This lore breakdown is a helpful resource for understanding the Empyrean series! This lore guide includes spoilers, so please read AFTER you’ve finished Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, and Onyx Storm.
Includes info from Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, and Onyx Storm, so this guide is spoiler in nature.
Or if you’d prefer to hear our complete beat-by-beat coverage, please check out our Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, and Onyx Storm playlist.
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What is Threshing?
Threshing is the yearly event where a first year Cadet becomes a rider by bonding a dragon.
Threshing Day is always October 1st which falls a few days after the gauntlet and presentation. Regardless of what day of the week the date lands on or what the weather is like, Threshing must take place on October 1st. It takes place near Basgiath War College, in the bowl-shaped Valley to the southwest of the Citadel.
If a dragon has already chosen who they want as a rider from Presentation, they will call that Cadet to them during Threshing. This is a feeling that the Cadet has within themself, they need to pay attention to their surroundings AND their feelings. If they don’t follow their feelings, the Cadet might miss out on bonding a dragon and becoming a full fledged rider.
Just because a Cadet does not bond a dragon during Threshing does not mean they get home empty handed. They can either try to kill a freshly bonded Rider in the hopes of proving to the dragon that they are worthy of bonding and bond that why.
OR they can stick it out for the rest of the year and try again the next year. That is if they can survive long enough to see another Threshing day.
What does Threshing Day look like?
So assuming you have successfully made it to threshing you can’t just walk in, walk up to a dragon, and boom you’re bonded. Every year less and less dragons are willing to bond which means things get violent very quickly. There is no shortage of first years taking out their vendettas and eliminating anyone they deem a liability to the wing.
While the first years are out in the valley, fighting for their lives, the second and third years keep watch and take notes for the death roll. Even though they are watching they are not allowed to interfere. Per the Codex, if a Cadet is being attacked by another Cadet, the second and third years are required to stand there and watch.
Once you find the dragon you want to bond or it wants to bond you, assuming they don’t kill you or you are not killed by a fellow Cadet, you climb onto the dragon’s back and hold on for dear life.
“Just because you survive Threshing doesn’t mean you’ll survive the ride to the flight field. Being chosen isn’t the only test, and if you can’t hold your seat, then you’ll fly straight into the ground.”
The Book of Brennan, page 50
FUN FACT: Most Dragons scar their Riders during Threshing. This is not a certainty—like for instance Violet is not scared by Tairn or Andarna.
Need More?
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