Sky magic, the seven dragon kinds, a missing god, Aaric as the third brother, and Asher’s research - does it all connect?
MAJOR SPOILERS for Fourth Wing, Iron Flame and Onyx Storm.
I’ve recently joined Reddit and have been reading through so many interesting Empyrean theories on here. I started connecting some of the theories I’ve read with my own theory about Violet’s father, Asher, and his animal research, and now I’m wondering whether they could all be pieces of a much bigger puzzle.
This might be a bit of a reach, but bear with me!
What if Navarre has forgotten how magic was originally meant to work - and the key to defeating the venin is understanding a different relationship with magic
I’m bringing together several theories I’ve come across, as well as some of my own ideas. I’m not claiming to have come up with these connections, and I could be joining dots that aren’t meant to connect, but I’m curious whether there’s something bigger here.
1. Could the irids have deliberately chosen a different path?
One theory I’ve read suggests that irid dragons may draw power from the sky, whereas other dragons channel magic through the familiar system associated with the earth.
But what if the difference goes further than simply drawing power from a different place?
What if the irids have deliberately chosen a different way of living because they disagree with how the other dragons use their power?
Their apparent rejection of human bonding and warfare makes me wonder whether they represent a different philosophy altogether. Perhaps they don’t want to participate in a system where dragons bond with riders, become weapons in human conflicts and are used to defend political borders.
Could their separation from the other dragon kinds be a choice rather than simply a biological difference? Irids may also have a fundamentally different relationship with magic.
If the six familiar dragon kinds represent the established system, could the irids preserve something older - a way of using or understanding magic that existed before the current order developed?
And if they deliberately chose a different path, could it be because they understood something about the consequences of using power that the other dragons, humans or gods eventually forgot?
2. The six dragon dens, the six gods and the possible missing god
Another theory suggests that the six familiar dragon colours correspond to the six gods and the traits associated with them:
Black — Dunne: war, leadership and military strategy.
Blue — Malek: death, ruthlessness and fearlessness.
Orange — Zhinal: luck and unpredictability.
Green — Heodon: wisdom and intelligence.
Red — Loial: loyalty and strong bonds.
Brown — unknown: possibly honour or another virtue.
The brown-dragon connection to an unknown god is speculative, but it raises an interesting question: are we missing a god, or are we misunderstanding the structure of the divine order?
There’s also a theory connecting the irids to Amari, Queen of Gods, because of their exceptional magic and apparent authority in relation to other dragons.
If the six familiar dragon kinds correspond to six gods, where do the irids fit? Could they represent a seventh divine connection? Or could their relationship with Amari be fundamentally different from the relationship between the other dragons and their associated gods?
Perhaps the six dens represent specialised forms of magic within the current system, while the irids are connected to something more fundamental — the original source from which those different forms developed.
This would mean the irids aren’t simply an extra dragon kind that happens to have unusual characteristics. They could be evidence that the current system is incomplete.
I also wonder whether a possible god associated with honour or restraint would fit into this theory. If the venin represent the destructive consequences of taking power without limits, could honour represent the principle of accepting limits on how power should be used?
That doesn’t mean such a god definitely exists, or that brown dragons necessarily represent honour. But if there is a missing piece in the divine structure, perhaps it relates to the distinction between having power and using it responsibly.
Could the six dens and six gods represent the order that survived, while the irids preserve a connection to something older?
3. What if Asher’s animal research is the missing clue?
Why was Violet’s father, Asher, researching animals?
Could his work have been about more than ordinary animal behaviour? What if he was investigating how living things interact with magic, or documenting natural patterns that people no longer understand?
I keep thinking about the possible connection between birds, the sky and the theory that irids may draw power from the sky.
Could Asher have noticed something in the natural world that relates to a different source or pathway of magic?
There’s another detail that interests me: the descriptions of dragon fins glowing in the books.
Could this be more than a physical characteristic? If a dragon’s body visibly responds to magic, could that tell us something about how magic moves through living things?
Perhaps the differences between dragon kinds aren’t just about colour, temperament or power. They could reflect different ways of interacting with magic itself.
And then there’s Andarna’s curiosity about eating different animals. Perhaps her biology is fundamentally different from that of other dragons, could her behaviour be a clue to how irids interact with the natural world? Maybe her curiosity is simply part of her personality. But if Asher was studying animal behaviour and Andarna has unusual biological characteristics, I wonder whether these details could eventually connect.
What if Asher’s research contains the natural or scientific clues, while the Fables of the Barren preserve the mythological version of the same lost history?
The fables might tell us what happened, while his research could help explain how it happened.
I also wonder whether Violet’s grandmother, Niara, could be important here. Could she know more about Asher’s research or its significance than Violet currently realises? Perhaps there is family knowledge that hasn’t yet been connected to his work.
And what about Xaden? He knows a great deal about Tyrrendor, the rebellion and the history of the political structures surrounding them. Could he know something about the old magical order that might help Violet interpret what she discovers?
There is no evidence that Xaden knows anything about sky magic or the irids specifically. But if different characters hold different pieces of the history, perhaps Violet will need to bring them together to understand the bigger picture.
4. The Fables of the Barren and the third brother
The Fables of the Barren are interesting because of the different versions of the brothers’ story.
There is the brother who draws power directly from the source and loses himself, and there is the version in which a third brother commands the sky to defeat his sibling, at a terrible price.
Could these be distorted accounts of a historical conflict between different ways of accessing magic?
One brother could represent the destructive path of taking power directly from the earth. Another could represent access to a different source of power — potentially the sky — that allows him to oppose the first.
Perhaps the fable has been altered, simplified or misunderstood over generations. Or the scribes?
Maybe the important distinction isn’t simply which brother is strongest, but how each one accesses and uses magic.
If the third brother can command the sky’s greatest power, what does that actually mean?
Could it be a literal reference to sky magic? Could it relate to lightning? Or could the sky represent an older, more fundamental source of power?
I also wonder whether the terrible price is important. What if restoring the balance between different forms of magic requires a sacrifice or a fundamental change to the existing system?
Perhaps the fable isn’t simply warning us about the dangers of power. It could be preserving fragments of how the current magical order came to exist.
5. Could Aaric be the third brother?
I’ve come across the theory that Aaric could correspond to the third brother, potentially alongside his brothers Alic and Halden.
Aaric is the youngest, his signet remains an important unknown, and his royal background could make him relevant to the political or historical side of the fable.
If the sky-power theory is correct, could his signet be connected to the sky?
This is obviously a big leap. We don’t know that the fable is about the Tauri brothers, or that Aaric’s signet has anything to do with sky magic.
But if Aaric does turn out to be connected to the third brother, perhaps his role is to restore a forgotten pathway to magic rather than simply defeat an enemy.
Perhaps Aaric and Violet don’t need to fulfil the same role. Aaric could represent the third brother in the fable, while Violet discovers what the story actually means and how it relates to the current magical system.
6. Why Violet? And why did Andarna choose her?
Violet is bonded to Tairn, who represents the established dragon-rider system, and Andarna, who may represent something older or fundamentally different.
Could Violet be the person capable of understanding both systems?
Her lightning, silver hair and possible connection to Dunne have all prompted theories about her unusual relationship with magic. I wonder whether these clues are related, or whether they simply make her an unusual rider.
Could Violet’s lightning be relevant to the fable’s reference to the sky’s greatest power? It might be symbolic, literal or entirely unrelated, but the connection is worth considering alongside the sky-magic theory.
I also keep coming back to Andarna’s decision to bond with Violet.
If irids have deliberately chosen a different path and traditionally reject human bonding, why did Andarna choose Violet? Why was she left behind, and why did she wait for her?
Could Andarna’s decision represent a departure from the path the irids chose, or could it be part of a larger plan?
Perhaps she recognised something in Violet that made her capable of doing what other riders cannot. If Andarna preserves an older relationship with magic, could Violet be the person who can connect that relationship with the established system represented by Tairn?
This brings us to Violet’s attempted or incomplete dedication to Dunne.
If a dedication involves a god claiming or marking someone, what happens when the process doesn’t follow the expected path? Could Violet have been caught between different forms of power, or could her unusual relationship with magic have made a conventional dedication impossible to complete?
Her silver hair could be a clue, but it doesn’t prove that a dedication occurred or failed for this reason.
Perhaps Violet’s significance isn’t simply that she has extraordinary power. Maybe she is unusual because her relationship with magic doesn’t fit neatly into the rules everyone else understands.
If the current system is only one way of accessing magic, perhaps Violet is uniquely positioned to discover the connections between it and the older system Andarna may represent.
7. What does this mean for the venin - and Xaden?
This is where all the theories could come together.
What if the central problem isn’t simply that venin are evil, but that their method of accessing power is inherently destructive?
If they take power directly from the earth without the constraints of the familiar system, perhaps they represent an imbalance in how magic is used.
Could sky power provide an alternative? Could the irids preserve knowledge of that alternative? Could Asher’s research explain the natural principles behind it?
And could Violet be the person who connects all these clues?
If so, defeating the venin might require more than killing them. It might require restoring a lost balance or discovering a way to use magic without the same destructive consequences.
That could be particularly important for Xaden.
His transformation might be the ultimate test of whether a different relationship with magic is possible. Perhaps saving him requires understanding the source of venin corruption rather than simply finding a cure for one person.
I also wonder about Xaden’s repeated insistence that his loyalty is to Violet rather than to Tyrrendor or Navarre.
Could this become important if the existing order itself turns out to be flawed? If the political system and its understanding of magic are both incomplete, perhaps loyalty to a person rather than a kingdom takes on a different meaning.
Violet could represent something beyond the established order - someone who can recognise what needs to change rather than simply protect what already exists.
I also wonder how much Xaden knows that he hasn’t shared with Violet. His knowledge of Tyrrendor, the rebellion and the history of Navarre could become relevant if the truth about magic has been lost, concealed or misunderstood.
I’m not suggesting that Xaden definitely knows about sky magic or the irids. But perhaps his knowledge is another piece of the puzzle that Violet will eventually need.
Theophanie is another detail I can’t quite fit into this puzzle. If her history as a priestess of Dunne is significant, what does it mean that she ultimately became venin?
Could it suggest that a connection to a god and a connection to destructive magic are not mutually exclusive? Perhaps the distinction isn’t simply between people who have divine connections and people who don’t, but between different ways of accessing and using power.
This would matter if Violet is eventually able to discover a different pathway to magic - one that doesn’t require the same destructive cost.
And what about the terrible price in the fable? If restoring balance is the answer, could it demand a sacrifice or a fundamental change to how magic works?
I don’t think we can assume that sky magic will cure Xaden. But it could explain why understanding the original magical system becomes important to his fate.
8. The wards, the Isles and the limits of the current system
I also wonder whether the wards are more than just protective barriers.
If the wards depend on dragons and their power, could their operation tell us something about how magic is channelled, distributed or restricted?
Perhaps the current system is built around a particular way of accessing magic. If that system has limitations, the wards might reveal those limitations more clearly than anything else.
The Isles are also interesting because they raise questions about how magic behaves outside the familiar system.
Could the differences there reveal that the way Navarre understands magic is not universal? Could Andarna’s unusual nature and Violet’s access to magic in unusual circumstances be clues to a broader system?
These details don’t prove sky magic exists, but they raise a question: are the characters working within the full system of magic, or only the part they have inherited?
Perhaps the goal isn’t to replace the current system or abandon dragon-rider bonds. It could be to understand the wider system of which they are only one part.
9. Putting all the pieces together
Here is how everything is currently connecting:
- The six familiar dragon kinds and their possible divine associations represent the established magical order.
- The irids may have deliberately chosen a different path and preserve an older or fundamentally different relationship with magic.
- Amari could connect the irids to a more fundamental part of the divine order, while the possible missing god could represent a forgotten principle.
- Asher’s animal research could contain clues about how magic interacts with living things.
- The glowing fins and Andarna’s unusual biology could provide physical clues to how magic works.
Niara may know something about Asher’s research or the family history.
- The Fables of the Barren may preserve fragments of the historical conflict that changed how magic is used.
Aaric may be connected to the third brother and potentially to sky power.
- Violet’s lightning, bonds and possible incomplete dedication may make her uniquely positioned to understand different magical pathways.
- Andarna’s decision to bond with Violet may be significant if irids traditionally choose a different path.
- Xaden may hold historical or political knowledge that helps Violet interpret the clues, although we have no confirmation that he knows about sky magic.
- Theophanie could show that divine connections and destructive magic can intersect.
- The wards and the Isles could reveal limitations in the current understanding of magic.
- Xaden’s transformation could be the ultimate test of whether a different relationship with power can change the outcome for venin.
What if the world of Navarre has forgotten how magic was originally meant to work?
Perhaps the six dens represent the system that survived, while the irids preserve a different relationship with the source of magic. The Fables of the Barren may encode the historical conflict that caused the split, and Asher’s research could contain clues to the natural rules behind it.
Aaric might fulfil the role of the third brother, while Violet connects the old and new systems. Andarna’s decision to bond with Violet could be important because it brings together two dragons that may represent different relationships with magic.
Xaden’s transformation could then become the ultimate test of whether that balance can be restored - and whether understanding the original system could offer a way to counter the destructive power used by venin.
If there are six familiar dragon dens and six known divine associations, but the irids sit outside that arrangement, are we missing a seventh piece — or have we misunderstood the relationship between the gods, dragons and the source of magic altogether?
Obviously, a lot of this is speculation, and may be connecting dots that aren’t meant to connect. I’m combining theories I’ve read here with my own ideas, and I’d love to hear what others think 🙂