Transcript
Speaker: Hello beautiful souls and welcome back to another inst installment of the Growing with Sol podcast where we explore the moments and stories that shape who we're becoming. I'm Marisol and this is where I love to have real conversations about growth, self-discovery and learning to put yourself first.
Speaker: Whether we are diving into books that change our perspective or unpacking personal experiences that teach us something new, this podcast is for women who are done playing small and are ready to embrace their own journey.
Speaker: If you've struggled to put in everybody else first or battled self-doubt, then you're in the right place. This isn't about perfection. It's about the messy, beautiful process of growing into yourself.
Speaker: So come grow with me. Today is going to be a very fun episode because we are going to be talking about Kingdom of Ash. Now, if you are Akatar girly, a Sarah J. Mask girly, you are welcome. This is where you need to be.
Speaker: Quick spoiler warning. We're going to be talking about the entirety of a Throne of Glass. So if you've not read it all, save this and come back later because it's going to all of the spoilers. I am very fortunate to be joined by my bestie, my ah gateway drug into the mass verse Priscilla. Priscilla, would you like to introduce yourself?
Speaker: Hey everyone. i don't appreciate being described as that. And merely just. what you were i just in a product And then pestered you until you, he got it. So, but yeah, hello everyone.
Speaker: So we are going to start with a little synopsis, if it's been a minute since you've read Kingdom of Ash. So this will help jog your memory a little bit. So in Kingdom of Ash, we are coming back to Ereleia and we find Eileen Galathinius captured and being tortured by Maeve to survive. Eileen must tap into her inner rage. Girl, I get you. um So her inner rage and her will...
Speaker: But that can only last so long. Aelin knows that if she falters, it will doom her friends and the entirety of Erelea. Those same very friends and allies, however, have now been scattered.
Speaker: Each now focus on their own portion of the journey to save their homeland, but all must stand together to defeat the Valg. As you guys all know, we focus on dissecting characters, dissecting their personal journeys, their emotional and mental health journeys through the entire plot points of these books.
Speaker: And in previous episodes, we've talked about how Aelin and Lanon are sort of like mirrored images of each other. They definitely have their points where they shift. And I think that...
Speaker: They sort of begin where the other one ends throughout the entire story, which I find incredibly fascinating, especially since they're both such powerful characters.
Speaker: But the the interesting thing about Alien, especially in this book, is that we it emotionally and mentally, it it feels like we're almost back at the beginning. Because she's come such a long way has found freedom, has found family, has finally like almost reached a goal of being the Queen of Tarasyn or just being home. And then now we get to the last book in the in the series and it's like, oh, she's a slave again and she's being tortured again and she's alone again.
Speaker: And that just feels so devastating. Like when you really sit with it, was like, my heart breaks for Aelin, especially in the beginning of this of this book. Again, i I think we were talking about it earlier.
Speaker: i did see the two characters, their journey is being parallel. i don't know. i think I think the consensus with this book is, i mean, it mainly focused on Aelin. This is who the whole story, the whole series is revolved around. But i still i did feel cheated in that I feel like the characters were built so well that it almost felt like another book was needed to get insight in everything else just because, again, i like Aelin. She's the heroine.
Speaker: But Manon in her own way is as well. And I feel like we kind of see what a strong character she is, the growth, her relationships. Oh my gosh, the 13. I'm not ready. But, yeah you know, like and more time could have been spent because we do get multiple points of views in this book.
Speaker: But not enough. I feel like it was just like the salt bay, like little sprinkle of salt and that's it. Are you saying that in terms of like all of the characters or Manon specifically? i think Manon, I think, like I said before, like Dorian deserves better and he does play into her story. I don't think as central as Rowan did for Aelin. So I think that's an interesting take as well. Dorian was just a plus and it was never about
Speaker: just Dorian for her, which I think was very nice. And we kind of saw the opposite with like Rowan and Aelin coming into themselves and accepting the bond and everything like that.
Speaker: Yeah, romantically, we don't really get the culmination of Dorian and Manon. they yeah Because even at the end of it it, is Dorian's going to go back to Adderlyn and then Manon's going to go to the Wastes and like rebuild her country, like her homeland for the witches.
Speaker: So there isn't even like this beautiful ending romantically for either of them. And even then, like, you know, skipping over to Manan's piece with Dorian, there was a point where Manan was trying to convince the Croc and witches to join the cause and, like, Dorian was there. And, like,
Speaker: They were talking and part of it was Manon being open to the idea of strategically marrying Dorian because she was like, well, if I marry you and you have this army, then it'll show the crock and witches that I have strength and numbers behind me.
Speaker: So they'll more readily... enter the cause. And then Dorian was thinking about it and he was just like, and and talking to her about it too. he's like, okay, so this is something that you would do for your people. And then Manon says, well, if Aelin is going to be sacrificing so much for her people, then like, why shouldn't I sacrifice for mine?
Speaker: then Dorian was like, you could just tell hurt him so much. Yeah. He was just like, oh, so marrying me would be a sacrifice. Got it. was like hurt. I feel like it it was obvious that the first version of Throne of Glass had him as the the main MMC,
Speaker: right Yeah. um Which goes back to like he deserved a little bit more, like even if it was short-lived. think it would have been interesting to see if that political marriage happened, would they grow into something else?
Speaker: Would there ah like other characters come into play? um and I feel like there's no closure Mm. For him. and I think in the end,
Speaker: I feel like what Manon goes through, mean, it's a different experience, but like losing Astran, the 13, fact that she's left alive, like grieving, forced to lead without her sisters, which was what she was focused on in the beginning, like keeping her coven together, keeping those 13 that remain loyal together. I feel like
Speaker: It was just devastating. And it would have been nice to at least have a little bit more of concrete insight into the building relationship of um her and Dorian.
Speaker: And like helping each other in what they wanted to do and needed to do but then seeing something come from that.
Speaker: Yeah, I definitely feel like their romance was always like... hinted at like feel like they were they were like the slow burn that never really got to go anywhere like nowhere I feel like they were like it's like they were like in situationship territory like instead of actually being in a relationship And maybe part of that is nature of who Munon is no as a Black Beak. Because like they very much were anti-relationship.
Speaker: You just sleep with men. You get a little witchling and then like cast the men aside. We don't need them. And that's how she's been programmed. So now when she finally meets Dorian and she's like, wait...
Speaker: I'm going through this huge shift and my entire world is being flipped upside down. There's this man that I feel differently about than any other man I've ever met before. sure The world is about to end. i just lost my entire family.
Speaker: Like, feel like she's just going through so much that it's like, girl, yeah, a relationship is the last thing on her mind right now. and like, maybe that's just part of it. And it is more unfortunate because Dorian could be that beginning of a different kind of family for her potentially. Yeah, yeah. just felt It just felt rushed because like everyone except him, he was like very much in the beginning like, yeah, like I want this, always chasing that.
Speaker: And why should he be the one that's robbed of it?
Speaker: I don't know, but i'm feeling like I relate to Dorian a lot right now. Dorian is like the woman in her late 30s who is still single. but That's Dorian. Like, because literally, well, first of all, with Dorian and something I've pointed out in other episodes of this, that like he in my second read of the series, like he's an incredibly lonely person.
Speaker: like Not even just because he's like actually alone for a good portion of the story, but like there are times where there was even distance between him and Kale. like you know He's not close to his mom. He's definitely not close to his brother.
Speaker: dad was... you know possessed by velg his whole life so wasn't close to him the only person he had was kale until he didn't have kale anymore and then we get to kingdom of ash and it's like okay you don't have aelin kale's back but now kale's married so like their friendship is going to look different now and you're at that beginning stage of like we homies, but like, what?
Speaker: Like, you know, how do I navigate this? and then he's like, i have to be king. And then like, my situation ship just dumped me because she has to go create a kingdom for her witches.
Speaker: And it's just like, poor baby. It's like, Dorian needs a hug. That made me think, I guess the idea that Aelin and Manon both were raised...
Speaker: In very specific ways, almost to be used as a pawn, as a weapon. yeah I think about just like her trading as an assassin and how much trauma that she went through, like physical and mental.
Speaker: And then Manan, again, like what you mentioned before, like the Blackbeat grandmother, the matron or whatever, beaten if they failed, the violence.
Speaker: And then having to choose their own path through this story. but um But it was interesting to see that, I guess, like the narrative that women need to be compliant.
Speaker: How so? Like in both in both realities, like she had to be compliant because she had to be a good soldier, good, you know, following Arabin and like not think for herself. And then Manana not questioning the matron at all.
Speaker: Because it was just like such a ah cold community or society to be in, I guess. Yeah, it wasn't it warm. It was very violent and just like do as the matron tells you to do.
Speaker: Yeah, and like this is like this is just how witches are. Like how you mentioned, like this is how we're supposed to be. and it goes back to like the nurture versus nature, which would have been nice to see if Manan could have changed or opened herself up to but her other part of her lineage.
Speaker: It would have been really nice. I just don't think it would fit narratively into the story. Yeah. That's more of like,
Speaker: manan would need to get her own like novella or something you know yeah which i'm not opposed if sarah wants to write it i think we deserve it and i guess both i guess have their chosen families at the end but i don't know i feel like just manan got the short end of the sick because aylen gets rowan and her court ah Like different people that she's collected.
Speaker: Manon just gets grief. And the crown. Yeah. then like how they Where we see Aelin at the beginning of Throne Glass is where essentially Manon ends up alone.
Speaker: No family. Like nothing except now she has the wastes. But even then, like, where we end Kingdom of Ash with Manon is basically where Manon's story, like, truly begins.
Speaker: Yeah. Like, her journey is beginning, whereas now Aelin gets to just chill and be with her family. And, i mean, not chill because she has to rebuild Terrison, basically. But, like...
Speaker: She gets to just be a ruler now in one place and not have to deal with Val and the world ending and stuff like that or being enslaved anymore.
Speaker: yeah So, yeah, Vadan is just at the very beginning portion, which, again, i would be happy to read. have a question. Whose journey hit harder for you?
Speaker: um
Speaker: As a reader, i was definitely much more engaged in Aelin's story. Because when we were first introduced to Manon and the witches, those chapters were a bit difficult to get to just as a reader.
Speaker: They really were. um but I can Manon's... i can relate to manan's um Her emotional journey of going from just like stone cold and just like no emotions and like having her walls up all the time till that's starting to break apart.
Speaker: And her starting to connect essentially with the crock inside that is a little bit more emotional and like nice. Like I can kind of relate to that a little bit. So that one does get me in the feels a little bit more.
Speaker: But the first time around, definitely Aelin. No, no. Yeah, because I remember like the first time around, I just skipped the witches chapter. Wow. You didn't trudge through it like me? It was a lot. No, I was just like not invested.
Speaker: so that's why it takes like a couple rereads, I guess. um Do you think because I remember seeing something that. People were theorizing that, going back to the parallels that you mentioned, um that Manan and Dorian are actually mates, but it's just like we don't we didn't get any more information afterwards. And they I think people talk about how Manon doesn't hurt him like and she's intrigued and she's never shown interests like that
Speaker: um and how Dorian comes back to himself when he's like wearing the collar ah like the contact with her so that's why i just feel like yeah like we were robbed You know what? I'm a sucker for Fated Mates. like I've literally been to like book festivals and then like the author's like, oh, it's Fated Mates. I was like, here's my money. like Every time. like I love it so much.
Speaker: So I'm here. like Those theories, they're not crack theories to me. I'm like, you know what? Yes. Those are legitimate theories. it is canon in my head that they are mates because for those exact same reasons. Yeah.
Speaker: ah What makes Dorian different from all the other men that I'm sure were also attractive and what have you that she has been with in the past? Yeah, just a little sus. Like either it was brilliant or just rushed.
Speaker: I think it just didn't fit narratively into the main plot of the series. This book wasn't too long. feel like it could have been.
Speaker: Could have been longer. I think it could have been longer specifically for Lorcan and a lead. And what he And what he did. You know, ah even if it was just two pages, I would have been fine with just two pages.
Speaker: Yeah. You know, i would have been okay. But we didn't get that. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I did find it in... what Well, what did you think about the part with... um Where they were basically like, okay, like, it's basically time, Aelin, for you to, like, sacrifice yourself.
Speaker: When they had the word keys. And they're like, well, who's going to do this? Like, Aelin or Dorian? And they voted. And they all voted for Aelin. Like, how did you Like, what did you feel about that? I kind of saw it coming.
Speaker: m um i don't remember... Like thinking too hard on it just because feel like the woman's always just like pushed to the front.
Speaker: i feel like in a lot of other instances, she chooses to sacrifice herself. And this was like the one instance where it was just like, we all voted for you to just die. That part kind of stung. Maybe I'm just jaded, but like, yeah, I did. But I think it would have been...
Speaker: I mean, at this point, if we were going to be robbed of Dorian's actual things, like his his storyline afterward, feel like it should have been him. um But... So like, narratively, he was... What was the prophecy called?
Speaker: I don't remember what it was called. Something about the price. Oh. Isn't the prices like nameless or something like that? and Nameless is my price or the price is nameless?
Speaker: um I mean, well, that's why his dad didn't have a name until he remembered it for that split second because Dorian basically convinced Aelin that they should like sacrifice themselves together.
Speaker: and then she kicks him out. She's like, boop, bye. Go back to being alive. Maybe it was just because they expected her to die anyway. Maybe.
Speaker: I mean, I definitely feel like the series was leading up to that, to her sacrificing herself. And you know, like with Elena and everything, like it was all leading up to her. She technically did die as a little kid and then Elena brought her back.
Speaker: So like... narratively, it was already there set up that she would pass away. so I could see that. yeah I don't I feel like maybe I wasn't too surprised because the book was built upon the assumption that she was going to die. Like we could see it as a possibility. like But then, you know, I think readers of these types of books would then expect her to be brought back like a loophole.
Speaker: Yeah, which she kind of was. Like the loophole Rowan saving her through the tattoos. But like a lot of these characters are assholes too. How so? Give me some examples. like In their just attitudes and personalities like before they actually built rapport with each other.
Speaker: i like it was a very bruthless it's ah it was a very ruthless world so deep friendships other than like baby-faced Dorian weren't very real.
Speaker: and like even the cadre feel like it was kind of just like surface level yeah they weren't actually friends yeah but i also was pissed that she like lost she only kept a part of the fire at the end too i feel like she was still robbed i do think that she was robbed of her magic too it's just I don't know. I feel like that didn't need to happen. and if it needed to happen, I think it should have been built up even more that all of that power and all that magic was more of a burden towards her. Yeah.
Speaker: Because I can see in certain moments how it was. She didn't get to play with it enough like to like understand. Yeah, exactly. It's like let her learn how to utilize it, control it, manipulate it a little bit more and truly let her come into her own with the magic instead of like...
Speaker: Or show me all the mishaps. Show me every single mishap where it's definitely too much and uncontrollable, where it is a blessing and a gift for it to be taken away. I feel like we didn't get either of those things. So it does just feel like a woman having to be less in order to get the life she wants or something.
Speaker: No. Oh, one thing that now I'm remembering dealing with like the sacrifice um topic was Aelin and Dorian plotting together and like sharing the burden. And then one thing that i remember was Rowan being upset that he was left out of the decision of like whether his wife would die or not.
Speaker: But then there was that accusation later of Aideon saying, like, I think he was pissed at Rowan and Dworkin. And say, you guys agreed to let her die.
Speaker: That I remember. I don't remember that part. Where am I blanking? um So like he was mad that he was left out of a decision. but like he wasn't touching Aelin either. So assholes. This book is full of assholes including Aelin.
Speaker: mean. ah But also especially Aedion. Yeah. ah Is that the part where it was her and Lysandra had agreed? Where like Aelin would disappear and Lysandra would pretend to be her? that ok Yeah.
Speaker: No, I think it was after two, like they plotted, they decided together to, to like forge the lock without telling anyone, knowing what needed it to happen afterwards. And Rowan gone. But apparently a conversation had happened amongst the men that like, if the time came, they, Lorcan and Rowan would specifically allow her to die and not interfere.
Speaker: You know, I'm glad she lived because what the fuck? Yeah. I feel like yeah they're together, they're mates, but they fight all the time.
Speaker: But you know what? I think their dynamic is a healthier than like other mate relationships we see in other universes. So there's that. um Speaking of universes, the mass verse is essentially a multiverse.
Speaker: And we are now going to get to a portion of the podcast where we're going to do some multiverse theorizing. So if you have not read ACOTAR, how is that the case? But if you have also not read Crescent City, want to get on that.
Speaker: um So but if you have not read either of those, please pause and save this for once you do, because we're going to do some, you know, chit chatting about the multiverse from here on out. So spoiler warning over the I think the biggest crossover thing is definitely Aelin falling through all the worlds as she is getting back to Aerialaea, where we do see Rhys help her during Starfall.
Speaker: um yeah And then she falls through Crescent City because they mentioned like a river in a like a crescent shape, um which is Crescent City.
Speaker: So we see like the other two universes along with some others that I think is neither here nor there at this point. But with like Crescent City's series and like those crossovers and the bonus chapters and all of that and then the upcoming book, like do you have any maybe theories or like what do you want to see? Because I see a lot of people online talking about like, you know,
Speaker: Nesta or Bryce tries to world walk in like the next one and then like boom it's gonna be Aelin coming out or like Manon coming out of like whatever portal or something like what do you think might happen I remember seeing something about the eight pointed star and it being like something that you could use as the key to help you cross over because I think Rhysand has it on like his leg or knee or like elbow, but like somewhere.
Speaker: And then Bryce has an eight pointed star on her back, the horn.
Speaker: I thought she had the star in her chest. That's the starboard in Starboard. Back or far, but it's an eight-pointed star. Yeah. I think if I remember correctly. So I've seen theories that that's like the mark that allows those two specifically which to to travel worlds, which I thought was interesting. But I like the the one where it connects the the villain in each book and just saying that they're the same thing.
Speaker: that they're the same species. They just, like, change forms. They're all Valg? Or they're all Asteri? Valg, the Asteri, the Daglan, I think. The Daglan. They're all the same thing. i i I think they are the same thing. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, just different words for the same thing because of the different worlds. I like the idea that like, reese's valg or like part valg no so like if he does have this eight pointed star and he's part valg like imagine reese just like world walking independently because that's what mave did mave world walk yeah that'd be crazy what if he's he's related right to mave Yeah, we're like, I don't know what the timelines are necessarily, but like, what was it?
Speaker: Like, Erewhon? Erewhon? I want to call him the grocery store Erewhon. No, me too, every time. Was trapped and Maeve was trapped, but they weren't fully destroyed. They were imprisoned.
Speaker: So like she won in the end, but it wasn't the whole war. It was it was framed like a battle. That's why it was also so rushed. So we don't really know, again, the expanse.
Speaker: If they figured out how to travel and they're just kind of conquering different worlds. And seeing. i mean, that does seem to be the case, because with the Crescent City, they did have like the different planets and everything the.
Speaker: I want to call it Emerald City, but I know it's not Emerald City. Is it Emerald City from Wizard of Oz? Yeah. Tap your, tap your.
Speaker: Yeah, but like in in that like city, in in Crescent City, they have like like their capital and then like the where the Asteri live, they had that one room that Bryce went into with all the planets and like, oh, this planet didn't have enough food. This planet, X, Y, and Z, or like we lost it because they revolted or something. They rebelled.
Speaker: Yeah, it was like Prometheus. i thought Right. I feel like, yeah, they are going to different worlds, different planets trying to conquer it. Trying to feed themselves. Yeah, they're being little parasitic colonizers like to every planet. So, yeah, I could see that maybe leading up to like a bigger, maybe ultimately a bigger battle. Yeah, and like the worlds have to be connected, right? Because we have also Lydia and Aelin sharing an ancestor.
Speaker: Right. But if they're part of different worlds, like either they're characters in there that have traveled and we don't know ah about it or the worlds are related.
Speaker: I definitely think that like there's been travel in the past and that's why there's like this crossover and this relation and shared relation between them. I'm curious.
Speaker: I'm curious to see like what the ultimate like, like what it's going to be because people theorize that like, yeah. you know, all of Thorna Glass is in the past and it's like all the same planet and like people are like, it's different planets all at the same time.
Speaker: Or like it's the same planet, but like different like layers of universe, one on top of each other. and like, I'm just, i want to know what it is for certain. Like that's what I can't wait to read and like have that solidified.
Speaker: um i just feel like if there's that connection and it's the same timeline or like slightly...
Speaker: shifted, i feel like the the next few books will lead up to like a big endgame type battle. I definitely think that's going to be the case, but like we have, what, three more ACOTAR books and then one more Crescent City book?
Speaker: That's a lot. It is a lot, but I don't think there's a lot of... There's too many connections, like the Bloodlines... the related characters, the whole theory of like, Asriel and Bryce, and that could be the connection.
Speaker: i love Hunt too much, like Hunt. Yeah. So I don't know about that, but, and like the wood word marks, basically they're tattoos. Yeah.
Speaker: But like I saw somebody talking about it online where like they have all these people who are starborn and like maybe being starborn isn't a good thing. Like maybe that's going to lead to like like a sacrifice. Sacrifice. Yeah. So that might be the case.
Speaker: But I'm also really curious about like Rune and Dorian and ah Reese because they all look alike. Yeah. So it's like, what the fuck is going on here? Why do we just have like different variants of like the same person?
Speaker: And what does that mean? okay Because they're all so different in terms of their personality too. Yeah. I don't know. i think I think this final battle is going to have Aelin regaining her fire powers.
Speaker: Or Lydia stepping into something bigger. or like channeling Aelin. Almost like Aelin channeled Elena.
Speaker: Maybe. i'm curious of like the timeline. Because i would love to see Aydlin get her power back and then like her now be so much more like mature in her capacity to hold magic and power that like she's just even more of a badass because she's like, I'm a fucking black belt when it comes to this fire magic now.
Speaker: Like if that would be amazing. But for that to be the case, time would have to have passed. And it's like how much time has passed since the end of Throne Glass? We don't know.
Speaker: I have a question though. If, well, Nessa and Bryce met already, obviously, spoiler. um But what if they meet Aelin? Who would be the leader?
Speaker: Definitely not Bryce. I don't think it would be Bryce. don't think she would want to be. and She'd be like, you guys fight. She wouldn't want to be, for one. yeah And then i feel like Nesta is a very strong personality and in a leadership position with the Valkyries.
Speaker: And I think potentially becoming a High Lady of the Dusk Court. um But Aelin is Aelin. Wait, would she take Cassian with her to the Suscourt?
Speaker: I don't Cassian is in the little black book in my eyes. Yeah. Okay. Cassian needs to get his shit together and stop being little bitch when it comes to Reese. Yeah. Yeah. Like what?
Speaker: This is your mate. You're going to let him, you're going to let some dude. Allegedly. No, didn't she confirm that they are? She can affirm, okay, but here's my thing. Because in the interview, Sergei Mas was like, oh, like, you know, nature got it right. Talking about like Nesta and Feyre.
Speaker: And the mating bonds. But what if she's just, you know, stringing us along, the reader, and saying things? Because, you know, it'll make the twist, to the plot twist, that much more crazy.
Speaker: Maybe nature didn't get it right because the cauldron is corrupt. But i don't know. I feel like if...
Speaker: i I love Cassian, so I want him to do better, but I'm not going to hold my breath. I'm just waiting for Asriel to be introduced as a prince of hell, so I think it'll be okay.
Speaker: i think I think that's definitely going to happen. No. Sorry. It's okay. With that being said, we're going to call it here, guys, before this episode gets a little too long.
Speaker: We definitely appreciate you if you stayed this long. If you did, if you're watching this on YouTube, leave a little heart emoji just to let us know that you enjoyed it and of course as always if this resonated with you if you enjoyed this definitely feel free to subscribe share it out with your bestie who is also rare thrown a glass and the entire mass worse and as always i am a certified life coach i am currently accepting clients if you'd like some support on your self-esteem and confidence journey feel free to hit me up there's a link in the show notes to schedule a call and until next time keep growing
