Latest / Deep Trope Fantasy & Romance Podcast / Dire Bound by Sable Sorensen Mini Recap | 20-Minute Summary & Top Theories
Transcript
- Deep Trope Pdocast: Welcome to Deep Trope, where we go deep into fantasy and romance books, one trope at a time, where your two book besties gushing over plot, characters, Easter eggs theories, and of course, our favorite spicy moments. I'm Rachel, Romantasy Theorist. Kate: And I'm Kate, lover of all things dark and spicy. Deep Trope Pdocast: And this is our special Dire Bound recap episode, giving you everything you need to know before diving into Fury Bound, including a plot summary, world overview, characters, and our favorite theories of what's to come as the Wolves of Ruin series continues. If you followed along with our deep dive episodes, consider this a quick refresher. Kate: And if you haven't listened to our deep dive episodes, welcome. We're so happy to have you here. Please be aware that this is a recap of the entire book. So obviously there will be spoilers. And also remember that any content warnings that apply to the book also apply to this podcast. All right, let's jump in. So our story is set in the kingdom of Nocturna, ruled by the Valtiere Royal family and home to a group of elite warriors who are bonded to powerful direwolves. The neighboring kingdom of Astreona is home to the Siphons, bloodthirsty vampiric beings that are the sworn enemies of the direwolves and the people of Nocturna. The two kingdoms have been at war for the past 500 years, and the conflict shows no signs of subsiding anytime soon. We are first introduced to our protagonist, Meryn Cooper, in a fighting ring where she defeats a man by exploiting his arrogance. She says, women in pain give men confidence. Confidence makes men sloppy, and sloppy men are easy targets. Which really just tells you everything you need to know about her personality. Meryn lives in the eastern quarter, a poor neighborhood in the city of Sturmfrost, the royal city of Nocturna, and home to the royal castle and the bonded city where the direwolves and their riders live. She has a supportive boyfriend named Lee and a trainer named Igor, a younger sister named Saela, and a mother who's plagued by bouts of hallucinations and delusions. When her father became a victim of the war, never returning from battle, Meryn had to step up to care for her sister and their ailing mother. One night, while Meryn is away from the house with Lee, Saela is taken by the Nabbers, who are believed to be enemy siphons that have been kidnapping children from the city for a very long time. Devastated by her worst fear coming true, Meryn vows to do whatever she can to find Saela and bring her home safely. Assuming she was taken by Siphons, Meryn needs to find a way to Astreona to search for her sister. With a lack of options and limited funds at her disposal, Meryn quickly decides to join the enlisted ranks so she can travel to the front lines of the war and find Saela. Unfortunately, her plan to enlist and make it to the front quickly will be complicated by the impending bonding trials. The bonding trials are a set of deadly tests designed to bond army recruits with direwolves and form the strongest packs possible. The first trial is called the Ascent, a treacherous mountain climb with the wolves waiting at the top. Meryn makes it to the top with the help of her new friends, Venna and Izabel twins from the bonded city. Meryn also makes an enemy along the way named Jonah, another recruit from the bonded city who Meryn defended Izabel against. Meryn believes that bonding is a choice, and as long as she reaches the top, she can choose not to bond and can continue as a regular enlisted soldier. This proves to not be the case for her though. And ignoring her protests, a massive silver-haired wolf approaches Meryn and forces a bond. The wolf's name is Anassa, and according to another recruit, she is hundreds of years old and has never bonded a rider before. Despite bonding with Meryn against her will, Anassa refuses to communicate with her and has put a wall up in their bond. This is definitely the start of a complicated relationship. Now that she has bonded to a wolf, Meryn must continue with the bonding trials, which she learns will take four months to complete, throwing a big wrench in her plans to find her sister. Having no other options, Meryn buckles in to get through the trials and continue her search for Saela. The trials are overseen by instructors from the packs who will help to train the Rawbonds and teach them how to succeed as a pack. The instructors are... Alpha Stark Therion of the Daemos pack, Beta Egith Hartsfeld and Leader Aldrich of the Strategos pack, Gamma Elinor Gardiner of the Phylax pack, and Gamma Samson Whyte of the Kryptos pack. Deep Trope Pdocast: It's time for a quick overview of the Direwolf packs and pack dynamics. Strategos, Meryn and Izabel's pack are the leaders and tacticians. They are recognizable by their silver fur and riders have a matching silver streak in their hair, except for Meryn whose hair turns from dark brown to completely silver the moment Anassa bonds her. Strategos have communication magic and occasional foresight, allowing them to see flashes of the future. Kryptos Venna's pack, the spies. Sable Sorensen's website refers to them as Shadow Walkers, which we see Venna do later in the book. They can bend light and shadow to become almost invisible. Their woes have a dark gray or speckled coat, while riders have blue streaks in their hair. Daemos is Jonah and Stark's pack, the warriors who are known for their brutality. They wield offensive magic as weapons and are faster and stronger in battle. The wolves have dark coloring, often black, and riders have blood red streaks through their hair. Finally, we have Phylax, the guardians. They wield defensive magic from temporary shields to entire domes while working together. Wolves have tan and brown coloring while the riders are marked by a tawny streak of hair. The wolves are not in their heads at all times, seen through their eyes. In fact, only the most powerful wolves can see through their rider's eyes. This is the kind of bond that Meryn and Anassa have. The bond links their thoughts and emotions so they can hear everything happening. The wolves are able to heal their riders through their bond. Each pack has one Alpha in command, then their Betas who handle operations and Gammas who support the Betas. At the top of the chain of command sits the Sovereign Alpha, Siegrid Therion While most wolves can only communicate with their own packs, the Sovereign Alpha can communicate with every wolf and serves as the King's second in command. The Sovereign Alpha is passed down through the Therion family line, so we assume Stark would be next in line for the role. The King is able to control the wolves with the Dire Blade even though he isn't bonded. Kate: Rawbond training is split into two periods, forging and proving. Forging is the two month process in which they forge bonds with their fellow pack mates and includes the voice trial, which will take place in one month, where they will need to prove they can communicate with their wolves. And then the purge trial, where the raw bonds can cull members that weaken the pack. This trial is then followed by the forging ball. After forging, they move to the proving period, which includes two months where the packs learn to work together. and the Unity Trial, which is a mock battle between packs and followed by graduation. Before training begins, Rawbonds must participate in the presentation, which is a spectacle where the riders are paraded in front of the nobility and royals. Deep Trope Pdocast: At the presentation, we get our first plot twist when it is revealed that Prince Killian is none other than Meryn's boyfriend, Lee. Though initially shocked and seething with rage, Killian says all the right things and ends up manipulating Meryn into forgiving him and continuing their relationship. Kate: The trials are incredibly brutal and violent, and a lot of Rawbonds are killed along the way. Here's just a quick breakdown of some of the action from the first few trials. Before the trials even start, is attacked by another Rauban and brutally murders him, giving herself a chic bob in the process. At the voice trial, Meryn and Anassa technically make good time completing the obstacle course, but their lack of communication is pretty apparent. Meryn and Anassa have a come to Jesus moment and finally decide to work together. This improved connection, along with Meryn's new training regimen thanks to her friend and fellow strategos, Tomison Thorne, make them confident going into the Purge Trial. Before the Purge Trial, Killian tells Meryn he captured one of the nabbers ⁓ together they interrogate him before Meryn murders him without mercy. She believes this will stop the nabbings. At the Purge Trial, Meryn leads the pack in culling one of the Rawbonds whose arrogance puts the pack at risk. This Rawbond happens to be Jonah's wolf's mate. In the Trial, Meryn also stands up for her friend Neva and saves her from being culled. For each of their kills, Rawbonds receive a tattoo. Tattoos on their arms and torso serve to count siphon kills, while tattoos on their necks are to honor bonded they've killed in training. The tattoo ritual ends with the tattoo artist licking the tattoo. So each time Stark gives Meryn a tattoo, we get some truly delicious sexual tension. Amidst all of the training and killing, is plagued by nightmares and visions, leading her to believe that she's descending into the same madness her mother suffers from. As if the trials, training, and descent into madness weren't enough, Meryn also has to contend with Jonah, the Daemos Rawbond she made an enemy of on day one. Jonah has taken every opportunity he can to attack Meryn. He has made it abundantly clear that he has complete disdain for her common upbringing and wants her dead. Beyond continually popping up to attack Meryn, we don't learn a lot about Jonah in this book, but we have a feeling he's going to continue being a thorn in her side. In Meryn's History of War class, we learn more about the Siphons and what happened to Meryn's father. Since the Siphons drained all of the humans in Astreona, they survive now by feeding on captured soldiers like her father. Siphons can turn drained humans into other Siphons and live to be basically immortal. We also learn about Siphon blood magic, which can control minds and weave illusions. Ahead of the Unity trial, Beta Egith teaches them about pack unity. which is when individual wolf and rider pairs are fully aligned as one. The pack connection becomes stronger, allowing them to tap into their greatest powers, which for the strategos is the ability to understand troop movements, spot weaknesses within the enemy lines, and calculate odds. When Meryn is able to take a trip home to see her mother, they have a warm reunion. Her mother informs her that the nabbings have increased recently, which Meryn is distraught to learn since she believed that they had taken care of those responsible. Her mother gives her an opal necklace that is an old family heirloom, telling her it will protect her. Anassa's attention is piqued when Meryn gets the necklace, but she won't say why. The Rawbonds attend the Forging Ball, where Meryn wears a beautiful emerald green dress that she assumes Killian got for her. Killian ends up claiming her publicly for the first time at the ball, and when she feels something like disapproval through her bond with Anassa, she blocks their connection. Meryn and Killian leave for some spicy time, something we get fairly frequently throughout the book. In each encounter, Killian bites her in some way and is very controlling, clearly a Dom. And while the interactions are all consensual, throughout the book, the intensity of the bondage and edging steadily increases. When Meryn finally reopens her connection to Anassa, she's overwhelmed by a sense of grief from the entire pack, learning that the Strategos Alpha has been killed in battle. The sovereign alpha, Siegrid Therion, arrives to discuss the situation with the king and demands an audience with Meryn and Anassa. She informs them that the Strategos wolves have chosen Anassa as their next leader, making Meryn the new alpha of the Strategos pack. While Meryn tries to protest saying she's just a raw bond, Anassa floods her mind with generations of alpha knowledge. They agree to let Beta Eguith serve as the Strategos leader on the front lines while Meryn completes her raw bond training. The rest of the Strategos raw bonds are in disbelief when they learn Meryn has been selected as their new alpha, but ultimately they trust the wisdom of the wolves. Stark informs Meryn that he will be giving her private alpha training in his office, which she is surprised to learn is actually a cozy library. Whenever they spar, Meryn is convinced that Stark hates her and wants to kill her. From her perspective, he's a brooding, violent warrior that has been inexplicably glaring and scowling at her since arrived at the castle. But from our perspective, of course, his scowls are just how he shows his affection. During one of their training sessions, Meryn feels a pull of energy coming from the bookshelf. Stark doesn't give her any details about what the books contain, but he tells her that she could take one when he's not looking if she wanted to. Anassa agrees that Meryn should do her own research if she wants answers. During one of her nightmares, sleepwalks and wakes up in the arena, seeing something glinting in the grates beneath the floor. It's something gold with an opalescent stone and what looks to be a wolf's head. Meryn also notices the shadows around her behaving strangely, including her own shadow that doesn't seem to follow her movements. Meryn asks both Anassa and Killian about what's under the arena, but Anassa just tells her not to get caught there. and Killian dismisses her, saying it's just drainage and that the castle may have many secrets he's not aware of. Meryn is beginning to grow suspicious of the king and brings her suspicions to Venna, asking her to look into it and find out what they're hiding. Beta Egith then finds Meryn to tell her that they may have found the missing children near the front lines in the city of Grunfall, and Meryn immediately jumps into action. Stark insists on accompanying her on the two-day journey. The first leg of the trip takes them to the city of Linsfall, halfway between Sturmfrost and Grunfall. In Linsfall, Meryn finds a statue of the Faceless Goddess and prays for the safe return of the children. The Faceless Goddess is known as the goddess who had to save herself, and Meryn feels she may need to do the same. We also get a one-bed trope, while we don't get a spicy scene, we do get a who did this to you, which unfortunately ⁓ out was Meryn herself. and we learned that she has a history with self-harm. When they arrive in Grunfall, they begin the mission and Meryn is amazed by Stark's ability in battle. They are ambushed by a horde of siphons, but battle their way through them to reach the cells where the children are being kept. We learn here that the only way to kill a siphon is to cut off their head. When they reach the cells, they are thick with the sickly sweet scent of siphon magic. However, the team is devastated to find that the children are no longer there, though evidence suggests that they were there recently. They capture a siphon to question, but despite being tortured, he insists he knows nothing about the children or the Nabbers. He claims there were no children being held captive. Finally, fed up with the lack of answers, is overcome with a killing rage and savagely beheads him. Meryn stops to see her mother on the way home from the mission, but instead finds a heartbroken Igor who informs her that her mother is dead. Apparently, she had one of her fits in the town square. and was killed by a guard. When she returns to the castle, Kilian tells Meryn that before her mother died, she gave her blessing for them to be married. And he proceeds to propose to Meryn with an elaborate engagement bracelet made of gold, covered in black diamonds with ruby in the center. Meryn accepts and feels the bracelet tighten around her wrist. When Meryn returns with Killian to her house to collect her mother's things, she finds journals hidden beneath the floorboards. The journals seem to be a record of her mother's delusions. Most of the drawings are of a crown with two wolves leaping at each other and references to the names Lumina, Nocturn, and Astreon. Meryn quickly takes the journals before Killian can see them. Meryn asks Anassa about the journals, but Anassa says she's told Meryn everything she can. This reminds Meryn of what Inassa and Stark said in his office when she asked about the books on his shelf. So she sneaks into his quarters to find the book that she'd felt the pull of energy from. The book ends up being a handwritten history of Nocturna's original rulers, the Sturmfrost Queens, a matrilineal line of bonded warriors with incredible powers who ruled for centuries. Which is funny because in school Meryn had been taught that Nocturna didn't even exist until 500 years ago. when King Cyril's ancestor took the throne and united humans and wolves under his rule. Before then, humans in Nocturna lived in scattered encampments, attempting to survive while being hunted by both direwolves and siphons. The legends said the faceless goddess sought to balance this power and gave the king the Dire Blade with the power to control the wolves and bond them. But this book says Nocturna is an entire millennia older and the direwolves were always allies with the Sturmfrost line. There are pictures in the book of queens ruling with the direwolves by their sides. She sees the drawing of the crown of the Sturmfrost line, which is thousands of years old and imbued with powerful magic. And the crown matches the drawings in her mother's journals. Meryn realizes this crown is the item hidden under the drain grate in the arena. Meryn confronts Stark and Anassa about what she read in the book, but they both say they can't tell her anything. And Meryn feels furious and betrayed, thinking they're conspiring to keep things from her. Meryn takes the book and continues to study it, though she chooses not to share it with Killian. Next up, the Unity Trial is an hours-long battle between Daemos and the rest of the packs In the battle, Jonah brutally attacks Henry, the only other commonborn Rawbond besides Meryn, and fatally wounds him. Meryn chooses to end his suffering out of mercy and a need to protect the packs from his frenzied wolf. In the end, none of the packs break Unity, so any surviving Rawbonds will continue to the graduation ceremony and become fully bonded Riders. The night before graduation, Venna shows Meryn what she found hidden beneath the castle, the missing children, including Saela. It turns out that the children have been hidden here the whole time, and the king has been picking them off by one. Terrified that Saela will be the next to be chosen by the king, Meryn is desperate to find a way to break her free. She tells Killian everything she found, certain that he will help her. Together, they hatch a plan to kill the king at the graduation ceremony and free the children. At the ceremony, the king surprises everyone by calling for a final battle between the riders. In the chaos, Meryn takes the opportunity to attack the king, decapitating him with the Dire Blade. Kilian immediately turns on her, having her arrested by the guards and feigning shock. Anassa uses her connection to her mate to call for help from the dungeons, and it is revealed that her mate is Cratos Stark's wolf. Stark brings Meryn the crown that was hidden beneath the arena, and when she touches it, she receives a vision that reveals her history. She sees Queen Chiara Sturmfrost battling a siphon named Alistair Brightbane, who has killed her entire family, save for her infant child. Before she dies, Queen Chiara manages to get her child to safety. handing the baby and the opal necklace to a woman and telling them to flee. Meryn realizes that she must be a descendant of the child that survived, therefore making her the true queen. Meryn asks Stark why they didn't tell her, and he explains the bonded have been under a siphon blood curse for 500 years. The siphon that overthrew the royal family did so by using blood magic to bind the public's memories of the Sturmfrost royal line. Since no one could speak about them, they were forgotten within a generation. The only family who remembered the Sturmfrosts were Stark's family, the sworn protectors of the royal line. For generations, his family passed down the book that Meryn found, keeping the truth alive through reading, even if the curse prevented them from speaking of it. Meryn finally realizes that Stark has not been her enemy this whole time, but in fact has been trying to keep her alive. Stark offers to tear out Killian's throat, very generous, but Meryn has a different idea. She pretends to still be in love with him and gets him alone in his room where she confronts him about his betrayal. He reveals that he is now a siphon inhabited by none other than Alistair Brightbane, who has been surviving by inhabiting the royals in Killian's family line for centuries through a form of blood magic called transference. Killian uses shadow powers against her and thanks her for his new power. So the good news is that Meryn definitely has shadow powers and is officially a shadow mommy, as was hinted at throughout the book. The bad news is that Killian also has shadow powers now, since he is siphoning Meryn's magic via the engagement bracelet, which Meryn realizes she cannot remove. Still reeling from all of the revelations, Meryn is left with one final surprise at the end of the book. She is reunited with her sister, Saela who she is devastated to learn. has been turned into a siphon by Killian. Deep Trope Pdocast: We had so many theories for this book and ahead of reading Fury Bound, we're going to recap some of our top theories so we can keep an eye out for more clues or hopefully feel validated if we got some of them right. Number one, Mr. Cooper is a siphon. We know that Meryn's father went to fight on the front lines and never returned. The only evidence we have of his death is a single finger that was recovered from the battle. And we believe body, crime. Rather than being killed in battle, we theorize that Mr. Cooper was instead drained and turned into a siphon. Number two, the connection between siphons and roses. Since siphon magic smells sweet, we went looking for other references to sweet smells and came across a similar description of the smell in the enclosed garden at the castle. Meryn notes the rosebushes, which smell sweet and fresh, and their scent is everywhere. Later in the book, We learned that Meryn's father gave her mother a scarf covered in roses. We wonder if roses are symbolic of siphons, and if so, could Meryn be the key to uniting the whole kingdom as ruler over humans, bonded, and siphons? Number three, the power of Meryn's necklace. The opal necklace Meryn's mother gave her is said to provide protection. So we are wondering what power the necklace truly has. We know that the Sturmfrost crown contains an opal like the necklace does. So what kind of protection can it provide? And what other kind of magic does it possess? In Fury Bound, we're going to be on the lookout for more clues on what the opal magic can do. And along those lines, Rubies are also shown in the book to hold powers. Meryn's engagement bracelet contains a ruby that is clearly being used to siphon her magic to Kilian. And the collar that blocks some of Anassa's power is ruby red. We also see a ruby in Leader Aldrich's door and a variety of gemstones in the King's crown, though it's not as clear what, if any, power those may hold. Theory number four, Meryn and Stark are the lovelorn gods. There are so many references to gods and goddesses in the book, starting with the story Meryn reads to Salah about the lovelorn gods. We immediately theorize that Meryn and Stark might be the lovelorn gods from the story, but we had to collect more evidence. Meryn is continuously drawn to the faceless goddess, finding comfort in the presence of her statue and relating to her drive to save herself. We believe that Meryn is the faceless goddess and that the face will be revealed when Meryn becomes queen and fully steps into her power. Alternately, Stark is also said to have god-like powers when fighting the Siphons and acting like a vengeful god. In the Stark POV chapters, he describes the dark god inside himself that implores him to violence as well as his Daemos power making him god-like in his strength. Combined, these references feel more than coincidental. They feel like foreshadowing. Theory number five, Astreon, and Nocturn are gods. Throughout the book, Meryn keeps hearing a voice whispering to her during her visions and nightmares. We believe this voice may be Lumina. We've heard the names Lumina, Astreon, and Nocturn in her mother's delusions. I am assuming these are the gods, which then had the countries named after them. Astreon would stand for the siphons of Astreona, and Nocturn would stand for the direwolves of Nocturna. We wonder if Lumina and the Faceless Goddess are one and the same, ruling over everything. So if Meryn is the Faceless Goddess, it would be like her own inner voice or past lives speaking to her. Or maybe she's some kind of vessel for the Faceless Goddess, like how Killian's family has been the vessel for Alistair. Theory number six, the power behind the runes. Runes are used as symbols for the different direwolf packs, and the tattoos the Rawbonds receive are described as runic. Knowing from prior experience that runes often have power and can control magic, we're flagging these as potentially important in two ways. Number one, understanding the specific powers and potentially weaknesses of each pack. And second, if the tattoos are runes, could they control the powers the riders wield Theory number seven, the magical warmth. Sturmfrost and neighboring cities are stuck in the permanent winter, but we find some surprising moments of warmth. The snow falling in the bonded city does not touch the ground. Snow does not gather in the hands of the Faceless Goddess statue in Linsfall. There is a warmth coming from the opal necklace from Meryn's mom. And the royal castle is described as unusually warm in Meryn's vision of Queen Chiara. The warmth appears to be associated with the Faceless Goddess and the Sturmfrost royal powers. So we'll be on the lookout for more references to warmth and how it may be connected to Meryn's power. Though we are split on this theory, Romantasy Conspiracy Theorist Rachel believes the siphons may control the weather, wielding the cold and snow against Nocturna. Theory number eight, Stark is a secret shadow daddy. We know for sure that Meryn is a shadow mommy, but we got a few clues that made us think Stark might be a secret shadow daddy. There are several times that shadows are mentioned in relation to Stark's presence. Quotes like, His glare could raise the shadows from the corners of the room and snuff out all the light. Had our spidey senses tingling and our hopes raised, if Stark is a god like we theorize him to be, it would make sense that he would have similar powers to Meryn. Theory number nine, Meryn the Powerful. We know Meryn is a shadow mommy, but as the Sturmfrost queen and potentially the faceless goddess as well, we believe she will end up having all the various pack powers. Throughout the book, when Meryn kills, she goes into a murderous rage, which seems similar to the Daemos weakness of getting carried away in battle. Killian also tells Stark his powers are rent from her. It seems likely that she has Daemos powers, but as Sturmfrost's queen, we wonder if she will have the powers of of the packs And finally, theory number 10. Alistair Brightbane is the big bad. In Dire Bound, We learn he is choosing to move between bodies within the Valtiere line. Though he converts each king he inhabits into a siphon, they each only live a human lifespan. We believe Alistair is doing this in order to hide his true identity and location from Lucien Brightbane, king of the siphons, who we think is likely his brother. Kate: Wow, that was a lot. I can't believe we fit that all into one episode, but thank you for joining us for our Dire Bound Recap. If you want to really spiral into these theories or want a more comprehensive deep dive, we have six deep dive episodes detailing every single trope, Easter egg, plot twist, and of course, the spicy moments. Deep Trope Pdocast: We will also be deep diving into Fury Bound starting with our reaction episode next week, so be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. Kate: And if you want to follow along on social, you can find us on Instagram and TikTok @DeepTropePodcast. Deep Trope Pdocast: See you next week! Kate: Bye.