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Ah, it feels so great to be back in Prythian and reunited with SJM’s beloved characters! Though A Court of Splintered Harmony is only part one in the longer collection of The Valkyrie Cycle, I am here to catch you up on what all went down in ACOSH aka ACOTAR 6!
So if you just finished reading or if you need a little refresh before jumping into A Court of Forgotten Melody, I got you covered!
There will be Spoilers for the ACOTAR series as well as the Crescent City series, so read on with that in mind!
Though this book is short, a lot still goes down. We are going to pick up at chapter 20, which I feel like is where sh*t really hits the fan.
A Court Of Splintered Harmony – Chapter 20
Azriel and Elain are in the throes of passion (though it is specified they have not gone all the way, which feels important to add cause I am a hater of that ship) when Lucien walks in on them.
Rhys previously ordered Az to stay away from Elain as she’s still mated to Lucien, who is an important ally for the Night Court. Lucien has connections to the Autumn Court (mother), Spring Court (Tamlin *barf*), Day Court (Helion is his father, though Lucien doesn’t know this yet), and Jurian and Vassa. Also, he’s been asked by Rhys to spy on the Autumn Court to get proof of Koschei, who has been working with the enemies of the Night Court.
(FYI, if you want to read Rhysand’s full plan for Lucien, it’s on page 132.)
Azriel’s shadows did not warn him of Lucien approaching the door because, as Azriel has mentioned multiple times in this book, his shadows flee in the presence of Elain. Lucien, of course, freaks out, and it wakes up the whole house and draws everyone to the scene. I mean, talk about getting caught with your pants down!
After Rhys kicks Azriel out, Azriel flies to the townhouse not knowing where else to go. He notices the sheath holding Truth-Teller is hanging by a thread. He rips the final thread, chucks the dagger at the wall, and leaves the townhouse and Truth-Teller behind.
This will be important later! Az and Truth-Teller need some relationship counseling after his trusty dagger chose to go with Bryce in House of Flame and Shadow.
A Court Of Splintered Harmony – Chapter 21
Nesta and Feyre try to comfort Elain, but she just keeps insisting that she “can’t be here,” and she doesn’t mean her room or the situation, but Prythian.
Azriel arrives at the House of Wind to get weapons and supplies from his room. He forgot to put on a shirt, though, which is so funny to me that he’s just flying around Velaris topless. At the House of Wind, he hears a sound of singing and runs into Gwyn! Though his shadows seem pleased to have found her, Az is still crashing out over what just happened with Elain and what the fallout will be.
And then we get our very first Gwyn POV on page 257! After feeling annoyed by Azriel’s lack of pleasantries, Gwyn returns to the library.
Also, I feel the need to point out that Gwyn notices Azriel’s scent in only a way that a SJM OTP would:
“Azriel’s cedar and night-chilled mist scent still lingering in her nose.”
Though she doesn’t tell Azriel this, the true reason she went to the upstairs residence of the house was because she was looking for Nesta. Gwyn wanted to tell her that she would help her write down everything that happened when Bryce traveled to their world, everything they learned about the history of their lands and the Daglan, and also that she missed her friend!
As she travels down to the level of the library, the darkness reminds her of when she first met Azriel and he saved her at Sangrava.
A Court Of Splintered Harmony – Chapter 22
Elain finally falls asleep. When Nesta leaves her room, she is met with a command from Rhys to meet her in his study.
Though the vibes are icy, Rhys returns the Mask, Harp, Crown, Gwydion, as well as the weapons she Made. He tells her that he’s returning them to her because him keeping the Made objects cost her time when she went after Bryaxis, and he wants her to be able to defend Nyx.
Rhys also tells her that Cassian told him how Nesta is afraid of the Dread Trove and that, now knowing she understands its power, led him to give the powerful objects back to her. Nesta is not pleased that Cassian told Rhys something she had confided in him but hides this feeling from Rhys. Rhys teaches Nesta to use a pocket realm to keep the Made items in.
Feyre is worried about the possibility of Lucien calling for a Blood Duel with Azriel. The Blood Duel is an Autumn Court tradition when someone greatly affronts you, like, for example, getting caught with someone else’s mate in your birthday suit. Though Rhys tells Feyre that Lucien likely won’t call for this duel given that he can’t win, he may be a threat to their court. His closeness with Vassa is a concern, but Rhys is more concerned that he will use the Autumn Court to attack them or weaken their alliances with the other courts. Then Nyx poops on Rhys lol.
Elain has finally exited her room the next day. Though it seems she expected her sisters to comfort her, Nesta challenges Elain. Nesta calls out her lack of regard that Lucien was in the house, but Elain says Lucien means nothing to her and that she was given no choice in the mating bond. Nesta says she will support her ten toes down to reject the mating bond but that “The Elain she knows and loves” wouldn’t have done something without the common decency for Lucien. Elain responds that, “The Elain you knew and loved died in the cauldron.”
Elain is finally starting to use her voice. She expresses how she’s sick of the gentle tasks she’s given of parties and gardens and that no one expects anything more of her. Elain is not over being turned fae and losing Grayson (*BARF*), and ends with “I don’t want to be here.”
Nesta tells Feyre that she’s been teaching herself to winnow and that she almost drowned trying to winnow herself to the Prison. She tells Feyre how she felt something under the water, something that was no longer there but “a ghost of something” telling her to come and find it. Though Nesta doesn’t know what she felt, she does tell Feyre that it felt like the other Made objects.
Nesta also tells Feyre that Bryce told her she thought the 8-pointed star tattooed on Nesta’s back was there for a reason, and that Ember thought she would find her way. The two sisters decide they will find out the truth behind what the Quinlan women told Nesta before returning to their own world. Nesta gifts Gwydion to Feyre, though Feyre has Nesta hold onto it for now, saying she will wait till she needs it.
Also important to remember that Gwydion once belonged to the High King and Queen of Prythian!
A Court Of Splintered Harmony – Chapter 23
Azriel wakes at the House of Wind and is met by Cassian while he is training. Az is relieved when Cassian offers him kindness and trains with him, subtly checking to make sure AZ is okay before heading back to Windhaven.
When they’re done training, Azriel summons Erebos, a creature of shadow. Though Azriel is not fond of Erebos, his loyalty to Azriel and skills are helpful but lowkey at what cost.
Azriel commands the shadowthing to spy on Lucien in the human lands. Before he leaves, he asks where “the blade that sings” is. Azriel is intrigued by the mention of the knife singing and asks Erebos what exactly the blade sings, to which he replies,
“A dirge. A lament. A scream…A Song of Songs.”
Azriel questions if the blade has always sung or if this is a change from when Bryce came to him.
A Court Of Splintered Harmony – Chapter 24
Nesta is at the same place where she previously tried to winnow to the Prison, and this time she’s determined for it to work.
Amren meets her and reveals she knows about her teaching herself to winnow and guesses that Rhys returned the Dread Trove to her. Amren tells Nesta that she is the most valuable weapon they have and that she thinks Nesta should apologize to Rhysand for giving the mask to Bryce. She tells her that she believes that Rhys would have agreed to give the mask to Bryce but that his problem with Nesta is that she didn’t ask first. This is why Rhysand is afraid of Nesta. He needs to believe that she’ll obey when necessary.
Amren questions Nesta’s place in the Night Court and whether she bows to Rhysand and Feyre as High Lord and High Lady. When Nesta realizes that, although she is loyal to them, she does not serve them, Amren tells her she thinks the 8-pointed star was tattooed on her for a reason. She believes Nesta already knows where her path lies.
Important to remember that in A Court of Silver Flames, when Rhys showed Amren the Made weapons that Nesta created, Amren believed that if Rhys wielded the new Trove created by Nesta, he could become High King. It seems that Amren may now be seeing a path not for a High King but a High Queen in Nesta!
Amren tells Nesta that winnowing is a matter of will as much as power. Nesta must choose between serving the court and family she loves or seeing if there is more.
“More ways, other ways, to serve. To save those you love.”
Nesta follows whatever is calling her and, with Gwydion in hand, winnows into the Prison. Nesta steps through the bone gates, and Gwydion, which had been glowing in her hand, disappears, leaving her in the dark. The Prison stole her sword!
Back at Velaris, Mor is about to return to Vallahan to try to find what Made object is being hunted. She says her goodbyes quickly, though Azriel is noticeably absent. Mor admits to herself that last night she almost told him the truth about her sexuality. However, what Bryaxis showed her cemented that she could never tell him.
We don’t know what fear Bryaxis showed her, but I am sure we will learn in the next book!
Just as she is about to winnow away, Mor is met by Elain. Elain begs to go with Mor to Vallahan, trying to convince Mor that she can use her powers to seek a Made weapon. Mor eventually agrees to take her as she sees the value in Elain being both Made and a seer. She also empathizes with her need to run away from the mess that she has created.
Okay, that’s the book!
To quickly recap where everyone stands, the Faerie lands of the continent are aligned together to wage war against the humans over the land that was once theirs before the Wall was built. The Night Court is trying to protect the humans on the continent by creating treaties and alliances with Vallahan, Montesere, and Rask.
Those three, however, won’t ally with Prythian, as they are influenced by Koschei. Koschei is also driving them to seek Made weapons to have enough power to challenge the Night Court. This leaves the Night Court needing to find the Made weapon first.
The Night Court must stop Koschei from having enough power to rise. In the event they use the Dread Trove to protect the humans, they must also be able to protect their own lands from the threat on the continent. The other courts of Prythian won’t ally with the Night Court on this issue and choose to not get involved.
Rhys considers rebuilding the wall, though this would make Velaris enemies with Vallahan, Montesere, and Rask. Without the rest of the Prythian courts standing with them, they don’t have enough forces to protect their own court.
A Court Of Splintered Harmony – My Thoughts & Review
I loved this book!
I cannot lie, after the second two Crescent City books didn’t really do it for me, I was a little scared this would be a Stranger Things season 5 moment (a hot mess). However, I really enjoyed it!
I loved all the political strategies, and I really enjoyed seeing exactly how Azriel’s magic works. I’ve seen some complaints about pacing online, but I thought that, though it had a slower pace than some other Sarah J. Maas books, it felt right for the story she’s setting up. I’m intrigued to see the relationship between Gwyn and Azriel develop in ACOTAR 7, and I am really hoping for an Elain-Mor relationship, which I’ve been saying for a while so I’m stoked with how this one ended!!
What Comes Next In The Valkyrie Cycle?
The next installment of The Valkyrie Cycle, A Court of Forgotten Melody, comes out January 12th, 2027. I cannot wait to pick up where this one left off and see if any of my theories are correct!
What was your favorite part of A Court of Splintered Harmony? Let me know in the comments, and we can yap all things shadow daddies!
Happy reading x
-Paisley
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