Iron Flame (Bonus Round) - The Heist
STATS
Title: Iron Flame
Series: The Empyrean (Book 2)
Author(s): Rebecca Yarros
Genre: Fantasy (Epic)
First Printing: November 2023
Publisher: Red Tower Books
Rating: 1/10
SPOILER WARNING
Heavy spoilers will be provided for the entire story up through the end of the content covered in this part. Mild spoilers for elements later in the story may be provided, but I will keep the first paragraph of each section as spoiler-free as possible. Heavy spoilers from later in the book will be confined to clearly labelled sections.
STRUCTURE
We shall be going through the heist in chronological order, starting from when Violet and her cohort coordinate their strategy and ending with the efforts to cover their tracks. I shall then present the logical and inevitable follow-up that should have occurred if Yarros had actually stopped to consider what she’d set up rather than contriving Violet’s arrest. For organizational convenience, this shall be broken down into three sections:
Before the Vault
The Vault
Aftermath
BEFORE THE VAULT
Dropping Eaves
Yarros goes out of her way to establish that Violet’s room is magically soundproofed, including establishing a condition for the soundproofing.
Xaden dips his chin once, then yanks open the door.
Ridoc and Sawyer stagger forward, then slam into the wards and fall to the hallway floor.
My hand flies to my face as I smother a laugh.
“It’s soundproof when the door is closed, assholes,” Xaden growls.
She then has Violet invalidate the condition for soundproofing.
One by one, I pull them through the wards into my room, including Aaric, who hovers just inside the doorway, but I leave the door open in case anyone needs a quick exit.
These two excerpts are half a page apart. It feels like a deliberate setup for the group to be overheard as they plan their heist - which is what they spend the next three hours doing - yet there are no consequences for leaving the door open. Why establish that the soundproofing is not functioning, then?
On top of the unfired Chekov’s Gun, them not being overheard requires contrivance. Based on a bell that rings as they head towards the Archives for the heist, they stop their planning session by 6 PM.
“I’ll be wherever you are,” Xaden counters as the bells ring out six times, signaling the hour. “Remember, the goal is secrecy, not showing off. This isn’t the Squad Battle,” he says, his tone low.
That means they were planning from 3 PM to 6 PM. It’s a Saturday afternoon. No one walked down this hallway? Even if the 1st-years are in classes (as Aaric was pulled out of flight sessions), the 2nd- and 3rd-years clearly aren’t, as no one seems worried about a professor tracking them down. No one single student walked down this hallway? Not one pairing of these sexual hedonists wanted to have sex on a bed that afternoon?
And where is Varrish? He evidently failed to find a reason to separate Violet and Xaden this weekend. Why don’t he or his two truth-detecting henchmen check in on Violet and Xaden?
The only reason that this heist doesn’t fail here is because of contrivance, and it is contrivance that is only necessary because Yarros invalidated the very thing that would make contrivance unnecessary.
Mind Wipe
Imogen has the power to erase short-term memory, which she uses on the door guard at the Archives.
“And I can wipe short-term memory if we’re seen,” Imogen replies. “Classified signet, remember? Your power is impressive, Matthias, but I’m the last line of defense around here.” She moves to Nasya, putting her hands lightly on his head. “Just in case.”
Ignoring for a moment that guard was asleep (he’s a Red Shirt whose only established trait is sleeping on the job, so it’s not unreasonable to assume that the heist happened tonight because he would be the guard on duty), wiping short-term memory will only erase everything BEFORE the wipe. If he sees the group walking away after the mind wipe, is he really not going to have questions? At least when Men In Black did this with the neuralizers, they also established that the device leaves the subject vulnerable to suggestion, allowing the agents to manufacture any number of excuses to explain why dark-suited government agents are present.
Happy Hour
The heist takes place at 6 PM on a Saturday afternoon. The ticking clock we are given is one hour, meaning the Archives seal up at 7 PM.
The Archives are deserted.
Empty is good—and expected for a Saturday night—but there’s no telling who might be within the stacks or in the workrooms deeper within the Archives.
Has Yarros never been to a university library before? Why this is place not overflowing with scribes doing their homework? My university library had plenty of people there on Saturday evening. Even discounting students, why are there not full-fledged scribes minding the place, if only to ensure that no one falls asleep at their studies and gets trapped overnight?
Come to think of it, if this place is expected to be deserted on weekend evenings, then why not just seal the Archive early? Leaving it open when no one needs to be there is an unnecessary security risk.
Short for a Stormtrooper
As mentioned when troubleshooting the editing for this chapter, Xaden refuses to wear scribe robes.
This was an incredibly stupid move that could only backfire. If even a single scribe is in a back hallway (hallways he knows he will need to walk through, as he was involved in the planning process), he will be detected. Only sheer contrivance saves the heist from this stupidity.
If there was even one more scribe on the hallways, or if Samuelson had encountered them just a few seconds later, Xaden would have been seen. Despite comments he and Imogen make about assaulting or killing scribes to silence them, that really isn't an option. A missing scribe or blood on the floor would draw attention to something suspicious having happened and potentially trigger a search for missing items, revealing that the journals are missing. Imogen cannot simple erase a scribe’s memory of being attacked, either, as that would leave unexplained physical injuries. Having seen firsthand how a concussion can induce short-term memory loss, I don’t think it be a stretch that a scribe who wakes up in such a situation would assume that he or she was assaulted and simply can’t remember the attacker due to the injures. (We will be coming back to this later.)
Batcave Entrance
The sublevel vault is accessed through a hidden staircase behind a bookcase.
No, that is not a joke.
She nods, then walks to the far corner of the room, toward the long bookcase.
“Imogen,” Xaden orders, nodding toward the door.
She takes a lookout position, retrieving a knife from under her robes as Jesinia reaches for the back of the bookcase, moving several tomes out of the way before locating a lever.
She pulls down on the metal piece, and the corner of the room separates from the other stones. It rotates a quarter-turn with surprising near silence, revealing the opening to a steep spiral staircase.
Looking closely, I can see the faint lines of the metal track it spins on.
“Amazing,” I whisper. How many of these little hidden wonders exist around here?
Yes. It is amazing how pointless this is.
The reason by Batman hides the doors to the Batcave behind bookcases (or behind fireplaces, inside closets, etc.) is that no one is supposed to suspect he’s Batman in the first place. Most people do not come to Wayne Manor looking for the Batcave. No one actually expects anything secret to be hidden there. Hiding the entrance is purely about not having an obvious door that a random visitor might see and ask questions about (and, as Batman Forever demonstrated, even this is contingent on no one noticing Batman or Alfred going in and out of the room where the entrance is hidden). What’s more, Batman doesn't need to routinely access the Batcave while people are in his home. It’s usually just him and Alfred (and the current Robin) there, outside of the occasional social event.
This door is inside the Archives, a secure location within a military institution. People already know secure stuff is here, so there’s no practical benefit to hiding a vault behind a bookcase instead of an obvious, sturdy, and well-guarded door. At the same time, this bookcase is in a classroom, a place many scribes would spend time on a regular basis. That makes it harder for people to use this secret door without being noticed, not to mention opening the very real possibility that a bored scribe will find it while browsing these shelves.
On top of that, this sublevel vault needs royal blood to access. We’ll get back to that in a moment, but let’s consider the implications for a secret door. That means that, any time the vault needs to be accessed, the king or one of his heirs must visit. People are going to wonder why a royal traveled all the way from Navarre’s capital (which is not near Basgiath) to spend time in a classroom. It would, again, make far more sense to put this royal vault behind multiple well-guarded and secure doors.
Absence of Logic
“This is as far as I can take you,” Jesinia signs. “If I’m gone much longer, someone may notice. According to the others, the normal Archives wards end here, so if you can’t get back in time, you’re safer down there overnight.”
Why do the normal wards end here? We are told that the Archives wards are for preserving the tomes as well as security. Why would centuries-old documents in the royal vault not need the more preservation than newly-printed books in the main chamber?
Does this extend to the ORS? We get no mention of air being fresher down on the sublevel. Shouldn't the risk of hypoxia remain if they spent 12 hours trapped down there?
Third, “according to the others”? What others? Who told Jesinia this? Why has her asking questions not set off alarm bells? She should be a known associate of Violet. Did her prying about a classified sublevel vault not concern the same people who executed a rider for requesting a classified action report through official channels?
THE VAULT
Guards and Back Doors
Pale blue light blooms at the bottom of the staircase.
“A mage light?”
“There are two guards at the end of this hallway,” Xaden answers, slipping his hand from mine. “Wait here while I solve that problem.”
I put my hand up to signal the others to stop when we reach the final step. The space opens into what looks to be a hallway, but Xaden doesn’t question which direction to take. He moves quickly to the right, lifting both hands. A crumpling sound follows.
“Now,” he says aloud.
The hallway is maybe thirty feet long and little more than a glorified tunnel supported by carved pillars over a stone floor. It smells like earth and metal and feels dank with humidity. At one end, light shines through an open archway. Glancing over my shoulder, I see that only darkness consumes the other possible path.
There are guards down here … behind the secret bookcase door … inside the Archives that seal for 12 hours overnight.
Oh, boy.
Do these guards seriously stand 13+ hour shifts (since they were clearly here well before the heist started and can’t leave until the Archives open in the morning)? This isn’t some ceremonial posting where the guard just needs to stand at the ready or march a set route with precise timing. They are expected to be alert and combat-ready.
We will be told shortly that these guards are infantry. Do no scribes question why members of the infantry are walking through the Archives (which, remember, is supposed to be restricted to the scribes), going into a classroom, and then sending different members of the infantry back out (with this process happening at least twice a day, unless these guards stand 24-hour shifts)?
Do these guards not need medical treatment after standing 13+ hours in hypoxic conditions?
Why are there only the two guards down the one path? Who’s guarding whatever is down the other hallway? Why do those guards not notice the unauthorized entry of the riders (and why do not not respond to the silent alarm that will be established in Chapter 35)?
Now, perhaps that dark tunnel is another entrance … and that would make things much, much worse.
Why is there a secret door inside the Archives if this tunnel exists? This secret door only serves to provide intruders with a means to bypass whatever security lies down the dark tunnel and an alternative escape route if they somehow did come in through the dark tunnel. There is no good reason to install it. If the guards do not come in and out via the secret door, than the mere existence of the door becomes a contrivance.
There Isn't Even a Door
“There isn't even a door?” Imogen asks as we hurry down the hall.
“No need with wards that strong,” Xaden comments.
If that's true, why bother with the secret door inside of Archives? Why bother with guards? By this logic, everything currently on the sublevel vault could be publically displayed in bookcase with a warning sign a and a line to delineate where the wards begin.
Blunt Force Trauma
“We have a few minutes before these two will wake up. I didn’t hit them that hard,” Xaden says as he and Imogen drag the infantry guards to the side, clearing the path.
Blunt force trauma to the head does not work this way. If you hit someone in the head hard enough that they immediately lose consciousness for several minutes (at least 38 minutes, judging by the fact they enter the vault with 40 minutes to go and leave when only 2 minutes are left), that person will most like die or suffer permanent brain damage if denied immediate medical attention. That Xaden could simultaneously incapacitate two guards in this manner without consequence is not possible.
Normally, I would merely handwave this as Rule do Cool. Knocking people out with blows to the head is a well-established trope in faction. The issue is that Yarros has already played with that realism toggle. Blows to the head were treated as extremely serious business in the second RSC exercise, provoking visceral emotion from Violet and her accessories. In Chapter 36, bruises and swelling inflicted by blows to the head will be identified as something people can notice. At the same time, even with the people delivering those blows were trying to cause pain, a single blow was not enough to cause instant unconsciousness. In other words, Yarros herself has chosen to establish that head trauma in this world reflects our own world.
And believe me, that’s going to be very important in a little bit.
The Royal Wards
The original plan was for Aaric to search the vault alone, since he alone can actually walk through the wards. He decides to pull Violet through to help him.
“My father doesn’t have anything warded that isn’t worth showing off,” he explains, holding out his hand. “So, I took a chance that you wouldn’t smack into the wards like a wall. And I can’t get through these books in the next forty minutes alone. You’re the one who knows what to look for.”
Why would the king store things here that he thinks are “worth showing off”? Why would such items not be stored within the capital, where he actually lives and would conduct his diplomatic affairs? Why would the king force himself and the people he wants to impress to travel to Basgiath (something that would take a very long time, as the dragons are established to hate carrying anyone but their riders, so it would have to be done with horses), walk through the Archives, and access a secret bookcase door just to visit the vault?
Also … the journals of the first riders, which contain valuable intel about the wardstones, are things the king wants to show off? Why are these not held in a vault the military leadership can access without him? This actually goes for every document we’re told is in here: journals of military leaders, ancient first editions of tomes of lore, and the like. Is the king seriously expected to travel all the way to Basgiath from the capital every time Markham or Melgren needs access to one of these?
That’s before we even mention the fact that Violet needs to be pulled through the ward by Aaric. Is the king going to make that effort for every guest? Violet suffers nausea as a side effect of crossing the ward. Does the king really intend to impress people by making them sick?
Pettiness
Despite pulling Violet through, Aaric refuses to do the same for Xaden. This is an extension for their bickering.
“Pull me in. Now,” Xaden demands.
“No,” Aaric replies without so much as glancing in his direction. “The only perk I’m getting out of this whole expedition is knowing how much it must pain you to realize you can’t get to her.”
“Stop antagonizing him and get to work, Aaric. You start to the left and ignore anything that’s not handwritten.” I peek through the archway to see Xaden in full fuck-you mode.
Why is Aaric risking the ticking clock just to antagonize Xaden? Why does Violet not instruct him to stop being petty and to bring Xaden is as well? Also, Imogen is here, too. Why does Aaric not pull Imogen in? The bit about Violet knowing what they are looking for doesn't explain this. She shouldn’t have any better idea than anyone else. If she did, Aaric shouldn’t bother searching himself. He should just leave it all to her.
The Tablecloth
The journals are hidden inside a pedestal, under a tablecloth.
Why?
Yarros justifies this (via Violet dumping exposition) that the journals need to be kept away from light. That should apply to all of the documents in this room. This is also a subterranean vault in a world with magical light sources, so it’s not like they would be bathed in constant sunlight even if they were out on a shelf. Why not just put them in a drawer if any light at all is intolerable (especially since solid wood would be better at blocking light than a tablecloth)?
Is this just so the king can dramatically remove the table cloth to show off the journals (the way that Yarros has Violet dramatically reveal them to the audience)?
Does he make his guests stand there awkwardly while he puts the table cloth back and tidies it so that it looks presentable for the next visitors he brings?
Does he have to walk back down here with a servant or scribe so that he can stand there awkwardly while that person resets and tidies the tablecloth for him?
Redundant Wards
The pedestal has another set of wards on it.
[Aaric] leans over the cabinet and reaches in, then lets out a sharp hiss, his face contorting in pain as he pulls out both books. “Fuck!” He sets them on the edge of the cabinet, then holds his hands up.
I watch in horror as blisters the size of my thumb swell over every inch of skin that passed through the wards.
“I think those wards know I wasn’t him.” He grimaces. “Let’s go!”
Why would the wards on the journals be able to distinguish between Aaric and his father when the wards on the door couldn't? Did the king seriously tell whomever wove these wards, “I want my kids to be able to access this vault without my permission, but make sure those scamps get a slap on the wrist if they touch these two specific books”?
Xaden Confirms That He is an Idiot
“Two minutes!” Imogen shouts from where she’s kneeled next to the guards, her hands on the larger one’s head.
Xaden drops two wineskins into their laps, and I snatch the tablecloth from the floor, then throw it over the case.
Violet and her friends are as good as arrested. Even if they escape the Archives before the doors close, they all need to leave Basgiath immediately. This problem has existed from the moment Xaden “hit” the guards to knock them out, but Yarros has put a spotlight on it here.
It does not matter that Imogen wiped their short term memories, nor that her Signet is classified. These guards will still wake up on the floor with lingering pain from blunt force head trauma. They will very quickly notice the bruising or swelling from where Xaden “hit” them. The logical conclusion that they will reach is that they were assaulted, and that the memory loss is the result of them both having concussions. They will immediately sound the alarm (or sound it as soon as they are able, if the sealing of the Archives denies them contact with the outside world).
Yarros knew this. That is why she had Xaden drop wineskins in their laps. Perhaps the idea was the imply that the guards would be unwilling to report the attack, for fear that they’d be dismissed as liars and punished for drinking on the job. However, the manner in which she had Xaden do this is so ineffective as to make the effort self-defeating.
Xaden did not pour the wine into the guards’ mouths. He did not splash it onto their clothes. He simply dropped two wineskins on their laps. Instead of making these men look like they were drinking on the job, he has left evidence that someone else was here. The guards don’t even need to hide the wineskins before making their report. The most basic examination by a healer will confirm that they were not drinking and that they were, in fact, attacked. (Plus, there is every possibility that they could just hide the wineskins and omit that detail from their report.)
AFTERMATH
Jesinia needs to deliver all of the robes that the participants were wearing to the laundry.
Quinn reports that, during the heist, she used her Signet (astral projection) to make a scene about how everyone involved in the heist was drinking in Imogen's room. She also can apparently use her astral projection to disguise herself, so she made it look like Rhiannon and Violet were elsewhere on campus.
“I projected into commons and made it clear I was looking for lemonade because we’ve all been drinking in Imogen’s room.” She grins, a dimple popping in her cheek. “And then I managed to take a walk as Violet and Rhiannon.”
Quinn explicitly did not provide the same coverage for Imogen.
She glances at Imogen. “I still can’t quite get the right shade of pink for your hair.”
Bodhi and Sawyer go to the commons to make a scene, so that multiple eyewitnesses will remember that they were there … after the Archives closed.
INEVITABLE CONSEQUENCES
As stated back in the Plot analysis, Yarros resorts to contrivance to get Violet arrested. This indicates that she sincerely thought this heist was airtight.
In reality, the following chain of events would occur.
The guards whom Xaden “hit” would sound the alarm. If being sealed in the Archives prevents this from happening immediately, they will do so in the morning (after hiding the wine skins, for good measure). A quick visit by a healer would confirm their injuries and thus support their account of being assaulted.
Soon after, both the alarm and the guards’ report would reach Markham and Draconis, the latter of whom would be well aware that Xaden is present at Basgiath that night (or was present, if the report reaches Draconis after Xaden left). If Draconis does not have direct access to Signet records, he can go to Pancheck or Melgren for authorization so that he can check whether any rebel children have Signets that could support a hesit into the vault.
Soon after, Imogen will be arrested. Quinn will be arrested as her accomplice as well - Quinn provided Imogen’s alibi, after all, and since her own Signet power would also be on record, any eyewitness accounts of Quinn's own whereabouts cannot be trusted. Orders would be issued for Xaden’s arrest, forcing him to fight his way out of Basgiath (or Samara, if he makes it all the way back there). I doubt he would be successfully detained, but once Imogen is arrested, he’s not needed for events to progress. The arrested persons will be interrogated, torture, and eventually subjected to psychic interrogation at the hands of Dain and other riders will similar Signets.
Even before the prisoners break, an investigation will net Jesinia, who was asking too many questions about a classified sublevel vault, was seen in the Archives shortly before the guards were attacked, and returned robes she shouldn’t need to the laundry. This provides a connection to Violet. Since Violet’s alibi can also be invalidated by Quinn’s Signet, she will be arrested. Bodhi and Sawyer would at least be questioned due to their connections to arrested persons and the suspicious timing of their appearance in the commons. Rhiannon and Ridoc would likely be questioned for their connection to Violet.
Things go properly downhill when Dain gets involved. Whether or not he agrees to read Violet’s memories this time, he has no reason not to read everyone else’s. What’s more, he knows about Aaric. He will inevitably reveal Aaric’s secret, perhaps after cutting a deal that will protect Violet. This will be the nail in the coffin. The king will be summoned to check the vault. When the journals are found missing, all parties involved will be tortured until the journal are coughed up, then executed. At best, General Sorrengail will find some way to spare Violet (if only to salvage her own career), while Aaric is pardoned by the king.
Shortly after, all rebel children will be executed for Xaden violating the deal that he made to protect them (assuming that they weren’t executed at any other point after the order had been issued for Xaden’s arrest).
The end.
CONCLUSION
If Xaden had the slightest bit of sense, he would reach this same conclusion that I just laid out. He would have insisted that everyone involved in the heist flee Basgiath directly after leaving the Archives. If the Aretia rebels act fast, they may be able to save some of the other rebel children from the fallout of Xaden violating his deal with the rider leadership. Having lost access to Basgiath’s luminary, Violet will need to cave to Techis’s demands so that Aretia can use his luminary.
These are the facts Yarros has presented to us. This is the world she has built. These are the people she has put into that world. One does not need to be a theorist or subject matter expert to grasp just how broken this heist is. One need only pay attention to the things Yarros herself has established across one and a half books.
I respect how hard it can be to juggle multiple balls in scene, but at the end of the day, the author controls how many balls exist. This heist was a challenge Yarros set for herself. This failure is hers, and hers alone.
