ACOTAR: The Trove Deep Dive | The Mask, The Harp, and The Crown Explained

0:00 So she is scrying and there is a different being looking out from her eyes. Her scent is different, like something else is possessing her here which she is scrying for the mask. Says only Clover fire burned behind the eyes of the mask. Right. He doesn't say in nest his eyes. So. I've been watching Drive to Survive on Netflix, which is Do you know what it is? Nope.

0:35 OK, it's the F1 documentary because here's we watched F1 on Apple TV and then I was like, I know nothing about F1. And then they mentioned Drive to Survive in the movie and I was like, oh, I think that's that F1 documentary that everyone talked about like 6 fucking years ago because it covers its seven seasons, but it starts in the 2018.

0:56 Wait, it's 2020? What year is it, 26? OK, eight years ago. It's awesome. It's so good. I actually think you would love it. I actually think you would love it because it's like the combination of sports, mechanical engineering and competent business acumen. OK, all in one. Like it's so good. So two things. One, you know how I cry at sports? I cried every episode.

1:23 I've literally cried every episode. But the second thing is this is how I know they didn't think women in we're going to watch this show when they made it, OK? Every F1 team has like, a principal. It's like the team manager and the coach. It's not the owner, but it's basically like the, like, managing director of the team. Yeah, there's a Red Bull team and the team principal, I don't know if he's still the principal. I'm trying not to spoil myself, but in the 2018 season, it was this guy named Christian.

1:48 And we're at home with Christian. We're following around him around. He lives in Oxfordshire. He's got this lovely goat pen. And Christian's wife walks by on screen for just a second and I go holy holy shit, that's Ginger Spice. This man is married to a Spice Girl and it's not even fucking mentioned in season 1. It's not even a plot point.

2:10 And then she says something off screen and it says Jerry and I'm like, Oh my God, it's Ginger Spice. And this is like not even brought up, not even a blot point you. Should have milked that a little earlier. I know I'm like, you have a living legend on your screen right now and you're talking to her. Little.

2:28 Husband, what are you doing? But anyway, I think you would actually love it. I think you would be so into it. I'll have to turn it on. Maybe it's The Tonight thing, I think. Connor would like. It on TV, Yeah. I mean, if there's anyone who likes a combination of mechanical engineering and business more than I do, it's him.

2:50 It's Connor. Yeah, great. Perfect. And you'll know the moment I'm talking about, I think it's even in the first episode. Yeah, I think it's in the first episode. I literally was like, what? In the second season they do have her on camera a bit more and acknowledge that's she's a Spice Girl. But yeah, it's a great show.

3:12 It's really. Interesting, no? The Spice Girls. I think men just don't really, Well, straight men. The men who are watching F1, maybe. If we're talking about broad generalizations, yeah baby don't care about the spice. Girls. Yeah. Weird, lame we. So my sister Connor and I have started doing Tube Sunday. Oh my God, that's awesome.

3:32 No. It's our way of combating seasonal depression. So we are on our third soup Sunday and we each rotate a soup so I obviously have to have rotations on Sundays when we are not. It. Was last Sunday. Yeah, mine was chicken tortilla. This Sunday is Connor's Sunday, so he's currently doing French Onion.

3:54 Oh, that sounds really good. It sounds really good. I think it's pretty involved. I think it's a pretty involved. Soup. Did he get cow bones from the butcher cuz? I don't have to get cow bones. No, but he did get rib eyes. Yeah. For the bone, yeah. And now we just like have to have rib eye as well because we have rib eyes.

4:13 Yeah, no. So he is doing it the proper. Yeah, that sounds really good. What a good day for French onion soup. I know, right? Yeah, he was like, I guess we have to do. We didn't end up getting the, we don't necessarily have the proper ramekins. Yeah, but we have like something, yeah, that will work. And then yesterday he was like, we're going to order some just so that we have them for the future. You guys live in a fucking apartment. Where are you putting all this?

4:42 We actually have a lot of storage in our kitchen. We have a very good cook, friendly. Yeah, yeah, you guys have a nice kitchen. Which is hilarious because we don't necessarily have that much time to cook, but we do OK. Yeah, I feel like you definitely do. Yeah. So French onion soup right after this, and we have like baguette for like the whatever. Yeah, it's basically like French onion soup is literally like a bowl of cheese and bread with like some broth. With beef broth and caramelized onions. Yeah, it's fucking perfect.

5:17 It is perfect, especially for this weather, which like guys, it's still, it's still winter storm Fern, we're still in winter. In Fern it's been a week and we are still in Fern. Yeah, yeah. So you guys traveled in time, but we are still here? Fern. And it's still happening right there, right outside my window, yes.

5:36 Good day for podcasting indeed. All right, I'm Abby and I'm Ronnie, and this is Dragons in the Details, the podcast that helps you better understand your favorite fantasy books over the course of an undetermined number of episodes. We are currently covering A Court of Thorns and Roses, the series also known as Akatar by Sarah J Mass Disclaimer these episodes my God, every fucking time.

6:02 Every time episodes I'm going to start editing like a toad. Face over your face, every time. What is wrong with my brain? OK. These episodes will contain spoilers for the entire Acatar series. We will announce any other mass for spoilers ahead of time and we keep them to the second-half of the mass first section.

6:24 Disclaimer This podcast is rated R. Do not listen to it with your children without a accompanying adult around. Each week we typically dive into a specific topic in depth. This week we are digging into another group of weirdly sentient magical items, the Dread Trove. We come with receipts. We have quotes to back up any theories, so you can follow along if you're skeptical. Ronnie announcements.

6:50 Deep dive music as always. Brought to you by Schwidley AKA Derek. Also audio editing. Brought to you by Schwidley AKA Derek. Thank you, Derek for audio editing this podcast. Yeah, if you guys have noticed that our audio has gotten us a little crisper, we have Derek to thank for that. Yes, thank you, Derek. Also thank you, Derek for yelling at us when our voices are too loud so that we get better mics and stay further away from our microphones.

7:15 So we have been mentioning this every episode and we are going to continue mentioning this every episode until we are there. We are winding down Season 2. You guys might notice that we are getting a little bit deep now on Agatar, so we are coming to a close on Season 2. Season 3 will be on Crescent City.

7:34 So if you have not read Crescent City, we strongly recommend if you want to continue listening to this podcast that you start reading Crescent City if you are not already. They are long, they are long, they are good, they're good, they're great. We would not be covering them if they weren't. There are three books.

7:53 Each of them are many, many, many chapters. So we would. Suggest starting but they're awesome. The first book really grips you. Honestly, they're not hard to get into it all. Once you start, it's in my opinion really easy to keep going. So just pull trig. It's fun, it's a good time. But we do suggest you start because we will be covering those in season 3 and we will also be taking a bit of a break. We don't exactly know how long that's going to be. It won't be, it won't be too long, we promise. But we ourselves need to reread those books before we cover them.

8:23 So we will be taking a little bit of a break between seasons as we brush up on that content for you guys. I. Think it's fair to say, just to build on what you were saying about before, that we love Crescent City. We will never do a season on books that we don't love because that would fucking suck for us.

8:40 The amount of time we have to spend reading these so much. Time, yes. Some of you guys have asked, like, why we're not covering certain books. First of all, there's only so many hours of the day. But we don't want to spend time talking about a series that we don't love because one of the things that we love is our enthusiasm and joy for these books.

8:58 So yeah, that's just the point I'm trying to make. We're never going to give you a recommendation. We're never going to ask you to read books along with us that don't have our wholehearted stamp of approval on them. Basically, yeah. Agree. Yeah. So Crescent City's fun, it's a good time. And while we're on that topic of reading the mass versus fun, so if you've not read Crescent City, if you've not read Throne of Glass and you want a richer experience, we suggest that you read it.

9:23 It would behoove you to read it. That's all. If you like our content, if you think we're doing a good job, if you have suggestions for us, comment. If you watch our stuff, it would be awesome. If you subscribe, if you don't already, it would mean a lot to us. We want to be doing more of this. And in order to be able to do that, we need more subscribers. We want to we want to bring you guys more. We want to do this more.

9:47 We want to conquer the world. So let's go. Like what we're doing. Follow us. Thank you. All right, that's all I got. Anything else back to you. All right, corrections, omissions, social media shout out. So I have a social media shout out from Cassidy on Instagram who DM Ed me this morning. And the theory was it was about our library episode and the theory was about Klotho being able to hear the thoughts between Reese and Farah in the library. We talked about this.

10:16 Basically Reese and Farah are communicating mind to mind de Madi style and Klotho has a little laugh like she can hear their thoughts. So it's a very long theory. I'm not going to I'm not going to read it all out word for word. But basically it boils down to the parallels between Klotho and as real, which I thought was really interesting. So Cassidy's point was basically that when, as his shadows came to him, he was being kept in near darkness and couldn't see and like going through an extremely traumatic event, right?

10:46 And then he developed this basically. I mean, I know we're in a world with magic, but basically these like extra magic superpowers that helps him kind of navigate that environment, right? Klotho has been through serious trauma, right? And she can no longer speak and she can't use her hands. So what if she kind of developed again this like extra sensory superpower that allows her to hearing basically right. So like as a shadows are kind of a seeing power and Klothos hearing is basically kind of like an extra sensory. She can read thoughts now because she has lost the use of like her other limbs.

11:23 It's kind of like a Batman type theory. I really liked it. I thought that was a really interesting parallel. Had never really occurred to me to compare those two characters. I think there could be totally something there. So yeah. Good job, Cassidy. We love it. Thanks, Cassidy. Yeah. Cool. Interesting.

11:37 We got a comment from Tangle Zoo about Shrieker and her Slavic mythology and the owl connection tangles use. Point was owls consume, pray whole and then spit up the owl pellets which are just bones, fur and feathers. So in a way not that far off from the husks and weaving and even the bone Carver twin element.

12:03 So I thought that was interesting and a good connection. It's like basically that Shriya can still kind of eat these people but still have the remnants to like weave into her loom and leave husks and still be like complimentary to her twin, the bone Carver and how. Is Striga connected to AL's? I forget there.

12:23 Is AI think we talked about a Slavic mythology connection between striga and owls OK? Yeah, Yeah, that makes sense. OK, fun. All right, Fun question, Ronnie, if you could and had to only wield one trove. Item ever. What would you pick? Definitely the harp. Yeah, right. Like do not want to raise the dead or control people.

12:48 Those are both weird things to do. So like definitely I'm wielding the harp. Yeah. I'm not a fucking psychopath. I am not going to jail, so I would be. OK, cool, good. OK, great. That was our fun question for the week. Maybe an easier one than normal. Easier than the soup question or the board game question. Probably both fun.

13:13 I don't know, they were fun. They were at fun. All right, Shall we deep dive? Let's deep dive. Ronnie, what are the powers of each Trove item? All right, we learn. About the Dread Trove from Azrael in A Court of Silver Flames, Chapter 20, when we find out that Brie Allen is in league with Couche and is actually being somewhat manipulated by him as well.

13:42 So we have all their powers kind of laid out for us quite nicely. I'll read that passage, but then I'll also talk a little bit about each item and kind of when we see them wielded, just so that we have kind of concrete examples. He pointed Brie Allen toward the Dread Trove, not for her sake, but for his own ends. He wishes to use it to free himself from his lake. This is Azrael saying.

14:01 O'Shea wants Realan to use the Dread trove. He wants it for his own freedom. What's the dread trove? Great question. The Cauldron made many objects of power long ago, forging weapons of unrivaled might. Most were lost to history and war, and when I went into the prison, only three remained. At the time, some claimed there were four, or that the 4th had been unmade, but today's legends only tell of three. The mask, Reese murmured.

14:23 The harp and the Nesta had a feeling none of them were good. Good intuition, Nesta. Farrah frowned at her mate. They're different from from the objects of power in the human city. What can they do, then? Amarin basically gives us all the answers we're asking for. Thanks Amarin. Thanks. Amarin, why do you know this? But thank you.

14:40 The mask can raise the dead. Amarin answered for Reese. It is a death mask molded from the face of a long forgotten king. Wear it and you may summon the dead to you. Command them to March at your will. The harp can open any door, physical or otherwise. Wise, some say between worlds and the crown. Amarin shook her head.

14:59 The Crown can influence anyone, even piercing through the mightiest of mental Shields. It's only flaw is that it requires close physical proximity to initially sink its claws into a victim's mind. But where the Crown and you can make your enemies do your bidding Could make a parent slaughter their child, aware of the horror but unable to stop themselves. And those things were lost, Nesta demanded, and Reese says those who possessed them grew careless. And they were lost, Lost in ancient wars, or to treachery, or simply because they were misplaced or forgotten. Seems kind of wild to someone would just lose these, but OK. And then Amarin continued.

15:35 If if you were to gather all three objects, you could use the potency of their combined maid essence to track down the cauldron, no matter where it is. And as Real says, they're capable of granting even a human army and advantage against the Fae. So the powers of each trove item direct directly answer the question.

15:51 According to Ameren, right? The mask can raise the dead, The harp can open doors, physical doors or doors between worlds, whatever the fuck that means. The Crown can influence anyone, even through mental Shields. So like, forget your mental Shields that Reese's trained you in. Like the Crown can control you no matter what.

16:09 So those are the trove items they are said to. Also all of them have sentience and the ability to make you forget about them. This is all from the same chapter by the way. This is all like Amarans giving a soliloquy, like we are sat for a history lesson by Amaran on the dredge trove at. This what we call an exposition to dump. Yes, Amarin is saying made objects tend to not wish to be found by just anyone.

16:33 Perhaps they willed it that way. They wanted to stay hidden. Cassian says. You say that as if the objects have a sentience. Amarin says they do. They were made at a time when wild magic still roam the earth and the Fae were were not masters of all made objects back then tended to gain their own self-awareness and desires.

16:51 It was not a good thing. Amarin's face clouded with memory and a chill whispered over Nesta's spine. Reese mused. Just as I'm able to alter a mind, forget. Perhaps they have a similar gift, but Brielle has made. Aaron said dust. His mouth again went dry. When Brielle was made, it likely removed from her the Dread Trove's glamour, for lack of a better term, recognized for his kin.

17:11 Where she might have glanced over a mention of the items before and never thought twice, Now it's stuck. I'm going to skip a bit if they're all chanting you to forget. How is it that Azrael was able to remember and bear the information here? That is a great question. That's perhaps once you learn of it, recognize that the spell is broken.

17:28 Aaron said. Or perhaps the dreads Nitro wants us to know, but now for some Dirk reason of its own. So these objects, according to Amarin, have an ability to decide whether you can remember them or not, according to Amarin. And as real apparently is permitted to be aware of them, Amarin is apparently permitted to be aware of them. And there's also an illusion by Ameren, right, That if you are made like the Dread Trove is made, you can be aware of them too.

17:59 Whatever sentience they have, whatever ability to hide themselves that they have, that doesn't apply to you. So there's that. All right, so let's talk a little bit more about each of these items because they're super fun and scary. The mask allows the user to command death. We see it wielded twice by Nesta. The first is in 1/4 Silver Flames chapter 36 in the bog of Orid and the mask.

18:26 I'll paraphrase this part because it's just a blue lines flies to her basically. So she's being dragged under by kelpie. It's horrible. It's really honestly kind of rapey. Like the kelpie wants to marry her and kill her at the same time. She's like, I got to get out of here. Honestly, probably one of the more like graphic scenes in 1/4 silver flames.

18:43 Like she like urinates or like she wets herself. It's like horrible, horrible, horrible, but the mask is there and it flies to her hand. She's trying to call her own power and the mask comes to her instead of her power. Yeah, which is? Interesting. And then we leave her POV. Azrael and Cassian show up, and they can't find her, they can only send her, and then the dead emerge from the bog, and this is their account of the dead emerging like a forest rising from the water, spear after spear after spear appeared then, the helmets dripping water, some rusted, some shining as a freshly forged, and beneath those helmets skulls. Mother save us as real whispered, and it was undiluted terror, not awe, hushing his

19:27 voice as the dead rose from ored steps, a line of them, a legion, some mere collections of upright bones, jaws hanging and eyes unseeing, some half preserved, decaying flesh flapping over exposed ribs. Judging by their fine armor, they were warriors and kings and Princess and Lords. They rose from the water, standing in the shallows near the thorny island, and as that golden light broke the surface before them, the dead knelt. Every word emptied, emptied from Cassian's head as Nesta 2 emerge from the water as if lifted on a pillar from beneath. A golden mask sat upon her.

20:02 Her face, primitive but embossed with whirls and patterns so ancient they've lost all meeting. Water slew us down her clothes. Her hair had been ripped from its braid, and in her hand, clenched. There, a kelpie's head dangled by its sheet of black hair, torn up, face frozen in a scream, exactly as the King of Hybrids head, head hung from her hand. Only silver fire burned behind the eyes of the mask, skipping a bit.

20:27 Her will was their will, her command their only reason for being. They had no self left, only her, only Nesta flowing through them. Skipping a bit again. Cold power rippled through them, and as it hit Cassie and let it surge past him, around him, yielded himself to it. Because to stand against it would be to to provoke the masks wrath. To stand against it would be to to stand against Death itself. Death herself.

20:52 This part I think is really interesting. Azrael shook, weathering that primal power. But they were both Illyrian whether as liked it or not. And so they did what their people had always done before Deaths. Beautiful face. They bowed, chest deep in the water. They couldn't bow far, but they lowered their heads until their faces nearly touched the surface.

21:10 Cassian lifted his eyes as he held the position and washed the gold of the masks reflection dance upon the water. Then that gold shifted. He raised his head in time. Seen us to peel away the mask. So she is commanding death, obviously, all of the dead of the bog. Lucky for her, there's a fucking lot of people who have died in the bog. A lot of powerful people, warriors, kings, Princess. And so the mask in a way, seem it's basically the crown for the dead.

21:35 Anyone who's dead, they are yours to wield. But even Even so, there's also an urge to bow down to it. Cassie and Azrael are like, OK, let me yield to death as well, and death will spare me. And so that's one. And then of course the second is when Farrah is dying in chapter 77, she puts on the mask, the harp and the crown at the same time, and the way that she uses the mask in that scenario is she tells death to stop. Yeah, and that.

22:01 Is different power, different power? Yeah, different power. Commanding death in that situation, not the dead death Incarnate hovering about to take Farrah. And she said like, that quote is pretty short. The death that Nesta felt around her sister, around Reason, around the babe in Moore's arms.

22:19 She bathed the mask to halt that, to hold it at Bay. So she's saying, Nope, just wait a second. And that works too somehow. Yeah. So you can command the dead and you can command death with the mask. Interesting. Anything else on the mask? Yeah. I have a couple more things. Of all of the items in the truth, the power of the mask seems to most closely mirror Nesta's power. So it we just read that quote where when she reaches for her power, the mask comes instead because it is we're told it's because a like it's a like calls to like situation. But we also get your power and the masks are similar enough that to reach for one was to reach for the other. Also a lot of imagery of the masks power being cold as well, right.

23:02 So We Get Blood was a cold song, the mask a Slytherin echo to it, whispering of all she might do Home, it seemed to sigh. Home. Nesta did not refuse it only embraced it, letting its magic, colder than her own and as old, flow into her veins. So the mask has its own separate cold power that is very similar to Nesta's, but it is not Nesta's. And we don't get that with the harp. We don't get that with the crown. We really only get that with the mask. We have a couple.

23:34 I just have a couple more quotes to read about that cold power. You just read it, right? But cold power rippled toward them, and as it hit Cassian, let it surge past him, around him, yielded himself to it again. We have, because to stand against it would to be provoked the mass wrath. To stand against it would be to stand against death itself, Death herself. We have favor describing Nesta's power as death with a capital D. This is also death with a capital D. And we know that Nesta's power is cold Helion. We've read this in the last right here in the last episode too.

24:05 But Helion about the mask says doesn't it rake it's cold claws down your senses? So basically mask and Nesta's powers very very very similar. Nesta even saw says she felt herself beckoned to the mask after it is in a warded room that no one should be able to enter. They they find Nesta in the room and she says the door was open.

24:24 Nesta said numbly. The mask opened the door for you. Amber demanded. I found myself beckoned here and Nesta said so. I'd say her strongest connection is with the mask. There is also an idea here, I think that when she wears the mask, she is actually channeling something else, someone else's power. And the reason I say that is when she is crying for the mask, Cassian says her scent changes.

24:50 So the quote we get for that is when NASA didn't respond, they all looked at her. None of them dared to ask about that power, the being that had looked out to at him. This is when, this is when Cassian goes to kiss Nesta when she's crying. None of them had dared ask about that power, that being that had looked out at him, the one he'd melted away with his kiss. He could still taste that ice on his tongue, smell the scent similar to hers, yet wholly different. Right, so she is scrying, and there is a different being looking out from her eyes.

25:20 Her scent is different, like something else is possessing her here, basically when she is scrying for the mask. And then she said she had never experienced anything like the masks power. The kelpie, at least, had felt real. Her terror and anger and desperation had all been human, ordinary feelings.

25:37 As soon as she donned the mask, those feelings had vanished. She had become more, had become something that did not need air to breathe, something that did not understand hate or love or grief or fear. So she's becoming something else. I feel like this might actually be the power of the mask. That when you put on the mask, you start channeling the power, the being.

25:58 You are basically overtaken by something else that Death bows to. I don't know what that is, but it feels like that is what's actually happening. And I know Cassian speculates at one point that the mother is what he's seeing when NASA puts on the mask. I'm not totally convinced it is the mother, to be honest, but we're going. To say, doesn't he like he says 2 * 1. He says in chapter 77 that he's, he thinks he sees the mother and then when she's walking out of the bog, I know he doesn't say that he sees somebody else, but he doesn't say only silver fire burned behind the eyes of the mask. He doesn't say like Nesta.

26:36 'S eyes, right, right. He doesn't. Say in Nesta's eyes, he says only silver fire burned behind the eyes of the mask. It's almost implying it's not her other. Right. Yeah, yeah, absolutely right. So I think the question is, if someone else put on the mask, would they also have silver fire peering behind their eyes? Yeah, I don't know.

26:55 I am led to believe yes, based on the wording of these things, but we haven't had anyone else try this, all right? Yeah, I agree. And then the only other quote I have about the mask that I think is important to note, Amarin tells us that actually anyone can wear the mask, but only bait people can take it off. So the quote we have for that is you're lucky to have been able to pry it from your face.

27:18 Most of those who have worn it could never remove it. In order to sever it, they had to be beheaded. It's the cost of the power. Or you can raise an army of the dead to conquer the world, but you can never be free of the mask. Like calls to like reset. Others could not free themselves because the mask did not recognize their power. The mask rode them, not the other way around. Only one made from the same dark source can wear the mask and not be ruled by it.

27:40 So who is Nesta channeling? I don't know, but her scent changes. Her scent changes, right? It is not NASA. Yeah. Cool. OK, the crown. So we see a few times that the Crown is used as well. The first is technically second hand and that's when we see Autumn Court soldiers who are still in the Crown's control, right? So same time we're seeing a lot of Trove items wielded in the bog board.

28:07 Of course, over flames. Chapter 34. Azrael and Cassian are fighting Autumn Court soldiers in the Bog of Orid. This is when Nesta decides that she's going to go looking for them and ends up in the bog. And Azrael and Cassian noticed that they have no awareness that the soldiers and that they seem strangely vacant.

28:25 And that's the soldiers who bought viciously with sword and flame. Yet they hadn't spoken to their opponents or to one another. These two seemed as unfocused and blank as their comrades. Something is wrong with them. As Azrael murmured, as the two soldiers simply stared up at them with violence in their eyes.

28:41 Violence but no recognition or awareness that they were now at the mercy of the Night Court. And would soon learn how that court got answered out of their enemies. Cassie and sniffed it's smell like they haven't had a bath in weeks. It doesn't matter. The rest of this doesn't matter. Later, once they're captured, Reese tries to get into their minds but finds nothing but fog and mist. So he tries to read their minds and it's just fog and mist. So it's not even like the crown is altering thoughts the way that they Mahdi alter thoughts.

29:10 It's literally just you can't see it. It's just clouded. And then Reese brings in helium, says can you figure out what's wrong with them? Because of course he has an inkling, but classic Reese, similar to what he did with the bone curve. He's like, let me just confirm in chapter 41 and asks Helian to take a look. So Faber asks Helian, are the soldiers enchanted? Helian had spoken to and briefly touched the hands of the 2 Autumn Court soldiers chained in that room, kept alive and fed by Reese's magic.

29:38 Helian's face had tense when he touched their hands, and he he then murmured that he'd seen enough. Enchanted isn't the right word. Helian said, frowning. Their bodies and actions are indeed not their own, but no spells lie upon them. I can feel spells like threads, ones that can enchant, feel like, feel like bindings around an individual. I sense none of that.

29:57 So what ails them recessed? I don't know. Helian emitted with unusual gravity. Rather than a thread, it was more like a mist, a fog. Exactly as you described. It was sand, there was nothing to grasp onto, nothing tangible to break, yet it was there. Reese asked. Does it feel less like a spell and more like an influence? And then Cassian's like, internally freaking out. Helian rubbed his jaw.

30:18 I can't explain how, but it's as if this fog around their mind sways them. He noted their expressions. What is it? And then Ferret says the crown, part of the Dread Trove, Poor Helian is just like a fucking science experiment in that moment. They're like, what do you think? It's like Socratic method, in a way. We get the description of the crown without actually being told is the crown.

30:37 And so then we also get evidence, of course, of the proximity, right. So these on court soldiers were very far from whoever it was that had them in their thrall, but they were clearly still in their thrall and their spell was undetectable. It was all just fog and mist. You could not see kind of who had, who had influenced them.

30:56 You couldn't really even see what they were tasked to do. You could just see nothing. The second time we see the crown used is when Briellen uses it on Cassian and that's a court of silver flames. Chapter 71 through 73. She says. I have, I have need of you Lord of Bastards. The ancient looking queen seethed. Cassian could say nothing, couldn't move the crown glow like molten iron.

31:19 Briellen ordered Crochet. Crochet win OS. Side note, I kind of think that Crochet might be entirely possessing Briellen because one other person calls Cassian Lord of Bastards, right? And it's the bone Carver. And it's the bone. Carver Good theory. Good fucking theory. I love it. Yeah. I don't know why Briellen would call Cassian Lord of bastards. Well, and.

31:40 We talked about in our crochet episode how fucking ballsy she is with him, right? Like, yeah, yeah. So it's feeling like crochet is just full, like completely acting through Briellen at this point. And if that's the case, I just had a terrible thought. What if crochet is? What if, like the women under Crochet's curse, just like, have him behind them?

32:02 And like Vasa, is also a sleeper. A sleeper agent? Yeah. A spy? Yeah, Maybe. Yeah. Has anyone peered into her head? Oh, but Helion and Reese did peer into her head, right? To try to unbind the spell. Maybe not her brain, though. Yeah, but like. That doesn't necessarily mean, like, this is just them looking into the crown.

32:22 Cachet is not. Yeah, like, whatever. Yeah, like, it's not the same thing. I don't know. Anyways, I think that Lord of Bastards seems to be a why'd you call him that? And then in chapter 73, of course, is the the moment that Nesta counters casting and realizes that he is in the Crown's thrall. And that's when Briellen says he can't obey you, Nestor Geron. He's mine now.

32:48 Asian could not even widen his eyes and his arms loosened on the Queen silent command, allowing Nestor to turn in his embrace, presenting her to Briellen who wore the crown atop her thin white hair. And then of course in chapter 74, we see Briellen order Cassian to kill Nesta and she only says kill and Briellen orders Cassian to kill, which is not specific enough. And so he turns the dagger on himself. And then Nesta loses her shit and kills Briellen, which is a good thing.

33:19 Good thing. And we already talked a bit at the beginning of this episode about how Cassian is able to fight the influence of the crown a surprising amount, which is only a little bit. But I do think that Nesta's like made influence and even just like sheer will makes that reasonable in my opinion. I would agree.

33:36 But we do get one from the crown fucked. Up moment with the Crown from Cassian's point of view when he's being controlled by it. And this is chapter 73 again. He was screaming silently, endlessly screaming at her to fight him, to run, screaming at himself to stop it. But he couldn't. No matter what he did, he couldn't stop it. Cassie and Nesta said struggling. Kill me, he silently begged her.

33:59 Kill me before I have to do this. So the Faye is still inside him, so to speak. And that means all of Aris's soldiers were also present and there and just couldn't control what they were doing. So like, they were murdered. Cassie had murdered them. Unfortunately, yeah. But yeah, Well, I. Think we knew that actually all along?

34:18 When Ameren describes the Crown's powers, she says you can make a parent murder their child and they would be aware of the terror but unable to stop at it. And here. We're seeing that in action. Yeah, horrible. Yeah, fucked up. I have one more thing here. We have the line. The storm halted, cleared away to reveal the pale Gray sky before dawn, the last of the stars waking out. Even nature could be influenced by the crown. I think is a really random line that's in Silver's Flames chapter 74, but basically it's the sun rising and Nesta saying even nature could be influenced by the crown. I don't know why that's in here.

34:58 We've gotten no. Indication. We've got no indication the Crown could do that, so let's just. Put that over there. I think I'm just not going to. What are we going to do? Make it storm like? Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. All right. Cool. All right. The heart. So the harp is definitely the most versatile. Yeah.

35:17 And frankly, confusing as far as what it's actually capable of, in my opinion. And maybe confusing is the wrong word. Maybe just versatile is the right word. But I think it's also open-ended because we see what it's capable of in select environments, but we definitely haven't seen the full extent.

35:34 Like there's allusions to like what happens if it plays melody? What happens if you pluck more strings? And we only have a few strings that are plucked at any given time. So Nesta, of course, finds the harp underneath the prison right on top of any pointed star. So that's in 1/4 of Silver Flames Chapter 53.

35:51 You have maybe just go listen to the Prison library deep dive before you finish this episode. I would recommend it. I think they're good build ups to this. But Nesta, I'll paraphrase here, is shown the harp by an accidental scrying when she is at a service in the library being sung to by the priestesses some texts that were found in a very deep level in the library. Then she finds it in the chamber, and there is a moment where she is basically remembering a time that the harp was last used.

36:19 And I met the memory is not hers. So she picks up the harp and she is shown this memory of Faye screaming, clawing at throne, clawing at the stone. She doesn't really understand what's happening, but it seems like these Faye are like, how could you lock me out? How could you lock me out? Let me in.

36:34 There's children, whatever. She sees Briellen. So there's a there's like a bridge open to Briellen and Briellen sees her and she can't let go of the harp, which is really interesting. It says. Nesta clutched the harp to her chest, the last of its reverber, patients echoing through her. She had to let go.

36:50 Somehow, in touching the harp while Brielle was wearing the crown, she had opened the pathway between their minds, their eyes. She could see Brielle and Brielle could see her, could sense where she was. She had to let go. She couldn't do more than twitch her fingertips as invisible, oppressive weight, boring to her like it's flattened her into dust upon the ground.

37:08 Let go, she silently baited, gritting, gritting her teeth, fingers brushing over the nearest string. Free me, you blasted thing. A beautiful, haughty voice answered, full of music so lovely it broke her heart to hear it. I do not appreciate your tone. With that, the heart pushed into her harder, and Nestor roared silently. Her nails scraped over the string again. Let me go, shall I open a door for you, then release that which is caught?

37:31 Yes, damn you. Yes. It has been a long while, sister, since I played. I shall need time to remember the right combinations. So the harp is calling her sister nervous, calling Nesta. Sister, don't play games. Nesta chilled at the word. It had used sister, like she and this thing were one in the same.

37:48 The small strings are for games, light movement and leaping, but the longer final ones. Such deep wonders and horrors we could strum into being. Such great and monstrous magic I wrought with my last minstrel. Shall I show you? No, just open up these words, Nesta. As you wish. Pluck the first string then.

38:08 Nesta didn't hesitate as her fingertip curled over the first string, grasping and then releasing it. A musical laugh filled her mind. But then the weight lifted, vanished. So Nesta says, just open up these words, A harp or whoever is talking says. Sure, fine, pluck the first string, Nesta says. Cool and Nesta's able to let go of the harp, able to get up the very air seemed lighter, looser, like opening another doorway had shut the one to Brie Allen. Then we got Cassie in the corner freaking out. She's like, I'm fine, I'm good.

38:36 But I think someone really wicked used this last. I think they used to trap their enemies and their enemies children into the stone itself. Was that was that what had been happening to her just now? The harp had been pushing her into the rock, fusing her soul with it. So now we've got the Harp breaking down wards, the Harp fusing her soul with the rock powers, right?

38:58 So like I know Aaron said doors opening wards and fusing stole with rock. Those two things seem a little bit different. Then we find out that Lanthus's cell has been opened and Lanthus is like, I did it, but like obviously it was the fucking Harp. So the Harp released Lanthus, and we're given even more reason to believe that the Harp is breaking down wards when fucking Autumn Court soldiers just stormed the prison that is blood keyed. Yeah, I know that.

39:23 We're told in the text that since Reese had lowered the Shields around the prison, they'd walked right in. I call bullshit on this. I think the Harp, when Nestor's Nestor said open up these wards. The Harp, Yeah, is like fucking with her. I was like, OK, I'll open all the wards. Bitch and. Opened up all the wards. Yeah, which I.

39:45 Think could also explain why Reese felt the need to ward. Like maybe Reese actually knew that the harp was there all along and re swelled the need to ward the shit out of the prison. I don't know. That's a little bit cuckoo. But the harp also says that there it's music will free you of earthly rules and borders. So the harp is basically like I can do anything. And so she's able to transport to Cassian using the first string.

40:09 So she says take me to Cassian, plucks the string, goes to Cassian. Cassian is dying. She plucks a few more strings and is able to get back to Velaris. So she says hold on to me Cassian. She plucks 3 strings. And says she literally, it's like, it's like a porky. She's like the front lawn, a Ferris house along the Cedar River and Valaris. Then she plucks some strings and then she like is taken there. So again, she's able to basically winnow equivalent out of the prison.

40:34 So the harp is defying whatever word around the prison. Yeah, all of the ancient unbreakable wards that are supposedly around this prison, the harp is just like, like I'm just going to take you right back to Volaris. So the harp moves you, says it opens doors, but it doesn't seem to leave doors open. It just takes you wherever it's taking you. It also seems to fuel fuse souls with objects. And it also says there's a moment where Nesta says she didn't want to know where all 26 strings might take her if strummed or if someone made a melody. Oh, there's there's a lot of open-ended this year. It can probably do other things if a melody is played. We've seen it do some stuff in chapter 77. We also see her use it to stop

41:18 time, right? So if you don't feel like moving or doing any of this other crazy shit, you can stay right where you are and stop time by just plucking the 26th string. But it can probably also do a lot of other stuff by plucking more strings. Strings or playing songs. I totally. Agree. I think we've seen like a sliver of the full power of the harp.

41:37 And I've put this out here before, I'll put it out here again. The fact that that last string is time and we're dealing with interdimensional like movement and travel, I think time travel is probably on the table. So I don't have anything concrete to back that up, but that's just how I'm feeling right now, certainly.

41:54 We. Are told yeah. So about the the heart being able to connect their minds. We do have a actual quote for that. That kind of fits within the powers we've been told. So it says somehow in touching the harp or did you read this quote? All Burger Allen was wearing the crown. She had opened a pathway between their minds, right? So it is like opening a door between their minds. However, I imagine obviously that was used for evil here. But now that we have all the items of the trove in our possession, I imagine that could probably be a very useful thing to have.

42:23 We could. Use it for good. Maybe we could use it for good. There's a moment where it seems to kind of hypnotize her. So what we have is yes, she'd play the harp and there would be nothing but music until the stars died out. Play I have so long wish to play, it said, and she could have sworn she heard a smile within the sound. What might my song unlock in here? So it's like very seductive, very hypnotic. Seems to be trying to kind of influence her mind a bit. We don't get that with the ground. We don't get that with the OR sorry with the yeah, we don't get that with the ground.

42:55 We don't get that with the mask. We also have this. It looks newly polished, she observed to Cassian, who washed from the archway. How is that possible? It exists outside the bindings of time, just as the cauldron does, also pointing to me towards some kind of time manipulation. And then, yeah, I don't really have much more to add. I'm trying to think of anything here. Is really that that important?

43:16 I don't really think so, other than we have 26 strings on the harp and we know that Meryl is researching 26 possible dimensions. So do we have one string per dimension? Doesn't really seem like it, given that two to three strings gets you to Valeris. Yeah, So. Yeah. But yeah, yeah. I agree. Yeah. Cool.

43:34 Cool. All right, Abby, what happens when you wear all three items of the trove at the same time? OK. I'm going to preface with this, not really sure, not really sure if I'm being honest. So before this obviously happens, when NASA is saving Fever's life at the end of Silver Flames, for Nesta puts on any item of the trove, she can see Death in the room, right?

43:59 The quote for that is. But Death, again, this is Capital D. Death hovered nearby, and Nesta felt it, saw it, she literally saw it, a shadow thicker and more permanent than any of Azrael's. Elaine sobbed, squeezing Faber's hand, pleading with her to hold on, and Nesta stood in the midst of it, Death swirling around here, her, and there was nothing, nothing, nothing to be done as favors breathing Fend, and Maja began shouting at her to fight it. So that's not the troph, right?

44:26 This ability to sense death, that's Nesta's power. She wore the mask, she placed the crown atop her head, and she cradled the harp in her arms. No one had ever wielded all three and lived. No one could contain their power, control them. Nesta's eyes blazed with silver fire behind the mask, and Cassian knew the being that looked out was neither fate nor human nor anything that walked the lands of this world. Right.

44:50 So again, we have that idea of the being. So I think this is really interesting and I actually miss this the first time I've read it. When she is wearing all three items of the trove, she's seen seemingly is able to control Reese's body for a moment the way that Reese can control other people's bodies.

45:05 Right. So Nesta held up a hand, and Reese went still, as still as Cassian had gone under the crown's control. So that's like the crown influencing Reese there. She plucks the 26th string, and time stands still. It was time. The 26th string on the harp was time itself, and Nesta stopped it as Faber took her last breath.

45:24 Lanthus had said as much, that even Death bowed to the final string, that time was of no consequence to the harp. So we have her stopping time a second before Pharaoh's last breath. Right. And it's interesting to, to think of if the mask is death, that death is bowing to the heart. Like there's this kind of hierarchy within the trove.

45:43 That's an interesting idea. And then you mentioned this in the mask power section. But she bathed the mass to hold Death at Bay. And the death, the quotas on the death that Nesta felt around her sister, around Reese, and around the babe in Moore's arms. She bathed the mass to halt that, to hold it at Bay. I wrote.

45:59 New skill unlocked now The mask can stop death as well as control the dead. Also, this means Pharaoh was not actually dead on the scene, right? She's a moment away from death, but Nick's is certainly dead, right? And everyone's about to die. And then again, she is seemingly taken over by whatever this being is that inhabits the mask. Unclear if this is the Mother or something else we get. In the end, there was darkness and nothing more. A soft, familiar voice whispered the words as they had been whispered to her long ago, as it warned her in or. It's darkness.

46:31 I don't. Know that Nyx is dead, it says. The death that Nesta felt around her sister, around Reese, and around the babe in Moore's arms. So I know that Nix was born silent. I don't know the Nix was. Born dead. OK, I think he's silent and not moving. Sure. You could still have a. You could still.

46:48 Have a heartbeat? It's unclear. Here's what I'm getting at. When Nessa is wearing all three items of the Trove, she uses all three of them the way they're meant to be used. But it's not like there's an extra power here or something extra special like happens here. As far as I could tell, it is just using each item of the Trove in the way that we know it has been designed to be used.

47:11 Except for the fact that she seems to be able to make a bargain with the cauldron and then the cauldron or something is able to push out that iridescent light. So what happens is Nesta makes a bargain with the cauldron. She says I give it all back. I promise I'd give it all back. We get Iridescent light began flowing from Nesta's body into Pharah. The light glimmer down Pharah's arms, her legs. It suffused her ash and face began to fill the room. Tendrils of light between the and one, delicate and loving, floated toward more through the bundle in her arms, setting the silent babe within, glowing within, glowing bright as the sun's.

47:47 She wears all the items of the Trove. She's able to make a bargain with the Cauldron. Farrah tried to make a bargain with the Cauldron, but she didn't succeed. Maybe you need to have the trove to make that bargain. I don't know. And then fair. And then she is able to use the bargain with the Cauldron to bring back Farrah and Nick's, or at least bring them back from the brink of death if they're not fully dead. But that was not the inherent powers of the Trove, right? That was whatever bargain she made with the Cauldron that let her do that.

48:16 Yeah. Yeah, it's interesting. So we're told a lot of things are supposed to happen when you wield all three of the truth. No one really knows. Maybe there's this greater power, but then when we observe it in Nesta, it seems like it's just that power. I mean, yes, she can commune with the Cauldron, she can commune with the Mother, but she was already able to.

48:37 In my opinion, certainly with the mother, yeah, yeah, we get this too, from AS. So that's kind of my analysis of that scene where we see Nestor wearing all three. But from as we have what Vasa suspected is true. The death Lord Crochet has been whispering in Brie Allen's ear. He remains trapped as his lake, but his words carry on the wind.

48:56 To her, he is ancient, the depth of his knowledge fathomless. He pointed Brie Allen toward the bread. The bread trove. He pointed for Alan toward the dread trove, not for her sake, but for his own ends. He wishes to use it to free himself from his lake. So he's planning to use all three items of the dread trove to free himself from his lake, which is very different from what Nesta uses all three items of the dread trove to do, in my opinion. I mean, seems to me like you would really only need the harp to free yourself from the lake.

49:27 I don't know why you need all three. Yeah. Yeah. Amarin says if you were to gather all three objects, you could use the potency of the combined maid essence to track down the cauldron. So maybe it is like, to your point, Nesta was able to make this bargain with the cauldron. Maybe Cache needs the cauldron for some reason.

49:47 Yeah, and we have hidden the cauldron and we. Have hidden the cauldron. Yeah, Yeah, maybe that is it. Maybe because it's on Kritia? Kritia. Kritia, I think. Cretia, you tell. Us guys, you tell us. Let us know Cretina or Cretia because. Right. So maybe like the cauldron's off the board, but when you wear all three items of the trove, you can find it.

50:13 Channel. You can find it. Yeah, Yeah. And that could work. OK, let's move on. All right friends, that is the end of our Acatar only section. From here on out, we are going to be talking a full mask for a spoiler. So if you have not read Crescent City, if we have not, if you have not read Throne of Glass, we recommend you leaving now so that you do not get spoiled. But again, if you want to join us next season, we highly recommend you read Crescent City. We highly recommend you read Throne of Glass as well because it's super fun.

50:42 As always, you can follow us on social media. We are dragging in the details pod on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. We are on Facebook. I keep forgetting to mention that we are on Facebook. We are dragging some details spot on Facebook for Facebook. We are discord. You can e-mail us. You can pretty much get in contact with us however you want to. We love hearing from you guys.

51:00 It's the best and if you like what we do if you're a fan, please follow us. Please like please comment, please subscribe on whatever platform you prefer. We are going to start talking about the Mass first at the end of this sentence. OK. Mass first, Cosms Ronnie. Yes, OK. Pretty pertinent to this episode.

51:18 Got a shout out for one of our discorder Solomon OP. You may know her as the mayor of our Discord. She wrote in our mass first episode chat channel. Quick thought about Striga's song she was singing when she didn't know that Pharaoh was there and Human sang the song to way before Pharaoh and Nesta existed.

51:40 What if it's a classic murder ballad? Love a murder ballad with older roots. What if instead of how a violin was made, it's how the harp was made? Which I think is kind of fun. Maybe the harp has a personification that we did not otherwise think of, and Shriega is singing the song of the harp's origin. I think that would be fun.

52:03 Thank you. LMNOP Shriega. Made the harp. It's made of human bits or phases. Yeah, well, that's the whole point. Murder is that the harp would be made of. Of a human entrails. Yeah, yeah, yes. Interesting. OK, All right. I have a couple person that Nesta seems to be channeling when she wears the mask.

52:25 I mean, it just feels like the mask is really closely tied to the powers we've seen from Deanna. Not to bring up Deanna yet again, but like, I would. I feel like I would be remissed. Yeah. So we're getting strong Deanna vibes from the mask. Not as much from the other items of the trove. When Nesta is leaving the harp chamber after she has claimed the harp, we have the quote. The words tumbled out as Nesta waded back through the ward heavy cavern, feeling the center spot, the star at its heart, like a physical presence at her back. Those vast light hands seem to pull at her, trying to make her return.

53:01 But she ignored them, explaining to Cassie and what she'd heard from the heart at what she's seen in the vision with Brielle. So the 8 pointed star which contains Celine's power is pulling her back saying don't leave yet, I'm not done with you. And you speculated last week that Celine was actually talking to Nesta, not to Bryce.

53:22 I still don't know how this works, but I think we're seeing more evidence for it and the vision that the harp bestows upon Nesta, right? NASA says she thinks that's the last time that the harp was used. I think we know that's not true because I believe we see Celine using the harp to create the prison, right?

53:39 Doesn't she use the harp to, like, close the walls of the palace and to create the cells? That only just occurred to me. But I think she does use the harp to do it. All right, so we have the quote here. So traced her fingers over the stone like she could somehow reach across the stars to her sister.

53:55 A seed of Starlight began to form at her fingertips. So that's the end. That's kind of the end of the video where Celine has just come back from Midgard. Then we get the vision went dark. Then Celine's face appeared again, older, worn. Her clear blue eyes looked out with a steady gaze. My strength waned, she said. I hope that my life has been spent wisely, atoning for my mother's crimes and foolishness and love and trying to make it right.

54:20 I carved these tunnels, the path here, so some record of it might exist, of what we were, what we did. But first I had to erase it all from recent memory. Her face faded away, and more images began a faster montage. Celine walking away from the harp and through the beautiful halls of a palace carved into the mountain.

54:38 This mountain. So we have kind of a gap between when and Celine is walking away from the harp and the end of Celine getting back from Midgard. So my point of all of this is I'm not sure that this is Nesta seeing the last time the harp is used or if this is Nesta seeing a piece of Celine's video, right?

54:57 Because that's that's what's pulling her back. It's this message, this story that Celine is trying to tell her. It's this magic. And if the harp is also kind of part of that, it's in the harp chamber. Like is it actually the video basically because we know the harp can open doors between minds. It is the harp opening a channel between Celine's magic and Nesta's brain and showing her the video here. I don't know and.

55:23 It's where the harp was too. That's yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Showing it, showing her what happened, where she was standing, where. She was standing, Yeah, yeah. Which is what Celine's, We're calling it a video. But it is actually Celine's magic. It is her power. It is her soul. And we know the harp can transfer magic.

55:42 We'll get into that later. So that's kind of my thinking on that. I also have a social media shout out also about crochet. So I put up a slideshow about our theories about what's in crochet's box based on Slavic folklore. We had a comment from Amanda on Instagram and they wrote, OK, wait, when you said Onyx box, I thought of a certain box at the bottom of a certain ocean.

56:03 But that's actually glass now that I think of it. But there's also the black box with the death marks in it. I believe the box you are referring to Amanda is the box that contains the soul of Victoria AKA Victoria. So the quote we get and Victoria as sort of remind. Is Victoria a Wraith? I actually don't remember what Victoria is. Victoria is a Wraith who worked with Hunt to steal synth so that they could overthrow the Esteri, and then as part of her punishment what happens is this was so this is. They're on the death charger in sorry, the depth charger, not the death charger in Sky and Breath Chapter 5. The quote we get is through the glare of the first light beams atop the remote submersible.

56:44 More fleshy white bits floated by. This was what the Wraith Victoria had been dammed by Micah to endure. The former Archangel had shoved her essence into a magically sealed box while the Wraith remained fully conscious despite having no corporeal form, and dropped her to the floor of the Mellano Trench.

57:01 I actually think this is a great call, even though that's a glass box, right? Because I basically think this shows that what we're talking about hurt, which is Cochet's soul or Cochet's death, whatever you kind of want to call it, being trapped in the box at the bottom of an ocean works, right? Like, I do think that might be like what Cochet's.

57:18 Yeah, Cochet's essence is like at this point. It's just in that box. And we've seen that it's doable, basically. But also, how did Mica do this? How did an Archangel do this? This is like, this is the power of the heart, right? Like removing someone's soul from their body is basically the power of the heart.

57:33 How did Mike do it? I don't know. And then the only other omission, which I think we'll talk about later, but the harp, the last power of the harp, the true power of the harp, I would possibly say we get in Crescent City, which is this is from Celine again. She gave us what protection her magic could offer, transferring it from her body into our own using the harp.

57:54 Another secret she had learned from her long ago masters, that the harp could not only move its bearer through the world, but move things from one place to another, even move magic from her soul to ours. I think that's actually the true power of the harp, and I'll get into why later, but I think that's just like a huge, huge omission here.

58:12 Yeah, I think we'll get into that, but I me too. I think. The harp is pretty versatile, yes. Yeah, cool. All right, Ronnie, our last item of the trove, what is the power of the horn? Yes. So when Ameren said there was maybe a fourth, there was a fourth. Obviously it is in a different world though. So the horn is the mysterious 4th trove item and it opens and closes bridges basically between worlds. So in House of Earth and Blood chapter 2, we learned that Luna's Horn was an ancient Fey relic that was basically stolen from its resting place in Luna's temple. It was broken shortly after the northern with rift was sealed and basically didn't work anymore. And we learn of course that

58:58 Danica stole the horn via Sabine in House of Earth and Blood chapter 49. And then Danica had it grounded to a powder and tattooed in her into her bestie braces back. And we learned this from aforementioned Archangel Micah in chapter 77, House in Earth and Blood. You don't just have the horn, you are the horn.

59:17 You became its bare the night Danica had it grounded, ground into a fine powder, mixed it with witch ink and then got you so drunk drunk you didn't ask questions when she had it tattooed. On. Onto your back. I'm skipping a bit, but Bryce said. Cool as that sounds, Governor, the statue says. Then you interrupts her and says the language is beyond that of this world.

59:36 It is the language of universes, and it spells out a direct command to activate the horn through a blast of raw power upon the tattoo itself, just as it once did for the Starborn Prince. You may not possess as gifts like your brother. Jokes on Micah, but I believe your bloodline and the synth shall compensate for it when I use my power upon you to fill the tattoo.

59:55 To fill, to fill you with power is, in essence, to blow the horn. Then of course, we know that Bryce has the power. The horn will open a portal and allow me to summon an army to decimate the human rebels and end their wanton destruction. The one who possesses the horn at full power can do anything. And then he says, perhaps establish oneself as a mystery. But the horn opens.

1:00:14 Portals and I actually when I first started looking into this question found it kind of confusing to clearly deal delineate the harp versus the horn. But then I think it becomes pretty clear when Celine and Elaine are using the harp and the horn together right to to help Celine escape basically. So in House of Earth and Blood chapter 88, Micah effectively does infect Bryce with synth, unfortunately to open and he opens gates to hell all over the fucking city, causes a whole ruckus.

1:00:44 And then Bryce uses the horn to close those portals. So that's like the primary mechanism of this horn. And the horn like opens these gates and closes these gates and they're just open. Whereas the harp actually is more of like a transport device. He said the. Horn is more temporary and the harp is more permanent.

1:01:02 No the. Opposite, the horn is more permanent and the harp is more temporary I think because Micah opens the gates to hell and then the gates. I agree with you. Yeah, Yeah, the gates are fucking open. Yeah. And then? Bryce has to them. And then we see we see Celine and Helena wield the horn and the harp kind of like in tandem right after Thea gives them her light. So I don't really know.

1:01:25 They could have done this before, but that's a different conversation and a different question. So Celine wields the harp. She, like, uses the harp to get back to Prythian, and then the horn blasts. And the horn kind of like, seals her back into Prythian and closes that gate. So that's why I'm like, we need to do a horn episode because I, Yeah.

1:01:45 I do think we can preface this with we will do a horn episode like this is not our Crescent City season. We will do a full horn episode so. There's a fourth. There's a fourth Trove item like it's the horn. It opens and closes gates into other worlds. Is there anything you would add that's worth adding in this episode?

1:02:02 It's in Bryce's back. It's not like it's not an item. So like what happens when Bryce dies? I don't know what. Happens when Bryce dies. I too am confused on the differences between what the horn can do what the harp can do. I have some theories there. In precog. It is wild to me that the Esteri that know exactly what the horn is allowed it to sit in a tourist attraction for millennia. I know there's a line that they tried to fix it, but they just let it fucking sit there for anyone to take. Like, what?

1:02:34 What are you doing? What's the idea here? Yeah. I mean, that's yeah. So I mean, it's basically what you said. It's it is. It can be used to open a gate. We see it both used in archways. Used in the crystal archways throughout Crescent City. We see Bryce use the horn to open portals. Through those we see her opening the northern rift and directing it to Prithian instead of to hell. We also when she jumps through through the gate to get back to Midgard.

1:03:02 There's a couple interesting things that happen that I think are are worth mentioning. You've mentioned them before, right? She fell slowly and without end and sideways. Not a plunge down but a yank across. That is in House of Sky and Breast Chapter 70, that is actually when she's going to Prithian, she falls sideways. When she is coming back to Midgard we get a clue of the same thing.

1:03:26 So it was Bryce had dropped down between worlds and yet when she landed she collided sideways with a wall. Apparently magical interstellar travel didn't care about physics. So both of these leaving Medgard and leaving Prithian we get a yank sideways, which feels like it's important. I mean, to me, that implies the timeline slap add up, basically, right?

1:03:48 That's what I think the implication is here. She's being sideways instead of forwards or backwards. But it's been explicitly called out twice now. I think it's important. And then, yeah, I mean, we know that the horn can control the Northern rift as it exists now, but when Bryce falls back to Midgard, she creates a black hole, basically, right? A black hole that she falls through and it's like kind of just for her, right?

1:04:16 Like it seems like it closes quickly after that. We don't know what happens to it. I'd still think you're right about the horn, but I'm not clear on how the horn and the harp differ. I'm not clear why Thea needs to use the horn and the harp to open portals when we have like a like transporting all of hell with just the horn. But Thea uses the horn and the harp. Yeah, it.

1:04:38 Is interesting that Thea is always said to be using the horn and the harp, and Bryce is able to seemingly do the the same things with just the horn. Yeah, it's the difference. She's traveling within the same time, like it's just the same plane of time and that's the difference. Is it just like one specific world that she's able to go back and forth between? Like she hasn't been able to go to a different world other than just Prythian.

1:05:03 Yeah. But we are able to get the demons of hell coming through right with Micah. Yeah, Micah. Did use it to open a portal to hell. Yeah. And at some point, Ridgelis says it's the will of the wielder of the the person who wields the horn. So I don't know. This isn't our Crescent City season. We will come back to that.

1:05:19 Yeah, we'll come back to it. Yeah. We got to do a whole whole horn episode. Cool. OK, Abby, how and why was the trove made? OK, so. For the how everything that's been made by the cauldron has been dipped into it, right? So I think that these items of the trove were items that already existed, which lends a special interest to LMNOP's theory about the harp, right?

1:05:44 And then I think they were dipped into the cauldron. I'm going to caveat that with, on the other hand, I'm not sure that we can trust this story at all because a lot of the Asteri history on Prythian is unreliable. And I think it is possible that the Asteri actually brought these items with them from outside of Prythian when they arrived. And I'm going to get into why I think that. So the why we are told that these that the trove are instruments of context for of conquest for the Asteri. So the quote for that is.

1:06:18 But my mother Thea used the time she served the Daglin to learn all she could about their instruments of conquest. The Dread Trove, we called it in secret, the mask, the harp, the crown, and the horn. That is House of Flame and Shadow, Chapter 19. So the point was conquest, that's what we're told. But they had already conquered Prithian. So why are they making tools of conquest on Prithian when they've already kind of got what they need? But let's kind of go through item by item and talk about what the items of the trove can do and how they relate to what we've seen the Esteri kind of need in terms of survival, right?

1:06:52 So first we have the mask controlling the dead, right? So this one is really interesting. There's obvious advantages of this as a tool for conquest. However, I have two thoughts additionally on that. Was this a way for the Esteri? We know in Crescent City that the Esteri gets second light from the dead, right?

1:07:09 So they get the first light from the living Fey, and then they get second light from the dead when the dead go through the final gates to wherever it is they go. So was the was the mask a way for the Esteri to get that second light from the dead, to control the dead and get them to give up whatever remaining power they had?

1:07:28 The quote for that is. But Danica was here. She answered me. Bryce's voice broke. She was here. She and all of the newly dead from the past several centuries, just long enough that their living descendants and loved ones either forgot or don't come asking. They dwell here until then in relative comfort, unless they make themselves a nuisance and I decide to send them into the gate sooner.

1:07:48 But when the dead are forgotten, their names no longer whispered to the wind, they are herded through the gate to become first light, or second light, as it is called when the power comes from the dead. Ashes to ashes and all that. So if you have the mask, that can control the dead, and if you have the harp, spoiler alert for my next theory, which can transfer power between people, right?

1:08:08 Do you have a way of harvesting that second light on Pythian? Because there's nothing equivalent to the bone quarter in Pythian, right? When people die, they die. But if you have the mask, maybe you can and get that dessert as Rigelous calls it, from from the dead. Maybe that's what the Asteria were using them for the crown.

1:08:25 This seems like a self-evident conquering tool, right? Controlling the minds of people. That would obviously be very helpful for the Asteri. However, I think this is interesting because it implies that the Asteri can't do this on their own, right? Like they are not de Mahdi. They do not have the powers that Reese has of controlling people.

1:08:42 Like I think. I think it's interesting that the crown's powers and Reese's de Mati powers are so similar and that the Asteri would have to make an external tool to do this, implying that Day Mahdi, which we've seen, right, That Day Mahdi is not necessarily inherent to being an history. OK. And then the harp, which I think is really cool. So the power moving, I think actually might be the way that the tithe worked originally, right? Because the only Fay that we've been able to see give up kernels of power are the High Lords.

1:09:09 And Farah does not know how to do it instinctively. She has to be taught. We've never seen any other Fay be able to do something like the tithe, right? But if you have the harp, and the harp can move power between souls, is that how the Esteri are stealing, are taking these kernels of power from people? Are they using the harp to do that? We also know the harp opens doors. We have all these tunnels.

1:09:32 We have all these, like, archways and tunnels and portals basically underneath Prythian that will quickly transport you from one place to another. I think the harp was probably used to create those, right? Yeah, what happens when you play a melody on the harp? But we shall see what that is. And then the horn, I don't know. Again, it's opening in portals within the world. But why do these Terry want portals open within within Perthian?

1:09:55 Who are they bringing in? Who are they sending out? Where are they going? What's the end goal? And then I have stuff on the horn and the harp. But do you want to do you want to talk about that at all? Yeah, I mean, I think to some of your original points. I mean, I. I don't think that we have good reason. To believe it depends on who.

1:10:12 Like who you think has the truth right? But I don't think we have good reason to believe that the Cauldron created the trove. Amron thinks it. Nestor thinks it because Amron thinks it. But Celine scribes the Daglin instruments of conquest, calls that the Trove, and then she says the Cauldron was of our world and the horrors it produced.

1:10:33 Those two, my parents would turn to their advantage. So she's saying the Trove was its own thing, and then she talks about the Cauldron, and she talks about like, you know, that like, witty and being dipped in the cauldron and all that stuff. So I don't think Celine's recountants does not make it seem like the Trove was created using the Cauldron. Which then begs the question, like, why are they related? Like, they clearly have a relationship, so why are they? Because they have a steri power.

1:10:59 Yeah, yeah, yeah. On you're like, why were they made? We went similar places with it, but but like slightly different. I think it's interesting. Like these all kind of mimic other powers that I think the Asteris saw and wanted. So the mask mimics necromancy, right, Which we see in Crescent City from Hyperxia.

1:11:22 Hyperxia at all. The crown, to your point, is basically like De Mahdi on fucking steroids. And then the heart, obviously, like, we have no idea what the harp is actually capable of. I actually like the idea that it was just like their way of forcing food consumption. Yeah, in a way that doesn't make them like kill, but they can't.

1:11:41 Just kill but. I actually thought the heart might mimic word marks, but if word marks are their language then like maybe they don't need to mimic it at all. But I was wondering, in their conquest, have they been seeing powers that they don't implicitly have and they then wanted to develop like super versions of those powers that they would use for conquest. Yeah.

1:12:03 And that's what the trove was built to do. And the horn, like, I don't think you need a complicated answer. The horn is like, they build armies that are not them, so they build armies that can't world walk, so they need to move the armies. So that's the horn for. Yeah. And that's it. Well, I actually had.

1:12:18 So This is why I think these I. Had so my next point on this was about using the horn and the harp together and what the point is of using the horn and the harp together, right? So we're told that the Asteria use the horn and the harp to open portals, not the horn alone, right? So the quote for that is remembering the teachings of her former mistress, my mother knew she might wield the horn and the harp to open a door to bring the fate and new heights, new wealth and prestige. So those two together are kind of this like, well, I'll get into it more.

1:12:50 We are also told that the world walking power was discovered, kind of developed by the Esteri. Not like, inherent to them, right? It's not like, it's not like they could snap their fingers and world walk somewhere else, right. So we get for that our brightest minds found ways to bend the fabric of the world's travel between them. Wayfarers, we called them world walkers. Yeah.

1:13:12 Not all of them could do it. So are the horn and the harp. Actually, how the? Arrived on Prithean. That's why I'm saying maybe the Trobe is not actually of Prithean. Like maybe the Asteri brought it with them because they don't seem to be able to leave Midgard, right? Because I think if they could have left Midgard, they would have left when Bryce was fucking their shit up, right? But they don't have the harp on Midgard and Bryce has the horn obviously, right?

1:13:41 So that's if these are tools of conquest. This was the beginning of their conquest on Prythian was using the horn and the harp to get there. Maybe it's kind of freak out, but was that, is that how they arrived on Prythian instead of creating it on Prythian? I don't know. Because they also clearly left Prythian without them somehow. My last thing on this, it feels like the horn and the harp. It feels like the horn versus the harp is kind of analogous to portals versus word gates that we get early in Throne of Glass. How there are times when Aylan can open a portal, but it's like temporary and it doesn't last versus opening the word gate, which is used to transport armies, right? I'm just not totally clear on

1:14:21 which one is which because Thea uses the horn and the harp to transport her entire court to Midgard, right? Yeah. Do you need both to make it word gate material? Right. Do you need? Both to make it like fully. Functional. And does that mean the northern rift? This is why I'm saying it this way. The northern rift, which we know was used to open a gate to hell, was it?

1:14:46 The horn in the harp was used to create the northern rift, but now that the gate exists, the horn can do it on its own right? Now that like the infrastructure is in place, the horn broke closing it right? Well, maybe you needed the harp. Yeah. So I feel like when you use them together, you get this more permanent gate.

1:15:04 And we're getting a little into my precog territory, so I don't want to go much further, but OK Ronnie, why can only Nesta, Briellen and Bryce wield the trove but not the others who we know are made? So I think a better way to phrase this question is why do? Only some made people wield the trove and not others who are made.

1:15:22 And just to like caveat, yes of course they are. Celine and Helena also wields the Trove at a different time in a different book. So here's a complete list I think, and you can tell me if I missed anybody of people we see or we hear of wielding a Trove item. Nesta, of course, wields the crown, the mask, and the harp.

1:15:43 Bryce wields the horn and the mask. Brie Allen wields the crown, Thea wields the lot. Celine wields the harp, Helena wields the horn, and then Pelleus is said to wield the horn, but he breaks it when he wields it. I have Theon with an asterisk because I don't know that he actually did, but he is said to have leveraged the Trove to overthrow the Daglin.

1:16:11 And then I also have the Hysteria, presumably because this was supposed to be their fucking stuff, so I assume that they used it. And the rule that we're given in House of Earth and Blood is that you have to be Starborn to wield the Trove. So Rune is reading Great Romances of the Pay looking for information on the horn, and reads and mentions here that the sacred objects were made only for Faye like them. That the horn worked only when that Starlight flowed through it when it was filled with power.

1:16:40 This claims that the star born magic, in addition to a bunch of other crap, can be channeled through the sacred objects, bringing them to life. I sure as fuck have never been able to do anything like that, even with the star sword. But it says that's why the Prince of the Pit had to steal Pelleus's blood to make the crystallus to hunt the horn.

1:16:56 It contained that essence. I think the horn could have been wielded by any of them though, Hunt said. But if the Prince of the Pit had gotten his hands on the horn, he wouldn't be able to use it unless he had a Starborn fae to operate it. OK, wait, hold on. I have so many thoughts about what you just said does that.

1:17:10 Mean that Helena and Peleus's love story is in a book called Great Romances of the Fae. Like, that's pretty disgusting and fucked up. Yeah, yeah. I mean, their whole, like their whole relationship was propaganda. Yeah, yeah. And. The birth of the. Cristalos has to be a lie because Pelleus is not actually.

1:17:29 Starborn Pelleus is not actually Starborn. Yeah. So where did that demon originalist, like, gifted him some power to be able to, like, blow that horn? I don't know. It broke, though. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Not it broke, but it did something. Like it closed most of it. So I don't know, not our Crescent City season, not our Crescent City season, not our Crescent City season. All right, so that's like the rule. That we are given right is like star born to wield the trove. Let's talk through each because spoiler for my answer. I kind of think that it might just be if you have Starlight, Starlight Asteria power, you can. And so people that we haven't seen do it yet just haven't. But that's what I want to.

1:18:11 I want to talk about it more. Briellen is said to be able to wield the trove because she was made by the cauldron. She was made. That means she's got some Asteria witchiness in her, like calls to like. Fair murmured, looking to Ameren, who nodded. Because the Trove is made by the Cauldron, so might the Trove find his maker? Briellen wields the crown.

1:18:28 She does not ultimately live. So like, I think she's up for grabs personal personally, but she of course wields the crown. I want to note that while Elaine hasn't, Elaine probably can. She tries and volunteers to track the Trove in A Court of Silver Flames chapter 21, but Nesta says no. And that's kind of what sets Nesta off on her whole journey.

1:18:49 So I'm not mad about it, but I do think that Elaine just hasn't. It's not that she she can't. That's my belief so far. Until proven otherwise, Elaine volunteer, she says I will track down. The Dread Trove. And Nessa says absolutely fucking not. Fine, I'll scribe. We actually have a quote confirming that it's the same chapter. It's like calls to like Amber encountered. You were made by the Cauldron.

1:19:13 You may track other objects made by it as well as Brie Allen can. And because you are made by it, you are immune to the influence and power of the Trove. You might use them, yeah. But they cannot be used upon you. A glance to Elaine, either of you. So confirmed. Yeah. It said that she can. We haven't seen her.

1:19:30 Correct. Do it. Yeah. Yeah, correct. Yeah. And like she's volunteered to do it. I think she will do it. I just think we have not seen her do it. I also think Farrah can. She just was pregnant the whole book and also did not. So like what I'm getting at is I think anybody who has like star born, Asteri, whatever.

1:19:50 Like I think this rule is going to end up holding up. Nesta can obviously wield all three, Thea can wield all four, and then Celine and Helena can wield the horn and the harp. So Thea wields obviously everything and then Selena and Helena wield the harp and the horn respectively when they are escaping Midgard. So I lifted the harp again.

1:20:09 Celine said, voice finally hitching with the. My sister did not sound the horn, and when I turned, she used the harp to send me the last of the distance to the archway. Elena didn't look back as she charged down the mountain, away from the past, buying me time. The power struck her mother struck true.

1:20:24 There was a choice for me then, to stay and avenge my mother, fight alongside my sister, or to survive, to shut the door behind me. And as I tumbled between worlds, the horn sounded. Pelias does use the horn according to Atis in House of Flame and Shadow, so not fucking ridgeless Atis to close the rift, but it breaks when he does that for some reason. I assume it's because Pelleus does not have real life. Yeah, I think it's because he's not actually starboard. Yeah, but it could also.

1:20:52 Be like if the horn and the harp needed to. Open the rift and only the horn was available to close it. Like maybe that's valid and that was the Asteria ordered Pelia still use the horn to close the northern rift to defend themselves against the attack. That also confuses me. Why the fuck didn't the Asteria just use the horn?

1:21:08 I have no idea. I absolutely no fucking idea. It's definitely their. Their toys, you put it. It's their instruments of conquest. Anyways, because I don't know. Maybe because they knew they needed, I don't know. That's a why did. Say a leave behind the fucking mask and the crown when she went to Midgard. Why did she just leave those behind? Actually, because she's the only starboard face, so maybe it's fine.

1:21:29 Yeah, in general, I actually think being made probably does hold. Up and we just haven't seen Elaine or Farah exercise the right. Which are the 2 that are missing so far? But I'm open to your thoughts. I agree with you. So Elaine I think can definitely do it. I think this is a. Question though, because we've only seen women. And a guy who broke shit.

1:21:49 Well, I think Rune could but do it too, now that we have. The antidote, he seems to kind of fully have some kind of Starlight tower, so I think potentially Ruin would be able to wield any of these items too. But again, we haven't seen it and I have no idea how Ruin would wield the horn at this point. I just what happens when Bryce dies? I have all the questions you have. I kind of disagree with you on Reese and Farah right now. I'm going to recycle an old theory. I don't think that Reese and Farah or that Reese at least still has the Starborn power.

1:22:21 I think whatever ancestor decided to stop passing this story down also use the harp to get rid of to remove that power from himself and put it somewhere because Reese and Farah are not sensitive to the mask the way that Helion is. Right? So the quotes we have are Reese tucked in his wings. It's specifically.

1:22:43 Reese and Farah saying. This right, Reese tucked in his wings. It affects you that much, doesn't it? Rake it's cold claws down your senses? Helion asked. Not as much as all that. Farah said. We can sense its power, but it didn't bother any of us so seriously. And then Helion has the quote about an ancestor of his using it.

1:23:00 We know that an ancestor of Reese used it, of Reese's used it, right there is definitely Reese's ancestor. So why doesn't Reese have that same sensitivity? I think that power is gone, but let's add Helion and Lucian and maybe Gwen to the list of made people who can potentially wield the trove as well. They're on there.

1:23:21 If Gwen is Lucian's daughter, but we see her glow. We've seen all of them glow, right? So let's add Gwen to that list one more. What I think fair is still in the game with Helions in the game. Yeah, Pharaoh's in the game of Helions in the game. That's totally fair, Nick. 'S also still very much in the game.

1:23:38 Yeah, just Reese is out. And I agree, just Reese is out. Yeah, get him out of here. There's one more character. She's very minor. But Miriam, it was also made with an item from the cauldron from the trove. So in theory she should be able to build the trove. I don't know if Miriam's ever coming back, but in theory Miriam should be able to. Miriam in possession of the cauldron right now. In possession of the cauldron.

1:24:01 Yeah, if this is Miriam. Back that way, cache might be after her. Well, we'll get into. That in our next question, I will. All right, I don't have any more on that too. All right, Abby, where was each trove item found and how do? We think it got there OK again, The horn or the harp? And the horn are kind. Of accounted for, we know where.

1:24:23 They've been, we know what happened. We don't need to talk about that as much. I don't think Saya left the mask and the crown behind when she went to Mintgaard. I can kind of understand the thought process there. At that point in time, only her and her two daughters in theory were the Starborn fae on Prythian. So again, this is in theory, I don't know this, but like in theory, no one else could use them if they left them behind. And she needed the horn and harp to be able to world walk, right. So like, I kind of get it.

1:24:50 I just also think it's really interesting that in Celine's video, we get absolutely no mention of what happened to the mask or the crown. Like she just talks about them and then is like, not like, while I was gone, this person used the mask, this person used the crown. Like, it definitely on Faye's head and lap.

1:25:07 Yeah. And that's the. Last time that we saw it in her. In her Ted talk. Yeah. All right, so the mask we find at the bottom of the. Bog of Orid So let's talk about what we know about Orid. It used to be a game park for the Esteri. So what we have that for, that is my parents often went hunting in the vast slice of land that Daglin had kept for their private game park where they had crafted terrible monsters to serve as worthy prey.

1:25:34 It was there he met his death. We know it's where Fionn died. Haired a dark haired pale creature that could have been the relative of the knock in Jessica's gallery dragged a bound and gag Fionn into the inky depths of the bog. The crowd king screaming as he went under. But we know, I know some of you might be thinking, oh, maybe Fionn had the mask on him when he did, when he drowned.

1:25:56 And that's how it ended up at the bottom of the bag of Orid. We know that's not true because they are used the mask during her reign, after Theon was sorry, after Fionn was killed. So the quote we have for that is my mother returned that day with only Pelleus and my father's blades as she had helped make them the answer to the call in her blood, to her very power.

1:26:14 Bryce knew that call blah blah, blah. And then she took the trophy for herself. Thea sat and throned the harp and horn beside her, the mask in her lap and the crown atop her head. Unchecked, limitless power sat upon that throne. Bryce could barely get a breath down. So Fion died at the bottom of the bag of Orid, but the mask was not the mask lived on after that, right?

1:26:35 So we already kind of mentioned this, but what we know about the bodies at the bottom of the bag of Orid are that first of all, there are thousands and thousands of bodies in Orid. The quote is this is Silver flames chapter 36. You could feel them around her. The dead feel their long rotted bodies, some mere bones and others preserved, half eaten beneath their ancient armor. Their weapons lay nearby, guarded and ignored by the creatures of the bog, who had been more interested in feeding on decaying flesh, even long rotted thousands and thousands of bodies.

1:27:05 But she would not call thousands, not yet. So we have thousands of bodies, and then we have this line again. Like a forest rising from the water, spear after spear after spear appeared. Then the helmets dripping water, some rusted, some shining as a freshly forged. And beneath those helmets, skulls, a line of them, a legion, some merely collections of upright bones, jaws hanging and eyes on seeing some half preserved decaying flesh flapping over the exposed ribs.

1:27:29 Judging by their fine armor, they were warriors and kings and Princess and Lords. That's all. Silver flames. Chapter 36. We are also told that these are honored dead. So the quote we get for that is Nestle at the power flow through her, allowing the mass to do as it wished, raising the honored dead who had once been buried here and had suffered the sacrilege of serving as an endless meal to the kelpie and his ilk. So I think we kind of have two options here. One, somehow the bog of Orid, because we know it existed during Theon.

1:27:57 It was always the bog of horrid, right? Somehow that became a burial ground and some ancient king or something was like buried with the mask basically, and then Fiat and then NASA found it. I don't really know the story there. Second option, you mentioned that the mask could be used as a tool for warfare, right?

1:28:14 I think that was one of our opening quotes of this episode. I think maybe this was the site of a battle. Again, I don't know how that fits in with it being a bog. I don't know if it's like you can have a battle on a bog, but like this was the site of a battle. Many, many, many people were slayed.

1:28:29 Who's going to war in the middle, right? What was this war about, if that is what it it is? And now the army lies here. The mask was being worn by the leader of that army and is now forgotten. So I don't know. Those are loose. Those are loose theories. Yeah. I mean this whole, I feel like this whole question is kind of loose. It's interesting, right?

1:28:51 That I think multiple times it's. Mentioned that the mask was made for this long forgotten king and then it's found where where Fionn is died, yeah, and where his body is. And it like. It the mask clearly wants to be with certain people like it flies to Nesta. So you think it's like the ring and it? Just made its way there like the. Ring trying to get back to Sauron, maybe? Yeah, that'd be cool.

1:29:19 Yeah. I'm not sure. I mean, again, there's only one forgotten king on Prythian, right? Exactly. 1 king, period. Yeah. So yeah, the only other thing. Like again, it's loose. But like, the only person we know in the middle who's collecting a bunch of shit, this is a Weaver. Is a Weaver? Yeah. You think she's going for a walk to the. Bog and throwing in items of the trove maybe. I think Kelpier stealing from her, well, maybe. Yeah, yeah, okay.

1:29:48 Yeah, I don't know. So the crown. This one is a little interesting. Let's talk about Miriam again. Quote for that. Miriam died a spear through her chest during the last battle at the sea, Reese explained she bled out while she was carried to safety, but Drakon knew of a sacred hidden island where an object of great and terrible power had been concealed, an object made by the cauldron itself.

1:30:10 Legend claimed he brought her there to Creedia, using the item to resurrect her. Make her immortal as you were made Pharah. I think by process of elimination this has to be the crown, right? Like it doesn't really match the crown's powers, but if an object made by the cauldron, like doesn't that have to be the crown? We know where the mask is, we know where the harp is, we know where the horn is.

1:30:32 Interesting you think it was the crown over the mask? I think the masks powers fit better. Maybe it was the. Mask I'd be more inclined to believe because we know that the mask ended up. In a place that was not where we left it, so it had to move. But I hadn't really thought, like, I hadn't thought too much about what brought Miriam back. That's a great point, yeah.

1:30:51 But it's not. It's got to be something from the tropes, one of them. Yeah, there's not a second fifth item at this point and we don't. Know so the reason I think it might be the crown. Is because it kind of lines up with our timeline, right? So we are told that Brie Allen potentially found the crown during the events of Aqua War.

1:31:12 The quote for that is if Brie Allen has the crown, it's possible she's had it for a while and it's why the other Queens fled to their own territories. Maybe they thought she'd use it on them and ran. Maybe she even found it here during the war while we were all distracted with fighting Highburn and used it to pull her forces back to bide her time. It could be what brought her to coaches attention that it's what he wants from her.

1:31:34 We know that Kritiya has been like under intense wards. No one can even find it as you can't find it during the events of the war. But then they all leave right? The people who are holding the magic, the people who are holding the spells leave and come fight. So did that free up Brie Allen to basically find the crown?

1:31:52 Be able to track it down using her maid essence? Did some of those wards leave when the people left? I don't really know. Pretty loose, 50 loose. But I have truly no thoughts on where the Crown would have been. Yeah. I mean, what do we know about the crown? Briellen got to it first. Briellen got there first. We last saw.

1:32:09 It on the page on Thea's head, yeah. 15,000 years ago in Perthian, IN. The prison in The prison in. The palace and that's about all we know. And Briellen is allied with Baron and Cachet. Is there any pattern to the harp was found in the prison? The mask was found in the bog. The horn is on the totally different planet, a steri strongholds.

1:32:34 Yeah, like is there? Yeah, I don't think there. Is, I don't know, yeah. Well, I think this was a question from one of our. Discords and guys, we truly have. No earthly idea where the crown was. Sometimes your questions are our questions too. This is a question. Without an answer, we don't know where.

1:32:51 Briellen found the crown. Sorry, Precog. Cool. All right, Precog corner. You wanna go first? Sure. All right. This is more of a question, precog than an answer precog. But you brought up, I think, twice in the last two episodes we've recorded that Nesta has a bargain with the Cauldron. In A Court of Silver Flames, Chapter 77, she says, I give it back.

1:33:15 If you show me how to savor, you can have it back. The world paused, worlds beyond their own paws. Mr. buried her face in the cold sweat of Pharaoh's neck. She opened that place within herself and said to the mother, to the Cauldron, I'll give back what I took from you. Just show me how to save them. Her and Rissand and the baby and then the baby, Rissand, Farah are saved.

1:33:36 Nesta is giving back what she took. I give it back, Nesta said one more time, and mask and crown tumbled from her head. The light exploded, blinding and warm, a wind sweeping past them as if gathering every Shard of itself out of the room, and as it faded, dark ink splashed upon Nestas back, visible through her half shredded shirt as if it were a wave crashing upon the shore.

1:33:58 A bargain with the cauldron itself. And the Mother stops stop some of this right after Nesta is giving it back. And after the bargain tattoo is is thrown. Bargain tattoos only apply if the bargain is still in place, right? They disappear after the bargain is fulfilled. The bargain is if you show me how to save her, you can have it back. This bargain seems to be unfulfilled, right? I know that Nesta still has some of her power, but she tried to give it back.

1:34:28 Like, she tried to give it back. And the mother was like, no, no, no, You can keep a little. It's OK. Yeah. So my question is, like, what are the implications of this bargain not being fulfilled? Like, who didn't hold up their end of the bargain? Do Farrah and Reese and the baby still need saving?

1:34:46 Yeah. Like, is Nesta going to be shown how to save them later? Is she going to continue to be shown how to save them until she gives all of this power back? Like is there still a continuing to give power back thread that is going to be pulled on throughout the remainder of the series until until everyone is like truly saved?

1:35:06 Yeah. It feels weird that the bargain is still open. Yeah, I agree. Yeah. I don't know. I don't have an answer. I agree. I don't not. Expecting an answer. I don't know it's a question, but it's. Also a theory like it feels odd that this bargain is unfulfilled. Yeah, I agree. Because now it's no longer something she took, now it's something she's given. Well, maybe the mother preventing that last bit of magic from leaving.

1:35:28 Her is the unfulfilled part. Maybe she'll have to give that up at some point. Yeah, maybe. Maybe it's as simple as that. Cool, okay. Yeah, what's yours I want to talk about once. Again, the horn and the harp. Because I noticed something. And I think it's really cool, and I'm pretty convinced I'm right, which I love. I think that using the horn and the harp together is what has created all of the various mysterious archways we see around Prithean, and that when they are used together, you create an archway and it is a permanent marker on the landscape.

1:35:58 So I'm going to take you through the quotes of why I think that when Thea opens the portal to talk to hell, the quote we get is. Thea nodded once slowly as if making a decision, and then played the horn and the harp. A portal between worlds swirled. It solidified an archway to nowhere. A handsome golden haired male stood before it with eyes like blue Opal.

1:36:22 So we have an archway solidifying when Bryce opens a portal using only the horn to get back to Midgard. There is no archway. We have Bryce sent her power searing through her star again right into the crystal sarcophagus. Crystal like the gate headed opened the way to this world. The sarcophagus glowed and then darkened into a pit. So we have a pit opening but there is no archway. When Thea opens the door to Midgard she does it in the harp chamber.

1:36:52 The quote we get for that is in a chamber. This chamber, if the 8 pointed star on the for was any indication, though the celestial carvings had not yet been added. Redhead beside red haired Faye, who looked alarmingly like Bryce's father. Elena and Selena appeared grown and beautiful and get still. Young gangly teenagers.

1:37:09 In the center of the chamber, a gate opened to a land of green and sunshine, and staring there, they're among the greenery waiting for them. We know that's fritulous. We know from The Cave drawings that this also actually created an archway. The quote we get for that is an archway had been etched, stars glimmering around it, and in that archway stood a male figure at the image created with impressive death. Sorry, impressive.

1:37:32 His hand was upraising greeting, and Bryce might have looked closer had the Mid Middingard worm not exploded from the river behind them. So here we have an archway. Bryce did not get the chance to look close. I'm willing to bet good money that that was Ridgeless, right? Because we we know this is Celine's story.

1:37:48 Ridgeless waving at them through the archway, his hand upraising greeting. There is an archway in the harp chamber. To this day the the light of the siphon atop Cassian's hand revealed an archway and openness, and there it was raised. Symbols carved into the floor cast shadows against the Crimson light. The entire round chamber was full of them, and in its center, the golden harp covered an intricate embossing set with silver streaks.

1:38:12 So Cassian is standing in an archway in the harp chamber where where Thea used the harp and the horn to open it portal the Midgard. And the flip side of that, there is an archway in Midgard where they came through. So the quote for that is the place where we had first entered this world was nearby. We'd been camping here in Paris so that my mother could eventually open a portal again and recruit more fate. A fight and then Selena.

1:38:37 Selena escapes back through an archway. Helena grabs Celine's hand and hauled her towards the far edge of the camp, towards the snow crusted peak ahead. A natural archway of stone, a gateway. So every time the harp and the horn are used together, we get an archway. I think this is the physical manifestation of that power that says, hey, if you see an an archway, not obviously any kind of archway, but an archway that is distinct and standing out, that means the horn and the harp have been used here. World walking has happened here.

1:39:06 This matters for a couple reasons. The first one is the passive Analius, right? So we get long ago, so long ago they don't even have a precise date for it. A Great War was fought between the fae and the ancient beings who oppressed them. This is in Silver Flames. One of its key battles was here in these mountains. Our forces were battered and outnumbered and for some reason the enemy was desperate to reached the stone at the top of Ramiel.

1:39:28 We were never taught the reason why, I think it's been forgotten, but a young Illyrian warrior named Anali has held the line against the enemy soldiers for days. He found a natural archway of stone amongst the tangle of boulders and made this bot that his bottleneck. We know that Thea and Theon were on top of Ramiel with two cloaked figures a stone's throw right from the passive Analius and this archway. We know that Thea could yield the harp and the horn. I'm now betting even more money that these were not creatures of Perthian who were with them on top of Romeo. I think that Thea used the harp and the horn to open a a world walking portal on top of Romeo and bring in I don't know who. My money's on Princess of Hell,

1:40:12 but bring in Prince, bring in someone to create the Star Sword and to create Truth Teller. And I think that the archway is part of that proof. We also have, this is really interesting in the book The Song of Beginning, we just did our cauldron episode. We talked all about beginnings and endings and the book The Song of the Beginning, the Song of Beginning that Irene reads about the Valg in the Tory Chezme we have the illustration revealed, a Baron Crag, an army of soldiers in dark armor kneeling before it, kneeling before what was atop the crag. A towering gate.

1:40:44 No wall flanking it, no keep behind it. As if someone had built the gateway of Blackstone out of thin air. There were no doors within the archway, or only swirling black. Nothing. Beams of it shot from the void, some foul corruption of the sun, blah blah blah. We know that the Esteri were once on Aurilia, right? This is why I think the horn in the harp might have come from somewhere else.

1:41:05 Did they use the horn in the harp to open these gateways that the valve then later used the valve used on the valve corrupted on the valve? Figured out how to basically do what Bryce does with the Northern Rift, use the existing gateways to kind of bring their armies through. Right. And then we know that Maeve also got into Aurilia through an archway.

1:41:26 We have. The spider took a step forward, and Nasrid braced herself, but the spider lifted a thin clod leg and pointed to one of the polished carve walls. We wait. And as her eyes at last adjusted to the dimness, Nasrin saw what the spider pointed to. A carving of an archway, a gate, and a cloaked figure standing within it. So I think, I think that the horn and the harp created all of these.

1:41:48 Archways, so the. Horn and the harp has been on Aurelia, it's been on We know it's been on Midgard, it's been on Prytheon and that this is a clue here that world walking has happened. Is it the horn and the harp have to be there or is it? Just a sign of world walking happening because then what that would mean right, is that that is like the paper trail of the horn and the harp.

1:42:08 Not just anyone who's ever world walks. Like are you saying that people who learned to world walk like Maeve couldn't world walk without something like that? I don't know, but the reason why I think I don't know I. Don't know if it's Maeve. Learned how to basically use the power of the horn and the harp to create, like, a word gate.

1:42:27 Right. But the word gate itself is filled with archways, but it does not leave an archway behind. Once ailing, closes it, right? Yeah. Once it's closed. Yeah. And again when Bryce. Only uses the horn we have, no. Archway. We have a black pit. There is no archway with word marks opening. Yeah, same with portals.

1:42:45 Yeah, right. So that's why I think it's. When you use them together that it's like this is this is where this has happened. It makes like a lot of the times they're described as breathing like there's a lot of Blackstone. There's definitely something going on with Wordstone in this too. Possibly. I haven't worked that in here yet, but I think there's AI think there's enough clues to piece together that the archways are with the paper trail exactly what you said of the world walking.

1:43:12 Interesting. Specifically with the horn and the harp at this point. So then the Astiri don't actually know. How to wield that? Or at least these asteria like whoever. 'S doing this they don't actually know how to world walk themselves they're used right that's my whole point because if they did they would have left Midgard when they were about to lose if this was a power inherit to the asteria, they would not all be in the fucking void right now yeah which I think which I like a lot I think that's why the trove exists I.

1:43:40 Think they actually are just frauds. Like, I think they bleach off of other people's power and they've created this trove to mimic other people's power because they don't. No. Yeah. Which makes you wonder where the world walking power actually. Originated from yeah, like maybe it is the throne of glass gods if they're not Asteri, right?

1:44:02 I don't know. Because they are able to come to to world seemingly. We used to talk to Mave. We need to talk to Mave, Yeah. Because the quote is. I can't remember if it's like discovered world walking or figured out how to world walk. Not our Crescent City season, not our Crescent City season, but they're like, I think we need. To do an episode on the hysteria, because there's also, I'm pretty sure quote for like, yes, they're they like tow around this whole like we are stars, but they're they're not. So it's what Vesper says is our brightest minds. Found ways to bend the fabric of worlds to travel between them. Wayfarers, we called the world walkers. So they it's almost like science, right? It's almost like tech rather

1:44:44 than magic. Like we found a way to do this rather than we were born being able to do this, you know? Yeah. So now that they don't have Celine took the harp with her right? They couldn't leave for 15,000 years. They couldn't leave, which kind of explains a little bit too about well, I still don't know because the archways existed and and the horn existed, but they didn't want to leave until the very end. OK sorry that was a long winded precog theory but I hope it got some.

1:45:11 I think it got somewhere. All right, what are you reading? I am. Still reading the will of the many I accidentally. Read 1/4 Silver Flames because it was just so fun. But now I'm back on the will of the money. I think I agree with you. I know you're on the strength of the few. The will of the many was easy to put down for me for the first, like third and now I'm in the second-half and it's it's harder like to put down, which is my way of saying it's better.

1:45:37 So I enjoy it. It's more to me, it feels more like books that I read when I was younger where it's like frankly less mature concepts, which I don't know how I like. That's not a problem. It's just more like cookie cutter than what I have. I've been used to reading for the last like several years. It's very tricky color.

1:45:58 So book 2 is. Certainly more complicated, but the basic story is kind of not There's at least so far, like there's no questioning of motivations like and I could be wrong, right? There's no really like kind of like duplicitous characters. There is good and there is evil, and then there is this, like, fucking complicated magic system that we spend pages and pages getting into, like the scientific method behind. And at the end of the day, it's like, does this matter? Is this important?

1:46:31 You could have explained this in a sentence, You know, like, I don't. I don't know. That's kind of how I'm feeling. That being said, now that I'm in the back third of the strength of a few, I really like it. But it's the character moments that are driving it for me, not this, like, overly complicated magic system.

1:46:44 Yeah. How do I say this? It's not messy writing. It's not. Poorly plotted in my opinion. Like I've I've read we've talked about books recently where I like put it down and I was like, that was a that was a mess yeah, that was like the definitely not the case. And I obviously haven't finished the first book. I'm I'm withholding judgement until I finish. But so far I feel like it's a it's going to be a good book. I just don't know how gripping it's going to be yet. I would still say it's a good book. Like I'm still enjoying reading it. These are kind of like nitpicks, but they are what prevent it from being like a top tier read, in my opinion. And I know a lot of people were like, this is like the best book I've read, like this year,

1:47:26 basically. Yeah, there are people who were like this rivals. Like, you know, Kingdom of Ash for me or like whatever, like insert your insert your like God to your Sarah J Mass book, whatever that is. No, I will say the second book reminds me a lot of Kingdom. Of Ash, but in the things that I hated about Kingdom of Ash, really Kingdom of Ash is not a good one for you Like you do not. That much?

1:47:50 Yeah, can I honestly, if I had? To pick a favorite Throne of Glass book, it wouldn't. Be my favorite either. Not by a long shot. Actually, no. I'm trying to think of what it would be though. I think it would be air of fire. I think the air of fire. Tower of Dawn for me. The air of fire. Yeah, Air of Fire is good. I love a training trope.

1:48:09 I just do. I love. Like I mean, Queen of Shadows is good too. I confuse. Queen of Shadows and Empire of Storms all the time, and I know I. Shouldn't just the titles like literally just what they're called anyways? Yeah, yeah. So that's I'm. I'm reading. I'm back to the will of the. Money, but in my opinion it's a solid B grade wise. For the book, again, I I'm not done with strength of the few, so I'm willing to change that.

1:48:35 It is also the first book I've read written by a man in a year, which thank you could be part of this. Stylistically, it's so different. It's so different. It's. So very like straightforward. Baron Yeah. Not incredibly. Descriptive and it's not again. It's not like a bad thing, but it's it's very stylistically different from what I've been reading.

1:48:55 So yeah, it's been, it's been good. Yeah. All right. We are on social media. We are dragging in the details pod on prettymuchanyplatform.instagram.tiktokyoutubewearedragginginthedetailspod@gmail.com We are dragging in the details server. I always get this wrong. We're on discord, we'll link it in the show notes. Shout out to our Discord again, our Let us baby book club is doing a mass first read book club read along basically in publication order.

1:49:25 They are literally constantly blowing up my phone. It's fucking great. There's so many good conversations guys, a lot of you, a lot of you DM me on Instagram and say and tell me all your theories and say I have no one else to talk to about these books. I love them so much. I love that. Keep doing that. But I want you to know that that is what our Discord is for. Like if you are looking for a community of like minded people who just want to talk about these books, that is our discord.

1:49:51 They are their love. When new people join, like they're in a video chat right now. They're literally in a video chat right now, which by the way, is not required, but one of the book club meetups. Is happening currently, yeah. So big shout out to our discord and. We have a website dragusinthedetails.com You can also reach out to us there.

1:50:13 There is a contact form there. That is it from us this week. As always, if you like what we do, please subscribe. Please, like, please comment. Please like us on Spotify. Guys. If you're listening to us, and I know that a lot of you are a lot of you are subscribed to us, but you haven't liked us. It really helps us out if you would just take the 10 seconds it takes to give us however many stars you want. Honestly, we're not going to demand five. I would like a clear, unbiased opinion, but you know, really helps us out.

1:50:41 That is it from us this week. Stay warm, guys. It's hurricane Fern. It's winter storm Fern for us right now. Winter storm Fern. It's probably fine by now, but maybe it's not. We don't know the future. We're going to have snow the rest? Oh, you mean the two weeks from now? And it's really. Yeah, like we're, we're living in January 20. 5th But this is not January 25th. Yeah, that's it.

1:51:04 Love you. Bye. Love you. Bye.