Fourth Wing (Bonus Content - Chapter 16)
Welcome, everyone,
Today’s mini-review is going to cover the second of the Fourth Wing bonus chapters that were posted for free to Yarros’s website. Unlike with Chapter 27, this one has to be downloaded as an EPUB, though it comes bundled with the Chapter 9 bonus chapter (which I am reviewing last because, for some reason, it is after Chapter 16, rather than before).
Also, something I failed to mention during the Chapter 27 bonus chapter review is why Chapter 16 and Chapter 9 are in EPUB format. These two bonus chapters were actually released as part of a special edition of Fourth Wing that came out right before Iron Flame. This means that these two bonus chapters are well-positioned for Yarros to patch the narrative a bit and preemptively eliminate contradictions between Fourth Wing and Iron Flame. That doesn’t matter too much for Chapter 16, but believe me, we will be getting into that when we cover Chapter 9.
WHAT’S IN THE CHAPTER 16 BONUS CHAPTER?
This is yet another POV shift, in this case picking up from midway through Chapter 16, at this line of dialogue from Dain.
“Don’t you see what happened? What Xaden’s done?”
Unlike with the Chapter 27 bonus chapter, which at least adds a small bit of meaningful dialogue between Xaden and Liam and introduces some information about the smuggling operation, there is nothing to this chapter outside of reframing events to fit Xaden’s POV. Even at the end of the chapter, when Violet is separated from Xaden and he has to go tall to Garrick, the focus is on explaininf what doesn’t need to be explained (how Xaden decided to assign Liam to guard Violet) and on Garrick teasing Xaden over his jealousy.
STATS
Title: Fourth Wing
Series: The Empyrean (Book 1)
Author(s): Rebecca Yarros
Genre: Fantasy (Epic)
First Printing: 2023
Publisher: Red Tower Books
Rating: 2/10
SPOILER WARNING
This review will feature heavy, unmarked spoilers for the entirety of this bonus chapter, as well as for the entirety of Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, and everything up through Chapter 43 of Onyx Storm (since that is the most recently reviewed entry in the Onyx Storm review series at the time that this is posted). Lights spoilers will be provided for certain elements after Chapter 43 of Onyx Storm.
While not necessary, it may be worthwhile to revisit what I previously said about Chapter 16 of Fourth Wing. I’m also going to assume that you are familiar with the rest of my review content for The Empyrean, though this is likewise not necessary. I may also reference my interlude on how Yarros misuses bonus content. (Fair warning if you check that one out - it has heavy spoilers for the climax of Onyx Storm, which we won’t review until late December.)
STORY
Xaden inserts himself into the conversation between Violet and Dain. His perspective demonizes Dain as he goes out of his way to spite his rival for Violet’s affections and to destroy her faith in Dain, relishing that damage he causes, barely feeling guilty for the stress this causes Violet. After speaking with Violet privately of the danger they now both face due to the mated bond, Xaden goes off the chat with Garrick, who has just returned from what is implied to be another smuggling mission. Rather than discuss the mission, though, they discuss protecting Violet, and Garrick heckles him for being jealous of Dain.
PLOT
Until the Chapter 27 bonus chapter, this one does not open any new plot holes, and it also could have slid comfortable into the existing narrative without disrupting anything.
The only new development - if it could be called that - is the reveal the Garrick has just returned from a smuggling run. Yes, it’s not clear whether Garrick did this alone or with two other rebel children, so the question of why Melgren didn’t see this is up in the air. Yes, there’s the matter of how Garrick, his dragon, and any others who went with them slipped away for at least 24+ hours without their absence being noticed. However, these have always been issues with the smuggling operation, so this new instance isn’t causing any new problems.
That being said … this calls into question the issue of Garrick’s teleportation Signet.
This bonus chapter was included in the Fourth Wing special edition that released in November 2023, around when Iron Flame came out. That means it came out either before Yarros started working on Onyx Storm or slightly after. There’s no real way of knowing when Yarros conceived of the double Signet’s cover-up (see my analysis of Chapter 12 of Onyx Storm for the explanation of that), but it’s possible that it happened fairly close to when she wrote this chapter. Did it not occur to her that Garrick could be single-handedly conducting all of the smuggling operations? That his inclusion here strongly implies that he did indeed teleport alloy to the border during the events of Threshing, which then begs the question of why we ever saw the smuggling handled in any other way?
As with the logistics of how the smuggling in general is executed, this isn’t a new plot hole. It just exacerbates the issue of that retcon. Is Yarros (or, for that matter, her editor) not double-checking what she wrote before?
CHARACTER
Dain
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Yarros uses Xaden to channel the full measure of her spite towards whomever Dain is meant to represent. It’s honestly hard to get through, not unlike Violet’s hatred towards Dain in Iron Flame.
Previously, I have made exceptions for this sort of the thing when it came to Xaden. He doesn’t have the history with Dain that Violet does. He has every reason to want to keep Dain as far as possible from his operations.
With this chapter, though, that excuse cracks.
Xaden shitting on Dain in the Chapter 27 bonus chapter made sense. By this point, Xaden has reason to perceive Dain as a rival. Both he and Dain are trying to help Violet in their own ways, and just because Violet is rejected Dain’s help, that doesn’t mean it isn’t competition. Xaden has also had months to grow into his feelings for Violet. After Dain tried to read Violet’s mind at Amber’s trial, Xaden would also be fully aware that Dain is perfectly willing to get into Violet’s head, and since the mated bond give Violet a back door into Xaden’s head, there is a threat that some information could be leaked. Couple this with Xaden generally being the most “egotistical asshole” in an organization of “egotistical assholes”, and the antagonize and hatred make sense.
The same does not apply here.
At this point, Xaden has known Violet for all of three months. The chapter also gives conflicting information on the status of his feelings for Violet. As a result, him going after Dain as a rival for Violet’s affections doesn’t make sense.
The security risk also doesn’t apply. I’m willing to buy that Xaden knows about Dain’s Signet. He could have overheard Dain discussing it with Violet in Chapter 4. However, at this point, the idea that Xaden needs to keep Dain away from Violet so that she can’t indirectly compromise the smuggling operation does not make any sense. This is well before Xaden decides to expand the mated bond into a direct telepathic link (remember, that happens in Chapter 27). This is before he realizes that he can’t count on their dragons remaining apart. This is back when he fully intends to avoid contact with Violet and entrust her training to his underlings, and it’s when he intends to deny his feelings to hold her at an arms length. In other words, in every way that he is aware of, there is no risk that Violet will learn something compromising. Why, then, does he need to separate Violet from Dain? This doesn’t even make sense in terms of helping Violet come into her full potential, as Xaden is spiting Dain for not coddling her.
Which bears the question: does Xaden have some history with Dain that has somehow never come up in three books? What possible reason could he have to hate Dain this much? It can’t be something as simple as who Dain’s father is. Colonel Aetos has not been established as having any role in putting down the rebellion, and even if he did, Vilet and Dain can’t be the only cadets with family involved in putting down the rebellion.
Now, in the Chapter 27 bonus chapter, there was one other factor that partially salvaged things: Dain was allowed to get one up on Xaden. Sgaeyl was agreeing him, and Xaden did not have a counterargument when she did so. Unfortunately, we don’t get that here. Sgaeyl scolds Xaden for being attracted to Violet, but there’s nothing calling out his hatred towards Dain. The guilt Xaden feels at breaking Violet’s trust in Dain is an afterthought that his jealousy immediately washes away.
Overall, this is just nasty. Yarros has (or at least had, at the time of writing this chapter) such absurd levels of hatred for whomever Dain represents that I find it very hard to believe that it is at all deserved. After all, if this person or these people HAD done something truly reprehensible, surely she’d have had Dain commit an analogous sin, rather than being a sincere person who is devoted to “trying to give [her] what [she]’d always told [him she] wanted.”
Xaden
Yes, You Idiot
When Dain accuses Xaden of meddling in the Threshing, this is Xaden’s reaction.
Seriously. Of all the laws I break around here, that’s the one he goes with?
Yes, Xaden. That is the only one he is aware of. If he was aware of the stealing of alloy, the smuggling, the damage you inflict to the wards ever time to move alloy across them, and the arming of Navarre’s enemies, you would not be here to have this conversation.
Muddling Progression
The Xaden POV chapter at the end of Fourth Wing made it clear that he fell in love with Violet from the moment they first met. What’s more, this entire chapter has him lingering on every aspect of her body in a manner that makes it seem like he’s already madly in love with her and constantly thinking about sex.
Why, then, does the chapter also frame things as if Violet defending Andarna and being locked to Xaden through the mated bond is what tipped the scales?
If Yarros had framed this as something unexpected for Xaden, that would be one thing. Judging by what I saw during an initial skim of the Chapter 9 bonus chapter, she at least wants us to think that Xaden’s feelings developed gradually. If that’s truly the case, though, then shouldn’t he be more disoriented by the chance in status quo? Why’s he acting as if there’s a lot of pent-up sexual frustration that he’s merely making up an excuse to release?
In all honesty, Xaden in this chapter comes across like a very suppressed incel who’s made that Violet is friends with another man, merely jumping at an excuse to isolate her.
Liam
The decision to assign Liam as Violet’s bodyguard feels like it should have been a more important moment that it was. Xaden and Garrick merely discuss the need to keep Violet alive to safeguard Xaden’s own life, and Xaden decides to throw his foster-brother at the problem. It’s a decision that makes a modicum of sense. It just feels like Yarros included this because she thought fans would squeal at seeing the backstory of this decision, rather than actually having an idea of how to make an interesting character moment out of it.
Sgaeyl
While Sgaeyl heckles Xaden throughout this chapter, I would not say that what we’ve been given here (or, for that matter, in the Chapter 27 bonus chapter) is enough to give her character. She’s just poking Xaden in whatever manner Yarros needs to have Xaden express himself. I’ve seen more depth and nuance out of most of the Digimon anime’s partner Digimon (even in the Adventure days, when their narrative purpose was limited to accessorizing the character development of the Chosen Children).
WORLDBUILDING
Thankfully, there are no issues here.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Yarros had no story to tell with this bonus chapter, and that is a real shame.
I get this bonus content is about giving the people what they want. If the fans really wanted a chapter that boils down to nothing but shitting on Dain and hammering on just how head-over-heels Xaden is for Violet, then the bonus content has done it’s job. That doesn’t make this any less lazy. It’s a reskin of events that doesn’t contribute anything new to the narrative.
It makes me wonder: were there no original scenes Yarros could have written? No scenes she planned to do but couldn’t fit into her narrative (I doubt they were actually written and then cut)? Why not give us a new moment between Xaden and Violet to deepen their relationship beyond being just about sex?
For that matter, why not use Xaden (or, more specifically, Sgaeyl) to eavesdrop on the Empyrean’s discussion of whether to let Violet bond to two dragons? It’s not like he and Sgaeyl aren’t thumbing their noses at the Empyrean’s wishes already. Why not show us events that we know happened that didn’t get to see?
Overall, the biggest issue I have with this chapter is that it’s lazy. Yarros had a mission to provide bonus content, so she took things we already knew and repackaged them. It’s only saving grace is that, unlike the Chapter 27 bonus chapter, it doesn’t make Fourth Wing any worse.
ONE TO GO
My current plan is to review the last of the bonus chapters, Chapter 9, on December 7th. It’s another POV swap chapter, covering the sparring match between Violet and Xaden from Chapter 9 of the original book.
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