K: Welcome back to Just Read It, MCKay? Somehow against all odds, we have made it to the final episode of Crescent City House of Earth and Blood. We've survived the murders, the secrets, the betrayals, questionable decisions, enough emotional trauma to last several lifetimes, and approximately seven thousand moments where we thought, Surely things cannot get worse. And then they did. Now we're starting chapter ninety and finally making it to the end of the book. Lunathian is on the brink, Bryce is about to discover just how powerful that light inside her really is. Hunt is making some truly questionable choices involving helicopters and self sacrifice, and we are about to find out whether all of this heartbreak, chaos, and detective work is actually going to pay off. This is the episode where everything comes crashing together, the final battle, the drop, Danika, the aftermath, and all the little pieces of this story finally clicking into place. So grab your emotional support bookmark and maybe keep a box of tissues nearby. Because this is it. The final chapters of House of Earth and Blood. Let's light it up.

C: Woo, that was perfect. Where did we leave off? I don't even remember. Okay, so we ended last episode.

M: Fury breaking our hearts wide open.

C: Right. Okay, Hunt has been released from his Halo. He killed Sandriel, which is craziness. Crazy awesome. Literally tore her head off. Tore it off with his bare hands. And yes, Fury showed up with her her helicopter to take them all back to Lunathion so that hopefully they can get back there and help Bryce. She has just finished closing the heart gate in the center of Crescent City, but there are still six other gates that need to be closed, and she's pretty much out of magic. She is tapped out, just chilling beside the heart gate, trying to recover as much as possible. So let's jump into our last episode for this book. Lots of craziness about to happen. we get a very short, very short section of Bryce just leaning against the heartgate, excited that somehow it worked in closing it, hoping that somehow she actually made a difference when it comes to stopping the demons. She's a little weary as far as the Asteri and her father, the Autumn King, finding out that she does actually have the starborn magic. It is technically just the light, not the actual magic of a star, but it's still considered part of their prophecy and part of the chosen one status that is currently held by her brother Ruhn. So it could definitely complicate things for Ruhn and the Autumn King and all of their relationships. So. We're gonna see more happen to make it even more complicated in a couple of chapters. then we jump back to Hunt. He is in the helicopter with Fury, Flynn, Amelie, Ravenscroft, and Tharion All of them jumped into Fury's helicopter, and they are just outside of Crescent City. They're coming up on the city. Hunt can see the city on the horizon. Declan stayed back so that he can run. kind of be their eyes and ears. he's radio into Fury that Bryce is still at the old gate or at the old square gate. But that Bryce can barely move because of the amount of power that she used to shut the gate. Because she doesn't have very much power power. We've talked about it a couple of times now. She has she is set to gain even after the drop a very minimal amount of power enough to do some cool party tricks, and that's about it. Currently there are demons around her, but they are too afraid to get close to her because there is still starlight pouring out of the gate. But until once they realize that the gate, the light isn't going to hurt them, there's a good chance they're going to come after her. But at this point, Fury and Hunt realize that there are three war machines coming in from the west. That they're registered as Imperial tanks, which means they are the Astyrian Guard, and they have brimstone missile launchers, which means they are going to bomb the city. They are not sending in help to fight against the demons and get the people out, they are sending missiles in to just bomb everything, even the people in the city. And it kind of kills two birds with one stone because they want to get rid of the demons. Get rid of the portals in the gates by getting rid of them by blowing them up, but they also can get rid of Bryce by doing this as well. we do get a little bit of information on what the brimstone missiles are, that they weren't ordinary bombs of chemicals and metal, but they were pure magic made by the Asterian Guard, a combination of their angelic powers of wind and rain and fire into one hyper concentrated entity bound with first light and fired through machinery where they struck. destruction bloomed. And to make them even deadlier, they were laced with spells to slow healing even for the vanir So even once the missiles took you down, you couldn't heal and get back up. Or at least not for a long amount of time. fury does attempt to contact them. Trying to decide where I want to bring up Amren right now or if I wanna go through them actually putting the bombs in. We'll just chat about it now. Okay, so we have Asterian Guard, which we've learned are a special guard that obviously protect the Asteri, but we've also learned that they are Malakim and the Malakim were created by the Asteri, and they're a form of angel. And at the end of ACOTAR Book Three, A Court of Wings and Ruin. We had someone come out of a cauldron with a crazy amount of power, looking kind of like an angel with wings and a halo, and coming down on the hyburn army like a hammer, raining fire and brimstone. So it makes me wonder if Amrin is actually an Astyrian guard and that she came from whatever world, maybe this one, maybe a previous one, but maybe she was created by the Asteri. And she sounds it sounds like she has very similar power to the Asterian Guard. Because we've only ever heard of Brimstone being mentioned once in the ACOTAR series, and it was in regards to Amren raining it down on Hybern's army. So I don't know for sure. I don't know that we're ever gonna get an answer. But That's my theory right now is Amren is or was an Asterian guard. Because if you think about it, Amren is crazy old and the Asteri have been on this world for 15,000 years. We don't know how long they lived prior to coming to this world. So there's a chance it could be a thing.

M: Don't the Asteri also have a lost sister and there's only six out of the currently present?

C: A dead sister, but yes.

M: But could it be someone they presume was dead but actually went through to a different world?

C: Potentially

M: Somewhere between

C: But we did learn that the Asteri are stars themselves. That's what their power is. They have the power of this of a star in them and they could destroy a world with it. So it's not the same power as what Amren has. At least not from what we can see.

M: Gotcha. Okay. So like that's why you're saying created her, not necessarily she's one of the seven

C: Yes. Yep.

M: Okay. Makes sense.

C: Because we don't know how she rains down fire and brimstone on them, but what else does it say? She Back of page, that's why she swept through them, burning them, drinking in their death. Some died from the mere whisper of her passing. Bit by bit she wipes away their taint, their threat. And she kind of Feyre kind of describes her as vanishing ember by ember, almost like she is fire itself. So I don't know, because then it also talks about she goes over to the boats and the boats just kind of fell still. So it's not just fire and brimstone that she is raining down, it's other forms of magic. But it also says the Asteri pull the brimstone missiles were angelic powers of wind, rain f and fire. So maybe she's pulling the air out of their lungs and that's how they go silent. I'm just I'm trying to to make all of the points work. I don't know. Maybe she's a version of Asterian Guard. Maybe she's just something that the Asteri tried to make. At some point in the past.

M: Like a an experiment gone wrong or gone rogue.

C: Yep. Because we know the Yeah, exactly. We know the king in Throne of Glass did lots of experiments. So what's to say that the Asteri weren't as well? Because if they made the angels and we talked about it, I think in the last episode, the archangels being told to kind of mate with certain other archangels and that they weren't sure how the power of an archangel came to be. Sometimes it was From other archangels that birthed a child that had the archangel powers. Other times it's just an angel. So it could be that they tried. I don't know. Maybe we'll get confirmation or figure out what she is at some point in future books, but that's my best bet at this point.

M: Interesting. Okay.

C: There was there was the thing my brother in law, our future brother in law, brought up that Amren drinks blood. And that's the only part of it that doesn't quite because like none of the Malakim have drank none of we don't know of any of them drinking blood. We don't know what the Astyrian guard eats. We don't know them well enough to guess that, but maybe they tried crossing an Astyrian guard with a vampire because we have vampires in this world. That's why she drinks blood. I know, I'm go it's gone crazier and crazier. Okay, we'll jump

M: Indeed.

C: back into the book.

M: Ha ha ha.

C: Okay, so Fury attempts to reach out to the three missile launcher ships, trying to get them to pull back to abort mission, but none of them are listening to her, none of them even respond. the Autumn King tells them over the speakers that no one at the Imperial Command is answering their calls either, because they're about to bomb Crescent City. And they don't care to answer any of their calls. So let me switch back to Bryce. we have a couple missiles that are launched into Crescent City. One does land close-ish to Bryce, enough that there's a little bit of rubble that kind of damages the old square around her. It's not close enough to do true harm to her, but it is close enough that there is now rubble everywhere. to the point where now her leg is pinned and she is unable to get up, unable to move away from the heart gate. that she had wanted to go across the square that she's in to get to the music hall to see if there is a basement there and try and avoid getting hit by the brimstones, but she was running towards that when they hit and now she is stuck in the rubble. Then we switch back. We switch back and forth a lot through these last couple of chapters so that we can get all the perspectives through everything that happens. But we jump back to Ruhn and Hunt and Fury in the helicopter. Fury is still trying to tell the Asteri guards to stand down to abort mission. Declan is telling them over the speakers that Bryce is okay. She's stuck, she's trying to get out, but they know. That there is another round of missiles that are going to be coming from the Astyrian Guard. So Hunt realizes at this point that the Astyrian Guard almost like it's almost like they know Bryce is still alive and they're determined to fire on Crescent City until she is no longer alive. So Hunt comes up with a self sacrificing plan, which is so very hunt. It's something Bryce would do too. So they're just perfect for each other. So he tells Fury to take the helicopter as high as possible. what they end up doing is getting it as high as they can because Hunt's wings have grown back from being cut off, but they are not strong enough to actually fly on yet because he's been in a cell and hasn't been able to test them or strengthen them. so they do end up heading over the walls of Crescent City. He can just barely see the old square and the gate glowing, and that's all the signal that he needs to jump. and he realizes that this is a one-way ticket. This is gonna be his last flight. He has his goal is to land over Bryce, shield her from the brimstone missile, and most likely die in the process. So he just kind of jumps out of the helicopter, wings tucked tight in, so that he is just like a bomb himself, dropping straight down to the ground. The missiles are launched one after another, the closest arcing toward the old square. As Hunt plunged to the earth, he knew his angle was off a little bit, that it would strike, the bomb would strike about 10 blocks away, which still left Bryce in the blast zone to the point where the compressed angel angelic power would splatter her apart, even 10 blocks away. That's how crazy strong they are. So he manages to land, wings splaying, lightning erupting. Hunt threw himself over Bryce as the world. Shattered. And then we switch back to Bryce because she is kind of not waking up, but just taking everything in after the missile is hit, realizing that she should be dead right now, but somehow she isn't. Things are falling all around her, ash, pieces of buildings, dust, debris, all of that. the gate still stood, but most of the buildings around her have not. And then she thinks a clump of ash lands on her knee, but it is actually a gray feather. And then she looks behind her and screams because of the horror behind her. So she does see that it is Hunt sprawled on the ground behind. he is I mean he's super Anakin in in the third episode at this point. Like he is a torso and that's about it. He's got one arm that's just not there. Do you like my reference? I I'm not wrong.

M: It's valid.

C: his wings are completely incinerated. one arm Where is it? His legs were nothing left but ribbons. There was nothing left of his right arm and his back is also shredded, that it was just a bloody gaping hole where his wings had been. But that sh he'd been able to shield her from the brimstone, and she doesn't know how he escaped Sandriel as well, but somehow he managed to do that. We'll find out later. It's because obviously he killed her and that's how he was able to get out. she is then calling for help, but of course no one no one is coming at this point. then we jump back to Ruhn and fury's skill is the only thing that stops them from dying when the helicopter crashes. They spin multiple times, flip a couple of times, but they do land somewhere in Moonwood. And they're hoping that the Asterian Guard are gonna take a couple of minutes before they're able to create additional bombs to handle the rest of the city, to to flatten the rest of the city. thankfully Fury has plenty of weapons in the helicopter. They pull everything off. Hypaxia comes through the speakers because somehow the speaker is still okay and tells them that. Hunt is alive, but barely his injuries are bad enough that he's probably not going to make it, especially with the brimstone missiles having powers to stop Vanis from healing quickly. But that Bryce survived. And so Ruhn's plan is to head in that direction. They're still about 30 blocks away from the Heartgate. And there are a lot of demons in their way, but that is their Goal is to fight their way to Bryce. Okay. So Bryce is kneeling over Hunt telling him and she believes that everything happened for a reason, that she believed it wasn't for nothing. She does tell him that she loves him, even though he's almost dying. and she realizes she has a plan. the gates themselves were communication devices. So Bryce's thought is if someone is on the other end on any one of the other gates, she might then that'll create a connection between her and that other person through the gates, and that she might be able to make the drop and gather enough power in doing that to not only close all of the other gates. But to also heal everything around her because she remembers that when you make the drop, it creates the most pure version of first light, which is often used to heal. And so she knows if she can create enough or generate enough, then it might be able to heal those who are wounded in the surrounding area. So that is her plan. She goes up to the dial pad, you know, puts her hand on it, it zaps a little bit of her power, and She talks into it. If you can hear me, come to tick the gate, any gate. My name is Bryce Quinlan I'm in the old square. And I think I figured out how we can stop this, how we can fix this. I know it's bad right now. I know it's dark and bad, and I know it feels impossible, but if you can just get to another gate, somebody please come. You don't need to do anything. I just need the gate to be a conduit and I need you to be the other end. So this other person can essentially be an anchor for her so that she can make the drop. She does go back to hunt, gives you know somebody time to try and get to a gate if someone can. She goes back to Hunt, tries to tell him that help was coming. She knows no one's coming, but she's still just trying to comfort him as he is dying. that they're gonna go home and Syrinx is gonna be waiting for them, and they're gonna be able to live the life that they planned together afterwards that they had promised each other, if he would just hold on a little bit longer. And that's when she hears Danika's voice say, light it up. And she thinks that this is just in her heart or in her head that she is hearing it, kind of her subconscious saying it. but then she hears it again and she looks up at the gate, but nothing is glowing in any of the other stones to signify that there's someone at another gate. And so she counts her breaths and makes it to seven. Seven is our magic number. And then she hears the words again light it up from Danika and realizes that the onyx stone from the bone quarter is glowing. Like a dark star. So she's a light star and it's a dark star. So then she starts screaming, light it up because she's so excited that it's Danika who's there from the bone quarter who's gonna be able to do this with her because they'd always planned to make the drop together. And she begins to make the drop. and so the next couple of chapters is her making the drop, those at the comedium kind of monitoring her drop through the Elysian system and through all the powers that they have to be able to track all of this. And Bryce and everything that she's going through as she makes the drop, because we've talked about it before, they make the drop where they essentially drop into the bottom of their power and their heart. Flat lines for the amount of time that they're at the bottom, which at most is six minutes, Six minutes is the amount of time that she can stay without trying to make the ascent back up. And so it's essentially a large runway at the bottom of her power that she would need to run and then jump. And the anchor is what pulls them like a bungee cord at that jumping point to help them get that initial boost to ascend back up through. their conscious mind, whatever it is, but up through back up through their body and be able to come back to life. And it's at that point that their immortality is set and they come into whatever amount of power they're set to come into. So we switch then to Declan Emmett back at the conference center. He isn't looking up from all the feeds that he's monitoring. they don't know how it's possible because the autumn king tells them that it's not possible. And Sabine's response is Danika had a small kernel of energy left, the under king has said, a bit of self that remained. And Hypaxia wants to know if a soul, a dead soul, can ever be an anchor. And Jesiba, who is the Emissary for the under king says no with finality. that Bryce is essentially making an untethered solo drop, an utter free fall, and she might as well have been jumping off of a cliff because she wasn't going to survive this. But again, she's not really planning for that either. She just wants the first light that's going to be generated when she makes the drop to be able to heal hunt and those around her. So Declan is monitoring, like I said, the Ilusian system as she's making her drop. She approaches the power level she's supposed to have, which is just a blip past zero. And Hypaxia says she's not slowing down. And Declan actually says she's gaining speed. And his response is, but she's classified as low level, near nut negligible. And Hypaxia chimes in then and says, but the gate is not. And then Hypaxia tells us that that plaque on the top of the gate, the power shall always belong to those who give their lives to the city. She doesn't think that's actually just a plaque. She thinks it is an actual What does she call it?

M: A blessing.

C: Yes, that it is an actual blessing. And that Bryce is essentially summoning the power of the gates. All seven gates. And Declan sitting there watching this is trying to tally how much power that's going to be. Because he has to think about it. Seven gates with every soul that is given over a little bit of power, every soul that's touched it. And he tried and failed to calculate it because there's just it's too many people. Because it's over all of the centuries that they have touched the gate and handed over that little bit. And he describes it as like a coin tossed into a fountain, made a wish on a drop, on the on that drop of yielded power. And that they were millions and millions of drops of power fueled this solo drop. And they're from all different kinds of people. So all every race, every being, even humans. have put in they don't have power, but even humans have touched it. And so it's every single type of being has put their power into one of these gates. And now Bryce is drawing on all of that.

M: I wonder

C: And that

M: if it counts the extra kernels of power, like how Danika had gone a few times and Bryce had, you know, you get the illusion that they'd been more than once to each gate. I wonder if it adds to the millions the multiple times people in present time with the book had gone through just repeatedly. Cause

C: Right.

M: you know, like little kids dropping coins into the donation bin at Walmart and watching them spin before they drop into the bucket. How many times would you do that in every single drop? 'Cause you know, you take a little kid, they're gonna do it. If they have the power to do it, they're gonna do it every chance they can get. it's insane.

C: Exactly. That's why it why Declan can't calculate it, because it's so many people across so many years. Yeah, and it's an insane amount of power, which we're gonna find out in a second. So Bryce passes level after level, the Autumn King's face going pale, and Hypaxia draws everyone's attention to the gates. The quartz gates across the city began to glow red, then orange, then gold, and then white. And then first light erupted from them. All seven gates. Lines of it spread out in every direction. The lights flowed down the ley lines between the gates, connecting them along the main avenues. And this is what's interesting. It formed a perfect six pointed star. Not seven, seven's our magic number. But six. The lines of light began to spread, curving around the city walls, cutting off the demons now aiming for the lands beyond. The light met light until the city was ringed in it, until every street was glowing, and Bryce was still making the drum. So then we have a little paragraph where we switch back to Bryce. She is still making the drop, as we just said. And she and Danika are just kind of falling together, laughing and smiling together. So I love that we get this last couple of moments between her and Danika. And it gets to be that happy reunion that they didn't get to have, or that happy moment before, like before Danika died. But Bryce continues to drop, we jump back to Declan. He says she's now passing runes level. And Declan is realizing that this could change the order of everything because now a half human princess with a star's light in her veins was going to have more power than the chosen heir of the fae And b Bryce begins to slow as she is nearing the Autumn King's level. The light shot up from the gates, seven bolts becoming one in the heart of the city, above the old square gate, a highway of power of Bryce's will. The voids between Midgard and Hel began to shrink as if the light itself was abhorrent, as if that pure, unrestrained first light could heal the world, and it did. Buildings shattered by brimstone slid back into place and Rubble gathered into walls and streets and fountains, wounded people were whole again, and Bryce continued to slow. And more and more of the city healed as the horn closed the per portals. And she continues to amplify the first light that she's generating. And then finally the voids became slivers, and then they were nothing, and they were sealed again. The portals were gone. And finally, Bryce stops. Just a decimal point. above the Autumn King. So she has the ittiest little bittiest bit of power more than the Autumn King. So technically she is the most powerful fae in Valbara that we know of at least. Of course, Declan's response is to laugh because he's thrilled that she has more power than the Autumn King, but the Autumn King's response is don't be so smug because she may have just used the gate's power to make the drop to unforeseen levels of power, but she'll not be able to make the ascent because she doesn't have a true anchor. And Declan realizes that it's something like pain that crosses a a that crosses over the Autumn King's face. Because he th believes Bryce is going to to die. She's not gonna be able to make the ascent. and then the monitors the clock starts ticking down for the six minutes, symbolizing that Bryce's body, her mortal body, has died and now she has to do the search in the next six minutes and then start to make the ascent before the six minute timer runs out. And the Autumn King says she made the drop alone, that Danika Fendyr is dead. She's not a true anchor, and Bryce has no way back to life. So then we switch to Bryce and we get to glimpse what it's like at the bottom at the search. And she mentions that yes, there was a physical ground beneath her. She had a sense of entire of an entire world above her, full of distant twinkling lights, but she was at the bottom of the sea. the dark trench that cut through the skin of the earth. And every time I read this, I picture in the Little Mermaid at the very end, where Ursula makes like the water tornado and Ariel is at the very bottom of it. That's what I picture is that price is at the very bottom of that little water tornado. Kinda seem similar. Danika tells her that she is just a spark, that that's all that is left of her. what is a what has been resting in the bone quarter. And that she doesn't have much time to make the ascent. Bryce's response is, I'm not making the ascent. And Danika, of course, wants to know why. Why are you choosing not to live? And Bryce's response is because it got too hard. Living without you became too hard, too difficult for me to do. And Danika's response is that's bull. That's BS. You'll just give up everything. I am dead. I am gone, and you'd trade your entire life for this tiny piece of me that's left. The friend I knew wouldn't have done that. And Bryce's response is, Well, we were supposed to do this together. We were supposed to live out our lives together. And Danika, of course, says, I know, but that's not how it turned out. And so you need to move on with and and not get over everything that's happened, but you need to understand or come to an understanding with everything that's happened. And you need to move on and have your own life. You can't dwell on the past. Danika does bring up, you know, you're gonna leave your family. Let's not even think about that, but you're going to leave Hunt, who loves you. She doesn't come out and say that, but she hints around it. And Bryce's response is, you're really trying to convince me to make the ascent for a guy? And Tannica's response is, is Hunt really just a guy? And then she says, and why is somehow why is it somehow a mark against your strength to admit that there is someone who happens to be male worth returning to? Why does it matter if they're male or female? But someone who I know made you feel like things are far from Screwed up his hunt. She Danika does does tell Bryce that her first light did heal him and that he is there waiting for her to come back. And Bryce's response is, I'm scared. I'm scared to go back. I'm scared to create a life without you. And Danika says that's the point of life. To live, to love, knowing that it might all vanish tomorrow. It makes everything that much more precious. And then she tells her, even if you can't see me, I will always be with you. then we switch back to Declan. He is watching us the last couple of minutes, wind down on the clock. In that time, he has checked every database, private and public, in Midgard for a miracle, looking for some way to help Bryce. Is there some way that that he can help them, that they can help them? And the Autumn King gives us a little bit of information on some of the things that he's been doing over the last couple of years. So he says, beyond being without an anchor, she used an artificial power source to bring her to that level. Her body is not biologically equipped to make the ascent. Even with a true anchor, she wouldn't be able to gain enough momentum for that first jump upward. And then he tells us that he's looked. He has spent centuries looking. Thousands of people throughout the ages have attempted to go past their own intended levels through artificial means. None of them ever make it back to life. So it just makes me wonder, do they not make it back to life for a specific reason? Like I'd like to know more about what he's found, but he doesn't go into all of that. As the timer is running down to the last couple of seconds, it ends up stopping right at point zero zero three. And that's when they realize that she has started running. She has started to make the ascent. Danika, then we switch back to Bryson. Danika, Danika is kind of nipping at her heels, trying to push her to go a little bit faster, run faster to not stop. And so Bryce uses every foot of the runway, every last inch, and then blast it upward with that little bit of self energy, whatever that Danika has left, pushing her up to make the ascent. Declan, which switch back to Declan, can't believe what he's seen. Autumn King falls to his knees because he can't believe what he's seen. Like we just said, he spent so many centuries f trying to look into this and finding that the opposite. Happened, but Bryce Rose lifted on a surge of power. And the Autumn King's response is it's not it's not possible. She's alone. And this is the part that's gonna get me. Sabine has tears streaming down her face when she whispers that she's not alone because Danika is there. That little bit of force is from Danika and the last bit of spark that she had left. So Danika is essentially she's gone. Her spirit no longer rests in the bone quarter in the afterlife is what we're assuming that is. it is gone now. It is essentially dissipated. I like that Declan mentions that his princess is what he calls her, because he's already claimed her as their their fae princess. His princess fought for every bit of progress upward, her power shifting traces of everyone who'd given it to her coming through. Mare, shifters, Draki, human, angels, sprites, fey. And the Autumn King wants to know how, and the ancient prime speaks up again for one of the few times where we actually hear him speak and says, with the strength of the most powerful force in the world, the most powerful force in any realm. What brings loyalty beyond death, undimming despite the years? What remains unwavering in the face of hopelessness? And I like that Declan points out. Or that Sarah points out that the Autumn King did not know what this was. He could not fathom what could possibly be the answer. And it's Sabine again that whispers it and that it is love. Because we have that little phrase between Bryce and Danika that they have said back and forth to each other. They have it tattooed on themselves, it's on Danika's jacket. Through all love is or through love, all is possible. and then Declan's eye kind of switches to a different screen, seeing the old gate and Bryce's body, and Hunt, who is now healed, is using his lightning to like slam it into Bryce's chest to try and restart her heart and give her that anchor to come back to the world, like that tether. And of course Hunt is telling her, I heard what she said. That she told him she loved him while he was dying. And she he's like, What you waited to admit until I was almost dead, you coward Now come say it to my face and he slams another bolt into her again. and then we switch back to Bryce. Danika's last words to her again are I love you before she completely fades into nothing. And that Bryce kind of roars as she Is coming back up into herself. That she barrels higher, her power shifted, dancing between forms and gifts, and she thrust upward with a push of a mighty tail, twisted and rose with a sweep of vast wings, and she was all things and yet herself. So this is where we see all of the different types of power that have been given to the gates. She is using all of them to pull herself up the ascent. And then she heard it, his voice. His answering challenge to her call. And realizing that Hunt is there waiting for her, trying to fighting to keep her heart going, and she was close enough to the veil that she was able to see. we switch back to Hunt and he mentions that. The first thing he saw after he was healed was the gates and the light coming from them. The first light, realizing this can only be generated when someone makes the drop, realizes that it's probably Bryce who is making the drop untethered. So that's why he is trying to now save her because she has saved him. And his power felt it coming a moment later, recognized her like seeing itself in a mirror. So they are mirrored in in in each other. how she was bringing up this much power, how she was making the ascent alone. He has no idea and he doesn't really care as long as she's coming back to him. He had fallen and had survived and had gone through every trial and torture and horror all for this moment, so he could be here. And then he tells her, Come on, I'm waiting for you. And realizes that he'd been waiting for her for this moment since he'd been born. And as if she'd heard him, she exploded into life. The first thing she says to him, because Bryce is super snarky, is did you just call me a coward? He says, So what if

M: Ha

C: I did? And she says, Too bad all that healing first light didn't turn you into a decent person. And Hunt says, Where would the fun be in that? And she has officially saved the day, saved the world, all of the above. they go back to her apartment, get cleaned up. She has fixed all of the houses around. she couldn't heal those who were already dead, but those who were only wounded and still alive were healed by the first light that she generated. when they get back to the apartment, the apartment door, the front door is open and Syrinx is just sitting in the doorway. And Bryce thinks, I thought I left that door shut. And Hunt says, I'll explain his gifts later. Because somehow she hasn't realized that he can either unlock doors or just teleport a little bit because he's he wakes her up and he's supposed to be in his crate almost every morning and she still hasn't put it together. But Hunt's gonna explain it to her at some point. Let's see. Hunt brings her into the bedroom, sitting them down on the edge of the mattress. He's of course healed, so their next thought is, Well now we can finally get back to what we had started before all of this crazy stuff happened. They talk about how they want to hear each other's perspectives of everything that happened. She tells him, obviously she killed Micah. He says, I know, but I want to hear your side of it. He tells her that he killed Sandriel. but and he wants to know specifically how she kept it a secret, how she hid the fact that she had a star inside her. And Bryce's response, well, it's just light. It's not an actual star. And Hunt's response is no, you have that power now. Because of the gates and all of the other powers, the other people who gave the powers to the gates. You now have the power of the star. And she realizes she looks down and says that that's new, that there is an eight-pointed star glowing in her chest, almost as if it's a scar between her breasts. So I don't know why this one's eight points, and then we got six points earlier, but seven star pointed star is for the Asteri. Maybe. They're all significant. I don't know, we'll see. Hunt does tell her then that she's gonna have to learn to control it. All of this new power, which is something that we've seen in both of her other series, that when you have a lot of power you need to learn to control it, otherwise it will make you insane. And Bryce's response is we save the city and you're already telling me I need to get back to work. So they do finally get to a point where they are kissing, getting close to taking things to the next level in their relationship. When who would call but Bryce's mother? Which I feel like is it it that tracks. That tracks. That is definitely something that Ember Quinlan would do like the second things start to get hot and heavy between Hunt and Bryce. Her mom calls. So of course she needs to answer it because if she doesn't answer it, then Ember is just going to call back until Bryce does answer. So she answers, talks to her mom, decides, hey, I'm covered in blood and dirt and grime and dust and all kinds of yucky stuff. Maybe I should get a shower before I do anything with Hunt. So while she's talking to her mom, she showers. we find out from Ember that the news has just broken. That Bryce is the daughter of the Autumn King. So that is now out. they've also announced the exact amount of power that she has, almost or as much as him, even more, and that that's a big deal. and that Bryce saved the city, closed the gates, but outside of that, nothing else has been said. that Micah is not included and Sandrill are not included. in this news report. And Bryce's response is, Well, we'll talk about it tomorrow. And Ember, knowing her daughter, says, Well, tomorrow in your vocabulary means never. and we find out that it was also Declan who called Ember to tell her all of what happened in regards to Bryce's drop and that Danika was the one that anchored her. And Ember says, and we'll talk about Danika And what she did for you tomorrow as well. and then we kind of switch to Hunt's point of view, and he is getting a shower himself, but kind of listening to this conversation one sided and listening to Bryce say, Yes, Hunt's here. No, I didn't, no, he didn't either, whatever that question is. And then Bryce says, That is none of your business, and please never ask me anything like that again. So Hunt has a pretty good idea that they were about to do whatever it was Ember was asking about. and so he ends up pulling up a burner phone that he had stashed in Bryce's in his room, in Bryce's apartment, calls Isaiah. Isaiah is a mess. He is back at the comedium. They made it, all the angels made it back. Naomi is still alive, but Isaiah has realized that since he was the head of Micah's triari and Micah is gone, that means Isaiah is the one in charge. And he is not an actual archangel. So everyone is struggling to bow to him, to listen, take his commands. so he does tell Hunt he could really use his help sorting everything out. that if the command is coming from both Isaiah and Hunt, then everybody all the underlings will fall into line. after he's showered, is getting dressed, looks down at his wrist where the slave tattoo was, and starts blinking at it because something is off. And then we switch to Bryce. Soon as she hangs up with her mom, she gets another phone call. It's an un it's an unknown number. She assumes it's Jesiba. So she answers and just says, Hey. And then a young male voice comes across and says, Is that how you greet all your callers, Bryce Quinlan? And this is Rigelis the bright hand of the Asteri. So one of the six Asteri calling her. She knows immediately because she's heard his voice on the news multiple times. So he tells them that they beheld her actions today and wish to extend our gratitude. and essentially it comes down to He threatens, without actually coming out and saying it, that if she steps out of line, he's going to kill her parents, her mom and her stepdad. He knows who is close to her that he can target if she makes the wrong move. Pretty much tells her that she can use her power like her light and her starlight and do party tricks and that kind of thing. And they expect her to learn how to control her power. But they expect her also to not use the horn. That they'll allow her to continue to have it since it's attached to her body now. But she is not allowed to use it. And so they do tell her that they are going to extend a favor to her because of their gratitude. And then Hunt walks in and shows her his wrist and it has a C tattooed over the slave's mark, meaning that he has been freed. and so they pretty much told Bryce and Hunt they can continue to live out their days in peace as long as they stay in line. Bryce asks about Micah and Rigulus tells her that they're saying Micah went rogue. He threatened to destroy innocent citizens by putting Synth into the market, into you know, into by unleashing Synth on Crescent City as well as by opening the portals. And so because of that, he went rogue. And they're Saying that they killed him because of that, and that Sandrio got what she deserved in being so lax with her control over her slaves. So that's also kind of a reminder to hunt to say you need to stay in line or we will lease your power again or kill you or take Bryce away from you. and that they're not allowed to tell anyone else what really happened. And that the unfortunate destruction of Lunathian is all being blamed on Sandriel. They're saying that Sandriel told them the city had been evacuated and that's why they send in the Asterian Guard to wipe away the demon infestation. And it was incredibly fortunate that Bryce found a solution and that did not happen. And that's about it. They have their blessing to live, continue to live peacefully as long as they don't make any ripples in the water. and then Bryce turns to hunt after she's done on the phone with the scary Asteri and wants to know why he has put on actual clothes and it's because he's going to help Isaiah. And so he asks her, want to come play scary butthole with me. And she says, yes, I have just the outfit. and so they make it up to the roof so that they're able they're gonna fly back to the comidium to help Isaiah, but they do actually smell Ruhn coming with Fury and Tristan Flynn. So Hunt then flies her down to the sidewalk so she can see them. Fury hugs her nice and tight and says, You're a one lucky idiot and a smart biotch Because she is. She asks about Juniper. Juniper's good. Fury's about to go see her. And so she says hi to Bryce, tells Hunt, well done for what he did to save Bryce. And then she runs off. Again, sprinting off, blending into the night itself. So we don't know what her powers are, but she blends into the night. and then Ruhn starts telling her about what had happened after they landed, well, crashed the helicopter. that Tharion has gone back to the blue court to bring some of the evacuees back from underwater. Amelie went to the den to make sure the pups were okay. that they were half a mile from the Moonwood gate when he heard her. And he was trying to get to the gate to be the one to anchor her, but there were too many demons around. And before he could get there, he heard Danika and then the light erupted. they do briefly discuss the fact that she is now also starborn or has revealed that to everyone. And his response is, I don't care about that. I don't care about being the chosen one or the starborn prince. All I care about is being called your brother. So they have a nice little brother-sister moment, forgive each other. He does warn her that the Autumn King is probably gonna wanna meet with her, so just be ready, prepare yourself. And her response is doesn't getting a bunch of fancy power mean I don't have to obey anyone? But no, that's not how this works. And then she brings up that Hunt told her about the mind reading. And Ruhn's response is, Well, darn you, Athalar, for having a big mouth. But he does remind her, it is not mind reading, it is mind talking. It's like telepathy. And Bryce wants to know if their dad knows the Autumn King, and he says no. And then he says into her mind and I'd like to keep it that way. Bryce just kinda startles and says that's creepy, kindly stay the F out of my head. And then his phone rings and he has to take it. he asks if he can come over tomorrow and she says yes, I'll get your name added to the guest list. And his response is, you're such a hot shot now. so then she and Hunt do make it back to the comedium where they spend the next like day and a half helping to get order. Hunt ends up staying the night. Bryce comes back to the apartment so that she can sleep in her own bed. because they have to reorganize the city's leadership. They have to be sailing for all of the dead, and that they're waiting on the big big announcement on which archangel would be tapped by the Asteri to rule over Valbara. So they're trying to kind of reorganize the city's leadership before that happens, so that it's not a complete mess by the time the new Archangel comes in. But Hunt is finally free. There are no more death bargains that he will need to face. If he chooses to, he can be an actual free and true member of the Triari of the next Archangel, but he has not decided if he's going to do that or not. Tharion had called her the day before, promising the River Queen's full support for any resources she would need. So Bryce isn't sure if that means. Because she is the bastard daughter of the Autumn King, if she is a star because she is a starborn fee, or because she bears Luna's horn. Maybe all three. She's not sure why she has the River Queen support. But she does. She does text Juniper now that she knows June is okay and tells her that she will come to the next dance class. So we finally have her starting to kind of not pick up her life before Danika died, but go back to the things that she enjoyed. And then she makes it to the river. She's walking syrinx. and she makes it to the river because she wants to kind of say goodbye. She didn't go to the sailings of Danika and the pack when they happened. So this is kind of her way of observing them. She is at the Istros River watching or reading through all of the last text messages between herself and Danika and herself and Connor. And she finally responds to the messages from Connor that had said, message me when you're home safe. And so almost two years to the day, she writes back, I'm home, because she's finally starting to enjoy life again, or decides that she's ready to enjoy it again. And she deletes the thread between her and Connor, between her and Danika, all of them. And she looks up across the river to the Mists of the Bone Quarter and they part for just a few seconds, revealing a grassy shore, ruling serene hills beyond, not a land of stone and gloom, but of light and green, and standing on the lovely shore smiling at her were the six members of the pack of devils, minus Danika. And then she makes it back to her apartment and says there was an angel in her apartment, which meant it must be any day of the week, which meant she had joy in her heart and her eyes set on the wide open road ahead. And that is the end of Bryce and Hunt for this book. We get one little bonus chapter that is between Jesiba and our favorite white cat who wasn't a white cat. Aidas And the white cat with eyes like blue opals sat on a bench in the Oracle's park, licking his front paw. Such a cat thing to do. Jesiba says, you're not a true cat, you don't need to do that And Aidas's response is, Well, who says I don't like licking myself because such a guy. Jesiba wants to know why he didn't tell her about Bryce and he said I didn't trust anyone with that secret, not even you. Jesiba's response is, I thought Thea's light was forever extinguished. Aidas says, So did I. I thought they'd made sure she and her power died on that last battlefield under Prince Pelias's blade. That should ring a bell that something is not right. But Bryce Quinlan bears her light. Jesiba wants to know if Aidas can tell the difference between Bryce's starlight and Ruhn starlight. And Aidas says, I shall never forget the exact shine and hue of Thea's light. It is still a song in my blood. Jesiba asks, and what about Hunt Athalar? Aidas's response Is I think Athalar's father would have been proud. We don't know who this guy is, but apparently Aidas does. And Jesiba says that's sentimental of you. Aidas's response is you knew the male best. And then we switch gears and he asks about the library, the library of Parthos that Jesiba has. She says it has already been moved. And then she says to Aidas, don't screw us over this time. And Aidas says, I do not plan to, not when things are about to get so interesting. and we do learn from him too that any of the demons that had actually gone back into hell through the portals before Bryce shut the portals, that they were being punished by Aidas's brothers. And he was going to be returning soon to join them and do the same. So what do we think of that last little bit? Did you pick up on anything?

M: Well, Prince Pelias isn't he the starborn prince they referenced? So he killed his mop. Did I catch that right or no?

C: Thea you caught it half right. Thea wasn't

M: Okay.

C: his mom. He was married to or betrothed to Thea's daughter, Helene. Because Thea had the starborn power and she had two daughters who also had the power, Helene and another daughter that doesn't get mentioned. So the history book Ruhn Red said Prince Pelias was a starborn prince. But now Aidas is telling us that Prince Pelias killed and squashed out Thea's light. So something doesn't add up. And that's it.

M: that means we get to go to book two, yes. Finally!

C: That's right. Jump into book two. Okay, so now we have Bryce, who not only has starlight, but the actual power of a star. And she gained it through artificial means, which the Autumn King has researched for hundreds of years and found that that's not possible from all the research he's done. And yet somehow Bryce was able to do it. Hunt is alive, has a dad. who may or may not still be alive. We're not Aidas doesn't the way he words it, he could be, he could not be. We don't know for sure. But that Aidas knows who his dad is, and that Hunt is the

M: And

C: only person with lightning in the world.

M: Not only that, Jesiba knows Hunt's dad.

C: Yes.

M: And he said he knows her dad or she knows his dad best, which makes you wonder. Is she part of some additional plot as to how Hunt got in Bryce's crosshairs? It couldn't have all just been purely coincidental. Like, yes, Micah was a spearhead for a lot of it with everything he was pulling, but of everyone there, why Hunt? I just I have a feeling there's a tie there somewhere, but then I haven't read the other two books. So I could be fully off the mark.

C: I'm not convinced that the

K: Wouldn't that have just been the gods just kind of mingling though? I feel like that would have been more

C: Right. I'm not convinced it's Jesiba.

M: That makes sense.

K: Why I don't fully understand why Bryce wouldn't have any powers to begin with. If she has the Starborn power, why does she think that she isn't gonna have anything and that she needed all this additional push to get any power. Do you understand what I'm saying?

C: So Bryce was only like when they get tested, it the whatever's their system that they have tells you how much power you're going to get when you make the drop, how much you will inherit. So it's essentially like it gets passed down from person to person, and Bryce is only supposed to inherit a small amount of it. She's not gonna she's not supposed to inherit a ton of magic to be able to do anything more than party tricks. But when she makes the drop, because she is using because like Danika isn't beside her for the drop. She is a gate away. So because the gate is a conduit, all of that extra power from the gates then channels into her. Not necessarily that she pulls the power herself on purpose. That's just how it happens. So it's not that she tried to get that power. She didn't know that it was gonna give her all of the power from those people. Maybe she thought it might.

K: Well, I know that. I just don't understand how she didn't already have power if she was do you understand what I'm saying? if she was on Ruhn's level with already having

C: She wasn't she wasn't even close to Ruhn's level.

K: not in that aspect with already having that, but if she went to the Oracle, right, and she they already s she already saw that and saw that she had that power, wouldn't it already be there?

C: So she has the light part of it. So what she can do is she can glow really, really bright and blind

K: Mm-hmm.

C: people because of how bright the light is. But there's nothing else to it. There's no fire

K: Okay.

C: that burns that's so cold it burns. That's how they described it at one point, I can't remember when. But she doesn't have the power of the actual like star is how they describe it. She just has the light of it.

K: Okay. I guess that's where I was getting confused then. Because if it was already there, why wouldn't she you know, why would she Okay.

C: Yeah. Right. No. No. So like how Ruhn is able to put his power, pull it out of himself and like put it into the prism in the Autumn King's

K: Mm-hmm.

C: study thing.

K: Yeah. Mm-hmm.

C: that's the actual power of the star. So it can like zap. I don't know that it can zap,

K: Yeah.

C: but She doesn't have the full extent of it. We'll put it that way.

K: Okay.

C: And just like that, we have officially made it through House of Earth and Blood. From the very beginning, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We thought we were picking up a fantasy book, but instead Sarah J. Maas handed us a murder mystery, an entire new world to memorize, approximately 700 names we had to keep straight, political drama, angels, fae, demons Questionable decisions and enough emotional trauma to last us several lifetimes. And then there was Bryce. Watching her journey through this book has been one of the biggest emotional roller coasters. We've laughed with her, cried with her, questions questioned her decisions, celebrated her strength, and probably yelled at her a few times along the way. And Hunt, well let's just say we have thoughts. We have lots of thoughts. These final chapters gave us everything heartbreak, sacrifice, friendship, revenge, redemption, and a finale that reminded us exactly why Sarah refuses to let her readers have nice things without first destroying them emotionally. We started this book with questions about a murder and somehow ended up questioning the entire world of Crescent City, and honestly, we wouldn't have it any other way. So if you've been listening along with us from the very beginning, thank you for coming back every episode, for letting us overanalyze every suspicious conversation, create wildly inaccurate theories, fall in love with fictional characters, and collectively lose our minds over this book. But this isn't goodbye to Crescent City, because if there's one thing we've learned, it's that when Sarah closes one door, She's usually opening another one, and there are still plenty of mysteries left to uncover. So grab your copy of House of Sky and Breath, because our journey through Crescent City is far from over. Until next time, keep reading, keep theorizing, and remember, trust no one, question everything, and always assume that the tiny detail Sarah mentioned 300 pages ago. is going to come back and emotionally destroy you. We'll see you back in Crescent City.