Keeping mum, but I am loving the speculation here. It’s going to be so gooood.
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On Dakar, for centuries he has complained of all the things he does not like doing, he does not seem to have changed in that aspect, I was wondering if when the new order of things settles down in the 4th age, Dakar might not end up a sort of field agent, like Asandir was for the F7, staying outdoors most of the time and roughing it.
Now I could as easily picture Dakar in comfort in Althain tower wearing some furry buskins and taking life easy as the new archivist, but I do not think Dakar went through all that to live in comfort and not have any worries. His conscience always seems to be a problem, he is perhaps more likely to spend a few decades trying to avoid Arithon because he feels guilty over what is going to happen in SotM.
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The background art for Song of the Mysteries is titled leaving Los Lier, the ship is Paravian? We are seeing some of the Paravians leaving Los Lier?
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I have two more crackpot theories today
I am rereading perils gate somehow and it is just so much fun to jump into the middle of AoL and have the F7 in so much trouble
Theory 1 - traithe’s presence in the Mistwraith caused the curse… the wraiths would simply destroy / hate as they can. Setting Lysaer against arithon and vice versa actually creates the condition for arithon to be pushed into innovative growth? Mind you I cannot explain why the Mistwraith hung around for like 5 centuries doing little but block the sun…
As an aside there are two or three scenes in the series where something cold is present but not fully discerned by Arithon / elaira - what/who is this?
Could necromancers make use of Mistwraith or free wraiths I wonder ?
Theory 2 - there was something in it for the paravians for them to let humanity remain on athera. Why add another risk to your planet? Were the F7 so persuasive or just so powerful that the risk to paravia was not a big one baes on the compact? Moriel certainly seemed capable of putting the planet at risk. Paravia is an absolutely bashed up continent and the paravians barely seem to have held the land together after drake chaos. Can humanity ultimately help them too?
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Still speculating… I wondered why F7 want arithon to not be noticed by drakes. I initially thought it was elemental powers in a human. (There is a comment in GC about elements not being happy with drakes
Seems like the biedar genetics/ abilities also might be an issue to reveal? (From Song of M preview) if the biedar knowledge is then taken by drakes what would this mean?
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I always thought a dragon being entranced by Arithon would be a bit of a disaster, cannot change the world order if you have an over protective dragon watching over you all the time.
The F7 power came from the dragons, they seem pretty much all powerful. The dragons are lacking compassion and love, not knowledge. The Biedar legacy is inherited so I do not really see the dragons thinking it worthwhile chasing, they can already create (and destroy), and have made mistakes doing both. Now Arithon embraces his Biedar legacy, and gains a bit more power and knowledge, he might just about have the powers of Ath Creator himself…
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Well we will see in May. Arithon is about saving the compact I suppose or creating the foundation for a new one?
But this drake noticing Arithon thing has been mentioned twice now. As you say the drakes are already fairly troublesome…perhaps the threat is to Arithon and plans Biedar/F7 have but also who wants a drake that might see into the future and have control of it too? I assume they live in the present…and past…there was mention of a sink hole through time
Davien warns Arithon in Kewar that the F7 think in epochs; Arithon only has 500 years. Davien’s question “what other challenge could be left?” Is quite fun. He is hinting about his library…but surely the real challenge is still to deal with the mistwraith? It is unfinished business for arithon and Lysaer really? With the odd favour for the biedar along the way ? Then kingship? Or will kingship be a necessary choice for survival for arithon but then a risk once the Crown Jewels potentially render his gifts unmanageable
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It occurs to me that, while the fountain added 500 years to Arithon’s (and Lysaer’s) lifespan, that doesn’t have to be the fixed limit. If he hasn’t experienced “longevity training”, couldn’t he (and Elaira) learn?
Also, how soon would the Koriani have noticed that the apparent cleansing of Elaira’s crystal hasn’t affected her lifespan, nor vitality? Has that freed her from their authority/binding?
What has Lirenda been up to with the Skyron crystal and the Korani physical archives?
Did Kevor’s affiliation with the adepts extend his lifespan?
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Once things have settled down and the gates been reopened, Arithon could always return to the fountain and have another sip. I always thought Kewar and the fountain would be connected, go through Kewar first, then go to the fountain for another 500 year extension. Elaira also would need an extension, but never having visited the fountain maybe a different method would be needed there. I have doubts Lysaer will be returning to the fountain, but you can never know where Janny is going to go with the story, Lysaer might yet survive the ending in incarnate form.
All Ath’s Brotherhood adepts have extended life spans, they can live as long as Athera herself if they choose to. It was mentioned somewhere in the books.
The Koriani already know Elaira’s extended life span was not connected to her crystal, their authority over Elaira is only through her oath on the Skyron. Elaira did note somewhere she would like to drag the Skyron into one of the brotherhood hostels and clear it. Not sure how that would affect anyone who has their longevity though the skyron, but they did have seniors who survived the Waystone being destroyed, it has not really been clear to me who had their longevity granted through which crystal and what would happen if that master crystal was cleared or destroyed. If their personal crystal is destroyed they lose their longevity and if already past their natural age of death die. From what Elaira thought, even clearing the personal crystal might have the same result. But I do not remember Lyrenda being worried about having hers cleared, and Caolle seemed to think the crystal needed to be destroyed to do the job. I am not sure the Koriani would even know Elaira’s personal crystal had been cleared, they had no way of observing when it happened and I doubt Arithon is going to return it to them.
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Oh!
I got Elaira’s personal crystal mixed up with her oath on the Skyron.
I don’t recall why I thought Lirenda had Elaira’s personal crystal cleared (after Morriel’s death); and didn’t remember Arithon having it.
My memory is getting tricky as I age.
Time for a reread…
Arithon made off with Elaira’s crystal after Selidie Prime died trying to kill him, Lirenda the only other one to survive in the tent, was out to it for a while. I often wonder how Arithon knows where everything is, even when he has never been there before.
Morriel’s crystal was cleared when she died, although her spirit certainly did not cross over back then. I do not recall Selidie’s personal crystal being used once she became prime, yet Morriel when in her own body used to use her own personal crystal frequently. Elaira asked Selidie Prime to swear an oath on her personal crystal, and she used the Waystone instead, she certainly came to regret that.
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Thanks Annette.
I think Arithon would perceive/hear the presence of the entity/person that is her personal crystal.
I’ll save further speculation until I reread Sword of the Canon.
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My understanding is that, occupying Selidie’s body, Morriel couldn’t access the crystal attuned to Selidie’s spirit(similar to how the healing efforts were failing at restoring her hands, because the dominant spirit within the body was not attuned to the body). As for finding Elaira’s crystal, yeah, he’d have been able to pick it up by sound. Back in Grand Conspiracy with the older lady who gave him and Fionn shelter, she remarked that he was able to perceive stone’s voice, so picking up the resonance of Elaira and the stone’s own voice would have been no problem.
And yeah, she certainly did! About to start on Peril’s Gate as a readalong and so looking forward to her getting her… omg, I feel so stupid! Davien literally hit her with the expression. Omg and I’ve loved that scene for ages and just connected it to the idiom. -_-
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Above all else for Athera, Arithon wants peace, renewal, and the return of the Paravians to sustain the mysteries. Unfortunately he seems to always be a tool for someone else’s agenda including the Beidar. He is their prophesy incarnate to expunge the stolen knowledge from the Koriathan. In the Sneak peak the Beidar Spirit tells Sethvir that redemption may have to be fulfilled by a different descendant of Dari.
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Rereading The Gallant and stumbled across this line from one of Ath’s Adepts: “We abide what occurs, although rarely, sometimes, the storms in the world drive the outcome.”
Perhaps a subtle hint that Arithon’s adventure at sea in Destiny’s Conflict wasn’t 100% based on coincidence? Could something like the Elemental Forces at Earle have influenced the weather at sea? Or maybe I’m reaching and “storms” is just figuratively meaning “crises”.
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The Interactive Map of Paravia has been updated to reflect the continent just before the beginning of Song of the Mysteries. A few new place names and points of interest have appeared on the map (although none of the associated Wiki entries will be written until after the release date).
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Darkling dam? Hmm hmm…
Also back to the swamp to see more detail?
And a waterfall in Havish?
New Tirans
What did I miss? Not long to go now 
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I was not paying attention but Direntir ruin in Rathain, we have already had it mentioned in Chapter 1.
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It’s fascinating to look back at this thread AFTER reading SotM
and see what was accurate – and what wasn’t!
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