The nextFourth Wingbook needs to fix the harshest reality of Basgiath War College and the series already showcased how it could be done. Despite the fact that we arecloser to the nextFourth Wingbooknow thatRebecca Yarros is working on her latest contemporary, it is still going to be a while until the story continues.
As a result, various readers, myself included, have rereadFourth Wingin order to find possible hints for the next book, especially asOnyx Stormleft the characters in a tumultuous place. Those rereads have highlighted a few harsh truths aboutBasgiath War College, though, with one truly standing out after the events of the latest book: Basgiath’s recruitment policies.
Basgiath’s Unnecessarily Brutal Recruitment Is A Harsh Reality Of Re-Reading Fourth Wing
Basgiath’s Brutal Ideals Get Counteracted By Violet Easily
RereadingFourth Wingshowcases just how detrimental and incorrect Basgiath’s recruitment strategy is, especially as Violet counteracts those ideals easily. Basgiath’s focus for their army overall and for the riders specifically is focused on physical strengthas well as hardening them to the death of comrades and general emotion as efficiently as possible, despite their circumstances in the story.
A lot ofBasgiath’s recruitment scenes inFourth Wing,then, are unnecessarily brutal;the Parapet’s discardment of possible bonded riders during a stated shortage is a prime example of that unnecessary violence in Yarros' series.Violet’s whole arc highlights this issue as well, her focus on intelligence and compassion allowing her to bond Tairn and become a powerful signet wielder.
Basgiath continued its brutal practices inFourth Winguntil the venin arrived inIron Flame,but not before the characters made quite a few comments and examples of their inefficiency. A specific example inIron Flamenot only showed that there was another way, but how easily Basgiath could replace these methods with better ones.
Iron Flame & Onyx Storm Already Told Us How To Fix Basgiath’s Recruitment Problems
Cliffsbane’s Methods Were Much More Efficient Than Basgiath’s
One scene inIron Flamehighlighted just how easily Basgiath could fix their issues with their recruitment policy inFourth Wingusing the fliers' strategy. During the climb up the Cliffs of Dralor,Maren discussed Cliffsbane’s recruitment, mentioning it was like cliff diving should one fail to stay on a gryphon, letting them live to enlist in other groups.
Maren discusses Cliffsbane’s recruitment in Chapter 43 ofIron Flame.
Having the failed recruits simply shift to other areas and not just letting them die in deadly trials not only highlights the differences with thefliers inFourth Wing, but also how easily Basgiath could have adopted those ideals.Allowing people the chance to grow or even fail would allow for a larger army overalland more possible bonds.
Few dragons were bonding riders inFourth Wing,so copying those lenient policies would increase the chance of a bond due to simple probability or at least increase the amount of specialized fighters capable of taking on the venin. Basgiath’s staff seems to have realized that now that the venin have arrived, but still has a long way to go.
Onyx Storm Started To Fix This Fourth Wing Issue, But Book 4 Should Go Further
Banning Recruits From Killing Each Other Now Isn’t Enough
WhileOnyx Stormdid showcase how Basgiath was leaning away from some of their policies fromFourth Wing,they need to go further in book 4 to succeed.The professors at Basgiath declared inOnyx Stormthat killing on the mat was now prohibited, emphasizing how every member counted now that they knew the size of the venin army.
To win, Basgiath needs to adopt those same ideals to bring their remaining army together against a common threat rather than cling to the practices fromFourth Wingthat are likely to spell their doom.
Unfortunately, both the discord between Basgiath’s students and the professors' otherwise unchanged brutal approaches led to several deaths inOnyx Storm,showcasing how admitting to this piece ofperplexingFourth Wingworldbuildingis not going to be enough. In order to change, Basgiath needs to focus on unity and control over just power.
The fliers' cohesion and openness regarding information is what made them so efficient against the venin until the series began to unfold.To win, Basgiath needs to adopt those same ideals to bring their remaining army together against a common threat rather than cling to the practices fromFourth Wingthat are likely to spell their doom.
