exactly earlier.

[Nicole]

Exactly.

[Lexi]

Exactly.

[Nicole]

That's what I'm winning or failing this right now. I don't really know.

[Lexi]

Like, does she let Sarai kill Taran to save Luther? Does she let one of her friends go to save the other? You know, like, with Z and links that she's both holding right now? Or does she just fucking kill the uproar's queen herself?

[Nicole]

Yes, that is the option that she is. Like, don't make me a murderer. And I'm like, girl, someone's gonna be a murderer here. But she could do that with her.

[Lexi]

You know, silver, other magic that makes wolves go poof, right? That makes the wolves go building up inside of her.

[Nicole]

Now, to be fair, this is about to be her own gryvern. So she would also be living with the fact that she made her gryvern go poof. Struggling to hold on, DM throws out another plea. Anyone who will listen, please save her. Save her friend. And with one final look at Luther, Diem feels the last embers of her ruined heart curl to ash as he feels like she's saying goodbye to her love. And suddenly, a blinding light fills the sky. Then, by a wave of sweltering heat and the smell of burnt skin.

[Lexi]

What?

[Nicole]

That was not igneous magic, because DM didn't feel her magic at work. Instead, Yersel and her griver are still in existence, but they're dropping into a free fall, hurtling towards the sea. Screaming, wailing, tumbling. And burning as a bright, roaring lavender flame coats both of them. Alarm, alarm, alarm. Earlier this battle, DM lost the jar of lavender flames from a jostle from Sarai. But how on earth did the flames first of all, catch up to them and come up and aid her? Now, DM was asking for help from anyone, anything. So the kindred Matios sitting in the conference room hit the produce flames button.

[Lexi]

I think it was the gryvern.

[Nicole]

No. Yeah.

[Lexi]

The spirit of the gryvern. Yeah.

[Nicole]

So that's. That was my other option. Or did Ramari aid DM by blasting dragonfire to save her queen? Because remember, DM is the Monteos queen. Absolutely. I am absolutely leaning towards the ladder. I love this magic. It's so cool.

[Lexi]

And once I our crew get securely in place on Sarai's back, they take off across the sacred sea, having no way of knowing that the next day, Ophiuchai will attack Umbros. These two queens will not meet again until DMs Rite of Coronation Round 2. And almost all your cell Secrets will die with her on the island. Or will they? Because DM will still have her advice to take the Rosebane. And of course, DM still has the key to the library with fairy very rare books, including a Kindred's diary and ancient mortal tomes. But until then, number one priority is to get Luther back to Lumnos. That's why we all went through this, right? He needs to be surrounded by his loved ones, including Lily and Eleanor. His personal and steadfast mission has been to get DM back to Lumnos so she can secure her power there and rule. And while he might be at the point of no return, DM first of all refuses to think that. And more than anything, she needs to get him back to a. A source of comfort to Moira. To get him to the comfort of Lumnos, where they feel best treating him, no matter the cost. That's the biggest thing here. Because could she have technically treated him to the best of her healing ability here in Ambrose? Could she have called for anything that she would need to treat him here in Ambrose? Yes, absolutely. But it came down to the comfort of needing home. And that was like where her mind immediately went was was they need to get home because he is injured. Like no ifs, ands or buts. Think we could have come to a different solution. But anyway. However, as DM will question herself later, could she have still made the same decision if she knew there would be an attack the next day and three powerful others were at full strength? Well, guess technically two powerful others since Luther is, you know, obviously out of commission and Taran had the Flame Brute. So it's a leaks and salary at full power to fight alongside DM against Ophiuchai and save who knows how many citizens of Umbros. It'll be a question that DM is not able to answer for herself when she does learn about this attack. Though one could argue yourself gave her a warning. Although, like Nicole says, it was pretty vague. And it could have been clear about how she does need to save her people's lives. It was vague, yes. But DM could not comprehend anything but saving Luther. And. And this question that she's not able to answer. Would she have stayed back? I think that is an answer that she will have to face and go through with one way or the other at some point.

[Nicole]

I agree. Who will live and who will burn? All right, we made it.

[Lexi]

In this magic fueled segment of the episode, let's tap into our Umbros magic and turn our full attention to important Foreshadowing moments for the rest of this book, as well as speculations for book four, Burn of the Everflame. We don't have have too many here today since we said so much already. But first of all, we need to talk about these dragons that yourself brings up and how they're carved into her palace. Apparently dragons exist in this world. And I have questions. Do they live in a Marion, like in the Monteos mountains? Like smog style? Where do these dragons get their gold? What size are they in comparison to Gryverns? I assume Gryverns are like the most powerful since they're otherworldly.

[Nicole]

Yeah. But again, who knows?

[Lexi]

And if these dragons are not in Omarion, are they on other continents? Has yourself traveled to these other continents? And why, oh why is Umbros connected to dragons? I'm guessing that this is a Yersel's fascination, since that it's her sigil. Will we see a dragon in Burn? Honestly, my guess is no. We have the gryverns, and this is just a nice little nod to fantasy, you know, Never forget the dragon sigil in Acotar that I spiraled over during that deep dive way back when. But this time we have access to the author. So we asked Pen, what is the meaning behind these dragons? And here's what she had to say.

[Pen]

What made me choose dragons as the sigil for Umbros? And will we see any dragons in this world? So small clarification. Dragons are not the sigil for Umbros. They are the sigil for Cell, the. The current queen. It is in the same way that the houses of Lumnos have their own sigils. So House Corpois has the Phoenix as their sigil for Cell. Dragons are her kind of patron animal, and she really identifies with them because they're very powerful, they're scary, they're a little bit unpredictable. And of course, course, as she mentions in the book, they really hoard treasure and gold and, you know, anything valuable, which she does as well as we see in her reign of Umbros.

[Nicole]

So it's.

[Pen]

It's more really that dragons are sort of the patron saint of Ursel and how she interacts with the world. Will we see dragons in this world?

[Nicole]

No.

[Pen]

I very specifically chose to include Gryverns instead of dragons because I think we have a perception in our head of what a dragon is and the lore that comes with dragons. And, you know, we. We see a dragon and we assume certain things about them. And I wanted to create a creature where it was Kind of a blank slate. And you had to learn about who they are, where they come from, what their personalities are like, what they can do. And that's how we got to Gryvrens, which are half griffin, half wyvern, which is a type of dragon. So that is the closest we will get to seeing a real dragon in this world.

[Nicole]

That. That makes a lot of sense. Next. Again, the secret ingredients in the Guardians bombs is brought up. Dean throws it off as a joke because she drinks something vile from Taryn's open bar. But this is now like the third time it's been brought up. Second or third? Why do I feel like this is important?

[Lexi]

I don't know.

[Nicole]

At the dinner with the centenaries, Hag Face mentions how they will not be fighting in any war. They're saying that to the future ruler of Ambrose, who assumably will take the living centenaries to go fight in the war, if there are any.

[Lexi]

Yeah, we don't know.

[Nicole]

We don't know.

[Lexi]

Do say that the Guardians will won't come for them because they let mortals do as they please.

[Nicole]

I don't think that's true. Well, obviously the Ophiuchai attacks.

[Lexi]

Exactly, exactly. And it's like we've been saying. We know this is not true. But it does make me wonder why Ophiuchai targets Umbros. Is it because he might have a personal grudge against the Emperor's queen, who was one of the crowns who locked him away during the Blood War?

[Nicole]

Absolutely.

[Lexi]

Well, why has he also been targeting Miros? I'm assuming because that is a central place with the ports and whatnot.

[Nicole]

Maybe he seems like kind of the person who wouldn't be acting more. I mean, to be fair, we don't know Ofiakai very well, but he seems to be acting more on vengeance than strategic military operation.

[Lexi]

Because.

[Nicole]

Or else why would he attack Sophos then?

[Lexi]

Why would he attack Miros first? Why would he attack Sophos first? Like, I think. I think that the Guardians have already been in Miros. There had already been a lot of that going on, but before Ophia Kai was released.

[Nicole]

And maybe they saw Sophos as an easy target.

[Lexi]

Maybe.

[Nicole]

Yeah.

[Lexi]

I do think that Ombros, however, I think that's a dangerous target.

[Nicole]

Oh yeah.

[Lexi]

And Ophiuchai wants to take the city out as soon as possible, so it's not a threat against him. I also wonder, is it because of DM and he just barely misses her.

[Nicole]

Oh, I could see both of those options, yes.

[Lexi]

Because that would make Sense with Sophos.

[Nicole]

Yeah. Ooh, that's a. That's rough. I hope some of the centenaries are alive. Well, speaking of one of the centenaries who may or may not be dead, I have been dying to talk about this. We see our first official mating mark this episode. Drusilla, one of the centenaries who is mated to a miros descended, shows D.M. and company her mating mark. It's an intricate knot of swirling lines resembling two hearts. Hearts forging into a dagger with a silvery shimmer. Silvery pause. Because if matings are something that is divine or connected to the Kindred, maybe, could the silver be a nod to that power that DM has whenever she lets off that silvery glow? Could it be a nod to it being that of the Kindred rather than that of Omnos, like all of the Kindred's powers are silver? Because I know we've been going back and forth forth on this anyway, back to mating. While we will get into the ins and outs of mating and how we firmly believe that both DM and Luther have already performed the mating bond in the last few chapters of this book. We will be doing that in a later episode. The fact that Drusilla here touches the mark on her wrist and it glows. And then when her mate touches it, it glows brighter and she can feel it. This is all the proof I need that when DM and Luther in their vision touch their hearts and this is them touching their mating mark. And the reason Luther's heart keeps getting spared from the godstone veins from his father's attack, it is because Lunos is saving that patch of skin for his mating mark. And later DM lays her hand over her heart, thinks of Drusilla's mating mark literally right over the place where we strongly assume both DM and Luther have their marks. And then she thinks about asking Luther to be her mate while they still have time. This is not an accident.

[Lexi]

On the sort of same note as mating, DM feels like she is immortal. And yes, that is in italics as Ambrose's magic recharges her. No, I said this earlier that I don't think she is. But it does call into question if DM is actually immortal. I'm not sure if that's possible with her mother being immortal. But knowing what we know about the Kindred accidentally sacrificing their immortal life to be the same length as their mortal lovers, does that mean that when DM and Luther mate, she would have his descended lifespan? Or is that immortal just like a Reference to her kindred powers.

[Nicole]

I personally think she has an immortal lifespan that of the kindred. Because Ophiuchai never or Ophiuchai if he is Omnos never bound himself to a mortal, therefore giving themselves a mortal lifespan. Then had a kid. He instead skipped the binding himself to immortal and just had a kid. He also had a kid with the woman who's a descendant of the Ever Flame. And we heard from Aurelie earlier that whatever magic is more powerful, that is the one that will become the person that is the one that will overpower the Blood. So so to speak. So I think that DM could very easily be that of a Kinder.

[Lexi]

There's so many nuances, but it's absolutely possible. So anyway, I just saw that italics with immortal and I had to call.

[Nicole]

It out there proud. When Taran picks up the compass, it whirls and clicks to a stop and he frowns at it. I think we're probably both in the same boat when we think that it landed on Zellaric.

[Lexi]

That's definitely what I figure. I hope that it is Alaric because the only other option that I could think of was some alcohol when he was not doing so good.

[Nicole]

So yeah, oh, I think it was alone because it was right after he learned about Luther, which means that him and Zellary had been mid bang, bang, bangity banging session. So true. Yeah. So I'd hope that it would be Zellary. And then as they're walking through the palace to flee, DM thinks quote, who will live and who will burn. We've talked about this. First off, this is a great tagline for Burn of the Everflame. I just think that that would be a really good tagline for a book. But secondly, this is going to be the big question of the series that we are leading up to. And my favorite part, yes, it's in italics.

[Lexi]

I have a feeling that we are going to need three to five days to recover from Burn. The setup for emotional devastation is terrifying me.

[Nicole]

All right friends, it is time to enter the Sophos library where each episode Lexi guides us through a world building topic to help us deepen our understanding of this world, its magic and my personal favorite, it's history. I've been waiting for this episode today.

[Lexi]

Today's Sofas library topic is the Blood War. We've been talking about this historical war since the very first episode of our Spark Deep dive. So let's dive on in and fully explain it now. The Blood War was a devastating but pivotal war in Omari history. Waged between rebel mortals and the Descendant. With thousands and thousands of casualties on both sides and lasting effects on this world. The mortals were tired of the oppression from the descended and wanted to fight for their autonomy. The war was so violent and far reaching that it left a, a permanent mark on the political, magical and social fabric of Amarian. It's remembered not just for its brutality, but for the ideological war over blood and power itself. As for when this war occurred, all we know so far is that it happened centuries ago. That's how it's always described in the books. But we again have access to the author. So we asked Pen, when exactly was this Blood War?

[Pen]

How many centuries ago was the Blood War? So I don't think I ever get give a specific date, but I would just say it was many centuries ago to the point where most descended alive today, except the very, very oldest wouldn't have been alive for that war. It's just a very small percentage of people and certainly the mortals have had several generations. So I would say to kind of put it in the sense of a, of a war we might, might think of in our world, for the descended it was kind of like you might say World War II or so. You know, only the very oldest people alive today would really remember it and they would have been very young when it happened. And then those who are much younger, like what we would consider kids, you know, the, the equivalent for the descended would be the mortals. They, for them it's just a historical thing that happened that doesn't really tie into their present life. So that's the historical placement on a timeline, but I don't give a very, a specific time range.

[Lexi]

Okay, so that's along the same lines that we were thinking here. I know that we've been like at least 500 years sounds about right here if I had to guess. And I know Penn did not share any numbers with us on purpose, but I'm going to say about 700 years ago. That feels right to me. Me. Anyway, two of the nine crowns at the start of the series had been crowns during the Blood War. Your cell of Ambrose, who is now described as on the mature side for a descended but not old looking. So given what Penja shared, she would have been a very young crown when this happened. Then there's the Monteos King who was an elderly man at the start of Spark, and the other crown who was alive during the Blood War. So I'm guessing that he was a little bit more in his prime at that time. The guardians of the Everflame was the mortal rebellion group who took up arms against the descended to fight for their homeland. They collected weapons to use against the descended and their gryverns like godstone bolts. And they became a formidable enemy against the descended. Kuriel was the central battleground of the Blood War, offering a rare equality in combat for the mortals and descended. It was a highly sought after prize in the Blood War. Since no magic or gryverns are allowed on the island, the descendant had to fight like the mortals and no longer had their magic magic as an upper hand. But remember, the descended Crowns still had to go to Kuril for any foraging rituals. They needed that island for the heartstone and source of their magic. So they needed to be able to get to that island. And of course the mortals knew this and it was highly sought after.

[Nicole]

Price.

[Lexi]

Obviously a Blood sun appeared on the eve of the war, which according to the mortals, gave the war its name. But we know from Yersel that the old Lumnos king was the one who actually coined the name Blood War. War. The war was about blood. Whose would triumph, whose would survive. During the war, Igneos tried to stay neutral as long as they could. But eventually they were forced to side with the descendant to save their own realm from the poisoned oasis. As a whole, the Crowns were certain that they would prevail because they believed the blood of the nine Kindred would always win out in war and in life. But this thinking cost them dearly. They underestimated the mortals because of their hubris. And it almost cost them the war. The descendant ended up losing two gryverns. The Fortress Gryvern and the Montios Gryvern. As well as thousands of lives. Lives. We can't talk about the Blood War without bringing up Ophiuchai. But the thing is, we know very little about him. During the Blood War, all Sophos has is one clue. A map of the island marking the hidden door with a note that it should never ever be opened for any reason. And it's dated just after the Blood War. So he must have been imprisoned around then. Oh my God. Something tells me there is more about him. And your cell's library. But that's just me. And I need to know more. And I wish she wasn't dead now. Anyway. In the aftermath of the Blood War, realms enacted brutal purity laws. Especially Umbros with their ability to control and slash or read minds. The Umbros queen executed all but the most powerful 100 of her own descended then in Lumnos, the progeny laws passed to avoid further diluting Descendant magic. Most realms also place placed extra restrictions on mortals, which vary in severity depending on the realm, and a few even banning them outright like Igneos. Check out our Sophos library in Heat Episode two for that whole post Blood War story about how the mortals were run out of their home realm only to be killed before most could get into Umbros. Throughout the realms, these harsh laws were passed to punish the mortals and to keep them in permanent subjugation, and mortal exile or execution became more commonplace in several realms. While mention of the old Gods gods had previously been removed from history, it wasn't until after the Blood War that mention of the Everflame was also banned because it had been the rallying cry for the mortals, so the descendant attempted to remove it from existence too. Any and all references to old mortal religions are still forbidden to this day. Even with these restrictions in place and the rebellion mostly crushed, the Guardians survived in small cells across Amarion and have continued to fight for their cause in secret over the centuries. Centuries Political changes and consequences from the Blood War include Fortos gained control of the joint military with a new rule where action required a vote of six crowns instead of unanimous consent. Since it was nearly impossible for all nine of them to come to any unanimous agreement, they needed to enact this new rule during the Blood War to get anything done. So the new rule meant the army can act on a vote of six crowns instead of all nine. After the Blood War in Lumnos, the Challenge Challenging system was introduced to curb assassination attempts on crowns. Previously, before the blood war, the 20 houses were constantly killing the crown in hopes of being the next one selected. After the Blood War, where the Descended realized they need to come together stronger, they eliminated this pattern and this risk of constant assassination with the challenging. Last thing of note with political and cultural change is the use of God Stone became heavily restricted to prevent it from falling into rebel hands. Crowns again. The Crowns agreed to confiscate and destroy the caches of Godstone weapons that the Kindred left behind to their first Descended Crowns, but even the Crowns couldn't destroy them, so the Godstone weapons were locked away in Fortos. However, as we know, illicit pieces can still be found for outrageous prices on the black market. Sightings of it are rare even for the Descended, except in our story. And there you have it.

[Nicole]

The Blood War let us close out the longest episode of Fantasy Fangirls Ever with skipping around the apple orchard and discussing our favorite moments from this stretch of chapters.

[Lexi]

I just can't help but giggle at all the Luther growling in the background. Which reminds me, I have started my rewatch of the Witcher and Geralt Gerald of Rivia.

[Nicole]

Henry Cavill needs to play every fantasy man ever. That is my hot take. I love Zelrick egging Taran on as as they're fighting, saying that he's seen better punches from an armless newt.

[Lexi]

There are so many great Zelrick moments in this stretch of chapters and I appreciate him and DM's growing connection. He's the only other descendant she has met who can relate to her in any way where they grew up as mortals. And he pledges her his loyalty and he asks her the question about how she, you know, like went into his mind because he knows that was Umbro's magic, he knows what that feels like. But he picks up on her hesitancy and he's like, oh silly me, secrets cost money and I have no gold. And he's like gives her a little wink and excuse to depart the conversation. I just love him so much.

[Nicole]

While we know she's a little unhinged, I do love how Zellaryck describes Irisa as someone who has condemned entire families over small discrepancies while also letting severe crimes go because she was having a good hair day. Listen, yes, she's a little unhinged, but that is one powerful good hair day. And if, you know, you know, Luther maybe falling apart this episode. My God, I'm so happy to get to next episode where he'll be normal again. But when he flirts with dm, as DM is literally thrown over Taryn's shoulder, so Luther is face to face with DMs ass. He says, quote, as much as I'm enjoying this view, I'm rather partial to her face. That's cute. I love it. Of course he looks like shit when he says it, but I don't care. When DM and Taryn are talking and she makes the order, no fighting while drunk, Taryn says that that sounds like something Luther would say, to which DM replies, quote, that probably means I'm right again. We're in a rough stretch of chapters for my boy. But I do love this line as.

[Lexi]

DM is sharing with Alix that she is terrified what will happen if she loses Luther and if she's left alone with her rage at his death. Alix's response is just pure found family. Quote, you won't be alone. We'll all grieve together, we'll be furious together. And then we'll fight together for him.

[Nicole]

God, I love Ali. What an underrated character. Oh, she's so good. Of course, everything about DM and Sarai's reunion. They're running into each other's arms, her kissing the top of her little beat. It's just I misses Gryburn so much. And last but not least, even in the midst of crazy battle, Luther tells DM that he can't help but argue with her because Bellator are studying when they're angry. And DM says, quote, I'll pass that along to Teller on your behalf. We needed this humor between the two of them.

[Lexi]

All right, there you have it. Friends, thank you so much for listening to the fourth episode of our Heat of the Everflame Deep Dive.

[Nicole]

Because of our crazy travel schedule, we are taking a break from Kindred's Curse next Monday, and instead we are releasing our live show recording where we are deep diving the movie Shrek. Then the following Monday, September 1st, we are back in Amarian with Heat of The Everflame episode 5, chapters 42 through 55. Friends, we are going back to Lumnos. We're curing Luther. We're going to Fortos. We're killing the king. And my favorite part, it is our last Henry hat of this book.

[Lexi]

It's our only Henry hat of this book. I'm gonna have to pull out the big ones from that one. I don't even know what I gotta do for that.

[Nicole]

Oh, my God.

[Lexi]

In case you miss missed it, the next series we are covering after these eight Heat of the Everflame episodes is Quicksilver by Callie Hart. We'll deep dive this in the lead up to the sequel Brimstone, and then cover that throughout the end of the year. We absolutely do plan to cover the fourth and final book of the Kindred's Curse saga, Burn of the Everflame, as soon as it releases. More details on the schedule. When there's a release date, we'd love to give the biggest warm welcome. Welcome, welcome. To our newest Crowns Council members.

[Nicole]

Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome. Kimberly G. And Alex, welcome. I appreciate you so much. Thank you for being here and supporting the show.

[Lexi]

And if you're like, hey, I want my name shouted on the podcast. And we shout with all the love and attention too. Join our fan [e-mail] fan club. The link is also in the show notes.

[Nicole]

Thank you as always to our top SoFo scholar, aka our content researcher, Brooke, and of course our executive producer, AKA our sanity manager, Hayden. We love you both.

[Lexi]

We are very active on social media with weekly trivia and lots more. So please be sure to follow us on Instagram and slash or TikTok at fantasy fangirlspod. And if you're watching this on YouTube or want to watch on YouTube, we always have some really fun battle reenactments. Please hit that subscribe button to keep following along.

[Nicole]

While you're hitting buttons, don't forget to hit whatever star rating you'd like to.

[Lexi]

Give this by far five.

[Nicole]

Ideally it's five. And of course, please don't just do that for this show, do it for any and all podcasts you listen to. And if you're feeling extra lovey dovey, write a little love note in that review section. It is seriously like a hug to all of your favorite podcasters. And last but not least, share this episode with your fellow Ever Flame friends. If you wanted a rundown of every single thing that happened in that library because you were like Monty goes what? This is a great episode for you to listen to and then send to a friend who also probably wants a library download, don't worry, we've got another library download coming soon.

[Lexi]

All right, friends, thank you again so much. We will see you next week for the Shrek deep dive and then the week after that we'll be back with episode five. Bye.

[Nicole]

But what's that smell? DM shit in her glass of our shit in her glass. Shit in her glass.

[Lexi]

Ew. Aggressively boop you now you can fly anywhere in the world and pay discount prices on your airline tickets. Book a flight today to London, Paris, Madrid, or anywhere else you want to go, and pay a lot less guaranteed. Call the international travel department right now at Low Cost Airlines, 8002-1551-4180-0215-5141. That's 800-215-5141.

[Nicole]

I'm Joanna Coles, and this is the Daily Beast podcast where we say the quiet part out loud three times a week. I pull back the curtain on the scandals, the spin, and the sheer madness that we're living through, and we ask the questions others are too afraid to pose. So when Trump melts down again, I call the author Michael Wolff to break it down. When the DC Circus rolls into town, I get the unvarnished truth from Anthony Scaramucci. And when the Epstein files resurface, Tina Brown joins with the memory of when he confronted her. No fluff, no flattery, just fearless conversation every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Find the Daily Beast podcast wherever you get your audio drama. I mean, sorry, wherever you get your news?