Tread Talks: A Bromance

Tread Talks: A Bromance - Fourth Wing Chapters 1-5

• Andrew & Jonathan • Season 1 • Episode 1

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Welcome to Tread Talks: A Bromance. 
This is the podcast where 2 bros choose to read romantasy based on the direction of their spouses. Thoughts and views expressed in the pod are our own. We're not here for a long time, we're here for a good time.

In this week's episode we dive into chapters 1-5

Violet Sorrengail is forced by her mother to join the dangerous Riders Quadrant at Basgiath War College, despite training for the Scribe Quadrant. Her sister Mira tries to argue but fails, and prepares Violet for the parapet, warning her about Xaden Riorson. Violet crosses the parapet, making a friend, Rhiannon, and an enemy, Jack Barlowe, who she manages to outsmart. Violet reconnects with her childhood friend Dain,but ends up in the 4th wing under Xaden’s leadership. The chapter explains the process of bonding with dragons and introduces the concept of magic and signets. During assessment day, Jack kills another cadet and threatens Violet. She faces Imogen, who seeks revenge, and ends up severely injured.

Fourth Wing | Rebecca Yarros

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

I mean, if they were going every day, there'd be no one left because Jack would just be murdering everybody. Like, it would be like, oh, it's murdering day again. It's my favorite time of day. Like,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

can't wait, I'm going to have cake. I'm going to have cake for murdering lunch.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

so good to kill

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

High carbs.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

It's been 10 hours since I've killed last.

Dolores:

Welcome to“Tread Talks: A Bromance”, the podcast where two bros get their steps in while diving into the epic world of romantasy! Join us as we embark on a journey through the pages of Rebecca Yarros’s“Fourth Wing”. Each episode, we’ll discuss dragon riders, fierce battles, and heart-pounding romance, all while getting our workout in. We’ll break down the plot, analyze the characters, and explore the themes that make this book a must-read. Whether you’re a seasoned fan or new to the series, our bro banter and unique insights will keep you entertained and motivated. So grab your copy of“Fourth Wing”, lace up your sneakers, and let’s soar into the adventure together! Before we dive into today’s episode, we want to give you a heads-up. We’ll be discussing key plot points and twists from Fourth Wing. If you haven’t read the book yet and want to avoid spoilers, we recommend hitting pause and coming back after you’ve finished reading.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

My toilet paper was delivered by Walmart today.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

2 ply! Charmin.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

think four ply is actually cotton

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Oh, that's, that's, oh really? I don't want to be cutting that. This is not like, you mess around and you get like Scott, like the septic safe stuff on accident, that's the worst. Like the, the single ply, you can like see through it. It's like tracing paper. It's, that's, yeah, you don't want that.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Especially if you forgot. If you didn't trim your cuticles right and all of a sudden you get a party down there.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

See, you gotta step your game up. I got a bidet attachment for my toilet.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

During the pandemic.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

I've had it a couple years ago. I took it off because my toilet seat wasn't sitting right on it. So it would slide around and it was more annoying than anything. But I think the last, I forgot who, Someone I was listening to or something happened. And they explained that like, hey, If you were to go outside and pick up something dirty, If you were to accidentally pick up dog poop or something with your hands, Would you come inside and just take a paper towel and wipe your hands off? Or would you use water to wash your hands off first? And I was like, yep, that makes sense. You know, like, Like, how can I expect my butt to be clean if I'm just using a dry cloth and just wiping my skin off? I'm like, good enough.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I ruined, ruined my app, but you've ruined my own asshole for me.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

I know. That's how I was inscribed. That is a very accurate way of looking at it.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Was probably going to make the episode just so you know.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

And that is how they used to do it, but just the dry way back in the day, back in this fantasy

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

He's just drip

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

you know, they haven't started with a, well, I guess we can introduce ourselves first before I start daddy, my kids call me daddy. My wife calls me daddy. We might as well just, you know, you can call me

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

All right, daddy.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

No. Yeah. So, you know, we've obviously we're here. We are for our first attempt at, getting into Of reading through. A romanacy that, yeah, you know, I, I didn't know I was doing it. I was peer pressured, maybe a little gaslighting and then here I am now. Oh, it started off being something small and it's grown into this.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

So you're saying, you're a grower, not a shower.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

I'm, uh, for sure, this is pretty girthy though. This is a decent sized book.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

It's a thick,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

it's nothing, nothing short.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

It's built like a can of tuna,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

yeah,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

like Sam's Club tuna.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

yeah, this is Costco, definitely Costco. It's good quality.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I got roped into it a little bit too. I had a friend's wife who was like, Hey, did you read this book? And I was like, no. And she was like, well, you should. And then my wife was like, I think you should too. And then she read it and then I read it and so now it's a thing, right? Here we are. Stuck in this world of romanticy, trying to feel our feelings out, see what they all mean.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

but you're a seasoned romantic veteran, right? This isn't,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

don't know what it

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

first ride.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

What does it take to be a seasoned?

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Like if this was karate and you had a belt that matched a color, what belt would you be?

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

What color are the first year belts?

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

That's a white belt, but you're not a

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I mean, what's the second year belt then?

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Yellow.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Nah, it'd probably be yellow. I'm not, definitely not a black belt.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

No, that's up

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I'm like a toddler.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

think at that point you're writing them. Like your life is a romanticy. Everything you do is, is romanticy based. At that point you're, you're doing like your own book bindings, you're rebinding books. You're drawing on the sides, you know, maybe you have multiple copies of the same book so you can decorate them differently to pay on your feeling

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Shut up! Am I a black belt? I think I'm just a crafty yellow belt.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

we could definitely, you know, make this into an Excel spreadsheet and figure

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

We'll drop the, we'll have to create some sort of calculator that. Works with

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

I know a

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

okay.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

good at

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

So for anybody who's, just tuning in here, you've got a couple of dudes, who are just going to read a fourth wing, romanticy book by Rebecca Yaros and talk about how this book makes us feel. And it goes a little something like this. Violet Sorengill, a 20 year old who was supposed to live the life, a quiet life as a scribe, is thrust into the dangerous world of Dragon Riders by her commanding general mother. Despite her small and brittle frame, Violet must survive among candidates who would kill her to bond with a dragon. Or because of her mother's reputation as she navigates the perilous environment of this guy at war college violet relies on her wits to stay alive while uncovering a deadly secret about the kingdom's failing wards and the escalating war, just in case you're missing that part in this treacherous setting. Alliances, blur, and the only way out is to graduate or die. chapters one through five,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Is that what we're doing today? I'm ready.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

yeah, word. do we want to,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

I'm reading.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Do we want to summarize what happens in these chapters?

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

This is straight spoilers. Oh yeah, this is not a read along. You know, get your audible up to 2. 5x and power through it. We I think we just go, just how does it, how, you know, how did it make you feel? What happened? What's the overall verdict of one through five? Yeah, we can summarize it, I guess.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

to summarize it.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Sure, sure. Why not? That whole roundabout way of like, no, we're not going to do that. That's awful. No. Okay. Let's go ahead

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Dive right in.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

That's called, that's called weaving.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Chapters one through five. Here's a, here's a, a brief summary. Violet Sorengill is forced to join the writer's quadrant at Skywar College by her mommy, the commanding general of BWC. Her sister Mira is a Lieutenant in the Dragon Rider military and a graduate of BWC. Mira argues with their mom about forcing Violet to join the extremely dangerous writer's quadrant. Violet has trained her whole life to just be part of the scribes quadrant. And only found out in the last six months that she would be forced to become a rider. Mira, eventually loses that argument with her mother. So she prepares Violet to walk the parapet, which is a qualifier to get into the rider's quadrant. She warns her about Zayden Ryerson, whose father led a rebellion against the continent and was captured by General Mami. Mom's boss ends up Executing the separatist leader and as a punishment, the children of the separatists are conscribed to the writer's quadrant. We find that out in chapter six.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

They're not, because I'm telling you, we will get there.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Violent, Violet, crosses the parapet. Makes a friend and an enemy along the way. Her selflessness helps her form a bond with Rhiannon and Jack Barlow. Geats another conscript off the

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

And Dylan.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

and Dylan Ford. Why are you bringing up old shit? Poor Dylan. And then he sets his sight on violent, unviolet. You know, I'm getting somewhere too fast. Uh, she turns the tables on him and holds his beans at dagger point. And then we go on chapter three. Let's see here now that she's survived the parapet. It's time to hit the reset and get things ready for the sorting ceremony where she connects with Dane, her crush and childhood friend. He's a second year and a bonded rider. He went from a boy to a man, since she last saw him. He's probably got like beard stubble and shit.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

He does.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

she gets to see Dane's room. She thinks very Dane sy thoughts about him. And then there's a little spat because Dane's like, he's trying to do the man stuff in Rescue Violet from the Rider's Quadrant. She gets, she ends up ultimately getting sorted into his wing so that he can protect her. But then Zadie pants holds a confab and they pull the old switcheroo. Now, Violet gets switched to the fourth wing and seems to be smitten with her smoldering wing leader. Zadie pants. We get a lot of world building elements. And the next chapter we learn about. The timeline of bonding dragons, the gauntlet presentation, threshing, et cetera. We gained some insight into the magic, lesser signets, and even learn more about the signets of mom general, uh, general Milgren and, Dane. We learned that there are some more common signets and that there are some more rare ones too. Like, uh, like maybe you shouldn't be reading some people's thoughts, um,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

We don't talk about those. Those are classified.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

inside my ear hole. And then finally we get introduced to battle brief. It's the only class we're going to have every day. We learn about our magical rivals, the Gryphon Riders from Poromiel. Don't worry, dragons are the most magical. We learn about the attack on the eastern border and its potential importance. Why are the wards failing? Where, what are the attackers looking for? These are the things we need to know. And then, we have assessment day. Yay, assessment day. This is, uh, this is the way to test hand to hand combat skills of your first years. Spoiler, Jack Barlow kills.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Jack is such a dick. I am already over

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Jack, right?

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

needs to get off his high horse,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

He doubled, definitely doubles down to kill Violet. And then Violet ends up getting paired with an angry Imogen in her assessment

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

she's a, she's a separatist child too. Well, it's been

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Yeah. Oh, ultimately, she definitely wins the battle. They're, not Violet. Imogen wins that, wins that battle and leaves Violet feeling really fucked up. And that's, that's where we're at so far.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

podcast. I'll see you guys next week. We'll go through chapters 5 through 6 through 10, uh, 11. I don't know how the numbers work. The next five.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Oh my goodness. How do you feel? Tell me about your feelings. Walk me through it. Make me feel your feels.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

So yeah. That's what's up. It was a ride. Starts off. Obviously we're pretty early into this. But. I was like. Okay. Yeah. You're hanging out with your mom. Your mom doesn't want you to do the things that you want to do. Typical parent stuff. Your sister's got your back. Cool. It felt a little slow. Obviously it's like, so this is my first romanticy, but a little slow start up. But then it really kind of just jumped into it once we hit the parapet, or even before that. Right. When we saw Zayden, the one person or sister wondered, like, whatever you do, this is one rule. One thing that you need to do, avoid Zayden. He's going to kill you when he sees you. That's it. There's, there's nothing else. And then who do we see like two seconds later? Hi, my name is Zayden. I'm taking your egg. The amount of times that she was told to, like, lay low, like, Hey, lay low, but everyone's like, Hey, what's your name? Like, pilot soaring galley, like, oh, there, there goes that one. You know, then they, you know, obviously laying logos all out the window during battle brief when, What was the markup for presser? Markham

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Is it Professor Markham? He, does he out her? Oh

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

yeah. he was like, yeah, it's just, you know, she tells Rihanna and the answer to, or the question to ask during battle brief Rihanna and asks it. And then the professor is like, Oh, it'd be nice if you ask your own question, violet sword and gale and everyone stops, looks over. It's like, Oh, so you're. Yeah, I guess I'm, I'm assuming Sorengill is not like a, like a Smith for a last name, right? You know, it's not very common. Everyone kind of knows who you are once the name drop comes out.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

When your mom's the commanding general of the war college,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

All right.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

You're just kind of

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

a very decorated Lieutenant.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

They really throw the word ruthless

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

your family's the family.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Yeah, in the grand scheme of like war college hierarchy, her mom is way up there. There's only a few families that are kind of in that space, the king, there's royalty.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

oh yeah, I forgot about the king, but yeah, I don't really tell us much about them so far. The king, I guess I'm assuming there is, cause this is just the, this is just all military stuff at this point. There's not really, we have, I'm not sure if there's a political, like a whole thing going on, or, or what.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Oh, there's definitely a political situation

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Like, is there a King, but is there well we have, like a Congress kind of style or is there a parliament or is it just King up top, everything below him is military below military is the people.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

It definitely gives off those vibes, like England style stuff, right? Like old school stuff. It also feels like we're not getting the whole story at all from anyone, right?

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

that's because we're only five chapters in,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I well, yeah, we got a lot

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

The whole story is the rest of the book.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

but

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

isn't a short story.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Even the characters who are like living this life, we're not getting the whole like vibe out of them. Like they're like they know what's going on. Zayden has been around since, you know, Zayden's been immersed in this world since birth. He's been training to be a writer for his whole life. King is king of the marked ones. And he's like, even he doesn't understand fully what's going on. He's still trying to figure it out. So, I feel like, the whole society is setting everybody up for failure, along the way.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

yeah, during battle brief, they do mention that there's, you know, they ask some questions and it's like, that's classified or, that's redacted or, you don't need to know that. So it's, it's a, definitely a, a need to know basis for a lot of things so far.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Exactly. And we don't need to know.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

not yet.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

hopefully not yet. Um, we'll figure it out along the way. The, I think, so, I think what really, what really, Fox with me in this story is that and tell me tell me I've been thinking about this all day. Violet tells this story from the perspective of somebody who like, like, I guess when I look at this, this is I see two things happening in this first in the first five chapters. I see two love interests. And so there's this like interesting love triangle happening, but they have, they're like flip sides of a coin. Right? So you've got Dane who continuously through these first five chapters continuously tries to rescue her and do like the chivalry kind of thing. And every time he tries it, she's like, well, do you mind? I'm a big girl. I got my big girl panties on and I'm going to make my own decisions. Cause I'm. I can do that for myself. I'm grown as fuck. By the way, you're You're very attractive is kind of, it's kind of like the vibe she's given off. And so, so it tends to lead in with, Oh, there's Dane. He makes me smile and he wants to control me. And then there's this whole, like with Zadie pants, it's look at this asshole. This really smoking hot asshole. So it's like, it's like reverse. Like instead she leads off with kindness for Dane and then follows with anger and then leads off with anger for Zadie pants and finishes up with a nice sweet after taste for him. Um, but have you noticed that she legitimately objectifies Zadie pants?

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Oh, yeah. Well, I mean she hates him But the only thing you know, she likes him because he as attractive he is right? She doesn't like anything about his character she doesn't like what he stands for what she knows, you know, everything she knows about him She hates and the fact that her, you know Zayden's father killed her brother really kind of Brings in that hate, even further to like a next level, but I guess he's, obviously based on how he's described and how she's acting, he must be extremely attractive. He'd be like, you killed my brother, but you're still kind of good looking like that. I mean, no, you didn't kill my brother. Your dad killed my brother, but you know, you, if the lights were off, I didn't know who you were.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Like taste those abs.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

And then it's almost feels like, I don't want to say it's like a Disney movie vibe or like a lifetime movie vibe where it's like, this is the one that you're supposed to be with, but this is the one you want. And then throughout the story, it's, I feel like that's probably going to, the, the rift is going to grow more and more. For sure. I could see that going that direction.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

the rift between.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

between her and Dane. Cause she's already like, you know, Dane's, after she breaks her arm, Dane's already trying to send her away. Like, don't fix it, leave her arm be broken, I'll just put her in a cart and send her over to the Scribes Guild. We'll still take her, she's okay.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

it was a, that was a fucking weird stance, too. Like, I thought, Don't you want her to feel better? Right?

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

No, don't fix her.'cause then she's gonna have to do this again. I want her to heal slowly and she'll heal on her own. Everyone's like, you're kind of messed up. You need to back off a little bit.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Have you ever, dated, somebody who makes really poor decisions, and then you It's like one of those things where like you try to intervene and you know, if you stick, your finger and stick it in that light socket, that's really going to be a bad day for you.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

I have two little children, so Yes. We're not dating them,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

mean, yeah, you're in a relationship where you have to tell and they get pissed off when you tell them no, like, why, why can't I run with this knife? I don't see the danger at all. Pop. Um, yeah. So, so like you never, you're not going to win that argument. Um, so it's kind of like, get out of the way, let it, let it happen. But now it's like, yep. Okay. I tried that once. And then we got, he just keeps stepping up to that same fucking plate and swinging at that same bullshit pitch and striking out, like he's going to get. I think he's going to get friend zoned really quickly. Cause you can only take so much of that.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

yeah. You know, he might not even make it, you know, into the friend zone. It's like, listen, I just need some space. Your, your acquaintance zoned, your acquaintance zoned, I think he's pretty solid in the friend zone, but with like, she's, but you know, oh, then maybe this can, can get, this is, has potential to be more, you know, but it's her best friend.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Do you think that. Roles are reversed here? Because I think traditionally, a bunch of dudes would objectify women. Except for Dane seems to be following a natural character arc for, a traditional man, right? But Zayden's like, I don't care. I can give a shit less. I don't care. He takes his

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Yeah, I got more important things to

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Yeah. She's the Dane in that relationship.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

you know, I wonder if that's just see, I said, once again, I'm not sure if it's a romantic thing or if it's just this book, but you could definitely tell even how the characters are described from the beginning, how much effort is put into describing the way that Zayden looks and, you know, versus how the women are described was like, Oh yeah, that girl over there, brown hair, good Zayden, his, you know, his son kissed skin and his, his, you know, his stubbles and his muscles that are defined, hand chiseled by the gods.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

He admit the, the way it read it, I felt, I definitely felt like he was a beautiful person. I wanted to be next to him.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

I was intimidated. I didn't want to, I couldn't read any more after that. I needed to take

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

What do you think he smells

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

to kind of, yeah, I was like, it was probably like

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

leather,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Yeah. Like, some sort of woody slash burnt leveler with like a hint of dragon

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Leather, good quality leather too.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

No, yeah. This is organic.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Do you think he runs hot? Like he's warm.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Well, when I run, I get hot, because that's just a natural body temperature

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Do you think his skin is moist? Like not sweaty.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

like clammy?

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

No, no clammy, just clammy feel to me when you say clammy, I think like I'm nervous and cold.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Cold and damp?

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I don't want to think damp, but I want to think like the, the precipice of sweat read. Maybe there's just a small glow. Yeah. A glow of a glow of a hint of moisture, prickling his outer dermal layers. Is it an upper apple

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

could see that, you know, there's probably no air conditioning.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

It's a castle.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

So maybe

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I don't know.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

know, but they're high up. So there's probably a breeze and it does. So I'm going to, you know, maybe he has a little moist. Is that what we're describing? I've heard described. Are we objectifying data?

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I, I'm, you know what, if the author is going to objectify Zayden, I'm going to objectify him too.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Like we've subjecting his poor

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

so he smells like dragon musk and leather with a hint of oak and has a slightly moistened skin.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Like he just finished working out

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Yeah. It just, he glows a little bit everywhere. It's not sticky, but just like,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Yeah, you're not going to hug him and like feel it on your skin and be like, Oh, that's, that's an awful

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

it's almost like satiny. Like you're gonna, you're like, dang, you got, you got the cocoa butter.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

That he, that he murders you.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I mean, maybe it's a strong, strong possibility. So see, you get the point though. Like, that's why she's attracted to him. She's spent all this time with her head in a book, dreaming about stuff, learning book things. And then she gets out into the world and she sees her childhood friend who she knows and trusts and who has, after a year apart has dramatically, he's gone from, Hey, my name's Dane to hi. Dane. Let me, let me protect you. Let me take you under my wing. I'll show you my magic. Let me put my dragon in you. Something like that. And he's just like, I'm the man in this relationship. If you keep trying to like father her, I don't know. It also feels like the whole world is built on like, everything was going super well. And then this rebellion that we don't know a ton about happened and it reset their whole world of sorts. I guess I'm trying to say as a result, it kind of frames this situation. I don't know how long ago this war or rebellion took place, but it has to be.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

they say it's like 20 years, but that, cause what Violet's 20 years old.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Violet's 20. She, so yeah, Violet's 20.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Well, her brother was in the war and he passed away, he died, so she was alive when her brother died.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Yes, she was alive when her brother died.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

So the war has to be less than 20 years

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

And Zayden was Zayden was they made Zayden is A third year. So that puts him to make some two year. So he's like 22. But, in one of the excerpts, we definitely, we understand that Violet's mom, mom, mama general was like, Hey, I don't think it's cool for us to make the children of the separatists.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Oh, watch the,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Witness us murking their parents for this shit.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

So he's, so maybe it's like 10 years, 10 to 14 years ago? Well, I guess I'm assuming, I'm sure we either read it or we're gonna read it and we'll get more of an understanding

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Yeah. So that's, interesting. And the dichotomy of how these two units function in terms of punishment, because I know, I don't know if we'd get to it in this section, but we might get to it in. The future we go through chapter five is where we leave off in this one. Right?

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

chapter five, we leave off with, Violet getting her arm broken.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

So probably in the next section, we'll get into more detail, about Zayden, and his behaviors. For me, I think in this first five chapters, we're picking up a ton of world building real quick. We're getting a lot of background and we're starting to pick up on some character trends along the way.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Yeah, I see. Well, you know, well, Violet's actually has, she goes through a, a, you know, big growth period, mentally and emotionally pretty quickly, right? From when it starts with her, being Violet, to quickly being changed when her sister just undresses her, the first chapter is like, hey, Take this off, put these leathers on, like you're not ready. What you wore is completely wrong. You need to move on. We're gonna get you strapped

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

She should have been like a

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

got my books. My books on. I'm ready to go. She's going on a field trip, but it's like, no, throw that crap away. You're not going to need it.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

She brought like thong sandals.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Yeah. She didn't have the question of writing. She was on, but she had something same more slick soul. So now let me, you're not thinking, you know, as smart as you are, you're not thinking about what could happen. Like, you know, she's. I guess as a scribe mentality, she lives in history, right? Like she lives in the past. She's always being reactive instead of proactive where her sister's like, no, you got to like, Hey, look, see outside and see how it's gray out there. If you want to stay alive, you got to be proactive. Like you're going to want to switch those shoes out here. Put this, you know, where this core set with dragon scales in it. Cause there's a strong possibility. Someone was going to try to kill you. So you're like, Oh, okay. Well, I didn't think about that. Like she thought her whole life was just going to, or her whole journey was just like, okay, just surviving. The tasks and the trials and the gauntlet and the parapet were the things that she had to worry about was like the environment and she didn't really put a lot of thought into like, oh, by the way, everyone's gonna try to kill you. You know, it's like, oh, okay.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Sleep with one eye open.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

right. And then I think, you know, that's her first little growth thing. And then her next big growth one would be when she sees our, you know, our, Most popular character up to this point Dylan fall off the parapet, right? Like

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I can't wait to learn more about Dylan. At

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Dylan's gonna end up saving her they're gonna end up together

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

You thought he was going to be the Ron Weasley of this book?

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Yeah, right, like he's an end up killing Voldemort. He's the, he's the Neville Longbottom,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Amazing.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

and then, and then, you know, pretty quickly, so I think once Dylan, she sees Dylan die, that's her first You know, once again, before that, she was aware of the history of everything. Oh, how many people died last year? Two, unless you count the third person that the second person fell on. So, like, three people died. And she's like, you know, what's the average? Oh, you know, 15 to 20 percent of people don't make it across the parapet. So, she, like, knows the statistics. But this is all from a, you know, a book slash history slash past point of

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

mean she grew up there. This is her home.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

parapet, like,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

on

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

I don't think she's, I don't think she's standing out the window being like, I'm going to stare and watch people. No, she hung out in the archives with her dad. That was her jam.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

living at Hogwarts.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Now, she, her thing was staying underground in, in, the scribe's quarter, in the archives with her dad. And then even after that training under. Professor Mark. I'm gonna get that name right next time.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Like Markham Park?

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

so, Markham. So she, I don't think she's ever really paid attention to it or thought anything of it. But, you know, when Dylan dies, it's extremely close. She met this person. She said, hi, they were like, cool. This is, you know, we're all going to the same place, guys, and they're all excited.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Field trip!

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Yeah, he took a field trip. Well, just a trip, he took a trip to a field.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

It was a very exciting time for

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

it was, you know, it was the best of times. It was the worst of

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I wonder if they bring him back, because you never really heard the splat. That's all I'm saying.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

No, but they write his name in the role.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

They commend him to Malick. They

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

stuff.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

have a habit of their like, leave no, leave no footprints kind of lifestyle,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

know, they mentioned the role is the last time that that person's name will ever be written. Like, well, the ledger on the parapet on the starting side was the last time his name will be written except for on his tombstone. And the roll call is the last time that anyone's gonna mention his name. It's like, dang. You don't even talk about

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

giving off

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

be the, the full Bruno treatment. Like, you just don't, won't talk about it no more.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

You know what? You know, it's like out to me to, the, the, the corset that she's wearing, how it was loaded with pockets. That's historically inaccurate. We know that women don't have pockets.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

oh, she can't carry a purse.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Oh, you're right. You can't take a purse across the parapet. It would make you look like you'd be targeted. You'd be targeted.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

and you don't want to put all your daggers in a person like, Oh my gosh, it's next to my makeup.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Don't put all your daggers. And if you ladies, if you're out there listening, don't put all your

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Keep one in your boot.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Yeah. Keep, at least try to keep one in your boot.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

That is the one that you're going to use to try to chop off, if you ever run into a Jack Barlow.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Jack

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

That is the, that guy. But yeah, so, back to what I was saying. So after Dylan, right, you know, she's, she's, that's her first, that's her next big growth. Like, it's like she went from child to teenager when, you know, when she went from child to preteen, when she got dressed, got her dressed and did her hair and got her ready. She went from preteen to teenager pretty quickly, you know, 18 when Dylan fell off and then right after that. So like, you've seen Dylan die and then within the net, oh shoot. And then, you know, you see this person next who's going to kill you. All in the same time The only thing that distracted her from Zayden was Dylan falling, so it's like, Oh, by the way, the guy right in front of you is about to, he wants to murder you. Oh, and then your buddy Dylan, he just fell off that thing, he's dead. And then you're like, you work, somehow you work past all of that, you're like, Okay, I still have to get across this parapet. You know, obviously Zayden is not going to kill me right now, we, we, He doesn't, he's not going to just push me off, but he can! So I just get moving, and then she gets moving, and then as she's on this thing, Which is probably the scariest thing she's ever had to do. She only trained for, you know, six months to when she thought she was going to be a scribe to when she was volun voluntold, you know, she only had six months to prepare. So she, her training is not the best. Luckily, she's quick and she's agile and she seems to have pretty decent

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

They talk about her speed a lot too. Like she's got good, she's got good speech. She's

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Ain't got no strength. She's quick.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

She's like a really, she's like a high powered crystal frisbee.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Yes You know, that's you I was looking to how to describe her and that is perfect. Thank you

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

that's what I'm here for.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Filling in my blanks and then right then right after this she's like, okay. Well, I just got to get across this parapet It's a little rainy. It's a little slippy. I see my friend Rihanna and ahead of me. She's kind of making it She's almost good. And then you look back in this motherfucker

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I think we're missing a really big transitional point of her personality.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

What happened?

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

She gives her shoe away.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Oh, yeah, so she's still giving. I forgot about that. So she's still a good person. You know, she's still like, okay, we're all gonna make it across and be friends and let me help you get across. Take one of my boots. ooh, I don't remember, did she give her boot to Rhiannon after Dillenfell or before

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I thought it was before Dylan fell.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

think it's before, yeah, Cause it wasn't like, oh shit, Dillenfell, we'll take this boot cause you guys, obviously, obviously it's wet out there.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Okay then, so we're gonna go right to Yeah, and then,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

her next one, could you imagine going your whole life like, okay, well, this is already dangerous. I just got to make it across and we're good and I can start my day and I can start becoming or trying to become a writer. But, you know, it's already tough enough as it is. And then this random person that you've never met before in your life, you look back for a second. Like, what the hell is he doing? If you see him, just yeet some other random person off the walkway.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

like he took, like he took his chair, like,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Yeah, like,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

he's like, get out of my seat,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

like, it'd be one thing if you're like, Oh my gosh, the parapet is falling. We have to hurry up and run across and the guy in front of you slow. So you push them out of the way so you can save yourself. He stopped, wait, it was like, you know, I've never, I've never thrown a man off a parapet before. I want to know what it feels like. And he threw it. And then he's like, this felt amazing. So then, you know, he turns around, looks at Violet, like, I'm going to kill you, Soren Gale. And like, that's the next thing. She's like, watch Dylan die. Zaden was there about to kill her. And then this random guy's like, I'm just gonna kill you, just because that's kind of my thing,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

It very quickly does become his,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

That's his whole reason to be alive. Then, you know, she makes it

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

He's not a marked one, right? He doesn't have a grudge against her. He's just, yeah, he's

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Mark. I really hope that He sees that

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

but like with misshapen balls,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Yes, and there's a small one, I wanted to show that he's a

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

small one, but

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

I don't think he deserves to have A big dick so it's like a small

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

he's got a small, tiny one and maybe it's got Peronis disease or something like that. It's a little crooked and it's got like an unbalanced testicle.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

is Perpetually flaccid disease can never be

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

that's a good one.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

you can't you can't regardless of what it looks like You just can't get it up. It's on his back Right below his, right below his chin. Maybe on his face. I don't know.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

You think he's, you want to give him a job stopper? I'm not trying to hurt him that hard. Let him get it. Let him try to, you know, cause maybe one day he doesn't want to

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

He doesn't need a job. His job is to kill. Like, he's a straight up,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

He's going to be like just a cook, a line cook somewhere, like a cafeteria

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

No, they would not, don't allow it. You do not allow this guy around

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Oh, that may,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Maybe he chops onions. I don't know. He's gonna have a knife. Yeah, but he like, you would put him in charge of chopping onions and he'd be like, I don't chop onions. I use hammer. And that would be his thing. He would just beat the onions into

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Is he Austrian at the same time? Like that just. You're like, get to the trouble. How, how am I like, okay. Okay. I got you. I got

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

It's got,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

That's how you see it.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

vocabulary is not the best.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

him. No speak. Good. Um,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

not speak good. So yeah, you know, she's forced to grow up real fast and then, you know, she gets a little bit of a break when she makes it across and she's like, Hey, you know, luckily she knows the rules. She knows he can't be killed when she makes it across. Like, is there a little bit of reprieve? You know, she gets a little bit of, she gets to come back down from her adrenaline a little bit when she sees Dane and you

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

The adrenaline spikes back up. That was me dropping my book. I got so excited. Cause you said Dane. Um, Oh my God. At this time. I wonder if she gets like, does she get her AARP card? She's growing up so fast. Like

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Oh, you know. She's going to the early bird lunch and dinner. She's gonna go to bed early. Blue hairs

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

pretty much Dame takes her up to her room. Talk about moving fast. Yeah,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

is more of you know, he's got that. Oh my gosh I don't want anyone to see how but you know no, we're talking about it. I'm like man Dane was a dick from the beginning. He was like, oh, you know She just like she literally just went through this big event this parapet by itself. Someone tried to murder, you know, the adrenaline He's like, oh, you're you know, you're you feel like you're gonna throw up cuz the adrenaline's coming back down I think let me take you over here and hide you so no one sees you so they see how weak you are like You Well, brooch, like you just see what just happened. Like, what do you mean you want to hockey? It's amazing. He took her to the size like, oh, so no one sees you. I don't want to see. Oh, oh, you hit your knee and you're limping. Oh, I don't want to see that because I don't want people to think you're weak. And it's like, yeah, you're the one calling it out.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

He is the only one calling her out There's some undertones where people feel like maybe she's a liability to the wing But I think her name gives her some fucking clout people know a soaring gills a soaring gale.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

yeah, we know your sister, we know your mom. We know your brother. Like you got, yeah, you can name drop the, I mean, the professor, everyone knows who she is. You know, everyone who's there. Every two year, every second year, every third year, everyone who's, you know, even higher commanders, professors, they all know who the so and gales are. Right. So,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

how and they all seem to have more powerful Signets, right? So mom, mom's got a, it's not like they're just rolling around with fire water, you know, ice and shit like that. Mom's rolling around with fucking control of storms. You know, Brandon has, I don't know if we get into it in this one, but he is a, he's a, we can go there until we're talking about Brennan. Dead Brennan, like Dylan, they're a couple.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

need to keep, I need a board. I need to keep a tally of the death count.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

OK, well, I don't know where we're at now. We're going to be at three by the end of this.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Well, no, they also do mention how people fell off of the parapet, but I'm not gonna bother counting them. Named characters deaths, that's what I'm, that's what I'm

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

we got to count Yeet boy, even though we don't have a name for him.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

But he's a singular death, so I'll put him in

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I mean, if you're going to give a body count for.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Then you gotta count the guy who Jack snapped the neck for too, right?

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Exactly.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Jack has, Jack's killed the most, he's got the highest kill count

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Yeah, he's got a body count. Well, we don't know because I think that Rihanna's getting herself a body count, too. I'm just saying different kind of body count.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

you know. But she's trained, you know, she was gonna be a writer, she was always gonna be a writer. She trained for it, she's like, good, knew it all along. You know, the one reason,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I'm thinking she's more promiscuous, too.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Oh, that too. But I mean, like, she was there, she was meant to be here, she knew what she was doing. Like, she's got, she's definitely a more rugged person,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Par for the course. Although her shoes, like you said, her shoes weren't. She didn't even think about her shoes, too. She was like, you know,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Yeah, and

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

that was

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

did mention that she wouldn't have made it. She's like, I'm glad you helped me out, I wouldn't have made it across. What if the roles were reversed? And she's like, she like, looked, and she's like, Dylan, what size shoes do you wear? And he's like, I actually have really small feet, I wear a size 7. And he's like, perfect, take one of my shoes. And then, you know, there's Rhiannon who falls, and it's Dylan who survives. I wonder how the whole story would have been different. he wanted the benefits so I could see why they killed

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

yeah,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

his heart wasn't in it. He was in it for Exploiting the benefits.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I got you, I got

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

A freeloader on the

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

He could have been infantry and said, and, and survived, said he was this. Yeah, I, it's a, you know, I think things, I think things took a, that was when we started to see when we get back off the parapet, we're getting sorted or getting into that room, kind of getting wrapped up and stuff. We start to see like, Dane, he's a man. And then Dane does his like protection thing. That's our first sign that Dane's a bit of a dick. but he's a good dick. And then,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

a dick that doesn't know he's a dick.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Yeah, yeah, you're right. You know what? You're right. He is a dangerous dick. He thinks he's doing good. He's blind. He's blind to his own dickish.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

he's got a lot of self finding to do which is gonna make him a liability. When you're torn between like, like Zayden just knows he's like Zayden's like, I'm, I know him,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Zane's an asshole. Zane's not a dick. He's a, He's a smoldering asshole.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Yeah, he's like, so he's like, he's like, that's, that's kind of my, he's, but he's like, that's kind of who I am. You know, that's, that's my persona. I wear it. It doesn't, it doesn't confuse me. I'm not trying to, to be something I'm not, you

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

When I say to you, a blind dick, do you, what image pops into your mind?

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Blank. Nothing. I can't think of anything.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Of like garden gnomes because their hat, they're just a nose and a hat like a mushroom tip and a nose.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Wait, garden gnomes don't have eyes?

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

don't see any eyes on the garden gnomes that surround my home. Maybe those are blind dicks in the skies. Maybe those are a field of Danes. We'll have to work on that. We're going to think of like, what do we call a blind dick? Maybe we'll just call it a blind dick.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

It's called a Dane and I know exactly what you

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

All right. From here, here is forward.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Yeah, you're being a Dane, okay? Like, You don't realize what you're doing,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

unbeknownst to being

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

blinding you.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

using, I've got a seeing eye dick.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Yeah,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

It's just a one eye

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

so yeah. Pineapple.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Oh, so they gather in, they gotta get sorted into their different wings, right? Like, and you think, when she gets sorted in the second wing, story over, game over, that's it.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

I was trying to figure out why the book was called fourth wing. I thought it was just a typo at that point. I was like, oh, well, that's, that's odd that they call it fourth wing. I mean, what's, I'm like, what's the deal with them? Like we're in the, we're over here in second wing hanging out. Clearly we're safe. We're in Dane's group. We're cool.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

We're all good.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

That's the first time we see Zayden flex his power. So Dane moves Rhiannon and Violet to his squad. So I guess it's like you also have to know the order of things. So I don't know how many squads make up a wing.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Oh, I think there, you know, I have it written down somewhere. Yeah, we, we definitely have that information somewhere. They break it down. I think in chapter 4.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

what squad are we

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

so we are 4th. I think we're 4th wing. Tail section. I almost want to say so there, there are 301 cadets.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Oh, so the sections are broken up like the parts of a, of the dragon, right? So you have fang,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I don't know what else you got. Torso, midsection, abdominals.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

little tooth.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

that's,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

So I'm going to assume there's four. I'm going to go four and four. I'm going to say there's six.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

They see how many

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

squads, part of a wing.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

That's 16. 300 divided by 16? It's about 18. It's probably roughly about, 18 and three quarters of a cadet

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

got someone off,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

get, someone's gotta get outta here. We can't have three quarters of someone

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

there we go.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

for

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Yeah, so there's one squad got someone short, you know, like, they're shorter

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

And that's just a short person. Like they're, they're less

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

the year it's three quarters of a

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Although you could have a short person. That's acceptable. We're not, we're not racist.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

2024 on the book. Actually, that's the one thing I was thinking about. Like, you don't really know. You don't need to know what year it is, because it's not important in the grand scheme of time telling and storytelling. You could tell that they do. Cause they do mention that I think this starts in August.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

mean, it aligns with the school year, I think. And then there's like, you have, they don't tell time the way we maybe tell time. So they're not like in August, it's this September, it's that, and here comes December. They say things like four weeks after the leaves change when the, like, can you imagine

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

they,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

peepers

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

definitely mentioned, they mentioned August and September and October. In full transparency, I'm not sure if they mentioned that so early. But they do call things by months.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Right.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

I would never spoil this

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

It's all good.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

No, but yeah. So yeah, they don't, obviously it doesn't matter what, you know, they do have years, but they don't mention, well, actually I think they do. Cause there's something about 600 years. Since the great war, there was a big war 600 years ago. And then

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

years ago. Okay, but not this rebellion

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

no, no, no, the rebellions. Oh, yeah, this is like the 1st, but there was a main war between the 2 continents. That's between the Griffin writers. And that's when the dragons started to bond with humans.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

to try to win the war.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Yeah, because they were, I forgot the other, I think I'm not sure I said, I'm not sure if that's in chapter 4 or if it's maybe later on, but we'll, it doesn't ruin much if it is later on. But that, yeah, they bonded in order to try to. Protect the, the Navarra

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Okay.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Navarri.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Never never never nations.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

built the ward and that blocks out, they blocks out the, the Griffins from casting magic or the Griffin writers from casting magic inside of the warded area. So that makes them overall just weaker.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I like him

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

And with the ward failing, they're able to cast magic to a lesser degree inside of Navarri, which makes them dangerous

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

dangerous.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

bodies,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I got you. So speaking of the Griffin writers, they attack, and we learned about that in battle brief.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Yeah. And, you know, this is the. Everyone was pretty surprised about that, which is surprising that You know, obviously the during battle, but like, as you know, when they ask like that, it's not the first time it's happened. And then everyone kind of gasp, like, wait, you mean this has been going on for a while now, like, it's happened a couple of times, you know,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

And I think what's interesting, the things that we learn about here is we're not talking about case studies in, in battle, but if we're talking about like real time events, like, Hey, this should happen last

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

is what happened yesterday. Yeah,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

pull it apart and see what we can find, which tells us a couple of things. They want to keep you on your toes. They don't want you to have to be able to cheat and say like, Oh yeah, I remember when this battle happened. This is what transpired. Right? So they want you to always be guessing at what's going on. Learn critical thinking skills. And don't be afraid to be curious. All good traits. I'm super into that. But at the same time, it tells us that they don't know, like the people at the top don't know what the hell they're doing. All right. So they're upfront about it. We don't know what's going on. We'd like to figure out what's going on. So maybe you can ask questions. We'll ask questions. We'll figure out if maybe you asked the right question. We can figure this out together. And if to me, this paint, I have this picture of like, they're in an auditorium. There's, they're not in a classroom setting. They're just in an auditorium. Everybody's kind of standing around. They're saying like, here's the case. Here's what's going on. Does anybody Have first year, third year, second year. I don't care what year you're in. If you have a question, you should ask it here and then we'll decide if it's a good question or a bad question. I thought that was very interesting.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

I agree. They're trying to prepare everyone to think, but at the same time, get answers together. So it's like, if you guys come up with something, we're going to take that back and use it and see if we can make sense. But at the same time, it's just kind of like, we're gonna do some forward thinking. So you guys think you're ready for battle. As ready as you can be in the first week there.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I also like that they valued mental strength over physical strength because the mental game of battle brief is every day. But assessment day and sparring matches are not every, I mean, do you get called to the mat every few weeks? Is that what it is?

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

I don't remember. I think when she breaks her arm, she gets a couple, it's like 11 days or something like that. She's got to go back

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

You get some time To heal, but that's,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

So, I mean, if they were going every day, there'd be no one left because Jack would just be murdering everybody. Like, it would be like, oh, it's murdering day again. It's my favorite time of day. Like,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

can't wait, I'm going to have cake. I'm going to have cake for murdering lunch.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

so good to kill

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

High carbs.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

It's been 10 hours since I've killed last.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Fucking

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

You know, but I've also, though, what you realize, I guess not realize, but I guess they really don't. There's rules and there are certain things that you can't violate. Like you get executed right away. When They make it across the parapet and, Violet says that, Jack can't kill her hair because it's a formation. They're like, well, what are you going to do if I do do it? And, the person mentioned, like, well, we'll just have a dragon toast you. Like, we don't do trials. You violated, you get executed. But at the same time, during the sparring match, when Jack breaks the guy's neck, it's not like, oh, that's a defense that needs to be addressed. It's like, okay.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

it's interesting because, yeah, so like, you're not supposed to be able to kill on assessment day. And I think Jack just acted so fast that he was like, oh, fuck, he's dead. Fucking hell, Jack, not again.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

No, I think even, I want to say even, Amarato, was it a name? Amarato,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Immaterial. Professor Immaterial.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

I think he even yells out like, let's

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Yells at Imogen for using magic. Yeah,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

to say that he yells out to, Jack that he's like, Oh, he yields. And then Jack's like, what? Crack. And still like yokes his neck. And so it's like, okay.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

shit fucking sucks.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

He's like, yeah, sorry about that. He's like, I didn't know. He's like, I think he mentions like, Oh, I didn't know his neck was so weak. It's like, wow. It's like, geez.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

He is, he's a seeing dick. He is not a blind

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Oh, yeah,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

You know, there's something to be for if you're, if you, if your dick can't see and you don't know you're being a dick, you have a mild excuse when your dick sees everything that it can see. Your, your dick's eyes are wide open and you're still a dick. You're just a boy. You're just dick. No hope and no hope for him. So yeah, it, it's, I, we get Violet gets. A taste of what I, what I perceive as being true revenge or an attempt to avenge a family member it. There's some conflation happening though. Right? So she meets image in during an assessment day and imagines like your mom killed my, my family. We know that's not the case. We know that mom didn't murder the separatists mom captured the separatists.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

oversaw their execution, so it's like,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

she didn't like it, but she wasn't the one like pulling the trigger,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

no, that was all.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

General Milgren. but like, but so she's, she's definitely, she's attaching, she's attaching Violet to that act and now she's seething with anger and this lust for her death. And it's

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

oh yeah, she actually tries to stab her or slash her no, no, this is no weapons or no swords for this and then, so then, you know, she slices her and the dragon armor stops it, and then she's like, wait, she sees that she's receiving a dagger. She's trying to slash her.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Yeah.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

She would have, she would have got her, but it got,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Fashionista to save the day.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

here for a week and you've so much, you've almost been killed like three or four times already.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Has it been a week? Has it been two days?

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

That man feels like a weak.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

feels like, an eternity, right? For sure.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

All right, the second day, I guess it was already, you've already been trying to be murdered several

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

We might just be in hour 36. I'll be honest here.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Right?

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Yeah. The odds of survival are not in her favor.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Please follow along for our Hunger Games podcast

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

that's the thing about these stories. I think they all just kind of like they bounce together. I'm getting hunger games vibes. I'm definitely, I'm definitely getting Harry Potter vibes.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

It's like a dark, it's like an adult Harry

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

There's dragons. You're in a special school.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

It just sorted.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Yeah, you're get sorted. There's something that's happening that you're marked on the top of your scalp with your hair. They talk about her hair and you're like, no matter how much I caught it, it always ends up fading out to silver. You know, like something. So something happened. Mom was sick when she was pregnant. We don't really have details on that just yet. So I'm hoping some of that comes to light. There's a lot of death. That happens, and I don't think any we've learned that. Hey, don't get attached to people because their shit ain't safe.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Dylan!

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I can Dylan. We're everyone's so sad. I get every forum I go into. It's always about Dylan.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

That's it.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

The whole dead, dead Dylan thing.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Now it's all Zayden.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Zayden seems calm and collected. He seems to be wanting to gather information and make decisions for himself. And Anytime he crosses paths with, violet, he seems to be taking his time and just slowing shit down. Like, you know, he looked at her boot and he looked at Rihanna's boot and was like, Oh, Hmm. That's interesting. And he took that into consideration. He could have fucking thrown her off there, but he was, he was like, there's something else that I'm seeing here.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

quick of a death, right? You know, he's like, you're gonna, you know, you're family is The bane of our existence. You're the reason that we have to go through all this and do everything we have to do. So, you know, throwing her off would have been too quick.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

we know you

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

still have to deal with yourself. Still have to deal with your mom, you know, like, and your sister. So,

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

and you can't kill your squad mates. Right?

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

No, no, you can't kill your squad mates, but I don't think that does that count if he's a wind leader?

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I mean, he moved her into, he moved her into his wing. As part of his

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

could have pushed her off. She was just cadet at that

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

at the yeah, at this point he's had multiple opportunities to to take her out to take her out and he just hasn't so I don't I don't it's not I don't get it if that's where if if you were if you're about about it like jack is about about it if you put jack next jack would fuck jack would be like problem solve. I'm out.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Yeah, book over. I turned to chapter 6 and it's blank. Jack killed her.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Jack

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Yeah, we have 300 pages of blank pages after Jack murdered her.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Stupid Jack. Yeah, so it's just things aren't lining up. There's a whole bunch we don't know. I really can't wait to get through. I'm hoping that six through 10 shed like sheds a little bit more light. I like a little bit more fast action. In these books. So I'm hoping for some of that. I also like smart. I'm not gonna lie. I want to be able to take this book, drop it through the calculator and come out with a high score. I want to know if I'm reading smart. So I don't think I'm going to know that until another 15 more chapters. But

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Fifteen? With the weight of 15, are you talking 20 chapters in total before we get some action on this thing?

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Oh, I have no idea. I'm guessing. I mean,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

No, I'm saying this is Pineapple!

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

Everybody's upset. Goose, Maverick, they're pissed off about the lack of dragon dick. so I'm looking, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing if this is smutty. I'm hoping it gets a little more smutty. I don't know.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

going to be action every chapter.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I mean, I like, I like violence in these books. I like that kind of action. So as long as she keeps bringing the, bringing the heat with magic, world building, action and violence, things that like cause my brain to jump into the tism. Then I'm, I'm happy with that. I want, I want to hear, I want some, I'm looking forward to some heavy padding. I don't know what to call it. Sex. I want to know how these people put it down. I want to know what happened. We know that people are getting action. We're just not reading about it, right? We know that, Rihanna and hooked up with, hooks up with Tara. Maybe not in this chapter, but in the next one.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

I was supposed to

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

all right. Where do you see it going?

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Well, I don't want to say we're not going to kill Violet, but, I don't think this is going to go that path. I'm curious, I see Dane having potential to be killed off, pretty early. I've been slightly spoiled by Game of Thrones and having main characters die pretty early or not being immune to death. So I'm not sure if I'm going to experience that here or what? I think we're going to see Violet gets stronger and, maybe she, she gets stronger through losing loved ones along the way, or, finding herself.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

I think there are three characters that are our main focal points at this right now. So I'm seeing, I'm seeing Dane, blind Dick. I'm seeing, Zadie Pants, AKA the known ass and, and Violet. I think those are, that's our love triangle. I'm not sure what's going to happen.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

I think of it more of like a love line. I think you have.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

and Zadie Pants aren't hooking up.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

So, yeah, it's not a

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

They're the base

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

You have violet in the middle, and then you have Zaden on one side, and you have Dane on the

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

do you think it's, do you think it's shaped like a chevron? I think it's like, um, like a wing shape, like, uh,

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

No, I don't think, I don't think, I don't think they're even close to each other. I think they're on the far opposite sides of the spectrum. They know each other exists, but they don't care about each other at all at this

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

they are definitely on opposite sides of the spectrum. The reflections of each other. That's why she, every time she talks about Dane, it's, Oh, he's hot. And then he's treating me like this shitty thing. And then she'll be like, that guy's going to kill me. Boy, is he fucking hot? It's a reflection. Fuck. Okay. All right. I'm looking forward to the next one. I can't wait to get a little deeper in this.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Hey, guess we'll see what happens.

jp_1_09-25-2024_143620:

All right, sir, I'm gonna let you go. I'm going to hit the unrecord button now.

andrew_1_09-25-2024_143619:

Pineapple.

Dolores:

Thanks for tuning in to“Tread Talks: A Bromance”! We hope you enjoyed our deep dive into the thrilling world of“Fourth Wing”. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow us on the gram at treadtalkspod online at treadtalkspod.com and send your questions or comments to us at treadtalkspod@gmail.com Join us next time as we continue our journey through the skies with more dragon-filled adventures and heart-stopping moments. Until then, keep your books close and your dragons closer!