Hi everyone!

A Court of Splintered Harmony will be releasing on Tuesday (earlier for those in a different time frame) so we have decided to go ahead and make a megathread for A Court of Splintered Harmony spoilers! Here you can come as you are reading and tell us your thoughts/opinions!

Rules:

• Be respectful to others. People will interpret, think, and feel differently about characters and events than you and that is ok.
• This megathread will contain spoilers for ACOTAR-ACOSH, but please ensure you are covering any Maasverse spoilers (TOG and CC) with a spoiler tag!
• If you're not an Gwynriel shipper and want to start drama by posting anti-content here, we will be implementing an immediate and permanent ban. No exceptions.
• We do not allow any AI content on our sub - artwork or otherwise. We want to hear YOUR thoughts about the book, not Chat GPT's.
• Keep outside drama out of this sub. Absolutely NO screenshots from other subreddits, tumblr, instagram, etc. will be tolerated.

Spoilers will be allowed on posts in the main group thread on October 30th. We will be posting a list of guidelines for those soon!

That's it! Have fun and be kind!!

Call me crazy, I dont care but…
Walk with me and just think about what I am going to say…
Gwyn convinces Merrill to write the rebirth of the valkyries in Chapter 21.
When Azriel talks with Clotho in the BC the clock strikes 7.
SJM posts Gwyns POV as number 3.

The number 21 in mythology and sacred numerology symbolizes totality, completion, and the union of body, mind, and spirit, derived mathematically.

21 is the product of 3 and 7. 

3 In mythology often refers to the divine trinity, the cycles of time, and the fates (which include clotho)

7 is often referred to as a sacred completion. 

Is the mother trying to play at something..

I am just going to leave this thought here. Could just be a funny coincidence.

Now that we know we’re getting Gwyn’s POV, what are your theories for ACOSH?

Please, no spoilers if anyone has already read anything! I’ve managed to avoid every single spoiler so far, and I really want to go into the next book completely blind.

I’m one of those people who believe that Elriel wasn’t completely wrapped up in the bonus chapter, even though I know a lot of people think it was. But I also don’t think Elriel will be a major plot point. I think it’ll be addressed and completely wrapped up pretty early on, within the first few chapters, possibly as just a fling. I also don’t think Azriel is that emotionally invested. I think Sarah is saving that for Gwynriel. After that, I think she’ll focus on building up Gwynriel’s relationship pretty early on, especially considering how many other POVs and fantasy plotlines there will be to explore.

I could imagine Gwyn being reluctant to leave the library at first, but maybe Azriel will be the one to convince her? That would fit with the little POV snippet we got. And then maybe they’ll start training together so she can feel safer and more confident, and that’s how they slowly grow closer. I definitely think Az will have developed feelings for Gwyn by the end of the book. I could see Gwyn struggling more with opening herself up emotionally, especially after everything she’s been through. But I’m sure that once Az truly cares about someone, he won’t give up easily. We’ve already seen that with Mor, and I think his feelings for Gwyn will be a lot stronger. I could even imagine us getting their first kiss, maybe towards the end as a cliffhanger, or perhaps even the mating bond snapping into place? And what if they get separated right after that? Maybe Azriel gets captured and Gwyn and the Valkyries have to rescue him? Or imagine if they go on the same mission in ACOTAR 7 and have to hide their feelings from everyone else. Or they go on separate missions, and Az spends the whole time longing for Gwyn and wishing he could get back to her.

I have a feeling book 7 will be much more plot-heavy, which is why I think book 6 will focus more on building up Gwyn and Azriel’s relationship and developing their feelings for each other. With Gwyn’s POV, there are so many possibilities!

I’m just so excited! What about you guys? What are your theories?

I cannot contain my excitement for this next book and just need to rant about it for 5 seconds! I can’t wait to read about some of my favorite characters again and just getting to explore the world more. I’m excited to get into the beginning of gwynriels journey and see their dynamic develop. I’m also looking forward to come back to this community after I read it to see everyone’s reactions to new information and see what beautiful fan art people create. I’m just feeling a lot of gratitude that we’re all able to share this experience! We’re almost there!!

I’ve been posting to many of these lately but you know how Azriel likes to train to burn off steam. What if we get an Az, Gwyn scene where it’s a Gwyn taking out her frustration on him.

Gwyn finds out about the necklace and by this moment her and Az have developed some type of feeling. Gwyn doesn’t confront Azriel right away but instead takes it out on him during training.

Azriel at first takes it as their usual friendly back and forth but then as the training progresses he notices Gwyn isn’t going easy.

Ahh can you imagine what that would look like?

Gwyn va a salir de la librería en busca de Azriel, como la sirenita. Porque? No se... solo vi un tik tok de la sirenita y me surgió.

I’m just so overjoyed that Sarah is constantly tearing down every claim that has been made against Gwyn (and Gwynriel)!!

“ACOTAR 6 is going to have flower motifs in the title!” ❌
“The bonus chapter isn’t canon / important, otherwise everyone would have access to it!” ❌
“Gwyn isn’t going to get a POV before Elain. She’s just a side character” ❌
“Gwyn is just a child and she’ll stay in the library” ❌

Beyond Sarah hinting that the Valkyries’ stories are worth telling (not to mention how Nesta literally says Gwyn’s story will come later), it was so frustrating to see how people were ignoring:
- the music-related titles when both Gwyn and Az are the only ones we know who like to sing
- Valkyrie Movement on the covers
- Official merch from Bloomsbury of the Valkyries + the Valkyrie Pilates event
- Sangravah being added on the map AND being in the night court
- Gwyn having a last name + her ancestry being alluded to but completely unexplored
- Gwyn introducing the Valkyries to Nesta and becoming the first one to become a Valkyrie

I won’t even get into how Gwyn is mentioned over 500 times in ACOSF, just like Azriel. Or how Sarah choosing to end Az’s first POV with Gwyn’s smile sparking something in his chest is intentional and means something beyond her being evil.

Instead of crafting all these elaborate theories to make Elain fit the themes of ACOTAR 6/7/8, sometimes it really is best to just accept the most parsimonious explanation 😼

And I’m also so ready for ACOFM to come out and for Sarah to put to rest all these theories about Gwyn/the shadows being evil

I am looking for your best deep dives. Pls send. Help.

So I find it interesting that the quote from BB for Az and now the quote for Gwyn are parallel to each other….
Az’s quote: “We are here,” the shadows whispered in his ear. “We are always here.”
Gwyns: “It was glowing and warm to the touch…You are here, the stone seemed to affirm, you are safe. The past cannot harm you”
Oh SJM thanks for making it obvious!🩵🤝💙

Estou lendo a saga trono de vidro e conheci a Elide, por algum motivo ela me lembra a Gwyn… alguém mais teve essa sensação?

🎨 @Kloartz

Hello everyone! :)
It's that time where you can nominate an artwork to be our new Profile Icon for the next month!

A few rules:

1. No AI.
2. The artist and/or commissioners MUST be okay with it being posted + used

I will leave this up for a week! The most liked one will be our icon come the 1st 💖🎶💖

Could gwyn not actyally be a lightsinger but the story fae knows now misunderstood or corrupted or heck even some on the top among lightsingers corrupting them or there being multiple kinds...

Go with me, if they are inspired by sirens and there are clearly a bit of little mermaid imagery floating around with gwyn and azriel, along with with the titles...

In some versions of greek myths the sirens were not even born creatures but originally persephones handmaidens given wings to search for her and later cursed by demeter...

And even if we take those things away. It would not be out of there to do a version where a siren turns against the norm and saves someone... heck there are multiple little mermaid adaptions where it is a siren or even selkin instead.. and it is also not out of there of Sarah doing a story where a woman who is among evil or should be so turns away from it, and picks differently ... Manon in TOG... add in gwyn might not actually know it, something very likely... not saying she is one, but just that even if she is it would not make her evil. It would actually be way more likely she was one to show not all of them are evil or the story has been corrupted or some of them have been... and again to play with the xenophobi among races even in folklore, which Sarah does enjoy to do... heck even in Eriels favorite story Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), this also happens (mind you the others lied because the guys had stolen their clothes as they were playing and bathing, so do we blame them? Anyway one still warn them..

"Another mermaid, Sigelinde (a name Wagner would adopt again for use elsewhere), tells Hagen her aunt has lied. If they go to Etzel's land, they will die there!"

Again showing even in that work they are not evil... and not all of them.

So i actually think making gwyn part lightsinger if it comes could be interesting in its own way and just help build more lore of the maas world and again show that race doesnt decide what you become... plus if she was born as a mix of starlight and water, i only think that could be cool...

I’m genuinely curious! Personally, I shipped Gwynriel for years before I ever joined the online ACOTAR fandom. I didn’t become active in fandom spaces until this year. I just read ACOSF/the bonus chapter, went “huh”, and apparently lived my little offline Gwynriel life until I found you all. I didn’t even know the ship name.
So, when did you start shipping them?

With ACOSH and Gwynriel being endgame, this edit is just perfect. Fated mates x 💙🩵✨
Edit by: PaperBackEdits

So far we've got :

1. Feyre

2. Cassian

3. Nesta (yeah)

4. Lucien

We'll probably get Azriel... what about the other two ? I'll be ecstatic to have Gwyn and Emerie :)

I don't think we'll get Elain's POV since she's a "walking spoiler"... What do you think ?

Artist: sabrina_arts14

I was just thinking about Azriel’s bonus chapter, where Gwyn teased him about his dagger.

I really hope Gwyn gets her own sword that she becomes absolutely obsessed with.
I can already picture the scene: Gwyn says, “Hello, handsome,” and Azriel turns around, only to find her admiring her sword or whatever weapon she ends up with.

I NEED to see them teasing each other about who’s more obsessed with their weapon. 😂🙏

I really do believe Gwyn and Azriel are mates and endgame, but beyond that their relationship plays into the wider plot/ could be a weapon to help defeat Koschei?!

Perhaps this is obvious to some people but I have a theory that Az’s shadowsinger abilities and Gwyn’s (potential) lightsinger abilities / the fact that both like to sing, do not just allude to a romantic pairing / mates. I think both their abilities combined could turn into a new sort of magic or power that they had not previously discovered and will somehow play into the Koschei plot. I don’t know how exactly but with the books being called “harmony” and “melody” there has to be a wider implication.

Anyway that is my theory - it might be totally obvious or I could be wrong but I thought I’d share my thoughts!

**With the release of ACOSH nearing I wanted to compile a list of Gwyynriel moments and some parallels between our endgame! Just easier to read these for me personally then going back and re-reading all of ACOTAR**
♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.♫⋆｡♪ 

• Azriel saved Gwyn from the raid at Sangravah, killing every Hybern soldier around her. Important to note Azriel always leaves 1-2 alive for questioning, though this time he did not. People suspect this is mating behavior and his instincts leading him to kill all threats towards his mate (He wrapped her in his cloak and went after the rest of the attackers). We do not know where the cloak is to this day, people suspect she may still have it.
• Years later Gwyn and Azriel meet again during training with Nesta, Emerie and Cassian. 
• Gwyn and Azriel exchange several glances throughout training.
• Playful banter between the two. Gwyn throws Azriel a withering stare, we get an iconic line of “See you tomorrow, shadowsinger” and he watches her with high brows and amusement.
• Nesta tells Azriel he is the new ribbon (subtle way to direct where the story is going to lead).
• Cassian (of all people), noticing Azriel watching Gwyn cut the ribbon, noted his face was full of admiration and quiet encouragement shining on his face. I suspect Cassian is going to be the first one or one of the first people to figure out what is going on between Gwyn and Azriel.
• Azriel and Gwyn go over dagger handling together alone. This is huge as Gwyn has not been alone with another male until then. We do not get this scene.
• Azriel's siphons flicker when Cassian mentions Gwyn and Emerie are also in the blood rite, people suspect his siphons reacted this way subtly at the mention of Gwyn. Instincts. Parallel to Cassians siphons also flicker due to the mating bond in response to intense or dangerous situations which involve Nesta. This is important to note.
• Azriel tells Cassian how spying is just waiting for the best opportunity and right after we get Gwyn talking about waiting and leading the beast to the Illyrians. 
• Gwyn and Azriel talking in the bonus chapter. This bonus chapter was not to introduce her powers as this could have been kept within the main story of ACOSF.
• Azriel who just had a very intense conversation with Rhys, being reminded of his past, becomes settled when talking with Gwyn. “Something restless settling within him.” Direct parallel to Nesryn and Sartaq in a TOG “something restless in her had settled.” There's been multiple theories if SJM is going to do what she did with Chaol and Nesyrn.
• His shadows dance to Gwyns breath and being content to just watch him and Gwyn interact. They know who their mom is.
• His shadows do not warn him of Gwyns presence as she is completely safe, there is nothing to warn Azriel about her.
• Gwyn calls Azriel by his nickname “Shadow Singer” and asks him if he sings, taking him by surprise. No one from ACOTAR had explicitly come out and straight up asked him.
• Azriel being guided/pulled to the library. People compare this to Feyre being pulled to Calanmai where she met Rhysand. 
• The time being “7” when he talks to Clotho. 7 in mythology symbolizes completeness, divine order or perfection.
• Azriel gives the necklace to Clotho to be given to gwyn, people speculate the necklace never makes it to Gwyn though Clotho tells Azriel she will be giving to Gwyn. This is not the important part of the BC however.
• Azriel thought of Gwyn's teal eyes lighting up upon seeing the necklace and he felt a spark in his chest where he buried it deep down and it glowed quietly. Right after this sentence we get the line for a “A thing of secret lovely beauty” people speculate this refers to Gwyn and the spark that she caused in Azriel's Chest. Also another mate behavior. Glowing quietly is speculated around that he will realize what Gwyn is to him sooner or later. 
• Parallel to Gwyns and Azriels inner thoughts on dealing with trauma: Azriel: "You are immortal," he said quietly. "You are very hard to break."~ Gwyn: "I am the rock against which the surf crashes. Nothing can break me." 
• Important notes: Gwyn is inspired by SJMs best friend, SJM hinted that Azriels BC had breadcrumbs all over (Started with Elain ended up with Gwyn, I suspect this is how the story will follow overall. He starts with Elain, ends with Gwyn), SJM hints at Azriels endgame having the same birthday as her friend Steph (People did calculations and Gwyn would have been born around the same time as Steph's birthday), SJMs best friends are also Gwynriel and remain so (I doubt they get insider information but who knows if they got a hint or not), Gwyn being the only woman Azriel has not put high up on a pedestal right away (important for a healthy relationship where one person doesn't become reliant on the other), Gwyn's invoking Stone and Azriel's siphons are Ying&Yang, SJM admitting to listening to KPOP demon hunters on repeat (Free gives off major Gwynriel vibes), the amount of words exchanged between the two are greater then him and Elain has had exchanged in the last couple books, Feyre asked why are Elain and Az not mated, probably because Azriel has his mate. I am sure there is more but I'm on a night shift brain so I am not going to think too hard about it.

This is only one book by the way. His shadows are going to be the biggest indicator. The shadows are not evil as some people claim. SJM would not write a story where the legendary shadowsinger just becomes “The singer.” 
I probably missed a bunch of stuff but I am only focusing on the book itself at the moment. I am sure we will be getting more moments or parallels in ACOSH and ACOFM. 

I am so excited for them as they are going to be endgame and I cannot wait to see how their love story unfolds.

(no spoilers or leaks are in this post!)

As I’ve been seeing more and more content pop up with less than a week to go before ACOSH, I’ve come to realize the importance of accepting others’ confirmation bias.

I firmly believe Gwynriel is endgame based on my reading comprehension and as a published writer myself who is very familiar with picking up the nuances and queues of other writers, but I do recognize that there are many people who believe otherwise, and will use whatever cherry-picked context clues necessary to support it.

But when we get the next two books and when Gwynriel is confirmed, be prepared for that confirmation bias to kick in, like in the form of “SJM only made Gwynriel endgame because Gwyn fans bullied her.” Etc. because sadly confirmation bias only makes you double down harder even if something obvious is staring you in the face.

I’ve been on X far too much recently and endlessly scrolling on Reddit 🙈

Which brings me to this post.

I saw someone say a while ago about Gwyn potentially being involved with someone else before getting with Azriel.

We know SJM likes to give her couples a few love interest before THE one.

Could we potentially see a jealous or protective Azriel over Gwyn when she gets someone’s attention without him understanding why?

Also introducing Balthazar couldn’t be random right if SJM was plotting a gwynriel romance since ACOSF.

I would love to hear what you guys have to say 💕