Onyx Storm: Chapter 35-36
Mar. 24th, 2025 12:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penwallaIt's dinner time, baby.
Violet and co arrive for dinner with the triumvirate plus Talia. Xaden is being super emotionless, which is not doing great things for Violet's emotional state, since she's worried about him succumbing to being a venin. I do think it's very funny that the book keeps telling us how Xaden is just like he was in early Fourth Wing, even though Xaden never posed a credible threat to Violet and was never cold with her--they were bantering from pretty much day one. The man is romantasy love interest coded to the bone.
Dinner is served, and as they eat, the trial of wisdom by the triumvirate begins.
Can I just say that I dislike this whole "intelligence = an inability to understand emotions" thing that's going on. I don't respect it. The conversation moves to the triumvirate judging them because they have too many unmarried young royals in their contingent who haven't formed meaningful alliances. I'm just like...how is this a good test of the wisdom of the party? This conversation is transparently there to bring up the idea of Violet and Xaden getting married, because that's the next step in their romance and so we have to shoehorn it in.
For god's sake. Can we please stop inserting monologues about how great the romance is into other character's dialogue? Please? I'm begging. It's insane. No one talks like this about their ex and their ex's new girlfriend!
Okay, now this chapter is getting...weird. The triumvirate decide that the best way to prove their wisdom is for Xaden and Cat to have a three year contract marriage. They don't ask Xaden and Cat if they want to do this. They just kind of assume it will happen. And Xaden says sure, draw up the papers.
I'm guessing the twist here is that Xaden will marry Violet instead, but like what?
It's bizarre to me that the triumvirate just decide marrying another royal is the only way to prove their wisdom. What does that have to even do with anything? First of all, I don't understand why Violet and co don't attempt to reason with them at all. Violet is supposed to be smart. Surely she can come up with an argument for why contract marriage is not the sole marker of wisdom. She could point out that Aretia already has a good relationship with Poromiel and therefore Xaden and Cat could both use their marriages to produce alliances elsewhere. She could point out that because of the mate bond between Sgaeyl and Tairn, she and Xaden being together is actually strengthening the dragon alliance or whatever.
Instead, Xaden just starts monologuing about how he loves Violet so much and she's the only thing in his life he's chosen for himself and he would never give her up for anything. And then he gets into a fight with his mom for abandoning him and points out that she has no business rebuking him for anything when she fucked up and Xaden's entire life got upended by the rebellion.
He actually has a point and this could actually be a great refutation. He could point out that the contract marriage that produced him was a failure because his mother abandoned him. Instead we have to have a full page of how in love with Violet he is, as if that even matters in this setting. Like, no one is saying he doesn't love her, and this is a political negotiation that you ideally need to not fuck up.
Anyways, yes, it turns out Hedotis sucks because they don't value history or feelings and only value efficiency. And in an earlier opening quote, Violet's dad was like "I love that they love knowledge but I'm scared of their artifice," and I don't think that actually makes sense? The problem is that the Hedotis are like...internet atheist types who think feelings aren't real and everything needs to be optimized.
Deep sigh. I want to see one culture that feels real in these books. Just one.
Anyways, the triumvirate continue to play games with them, until they bring out dessert. Which is chocolate cake. AKA the dessert Xaden was served by his mom the day she ran away.
Violet realizes the cake is poisoned, which, no shit, none of the Hedotis party have forks, I also figured that out immediately. But Garrick has already eaten a third of it and collapses, not breathing.
Chapter end.
I don't get it.
I don't get the point of these weird themed trials every island mysteriously has. I don't understand what the point of them even is. I don't understand what the triumvirate mean to accomplish by doing their shitty psychology schtick here during this dinner. Faris asked DURING THIS DINNER if the dragons would die if the rider died, so their plan is to...what, hope they killed someone whose dragon will take it well if their rider drops dead?
What is the point of testing them at all? I can only think that they're hoping to, I don't know, recruit the now riderless dragon? Serving the poison in dessert and then conspicuously NOT HAVING FORKS just shows everyone you poisoned them. If the plan was to poison them, just tell the servants it matters who receives what cake and eat yours.
This entire section of the book is stupid. This islands are all caricatures. We haven't progressed at all on the irid finding quest. We've introduced a bunch of new stuff, but in passing, because Violet is an incurious and stupid protagonist.
This is the island where they worship the god and wisdom and love knowledge, guys! You would think that if they were committed to not getting involved in any wars, they wouldn't bother with this charade and would just tell Violet and co to leave!
Violet starts trying to figure out what poisoned Garrick. She also reveals that she actually poisoned the triumvirate earlier, so they're all going to die as well.
Hey, I'm a doctor, so I'm gonna drop you guys some knowledge here. It probably doesn't matter what they poisoned him with, because in real life most poisons don't have perfect antidotes. Garrick isn't breathing. Unless he was poisoned with fantasy opioids and someone has magic Narcan on hand right now, the only thing you need to do is ventilate him until the poison either kills him or wears off. If he isn't breathing, you have minutes before the hypoxia causes his heart to stop, at which point antidotes really don't matter and you need to do CPR. Xaden is giving Garrick rescue breaths during this scene, so they are doing it right!
It might matter later, I guess, but I'm not convinced solving the mystery of the poison is Violet's best use of time here. But also I doubt Yarros knows as much about respiratory failure as I do. So whatever.
Source: me, a person whose job is very much "oh, an ambulance just rolled in with some guy who isn't breathing and maybe did drugs".
Violet puts Mira in charge of protecting them and goes to interrogate the cook about the poison. Mira locks down the house, guarding all the entrances. Violet finds the cook and stabs and kicks him until she realizes his hands are blue from the poison, which might help them find it.
They're doing CPR on Garrick? Not clear if he's lost pulses but manual pulse checks are actually kinda inaccurate even by trained professionals, so I say do it.
Violet solves the mystery of the poison, but Ridoc has now been stabbed. Chapter end.
I've complained about this chapter quite a bit already (so much that I accidentally did 2 chapters!), and I still think it's wild that so far we've have three island kingdoms with one note cultures, themed trials, and evil rulers, instead of like...actually progressing the fucking plot. So I will simply say, CPR saves lives and you should get certified if you are not!
Violet and co arrive for dinner with the triumvirate plus Talia. Xaden is being super emotionless, which is not doing great things for Violet's emotional state, since she's worried about him succumbing to being a venin. I do think it's very funny that the book keeps telling us how Xaden is just like he was in early Fourth Wing, even though Xaden never posed a credible threat to Violet and was never cold with her--they were bantering from pretty much day one. The man is romantasy love interest coded to the bone.
Dinner is served, and as they eat, the trial of wisdom by the triumvirate begins.
“Tell me something. When you die, do your dragons?” Faris asks, changing the subject.
“Depends on the dragon,” I answer. “But usually, no.”
“Gryphons do,” Cat adds. “They bond for life.” Faris blinks.
“To tie your life to another’s, especially something as frail and easily breakable as a human, seems a foolhardy thing to do.” His brow furrows. “You respect your gryphon for this choice?”
Can I just say that I dislike this whole "intelligence = an inability to understand emotions" thing that's going on. I don't respect it. The conversation moves to the triumvirate judging them because they have too many unmarried young royals in their contingent who haven't formed meaningful alliances. I'm just like...how is this a good test of the wisdom of the party? This conversation is transparently there to bring up the idea of Violet and Xaden getting married, because that's the next step in their romance and so we have to shoehorn it in.
“For gods’ sake,” Cat mutters, abandoning her silverware again. “I said yes, he said no. He met Violet, and now they’re… them. They happen to be two of the most powerful riders on the Continent, so in that way, his alliance with her is perhaps wiser. The two of them could break and reshape the Continent if they chose to. And besides— I’m with someone else now.”
For god's sake. Can we please stop inserting monologues about how great the romance is into other character's dialogue? Please? I'm begging. It's insane. No one talks like this about their ex and their ex's new girlfriend!
Okay, now this chapter is getting...weird. The triumvirate decide that the best way to prove their wisdom is for Xaden and Cat to have a three year contract marriage. They don't ask Xaden and Cat if they want to do this. They just kind of assume it will happen. And Xaden says sure, draw up the papers.
I'm guessing the twist here is that Xaden will marry Violet instead, but like what?
It's bizarre to me that the triumvirate just decide marrying another royal is the only way to prove their wisdom. What does that have to even do with anything? First of all, I don't understand why Violet and co don't attempt to reason with them at all. Violet is supposed to be smart. Surely she can come up with an argument for why contract marriage is not the sole marker of wisdom. She could point out that Aretia already has a good relationship with Poromiel and therefore Xaden and Cat could both use their marriages to produce alliances elsewhere. She could point out that because of the mate bond between Sgaeyl and Tairn, she and Xaden being together is actually strengthening the dragon alliance or whatever.
Instead, Xaden just starts monologuing about how he loves Violet so much and she's the only thing in his life he's chosen for himself and he would never give her up for anything. And then he gets into a fight with his mom for abandoning him and points out that she has no business rebuking him for anything when she fucked up and Xaden's entire life got upended by the rebellion.
He actually has a point and this could actually be a great refutation. He could point out that the contract marriage that produced him was a failure because his mother abandoned him. Instead we have to have a full page of how in love with Violet he is, as if that even matters in this setting. Like, no one is saying he doesn't love her, and this is a political negotiation that you ideally need to not fuck up.
Anyways, yes, it turns out Hedotis sucks because they don't value history or feelings and only value efficiency. And in an earlier opening quote, Violet's dad was like "I love that they love knowledge but I'm scared of their artifice," and I don't think that actually makes sense? The problem is that the Hedotis are like...internet atheist types who think feelings aren't real and everything needs to be optimized.
Deep sigh. I want to see one culture that feels real in these books. Just one.
Anyways, the triumvirate continue to play games with them, until they bring out dessert. Which is chocolate cake. AKA the dessert Xaden was served by his mom the day she ran away.
“Please, don’t wait on our account.” Faris waves at us. “Chocolate’s an uncommon treat this far from Deverelli.”
And she’s been hoarding it for weeks. My mind begins to race.
Weeks. She knew we were coming.
I prefer a Deverelli approach to an alliance. That’s what Queen Marlis said.
Courtlyn must have informed the other isles.
Talia knew Xaden was coming.
Violet realizes the cake is poisoned, which, no shit, none of the Hedotis party have forks, I also figured that out immediately. But Garrick has already eaten a third of it and collapses, not breathing.
Chapter end.
I don't get it.
I don't get the point of these weird themed trials every island mysteriously has. I don't understand what the point of them even is. I don't understand what the triumvirate mean to accomplish by doing their shitty psychology schtick here during this dinner. Faris asked DURING THIS DINNER if the dragons would die if the rider died, so their plan is to...what, hope they killed someone whose dragon will take it well if their rider drops dead?
What is the point of testing them at all? I can only think that they're hoping to, I don't know, recruit the now riderless dragon? Serving the poison in dessert and then conspicuously NOT HAVING FORKS just shows everyone you poisoned them. If the plan was to poison them, just tell the servants it matters who receives what cake and eat yours.
This entire section of the book is stupid. This islands are all caricatures. We haven't progressed at all on the irid finding quest. We've introduced a bunch of new stuff, but in passing, because Violet is an incurious and stupid protagonist.
“You poisoned my son?” Talia shrieks.
“Your son was wise enough not to eat it,” Faris replies. “Our isle can be unforgiving. You should be proud, not angry.”
This is the island where they worship the god and wisdom and love knowledge, guys! You would think that if they were committed to not getting involved in any wars, they wouldn't bother with this charade and would just tell Violet and co to leave!
Violet starts trying to figure out what poisoned Garrick. She also reveals that she actually poisoned the triumvirate earlier, so they're all going to die as well.
Hey, I'm a doctor, so I'm gonna drop you guys some knowledge here. It probably doesn't matter what they poisoned him with, because in real life most poisons don't have perfect antidotes. Garrick isn't breathing. Unless he was poisoned with fantasy opioids and someone has magic Narcan on hand right now, the only thing you need to do is ventilate him until the poison either kills him or wears off. If he isn't breathing, you have minutes before the hypoxia causes his heart to stop, at which point antidotes really don't matter and you need to do CPR. Xaden is giving Garrick rescue breaths during this scene, so they are doing it right!
It might matter later, I guess, but I'm not convinced solving the mystery of the poison is Violet's best use of time here. But also I doubt Yarros knows as much about respiratory failure as I do. So whatever.
Source: me, a person whose job is very much "oh, an ambulance just rolled in with some guy who isn't breathing and maybe did drugs".
Violet puts Mira in charge of protecting them and goes to interrogate the cook about the poison. Mira locks down the house, guarding all the entrances. Violet finds the cook and stabs and kicks him until she realizes his hands are blue from the poison, which might help them find it.
They're doing CPR on Garrick? Not clear if he's lost pulses but manual pulse checks are actually kinda inaccurate even by trained professionals, so I say do it.
Violet solves the mystery of the poison, but Ridoc has now been stabbed. Chapter end.
I've complained about this chapter quite a bit already (so much that I accidentally did 2 chapters!), and I still think it's wild that so far we've have three island kingdoms with one note cultures, themed trials, and evil rulers, instead of like...actually progressing the fucking plot. So I will simply say, CPR saves lives and you should get certified if you are not!
