Rebecca Yarros's Empyrean series, starting with the viral hit Fourth Wing, has taken the world by storm. Not only has the series brought in hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic readers and listeners, it's also been a driving force behind the rising popularity of a fan-favorite new subgenre: romantasy. It all began with our unlikely heroine, Violet Sorrengail, who never planned to be a dragon rider—but might just be the only person who can save the Kingdom of Navarre from a dangerous enemy. Whether you're a devoted fan or new to the world of the Empyrean, we've got everything you need to know about Violet, her friends and enemies, and what makes her such a compelling character to root for.
Warning: This character guide contains spoilers for the books Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, and Onyx Storm.
Who is Violet Sorrengail?
Violet Sorrengail is the protagonist of the Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros. We first meet her at age 20 in Fourth Wing as she begins her studies at Basgiath War College. Born into a powerful Navarrian military family, Violet's parents are General Lilith Sorrengail and Lieutenant Colonel Asher Sorrengail. Due to a fever during Lilith's pregnancy, Violet is smaller than average and struggles with chronic pain and joint problems (conditions inspired by Yarros's own experiences with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome). Violet grew up expecting to become a scribe like her father, who passed away before the start of the series. Instead, Violet's mother pushes her to enter the Rider's Quadrant, a path particularly dangerous for Violet due to her disabilities.
Physically, Violet is described as small and fragile, at increased risk for dislocated joints, broken bones, and bruising. She has pale skin, light hazel eyes, and brown hair that fades to silver at the ends, which she typically wears in a braid wrapped around her head in a crown. What Violet lacks in physical strength she more than makes up for with intelligence, cleverness, determination, and loyalty to her friends and loved ones. While she doesn't thirst for violence like many of her classmates and competitors, Violet has a talent for daggers and uses her quick thinking and adaptability to outsmart her adversaries. Other characters describe Violet as the most intelligent in her year, a star pupil, honorable, and stubborn.
Violet's dragons and signets
Despite the odds stacked against Violet in a dragon rider program with a 30 percent student survival rate at graduation, Violet makes history by becoming the first rider to bond with two dragons:
Tairneanach or "Tairn" is a massive Black Morningstartail dragon who bonds with Violet first. He is the second-largest dragon known during the timeline of Fourth Wing, and is a little over 100 years old. He bonds with Violet after witnessing her bravery in protecting a smaller dragon from three other cadets.
Andarnaurram, or "Andarna," is a Gold Feathertail. After Violet defends her from an attack by her fellow cadets, Andarna surprises everyone by becoming the second dragon to bond with Violet. However, Violet later learns that feathertails are actually juvenile dragons who haven’t reached adulthood yet. After Andarna goes through the Dreamless Sleep, an aging process for dragons, she emerges with black-looking scales. Violet assumes she's Black like Tairn, however, at the end of Iron Flame, Violet discovers that Andarna isn’t actually a Black dragon, but part of a seventh type of dragon: Irids.
In the world of the Empyrean series, dragon riders gain a magical power called a "signet" when they bond with a dragon. Violet's bonds with two dragons give her two signets:
Lightning wielding is the signet Violet gains from her bond with Tairn. Although it takes longer than most for her signet to manifest, Violet realizes her power to call down lightning during an intense practice battle at Basgiath.
Dream walking is the signet Violet gains from her bond with Andarna. Violet first begins to manifest this power to visit the dreams of others in Iron Flame, but the signet does not become clear to her until Onyx Storm.
Violet is also briefly able to channel time manipulation in Fourth Wing due to Andarna's adolescent powers, but it is a dangerous drain on both Violet and Andarna's energy.
Who are Violet's allies and enemies?
Here are some of the other characters in the Empyrean series who play an important role in Violet's journey:
Xaden Riorson starts the story as Violet's enemy, as Violet's mother killed Xaden's father during the Tyrrish Rebellion. But Violet and Xaden have an undeniable connection, especially once Violet bonds with Tairn, who is mated to Xaden's dragon, Sgaeyl. The bond between their dragons gives Violet and Xaden a unique telepathic connection, and because dragon riders die if their dragons die, and mated dragons die if their mate dies, Violet and Xaden have a strong reason to protect each other. Violet and Xaden have a complicated romantic relationship with many ups and downs throughout the series.
Dain Aetos was Violet's childhood best friend, and she's long harbored a secret crush on him. Dain often feels driven to protect Violet and tries to convince her to change her course of study from dragon rider to scribe for her safety. While Violet and Dain have romantic chemistry, Dain worries about a relationship being inappropriate within their shared chain of command at Basgiath, while Violet cannot deny her attraction to Xaden. Violet loses a significant amount of trust in Dain when she realizes he's been secretly using his mind-reading signet against her.
Rhiannon Matthias is a fellow cadet and the best friend Violet makes at Basgiath War College. However, secrets Violet must keep from Rhiannon create tension between them.
Lilith Sorrengail is Violet's mother, General of the Navarrian Army and Commander of Basgiath War College. Lilith and Violet have a complicated relationship; Lilith has a militaristic parenting style and pushes Violet into dangerous situations in order to make her stronger.
Asher Sorrengail was Violet's father, a scribe who died from a heart attack about a year before the start of Fourth Wing due to grief after the presumed loss of his son.
Mira Sorrengail is Violet's protective older sister, a First Lieutenant dragon rider who argues against Lilith when she forces Violet to become a Rider instead of a scribe.
Brennan Sorrengail is Violet's older brother, a dragon rider who is presumed to have died during the Tyrrish Rebellion prior to the start of the series. At the end of Fourth Wing, we learn Brennan is, in fact, alive and has joined the Revolution.
What happens to Violet over the course of the Empyrean series?
In the first book in the Empyrean series, Violet enters her first year of training as a dragon rider at Basgiath War College. She breaks tradition by bonding with two dragons, develops a tangled relationship with Xaden through their mated dragons, trains in combat, and narrowly escapes attempts on her life by jealous fellow cadets. As Violet prepares to prove the skills she's learned in the end-of-year War Games, she learns that dark-magic users known as venin, who Violet was raised to believe were a myth, are, in fact, real and have attacked a nearby town. Violet and Xaden join a group of rebels to protect a border town from venin, and although they win the battle, Violet is stabbed with a poisonous blade. When she wakes up days later, she is shocked to discover her brother Brennan, who she believed was dead, mended her and is a leader in the Revolution.
In Iron Flame, Violet must grapple with the fact that not only has her mother and Navarrian leadership been lying about the threat of venin for years, but her brother Brennan has been alive and helping lead the Revolution. Violet returns to Basgiath, where she's forced to hide what she's learned about venin and their dragon-like creatures called wyvern from her fellow cadets. Her young dragon, Andarna, begins to mature, while Violet and her older dragon, Tairn, are granted regular leave to visit Xaden and Tairn's mate, Sgaeyl, who has graduated and been named a lieutenant. After Violet is captured and tortured by Major Varrish, the vice commandant of Basgiath, Xaden saves her and reveals to the other students the truth about venin.
Violet, Xaden, and their allies leave Basgiath for Aretia to join the Revolution. There, Violet studies the magic of the wards to learn how to protect Navarre, which becomes crucial when Basgiath is attacked by venin. Violet nearly dies trying to activate the wardstone at Basgiath, but her mother, Lilith, sweeps in to save her at the last minute, sacrificing her own life for her daughter's and putting the wards in place. But all is not saved: In a desperate act, Xaden channels earth magic and turns himself venin.
With the true threat of venin revealed to all of Navarre, the Kingdom seeks alliances to protect itself, while Violet desperately searches for a way to cure Xaden from being venin before he loses his soul. Violet and Xaden learn secrets from their own histories during a quest across nearby lands. It turns out Violet was nearly dedicated to the Goddess Dunne as a baby and was thought to be the subject of a prophecy, but a confession from Xaden reveals that he was the true subject of the prophecy. In a major battle with the venin, Violet defeats a dangerous threat, but Xaden's channeling of earth magic to save Violet threatens his soul. Violet wakes hours afterwards with no memory of the battle. She's told that she asked to have her memory erased, and that she is now wed to Xaden and is officially the Duchess of Tyrrendor.
Our favorite Violet Sorrengail quotes
"I will not die today." -Violet Sorrengail, Fourth Wing
“You are not attracted to toxic men, I remind myself, and yet, here I am, getting all attracted.” -Violet Sorrengail, Fourth Wing
"I am the sky and the power of every storm that has ever been. I am infinite" —Violet Sorrengail, Fourth Wing
“I can handle pain. I live in pain. I practically built a house there and set up a whole economy. I can take whatever they dish out.” -Violet Sorrengail, Iron Flame
"You’re my gravity. Nothing in my world works without you.” —Violet Sorrengail, Iron Flame
"I will not die today. I will save him." -Violet Sorrengail, Onyx Storm
Susie Dumond is the author of Queerly Beloved, Looking for a Sign, and Bed and Breakup. She is also a senior contributor at Book Riot and a bookseller.
