When the Moon Hatched Episode 4: Chapters 37 - 44

At New Balance. We believe if you run, you're a runner. However you choose to do it. Because when you're not worried about doing things the right way, you're free to discover your way. And that's what running's all about. Run your way at newbalance.com. Keep the cuddles and lose the mess with Advantage Chewable. Just one tasty tablet kills fleas and ticks for a whole month. No mess, no stress. Just one tasty chew. Advantage Chewable. Flee and tick protection made easy. Find out more at advantagechewable.co.uk. Easy to love, easy to protect. Advantage Chewable. Flee and tick protection made easy. We meet the Fate Herder this episode, which is laden with all sorts of force-shuttering goodies. If you don't know why, then please go finish this book. We will be here when you're done. Next, we at Fantasy Thangirls are adults who say adult things about adult books. In other words, friends, this podcast is rated R. We get a vision and oh, it's a spicy meatball. So please be mindful of those little listening ears. Additionally, we are so excited to see you at upcoming live events. We are so happy to be partnering with Tattered Cover and Booking Gather again for a very special release party for Ballad of Falling Dragons on May 18th in Denver, Colorado. Then this Wednesday, we are partnering with the Denver Nuggets and Rebecca Yarrows for a very special, fourth-wing-themed basketball night at Ball Arena. We cannot wait to do a live show at the Neptune Theater on April 19th in Seattle. Tickets are on sale now for you to dive deep into How to Train Your Dragon with Us. Nicole, the complete series of How to Train Your Dragon, because yes, it is a series. Just got delivered to my door. I'm so excited. Oh, I'm so happy for you. I can't wait for you to read 3,000 pages before April 19th. It's going to be great. All of the links are on our website or below in the show notes for more information. And keep an eye out because we've got some more events coming soon. Like, you know, the Akita release party that we just dropped on social media. Last thing before we jump into this Win the Moon hatch episode. If you love fantasy fangirls and want more events, more content, more community, and so much more, please check out Fantasy Fan Club. There are three fantasy fangirl specific tiers. Number one is the Hive Mind, which includes access to our bop and discord live Q&A's and community events, book clubs, author interviews, promo codes for live events, plus 20% off and access to exclusive merch. That is all for $6 a month. Or you can join the Spice Watchers, which includes everything from the Hive Mind level, plus early access to ad free episodes, our full episode outlines, and special voting privileges. That is for $10 a month. And last but not least, we have the Feral Fans, which includes everything from the previous two tiers, plus more behind the scenes content, a welcome gift, giveaways, private discord channel, and your name shouted out on the podcast. That is for $25 a month. We also have more tiers with benefits for all three shows under the Fantasy Fan Girls media network. Check out all the tier details and join the party at fantasyfangirls.com slash fan club. The link is also in the show notes and really and truly thank you so much for supporting us as we turn this podcast into a dream come true. It is all because of you. And now it is time to go to the Tuka Trial. I'm so excited. I love the Tuka Trial. To start off every episode, let's get a parchment-lark delivery, where Nicole does us the honor of summarizing what happens in chapters 37 through 44 of When the Moon Hatched. Chapter 37 Diary Entry in the middle of the night. The Tri-Council comes for Ellowan. They claim that they are doing this for her protection, but it's mighty sus that her family was just killed. And now she's being forced to bond with the guy who her father said over my dead body to. Too soon. Chapter 38. Raive regains consciousness and thank the gods her subconscious doesn't have a death wish because she's clutching to a floating log down the stream. Raive is yelled at by strangers speaking a language vastly outside her du lingo range, one of which jumps into the water and saves her drowning ass. Thanks, stranger. Just when Raive is about to yate herself back into the water, a huge silver beast steps in her path. The fate hurt her has arrived and it's here to corral her to go with these two warriors. Can't a girl just escape in peace? Chapter 39. Raive is brought to the tribe and before twin bloodstone thrones, a couple is seated there obviously in charge, but Raive is still in the dark because she can't speak their foreign words. And now there are two hulking men swaggering their way to her. An animal is then killed and its blood is caught in a bowl. Well, it's a good thing that Siza shows up because she can explain what the fuck is going on. Turns out Raive is part of a prophecy and her offspring will tether the moons to the sky forever. Hooray! Oh, and all of this other stuff. Yeah, it's to decide who will be the father of said child. Gladiator style. Welcome, Raive, to the Tuka trial. Chapter 40. Raive is herded to a crater, the fighting pit. The two warriors are the two warriors. Gladiator style. Welcome, Raive, to the Tuka trial. Chapter 40. Raive is herded to a crater, the fighting pit for the trial. She watches as Hawk and Zaryn fight it out for her for the honor of binding to her. It doesn't take long before Hawk slices off Zaryn's head and holds it up for Raive. Thanks, I guess. She is, rightfully, appalled and instead of accepting her fate, Raive decides it's time to fight for herself. Chapter 41. Hawk is pissed. Raive is pissed. The clan is shooketh. And the fight hasn't even begun yet. Once Raive is painted, the fight does officially begin. Hawk makes the first strike, but it's Raive who draws the first blood. And while calling Hawk upset would be a severe understatement, nothing like a male-wounded ego. Is that a snake in your pocket, or is he just happy to see Raive? It's a snake, and its venom works fast. Hawk has Raive pinned to the ground, but Homegirl has zero intentions of submitting to this corrupt motherfucker. But fate must be on her side today, despite the fate herder having yaded out of here, because Khan has arrived. Chapter 42. Raive is definitely 100%, not at all relieved that Khan is here to save her. She is a strong, independent woman who doesn't need no man, but maybe just maybe he might make her situation a little easier. So like, I guess he can help or whatever. Hawk has slightly different plans now that he's mad enough to challenge Khan for his position in the tribe. Apparently being told no is very difficult for Hawk to hear. While these two duke it out, Siza gives Raive the antidote for the venom, and the soul makes an announcement. Raive must not leave this crater unclaimed, and to top it all off, Khan announces that Raive is his greater. So should he fail, she has the right to make her own damn choices swoon! Chapter 43. Khan orders Rhaigon to stand down should this battle end in Khan's death. Rhaigon doesn't like that shit one bit and ROARS a blast of dragonfire into the air, causing Raive's runes to light up like a glow stick. Hawk and Khan's battle is rough. They are well matched, but at the end of the day it is Khan who beheads Hawk. Raive can't help the emotions that bubble up when she's damn well gonna bury deep, deep down after this. After dropping off Hawk's head at her feet, Khan swoops Raive up and carries her away as she promptly passes out. Chapter 44. Diary entry. On Elywyn's way to the burn, Slaacher follows her even though Elywyn begged her dragon to stay behind. When they finally get to the Imperial stronghold, Slaacher's body is bubbling and bursting in the sun, and no one, not even those damn blue beads, seem to be helping the poor moon bloom. Oh Nicole, thank you so much for that fantastic recap. I am so excited for this battle episode, which we will get back to after a word from our sponsors. Is your superpower disappointing me? See full terms and conditions when you scan. Keep the cuddles and lose the mess with Advantage Chewable. Just one tasty tablet kills fleas and ticks for a whole month. No mess, no stress. Just one tasty chew. Advantage Chewable. Flea and tick protection made easy. Find out more at AdvantageChewable.co.uk. Easy to love, easy to protect. Advantage Chewable. It's time to listen to the elemental songs to explore key insights, character analysis, lore, foreshadowing theories, and oh so much more. Let's orient ourselves after Rafe blacked out after her scape last episode when she attempted to climb down a cliff over a riverbed, but a blast of rushing water tore her away with the current. She wakes up on a log floating down the river oct. Unfortunately, still in the burn. Damn, she didn't make it as far as she wanted to. She thinks to herself that maybe if she just takes a little nippy nap, she will wake up closer to the Fade's wall. Before Rafe contempt death with her questionable napping location, a large male calls out to his companion in a language that Rafe has never heard before. When Rafe slips off the log and is not able to swim due to how utterly exhausted she is, the male jumps in to save her, pulling her ashore. Yay! Yes, yay! Yes, quite the gentleman here. This male is huge and muscular and covered in pale scars with long red hair. He's wearing leather pants and a leather strap across his chest. It's holding an array of weapons, including dragon scale blades that look a lot like the one that Khan has. Hmm, I wonder why. While Rafe is puking her guts up and attempting to make out literally anything these males are saying, she catches a glimpse of a tattoo on one of the men, and it finally clicks. These males are warriors of the Boltanic Plains, and there's a very good chance this is the exact same spot that Khan spent his adolescence. Instead of the moon tattoos that Khan has, this male has some sort of bird with its wings fully stretched around his ribs like it's giving him a hug. I love that. But between Firelark and the Elding Bird, am I literally about to start birdwatching here? Have I entered that era of my millennial age? I'm on birdwatching. I wonder if it's... I'm actually very surprised it's taken this long to be finally on. I honestly do. Well, there's kind of birdwatching. No, there's a whisper watch in Quicksilver. In a different way. This is not really... This is tattoos, yeah. That's a tattoo birdwatch. Yeah, this is the second time. Okay, okay, okay. Birds aside, I do wonder here, because this man is like touching Rafe's head and he's asking what Rafe assumes is some version of like, did you hit your head? Are you okay? And I wonder if this male has dragon sight because he's looking very intensely at her head and I'm like, does he see the runes that she has from like head injuries? Or is he literally just asking, did you hit your head? I think she says there is a line later where she was like bleeding from her head from where she was hit and knocked out. So I think that might be it. Okay, then we'll go with that. I think I went, I looked a little too close. Back it up, Nicole. When Rafe attempts to nope the fuck out, the two males might not be having it, but they're not the only ones. Right before Rafe leaps into the river to leave, something on the opposite side catches her eye. In the rock, there are claw marks scoring down the cliff, but there's nothing visible on that side to make these claw marks. Something invisible is climbing down the cliff and the two males notice too. Suddenly a metallic figure starts to form into a fluffy silver beast with metallic saber tusks protruding from either side of its upper jaw. It leaps across the river and positions itself between Rafe and the water, very clearly keeping her from leaving. This is about to be a common theme, the stretch of chapters, because what in the world is this creature? The Fate Herder. The Fate Herder is a large silver feline like creature that is more legend than reality as they are rarely ever seen. Those who have seen it are often considered crazy or delusional, boasting stories about the beast nudging them to make a different decision than the ones they'd intended. Like him, not so subtly nudging Rafe to go with these warriors and not jump back into the river. Rafe eventually complies when the Fate Herder makes it very clear she does not have an option, but she's definitely not happy about it. So yes, a Fate Herder is a creature that can be transparent, but it literally herds one to go with their fate. The fact that a Fate Herder appeared and is making Rafe go with these men is a prophecy starting to be fulfilled. Although much more on that here shortly. These males are in awe of what they are seeing and look at her with a whole new perspective and respect, which we will talk a lot more about shortly. Alright, question for you. Am I the only one who sees the Fate Herder as Totoro from my neighbor Totoro and Derpy from K-pop Demon Hunters? Like the two of them, Totoro and Derpy had a baby. That is the Fate Herder in my mind. That is so funny because here I was. I was definitely thinking K-pop Demon Hunter, Derpy like glow colors, like a panther, but you're right about the fluffiness there. Right? Yes. And I'm going to add one more with Diego from Ice Age with his tusks. Oh, oh my God, that is a character I have not thought of in so long. Wow. Oh, that takes me back. So between those three, it's like a baby. The fluffiness of Totoro. And I also think like the like stoes, because I don't know, I just see like the Fate Herder very stoic and just very like blank face and just like walking like Totoro. That was a formative movie in my youth. Anyway, okay, with the Fate Herder Totoro herding rave into wherever she's stuck next, this small crew begins walking along a crack like pathway through the boltannic plains until they reach a lofty entrance framed by colossal bones. The bones of a dragon. It's important to note that as they're walking through the entrance, which is like a literal rib cage. Oh, I think about is the life. I know. I don't think rave yard. Rave notes in this rib cage that the size of this dragon must have been four times the size of Ragon. Ragon is huge. Who the fuck was this dragon? I wish I had thought of this while we were setting Sarah our questions because I absolutely would have included this like who was this dragon? What happened to them? Oh my God. I wonder if dragons over time, not unlike with House of Dragon where they do get smaller over time, like the more that they are tame. Domesticated. Yeah, exactly domesticated. I wonder. Yeah. Oh, I love. Okay. Because they have such distinct hatching grounds. Just but something to think of. Yeah. Then the village opens up and rave notes the animal hides that are stitched together to look like a scorched terrain to any winged creatures from above. I love these little notes here. Like this is why this world is so freaking rich about like cultures and how they adapt to different environments. Like, oh, it just makes this world so rich that the cold clan is massive and resides inside a crater, but not any ordinary crater. This was made from a recent fallen saberside orva. Previously, the clan lived in the mountains, but eight phases ago after the orva moon fell, they claimed this crater and outside of it as well. But the calcified moon did not break apart on impact. And I found this interesting and I wonder if it's because like for instance, slacha was so cold for being in the shade. She's literally ice. So when she fell, she broke apart because she's made of ice, whereas sabersides are more like rocks. And so I wonder if when this saberside orva fell, since it was so rock like it didn't crash as much, I don't know rocks can still break apart, but you see you're you understand my meaning. Orva is now pushed to the side of the crater. It's black and bronze and still scaled, looking much more like a dragon asleep rather than a fallen moon. Later when rave goes to honor said dragon, she'll notice how small orva is only just being big enough to support a writer. Another pause because if slatra is a moon that fell and that is a very important moon to Kazari, do you think that this moon could also have been important to Kazari as well? Not necessarily. Oh, okay. I think that her mother's moon was what caused the chain reaction, so to speak. Okay. Because yeah, Kazari was like again, indirectly involved with her mom's moon coming down. But I think that she is still indirectly involved with these other ones, but it's almost like the floodgates have kind of opened up a little bit. Okay, I have an idea though. What if orva is somehow related to one of a member of the vaguer family? For instance, what if this was Tyroth's adolescent dragon when he was young and then orva died, went up into the moon, and I mean, we don't know if Tyroth has a dragon, but I'm just, I'm wondering if it means anything to Kazari. I don't think it would be a Tyroth's dragon because slatra gets really sad here soon seeing this dragon. That's true. And I think it's because she's reminded of it being an adolescent, very much like her own child, so I don't know, get all into that here soon. That's a good point. I don't think it's important to Kazari because I also have to realize how sheltered she is and that dragon would have been up there for a while too probably. Because this was only eight phases ago. Yeah. Okay, one thing I do want to note though is because I looked at the meaning of orva. Me too. French, well it's a French name meaning as precious as gold. And a courageous friend. And you don't think it means anything special to Kazari? I'm not saying it does. No, I'm not saying necessarily to Kazari. I don't know. I don't know. My eyes on you orva and on this conversation right here. Anyway, as rave is brought to the leaders of the clan, the Oa and the Oa-E, the king and queen basically, they are surrounded by the clan's folk entering the tent, all kissing the ground. She's walking on, whispering to one another over and over the same word, all in reverence to rave. Everyone here is calling rave Kalu. This is some kind of identity she was labeled as when the fate herder wanted her to come with the warriors back at the river. So I looked up the name meeting and there's several variations here that we are going to go through. But one that seemed specifically connected to this is from the landlocked country, Lozoto, in southern Africa. Kalu was the mother's name of the first king of Lozoto. And from my Google search understanding, Kalu can translate to big, large, immense. So I wonder if Kalu in this context means some kind of combination, mother of the prophesied, mother of the savior, mother of the great, of the powerful, like the one who creates this immense presence that will keep the moons tethered to the sky. Okay, so this is interesting. I like your answer way better than what I found because when I did some Googling, I found that Kalu in southern Soho, which is one of the languages spoken in Lozoto, means sheep in English. But I don't think that these are not connected because what do sheep symbolize innocence? Peace. Peace is huge here. I think it might be stretching a little for me at least here, but considering that Kalu is the one who is bringing the era of peace through their offspring. It could literally be them calling her a sheep. I also like, I don't know how big of a connection this is here, but like Mary had a little lamb. This is all about the Virgin Mary and how she is the mother of the king of the savior. Yeah, yeah. So I really, really like, oh God, I really like this. So yeah, I definitely think you're on to something with it being the mother of that first king. Oh, that's so good. Well, luck. It was like her actual name as I understand. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Luckily, we can ask the source. We signaled to Sarah and asked her what the name Kalu means in this context. And here is what Sarah said, quote, I'm sure this will come as no surprise dot, dot, dot, but no comment. And then some cute little emojis. The little crying laughing in the kissy face. Thanks Sarah. Thanks Sarah. I am going to officially go on the hill that we are on with this is what it means is like that there. This is the symbolism behind what it means. Yes, yes. I have like another meaning. I think that we could honestly even have conferred that like we didn't need to go off on our crazy Google search to confer that either. Probably not. I don't know. It was fun to research sheep for a little bit. All right, let's get into why everyone is calling rave Kalu. A woman drifts forward wearing copper body paint and black beaded cloak. Interesting how the Oa Khan and this woman are all wearing black beads. I'm assuming that it's some kind of like status symbol but I'm keeping my eye out for that. Something is rather off about this woman though. Her eyes are completely white on seeing and she says something that we can infer is Kalu has come. She says Kalu off come on. Okay, lady, what gives you the right to say this as we learn from size a later this woman's name is soul and she is quite literally reading the will of the creators. What does that mean? We're not entirely sure because does that mean that she can speak to all of the creators? If so, that's a really big fucking deal because knowing that eloans dad. Oh, oh my God, knowing that eloans dad grew up in the bolt Hannock Plains. I wonder if he's related to soul and if he could hear multiple creator songs and that was one reason he was determined powerful enough to become the king of the shade. Does that are very possibly I'm going to go with that but I digress. No matter what here in this clan souls word is final. It takes a moment before one of the few people who speaks rave's language, aka size a steps forward and discuss what the hell it means to be Kalu quote. It was foretold that the fate herder would bring you to us that your offspring would tether the moons to the sky forever. Oh, we've got a prophecy. And not just a prophecy, but one that has already been in motion for 123 phases rave's offspring, aka eloans daughter, the princess of the shade named Kazari will tether the moons to the sky forever. Within the story that we know so far, because Ari has stated to Khan that she hears the imprisoned creator named Kailas, and she wants to free Kailas from the etherstone because she has fallen in love with him. She is convinced that there has to be a way to free him from the etherstone without causing her own death, determined to figure out a way. And that Kazari and eloans family line was blessed with the power to contain him. And according to Khan, Kailas has to be trapped in the etherstone for a reason. As we readers know, the reason is inconsequential now has been for 23 phases because the reason was to keep the moons tethered in the sky. But when Kazari started to listen and understand Kailas's language, learning quote too much as she put it, her mother's moon fell and two more have fallen since then, including Orva. So it's plausible from this prophecy that Kazari will find a way to keep the moons tethered in the sky, much like we theorize she's the cause of them falling, at least inadvertently. And she is the first that we know of who can hear and understand Kailas, who is always yearned to be heard. I love reading this with the knowledge we have on a reread about Kazari and seeing all of the puzzle pieces laid out here. Like they're not quite being put together, but oh my goodness, it's so much fun to like just see it all and be like, oh my goodness, there's a great story coming here. As we were talking about last episode, we were really wondering what it means for the familial line that has to pass down the etherstone. Now that Kazari has given herself to the creators, she will not be having offspring. Now, all the other context with her and Kailas aside, but she will not be having offspring to continue passing down this responsibility of the etherstone. So we asked Sarah, what would that mean for the future? Because that's breaking traditions of cross generations. And so this is what she said. Nicole, would you like to do the honors? Absolutely. She said, quote, there has always been an offspring. Yes, but the family line is fragile and at this stage frayed down to a single thread. Kazari does not intend on having children to pass the diet and down to she intends on freeing Kailas from the stone. Now, because we're us, we also decided to ask if there's any way, any way Sarah could give us some teasers about this prophecy playing out. Like on a scale of one to five, how connected is the fact that Kazari is in love with Kailas and how much does that have to do with this prophecy coming true? We didn't ask percentage. We asked on a scale of one to five. And Lexi, what did she say? She literally gave the emoji with the zip over the head. I love emoji Sarah. I love it. All right. So as much as we on fantasy fangirls love a prophecy, much to Sarah's dismay, rave does not love a prophecy, especially one such as this. Think about how much rave hates letting people in hates isn't even the right word. She just doesn't. She believes the moment someone is in her heart, their death is imminent. It's a death sentence. Then multiply that with a child. I obviously do not have children, but from what I have heard, they wedge their little way into your heart and just a little bit. Just a little bit. It doesn't all consume you and make you love in a way you've never learned to love before. That's terrifying to rave, given what she's experienced with other loved ones in the past. Also rave craves the one thing she has never had. Freedom being being quote unquote tied to another being or at least responsible for them as one is with a child. That is not an alignment with rave's version of freedom. She is in fact religious about taking her birth control. There's just one more pair of shackles for her as she sees it. And I don't, I do not blame rave for being so angry that she is suddenly in this position. Oh, I don't blame her once so ever. No one's blaming her at all. No. Not at all. And of course there is the irony, the rich, rich irony that she already has a child who they will warn later on to con that kizari will be used as leverage against rave slash elwin if the vigor twin kings discover elwin slash rave is life. A daughter who has already written to her saying I need you rave does not want to be needed like Nicole is saying. And of course there's also what we've been highlighting all deep dive about how rave does not want anyone to trust her because it only spells death for them. So much set up for this big reveal that we'll be getting I assume next book. So some foreshadowing in the stretch with the Oa and Oa is baby when the babes father kisses the baby. It is strangely painful for rave to watch. I bet it's because elwin wished con could love their baby know it was his and share a life as a family together where he would be able to give his own child a kiss. Oh my God, rip my heart out and stomp on it. Why don't you. Yeah, the one thing I do want to flag here is about the fate herder and this prophecy because the clan is all bought in on the fact that this is why the fate herder brought her here. But rave thinks quote might just be me but I get the potent sense that it the fate herder doesn't want me here for dot dot dot that lines like this are not written by accident like that is a direct Easter egg for us, especially when later when con arrives, the fate herder is. Oh, I don't know. Suddenly mysteriously absent that feels so suspicious and this whole other agenda for the fate herder. What are you doing? My theory is that the fate herder needed rave to warm up to con more and what unfolds with his arrival and his fight for her is all these pieces coming together for rave to receive his Malmer to be proclaimed as above even con. I think that is huge and also him really securing that that she is greater than him that he is still greater than hawk that they are two power houses together and this is what the Chakool clan is seeing right here, which brings me to my second reason that I think that the fate herder is orchestrating all of this. I think that the Chakool clan will come back into play next book as you're setting up for a big war. And this is the fate herder making chess moves for the future of the world, but specifically getting con and rave together. So I love this and I absolutely agree. I also wanted to shoot my shot and decided to signal a Sarah and ask her if just if there was another reason that the fate herder brought her here and if she could even just give us a little hint. And she said, quote, the fate herder has dot dot dot reasons. That's all I'll say. Okay, so then I decided to go one step further and ask I know I'm jumping ahead a little but when con arrives the fate herder is suddenly not in sight. And I thought that was weird and I asked if there was a specific reason that the fate herder heated out of there. And she said quote, can't answer the first part where did the fate herder go because spoilers, but yes to the second there was a specific reason it grew less and less solid as its intended outcome. What she's putting quotations around that was becoming more and more likely it disappeared once its presence was no longer needed. It's not just want to continue hanging around unless it feels like its job is done, not unless. Nope, I'll stop there. Sarah, Sarah, my God. Okay, but that just cements what I'm saying is once when con arrives once when he is fighting for her once when the malware is handed to her like that all was necessary to happen. I'm going to say for their love story but it's so much bigger than that their love story is only the domino effect of the change in this world, the kazari and all of this. But now where do you think the fate herder went because she literally says she can't answer that because of spoilers. We know it was running off in the distance as Ragon con and rave are all flying away. But where was where were you go? Is it going to the Elding? Is it going to the, the, I don't know, but they just cemented for me that rave will be seeing the fate herder again. And I wonder if the fate herder will herd her to her destiny, so to speak. Yeah. What if what if the fate herder is going to kazari? I hope so. Because she needs a body. She needs help right now. I don't know if that's the fate herder's purpose though. She needs a derpy. She needs to snuggle with Totoro. Okay, she at least has knee right now. Kind of. I think he's dead. Pretty sure he's dead. Sounds good. All right, the clan has found their collu. So they need to figure out who's going to be the world saving baby daddy. How do you do that? A Tuka trial. That's how two men step forward. Here we have Hawk, who is a gigantic men with many dot tattoos on his back in the shape of a serpent, little slippery snake. Then we also have Zaryn, the smaller of the two and his tattoo is a funny call, which are flying creatures similar to basically giant bats at the bar talk. Can you imagine just a giant bar talk? And a key cursor. Now, good times. Good times. They're not as blood for our avatar coverage. I miss him, man. Now the the funny cause are not the size of our talk. They're instead about half the size of a molten maw, which are the smallest of the dragons. But funny cause tend to be very popular in the burn as they blend into the rust like tones of the terrain. Now these two men, Zaryn and Hawk are then painted in kulk blood, fresh blood. Literally the animals throat is slitted right there and the two men step forward. That was not cool. Not okay. Mean rave who the Tuka trial is obviously over is also painted in that blood. Then they are all led to the crater where the saber side or the fell, which is basically like their battle ring. Within the crater, the sand is coarse and it contains little shards of iron to make sure every fighter is on equal playing field and no elemental songs are allowed. I freaking love that. Now wouldn't that get stuck in their toes though? Cause aren't they barefoot? I feel like that would cut up your feet. I think that they have some pretty strong feet considering they get done to crawl or Carl. I was thinking of like the hobbit obviously not not actually like the hobbit like my man Khan does not have hobbit feet. I didn't even put it into context with God. But like this is their terrain. I don't think they have your feet, Nicole. That's what I'm trying to say. My feet? Why do you think? They got the palaces on their feet. That's what I'm trying to say. Why do you call it my feet? My feet are normal. That's literally my point. We're not judging for feet on this podcast. I never said we were. Rae must accept each contestants Malmer. The way I see this, these are necklaces that are basically like engagement rings and they are used in this clan to court the other person. But here it's for her to wear only once the trial is over and has deemed a victor. How does a victor happen? It's just, you know, a simple fight to the death. Just a simple one. One must behead the other and hold it up in victory style. Wait real quickly. I bet that's where Khan had his whole thing where it's like you got to behead them because if you don't behead them, then they'll come back to haunt you. Yes. Oh my God. That's and also he beheaded his father, but he also fed it to Rhaigon as a snack. So that's an extra precaution there. I don't like that. I think that is like a cultural thing. It's like, no, you got to behead these people. Yeah. Now, what will the victor win? They will be bound to the great Kalu to fill her with many babies and their offspring will save the world by keeping the moons tethered to the sky. It is a great honor that rave absolutely hates. But I do want to look at this from the Jekyll clan side of things real quick. Because I do think that's a really important part whenever we're looking at different cultures. This trial is an incredible privilege when you are part of the Jekyll clan, especially a trial as important as to be bound to the Kalu. So when Siza and the rest of the clan are so excited about this trial, it's because this is literally one of the highest honors someone could undergo. And it doesn't really register on their minds that rave would be thinking any different. Well, and I love how says I will say a little bit later when rave is just like, no, like, no, no, no, no, no, I will fight for myself. Like I need to do this for myself and says it will say we cradle different values. I apologize for overstepping and goes to show from their perspective. Yes, this is the highest honor and says it. I will say really deserves some credit for recognizing these differences and apologizing for trying to push their agenda their values on her poor rave. Just wants to be free so she can go seek her revenge on Rexars in the fade, but she keeps getting pulled into confinement, which yes, unfortunately, I do have to include con in this no matter his reasoning. This is fate literally hurting her in a different direction from going and seeking her revenge. It's hurting her toward con toward her. I'll call it destiny here. If you've been with us at FFG for a while, you'll know I'm always fascinated by the concept of fate in these fantasy stories. On this reread, I'm really starting to wonder if there is a, I'm going to say faded mates situation going on between con and rave, but I don't mean it in the usual context that we think of. I'll save that for a few episodes, but staying on this path rave will end up in Dom. And what do you know, wreck will arrive in Dom later and she'll get her revenge in addition to all the rest on this path toward self discovery connection with her past and plans for the future. Change is on the horizon with Kazari and Kailas and the moon's falling with three Vigor brothers and preparing for war with Elwin still being alive and shaking things up without even knowing it yet. There's so much change coming and the fate herder is literally making sure that rave goes down. I'll call it the right path to open up all these possibilities here. But rave doesn't want any of that she wants to be free of expectations and her fate that she is refusing to even consider, but it keeps following her and not letting her live in the darkness anymore. Fate brought her and con to the hungry hollow on the same night and then again him to herself. And here I find it so interesting how fate is tangibly nudging her in the supposed right direction like this creature that Sarah has created to embody fate is just really cool. Before rave fights in her own Tuka trial, we appreciate your support so much as we take a quick break for our sponsors. Here's a tip for you. There's a podcast out there with fans waiting to be your next customer. They tune in every week. They trust the host and that host wants to talk about brands like yours in their own words to their audience. The problem is, you just haven't been introduced yet. Where ACAST, where that introduction happens. As the world's largest podcast marketplace, we let you browse shows, see who's listening and book host-read sponsorships or run your own ads all from one platform. Transparent pricing, real-time data, complete control. Start advertising on podcasts by visiting acast.com forward slash advertise. Get into battle. Before the fight begins, rave is led to a raised dais that is thankfully in the shade. Remember the burn is hot hot hot. The two males fighting for her kneel before rave, each holding out a necklace. This is the Malmer. Once rave accepts both Malmers and places them on the rug beneath her feet, then and only then can the trial begin. Zaryn's weapon of choice is a partially curved sword. While Hawk chooses a bludgeoning stick with metal spikes coming out of its bulbous head. This sounds like something Hawk would choose. When the gong sound signaling the start of the trial, Zaryn is first to attack. Go Zaryn! And he slashes violently at Hawk's guts. But Hawk throws Zaryn back on his ass and Zaryn just barely rolls out of the way before Hawk slams his club down on the ground. Go Zaryn! Go Zaryn! But then Hawk takes Zaryn's own blade and gruesomely takes Zaryn's head from his body. And he's dead. Like dead dead. Are you sure? There's no way of him coming back? No, he didn't even bring that up to me to cold. But are we sure we saw the body? Yes, we have the head of the body. And this is not really a good thing though because we don't like Hawk. Later on, Veya, Khan's sister, will confirm that Hawk is bad news by calling Hawk a brute and being glad that Khan kills him. But the show don't tell clues that Veya might have her own history with Hawk. We know Veya won her own Tuka trial, so while I assume she would have had to kill the male she fought against, maybe one of the reasons she gave herself to the creators to prevent being forced into any future Tuka trials as well was because Hawk wanted to bind with her. Yes, I think she's got some kind of weird history with him. I absolutely think so too. Much like Veya, Rave is not okay with the outcome of this trial. Have we mentioned she wants her freedom? Damn it! And here is this man who is the embodiment of everything she hates about males in this world. He feels like he has ownership over her. Then add on top of this that the fate herder is suddenly making all of her life decisions. And as Rave says, quote, my body is mine and I will do it as I please. Nothing more. Wow, how interesting and not at all close to home. The feeling of being out of control is amplified only times a million when Hawk puts his own Malmer around her neck, which Rave describes as a shackle. Nope, that's it. No, no, no, she has had it. And Rave declares she will fight for herself. Gasp! But for us, of course, she will fight for herself. We wouldn't expect anything less from this fierce independent woman. She's had a really shitty few days and damn it, she is ready to take back some control before this little window of freedom is truly gone. For something this special, this sacred to the clan, this is very abnormal. So the clan members all look to the Owa for this decision. But it is not the Owa I want to focus on here. The Oa'i, the queen, whispers over to Rave in Rave's own language using clode, basically using the wind to carry her over to Rave so they can converse silently. Again, go Queens helping Rave when the kings are maybe not the best. The Oa'i here gets a lot of points though. Because after Rave says, quote, I do not choose this, the Oa'i leans over to her bound. And it is the Oa'i, not the Oa'i who announces that Kalu can enter the ring if and only if the Fate Hurder allows it. Literally, this is the first time in this book that a woman queen is held with respect and gets to make the decisions for the masses. Maybe I'd actually, you know, I'd say like I'd be living in the burn. I'd be living in the Jakula clan. This sounds really nice except for the bare feet thing. I would say. Now I personally- Nicole, I know how sensitive you are with sand. I don't like sand. It's like even just gets everywhere. It's so annoying. But I love beaches. Anyway, I really wanted to know what it was about the Oa'i that made her step into help Rave. And while I signaled to Sarah, she actually said that this is a question she would not be able to answer, which leaves me with 40 million more questions. I think we're going to see the Oa'i again. Oh, absolutely. Like this, because I've actually wondered when I was first reading this book, it's kind of like, okay, this kind of feels a little side questy, right? And I really do think though, because of the Fate Herders influence here and how it does end up disappearing and stuff, I think that this whole stretch of scenes is really going to come back in a big way in the future of the series. Yes, because again, book one is all set up, all set up. And this is part of the setup. Well, remember, book one was supposed to be part one of book one and Ballad of Fallen Dragons was supposed to be part two of book one. So I definitely think we're going to see them again, because I agree. I hear a lot of people mention how this is one of the parts that feels very side questy. I'm not going to lie. I never felt that way. And I even, oh, it's one of my favorite parts. I, but as far, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, but I do, I definitely feel like on this read of the deep dive side quest is not the way to describe this because this feels like it's going to be so important later on. Yes, yes. Yes. Ultimately, it's the fate herders decision. If the creature let's Wraith enter the trial, then sure, who are they to prevent fate? And of course, the fate herder allows raid to go into the arena. Once again, raising the question of what is she really here for? And again, I keep coming back to the fact of bringing her and Khan closer to have his presence here as he declares to the whole clan that she is above him as the greatest. That's huge. That's huge. All right. Now this fight is going to look a little bit different. It's not technically a fight to the death since Hawk has already done that. He's already proved his victorship. Instead, all Hawk must do is to get Rave to submit to him winning. However, Rave has not claimed ahead today. She hasn't checked that off her to do list. Rave will need to really is part of her daily to do to be honest. That's true. I joke, but you're right. You're right. So Rave will have to kill him and cut off his head in order to win her own freedom or own to trial. So after being repainted with coke blood, this poor colt guy, I'm so sad for him. When choosing her weapon, which is a small iron axe with a leather bound pommel that comes in extra handy, she slowly circles the outer perimeter of the fighting pit, waiting for Hawk to make the first move. And he does with a bellowing roar. He charges at Rave with so much power, she can feel the vibrations of his steps as he approaches side stepping his attack. Rave counters by whipping around and slashing her axe into Hawk's side. Ha ha! Through his skin and flesh so deep that she nicks bone and draws the first blood. That's an understatement. Hawk is utterly shocked. A woman? She was able to land a blow on him? Dirty. And the funnels that shock into pure rage. While he's examining the injury and coming to terms with the fact that he just, you know, has a little wounded pride, so small little Hawk. Rave scoops up a handful of sand and when he attacks next, Rave tosses the sand into the air. And even without singing to the creators, the wind gusts and the sand goes straight into his eyes. Rave thinks that it's Claude helping her. I think it was the OIE who helped her. I don't know if she'd be able to help her in the arena because of the iron in the sand. But the iron is only in the crater. It's not on the outskirts, right? True, but in the crater where true. So like for instance, when Rave was outside of the battle arena, the OIE was able to communicate with her through Claude. But because Rave is inside, no one else would be able to wield to give anyone an unfair advantage. Only Claude would be able to do something on her own. That's how I interpreted that at least. That's fair. Okay, that's fair. That's fair. Although I do like, I love Claude. I totally did that on her own. I could totally see Claude doing it, like helping out a bestie, you know, but I just love the idea of the OIE also stepping in to help. I just love a woman queen stepping in to help another woman queen again in this book. Like that's just, that's a trope I'm learning. I really love. Now that Hawk is double distracted, he's got a wound in his side and he's got sand all in his face. Rave jumps on his back, wrapping one arm around his throat and her axe is ready to slash open his neck. But before she can, he grabs her arm and pulls her off him. She quickly rolls to the side, barely avoiding being bashed by his mace. During this altercation though, Rave did manage to slice his neck just a tiny bit, but not enough to kill him. Sadly, darn, the fight must continue. This is when Hawk pulls out a small, volley serpent from his pocket and throws it at her. The second her weapon hits Hawk's thigh, the serpent bites her left booby and falls to the ground, disappearing into the sand. Bad, bad, bad, this is bad. Such a dick move, Hawk. You were a stinky cock. A stinky cock. Stinky cock, Hawk. He probably is a stinky cock, Hawk, because who knows how much these people shower. There's not a whole lot of water here unless you go to the Zelda pool a few miles down the way. This Veda makes Rave dizzy and lose her coordination. Oh no, she can't dodge his attacks. Hawk is finally able to land a blow to her shoulder, but Rave is still able to dip low and slide past him while whipping her axe out and slashing it through Hawk's calf muscle. Hawk's ego is really taking a toll during this fight because he cannot believe that she was able to land another hit on him. But her luck comes to an end and when she attempts to make another charge toward him, she stumbles and falls to the ground. When Hawk rushes toward her, Rave switches tactics and throws her axe at him. He dodges, she launches herself at him and digs her foot into his sliced calf. Mwahahaha! When he roars back in pain, Rave takes her leather strap and wraps it around his neck to choke him. He goes limp, but Rave is still under the influence of Vali Venom, so by the time she eventually locates her actual axe, it is too late and she's hit in the head. Turns out strangling someone twice her size is significantly harder than Rave expected while under the influence of Sneak Venom. When she tumbles to keep fighting, Hawk screams at her to submit. With one final punch, Rave is officially down for the count and Hawk uses this advantage to straddle her and attempt to beat her into submission. We hate this guy, giant walking L of a person, but Rave would rather die than be bound to the stinky cock against her will so she laughs in his face. Haha! I'm not afraid of death. Suddenly, a shadow blocks out the sun and a roar echoes through the air. Who could that be? A bird? A plane? Planes that don't exist in the world? It is the one, the only, Khan Vigor. Yes! Not pissed at Rave, but definitely pissed at the situation. As we learned last week from Sarah, Khan was terrified when he walked upstairs and found Rave missing. He's lost Elloan before and it was quite literally like his own death. He will not let that happen again. To walk in though and see her in the middle of a Tuka trial against a male he does not enjoy. Wow, there's just, yeah, no way. He steps down off of Ragon. Literally his steps are vibrating and splitting the ground. Boulder, I have a head cannon about Boulder. All about dramatic entrances. Like this, this God. But he's so like, do, do, do, do, do. Yeah, it's the quiet ones. It's the quiet ones. They love the drama. I feel like he's, he's, I don't know, he gives me, he gives me satisfied. I think it's Dramas' presence with Khan and just like they are this big, immense, sturdy presence. I think, presence. I think that he really echoes that and call like, he, I don't know. I just, I, he, you cannot convince me otherwise. Stop trying to. Rave is overwhelmingly relieved to see Khan so much so that she is shaking quite a different reaction than when she was literally fleeing him less than a day ago. But he is the devil she knows, at least in her mind. So God's yes, please get her the fuck out of here. But small cock, cock is refusing to back down. He's claiming he won, damn it. But Rave did not submit to him and Khan is adamant that she is not free to be claimed by anyone. He's like, no, I've waited too damn long for this. But he also, that's obviously not his reasoning. He says instead that it's because Rave did not grow up in the tribe. So this trial should have been avoided in the first place. So it's important to know before Khan became the king of the burn, he was actually Oa here. But once he killed his Pa, he offered the position to the current Oa, who was the second greatest. The irony that Khan is doing a Tuka trial now to prove to have the honor of bearing Clue's offspring when the strongest, the former Oa, a.k.a. their king, Khan, is already unknowingly the father to the offspring destined to tether the moons to the sky. Again, destiny, fate, all of this here. So when Khan enters the crater, everyone pounds on their chest four times to show respect and acknowledgement of the greatest. Except Hawks not cool with this. He is the third greatest fighter to this clan, so he is second greatest to their current king. And he wants to challenge Khan for the greatest position. So he can have seniority over Khan because Khan would be dead. He is challenging the Rosca order. Rosca means the greatest so he can overcome Khan and replace him as the Rosca as the greatest, which means as the greatest Hawks rule would be law. And he would get to claim Clue, rave as his. I'm not entirely sure where the Oa, their king fits into this though. I concur, but we'll come back to that because there's actually another person whose word means more than even the Oa or even Khan's here. Before these two males can have at it. So the woman with white eyes from earlier who called the tukitrial, her head tips back and she has a moment again of speaking with the creators. Then she announces tough luck, king of the burns sucks to suck. Since blood has already been spilled in rave's honor, she cannot leave this crater unclaimed. If she does, more moons will fall in this place of spilled blood and the Jaku'u clan will lose their place of sanctuary. So they have no choice now either Hawk claims rave or someone else has to. Yeah, this is not happening under Khan's watch. He's been through enough. Damn it. This here just shows how much of a separate entity the Boltonic planes are. Even the king of the burn does not have final say here. Khan, because he's Khan though, he does not force that kingliness, that king of the burness onto these people. He follows their customs. So offers. Oh, I bet it was very freeing for him to be their Oa. Yeah. So he was not even technically under his father's rule. I mean, like so many ways he was, but because the cool Klan is so separate. Yeah, he was able to live that separate life there. Yeah, I agree completely. Yes, yes, yes. Khan offers rave his Malmer, but even once she does take it, he does not get up from kneeling in front of her. He stays crouched, waiting for her to touch her own hand onto his tattoo in the Jaku'u clan culture. What Khan is saying right now is that he respects her above himself and above his very own honor. This is a big deal because he is king. His honor is very fucking high. In doing so, he is basically announcing that she is his greater. So should she accept what he is offering, put her hand on his tattoo on his back, then his title will be passed to her. Should he die today? Later on in this section, Khan will even pound his chest six times right before fighting with Hawk, which is unheard of. Like Siza doesn't even know what this means. Four pounds means it's for the greatest, basically. Five is for their oa, their king. Six has never been seen before. And what I'm assuming, or at least how I'm taking this is that the six pounds, it's for rave. He is literally pounding his chest one more time than the oa for her, like again, making her the greater. So what does this all mean? Because this is really, really important and good book boyfriend material here. So we're not going to brush over it. Should he die? Rave is, like we said, his greater, but that means that any decision that she makes, it will not be allowed to be challenged. So even if Hawk wins in Khan dies, she can leave the crater and receive no dishonor, no dishonor on her cow, on her colk, because Khan here is literally making her hawks greater. If you've been listening to the podcast for a while, you know, I have just a week at the knees spot for when the MMC steps to the side or steps behind the FMC screw that because that that was walking. So Khan here could run. Khan is literally saying with six pounds nice that he is making her the greatest in all the land in a world of boys be a con vigor. Okay, so I have a question. Give me if Khan just announced to everyone that rave is his greater. So therefore, no matter the outcome, she is in charge. Why would Hawk follow through with this? Tiny, tiny little stinky cock. There you go. That's why he wins. His claim over rave has just been nullified by Khan. So he is in a lose, lose situation. He either loses his life or he loses the girl. I think that two things are true here. One, Hawk does not give off the kind of man who would back down from a fight. And number two, we all know the type of guy thinks he is so God like that he can make any woman, any partner a week at the knees or bow down to him. Whatever. Yeah, that foreplay of fighting her was really great. In the cool plan, it really. Oh, yeah, the snake is one thing. And I'm not talking about his penis. Like, I really do think that he is so in his culture, obviously, that he believes this is all kind of going to work out for him. Like, this is what a man does to court a woman in the Jocul clan of the highest honor. So why would she not? Should he win? Get with him. I think she didn't the first. I am sorry. I am trying to have logic here. He's being an absolute idiot. I'm not defending him. I'm not saying he's making any sense. I'm saying in his mind, I think that this is what he has grown up to believe. However, this is a very classic also case of, you know, you could have just listened to her and you could have figured out what was wrong from the very beginning. I mean, to be fair, there's a language barrier, but actions to be louder than words. I will say that in all serious note, this act from Khan with making her his greater. It means so much to rave who have I mentioned above all craves freedom. He sees that deepest desire and wish and wants to give it to her even if it means his own death. So yeah, as rave says, this man is so easy, much too much easy to care about, but she still accepts the gesture and oh my God quote, Khan trembles all over the motion vibrating up my arm and into my heavy heart, making my breath hitch. Literally when she puts her hand on him, he shivers because he's like, we're one step closer. We're one step closer. Sweet God. Assuming that the series is setting up for war between the Vigor brothers, I bet the Chakool clan will be an essential ally slash extension of Khan's forces. They're expert warriors. They respect him and now he has declared Elwin rave and Avon that she is his greater more than anything. I could see Khan being in a sticky and accessible situation in book two or even book three. Like he's got three brothers who hate him very much. One of which is a half brother who is the scavenger king and rave is the one who has to rally the Chakool clan because she will be able to leverage that title. He is bestowing upon her right now. While holding Khan's a Malmer rave is hit with a vision. Little does she know in the moment it's actually a memory in this flash of a vision. His Malmer is resting between her naked breasts and she's writhing in pleasure. Oh my when rave slash Elwin looks down at her body in this vision. She sees Khan going to town down on her. What might even say feasting on her like it's his own personal buffet. Okay. So this is steamy and hot hot hot hot hot hot hot. But it also begs the question why now why now I have a few ideas and my top guess is that as rave is accepting this from him accepting his Malmer putting her hand on his tattoo. Her wolves are crumbling down especially with the gesture from Khan that she is his greater with the crumbling of that hardened exterior. I think that it's actually slatra who literally from her icy lake shoved up this vision through it like matchmaker moon plume style. Literally right before this vision comes about rave's blood turns to ice. I never even imagined slatra would be part of this. I think it's rave's walls really coming down and she's being introduced to instances and objects in this case that have deep emotions and memories tied to them. So I definitely think that could be part of it. So I'll throw out a few other options that could have also triggered this vision. She still has poison coursing through her like the antidote is slowly making its way. But I wonder if because our brain was already fuzzy if it like activated the memory somewhere in her brain. I also wonder if the fate herder could have triggered it although this feels doubtful since it's in. I think it's a number of that triggered it. Well okay hold on I'm not done. Soul clearly has visions. This came right after soul made her declaration. Can she trigger visions and other people or literally was it just her holding the Malmer and I don't know memories are powerful or whatever the fuck. Yeah. Me I'm like what's the con. She has a very deep emotional connection to this object. After commanding Rhaegon to stand down in case con is killed which is not comforting. Con joins Hawk in the battle pit and they charge immediately skin is splitting blood is flying their weapons are clanging. There is no rhythm to their fight and is pure chaos of muscle and rage. Oh my. Con. Hawk lands a hit to cons abdomen. Oh no. Causing Raven myself to cry out as more and more strikes hammer down on him. She's crying out because deep down she loves him so much and is terrified he might be killed by this point. Raven is clutching cos Malmer like it will protect him but the universe has other plans when Hawks spiked club lands a blow directly to cons chest. Raven is in full panic as she screams his name and orders him to live con live. Okay. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Oh. Sorry. I am. Now, because we were talking about this earlier. I do want to hit on this real quick because do we know if mates exist in this world. All we know is a few mentions from specifically the dragons. In the chapter of the other, the other slash probably slatra thinks about the possibility of fe mates, but it's never confirmed. It's always talked about in the maybe sense. So I could see this as one of two things. One, there are mates in this world and one, obviously 1000% con and rave are mates. Or two, if con is Dagomork with Ragon and rave is very special super bond with slatra. What if slatra and Ragon are mates and that could surely create some kind of special connection bond between rave and con if there are not say mates in this world. I had totally forgotten that about the other which at this point is just canon slatra. The way I see it is I don't think that there are fe mates in this world. Really? Yeah, I don't think so, especially like elwin never mentioned it either or anything like that. But what I do think is there is something very different and powerful about con and rave slash elwin and that there is a force larger than themselves. So when I say faded mates, it's not so much in the traditional sense of faded mates. I'll say like a traditional soul mate, but it more is kind of like a prophesy sort of faded mates. I know there's a big difference of that in my head. I don't know if I'm explaining it at all here. No, I'm picking up what you're putting down. I feel like maybe they won't say the word mates itself, but there is definitely some prophesy, some fate that is, I mean, literally the fate hurt her is bringing them together. There is a fate that is like almost like a link between them. And it is so powerful because there are that is love and there is a force much bigger than themselves at work here. Are you saying through love all this pause? Yes, I absolutely am. I know this sense of their their their love for one another is so deep and pure and impactful and consequential that it is kicking off this whole domino effect because it is so strong. And maybe that's also just because it is so strong and destined to be together. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mating bonds aside, though, through clenched teeth, con drags his weapon down Hawks inner bicep severing it and forcing Hawk to drop his own weapon. Thank God both males raw as con grabs Hawk by the hair, forcing him to expose his neck. And with hot completely at his mercy, con takes his serrated blade and starts sawing through Hawks neck. Oh, dear. And Hawks body drops to the ground with con holding his head. But damn, con, although Hawk was a stinky cock who sucks. So con has some rage revenge to get out. And who knows what happened with Vaya. So this is now two women in his life that Hawks is fucked over. Yeah, stinky cock. Hawk after quite literally stepping over Hawks corpse and dropping the decapitated head at rave's feet. Con drops to his knees in front of his lady and he does not relish in this victory. No, it's con. Of course, he doesn't. There is nothing but overwhelming relief for both him and rave. But when rave puts his Malmer over her own neck, no, con's relief is all consuming because it's that gesture of her accepting him. Given that literally a day ago she was running away from him. That's kind of a huge deal for him. So as con tucks her into his chest and takes her over to Rhaegon rave expects the king of the burn to be angry. I mean, she ran away from him. That's I wouldn't be surprised if he was. Or I'll say more so she tries to talk herself into believing he would be angry because then he would match the tyrannical vague war brother and all of that. She would truly have been his prisoner. Yep. But there's no room for anger for him. Anger could not be further from what con is experiencing here. And when con says quote moon beam, please don't scare me like that again. Oh my God, my heart breaks. This please got layers. It's an onion. It's got layers. Con has already mourned Elwyn once he lost her in such a painful way. I mean, really twice the lawyer and then her death. He cannot literally he refuses to lose rave. And he is so haunted by the scene he came upon. She was getting beat by this cruel male determined to claim her when we'll be in cons POV again. Like that will be burned into his memory. Poor con was terrified to find her like this. Well, and so when he's saying please don't scare me like that again. He's not only talking to rave who escaped from Mars retreat. He's also talking to element. Please don't scare me like that again. Oh my God, come on. Like I mentioned, a big takeaway from the scene where con gives rave his Melmer shows her the greatest respect fights to the death to save her. It's all establishing feelings within rave. It's fundamentally changing her narrative of con. Yes, that absolutely started happening at Mars retreat and this takes it over the edge from I want to want to kill you to I can't imagine you dying. However, one little problem with these feelings. It means connection, which rave is allergic to. I don't need to explain her aversion to worthiness to care to understanding to attachment to her con is displaying all of these things to her. And as much as she feels herself starting to reciprocate feeling these emotions that she refuses to identify because it's too scary to admit. She needs to push him away for his own safety and because she doesn't believe that she deserves anyone feeling this way about her saying these kind words to her. So in her venom blurry haze because yes, she might have taken an antidote that just kind of put a bandaid on it. She shuts con down and when she shuts him down, she's really shutting herself and her feelings down to for him. And she does this by saying quote, you should say them nice words for somebody special. And I want to highlight real quick because con after that growls in. She says it's frustration, but I personally don't think it is it's like it's more a growl of grief. This is the grief of a man who is watching someone he loves more than anything in this world refused to believe that she is worthy of being loved and cared for. While he stands there knowing with brutal and painful clarity exactly how precious she is to him. So he's like, God damn it. Like, just see that you're great rave. Oh, con. All right, shifting our focus entirely to Ellowen and her diary entries. Oh God, poor, poor, poor Ellowen. After losing her parents and Hadeon, she's watching her parents as moon plumes cremate her parents and Hadeon and a loom going up into the sky, and then dawning the etherstone and losing her connections to the four creators. She is then taken by guards from the burn, the fade and the neutral city of both aim. Note how the guards of the shade are not mentioned in there. That's because her guards and her parents AIDS are bound and on their knees from this invasion. When they say they aren't here to conquer her kingdom, the horde of molten mozz threatening the city folks certainly feels otherwise. This entourage has been sent to the shade to help ward her kingdom until she's able to bind with the male the Tri Council has chosen for her. And what do you know? It's Tyroth fucking Vigor. The Tri Council is so sus they say they're neutral, but it sure seems like King Auster and Vigor has a tight grip on this Tri Council or is in collusion with them, I should say that more so. So his bloodline can rule over all three kingdoms. They probably think their strength and triby power is who should be ruling this world. I do not trust this Tri Council in the slightest for how they seem to be colluding with King Vigor to eliminate other crowns and marry his twin sons to the fade and shade daughters. Veld like tradition dictates and shackled an iron, Eluin is taken to Dom, the capital of the burn where King Auster rules, where she will spend the next three phases until she reaches the coronation age of 21. Once when she's 21 phases, she will be bound to Tyroth, but until then it's unbecoming for her to live under the same roof as the male now ruling her kingdom. So while they say, you know, you can't live under the same roof, apparently that extends to her entire kingdom, because I gather that she is not trusted to stay here whatsoever. Get the princess out of here and under the watchful eye of King Austeran, although he'll be in the shade helping his son establish a presence here. And oh no, only Khan will be around anyway. While his son Tyroth, her betrothed, it gets a head start to begin ruling the shade. The patriarchy! It doesn't matter that it's Eluin's kingdom, her homeland, her birthright. She's a female wearing the Aether stone. She is not considered strong enough, mentally or physically. The Aether stone might be a great honor, but it comes with it literally sucking the life out of you. And I just love also how Eluin will become such a badass in the burn with Veya and Khan, but that'll be next episode. So I was really curious because Tyroth has three phases in the shade on his own where Eluin is in Dom and, you know, waiting until she's coronation age. But we don't know anything of what happens in those three phases. And a dude could do a lot of work in three phases. That's 3,000 days. So because of that, I signaled to Sarah and asked her what all Tyroth was up to in the three phases while Eluin was in Dom. But this was the other question that she said she couldn't answer because she needs to let the mysteries unfold. So darn it! I'm assuming that this is where the clipping in the shade came about. Yes. So that's really all I can think of that we know of right now. Yes. I imagine something similar to what Kadok is doing. We know how obsessed he is with building a military with taking nine phaseled children who can hear the elemental songs and starting to brainwash them into his soldiers. And we haven't really gotten a lot from the shade. Well, because everyone just seems that Tyroth is a heartbroken case of mourning his wife. Exactly. But obviously Veya knows that's not the case. So we all know that's not the case. He's a bad guy. So I do think that he's a lot more, I'll say, subtle than his brother. But I wonder if his brother is more of like the military might and Tyroth is more of the political saddiness. So he's more of like the strategist and the cunning maneuverer and then Kadok is more of the might. I'm scared to see more of Tyroth next book. Oh, after years of having Ellowen's father supporting her and her own autonomy over her life in ways of allowing her to swear and go unveiled. Now, because she's 18, she's a woman without a man to speak up for her. Remember, women are supposed to be silent and veiled at all times. Like this poor Ellowen has literally lost all autonomy over her own life. She is being dragged now across the world told to marry a man she does not want to marry and that her father didn't want her to marry. But on their way to both aim, Ellowen luckily sort of is not alone and I'm not talking about her captors. Selatra, unwilling to let Ellowen out of her sight, follows her rider. But remember, this is extremely dangerous for moon plumes to leave the shade or else their skin will blister and burn and they will literally go blind. This illustrates how deep their bond is, how protective Selatra is of Ellowen as she follows her north. Ellowen let Selatra have her rage the first night that they're in the fade. And I like to think it's because she knows her moon plume well enough that she needs to feel like she is doing something for her person. But Ellowen wants Selatra to go back to the shade tomorrow. She needs her to stay safe. The further north that they travel, the closer to the sun they are and the more deadly it is for Selatra. Ellowen has already lost her family. She's all alone in this world now except for Selatra. They are all each other has. Ellowen writes I'd rather die than watch her turn to stone. Selatra will turn to stone after Ellowen dies. She'll scoop her up and go calcify as a moon. Now in the present day with rave, Selatra is still technically gone. But rave slash Ellowen is now here again. Although we are convinced that their bond is so deep closer than Dagomort that Selatra is absolutely the other within her. Selatra will keep following her bonded all the way to the burn. And she does indeed become blind and the sun burns too many holes in her wings and she can't fly anymore. Poor Selatra. And then she crawls across the dunes to where Ellowen is staying so they can find shelter together in a hutch and cuddle. My heart. I want a dragon so badly, so so badly. And then Ellowen writes I almost begged her to solidify around me and take our pain away. For shadowing. The way Ellowen will never forgive herself for bringing Selatra so much pain when the dragon trusted her all those phases ago. It's so so similar to rave's perspective on love and support. And I'm just suggesting her might as well be a death sentence for Selatra with Ellowen for Essie with rave and so on. I do wonder if this line about Ellowen never forgiving herself for creating this bond with Selatra will come back into play in book two. Like rave will have to do some real inner healing self forgiveness for the sake of the other a.k.a. Selatra within her. And I do think that her new moon plume that she's going to be nursing back to health is going to heal a little part of her. Because she's able to take a moon plume who has been damaged and abused by wreck but also by the burn and be able to bring her back in a good way and to be able to give something versus always feeling like she's take, take, taking. Oh, I can't wait to see more leery. I can't wait. I keep forgetting that she's got leery. I know right. One instance I do want to note from their travels is that they stop in the fade and the fade queen visits Ellowen and helps her from her injuries like a literal fucking iron pin in her shoulder. And again, I love the rave parallels there, but I hate that for Ellowen. In this scene, Ellowen specifically takes off her veil to let the fade queen see her whole face. This right here is the moment seeing Ellowen's face. That's how the fade queen knew who rave was when rave was about to be eaten by molten moths back in episode two and she's like, what the fuck like don't don't let that happen. Yes, yes. And just like because I've been editing your book and so aware of plot holes lately and having to fix them. Thanks asshole. No, I don't mean that. Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry with my story as well. That was not a blanket statement for you. What I'm trying to get at is like this is totally just my headcanon. I have no idea if this is the case, but this line here about how Ellowen like showed herself to the fade queen was not originally in there and editors were like, Hey, how would the fade queen recognize Ellowen if she, you know, always had to have her veil on. And Sarah in my headcanon is like, Oh shoot. Well, I better add this in in the diary entry. Now she took a lot for her new friend as someone who literally got my edits back and I can already think of four different places I need to add little not for not for plot holes. You asked for like, Oh, a little explainer line. That's definitely a thing. I love you. Let's tap into our dragon site and turn our full attention to important foreshadowing moments for the rest of this book and speculations for book two ballot of falling dragons. All right, so this first one's more general just as we were talking about Orva and the falling moons. Do you think we're going to get another moonfall or multiple moonfalls next book? Yes. I think we'll get one more moonfall. And the reason that I'm so positive about that for myself is it feels like it would be such a big deal for this world. Yeah. And there is so much kind of like bubbling up right now in this world a lot like that the chess players are all getting their pieces all together. And I think that another moonfalling could really kick things off. It could be a real instigator in what is to come. And there are like, I just think about from a plot point of view, oh my gosh, the possibilities of another moonfalling. I do think that it would probably be like maybe the later part of book two. And then the consequences of this moonfall is what were they're going to have to deal with in the third book. Okay, I'm going to tweak that because I'm definitely in agreement that at least one moon will fall next book. But I'm actually wondering what would happen if Kailis got so fucking pissed off because I don't know something or other happened with Kazari. And then she didn't take some back soon enough, you know, well, he seems like that kind of fuck boy. I'm not going to lie. And I just see vividly like hundreds of moons falling, falling, falling. And everyone's like, what the fuck? Like, I think that would be so dramatic and so visually. Oh my gosh. Do you want to make a bet? I'm realizing we don't really have many beds and we're getting into the second half of our coverage here real soon. Let's do it. Yes. Okay, I believe that in book two, we will have one moonfall. Okay, I believe that in book two, we will have more than one moonfall. Okay. And then nobody wins if it's nothing. Correct. Yes. Okay, great. There's an interesting line about Saiza, one of the Jakuul clan females who can speak the common tongue. Quote, her sunburst eyes warming, reminding me of Ruse. Ruse was the shopkeeper at the Fades Curly Quill and is a feared duath member. In fact, she's mentioned twice in the stretch of chapters. The other time is in reference to the armory and like, oh, wow, that's even better than Ruse's. This line in particular about, you know, her sunburst eyes reminding her of Ruse could easily just be a nod to what Raid is familiar with or that Ruse is from this area. But I'm also wondering if Ruse is from this area, could Ruse and Saiza be related? Which brings me to wondering if we should connect Ruse with the Jakuul clan and specifically Saiza. Crack theory, what if this is an Easter egg that it'll come back to Ruse that Raid is alive? Yes, hopping, hop, board, board, hop it off. There's two mentions of Ruse in this chapter. It's like, I really think it's going to come back to the feared duath that she's alive. That's bad. That's actually really bad. Ruse could tell Sareem and then Sareem has the scratchy vial. She can make Raid do something like come back to the feared duath. I'm convinced that proximity has to be there a little bit. Yeah, that makes, that makes sense. But also this is a very dense world and I could see proximity actually not having an issue. So yeah, I just wanted to pull that out there. I thought that was very interesting. When Rave is looking at Orva, the adolescent dragon moon that fell eight phases ago, she feels this gentle plea from within her to stop looking at the fallen dragon. Like this plea from within her has to be Slacha, right? I think that she feels especially sad because the small dragon reminds her of her own baby dragon, who flew up with Elwin's brother to become a moon when she was only an adolescent. I am so convinced that the other is Slacha, her spirit is within Rave. She gave her her life force and that is the deeper bond. One million percent convinced. Nicole, I will make a bet with you about this. I also am one million percent convinced that Slacha is dead. I'm so sorry to crush your hopes. That is canon in my head. But I appreciate the unstopper bets this episode. It makes me very happy. As Ragon arrives, he roars and breathes a shit ton of fire into the air. Illuminating Rave with quote the remnants of a million wilted runes. It will be next episode that we see some of these runes and what they mean, including one on her chest that should be a death blow, but is magically silver. Like Slacha is. Well, it wasn't healed the same way that the other ones were. Nope. It's almost like a dragon healed it instead of exactly like a dragon's life force. Yes. The soul of the Chakrull clan reads the will of the creators. And I'm curious if this is also who foresaw the prophecy a long time ago. And what else might be the will of the creators, especially how they want to keep their brother Kalis trapped in the etherstone. I don't think that we've seen the last of the soul by any means. And I'll be very curious to see if we see more about this will of the creators. Maybe they will make some kind of comment about Rave and Khan and the faded mates sort of thing there. I don't know. See, I'm even leaning towards what if they meet Kazari and they learn that Kazari wants to free Kalis. And they're like, girl, just because he tells you he loves you does not mean that he loves you. He could just be playing with your heart. I want to make a bet that Kalis actually is in love with Kazari, but I'm not going to because I don't trust how that could really and truly come to life. That would be a Sarah question after the series is done. I think we're going to know the answer to that by the end of the series. God, I think so. I think that Kalis is just 100% fuck boy. I think he actually is in love with her. I think that he is in love with her. Never trust a man. He's been craving attention. It's unhealthy for sure, but it still is there. Yeah. Oh my God. Now it is time to infiltrate the Tri Council where every episode Lexi guides us through a world building topic to help us deepen our understanding of this world and its magic. Today's infiltrating the Tri Council topic is tribal cultures, specifically the Chakool clan and the Tuka trial. There are many clans scattered across the Botanic plains, which is the southernmost part of the burn. These tribes thrive in the harsh environment where no others tend to live. The way of life for many of these clans is more mysterious and unknown, the further they are from the burn's capital. These clans are renowned for producing strong and gifted warriors with unmatched fighting abilities. The Tukul clan, the strongest of them all and our primary focus in today's segment. At least the Chakool clan has their own language, though it's not clear if they share a common language with the other tribes or if this language is Chakool specific. Speaking of the Chakool clan, let's go ahead and dive in. The Chakool clan is one of the many warrior clans that reside in the Botanic plains, but they are known to be the strongest, like I said. They are located off the river Okt near the mountains. Again, this is the southern side of the burn, according to the map, which puts them fairly close to the northern wall of the Fade. That's why Rafe's clan was pretty realistic to float on the log down the river till she reached the Fade. In more recent years, the Chakool clan has claimed the crater that was formed when the Saberscythe moon Orva fell eight phases ago. When the small adolescent moon crashed and formed the crater, it did not shatter upon impact. Because of this, the clan placed the moon in a large domed tent just to the side of the crater and created a place of honor for Orva. In this tent, tribe members are able to take a flower from the basket outside and place it at the dragon's base as a sign of great respect in hopes that no other moon will fall on their place of living. The clan lives inside and around a Saberscythe skeleton that is approximately four times the size of Rhaigon, who, remember, is gigantic, so that gives you an idea of how extra huge this dragon was. Remember that not all dragons can fly up to become moons, some unfortunately die too soon here on the earth before they can get up to the sky. The chest cavity of this massive beast has been mostly hollowed out with holes in the ceiling in between the ribs that allow for light to enter. The people of the Chakool clan live in domed tents made of different animal heights that have been stitched together and painted to look like the scorched ground. This allows them to be camouflaged from anyone flying on a dragon above who might happen to look into one of the many skylights. This is really showing their cleverness with blending in and working with the environment. Each dwelling has elaborately carved stone arches that showcase different creatures, predominantly dragons, of course, carved in exquisite detail. There are women here where silk bands around their chests, whereas the men are typically topless. Naked bodies are not something to be shy about here, no matter their shape or size. Remember that the people of the Bern, where it's really hot, they don't feel like flesh is some big secret. To them, breasts are worshiped for the way they nourish the younglings of their clan and are not viewed as sexual objects. As a mother who is needed breastfeed but been so scared to in public, YES TO THIS! The OHA, or king, which I'll get into in a minute, wears a black cuff in his ear, as well as has copper rods hanging on strings draped over his shoulders. He also wears a crown of bones and has a throne of dragon bloodstone. The J'Kul clan's hierarchy structure is based on how many dots someone has on their raidi. Raidi is the dotted tattoo on the back of a warrior where each dot represents a victory one, and a heavily tattooed back is a show of great strength and honor because they have won that many victories. The person with the largest raidi holds the position of OHA or king, and their bonded is the OHA-E or queen. This person is also known as the Raskah-E, which translates to the greatest. Technically, the Raskah-E is Khan, but when his Pa died, he offered the position to his Uth-Ruskar. Uth-Ruskar is the title for the second greatest. So Khan, he gave the king title to the second greatest here because he had to go be king of the burn, but he has not given up his title as the greatest, only as the king. I know, it's a little bit confusing. In these tribes, the kingdom crown, like the burn king, mean little to nothing to them, as this clan does not claim to be part of the kingdom. Along with these titles of status, they also pound their chest a certain number of times as a sign of respect depending on someone's rank. For example, three times, I assume, is acknowledging another warrior before they fight as Hock does with his first opponent. Four times for the greatest, the Raskah-E, which is Khan. Five times for the OHA, aka their king. Yes, even though in this case, Khan is the greatest, is higher than their OHA. Khan pounds his chest six times, but remember, this is unheard of as we talked a lot about earlier. So let's go into the Tuka trial. What is a Tuka trial? A Tuka trial is when two warriors fight for the privilege to bind with another. This trial is also a fight to the death, unless it is the female who is fighting because she opposes the winner. In this case, she would have to kill him, whereas he only needs to get her to submit. This is what Veya would have had to do, but just because a female wins her Tuka trial, it does not protect her from having another one. But the females here generally don't view Tuka trials as a negative thing. Like we're talking about with that real cultural difference there. They want to bond with one deemed worthy to give them strong younglings. But again, that is just a generalization. So now that we know what the trial is, what does it look like? In the Chakool clan, the Tuka trial takes place in Orva's crater, where gongs are hit in a slow beat. Before the fight begins, the female is tended to by the other females of the tribe behind a silk curtain. Her clothing is removed, she is washed from head to toe, and then she is painted with cold blood. After this is done, a long strip of blood red silk is draped as a skirt and piece of silk is wrapped around her breasts, along with a necklace made of copper rods. Then we have the warriors who will fight for her, both of which have also been painted as cold blood and wearing a Malmer. Malmers are hand-carved pendants that are offered to whoever the warrior is, a cult courting, but again, it's more like very symbolic of an engagement ring. These Malmers are often made from things like dragon scale, bone, copper, or stone, and carved with something that is relatable to the male that is very connected. Designs we have seen include hawks, which is a black pendant engraved with a serpent, of course it's a serpent, zarrons, which is a tawny diadem bearing an embossed faunicaw, and then of course there's cons, which is a dark saberscythe and silver moon plume embracing. During the Tuka trial, the males kneel before the female and each offer her their Malmer, which she then must accept and place on the rug before her. Once this is done, the males are then permitted to select their weapon of choice. Options include, but are certainly not limited to, batons with a length of chain attached to the end, topped with spiky balls, giant hooked swords, small flat blades with serrated teeth, and bludgeoning stick with metal spikes. At this point, the warriors will step into the ring and fight until the death. The creator in which they are fighting has iron mixed in with a sand to prevent anyone who can hear any of the creator's songs from using them during the fight. It's all equal footing here. When one of the warriors is slain, the victor will then cut off his head and present it to the female. After the trial is complete and the victor is determined, the clan throws a great celebration, but we don't know quite what that entails, just that they have one. After the celebration, the victor will then escort his new female to his tent and show her the pelts of his kills. Ooh, this is their version of Netflix and chill. Upon which they will hopefully make many strong sons and daughters and the bound couples bond will grow strong and sturdy. Another extremely important aspect of the clan's culture is their belief in prophecies. The Jakul clan has a member that is known as the soul. This female has milky white eyes and the ability to see and tell prophecies. She does this by reading the will of the creators, which all we know involves chanting, reaching toward the sky and grabbing and throwing sand. The Kalu prophecy in particular is that many cycles ago, the soul foretold that the Fate herder would bring Kalu to the Jakul clan and that the Kalu's offspring would tether the moons to the sky forever. They believe that Raith is Kalu, so when they arrived at the clan, they held a tuka trial, which we talked all about this episode. And there we have it friends, that is the Jakul clan and the tuka trial. Let's close out this moment with shopping at the curly quill and talking about our favorite moments from this stretch chapters. When Elluin is taken from the shade, she is shot with an iron pin because the beanie- Great moment Lexi, so favorite. Lexi is better than Hadeon dies. So she's shot with an iron pin because the beaded guards knew that she would put up a fight. And in Elluin's diary entry, she writes cowardly fucks. We've been pointing this out all deep dive, the similarities and glimpses of the same character in Elluin and Raev. And this is definitely one of those moments because this is exactly what Raev would think. You cowardly fucks. You cowardly fucks is also just such a good saying, like it's satisfying in the mouth if you know what I mean. Can we talk about the fact that Sarah A Parker created another fucking language? I am in awe of this woman. And I had to ask how on earth she went about creating the Jakul clan's language and if she pulled from any other specific languages for inspiration. And in my signal as Sarah, here is what she says, quote. I would love to answer this, but honestly, it's an entire TED talk. So I will just say thank you and let you know that my audiobook narrators probably hate me because I certainly hated myself when I got a list of hundreds of Ford's sentences that I had to verbally pronounce for recording references. I feel this so deeply because I've been struggling all up a sound. I'm saying the words. What about the speaking? Oh, that would be me just creating a whole new language is thinking I'm so cold and then it'd be like, oh, you mean I have to actually pronounce that no, no, I can't do that. I put my hand in over to you and be like Nicole, can you please do my recording references for me? I literally have recordings of me saying almost every single word in my world that I've created that like would be hard to say. And I've already corrected multiple friends who are like, oh, so it's this and I'm like, no. When rave prints blood upon Khan as a symbol of accepting his offer that she is his greater, she prints upon the small wonky moon tattooed on his back and I just find that so sweet and so symbolic. Yes. Oh my gosh. So, my friends, thank you so much for tuning into this episode four of our when the moon hatched deep dive. Next Monday is episode five, where we are finally covering chapters 45 through 57. It is time to figure out. Ellen being rave. We're going to Dom we're meeting Vaya we're learning. We're going to see so much. So we're going to see slatra. Oh my God. Like Lexi we saw slatra this episode she went blind you. Right. You're right. Right. I'm so excited. Oh my God. I can't wait. It's been finally time. We would love to give the biggest warm welcome welcome welcome to our newest feral fans and deep divers. Thank you so so so so much for being here. Welcome welcome welcome. Rachelle Rekeliphant and Melissa W. And if you're like, hey, I want my name shot on the podcast and be shot with all this love too. Join our fan club at fantasy feral girls.com slash fan club link is also in the show notes. Thank you as always to our favorite mind weft aka our content researcher Brooke, our executive producer slash sanity manager slash co host of the fantasy fanfellas podcast Hayden, but Hayden's on a boat this week. So actually, he's on a boat. He's on a boat. I can't wait to send him memes all week. He's going to he thinks he's a real boss. We are leaving him the fuck alone. But because of his flippy floppies and on a boat. This we have the wonderful the amazing the always putting on every single hat that she possibly can. Peyton, who is editing this episode in the background. You are a goddess. What would we do about you and I'm so sorry. We are very active on social media with weekly trivia, book guides and so much more. So please be sure to follow us on Instagram and short tick tock at fantasy fangirls pod. And if you're watching this on YouTube or want to watch on YouTube pretty please hit that subscribe button to keep following along while you're smashing buttons go ahead and hit that rate five star button on whatever podcast platform you are listening on. And if you want to go a little above and beyond like con always does for rave making her his greater. You can also leave a little love note in the review section. You don't have to make us your greater though. Please don't do that. You are a wonderful human being. And while you're also while you're at it. Share this episode with the friend who you would go to a to go trial for they love this. I took a trial for you to call really. I think I got a one for you to but I'm not going to lie. I don't think I do very well. But I would go to a to trial for you. That's for sure. I love you. Okay. Goodbye everybody. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome to the. That was. Okay. Now it's go time. Lexi. I'm talking. The stinky cock. With the snake. The snakey snake. Never. I continue. There are things in life we make more complicated than the need to be. And things that we worry about that we don't need to. Like making tax digital for income tax. Summaps free MTD for income tax solution is ideal for soul traders turning over more than 50,000 a year. It's already built into the sum up platform. So you can stay compliant without paying for software or worrying about getting it wrong. Did I mention it's free? Getting started is easy. Just search sum up MTD online. The all new all electric Toyota CHR plus sleek stylish and quietly reliable available with 0% APR representative with 1500 pound deposit contribution and save 1500 pounds with the electric car grant. Get that Toyota electric feeling. 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