*James Gets Rejected By Lily For The 62637372827th Time And Is About To Ask For The 62637372828th Time*

*James gets rejected by Lily for the 62637372827th time and is about to ask for the 62637372828th time*

This is one of the best theories I’ve seen about the next acotar book

Koschei the Deathless / The 3 Sisters & The 3 Brothers

This is another theory post, one that somewhat ties into my previous posts about Elain, the Prison being the 8th Court, and the three brothers/three sisters prophecy.

Arguably the biggest hint about the plot of future books lies in “The Death of Koschei the Deathless,” a Russian fairytale that SJM is clearly inspired by (she didn’t even bother changing the name of the villain). This particular fairytale inspired many others that are somewhat similar to it (the magical number three can be found in each one, always in the form of three sisters), but before I continue, let’s look at what happens in the original fairytale:

When the story opens, Ivan and his three sisters are approaching the death of their parents. Ivan is tasked with ensuring that the young women each find a husband. Indeed, suitors come for each woman: Princess Marya weds a youth who transforms into a falcon; Princess Olga marries a youth who transforms into an eagle; and Princess Anna marries a youth who transforms into a raven.

This is one version. Another one:

Russian folklorist Alexander Afanasyev, stated that the eagle, the falcon and the raven (or crow) are connected to weather phenomena, like storm, rain, wind. He also saw a parallel between the avian suitors from the tale Marya Morevna with the suitors from other Slavic folktales, where they are the Sun, the Moon, and the Wind. 

And another one:

In the Eastern European tale of The Story of Argilius and the Flame-King (Zauberhelene) after his sisters are married to the Sun-king, the Wind-king (or Storm-king) and the Moon-king, […]

And another one:

In another Russian variant, “Ivan Tsarevich and Marya Marevna,"  the young Ivan Tsarevich takes his sisters for a walk in the garden, when, suddenly, three whirlwinds capture the ladies. Three years later, the Tsarevich intends to court princess Marya Morevna, when, in his travels, he finds three old men, who reveal themselves as the whirlwinds and assume an avian form (the first a raven, the second an eagle and the third a falcon).

And another one:

A Czech fairy tale, O Slunečníku, Měsíčníku a Větrníku, where the prince’s sisters are married to the Sun, the Moon and the Wind.

And another one:

A Croatian variant titled "The Tsar’s Son and the Víla.” In this tale, the Wind-King, the Sun-King and the Moon-King (in that order) wish to marry the tsar’s daughters.

I could honestly go on and on because almost every single culture/country has its own version of the same fairytale, always involving three sisters/daughters, and their three husbands, who are somehow related (either by them all being birds or having a bird-form, or by them being elements).

Now, let’s look at ACOTAR. We have three sisters (Nesta, Elain, and Feyre) and three men who can fly (a raven, an eagle, and a falcon). Or, we could look at it differently. We have three sisters (Nesta, Elain, and Feyre) and three brothers who are bonded in spirit (the Sun, the Moon, and the Wind).

Does this sound familiar?

Or even:

The matreshka-style measures protecting Koschei’s mortality are, in this case, symbolic representations of the world. The ocean-sea is water, the basin for life; the island is the soil that nurtures it; the oak tree is life itself; the animals are subsistence for the living; and the chest contains natural resources, the most precious one being the egg. 

Fun fact: Koschei is derived from the Slavic word for bone (kostka).

Another fun fact: According to legend, Koschei’s mortality is contained in a needle that’s placed somewhere highly inconvenient and very far. But, finding and breaking it is the only way to destroy him. It’s hidden in an egg, inside a duck, inside a hare that’s inside a chest; the chest is buried under the roots of an oak tree, which grows on the invisible island of Buyan, at an undisclosed location in the middle of the ocean-sea.

What does this remind us of?

Which brings me back to the original fairytale: 

Ivan had three sisters. After his parents die and his sisters marry three wizards, he leaves his home in search of his sisters. He meets Marya Morevna, the beautiful warrior princess, and marries her. After a while she announces she is going to go to war and tells Ivan not to open the door of the dungeon in the castle they live in while she will be away. Overcome by the desire to know what the dungeon holds, he opens the door soon after her departure and finds Koschei, chained and emaciated. Koschei asks Ivan to bring him some water; Ivan does so. After Koschei drinks twelve buckets of water, his magic powers return to him, he tears his chains and disappears. Soon after Ivan finds out that Koschei took Marya Morevna away, and chases him. When he gets him for the first time, Koschei tells Ivan to let him go, but Ivan doesn’t give in, and Koschei kills him, puts his remains into a barrel and throws it into the sea. Ivan is revived by his sisters’ husbands, powerful wizards, who can transform into birds of prey. They tell him Koschei has a magic horse and Ivan should go to Baba Yaga to get one too, or else he won’t be able to defeat Koschei. After Ivan stands Yaga’s tests and gets the horse, he fights with Koschei, kills him and burns his body. Marya Morevna returns to Ivan, and they celebrate his victory with his sisters and their husbands.

My question is this: What if we are looking at this wrong? What if this is not what is to come, but a version of what happened when Koschei was imprisoned by the female Fae warrior (Marya Morevna)? This is what we know about the female warrior from the Bone Carver:

Which brings me to Vassa. At first, I thought that maybe the bloodline runs through the Archeron family, but what if it runs through Vassa’s?

So why did Koschei want Vassa, specifically? Is it because the female fae’s bloodline runs through her veins? Could it be because she might be the key—or at least part of the key—that will free him from his lake?

Let’s look at this differently. So far, we have:

Koschei

Marya Morevna (Vassa)

Ivan (Lucien? Jurian? Both?)

Three sisters (Nesta, Elain, Feyre)

Three males who have “bird-form” (Rhys, Cassian, Azriel)

All the players of the original fairytale, coming together again. What if it really is a prophecy? What if this is not a coincidence? What if the Cauldron, as Azriel said, WAS wrong, but was wrong on purpose? To prevent a prophecy from coming true, one that could free Koschei from his prison and unleash him upon the world?

I could go on and on with this post (and I might make another one that involves Elain and how she is directly involved in all of this), but until then, think about it. Three sisters and three brothers might not be as cliché/ridiculous/far-fetched as you might think.

“The Cauldron chose three sisters. Tell me how it’s possible that my two brothers are with two of those sisters, yet the third was given to another.”

“All three sisters were now High Fae with considerable powers, though only Feyre’s were let loose.”

“All three sisters blessed by fate and gifted with powers to match your own.”

Tamlin to Feyre: You look better than before when you were covered in blood and mud and your clothes were ripped. And your hair is… clean.

Lucien to Tamlin:

Me, when the crows manage the impossible heist:

Me, when Kaz touches Inej’s hand without gloves:

I love this scene from Shadow and Bone. She’s telling him about his family’s history but it’s actually just him so she’s telling him about his history. And the way he’s so carefully listening to her as if he’s wondering what happens next lol.