Summary
Iron Flamedoes a decent job of raising the stakes of Rebecca Yarros’Empyrean Series,butViolet and Xaden’s story in theFourth Wingsequel highlights a challenge facing future books. Violet and Xaden startFourth Wingas natural enemies, with Violet’s mother being responsible for squashing the rebellion that Xaden’s father once led. As Violet and Xaden come to know one another, however, their relationship swings in the opposite direction. Despite their best efforts to avoid falling for each another, Violet and Xaden get together inFourth Wing.
Sadly, their romance is somewhat short-lived, asconversations centered on trust and dishonesty keep them apart for much ofIron Flame.And although Violet comes around byIron Flame’s ending, Yarros throws another wrench in their relationship with the sequel’s big reveal. Violet and Xaden’s story in thesecondEmpyrean Seriesbook is frustratingat times, and it pinpoints a major challenge thatOnyx Stormand future sequelswill need to overcome. Hopefully, Yarros can find a way around them.
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Violet & Xaden’s Iron Flame Story Feels Forced For The Sake Of Conflict
Their Trust & Communication Issues Are More Frustrating Than Tense
Violet is understandably angry with Xaden for hiding things from her inFourth Wing,but the reality of Dain’s betrayal highlights that he was right to do so. Until Violet can block Dain’s mind-reading, it makes sense to keep critical plans and details of the rebellion from her. Unfortunately, she doesn’t see it this way. Violet spends much ofIron Flamerefusing a relationship with Xaden, insisting that she can’t be with someone who doesn’t trust her. As Xaden continues to keep things from her, the couple struggles with their romance.
If anything, the efforts to keep Violet and Xaden’s relationship interesting inIron Flameprove that they got together too soon.
It’s only at the end of the book that both characters find trust and clarity. And while Yarros raises some interesting points with Violet and Xaden’s narrative inIron Flame,it does feel forced at times. It’s almost as if the only way to keep things interesting is to continue stirring conflict between the characters. Keeping them apart is supposed to ramp up the tensions between them, butit only feels frustrating. If anything, the efforts to keep Violet and Xaden’s relationship interesting inIron Flameprove that they got together too soon.
Iron Flame Proves That Violet & Xaden Shouldn’t Have Gotten Together In Fourth Wing
It Doesn’t Leave Rebecca Yarros With Much To Do With The Couple
Many fantasy books feature slow-burn romances that develop over the course of a series, but things seem to move more quickly in romantasy novels. This includesFourth Wing,which delivers on the tensions between Violet and Xaden relatively early. With Yarros planning to write fiveEmpyrean Seriesbooks in total, it’s somewhat surprising she allowed the main couple to get together so soon. The author could easily have dragged out the will-they, won’t-they stage of their relationship — andjudging byIron Flame,she might have benefited from doing so.
With Violet and Xaden getting together so early inFourth Wing,there isn’t much left to do with the couple. This will likely lead to Yarros creating new conflicts to keep things interesting, and that could get old quickly. AlthoughIron Flame’s ending reveal is likely to keep them apart in more interesting ways inOnxy Storm,it’s hard to see how Yarros will keep readers on their toes for several more sequels. It doesn’t help that Violet and Xaden feel like an obvious endgame. At no point inIron Flamedoes their break-up feel genuine. It will take much higher stakes to worry readers.
The Main Couple’s Relationship Could Become A Challenge For The Empyrean Series
Keeping Violet & Xaden’s Romance Interesting Will Be Difficult
Unless Yarros significantly raises the stakes of Violet and Xaden’s relationship,it could become difficult to keep their romance interesting in futureEmpyrean Seriesbooks. There’s no denying that readers often enjoy the build-up to a relationship more than the actual thing. And any attempt to reignite their interest with miscommunication and forced conflict is risky. After all, there’s only so long an author can keep their central couple apart before that also becomes frustrating. Needless to say,Onyx Stormand its sequels will need to do better thanIron Flamein this regard.
The second book’s twist will complicate things in more intriguing ways, and the fact that it could put Violet’s and Xaden’s lives on the line might helpOnyx Storm.And perhaps Yarros can keep the stakes steadily increasing until delivering a (hopefully) satisfying ending for the couple in the lastEmpyrean Seriesbook.This won’t be an easy feat, though, and it will force the author to move away from romantic subplots likeIron Flame’s.If Violet and Xaden still aren’t going to be together, the drama and heartbreak needs to be more intense than what readers are given in theFourth Wingsequel.
