Iron Flame Live Reactions: Chapter 4
Dec. 4th, 2023 10:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penwallaThis chapter opens with the following:
This feels like a lot of info for our ferociously guarding dragon parents to give out.
Violet and co. arrive in time to interrupt their own death pronouncement. Everyone is shook! Violet sees her mother's expression for an instant and just knows that her mother didn't try to kill her. And since Yarros can't bear to hurt Violet, it'll probably be true.
Colonel Aetos, Dain's evil dad, is mad that they're back alive and starts accusing them of treason, etc. Obviously, since he knows they are in fact traitors, plus they went missing for six days. But Xaden uses Violet to try to win the argument by saying General Sorrengail can get the truth out of her own daughter. This seems...like a very silly way of running a military government. Again, Xaden is the son of a notorious traitor and is supposedly oppressed! Aetos should be able to execute whenever, wherever, and the fact that this isn't so without Xaden having to toe the line a lot more to convince them of his loyalty makes it all feel very contrived.
Violet's story is full of holes and does not account for the six days they've all been missing. She claims she was deadly ill from poison, but no one asks who Xaden took her to for healing, or where they all were, or even asks anyone else! General Sorrengail is just like, well, my daughter isn't lying, and then starts berating Aetos because the note left for Xaden that kicked off the climax of the last book...is still in Xaden's pocket. And Aetos wrote it in his own handwriting.
VIolet and Xaden taunt Aetos in a way that makes it clear they know about the venin. You know, it would make a lot more sense, after all the hand-wringing about lying and secret-keeping, for them to actually do that. Why reveal to Aetos that everything he suspects about you is true? Why reveal Violet's involvement at all? Keep them guessing!
To be honest, I don't quite understand why the wing came back at all. They've confirmed that they are traitors to a high-ranking member of the military. Presumably Dain's memory-reading powers are proof. It should be impossible for them to return without an airtight explanation, and even then, they should be arrested on sight for treason.
Anyways. Dain comes over to Violet and she immediately and loudly threatens to kill him if he touches her. Subtle! Discreet! Clearly Xaden should tell you everything he knows!
Dain backs off, but not before Xaden loudly announces that Violet picked him, not her, and then also baits Dain by hinting at his treason.
These guys have hidden an entire revolutionary base from the military?
Cringe. This is cringe.
They line up as the names of the dead are read and as new assignments are announced. Violet reflects on all the people who have died at Basgiath War College, and gives us this extremely funny line.
YOU DON'T SAY.
Xaden is reassigned, and Violet tries not to panic about being away from him. Chapter end.
Y'all, we are only 7% of the way through the book. I don't believe for a moment that Yarros has the skill to handle a book of this size, so I assume it's going to be a long, poorly paced slog. Get ready.
As dragons ferociously guard both their young and any information regarding their development, only four facts are known about the Dreamless Sleep. First, it is a critical time of rapid growth and development. Second, the duration varies from breed to breed. Third, as the name suggests, it is dreamless, and fourth, they wake up hungry.
—COLONEL KAORI’S FIELD GUIDE TO DRAGONKIND
This feels like a lot of info for our ferociously guarding dragon parents to give out.
Violet and co. arrive in time to interrupt their own death pronouncement. Everyone is shook! Violet sees her mother's expression for an instant and just knows that her mother didn't try to kill her. And since Yarros can't bear to hurt Violet, it'll probably be true.
Colonel Aetos, Dain's evil dad, is mad that they're back alive and starts accusing them of treason, etc. Obviously, since he knows they are in fact traitors, plus they went missing for six days. But Xaden uses Violet to try to win the argument by saying General Sorrengail can get the truth out of her own daughter. This seems...like a very silly way of running a military government. Again, Xaden is the son of a notorious traitor and is supposedly oppressed! Aetos should be able to execute whenever, wherever, and the fact that this isn't so without Xaden having to toe the line a lot more to convince them of his loyalty makes it all feel very contrived.
Violet's story is full of holes and does not account for the six days they've all been missing. She claims she was deadly ill from poison, but no one asks who Xaden took her to for healing, or where they all were, or even asks anyone else! General Sorrengail is just like, well, my daughter isn't lying, and then starts berating Aetos because the note left for Xaden that kicked off the climax of the last book...is still in Xaden's pocket. And Aetos wrote it in his own handwriting.
VIolet and Xaden taunt Aetos in a way that makes it clear they know about the venin. You know, it would make a lot more sense, after all the hand-wringing about lying and secret-keeping, for them to actually do that. Why reveal to Aetos that everything he suspects about you is true? Why reveal Violet's involvement at all? Keep them guessing!
To be honest, I don't quite understand why the wing came back at all. They've confirmed that they are traitors to a high-ranking member of the military. Presumably Dain's memory-reading powers are proof. It should be impossible for them to return without an airtight explanation, and even then, they should be arrested on sight for treason.
Anyways. Dain comes over to Violet and she immediately and loudly threatens to kill him if he touches her. Subtle! Discreet! Clearly Xaden should tell you everything he knows!
Dain backs off, but not before Xaden loudly announces that Violet picked him, not her, and then also baits Dain by hinting at his treason.
These guys have hidden an entire revolutionary base from the military?
I should have known going for Dain’s pride would include a spectacle.
The squad shuffles, making room for Imogen and me in our usual places, and my face heats at the blatant stares from my friends.
“That was…interesting,” Rhiannon whispers at my side, her eyes puffy and red.
“That was hot,” Nadine comments from in front of us, standing beside Sawyer.
“Love triangles can get so fucking awkward, don’t you think?” Imogen says.
I shoot a glare over my shoulder at her for going along with Xaden’s implication—or assumption, but she shrugs unapologetically.
Cringe. This is cringe.
They line up as the names of the dead are read and as new assignments are announced. Violet reflects on all the people who have died at Basgiath War College, and gives us this extremely funny line.
Maybe this place is exactly what the gryphon flier had called it—a death factory.
YOU DON'T SAY.
Xaden is reassigned, and Violet tries not to panic about being away from him. Chapter end.
Y'all, we are only 7% of the way through the book. I don't believe for a moment that Yarros has the skill to handle a book of this size, so I assume it's going to be a long, poorly paced slog. Get ready.
