Queen Maas' Assassins discussion
TOG #4: Queen of Shadows
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Queen of Shadows ~ Plot
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Katrina♡••
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Jul 26, 2015 08:35PM
Yes! I am so excited for this book.Was literally jumping up and down thinking about it....I bet it will end with a major cliffhanger.
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Yes! I am so excited for this book.Was literally jumping up and down thinking about it....I bet it will end with a major cliffhanger.
Yeah just like HoF. And then the wait begins again...
Haha, exactly! Part of the fun :DSomething bad is already happening to Dorian :( But for sure no one will be "clean" throughout this story.
You know... Here in Mexico the ed that publishes the ToG series refuses to publish Heir of Fire in spanish. They are all idiots!!! I've been sending letters and everything in order to get the book published. Anyway I never wait and read it in English. But please girls! If someone of you knows about a good place to preorder the book online, could you send the link here? Somebody told me about Amazon but my parents don't really trust in online shopping! :( Please please please tell me where can I buy it online and receive it with too much Joy in my house's door!
That stinks Noris :( But we still love you and hope you get your copy of HOF in spanish!!
Amazon is a good place to purchase books but I recommend www.bookdepository.com it has free shipping worldwide and you can choose the different versions of the book that you want.
Noris wrote: "You know... Here in Mexico the ed that publishes the ToG series refuses to publish Heir of Fire in spanish. They are all idiots!!! I've been sending letters and everything in order to get the book ..."Bought my HoF through there actually along with a few Sanderson books. The others were from Amazon. Check it out, hope you get to grab a copy :D
I'd second amazon. Never had a problem with purchases from them - whether it be books, ebooks, tchotchkes, etc. If your parents are worried, you could always do something like paypal. Otherwise I suppose your next bet would be a brick & mortar bookstore that's willing to order it in for you to pick up locally as soon as it gets published.
https://wordery.com/heir-of-fire-no-3...I recommend Wordery. I preordered Heir of Fire through Amazon, but they totally messed that up. Anyway, Wordery is really realisable. The books themselves tend to be cheaper than on Amazon and it's free worldwide delivery, where as with Amazon you have to pay for delivery, unless your order costs a certain amount then it's free, but that requires buying at least two books.
However Amazon does used books, not that you should trust all used books. If it says certified by Amazon however you can trust it, and they come pretty cheap.
Amazon and Wordery are both safe to order from, and where as Amazon is great I prefer ordering books from the latter
Thanks you, girls. I'm going yo start my order! :)
Rachina wrote: "Should I be worried that the Kirkus review doesn't mention Rowan except to say he was left behind? Or do you think this means all scenes from his POV will all be from Wendlyn - far far away from A..."
I don't think you should cause:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/2468536...
I don't think you should cause:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/2468536...
Anyone think that they may be able to use aedions men to help save him? With arobynn and the assasins (if he doesn't screw Aelin over) and Aedions men it would help with the rescue mission. I also kind of hope that some of the guards who aren't in a ring or collar could possibly still be loyal to chaol as their old captain and maybe possibly help like Ren. All very wishful thinking though..
Anna wrote: "Anyone think that they may be able to use aedions men to help save him? With arobynn and the assasins (if he doesn't screw Aelin over) and Aedions men it would help with the rescue mission. I also ..."The Aedions men is in Terrasen? I really want Aelin have all the possible allies, but I think the guards are loyal to the King... But all can be happening in this book. :D
Here are some of my thoughts on the rest of the series I think Maeve will be the final threat. I think at this point the King of Ardalan will end up being Dorians/Chaols problem more than Aelins (even if she has to figure out how to get the collar off).My predictions are that Aelin will meet up with Arobynn in QofS and he'll rub her face in the fact that, had stayed with him and she wouldn't have faced slavery. (The cold hearted Bas****) I don't think their meeting will end in his death…yet…even if he deserves it I think somehow he'll escape her clutches. I even worry that if Arobynn has access to a key that he might have Sam rise from the grave to fight/distract Aelin while he makes his escape. (OMG wouldn't that be horrific…i should have been a novelist). There are two more books think of all the evil chaos Arobynn could help plan he can't meet the maker yet ( Eventually I hope Aelin toasts him like a marshmallow over a bonfire!). Of course even now thinking about it I'm second guessing myself I mean theres only 2 more books left and the last one will be devoted to Maeve she can't possibly have 3 enemies to the very end.
Anyway, on to Maeve heres my theory: In HoF Rowan tells Aelin about a carranam yielding their power to another compatible person. Then Aelin asks if you could steal magic from someone and Rowan just says it never worked (not that you couldn't ) and then he says 'Maeve outlawed any forced bonds' and he tracked down people who kept their carranams as slaves. I don't know about you but Maeve strikes me as EXACTLY the type of person/Corrupt Immortal that would lovingly adopt the 'Do as i say and not as i do' montra. And I NEVER liked that whole blood bond aspect. Maeve seemed a little too amiable when Aelin asked the bond to be broken…I'm wondering if you can ever really break that blood bond and what if all 3 of them are all tied together now because of that bond…what if that was Maeves plan all along. Lets put two sexy 'young' people who may be carranam compatible together for months training as warriors and see what happens...when Aelin tries to take her throne back. I mean Maeve has to have sensed that Rowan isn't all that happy about serving her by now, and that he'd fall for a pretty young warrior queen easily after having been a widower for years. I mean its not that hard to predict he'd fall at Aelins feet.I'm wondering if Maeve will somehow use Rowan to enslave Aelin or drain her of her powers and take her throne once the King of Ardarlan is out of the picture. I don't think the rest of the cadre will be free of their bonds until Maeve is defeated….fingers crossed hopefully Rowan and Aelin will survive that!
As for the King…I've no doubt he's got some sort of Valg influence happening there like in the Lord of the Rings.
The witches 3 clans will split the Yellowlegs clan will no doubt stay on the Vlag/Ardalan side (it'll come out that Celaena killed the Yellowlegs Queen) but I think the other two clans will turn against the King once they discover he destroyed their Homeland by breeding all his nasty little beasties. And it will come out that he plans on betraying them somehow I mean the witches or at least the 2 clans have figured out theres something wrong with the food their mounts have been given, thanks to Manon. So essentially I think there will be a loose alliance between the other 2 witch clans and Aelin/Rowan/Aedion/Dorian/Chaol at some point. I've read some peoples comments about Abraxos having a human form or something…that would be cool. But i've also wondered about Fleetfoot maybe he's actually a fae trapped in animal form he just seems so wise…then again maybe he's just a dog.
I hope some of the Desert Assassins come to Aelins aid as well as Nox. If she's to succeed she's gonna need spies everywhere. Also, I'm secretly hoping Chaol will go back home and make knocking down one of those crystal towers one of his main priorities. After all, magic will need to make a reappearance if Erilea is to have any chance at defeating all the monsters the King has created or dragged into their world.
I know re-reading is making me a little obsessed about the plot of this series.
Aelin has to be one to confront the king, because fire is the only thing that can fight the darkness of the Valg.
Ok so i went back and read most of the pages in this discussion and I'm just gonna group my comments/questions/theories. SoAedion Chaol Rowan in the same room whao scary facinating and sexy as hell. That would be system overload my eyes wouldnt know where to look! I have a feeling Rowan would hate Chaol and he'd be like all territorial "she's my woman now! Grrrr" Chaol would feel the loss/Celaena anger and jealousy at them both. And Aedion and Rowan would definatly butt heads who's her greatest protector...not to mention when Terresan/Aelin needed military help Rowan was no where to be found.
I dont really get the people who are appalled that Aelin has so many loves...shes basically a teenager who's been enslaved and unable to live her own life. She's a typical teenager/person...how many people only have only one love/relationship in their lives...not many.Plus she's fae...they are known for being mischievious, flirty and sexual beings.I consider Sam to be her first true love (all i can picture is her lying on that table with his corpse). Choal in my opinion was just puppylove/rebound guy,Dorian a flirtation, but her relationship with Rowan I think is solid she'd older she's coming into her own, if he doesnt die by Maeves hand i think thats a lasting bond.
OK now to my questions:
1. Who was that monster under the Library? He was a person at one time but WHO? A relative of Aelins WHO is it? Its driving me crazy!And will he be used against Aelin or used to help her and get revenge on the king who made him into that monster?
2.(Anna) Spidersilk Merchant he is mentioned several times I noticed this too! What part will he play?
Comments/Theories:
(Rosine)Manon said 'whoever kills the clan leader inherits their power' WHAT AMAZBALLS! What if thats how Aelin becomes immortal!!!!OMG freaking out!hyperventilating and the people around me think i'm crazy! You know what bothered me about that scene tho is she didnt take any of Yellowlegs books with her that seemed like a major magic book collection time right there that was passed up.
Manon and Aelin meet. I think with witches will discover Aelin killed Yellowlegs...didnt Mort say he could smell it on her...so wouldnt the witches be able to smell that out too? I think Manon/Abraxos find her ,but our favorite stubborn Abraxos refuses to take part in hurting Aelin and maybe they have a sort of alliance/ information exchange about what they know of the Kings plans.
The King of Ardarlan said at some point it might be useful to let Dorian gain experience in battle. And he thought he'd make a good General...(and guess what now thanks to Aelin torching Norvok...guess whos in need of a general...thats right ladies/gentlemen) I dont think Dorian will be free of his collar in QoS i think he has some major time on the battle field to do before that thing comes off by his own hand or with Chaol/Aelins/Aedion's help. Aelins amazing but I think even she still needs time to figure out how to get that thing off without killing him. She might have to fight him to get Aedion out of the big house but I think she'll have to leave Dorian behind for now. Plus, it works to Maas's advantage making Aelin torcher herself & us (sort of bitter sweet).
Arobynn:(Stacy)
Arobynn is an Assassin/Businessman first. Dont forget that. I think Stacy is right people stop romanticizing him! He's psycho & he cant understand let alone feel love its a tool to him and nothing else!
What do we know about Arobynn:
He loves only himself
He's Cruel
Cunning
Overpossessive
Manipulative
He knows Secrets = Leverage + Power = Control. Hence, creating Celaena & hiding her amulet. They are leverage over the King & Aelin. Heck he might even know its 1 of 3 Keys which as we have learned wield terrible power!
Arobynn & the slave trade. I think way back when Arobynn, as a business man, knew the KofA was looking for a great supply of slaves to build up Calculla and Endovier and Arobynn wanted to broker that deal with the Pirate king so the King would come to him as the major supplier of slaves. But when Celaena disrupted that trade deal Arobynn had no choice but to team up with KofA instead of becoming the sole supplier and thats why he was mad at Celeana, bec. he wanted the King to need him for slaves not partner with him on the slave supply. He wound up with less power over the king and less profit because of that deal breaker. But he still has the secret of the missing heir so he prob figures at that point he was still slightly ahead in the struggle for power/uneasy alliance.
Now Arobynn QoS. Arobynn said visit the SE section of the tunnels...I immediately thought of Choal too. It wont be Sam's grave (although I agree that would only add to Arobynns horribleness, but at this point he needs Aelin more than he needs to screw with her. It wouldnt make good business sense.As for him not contacting her when she returned from Endovier it says 1 of 2 things (its actually flattering): A. He didnt contact her bec. he figured she'd put the pieces of the puzzle together and they'd point straight to him...so he was actually acknowleging she is strong enough to defeat him. B. He was cocky and thought he didnt need her anymore so he basically turned her over to the King & they threw her like a piece of trash into the mines...remember it wasnt until AFTER Arobynn hears about the Fire-Breathing-Bitch-Queen that he even deemed her worthy/useful enough to meet up with her again. I think at this point in the series he's losing all his leverage and power he's realized the secret of the lost Heir is soon to be moot and the King has 2 keys and now has way too much power for comfort it wont be long before he starts pulling Arobynns strings and is asking him to dance. For a man like Arobynn who likes to be incontrol he's realized he's fast becoming a puppet instead of mutual partner.
What worries me is...why does Arobynn want that collared person..do you think he knows he has a key and he wants the collared person to see if he could turn the tides and control the collared person?!!!
As for Aelin somehow getting all Arobynns assassins to switch sides to obeying her command & become the Queen of Assassins the thought had occurred to me. That would be one of the best revenges Aelin could dish out to Arobynn. Make him powerless, use all the teaching he gave her against him...and then fry him using the power from a heritage he made her forget about & deny. But that would be a lot for her to handle while she's trying to save all of Erelia from KoA and Maeve.
You know, I use to think the same about Aelin's romantic relationships. The first and burning love is Sam, Chaol is important for her, but all became a mess with all de Nehemia thing so, yeah... She never developes her feelings for him
Noris wrote: "You know, I use to think the same about Aelin's romantic relationships. The first and burning love is Sam, Chaol is important for her, but all became a mess with all de Nehemia thing so, yeah... Sh..."I know! and if you look at her relationship between Sam and Rowan they are kinda similar. She basically is totally mean to Sam and pushes him away. She doesn't tell him thank you for the music or believes he's actually concerned about her (which i don't really blame her it is kind of a major gear change from cutthroat competition to lover) But it isn't until he says I love you that she's like' huh he actually means it'. She does the same thing with Rowan, keeps him at a distance. She doesn't want him to really know her past. And she keeps that denial going 'we're just friends' even when they practically move in together.
I thought people would have more comments on what i wrote on Manon/Aelin/Yellowlegs and Arobynn's new requests of Aelin. :(
Anyone think maybe Gregori could be the monster under the Library …at first i thought it would be a good guy turned monster…but it was one of the kings first experiments. Assassin's Blade opens with Gregori being caught and held in the royal dungeons maybe he was the first experiment? He would have 3-4 years of perfecting monsters from that point on. It can't be Ben because Celeana brought the body back to the Keep.
Whoah!!! Good call on it maybe being Gregory! Didn't even think about him since she brought Ben's body home. I think something shady went down and Ben was betrayed by Arrobyn. I have been super busy working, but when I get a chance I will go into further depth with the points you brought up earlier. I love discussing these books, but I usually read all the great comments and never have time to respond or jump in as fully as I wish I could. :)
Stacy wrote: "Whoah!!! Good call on it maybe being Gregory! Didn't even think about him since she brought Ben's body home. I think something shady went down and Ben was betrayed by Arrobyn. I have been super bu..."Stacy…I'm actually thinking maybe Ben found out about Arobynn making a play at the slave trade, Ben didn't like it and so Arobynn had Gregori do him in. If you look at how Celaena thinks of Ben he seems kinda like Sam sweet. He was always looking after her mending her wounds…this is someone who is loyal & kind, he may have been an assassin but he didn't enjoy it. I don't think he would have been ok with adding slavery to the business portfolio and I think that got him killed…everyone at that table was questioning why Ben would have been out with Gregori and his mission…maybe Gregori had two missions and Ben was his first goal only he was betrayed and captured by the King.
I'm done speculating and arguing about who deserves whom until I've read QoS. Three weeks away and I'm tired of waiting. Fighting about it isn't going to help.
Jess- I can totally see that playing out like how you stated. I always thought the guy under the stairs had to be someone known. It used to drive me nuts, trying to figure out who it could be. I went from thinking it could be Sam or someone she new in her past life, possibly from her court back home. Maybe Elide's Dad or something. Or even the true king, and the king now could of been the evil guy from the first battles of the wyrd keys or something. My mind was spinning on him for some reason. Watch it not even matter. I do that though. I will latch onto a sentence or character and ponder forever if it has more meaning in it then someone might take at first glance. What do they call that....Foreshadowing Game/torture or something. Hah.
You know... This is interesting, the situation about Gregory... Wow! It could be...
Ah! Jess thanks for mentioning the spider silk merchant again. I have no idea why he interests me so much, buy I am very intrigued. Probably cause he's mentioned several times but just off handedly.also just finished rereading hof again and I can't believe I kept missing this.. But Mr. Merchant.. Also a shape shifter according to the spider and upon taking his years from him she also took some of his power. I'm assuming she means Fae (but could be wrong) which means that human is his animal form just like someone else we know...
Again.. Who are you Mr. Merchant?!?
Anna wrote: "Ah! Jess thanks for mentioning the spider silk merchant again. I have no idea why he interests me so much, buy I am very intrigued. Probably cause he's mentioned several times but just off handedly..."Interesting...
Yeah! I think he (the merchant) is a fae too.
I'm hunting for all the parts he's mentioned like crazy...he's totally gonna end up being a spy for Aelins side. Did Manon kill one of the spiders if so I cant wait to meet this twenty-five yr old male meeting the description: Close cropped brown hair/midnight blue eyes with a penchant for traveling and collecting information for the rebels! Maybe he'll end up gathering a small army/militia of whoever remains in Elywe for Aelin.
Of manon did infact kill her (which we don't know) then merchant man is in her debt as well. According to the witch that talked to Ansel
Cause she said the only way to get the payment back is to kill the spider and whoever did would be in their debt
Seriously so interested in him.. He intrigues me SO much.
Manon didn't kill the spider, did she? In my waiting for QoS I'm re-reading HoF... Is just that this is driving me crazy!
Ok I looked it up did Manon kill the spiders or not....She lures them out to the cliffs edge and "they didnt even have time to move as Abraxos tail unwound like a whip and slammed into them. They went flying into the ravine, shrieking" Manon fled just as she'd planned.
So...the question really is did the Spiders survive the fall. If they're dead we'll see Mr. Spider Merchant got a major face lift lol.
So here I go again with Mr. SpiderSilk Merchant I've located several places he's popped up in converstion. Go ahead roll your eyes he'll probably end up being no one, but its bugging me.A&Desert: "He was middle-aged, with close-cropped brown hair and midnight blue eyes that seemed haunted" He said he was 25 but after his silky purchase he looked 45 years old. He said he was headed to the Southern continent for at least year, but that he had traveled to the Ruhnn Mtns, Rifthold, Orynth and Banjali.
HoF:Murtaugh and Ren found a merchant from "the Desterned Peninula who was willing to talk-a man from Xandria who was surprisingly honest, despite the business he'd built on contraband items." But according to the merchant's account "Not two waves when magic vanished in the desert, but three".
The Spiders account "A merchant came by a few years ago...[He] himself was from [the Wastes]-a former shape-shifter. Lost his gifts...He was stuck in a man's body...but he did not realize that when he sold me twenty years ofhis life, some of his gifts passed to me"
And finally maybe this fits too. Malakai gives Emry a fancy new knife and says "I got it from a merchant fro the southern continent...It came all the way from Eyllwe".
Ok so reading these over the guy Murtaugh spoke with may or may not be the same man...but this guy clearly travels a lot and has been a merchant in all these places at one time or another so maybe it is the same guy..and as for the final quote heres where I'm going with this...When Celaena spoke with Mr. Merchant he said he was going to the southern continent for at least a year and she told him to look her up if he ever went back to Rifthold via Arobynn. The timing is about right if you put that and Malakai's merchant together...what if our Mr. Merchant has returned from the southern continent and he made a stop in Eyllwe & Wendyln to grab more wares before he headed to Rifthold!
If the Spiders didnt survive the gravitational trip Manon sent them on he could be in his mid to late 20s again!
SPOILERS FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVENT READ QoS 1-3:
And what if i take this a step further wouldnt it be cool if the person Arobynn tells her to meet up with later is Mr. Spider Merchant!!I have absolutly NO idea why they would meet up then and there but that would be freaking awesome if i was right haha.
Didn't Arrobyn quote the merchant?!? I am going to have to find the exact wording. Will be right back!
Nothing is without a price. That was the quote. I am almost sure of it. I remember when I first read that, I immediately thought of the merchant. It was one of those moments where I stop and zeroed in in the sentence and wondered if it what the merchant ha said to her when her gave her the silk. I will try to confirm it, but that was the sentence that made me stop and wonder if he came to town and asked for her.
I went through the thread and saw that Anna already brought him up with the quote "everything has a price". I believe he spoke with Arrobyn regardless. ;)
hmmm.. do you think he talked Arobynn before or after he met Celaena? Sorry I just cant remember when Arobynn said that
It was in the first three chapters that was released for QoS. Chapter 3 towards the end.
Jess S wrote: "So here I go again with Mr. SpiderSilk Merchant I've located several places he's popped up in converstion. Go ahead roll your eyes he'll probably end up being no one, but its bugging me.A&Desert:..."
You have a point! I had never really thought about the merchant before! It's possible he'll end up playing a bigger role in QOS
crazy stuff!!!! :D
I am listening to the series again and in CoM when Celeana first discovers Mort the door knocker, she examines the tomb and notices the details on the armor of the first king, then remembers that Elena was also a warrior and wonders where her armor is. How awesome would it be if she finds it later on in the books and wears it!!!!
I was thinking the same, Stacy!! I really want to know where the armor is and if Aelin finds it and uses it I'll be freaking mind blown *-*
Gahhhh.. I NEED this book. I've taken to trolling a bookstore on my lunch break to see if they decided to put it out early. I also have it preordered both in hard copy and ebook. Someone give me this book right meow!!
Has it been confirmed that the girl who was with Chaol in the first chapters of QOS is Nesryn Faliq?? Just curious. . .
