1 Conversation In Onyx Storm Completely Wrecked Its Entire Premise

The messiness of Onyx Storm created a few problems for the future of the Empyrean Series, not the least of which is that one conversation completely blew up the premise of the venin. As the big bads of the series, the venin spend most of Fourth Wing being shadowy boogeymen on the edges of the story, the looming threat over Navarre. Iron Flame brought them into focus a little more, showing that they had a hierarchy and ranks, and they were smart enough to strategize, ending with Xaden turning venin. It all felt mostly organic, but one conversation between Jack and Violet about venin in Onyx Storm really throws into question how airtight Rebecca Yarros' continuity is.

While the reveal that Jack Barlowe was venin happened in Iron Flame, there was a bit of confusion around how and when it happened, as well as how, exactly, he fit into the story. But Onyx Storm confirmed that not only is Jack being at Basgiath not a rare aberration, but apparently, the venin have been able to blend in with humans forever, enough so that they can attain high ranks at Basgiath, as Panchek's betrayal in the ending of Onyx Storm showed. Jack taunts Violet as much with one crucial conversation early in the book:

"He stares at the alloy, then swallows. 'Yes. When we’re new, we’re not as adept at hiding ourselves. I’m told it’s so we’ll be found and raised by an elder, usually a Sage, but in rare cases a Maven may take interest.' A corner of his mouth lifts. 'Initiates, asims—we’re all traceable to one another, but the great hall could fill with Sages and Mavens and I’d never know. Neither would you.' His eyes sparkle, and red veins pulse at the corners of his eyes. 'Makes you wonder who’s been channeling here for years, doesn’t it? Who’s been trading information for power?'”

Jack's Reveal That Venin Can Hide In Plain Sight Creates A Plot Hole

Why Didn't They Do This Before?

Jack Barlowe in Fourth Wing Iron Flame Onyx Storm by MiraMirage Art

While it's certainly an intriguing reveal from a dramatic standpoint, from an in-universe logical one, it's confusing on a few levels. For starters, much had been made inFourth Wingabout the inhuman appearance of the venin, as pulling magic directly from the source warps and transforms them. The reveal that people who have pulled from the source but aren't totally lost to the dark side can - mostly - appear human aside from their sometimes-red eyes at least makes sense, even if it feels a bit too convenient.

However, the big question is: if venin could blend in all along and knew this, why have they waited hundreds of years to do it? It could be that they were biding their time until an irid dragon was born in Navarre. Still, considering the venin's overarching lust for power, it's hard to believe they'd not have tried this before now, even if simply to test how well they could pass among humans for the time that they did decide to put their plan into action. Jack's monologue paragraph is just the start of various reveals about the venin that upend the previously established lore about them.

Onyx Storm Upends Almost Everything Fourth Wing & Iron Flame Established About The Venin

They're A Lot More Controlled & Rational Than The First Two Books Made It Seem

Being able to mostly pass as human is one thing, but Onyx Storm also made a few shocking reveals about the venin that change just about everything both the characters and readers knew about them before. Not only is it revealed that Andarna - or at least an irid dragon - is central to their master plan, but they also have specialized signets, the same as humans, and those signets act as counterweights to one another: what one human rider manifests, one venin will manifest, and vice versa, as magic demands balance.

However, Onyx Storm undermines the Empyrean Series' own argument about the venin lust for power and inability to control themselves from pulling directly from the source. The first two books established that once a venin draws power from the earth, it's basically game over. Their transformation to full venin will not take long after that thanks to them largely being unable to resist the lure of raw magic; they are addicts, unable to control the urge to pull from the earth again. It's why there is no cure and what makes them so dangerous.

It completely rewrites the lore that, other than the high-level Sages or Mavens, venin are little more than feral animals unable to control their worst impulses.

Except Onyx Storm didn't follow those rules at all, but showed it is possible for a person in the early stages of turning venin to resist the impulse to draw from the source for a very long time. Certainly long enough that their transformation into an inhuman appearance is significantly delayed, enough for them to still pass among humans. Part of that is because the Basgiath wards dampen their ability to draw. Still, it completely rewrites the lore that, other than the high-level Sages or Mavens, venin are little more than feral animals unable to control their worst impulses. On the contrary, it appears the venin are actually quite controlled when they have to be, especially the Sage and Onyx Storm's new venin, Theophanie.

Onyx Storm Also Raises Serious Questions About The Wards

Their Main Security Measure Has A Serious Security Flaw

The cover of Onyx Storm on a maroon and orange background

Most troubling, Onyx Storm also raised some real questions about Navarre and Tyrrendor depending so much on wards as their main security measure. The wards are designed to keep venin out and nullify their magic, but we now know that's not entirely true. The wards aren't infallible, and Jack, Panchek, Xaden, and now likely Xaden's new venin "brother" showed that venin can, on the contrary, pass quite easily back and forth across the wards. While being behind the wards does significantly dampen the amount of power they're able to draw directly from the source, they're able to draw enough to keep them alive and sustain them. That's a pretty significant flaw in the security system and one Basgiath might want to consider fixing in the fourth Empyrean Series book.