WARNING: Major spoilers ahead for Onyx Storm.
The third book in Rebecca Yarros’ Empyrean Series, Onyx Storm, has been released and finally revealed what kind of dragon Andarna is, and the seventh dragon breed, irid, is a fascinating one. Andarna has been one of the Empyrean Series’ biggest mysteries, and still is even after Onyx Storm started unraveling that mystery. She’s a unique, seventh breed of dragon in The Empyrean Series, something no one thought possible until the last book, Iron Flame. Sadly for her, Andarna is just as lost as the humans, desperate to know more about who and why she is.
Onyx Storm dug more deeply into her origins and history, as a major plotline of the third Empyrean book was a quest to find the seventh mythical breed. While Andarna and her friends got a few of the major questions answered, their quest to find the seventh breed only led to more questions by the ending of Onyx Storm. Still, they and readers both know a lot more about the seventh dragon breed than they did before Onyx Storm, and it’s clear there’s more to explore with the long-lost dragon breed in The Empyrean Series book 4.
Onyx Storm Reveals Andarna Is An Irid Scorpiontail
Andarna Finally Has A Name For What She Is
The mystery of Andarna’s origins is revealed when she and the other dragons, along with Violet and her squad, finally track down the missing breed of dragons. Rather, the seventh breed of dragons finds them, using their natural camouflaging skills to follow the squad’s progress undetected before revealing themselves to Violet, Andarna, and Tairn, as well as Ridoc and his dragon, Aotrom.
In Onyx Storm, “irid” is short for “iridescent,” or, according to Merriam-Webster, “a lustrous rainbowlike play of color caused by differential refraction of light waves (as from an oil slick, soap bubble, or fish scales) that tends to change as the angle of view changes.”
In a minor Onyx Storm spoiler for those who haven’t read it (hence the warning at the top of the article), dragons confirm they are “irid,” named for their ability to change their colors, and inform Andarna she is one of them. In fact, one of the irid dragons, Leothan, shares the same markings on his horn as Andarna and later confirms that not only are they the same breed of dragon, but that they are of the same den, making him Andarna’s family. Interestingly, however, the irids point out that Andarna is a scorpiontail rather than a feathertail like the rest of them, a seemingly small detail that shortly takes on huge importance.
How Irids Differ From The Other Six Breeds Of Dragon
They Differ In Physical Features, Magic Ability, And Worldview
Irids are vastly different than the other breeds of dragons, not just in their physical abilities but also in their magic and how they view the world. Their camouflaging abilities have already been documented through Andarna in the first two books. Just like her, they’re able to do anything from change their color to go completely invisible. It’s impressive all on its own, but Andarna hinted that she could do a lot more with her powers than simply change colors when she burned a venin to ash, something no one thought possible before.
Related
10 Strongest Dragons In Fourth Wing, Ranked By How Powerful They Are
The dragons of Fourth Wing are both powerful and some of the most important characters in the series, with their powers giving them unique strengths.
While the reveal of the irids raised more questions than answers, that particular trick may have been answered by something Leothan later tells Andarna when they meet again: irids are capable of bending magic to their will. They don’t use magic; they are magic, and it makes them unlike any other dragon breed. “You are irid,” he tells the young dragon. “You are magic. Bend it, shape it, break it as you see fit.” It’s possible that, in the moment she needed it, Andarna reshaped magic to suit her needs without realizing it, enabling her to burn and kill the venin. It’s clear there’s still much, much more to learn there regarding irids, though. Considering the third big way irids differ from the other dragons, it will be a challenge.
It’s possible that, in the moment she needed it, Andarna reshaped magic to suit her needs without realizing it, enabling her to burn and kill the venin.
For as much as the Empyrean dragons bicker and fight, they are all tight-knit and committed to protecting their kind, a bond that crosses breed lines. That is not the case with irids, who, quite frankly, want nothing to do with the rest of the dragons – or humankind. Like the other dragon breeds, irids are judgmental and condescending. Unlike the other violent dragon breeds, however, they eschew war and battle, preferring to live in peace and harmony far from the bloody battlefields of Navarre. As such, their condescension comes from believing they are the only evolved breed of dragon – and there are fair points to support that belief.
Where Andarna’s Kind Went After Leaving Navarre
They Withdrew From Dragons & Humankind Alike
At the start of Onyx Storm, nobody knew where the seventh breed came from, where they went, or even if they still existed. It was like finding a needle in a haystack, and Violet and her squad had few scant clues to go on: the fact that Andarna doesn’t like the cold and a gut feeling both Violet and Andarna had. As Violet’s father’s research was leading them to the warm isles of the south, anyway, they decided to follow their gut feeling and kill two birds with one stone, tracking down the research while also searching for the seventh breed as they island-hopped, starting with Deverelli.
As it turned out, Violet and Andarna were on the right track, but the irids were even more remote than anticipated. Instead of finding them on one of the populated islands, the squad realized there was an entire archipelago of islands in the south that wasn’t on any map. It was on those remote islands that they encountered the irids, who had spread out along the archipelago. Even more surprisingly, there are a lot more of them than thought, with Leothan informing them “there are hundreds of us,” further evidence that their choice to remove themselves from humans and dragonkind alike has helped them to thrive.
Why The Other Irids Left Andarna Behind
Andarna Was A Cruel Test
When the irids met Andarna on Onyx Storm, one of them referred to her as “the criterion,” a term that hadn’t been mentioned before but clearly meant something to the new breed. The definition of “criterion,” according to Merriam-Webster, is “a standard on which a judgment or decision may be based,” and that’s exactly what Andarna is. When the irids left Navarre, they left behind Andarna’s egg with the plan that she would one day hatch and integrate with the humans, intending to use her as the standard by which they judged humankind’s progress or lack thereof. The hope was that Andarna would return to them one day (or they would come to her) and show them that, under the influence of humans, she’d adopted the peaceful and wise traits of the irid breed and humans had evolved.
Related
10 Best Fourth Wing Cosplays From Onyx Storm’s Midnight Release Parties
With the Midnight release of Rebecca Yarros’ Onyx Storm, many fans celebrated by dressing up as their favorite characters from the book series.
Unfortunately, as anyone who has read the books knows, that is not the case for Andarna or the humans, who are in the middle of yet another war. By their irid standards, that Andarna has been honed into a weapon, and proud of it, shows that humans have not changed, and she has been corrupted. As such, they view her as defective and unworthy of learning their ways, hopelessly attuned to violence, and they’re quite cruel about their judgment. “You have weaponized your magic, even your tail. You’ve become the very thing we abhor, the horror we fled from,” one of the irids tells her before they depart.
“You have weaponized your magic, even your tail. You’ve become the very thing we abhor, the horror we fled from.”
It’s so cruel that it raises several questions about why Leothan changed his mind and later came back to fire the wardstone at Tyrrendor and for Andarna, agreeing to train her in their ways. Whether the other irid made an exception for her or if he defied them and broke ranks remains to be seen, but it’s just one of many, many questions Onyx Storm unfortunately left unanswered. Either way, it’s clear the irids will factor into the next book in a major way, as their wisdom and their magic capabilities are enough to reshape the world.
Onyx Storm
Violet Sorrengail faces new political intrigue and battles old enemies while uncovering the secrets of her second signet. As she strives to save Xaden from venin corruption, her relationships with allies and dragons are tested, leading to intense confrontations and unexpected revelations in a world of dragons and magic.
- Genre
-
Fantasy
- Publisher
-
Entangled: Red Tower Books
- Publication Date
-
2025/01/01
- ISBN#
-
1649374186
- Author(s)
-
Rebecca Yarros
