Rowan and the Cadre torture Maeve's commanders for information while searching for the captured Aelin.

Maeve orders Connall to fatally stab himself in front of his twin brother Fenrys.

Aelin hammers on her iron coffin hard enough to send a magical surge through her mating bond with Rowan.

A Valg soldier exposes Lysandra as a shapeshifter and sends word to Erawan that Aelin is absent from her armies.

Fenrys severs his blood oath to Maeve and attacks Cairn, enabling Aelin to escape captivity.

Rowan removes Aelin's iron shackles and mask using a Wyrdmark spell, instantly restoring her access to fire magic.

Aelin's group arrives in Anielle and reunites with Chaol, learning that Torre Cesme healers can destroy Valg without killing hosts.

The dam at Anielle breaks and Aelin unleashes her fire to evaporate the floodwaters, saving the khaganate's army.

Captain Rolfe arrives with the Mycenian fleet, using firelances to drive back Erawan's forces and allow Aedion's retreat to Orynth.

Dorian shifts into a mouse and infiltrates Morath, discovering that Maeve has secretly allied with Erawan.

Manon arrives at Orynth with more than 5,000 Crochan witches, halting Morath's devastating advance on the city.

The Thirteen commit a mass Yielding inside Erawan's last witch tower, destroying it and sacrificing their lives.

Aelin and Dorian travel to Endovier to forge the Lock, with Aelin absorbing all three Wyrdkeys into her arm.

Yrene uses her healing magic combined with Dorian's raw power to destroy Erawan inside a tower at Orynth.

Fenrys stabs Maeve from behind and Aelin uses Silba's ring to destroy her from within before beheading her.

The story opens with Rowan and the Cadre searching desperately for Aelin while she suffers captivity under Maeve's control. After Fenrys breaks his blood oath and Aelin escapes, Erawan launches a full assault on Terrasen upon learning Aelin is absent from her armies. Captain Rolfe's timely arrival with the Mycenian fleet saves Aedion's retreating forces, while Aelin reunites with Chaol's southern army at Anielle and evaporates a catastrophic flood using her fire magic. The war reaches its peak as the Crochan witches arrive to reinforce Orynth and the Thirteen sacrifice their lives to destroy Erawan's last weapon. In the final battle, Yrene destroys Erawan with healing magic while Fenrys and Aelin work together to kill Maeve, ending the war for good.

The war's defining battles and Aelin's rescue.

Aelin endures daily torture by Cairn in an isolated island prison while Fenrys is forced to watch.

Manon, Dorian, and the Thirteen use a captive stygian spider as a guide to locate the hidden Crochan camp.

Dorian summons King Gavin's spirit using Wyrdmarks, and Gavin reveals the third Wyrdkey is hidden inside Morath.

Maeve implants false memories of her backstory into Aelin's mind, attempting to trick her into revealing the Wyrdkeys' locations.

Elide sneaks into Doranelle disguised as Cairn's jilted lover and learns Aelin is held at the eastern camp.

Aelin flees the war camp killing guards while Lorcan and Gavriel use their powers to block archers from a distance.

Aelin offers Fenrys her blood oath to save his life after he severs his oath to Maeve.

Dorian kills the stygian spider after studying its shapeshifting powers and discovers the species is Valg in origin.

Dorian proposes a fake marriage alliance to Maeve inside Morath, gaining access to search for the last Wyrdkey.

Dorian cuts the final Wyrdkey from a woman's arm inside Erawan's tower, taking possession of all three keys.

Dorian traps Maeve's mind and steals her portal-making power, then collapses Morath's foundations and escapes the crumbling fortress.

Lysandra transforms into a sea dragon and fights Morath's forces attacking Orynth through the river below the city walls.

Petrah Blueblood arrives at Orynth with Ironteeth legions to fight alongside Manon and the Crochans, saving Manon's wyvern.

The spirit of Dorian's father appears in the liminal realm and sacrifices himself to pay the price of forging the Lock.

Aelin is crowned Queen of Terrasen at her coronation while the Little Folk deliver Mab's crown to her.

Aelin's months of brutal captivity under Cairn set the tone for the story's opening, while Dorian and Manon separately pursue the Crochans and the last Wyrdkey. Key discoveries unfold as Elide uncovers Aelin's location through clever deception, Dorian learns the Wyrdkey is inside Morath, and Maeve is exposed as Valg royalty through a small but telling wound. Aelin escapes captivity and secures the loyalty of Fenrys and Lorcan through blood oaths, while Dorian risks his life to infiltrate Morath, recover the final key, and collapse the fortress from within. As the allied armies rally and the witches prepare for war, Dorian's father makes the ultimate sacrifice in the liminal realm, allowing Aelin to survive the cost of forging the Lock. The story closes with Aelin's long-awaited coronation as Queen of Terrasen.

Hidden secrets, crucial discoveries, and hard-won loyalties.

Aedion's forces receive word that Morath's troops have attacked Eldrys, beginning Erawan's war campaign against Terrasen.

Aelin throws a glass shard at Maeve and discovers that Maeve bleeds black like the Valg.

Nesryn and Sartaq inform Chaol of a large Morath army marching on Anielle, redirecting all Southern forces to defend the city.

Lysandra impersonates Aelin at a war council with Lord Darrow and the Terrasen lords to prevent mass desertion.

Aelin offers Lorcan the blood oath aboard the ship sailing to Terrasen, confirming she can trust him.

Manon travels to the Ferian Gap and proposes a Crochan-Ironteeth alliance to Petrah Blueblood, hoping to break the witches' curse.

Manon fights all three Ironteeth Matrons at once, killing the Yellowlegs Matron and sparing Petrah's mother as a gesture of goodwill.

Glennis crowns Manon as Queen of Witches after Manon defeats the three attacking Ironteeth Matrons.

Manon lights the Flame of War as the newly crowned Witch Queen, summoning all hidden Crochans across the continent to battle.

Dorian reunites with Aelin's forces north of Anielle and reveals he recovered all three Wyrdkeys from Morath.

Rowan proposes that Aelin and Dorian each surrender half their power to forge the Lock, allowing both to survive.

The gods refuse to remove Erawan from the world as promised, and the goddess Mala gifts Aelin a portion of her fire magic.

Gavriel seals himself outside Orynth's western gate and dies protecting Aedion and the Bane soldiers from Morath's forces.

Aelin burns the Cadre free from Maeve's illusions and opens a portal releasing ancient wolf-riding Fae to attack Maeve's spiders.

Kingsflame blooms across Terrasen in the spring following the war, signaling that lasting peace has returned to the kingdom.

From the moment war breaks out in Terrasen to the final blooming of kingsflame, this pool traces the pivotal choices that shaped the conflict's outcome. Lysandra's dangerous deception at the Terrasen war council, the redirection of Southern forces to defend Anielle, and Aelin's decision to trust Lorcan with a blood oath all lay groundwork for the battles ahead. Manon's political triumphs—uniting the Ironteeth, defeating the three Matrons, and lighting the Flame of War—bring thousands of Crochans to Terrasen's defense. Rowan's suggestion to share the Lock's immense cost between Aelin and Dorian provides a lifeline, even as Gavriel's sacrifice at Orynth's gate demonstrates the devastating price of love. The gods' betrayal forces Aelin to improvise a new path to victory before peace finally blooms across the kingdom.