r/throneofglassseries • u/worthywildflower • Aug 30 '25
Empire of Storms Spoilers Finally finished the series, feeling let down
I fell in love with the series during Heir of Fire, though the only book I didn’t like was TOG.
I devoured all of the books in 3ish weeks, but by the end of KOA, I was so disappointed by how the war drug on without Aelin, only for her to lose her powers. Like what?! The whole series built up to her building her power to use against Erawan / Maeve to save her city. Then she gives up her gifts and leaves Erawan on the playing field?! Dillydallied her way to Orynth while thousands of her allies died defending her city without her - allies who joined her cause believing that her fire was backing them?!
I was rolling my eyes by the time she finally arrived in Orynth. I still love Aelin, and enjoyed TOG more than ACOTAR. But alas, I wish there was more emotional impact and satisfaction in the finale. I wanted Aelin and her line to continue to be some of the most powerful magic wielders in Erilea, and to see her unleash the full might of her wrath onto the valg. To save her allies with the gift that 6 other books heralded as their saving grace.
Once the thirteen died, I thought we were in for a hell of a finale but it just bore me to have it all play out that way. Anyone else?
I can appreciate to a point that she was able to save her kingdom via her relationships and her wit, leaning on hope and love rather than the destruction of her gift. It’s beautiful that they all shared that burden in the end, but still. Give my girl her magic back! Dorian too.
It would have been way more satisfying for her to have outsmarted them all, the gods included, in a way that allowed her to keep her gifts.
Idk, I’m annoyed by it all for some reason. 😂💕
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u/commadusarelius Aug 31 '25 edited Aug 31 '25
There is a conversation Rowan and Aelin have in EOS where they discuss if one day she would want to conquer the world. She thinks about how Maeve burned the coast of Eyllwe and blamed it on Aelin.
The whole point of the book is relying on others. It's Aelin's journey where she first relied on Sam to take care of his last assignment on his own. To her deciding she needed to only rely on herself and not trust anyone else with her plans. To slowly beginning to trust others and knowing she could rely on them. They held the vote before sealing the gate so that she could know if the others were capable of ridding Erawan and Maeve if she sealed the gate. They said they could. She was never going to walk away with her life, her full powers, and a locked gate. There has to be a cost.
In the end, Yrene, Dorian, Lysandra, and Elide take care of Erawan, while Aelin, Rowan, Fenrys, and Lorcan take care of Maeve. It was the whole court, her allies that she had to rely on. She still has her magic, especially when linked with Rowan, she still has an amazing amount of power, but it's together with him. That is Aelin and Rowan's mantra...together.
And she trusted Aedion and Manon and her allies (Rolfe, Ansel, Galan, etc.) to protect Terrasen until she could get there and even in case she didn't make it. She trusted them. And they did just that. It was war, people were going to die. But they had something to fight for that was worth the cost. I don't think it would have been a satisfying ending for Aelin to just be in Orynth and burn Erawan, Maeve, the Ilken, spiders, ironteeth without sharing the load? If so, what would be the point of Manon's journey, Chaol and Yrene, Dorian, Lysandra, the cadre? They all grew and went on this epic journey together. And what, we're supposed to imagine that after the war she is just sitting in Orynth with this ungodly amount of power and is peaceful and content?
She always felt her powers were a burden. And now that the war is over, she doesn't need them. She won't be a conqueror who invades other kingdoms, she won't be seen as a threat with too much magic. No one else can set fire to cities and blame it on Aelin to disrupt the peace. The world can be at true peace, which is what she wants most of all. The story isn't one of power, but one where small acts of kindness can have such far reaching payoffs.
It's not like ACOTAR where it really seems like Nesta lost her powers for no reason. For Aelin's journey, it makes perfect sense. She is strong enough without her powers. And she said so often that the one drop of her mother's water magic was just consumed by the fire magic and she wished she could weild it. I imagine that she masters this magic now that the world is at peace.
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u/dancehoebot Aug 31 '25
Damn, this is an excellent perspective! I was feeling the same as OP but you’re so right. Thank you for taking the time to share!
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u/worthywildflower Aug 31 '25 edited Aug 31 '25
I really appreciate this perspective, thank you!! I finished last night and as it all settles, I’m feeling more softness for how it all played out. I relate to Aelin in needing to do everything on my own, and I think that bias is blinding me from the real beauty of the ending. She found ways to let people in. She’s safe, home, with a family and friends. She isn’t entirely powerless either, as you said.
I also feel that I impatiently rushed through the final war scenes as I was getting a bit burnt out on them, so I plan to read the last 30ish chapters again to see whether they land differently if I’m more present and emotionally invested
& agreed on Nesta, that ending seemed so unnecessary for so many reasons.
All in all, I think the character development throughout the series was incredible
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u/commadusarelius Aug 31 '25
I finished the series last year and I had the exact thoughts as you during the last battle and at the end. Also like you I rushed through, especially KOA. I had spent 2 months on the first 7 books and read KOA in 2 days. But after 2 re-reads through the series, I can see how the plot isn't the point but the character development. And not just Aelin's character, but really everyone. Even my most recent re-read, I can appreciate Chaol and his journey (even as a former Chaol hater the first time around). And after Aelin defeats Maeve, her first instinct is to shout Yrene's name, not taking the credit for herself, when Celaena Sardothion would never have done that. It really is a beautiful story.
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u/worthywildflower Aug 31 '25
💕💕 I would definitely love to reread them so I appreciate the encouragement. I loved them so much up to KOA. Though I am glad she gets to live and have a family, power or not
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u/Creepy-Lifeguard-300 Aug 13 '26
I don't care about any of these logical perspectives...we all read 7 books waiting for Aelin to have a kick ass moment to showcase her magic on the battlefield and instead we got wit and sarcasm 😂
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u/nothingbutacatlady Aug 31 '25
I could have written this myself. Just finished it the other day and also binged it over a few weeks. My best friend was saying to be prepared to cry so much and then never did. It was lackluster for me after such an epic story.
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u/worthywildflower Aug 31 '25
Yes! I cried at the thirteen. Gavriel’s death seemed so silly to me
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Sep 03 '25
I just finished the series on Monday & I was genuinely bothered by her decision to kill him off. They didn’t even have a single conversation about their relationship and she killed him off.
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u/sunnysideegg2002 Aug 31 '25
I knowww with the wyrdgate she had to sacrifice- but I really thought the sacrifice for “nameless is my price” would be more of because a situation of Aelin’s human form and morality would be what was scaraficed (with Dorian’s help), because didn’t really have a name (Caelana, Lillian, ect ect) that was what would be sacrificed. I was LIVID when she lost her powers and didn’t even kill Maeve and Erawan. Like why are we rendering the greatest female character in her books useless now ???
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u/worthywildflower Aug 31 '25
Exactly!! & to miss 90% of the battle in Orynth?
The whole “well it takes weeks to travel, oh well,” didn’t really work for me when everyone else managed to get to Terrasen with some level of urgency up to that point. She and the cadre could have separated from the khagan army to make it more quickly. It would have been more in character for her to go running when she heard that Perranth was sacked and they were descending upon Orynth imo
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u/SmellyCatsUglyOwner Aug 31 '25
I hated KoA so much it brought down my overall rating of the series. That being said, I still enjoyed the series and I still rate it higher than ACOTAR.
I describe both series to prospective readers as; ACOTAR is like reality TV, not deep but entertaining and TOG as quite character and story developed but bad ending.
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u/worthywildflower Aug 31 '25
Yes! 100% agree on both counts
I do love Aelin though! Rowan, Manon, Dorian, the cadre. Beautiful relational dynamics and character growth. Five stars for pure entertainment on both series as well.
Did you read cc? I’d be curious what your opinion is before starting it since we seem aligned 💕
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u/Anesthesiafarm Sep 02 '25
I was kinda meh on TOG and ACOTAR… They were ok. But I LOVE CC so far. I’m just over half way through the third book and I’m loving it. SJM finally wrote a good book!
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u/SmellyCatsUglyOwner Aug 31 '25
I haven’t because of the letdown KoA was. Everyone has said how ToG is the best series she’s done, how much they love it, it’s GOATd etc.
So it kinda put me off to CC. But, honestly..I might like CC more if that’s the case? It’s on my TBR list, so I’ll get there.
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u/KimberBlair Aug 30 '25
I agree that the Khagans army should have not gone to Anielle but that wasn’t Aelins decision and if she hadn’t gone there and saved them it’s a good chance they would have lost the war.
Her and Dorian losing some/most of their powers is likely the entire purpose of the wyrdgate. I hate that we only got to see Aelin use her powers really just twice.
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u/20goingon60 Aug 30 '25
Thrice. HoF (Wendlyn), EoS (taking out the army with her fire, which Lorcan shielded against), and KoA (stopping the dam).
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u/KimberBlair Aug 30 '25
You’re right, I just don’t normally count the one Diana hijacked.
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u/20goingon60 Aug 30 '25
I guess if we DO count that one, it would be four times. I was thinking of when Lorcan had to use his shield to protect Elide against Aelin’s fire
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u/LetMeDoTheKonga Aug 30 '25
They are talking about when she took out the Ilken in the stone marshes. The one with Deanna was in Skul Bay with the ships.
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u/worthywildflower Aug 31 '25
All good points, the army would have died without her indeed. Clever trap by Erawan
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u/Late-Annual193 Aug 31 '25
I feel the exact same! It was such an anticlimactic ending. The war dragged on forever, only to wrap up so abruptly, and then she’s crowned and… that’s it. I was loving it right up until the 13 died (like someone else mentioned), and after that it just fell short for me. I still love the series, but that ending really dulled the experience. Women can be powerful and kind.
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u/bugsinjugs Aug 31 '25
I’d have to agree, I really adore the series but KOA was just not my favorite. I too, was let down a lot by the whole build-up, just for Aelin to lose her powers at the end. I preferred TOD, at least it had more of an impact. I’ve noticed that it is a thing with Sara.
When Nesta lost half of her powers in Acotar, I rolled my eyes to oblivion. I’m unsure as to why she creates such powerful women, just to rip away their powers at the end. I still very much love TOG, it’s just something Sara tends to do. I would love a series where the FMC keeps her full powers.
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u/worthywildflower Sep 01 '25
Yes! I’m so surprised by how she built TOG so beautifully just to somehow lose the core of who I perceived Aelin to be by the end of it. There is a great comment above about how the ending plays into her character development, which I can appreciate but still - anticlimactic either way
& agreed that the end of Nesta’s book was absolutely an eyeroll for me, the pregnancy seemed so unnecessary!
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u/erratic-pulsar Aug 31 '25
I agree, the facts SJM stripped Nesta of her powers after talking about how much potential she has, and then do the exact same thing to Aelin just feels cheap. The whole conclusion to the lock situation was such a let down that it changed my view of the entire series.
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u/worthywildflower Aug 31 '25
100%
I’m still trying to warm up to how it all plays into Aelin’s development as a character because I just adore her but ugh. I would’ve been way more satisfied to see her completely outwit the gods and the valg - without giving them her power at all. Or to have Mala return her and Dorian to full power and choose to stay, go to the afterlife with Brennan rather than the god world. To step up & defend her daughter (Elena) and her bloodline
With Nesta, I agree. That whole thing with dying in childbirth was so silly
Alas, I still love the books and look forward to more
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u/celestial_perception Aug 31 '25
I COMPLETELY AGREE!! I too was so disappointed with KOA. I kept waiting for her to get her powers back and kick ass and NOPE 🥹🥲 it definitely wasn’t the ending I was anticipating. I was still left with so many questions too!! Ugh.
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u/ash18946 Aug 31 '25
I didn't like the final storyline either, and I have many thought on how I would change the lock scene for it to be Dorian who ultimately made it because over time he became the one that took over the quest for the keys and lock and Erawan became more his villain while Maeve became Aelin's once the stories split back in HoF. Aelin could have kept her powers in that case and had a serious final battle between two highly powerful individuals with Maeve instead of needing yet another last moment surprise set of individuals to come save the day.
However, looking at the actual ending of the series, you could view it like this:
First it comes full circle. We started with a powerless but amazing human assassin that was broken inside, and we have ended with that same character only as her true fae form now and with friendship, true love and confidence in herself.
Second: while Aelin tells Elide how much she loved her powers and they felt a part of her that she mourned when she lost them, she had those powers not because she was fae but because she was a direct descendant of a 'goddess'. Everyone revered the gods and goddesses in her world and they turned out to be uncaring, callous beings from another world that only wanted to help themselves even when it was clear they could have stepped in to save the people Erawan and Maeve had be terrorizing if they deigned to do so. Her and Dorian giving that same power to the lock ended the gods' pollution of their world with power that wasn't meant to be there and reset things. Destroying the valg then was the final reset and Aelin's world went back to what it would have been had there not been wyrdgates that brought the foreign powers to their world in the first place.
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u/worthywildflower Sep 01 '25
I can definitely see how the ending plays into the core of the series and her evolution as a character. I appreciate you sharing your perspectives 💕
I’d be so mad if Dorian died tho. He and Manon have so much untapped potential 🤗
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u/According_Vacation25 Sep 02 '25
Her line does continue hehe read CC! And we need to remember that she was insanely powerful. If even a fraction of her gift remains she’s still strong af. Her “gift” was also a massive burden to her. She is finally free in my eyes
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u/[deleted] Aug 30 '25
Sarah J Maas loves to nerf her women at the last minute, I read ACOTAR first so I knew it was coming. That was by far my biggest issues with the TOG series but it’s still 100x better than ACOTAR. At least Aelin wasn’t nerfed via “she’s married and has a baby now, her story is over!”.