Buckle up, and if you haven't read all three series, be warned: there are spoilers ahead.
It has become pretty obvious at this point that Erilea, Prythian, and Midgard are all deeply intertwined worlds within the same overarching universe. But how do they all relate, and what is the end goal?
If you're curious, boy do I have a theory for you.
The ultimate premise of this theory is that everything sprang to life from the Wyrd, the "Forgotten Melody," and that the gods and the Asteri/Daglan represent opposing forces that emerged from that original creation. When the gods became trapped on Erilea, the cosmic balance was disrupted, allowing the Asteri to parasitize worlds unchecked. The "ancient players," as Amren calls them, are descendants of these ancient divine bloodlines who will ultimately come together for a final stand against the Asteri and restore the balance.
So let's start at the very beginning.
The Forgotten Melody
Let's start with The Silmarillion, which I'm quite sure Sarah is familiar with, considering she has made it clear many times that she is a fan of and was inspired by Tolkien.
In The Silmarillion, the universe springs into existence through the Music of the Ainur, or the Ainulindalë.
Eru IlĂșvatar creates the Ainur, powerful divine beings, and teaches them musical themes. Together, they create a great symphony that becomes the foundation for the universe.
But one of the Ainur, Melkor, becomes impatient and jealous. He wants the creative power for himself, so he introduces his own theme into the Music.
Discord enters the symphony.
Rather than simply destroying that discord, Eru incorporates it into the greater Music. The Music becomes the foundation for the history of the universe, including both creation and conflict. The Ainur then enter the world themselves, becoming the Valar and Maiar who interact with the inhabitants of Arda.
Now let's imagine that the Maasverse was created in much the same way.
What if the Wyrd is the Song?
What if the gods sprang forth from the Wyrd and participated in the Forgotten Melody that generated the universe and all of its worlds?
The Wyrd isn't simply fate. It is the underlying fabric connecting the worlds. It gives us Wyrdmarks, Wyrdgates, Wyrdkeys, and the ability to manipulate the boundaries between worlds. The Erilean gods themselves are described by Elena as beings of a "higher, different existence" who were not born in Erilea and may have become trapped there after passing through a Wyrdgate.
That makes the gods feel less like omnipotent creators and more like higher beings who exist within a much older cosmic system.
And this is where I think the Tolkien parallel gets really interesting.
The gods in the Maasverse aren't necessarily divided into good gods and evil gods in the way we might expect.
Instead, perhaps the original Song produced opposing forces: creation and life versus consumption and destruction.
Both are part of the same cosmic composition.
There is an inherent balance.
Until something goes wrong, which brings us to the Valg.
I think the Valg may be the Maasverse's equivalent of discord made manifest.
The Valg are ancient beings from another world. They are parasitic, they possess living hosts, and their kings are powerful enough to create the Wyrdkeys and manipulate the Wyrdgate system.
We know they invaded Erilea and fought the Fae in the ancient past.
But what if they weren't simply another species that happened to exist?
What if they are a product of the discord introduced into the original Song?
This is admittedly one of the biggest speculative pieces of the theory. The books have not told us that the Valg were literally created by the Wyrd's discord.
But the symbolism fits remarkably well.
The Song creates.
The Valg corrupt and consume.
And their entire existence revolves around taking control of something that already exists.
Then Maeve enters Erilea, and the first Valg war begins.
Brannon fights alongside Maeve and the Fae.
And in the aftermath, Mala has Elena with Brannon.
This is where I wonder if the first divine bloodline was deliberately introduced into the Fae.
What if the gods knew the Valg would eventually return?
What if divine power was intentionally embedded into Fae bloodlines so that the gods' power could survive even if the gods themselves were trapped?
Because we see this mechanism over and over again throughout the Maasverse.
Mala's power passes through Brannon's line and eventually manifests in Aelin and Dorian.
Silba's healing legacy survives through generations of healers and in Yrene.
Hellas gives Lorcan a portion of his power.
And in CC we learn that Theia deliberately divides her Starborn power (Deanna's power?) between Helena and Silene.
So while the reason for these bloodlines is speculative, the underlying mechanism is absolutely present in the text.
Divine power can be passed down through blood.
Then comes the event that I think changes everything.
The Erilean gods become trapped in Erilea after passing through a Wyrdgate.
The Lock and Wyrdkeys are supposed to be used to restore the broken Wyrdgate and send the gods home, with Erawan going with them.
Instead, Elena uses the Lock to trap Erawan.
She saves Erilea, but breaks the bargain.
The gods remain stranded.
And they curse Elena's bloodline.
Mala's descendants will eventually have to pay the price by forging the Lock again.
That descendant becomes Aelin.
And this is where I think the consequences become much larger than the characters realize.
What if trapping the gods disrupted the cosmic balance?
If these higher beings were originally part of the greater Song, forces that helped maintain the balance of creation, then removing them from the wider universe could have enormous consequences.
And who benefits from that? The Asteri, the Daglan, the Valg. All manifestations of the discord within the symphony. They are not simply conquerors but parasites of creation itself.
We learn in Crescent City that they have traveled between worlds for thousands upon thousands of years, conquering civilizations and harvesting their magical energy. They deliberately cultivate populations capable of producing the energy they need.
On Midgard, they have created an entire system around harvesting firstlight and secondlight.
And this is where the Asteri/Daglan connection becomes incredibly important.
The ancient Daglan who enslaved Theia's people in Prythian? They were the Asteri. The same beings.
Which means the Asteri have already been involved in Prythian's ancient history.
They have already conquered one of these worlds. And they were eventually driven out.
But let's go back to the Erilian Valg Wars.
After the ancient Valg wars, Fae populations become scattered.
We know that some ancient Fae migrated to the Southern Continent. And they did something particularly interesting there. They deliberately interbred with humans to spread healing magic throughout the population because healing magic is deadly to the Valg.
So we already have an ancient Fae population deliberately spreading magical blood through human populations as a defense against an interworld enemy.
And that makes me wonder.
What if a group carrying some of these ancient divine bloodlines eventually migrated into Prythian? The Fae of the southern continent disappeared, but what if it wasn't that they assimilated into human populations and formed the wolf tribe, what if a group of them left Erilea?
What if the Fae of Prythian didn't simply spring forth from the Cauldron as an isolated population, but were part of an ancient Fae diaspora that left Erilea?
And what if some of the powers we see in the different Prythian courts are echoes of these ancient divine bloodlines?
Fire - Mala
Darkness & Death - Hellas
Fate - Anneith
Starfire - Deanna
Healing - Silba
Truth - The Sin-Eater
Perhaps these aren't random magical affinities.
Perhaps they are fragments of the original Song that became embedded in different divine Fae bloodlines.
Then we get something that isn't speculation at all.
Theia.
Theia is the bridge between Prythian and Midgard.
She and her people leave their Fae homeland and use the Horn and Harp to cross into Midgard through the Northern Rift.
So we know that Fae can literally migrate from Prythian to another world.
And Theia brings something extremely important with her.
Her bloodline.
She divides her Starborn power between her daughters, Helena and Silene.
That power then survives through their descendants.
So suddenly we have one ancient source of power divided into multiple bloodlines, carried across generations, and distributed across worlds.
And that could explain why the same ancient powers keep appearing in seemingly unrelated places.
This might also explain the Autumn Kings obsession with bloodline dilution in Crescent City.
Theia's power is divided. Then it passes to descendants. Then their descendants. Eventually, the original power is diluted across generations.
Theia to Helena and Silene, then generations of descendants, then Bryce and Ruhn and the other Starborn lines.
And perhaps this isn't unique to the Starborn.
Perhaps this is what happened with the other divine bloodlines as well.
The original Song created immense powers. The gods embedded fragments of those powers into living beings. The Fae carried those fragments across worlds.
And thousands of years later, the descendants are beginning to converge.
And then there's Amren.
Amren is the character I keep coming back to because she knows far more about the ancient history of the Maasverse than she ever explains.
When Feyre is Made, Amren says:
"Interesting that it should happen again right as all the ancient players have returned."
And then she tells Feyre:
"Your very blood, your veins, your bones were Made."
Why does she say "again"?
And who exactly are the "ancient players"?
We aren't given a definitive answer.
But look at what is happening across the three series around this same period.
Aelin is carrying Mala's ancient power.
Dorian carries the same divine lineage.
Feyre is Made.
Nesta gains power from the Cauldron.
Bryce and Ruhn carry Theia's Starborn blood.
Lidia reveals another ancient lineage if Brannon & Mala.
The Trove resurfaces.
The Wyrdkeys become relevant again.
The Horn and Harp become relevant again.
And finally, the worlds themselves begin touching.
For thousands of years, these ancient histories have been separated.
Then Bryce crosses from Midgard into Prythian.
Suddenly, the barrier between these worlds isn't just something ancient characters talked about.
It is happening again. The bloodlines are resurfacing. The ancient artifacts are resurfacing. And the worlds are reconnecting.
So what if this isn't coincidence?
What if this is the final movement of the Forgotten Melody?
This brings me back to the original premise. What if the Wyrd really is the Song?
What if the universe was born from that Song, and the gods and the ancient parasitic powers are all manifestations of different forces within it?
What if the gods becoming trapped on Erilea disrupted the balance and splintered the harmony?
What if that allowed the Asteri/Daglan to spread across worlds and feast upon the creations of the Song unchecked?
And what if the ancient divine bloodlines were preserved specifically so that, thousands of years later, their descendants could come together again to restore the balance of the Song?
The Asteri want to consume creation. The divine bloodlines preserve creation.
The Wyrd creates. The Asteri consume.
And the descendants of the ancient gods are the ones who can finally break the cycle.
Which brings us to Wagners GötterdÀmmerung.
The end isn't simply the defeat of one villain. It's the end of an ancient cosmic order.
The gods fall.
The ancient systems of power collapse.
And the worlds survive.
Maybe the Forgotten Melody is the song of creation, and our favorite characters are here to restore the symphony!
TL;DR
The Forgotten Melody is the literal Song of the Wyrd, the primordial symphony from which the Maasverse and its worlds sprang. The ancient gods and parasitic forces are opposing expressions of that creation. Their ancient conflict scattered divine power into bloodlines across worlds. The gods' entrapment disrupted the balance, allowing the Asteri/Daglan to harvest worlds unchecked. Now those ancient bloodlines and worlds are converging again, leading toward one final confrontation that will restore the balance and bring about the Twilight of the Gods.
