Crowntide

Oro portals to the Skyling castle. Azul confirms that no more monsters have emerged from the pool, but the Skylings sense disturbances from it. Oro admits he needs help, and Azul agrees to call for volunteers.

Azul then shares that some interpret Crowntide not as an event but as a person destined to end the world. Oro counters that this person could also save the world. Azul suggests that if Isla dies, her fate dies with her, enraging Oro. Azul points out the prophecy states Isla will kill either Oro or Grim, and since her life is bound to Grim’s, her choice seems clear. He asks if Oro could kill Isla to save the world. Azul proposes another possibility. Since fate is fluid, the prophecy could now be about Oro instead of Isla because his heart is also divided.

Isla sits in silence, contemplating how Lark could still love Cronan and wondering if she is destined for the same fate. After dinner, Grim escorts her to her cell. Noticing blood on her shoulder, he tears off a piece of his shirt and gives it to her.

The next afternoon, Grim appears at her cell. He tells her Cronan plans to invade early and knows she has been communicating with Oro. He opens her cell door, calling it her only chance to escape, but says he never wants to see her again. He explains he remembers “a world worth saving” but not “a life worth living” (390).

Moved, Isla shoves the gate shut. She tells him his life is worth living, their love is worth rediscovering, and together they can defeat Cronan. Grim calls her a fool for rejecting his help. Suddenly, Cronan appears from the shadows, having overheard everything.

Oro reflects on how Isla brought feeling back to his life after centuries of numbness. He sits on a beach, questioning his duties and the impossible choice Azul presented to him. Enya finds him, and Oro asks what she would do if she had to choose between saving the world and saving him. Enya replies she would choose him, but notes that as a non-ruler, it is a choice she will never have to make. Oro laments that his crown is a curse, and Enya agrees that all crowns are.

He tells Enya he cannot kill Isla but also cannot doom his people. He wishes the choice were between his life and hers, as he would give his for her in an instant. Enya asks if he still feels that way after she chose Grim, and Oro confirms he does.

Cronan portals Isla and Grim to the galaxy room, where a dozen armored knights await. He says he underestimated Isla’s ability to hide her mind and offers her a chance: If she kills all his knights with a sword, he will let her leave.

A knight lunges, and Isla beheads him. After being surrounded, she uses a fallen knight’s body as a shield to reflect their attacks, then kills the stunned knights by stabbing gaps in their armor. The last knight attacks from behind and chokes her. She rips off his helmet and freezes because he has Cronan’s face.

Cronan stops the fight, explaining the knights are weaker versions of himself. He beheads the last one, stating he does not tolerate weakness. As he prepares to execute Isla, he invades her mind. Using his own techniques, she probes his mental defenses and discovers his weakness. When Cronan withdraws, now aware of her plans, he announces that there will be a duel between Isla and Grim and the winner will save their respective realm.

Cronan telepathically tells Grim he knows of his betrayal. He swears on his crown that if Grim wins the duel, Nightshade will survive. Grim accepts that killing Isla means his own death due to their bound lives but feels only flat acceptance, believing the deed will save his realm.

That evening, Grim portals to his room and finds Isla on his bed. She explains that she wants to spend her last night with him and still loves him even though he will kill her tomorrow. Agitated, Grim calls her love ridiculous. She replies that love usually is and gives him the choice for her to stay or leave. As she begins to walk out, Grim snatches her wrist and pulls her back.

Isla and Grim have sex throughout his chambers, and Isla tells him this is the best night they have ever shared. Afterward, Grim returns with a towel and clothes. He is gruff and avoids her gaze, telling her their night together changes nothing about the duel. Isla agrees but desperately searches for a sign that their bond has returned. Grim walks her to the door and slams it shut. Back in her cell, Isla takes the feather from Lark’s barely reformed body.

The next day, an hour before the duel, Grim tries to shake off memories of his night with Isla. Knights burst in and announce that Isla has escaped. Grim realizes that the disguise illusion on his skyre must have slipped during their night together and that Isla must have used Lark’s feather to carve the skyre on herself and restore her powers. He feels angry at himself for being used and worries her escape jeopardizes his deal to save Nightshade. He offers to prove his loyalty to Cronan by finding her himself.

Legions of allied forces help Oro defend Lightlark, but more and more monsters enter through the pool. While Oro is resting, the silver pool appears in his mind. The silver-haired woman shows him a blade with a heart-shaped handle, which she identifies as a famed weapon that can kill anyone permanently. It has been hidden for millennia in a pocket of time and is the key to peace or ruin. She says Oro must find it to have any chance of defeating Cronan. When Oro protests that he no longer has the Threads of Time, she insists he may be the only one who can find the Heartblade.

After carving Cronan’s skyre into her palm with Lark’s feather, Isla’s power returns. She breaks through her cell bars and uses a storm portal to travel to the Forgotten Forest. She pulls her necklace to summon Grim, who appears. He accuses her of standing him up for their duel, and she tells him she simply chose a different arena.

Isla uses the forest’s magic to show him memories of their first meeting, but Grim resists and attacks. They duel through a montage of memories from their shared past, including their wedding. As they fight, their swords begin to merge. Isla uses everything Cronan taught her to amplify the memories. She then drops her weapon, making herself defenseless, and tells Grim their love is infinite. His sword vanishes, and he reaches for her face. Isla is filled with relief, but his expression hardens. He says that he remembers her, but he doesn’t care.

The forest turns to ash as Cronan appears. He forces Isla to press a dagger against Grim’s chest and demands she take him to the Pool of Possibilities, or he will make her kill Grim.

Grim feels conflicted as he watches Cronan drag a defeated Isla through the forest. He reflects on his memories and questions his path because he doesn’t want to become like the lonely, destructive Cronan.

They arrive at the Pool of Possibilities. Cronan releases Isla, who collapses without a fight. Grim is furious seeing her so weak and senses crushing sadness in her aura. Cronan explains the pool will show him how to alter his past to find an ancient forest. He states the details of his deal with Grim: When Isla dies, Grim will give him the Infinite diamond before he also dies, and Cronan will spare Nightshade. Cronan steps into the pool, places his crown in the water, and receives a vision.

After stepping out of the water, he approaches Isla to kill her. Despite his inner conflict, Grim feels dread. Isla looks at Grim with peace and strength and says she loves him. Cronan breaks her neck.

The narrative moves back to a few hours before Isla’s escape. She proposes a deal with Lark: If her ancestor allows Isla to kill her, Isla will absorb Lark’s power, kill Cronan, and resurrect Lark. Lark sees the skyre mark on Isla’s palm and realizes Isla can now use her powers.

Isla appeals to their family bond and their shared enemy, and Lark agrees. Isla kills Lark and absorbs her ancient regenerative power, becoming the last living ruler of her bloodline. Looking at Lark’s corpse, Isla says, “Good riddance, you murderous bitch” (426). She breaks out of the cell by bending the shademade bars with her bare hands.

The narrative returns to the present. As Isla’s body falls, Grim is hit with a wave of pain, heartbreak, and rage. Isla’s body stirs, and her broken neck snaps back into place. Grim realizes the intense emotions he felt were caused by his feelings for her rather than his fears for himself. He smiles as he realized Isla absorbed Lark’s power and now cannot be killed without her consent.

Isla smiles at Cronan and unleashes a beam of silver energy that throws him across the clearing. She rises, wearing armor forged from all her powers and holding a sword made of elemental magic. She declares Cronan cannot have her world or her husband. Amplified by the Infinite diamond, she pours her power into the Pool of Possibilities to resurrect those she has killed.

Cronan attacks Isla, but the silver-haired woman appears and blocks him. She reveals herself to be Aurora and holds Cronan off so Isla can focus on the pool. Isla sees figures forming in the water, but she is thrown into the pool. Cronan shackles her to the pool’s bottom, drowning her repeatedly. He demands that she bring him Oro and threatens to kill the resurrecting souls. Isla sees a vision of her younger self drowning and finds new resolve. She draws strength from her love for Oro and Grim, and the Infinite diamond glows.

Isla breaks free from the shackles and unleashes shadows into Cronan’s mind. She discovers his greatest fear is the Heartblade, the only weapon that can truly kill him. She rises from the pool, surrounded by alternate versions of herself, forces Cronan to his knees, and seizes control of his power.

Isla appears briefly to warn Oro that Cronan is invading early. Then the silver-haired woman appears and tells him the pool can show him every possible future. Resolving not to be guided by fear, Oro enters the pool. He sees all possible futures and realizes the prophecy is right and that he, Grim, or Isla needs to die. He knows what he must do but doubts “if he [is] strong enough to do it” (436).

In the Forgotten Forest, Isla dons Cronan’s crown. She asks Grim for help, shows him the Heartblade, and says they can find it together. Grim steps toward his wife, drawn to the future she promises. However, at the pool’s edge, he sees all possible futures and realizes he will die if he sides with Isla. His only chance to live is with Cronan.

Grim pulls Isla close and apologizes. Then he breaks through her defenses, portals the crown away, and hurls Cronan from the pool. As his shadows rush to imprison Isla, their eyes meet. The last thing he sees before she portals herself and the pool away is her devastated expression.

Oro senses Isla returning and goes to the tide pool with the portaling device. Massive energy drops into the pool, transforming it into a dark crater. Cleo reaches in and pulls out her resurrected son. All the people Isla resurrected begin emerging. Isla rises from the center, armored and glowing. Oro calls her his love, and the word seems to break the spell. Her power dims, and her knees give way. Oro catches her and asks where Grim is.

Isla tells Oro that Grim chose Cronan, but she believes he still loves her because she used their bond to portal home. Seeing Oro’s devastated expression, she asks if he saw the future. He nods but cannot speak. Before he can explain, the sky rips open. Dozens of portals from Cronan’s conquered worlds appear. Cronan needs the Infinite diamond, and since Isla cannot be killed without her permission, he intends to use the Heartblade.

Isla realizes that fate has been fractured and that the prophecy might not be about her anymore. She believes that either she, Grim, or Oro will wield the Heartblade, one of them will be killed by the legendary weapon, and one of them will either save or destroy the world.