Everything You Need to Remember Before A Court of Splintered Harmony

In case it isn’t clear, the following article contains all the spoilers for A Court of Thorns and Roses plus some Crescent City details. You’ve been warned. 

ACOTAR fans are the rock against which the surf crashes.

As in, they’ve more than proven their staying power in the five years since Sarah J. Maas published A Court of Silver Flames, the fifth installment in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series.

Thankfully, the stars have listened and fans’ dreams have finally been answered in the form of A Court of Splintered Harmony, the sixth book in the series that hits shelves on Oct. 27. (Plus, this year’s Winter Solstice will be especially generous, with A Court of Forgotten Melody following shortly after on Jan. 12.)

But if you find yourself reaching back into the recesses of memory to recall what exactly went down with the Archeron sisters, Rhysand and his Inner Circle, the other Prythian Courts, the human lands and all enemies near and far… never fear. 

E! is here, and we’re bringing you everything you need to know.

First, let’s rapid fire through A Court of Thorns and Roses, A Court of Mist and Fury and A Court of Wings and Ruin, which mark the completion of Feyre and Rhys’ arc. 

Okay, deep breath: Feyre first falls in love with Tamlin, defeats the evil Amarantha and is turned into a Fae for her efforts, realizes Rhysand isn’t the evil High Lord the world thinks he is, falls out of love with Tamlin and in love with Rhys, partners with his Inner Circle (Cassian, Mor, Amren and Azriel) to defeat the King of Hybern while also tearing apart the Spring Court—two rulers, one well-aimed stone, so to speak.

Critically, during the second book Feyre’s sisters Nesta and Elain are each turned into Fae against their will by the King of Hybern. But don’t worry, Nesta gets her revenge in the form of despot decapitation in the final battle of ACOWAR. 

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One other key detail from this third book: In an attempt to gain the upper hand against the King, Feyre recruits the help of the Bone Carver and the Weaver—two ancient, nearly all-powerful death gods. Though they both lose their lives in the battle, they’re important to remember as siblings to Koschei the Deathless, a third death god bound to a lake on the continent. We’ll come back to him.

A Court of Frost and Starlight marked a turning point in the series, setting up the next Archeron sister’s time in center stage—or, more appropriately, center ring. Set in the first Winter Solstice after the war, the novella chronicles how the Inner Circle members are faring.

Spoiler alert—though isn’t that why you’re here?—Nesta isn’t doing too well, struggling with PTSD from being forcibly changed into Fae and witnessing her father’s murder. 

Which brings us to our main event, A Court of Silver Flames. Feel free to take a quick break to stretch your wings, because this is where you’ll need to really lock in. 

On the highest of levels, ACOSF tells Nesta and Cassian’s love story as she finds healing through training as a warrior. 

Nesta is eventually joined by new friends Illyrian shop owner Emerie and Gwyn, a priestess working in the House of Wind’s subterranean library, and the three draw inspiration from a now-extinct female warrior clan called the Valkyries. After surviving the Illyrian Blood Rite, the trio is determined to empower more females and regrow the Valkyrie fighting force.

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At the same time, the Inner Circle knows the human queens in the mortal lands are making secret moves against Prythian. Rhysand recruits Nesta to help track down the Dread Trove, a set of three powerful artifacts consisting of The Mask, The Harp and The Crown. 

How, you may ask? Because Nesta was Made in the Cauldron, she is able to sense objects of a similar magical origin. Plus, she’s got the touch of extra magic the eldest Archeron clawed from the Cauldron.

But the once-mortal-now-immortal-crone queen Briallyn—who secretly allied herself with Koschei—is searching for the Trove, too. She and Nesta have a final showdown during the Blood Rite, with Nesta using her Cauldron-given power to blast the queen to smithereens. And we mean that quite literally.

Once master of the complete Dread Trove, Nesta’s powers are put to the test when a pregnant Feyre (did we mention that?) begins to bleed out during childbirth. Nesta utilizes the Trove to pause time before dipping into those Cauldron powers to save her sister, at the same time altering both their reproductive systems to accommodate future winged babies. Feyre and Rhysand are now the proud parents to son Nyx, but the effort drains Nesta, leaving her a normal-eyed—albeit still powerful—Fae.

Other things you need to know from ACOSF: Vassa, the youngest of the mortal queens, has been cursed by Koschei to bear the form of a fiery bird during the day. She, Lucien and Jurian have struck up an unlikely friendship and make up the self-titled Band of Exiles.

Photo by: Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

Speaking of Lucien, the secret biological son of the High Lord of the Day Court is mates with Elain, but she doesn’t seem likely to accept that bond anytime soon. Instead, she and Azriel are continuously drawn to one another (though since Nesta didn’t similarly alter Elain’s reproductive system, jury’s still out on their long-term future). Plus, the much-debated ACOSF bonus chapter proves that a potential romance between Azriel and Elain could bring many challenges to the Inner Circle—it might even splinter the Night Court’s harmony.

Now, to fully get you up to speed, we do need to dip our toes into a different corner of the Maas-verse: Crescent City. Though a separate series to ACOTAR, in the third CC book House of Flame and Shadow, protagonist Bryce Quinlan finds herself transported to Prythian using the magical artifact Luna’s Horn (imagine a kind of key for cross-universe doorways), which is revealed to be fourth item of the Dread Trove.

While stranded in Prythian, Bryce links up with Azriel and Nesta and they explore the Prison located near the Night Court. There, they discover the once-thriving territory was an eighth court, the Dusk Court, and Nesta has a mysterious connection to the infamous island—more on that sure to come. After all, Rhys and Bryce’s family are revealed to both be descendants from the land. Bryce also gives the eldest Archeron the Starsword, a.k.a. Gwydion, a.k.a an ancient, all-powerful Cauldron-made sword and twin blades with Azriel’s weapon Truth-Teller. 

Last detail, promise: HOFAS also reveals there’s an ancient race of parasitical aliens, for lack of a better word, slowly making their way across the universe. Called the Asteri in Bryce’s Midgard, in Prythian they were the Daglan and ruled with an iron fist before they were defeated during Theia’s Rebellion long before Feyre and her sisters came into the picture.

And with that, we think that’s everything you need to know. Phew. Thanks for flying through this journey with us. 

And when you sit down with A Court of Splintered Harmony on Oct. 27, no matter what it brings, be glad for your human heart as you feel all the feels. Remember: Only you can decide what breaks you.

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