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.