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Welcome to House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas!

This week we're discussing chapters 73 through 75! Sabine publicly denounces Ithan as a traitor, accusing him of turning Sigrid into a Reaper and presenting falsified footage, but the Prime arrives and confirms Ithan’s claims, revealing even Danika knew the truth and hoped the wolves could change. The Prime names Ithan his heir and strips Sabine of her title, only for Sabine to stab her father with the Fendyr sword, allowing Sigrid to drain his Firstlight. Chaos erupts as Sigrid kills the Astronomer and Sabine attacks again, forcing Ithan to kill her, after which the wolves—including Perry and Amelie—submit to him as their new Prime. Elsewhere, Ruhn and Lidia sneak through the city toward the Comitium, while Tharion spots imperial battleships in the Istros and sends word to the River Queen. As tensions escalate on all fronts, Bryce asks Hunt to share his power so she can open the Rift.

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Welcome to House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas!

This week we're discussing chapters 70 through 72! Hypaxia creates an imperfect but usable antidote by modeling it after the synth and channeling all of Hunt’s lightning, meaning it isn’t permanent and leaves them unable to help Sigrid yet. When she warns that taking it would make him stronger than Sabine, Hunt drinks it immediately and proves it works by summoning ice and snow. Bryce and the others arrive at Nena to find the sentries gone, and security footage reveals the undead Harpy has slaughtered the guards as they pass through the gate and reach the Rift with its quartz archway. Meanwhile, Ithan discovers Danika’s research on the Fendyr line and goes to the wolves’ Den, where he reveals the Asteri’s parasite, demonstrates his new ice powers, and offers them an alternative to Sabine’s rule. His revelation is cut short when the Astronomer and Sabine arrive—with Sigrid in tow.

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Welcome to House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas!

Baxian opens up to Hunt about his brutal childhood, revealing that his Helhound mother was killed by a mob and his father was tortured to death by Sandriel’s legion, leaving him to survive alone until Sandriel recruited him as the infamous Snake. Hunt then asks Baxian to be his second-in-command, and Baxian accepts. Bryce outlines her plan for herself, Hunt, and her parents to travel to Nena to open the Rift, sending Ruhn, Declan, and Flynn back to Lunathion to recruit Isaiah and Naomi, while Baxian stays behind to protect incoming refugees. Lidia chooses to accompany Ruhn, and Bryce assigns Tharion—joined by Sathia—to petition the River Queen to shelter people Beneath. Ruhn and Lidia share a vulnerable moment about killing their fathers and the consequences they each carry, nearly kissing before Flynn loudly interrupts. Meanwhile, Ithan assists Hypaxia in researching whether the Asteri’s parasite dies with its host, eventually capturing a Reaper who confirms the parasite does not survive in them. Bryce’s family and friends—her parents, Emile/Cooper, June, Fury, and Syrinx—arrive on Avallen, bringing supplies for the dangerous cold of Nena. After Fury delivers the gear, Bryce gives her a treasured photo of their friend group to keep safe before she and Hunt depart with her parents for Nena.

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Welcome to House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas!

This week we are covering chapters 64 - 66! Morven’s castle has been destroyed and overgrown, prompting Bryce to focus on getting as many people to safety on Avallen as possible. Lidia reveals that if they survive, she won’t return to the Ocean Queen, believing her service will no longer be needed. Declan suddenly regains phone service and reports that the Asteri have launched a massive strike, with Pollux and Mordoc wiping out every Ophion base and the Asterian Guard devastating Asphodel Meadows with missiles. Ithan and Hypaxia reach Avallen but can’t pass through the mist until Hypaxia touches it, causing it to part for them. Bryce contacts her family as they head to Avallen and tells Hunt they must go to Nena so she can open the Northern Rift for Hel, and that they need Jesiba’s footage proving she killed Micah and Hunt killed Sandriel. Bryce and Hunt land in front of Ithan and Hypaxia, and soon the whole group gathers: Bryce, Hunt, Ithan, Hypaxia, Ruhn, Flynn, Dex, Tharion, Lidia, Baxian, and Sathia. Ithan admits he needs Sofie’s body and explains why, only for Bryce to tell him it was in the now-ruined castle, while Hunt suggests using captured lightning in crystals to replicate Rigelus’s method, which Ruhn confirms Lidia can support with crystals from the archives. Bryce updates Ithan and Hypaxia on everything she has learned and tasks Hypaxia with finding an antidote to the Asteri’s waterborne parasite, sending them back to the House of Flame and Shadow with crystals containing Hunt’s lightning to begin their work.

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Welcome to House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas!

This week we are covering chapters 61 - 63! During the First Wars, several Princes of Hel engineered new weapons—kristallos demons, thunderbirds, and ultimately Hunt himself—to hunt the Horn and empower the prophesied Starborn heir. Hunt learns he was created by Apollion and Thanatos, using both an Asteri scientist and his mother, to serve as a living power source for Bryce, though his diluted Helfire can’t kill the Asteri as intended. Meanwhile, Bryce and Hunt awaken to find Morven and the Autumn King attacking their allies, leading Bryce to unleash her starfire, kill the twins, and destroy her father only after Ruhn intervenes and reveals the Oracle’s true prophecy: the royal bloodline ends with him, and Bryce is the rightful ruler. Claiming her place by killing Morven and becoming Queen of Avallen, Bryce realizes the sword and dagger are literal keys to Theia’s final magic; when she unlocks the star-shaped seal, the land is restored and long-lost islands rise from the sea as she gains the last of Theia’s power.

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This week we are covering chapters 58 - 60! Ithan and Hypaxia are still helping out in the Meadows. Baxian, Tharion and Sathia are keeping watch while Hunt and Bryce hang out in Hel and get all the tea. We find out that Hunt was created by the Princes of Hel, but they did not hurt Mama Hunt. Apollion, Aidas and Thanatos tell Hunt and Bryce about what happened when they fought the Asteri and Bryce tells them everything she has been up to. They tell Bryce that she is a world walker and the key to opening the rift. They begin to forge a plan to fight.

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Welcome to House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas!

This week we are covering chapters 55 - 57!

Join us for some cheap wine AND cheap thoughts as we deep dive into these chapters! Morven and the Autumn King capture Flynn and Declan to get Bryce to do what they want. She blasts part of the cave and escapes with the crew. Ruhn and Lidia finally the conversation they've desperately needed to have and we get a lot of her background with her children, Ophion and the Ocean Queen. Bryce and crew find Prince Pelias' tomb and discover it leads to a staircase. The cave below is filled with black salt. Bryce & Hunt decide to try and make contact with Hel. When they get there, Aidas welcomes them.

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Welcome to House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas!

This week we are covering chapters 52 - 54! Bryce reveals that the Mask can raise the dead without a necromancer, and as her group explores the caves, they discover carvings of an eight-pointed star and scenes of Fae hunting Theia’s pegasuses while the ghouls cower from Bryce’s power. Meanwhile, Ducan and Seamus fail to break into Lidia’s mind, and she and Ruhn share a vulnerable conversation about their pasts and families before tension sparks between them. Above ground, Ithan and Hypaxia rush to aid survivors after missiles strike Asphodel Meadows, while Bryce’s group crosses an underground river, and she admits she wants nothing to do with the Fae after this ordeal. The next morning, a Fae soldier thanks Lidia for saving his unit years earlier, revealing her hidden heroism, and she later studies a scroll about the Roots of Earthen Magic that suggests Avallen was once a powerful Fae stronghold. The section ends as Bryce’s group is confronted in the caves by Morven and the Autumn King.

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