Threshing Day Theories: The Biggest Clues and Unanswered Questions

The Signet Hints Were So Satisfying

One of our favorite things about the collection was recognizing the riders’ future abilities in their thoughts before they bonded.

Swipe sideways to see the full table →

These are possible connections between the riders’ thoughts and their future signets. Some reflect deeper needs; others work as playful Easter eggs.

Knowing their signets makes those moments feel wonderfully deliberate. We already knew that a rider’s deepest needs shape their ability, but seeing those needs through their own POVs makes the connection much more personal.

And then there’s Ridoc suggesting snow to get the tree sap off Aotrom. Of course his hint would arrive in the middle of an argument with his equally chaotic dragon.

What we’re less sure about is how much the dragons already understand. Can they anticipate the signet their rider will develop? Chradh’s conversation with Garrick certainly made us wonder.

Why Does Everyone Keep Bleeding?

Once we noticed the blood, we started looking for it everywhere.

Teine deliberately pierces Mira’s thigh. Other riders are injured during fights or while climbing. Ridoc notices his bleeding knee and assumes he must have landed on a twig.

In a valley full of dragons, a few injuries hardly seem unusual. But the repeated attention to bleeding made us wonder: could blood be part of the bonding process?

We’re already seeing dragons return to particular family lines. Perhaps blood gives them a connection to their rider—or tells them something they need to know before completing the bond.

Another possibility connects the injuries to the discussion of Venin and bleeding in Onyx Storm. Could some of these encounters involve a test?

We’re not convinced that every scrape is deliberate. Ridoc’s injury, for example, could be exactly what he thinks it is. But we’re keeping this pattern in mind. If blood matters to bonding, these small moments could turn out to be much more significant than they first appear.

Imogen Was Already Marked Before Threshing

This detail made us stop: Glane had already placed a claiming mark on Imogen during Presentation.

That feels much more significant than simply being drawn toward a dragon. Before Imogen enters the valley, Glane has already made her choice visible.

Cuir also waited specifically for Bodhi, which makes us wonder how many of these pairings were decided long before the riders arrived.

We wouldn’t assume that an early claim means the entire bond is already complete. But it does change how we picture Threshing. The cadets enter the valley hoping to be chosen, while some dragons may already know exactly who they’re going home with.

Glane Made Us Question the Dragon Records

Glane’s entry says she is nineteen and has never bonded a rider. Then we learn about her history with Imogen’s grandmother. After that, it’s difficult to read the other dragon entries without a little suspicion.

Chradh’s older-sounding voice immediately becomes more interesting. It doesn’t prove that his recorded age is wrong, but Glane gives us a reason to pay attention.

What we want to know is how these histories disappear. Are humans struggling to identify dragons accurately? Are dragons deliberately concealing their pasts? And how much do the professors actually know?

We’re especially interested in what those missing histories could mean for bonds within the same family.

Whose Side Are the Dragonkind Professors On?

The Dragonkind professors’ loyalty to the Empyrean also made us pause. Who they ultimately answer to matters just as much as what they teach.

We’re used to seeing them as part of Basgiath: they teach cadets, prepare them for Threshing and maintain information about dragons. But their responsibilities to the Empyrean raise a question we haven’t stopped thinking about: what happens when the dragons’ interests conflict with Navarre’s?

And where would that leave a cadet caught between them?

This becomes especially interesting alongside Glane’s inaccurate record. We wouldn’t jump straight to accusing Kaori of knowingly hiding her history. But we do want to know how much the professors understand—and how much they are allowed, or willing, to tell their students.

If dragons are concealing previous bonds and choosing riders for reasons humans don’t fully understand, the professors may occupy a much more complicated position than their place in the classroom suggests.

We’re watching the gap between what they teach, what they record and what the dragons themselves reveal.

The Dragons Keep Returning to the Same Family Lines

After Glane’s reveal, we started looking at the other family connections differently. How often are dragons choosing a family as much as an individual rider?

Imogen bonds the same dragon as her grandmother. That puts her connection to Glane beside Xaden’s bond with Sgaeyl: in both cases, a dragon returns to a previous rider’s direct descendant. Knowing what that can mean for a second signet—or madness—we can’t help wondering what else Imogen might be keeping to herself. It gives us a reason to ask the question, rather than confirming another ability.

The Mairis give us a different kind of connection. Deigh tells Liam that dragons in his line have bonded riders in Liam’s family before. Then Sloane bonds Thoirt, Deigh’s sister. A brother and sister chosen by a brother and sister. After everything Liam and Sloane lose, that detail feels especially tender.

But a dragon’s relatives returning to the same human family is different from the very same dragon bonding a previous rider’s direct descendant. We wouldn’t use Deigh and Thoirt’s relationship alone as evidence that either Mairi sibling has a second signet. What it does suggest is a history between their families that reaches beyond these two bonds.

And then there’s Molvic. He tells Aaric that he was previously drawn to someone from his bloodline and was disappointed. Alic is an obvious possibility, especially with what we know about his behavior at Threshing. But being drawn to someone doesn’t establish that a bond was completed, and Alic would be Aaric’s brother, not his ancestor. We’re interested in the connection without treating it as proof of another signet.

Together, these stories make us wonder what the dragons remember about human families—and how those memories influence their choices. Are they returning out of affection, looking for a particular gift, or hoping the next generation will help finish something the previous one couldn’t?

Xaden’s Family History Gets More Complicated

We already knew that Sgaeyl had bonded Xaden’s grandfather. What caught our attention here was Xaden’s understanding of that relationship at the time of his Threshing.

Sgaeyl identifies Maxrim Riorson as his grandfather. Xaden knows him as his great-uncle. Imagine learning that your dragon knows your own family history better than you do.

For us, the interesting question is how that version of the family tree reached Xaden. Who knew the truth, and when did he learn enough to understand the connection himself?

The distinction matters because the main series connects bonding a direct descendant of a previous rider with a second signet—or madness. A grandfather and a great-uncle have very different implications for what others might expect from Xaden’s bond.

Threshing Day adds a personal moment to a secret we already knew about: before Xaden understands it, Sgaeyl is choosing him with that history in mind.

Bodhi’s Promise to Never Be Powerless Again

This is the line we keep coming back to.

At the end of his chapter, Bodhi thinks, “I’ll never be powerless again.” Cuir tells him to remember that vow—and promises to hold him to it.

On its own, it is a hopeful moment. Bodhi has finally been chosen for himself. He has a dragon, a future and the power to do more than watch people he loves get hurt.

But we couldn’t read it without thinking about Theophanie. In Onyx Storm, Bodhi insists that his signet is “always the balance” and believes he can stop her. Violet concludes that it must work on their magic rather than the Venin’s. The power he thought would keep him from being helpless has a limit.

His mother’s instruction makes that limit feel even more personal. She wanted him to protect Xaden and keep him balanced. His signet seems perfectly suited to that responsibility—until he faces a power it cannot counter.

That is what makes the Venin theory compelling to us. What would Bodhi do if protecting Xaden required a power his signet couldn’t counter? Would he accept that limit—or reach for something else?

We don’t think this proves he turns. But his fear of powerlessness gives the theory an emotional foundation that feels much stronger than a suspicious phrase alone. Although Cuir’s “death or demise” certainly doesn’t help us feel better. Bodhi notices the distinction himself, and now we’re wondering what kind of downfall Cuir might mean.

Imogen and Garrick Have Us Asking Different Questions

Their stories give us so much more context for the tension between them.

Garrick’s feelings have a long history. Imogen wants him close, but loving someone means risking another loss. That makes her resistance painful to read, even when their exchanges are playful. Then she wishes she could remove a vulnerable moment from his memory. Knowing her future signet, we immediately wondered: has she ever done exactly that?

It could simply be foreshadowing her ability. But the possibility that Garrick might have forgotten moments we haven’t seen adds another question to their relationship. Either way, these chapters made us much more invested in what happens between them next.