Your favorite literary chaos agents Abby and Ronnie are back with our most THEORY PACKED EPISODE YET! Get ready for wild maas-verse connections, intense deep-dives, and mind-bending, universe-defining theories as we dive deep into Rhys's family.

**ACOTAR SPOILERS**

Are Rhys’s Mother and Sister Really Dead?

We start with the deaths of Rhys’s mother and sister. What do we know? Tamlin was there. What don’t we know? Everything else. Look, all we’re saying is that Feyre never actually saw their wings in the study, and big dummy Tam Tam sure is good at shifting people. Are Rhys’s mother and sister really dead, or did Tamlin somehow save them? And if he did save them, why does he still seem so guilt-ridden?

Why Would Rhys’s Mother Give the Weaver the Ring?

Why did Rhys’s mother leave her wedding ring with the weaver? And why does Feyre seem to hear the ring speak to her? Seems pretty unusual for an Illyrian woman to be able to face down a death god and live to tell the tale. What in the Cauldron’s name is going on here?

How did Rhys’s mother seem to know so much about Feyre?

We round out our ACOTAR section with a parting question about Rhys’s mother - how did she know Feyre’s dress size? (Kidding - kind of!) She seems to have known a lot about Rhys’s future mate. Was she actually seeing the future, or did she just get lucky? Or did it have something to do with all those herbs she ingested to stop her period?

***SPOILERS FOR ACOTAR, THRONE OF GLASS, CRESCENT CITY***

Are Rhys’s Mother and Sister Really Dead?(Take 2)

Then we gear up for our biggest Maas-verse section yet with some truly huge, universe-defining, game-changing theories. We start by revisiting our theories on Rhys’s mothers and sister’s death, this time with Ruhn Danaan involved. Could Ruhn’s mom be Rhys’s sister? Abby isn’t convinced, but Ronnie makes some compelling arguments involving wyrdmarks, shifting, and glamouring. We know that Tamlin can do the last two - is it possible he knows about the wyrdmarks, too?

Why does Feyre’s wedding ring have a six pointed star on it?

Why does this ring basically have a map of Lunathion on it? Could the ring have originally belonged to Silene? Or, does this star connect her to Hypaxia, who used a six-pointed star to (attempt to) summon the dead? Was Rhys's mom a witch?

Is Rhys Starborn?

Then we get into the REALLY REALLY BIG THEORIES. Is Rhys starborn? Yes, 100%, and also there’s NO SUCH THING AS STARBORN. IT’S JUST AN ASTERI BLOODLINE. WE KNOW. GAME-CHANGING. MADNESS. Unfortunately, you’ll have to listen to the episode to find out the full details, but we’re 99% on this one guys.

Is Rhys Valg?

And finally, the other really big questions. IS RHYS VALG? Also yes. But that’s because we think Valg and Asteri might be the same thing. Or maybe he’s a Prince of Hel. Or maybe the Valg are Princes of Hel. There’s a lot of conflicting evidence!

We round it out with some wild pre-cog corner theories on the wyrd and the void and finish up as per usual with what we're reading. Happy listening!

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Time Stamps:

00:00 Intro

02:53 Our Most Theory - Packed Episode Yet

04:45 ACOTAR Deep Dive

07:28 Announcements - Be nice on socials please!

12:27 Rhys's Family Tree and Background

17:27 What really happened to Rhys's Mother and Sister?

26:37 Why did Rhys's Mother give the Weaver her Ring?

41:11 How did Rhys's Mother seem to know so much about Feyre?

45:08 MAASVERSE Section

47:38 Are Rhys's Mother and Sister really dead? Maasverse Edition

50:48 Is Ruhn's mom Rhys's sister?

57:02 The Star on Feyre's Wedding Ring

01:03:49 Is Rhys Starborn?

01:20:35 Is Rhys Valg?

01:36:26 Precog: Rhys's Connection to the Weaver

01:40:12 Precog: The Void is gonna be mega-important (and there might still be Valg spiders in Prythian)

Your favorite literary chaos agents Abby and Ronnie dive DEEP into the worst redhead in Prythian - Amarantha! Get ready for wild theories, mass-verse connections, and our most mind-bending episode yet as we unravel the mysteries behind Under the Mountain's cruel queen.

We start with the bizarre story of Clythia and Jurian that simply does not make sense. How could a Fae loyalist who hates humans fall madly in love with a human general? Why did she love him with an “unrelenting madness”? Is there more to this story than what we’ve been told so far?

Then we get to the good stuff - why did both Amarantha and Rhysand want to unleash Tamlin's rage? Does Tamlin have some kind of magical "kill switch" that makes him unstoppable once triggered? Was she really working for the King of Hybern, or did she have her own agenda? And what powers did she have, really?

Our mass-verse section gets wild as we connect the dots between Amarantha and potential Valg connections. Could she be a Stygian spider like Cyrene from Throne of Glass? We analyze her black eyes, her fingernail that carved out Lucian's eye, and that mysterious spell book she stole from the King of Hybern. Why does she need to rely so heavily on spells when other villains have innate power? And why did she replace the High Lord’s hearts with stones? Was she getting them ready to be possessed by Valg?

We round it out with the puzzling question of why Amarantha's sigil is a sleeping dragon when there are no dragons in Prythian. From glass mountains in Throne of Glass to Ariadne in Crescent City, we follow the dragon breadcrumbs across the mass-verse and wonder if this connects to the library in Adarlan or something far more sinister.

Spoilers for the entire ACOTAR series, Throne of Glass, and Crescent City

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Time Stamps:

Maasverse:

Maasverse:

Maasverse:

Abby and Ronnie are back this week with a deep dive into Feyre's Trials under the mountain in Sarah J. Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses!

We start with some lighthearted banter about singing abilities, hair growth supplements, and our embarrassing moments of mixing fantasy with reality (no, that guy with the blonde hair bun is not actually Tamlin, and no, that bleeding person is not a Venin).

Our theories start off strong when we ponder why Amarantha seemed to recognized Feyre's name. Ronnie suggests "Feyre" might mean "liar" in ancient Fae, while Abby proposes a wild theory connecting Feyre to an ancient Fae warrior mentioned by the Bone Carver who imprisoned Striga and Koschei.

Then we dive into Feyre's three trials, examining how each one flips classic tropes on their head. The labyrinth trial tests Feyre's hunting abilities but requires her intelligence rather than brute strength. We explore how Amarantha and Feyre represent two very different types of hunters - one collecting trophies, the other using clever traps to survive. We notice that Rhysand is the only one who refers to Feyre as "her" while everyone else calls her "it" - and he's the only one who bets on her winning!

For the second trial, we question why Amarantha seems obsessed with testing Feyre's literacy when she likely knew Feyre couldn't read. Was this trial designed to be impossible? Why was Lucien involved? Was this more about torturing Tamlin than testing Feyre? And why did Rhysand make Feyre's hand burn instead of just telling her the answer telepathically? So many questions!

Our breakdown of the third trial gets wild as we analyze Feyre killing two Fae to save Tamlin. We discuss the Attor’s transformation into Tamlin, wondering if that was Amarantha's magic or if she forces Tamlin to shift the Attor into himself? We explore how this trial tested both how far Feyre was willing to go for Tamlin and how her intelligence ultimately saves them both when she remembers his "heart of stone."

In our Maasverse section (spoilers for all three series!), we connect Feyre's trials to the "ordeals" mentioned in Crescent City, suggesting this might have been Feyre's Fae ordeal despite her human appearance. This strengthens our theory that the Archerons have Fae bloodlines!

Our precog corner gets wild with theories about Tamlin being held captive during the Under the Mountain period, explaining his blank expression and sudden defiance during the third trial. We also explore connections between Amarantha and the goddess Deanna from Throne of Glass - could Amarantha have been a priestess of Deanna or possessed by her?

Spoilers for the entire ACOTAR series, plus Throne of Glass and Crescent City in the Maasverse section!

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Email us your questions and theories at dragonsinthedetailspod@gmail.com - we love hearing from you!

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Time Stamps:

00:00 - 05:20: Our singing careers probably won’t take off, but our hair looks great

05:21 - 08:43: Episode structure and disclaimers

08:44 - 13:15: Why did Amarantha recognize Feyre's name?

13:16 - 18:32: What did Alys mean when she said "don't trust your senses"?

18:33 - 35:21: First Trial - The Middengard Wyrm and the Labyrinth

35:22 - 48:12: Second Trial - The Riddle and Lucien

48:13 - 59:57: Third Trial - Killing the Fae and Tamlin's heart of stone

1:00:00 - 1:05:30: Maasverse connections - Was this Feyre's ordeal?

1:05:31 - 1:13:22: Precog Corner - Tamlin theories and moon connections

1:13:23 - 1:19:36: What we're reading and outro