Tear Jerker / Wings of Fire

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

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The First Arc

The Dragonet Prophecy

• Sunny's reaction to Dune's murder.
• The death of Osprey, Peril's Only Friend among the SkyWings, for the crime of mouthing off to Scarlet. Peril even tries to save him, but can't, because if she touches him, she'll burn him painfully.
• When Kestrel reveals Peril never needed the black rocks Scarlet "provided" (and likely poisoned her food to make it look like she'd grow ill without them), a fuming Peril wonders "Was anything she told me true?" To this, Kestrel can only soberly responding that no, Scarlet has never been honest to any dragon.
• Clay's devastation when his mother Cattail casually reveals she sold his egg to the Talons of Peace.
• In the graphic novel, Clay going into an Imagine Spot of how wonderful it will be to be his biological siblings' "Big Wings", like playing games with them, teaching them fighting moves, protecting them with his newfound fireproof powers, and sleeping in a big cozy pile with them! ...until it dawns on him that there will be downsides to being their Big Wings, like leaving behind his friends, going off to a battle he doesn't know how to fight in, and being accountable for any siblings who die in the war. On the bright side, this thinking is what convinces Clay that Reed should remain their Big Wings, and he should remain Big Wings to the Dragonets of Destiny.

The Lost Heir

• Tsunami finding out Gill, the SeaWing that she was forced to kill in the Skywing arena in Book 1, is her father and Queen Coral's husband.
  • Made even worse by the fact that she herself hadn't hesitated to snap Gill's neck, not only out of a need to survive, but on impulse and wanting to prove herself to Queen Scarlet. To think, this tragedy could've been avoided, if only it weren't for her recklessness.
    • Or worse still, maybe it couldn't be avoided either way. Even if the Dragonets had found pity for Gill and somehow gave him water, he'd be too far gone in dehydration-induced insanity to bring back. In an unwitting way, killing her poor, insane father was a mercy.
  • Her devastation is so bad, she doesn't even want to go to her friends, for fear they will criticize her as an all around bad dragon. And her grieving being followed up with her lessons with that creep Whirlpool doesn't help either, as it only serves to add insult to injury.
  • There's also what little we have to go by from Queen Coral's description of Gill. When she learns Tsunami was in the Skywing kingdom and frantically asks if she saw Gill, she describes him as having brave eyes. And later, while grieving by reading the story of how she made Gill her husband, she soberly reminiscences about how he liked her writings, and was "the perfect king". This is the closest readers will ever get to knowing Tsunami's king-of-a-father before Scarlet drove him to a rabid animal killed by his daughter's claws.
  • Bordering on Nightmare Fuel, there's the very nature that Tsunami killing her father (even by accident) is unto itself a dark secret. True, it's exactly what happened, but by no means will its exposure benefit Tsunami or anyone else. By all means, things are bad enough without this terrible secret being dredged up to turn the Queen against her daughter. There's even one instant where Blister nearly brings it up to low-key blackmail Tsunami, no doubt not caring that it could possibly damage her relationship with her mother.
  • Fridge-Tear Jerker: Tsunami at least got to meet her mother in her prime and experience her love. But her father? She only got to meet him once, as a crazed, bloodthirsty lunatic who was dehydrated out of his mind, and trying to kill his own daughter. Tragically, he never had the chance to recognize Tsunami, no more than she got a chance to know him better while he was still alive.
    • Even sadder, there's also the timing to consider. According to Queen Coral, she was planning a rescue for Gill. Meanwhile, Scarlet had months to deprive Gill any water, long enough to drive him insane. If only Queen Coral had the rescue in place sooner, or Tsunami and her friends had escaped the Talons of Peace a few months earlier, Gill's story could've gone differently.
• Tsunami witnessing the dead remains of her unhatched sister in the hatchery.
• In the graphic novel, there's the visual of Tsunami's heart breaking when Anemone explains she has to stay by Queen Coral's side to give her someone besides Blister to listen to. The worst part is, she's on one half of the heart, while Coral, Anemone and Aucklet are on the other half. It drives home how circumstances have torn apart Tsunami from the remainder of her family.
• By the end of the book, Tsunami wants to leave the Kingdom of the Sea as she not only feels that she doesn't belong, but also feels that she has caused more problems.
• Queen Coral processing the fact that ironically, her own daughter Orca was (posthumously) the one killing her daughters. All this time, she was on guard for an assassin, when in fact someone close to her heart was breaking it. Thankfully, it's somewhat mitigated with the fact that at least three of her daughters survived this ordeal (Tsunami, Anemone, and Auklet).
  • Earlier, Tsunami theorizing that if Webs hadn't kidnapped her egg all those years ago, she might've been another in a long line of nameless, unhatched princesses who were killed by the mysterious assassin. He essentially saved her life. In other words, even if Webs hadn't kidnapped her egg, there was literally no outcome where Tsunami would've ever grown up in the Seawing Kingdom.
• Riptide reveals that Webs is his father, and he does work for the Talons of Peace. Not only is Tsunami upset by the revelation, but also that he lied to her. This is somewhat mitigated by the fact that they do reconcile towards the book's end.

The Hidden Kingdom

• Glory finding out that the RainWings never looked for her egg when it went missing.
  • Made worse by their utter refusal to look for the RainWing prisoners who have gone missing.
• In the graphic novel, when Glory tries to learn about how RainWings cure venom wounds, Jambu remarks that RainWings don't really use their venom to hurt other dragons. He wonders who would ever do such a thing. Glory begins to answer. ...before she peters out at remembering the day she spat venom at Queen Scarlet's face. Rather than recall it as a cathartic Moment of Awesome, she recollects it as the instant she did something barbaric and bloodthirsty. This leads her to realize that perhaps her being nurtured as something other than a lazy but peaceful RainWing wasn't a good thing.
• The Rainwing prisoners are kept in what essentially is a concentration camp on the Nightwing island. First off, their snouts are clamped shut with a metal band, they are fed dying, rotting prey and kept in smoky air near the volcano, away from the rainforest and the sun and everything they know.
• At one point, it's revealed that three RainWing prisoners have already died as a result of the unlivable conditions in the NightWing island. They died before anyone could even go looking for them or notice they were missing.
• The end of the book has Starflight go missing, implying that he betrayed them to warn the NightWings. Mitigated in the following book, where it is confirmed that he was forcibly taken.

The Dark Secret

• Although Viper was trying to kill her (and was generally awful to her), poor Fatespeaker weeps for her when she meets her untimely death in the lava. She even lampshades she'll likely have nightmares about losing her dear friend.
  • Generally, Fatespeaker shares a toxic relationship with the imposter Dragonets, where she puts up with their awful behavior and personalities, and still thinks they're good friends.
• The Skywing soldiers who were killed just as Starflight inspired them to want peace. And the hardest part, they had families they all wanted to go home to! Even worse that Starflight promised them that they could all go home and that nobody would hurt them if they abandoned their posts...only for the NightWings to murder them all anyway.
• Morrorseer taking the winds out of Starflight's sails by calling him a failure.
  Morrowseer: You are an ignorant dragonet with no powers, and no one will ever listen to you. (...) You thought I wouldn't notice? It's obvious. You'll never be a true NightWing. You don't belong anywhere, least of all here.
• While visiting his father's lab, Starflight happens upon a top secret scroll. It's about how Mastermind is trying to decide if it's better to exterminate or enslave RainWings. If ever there was a moment Starflight lost any love for his father, this must've been it.
  • Even before that, Starflight witnessing that Mastermind has been experimenting on RainWings, obliviously treating them as venomous test subjects rather than actual living creatures homesick for their jungle. Among them being Orchid, who Starflight and Fatespeaker have to give water when she's passed out. When she hears that Mangrove is still looking for her, she changes pink with joy for the first time since she came, if Mastermind's dialogue is any sobering indication.
  Mastermind: How did you make her turn that color? I've never seen it before!
  Starflight: (Inner monologue) Because it's the color of happiness, You monster!
• While using the dreamvisitor, Starflight happens upon Tsunami's dream, where she's haunted by how she murdered her father. She's so clearly troubled by her bad dream that Starflight decides against talking to her in particular.
  • However, this does invoke a Fridge-Heartwarming: Back in Book 2, Tsunami was afraid to share the news of how she accidentally killed her father, because she was worried of what the other dragonets would think of her. And yet, in this book, Starflight knows. This implies that she eventually came to trust them with her secret, as they are her friends.
• Fridge-Tear Jerker: Think back to the other Dragonets of Destiny who instinctively felt happy in their respective environments. Clay was comfortable in mud, Tsunami felt at home by the beach, Glory was on cloud nine when she felt rainforest sunshine, and Sunny was absolutely giddy about seeing the desert. But Starflight? Nothing. If that tells you anything, that's just how miserable the Nightwings are on the island that's supposed to be their homeland.
• The reveal that the prophecy was all a lie made up by Morrowseer and the Nightwings in order to secure the rainforest and Sunny's reaction.
  • Fridge-Tearjerker: Remember what the fake dragonets went through for the sake of this prophecy? Viper's death, Squid's abandonment, Flame's disfigurement, they didn't happen just for the sake of fudging a prophecy. Morrorseer's cruelty towards them was All for Nothing!
• Starflight losing his sight in the end.

The Brightest Night

• Sunny being haunted by Morrowseer's cruel words about how the war keep going because the prophecy isn't real and therefore, the dragonets will fail to end it.
• At least in the graphic novel, Sunny's narration about how "heroes don't have families". The hardest part is, in certain scenarios, she'd be right. As they say, "Give me a hero, and I'll give you a tragedy."
  • Sadder still, she's referencing herself. For as long as she can remember, she's lived with the sad belief her parents abandoned her egg, and her only coping mechanism was the prophecy that gave her self-worth. But now, she doesn't even have that.
• Mastermind, if not maliciously, being under the impression that "I did it for science" is a good enough excuse when brought before (Queen) Glory. Naturally, this excuse has him tied up for his crimes. The saddest thing is, for being one of the less malicious NightWings, he can't comprehend that what he did to the RainWings was wrong.
  • Or worse, he does know what he did wrong, but he's too ashamed of himself to acknowledge it.
• Sunny being revealed to secretly feel insecure about how none of the other Dragonets of Destiny take her seriously. It kind of makes all her previous moments of being offended at any presumptions about her personality all the more Harsher in Hindsight.
• During the reluctant trade-off between Ostrich and Sunny, the assassin suggests to Six-Claw that he pass on a false message to Thorn that her daughter has disowned her mother and never wants to see her again. Sunny even voices this is excessively cruel and, thankfully, has the message changed to something more benevolent.
• Peril having a sadly realistic goal of setting Scarlet free from her prison, despite that she's done nothing but lie to her and mold her into a killer because she's the only parental figure she has left, now that her real mother Kestrel is dead.
  • Peril's reaction to the news of her mother Kestrel's death. The most devastating this is her recalling that not only did she send her away, but she had said they'd see each other again.
  • When Peril so much as delays letting Scarlet go free (at least while Sunny is within killing proximity), Scarlet starts blustering all sorts of hurtful verbal abuse to her: about how her efforts to protect Clay's friends to win his heart won't work, how he'll never love her, that nobody will but Scarlet will ever love her, and that she'll always be seen as a monster by everyone else. The graphic novel doesn't make it any better, as it shows Peril curled up with her head in her claws, conflicted between listening to Scarlet or trusting her intuition.
• Realistically, Thorn's livid reaction to Stonemover's letter. Rather than be happy her beloved is alive, she's understandably angry he (allegedly) could've come to her side all this time but never bothered.
• Stonemover's predicament. He's a tragic hero who fell in love with Thorn, but gradually lost more and more of his soul the more he used the portals. By the time he turned on his people and went to live in Jade Mountain, the animus curse was already taking effect. In order to save what little of his soul he had left, he turned the curse on himself and turned it into a gradual petrifying curse. He sent but one note to Thorn asking her to come to him, but she never received it. So he stayed in that mountain, alone, with no one but an enchanted fox to periodically feed him. And it's not until Sunny finds him that he learns he had a daughter this whole time.
  • Stonemover being the one to break it to Sunny that, yes, the prophecy was unfortunately made up all along.
  • The reason he never bothered finding Thorn was because he felt he wasn't good enough for her, especially when his animus magic took a great deal of his soul.
  • Sunny pitying that Stonemover being forced to make the portals (at the cost of his soul) is metaphorically the true cost of destiny: being unable to change the bad parts, and sitting around waiting for it to happen all the same.
• In the graphic novel, Sunny being witness to the RainWings healing from their imprisonment on the NightWings' island. The worst of these injuries is sores on their wings, snouts, and wrists where they were chained up for so long. Sunny can't help but sadly wonder how the RainWings will ever forgive what the nightwings did to them.
• The Mudwings resting in their camp, waiting for the worst battle of their lives.
  • In the graphic novel, we see one poor mudwing having a nightmare of being forced to go to war.
  • Queen Moorhen having nightmares of how her siblings and subjects will die, and it will be her fault.
    • Generally, her siblings also have nightmares of how they may also die.
• Clay's near-death experience with the dragonbite viper venom, as he was trying to save Sunny, Fatespeaker and Starflight. If not for Peril, this story could've ended on a far more bitter conclusion.
• Poor Blaze having to fight Blister. The graphic novel makes it worse, as we see Blaze beaten within an inch of her life.
• Towards the ending, our Dragonets of Destiny look back on how so many of their friends and loved ones throughout the arc survived the war. But then they also reflect on the casualties who died in the span of five books, namely Tsunami's father...

The Second Arc

Moon Rising

• Moon's entire backstory. Her mother laid her egg in the rainforest and left her there to protect her from the abuses of the other NightWings and growing up in the same hellish environment, only able to spend time with her for a few precious hours every now and then, as a trade-off. Her situation didn't improve when the NightWings entered the Rainforest Kingdom either and became Glory's subjects, as they constantly thought dark thoughts at her and don't think of her as a "real" NightWing because she didn't grow up in the volcano like them. And because of Moon's mindreading powers, she heard everything. No wonder the poor girl's a nervous wreck when she's introduced.
• Moon being left nearly alone by the rest of Jade Winglet after the bombing because of how she hid her powers, even Kinkajou, who had been her closest friend for the entire book up to that point despite her misgivings on NightWings.
• Sora's regret and heartbreak at accidentally killing two other dragons and seriously injuring Tamarin in her attempt to kill Icicle. She's fully willing to die to pay for her crimes and it's only through everyone else's intervention that she doesn't. After the bombing she spends a lot of time in the infirmary, sitting with Tamarin.
  • Generally, her part in the bombing is the very definition of A Tragedy of Impulsiveness. Two lives were pointlessly lost and a third one needlessly hurt because she was too much a Nervous Wreck to come to anyone with her issues about Icicle, rather than jump to the conclusion that assassination was in order.
• In the graphic novel, when the explosion goes off, the reader has a shot of poor Moon tearing up at the possibility she was too late to save anyone.
  • There's also the sobering sight of Kinkajou begging an unconscious and burnt Tamarin not to be dead. Even though she's still alive from her run-in with Peril, it's sad to see how badly burnt she was.
  • Clay is pretty heavy-hearted about how two students (Carnelian and Bigtail) are dead on his watch.
  • In general, the Dragonets of Destiny being so upset about how Jade Mountain's chance to inspire unity and peace were marred (if not outright destroyed) by the bomb.
• Poor Bandit being so scared and lonely. It's very comparable to a wild animal growing miserable and depressed in captivity.
• Moon seeing into Winter and Qibli's respective pasts. Both of them came from abusive families who saw them as weak, showing how it shaped their current personalities today.
• Icicle angrily rubbing it in Winter's face that their beloved brother Hailstorm could be dead because he intervened her efforts to appeal to his captor, Queen Scarlet.
• When Peril arrives at the school, Moon hears a large number of panicked thoughts from the other students, who all heard others panicking and many of whom are having war flashbacks. Jade Mountain has a long way to go to undo the war's effect on everyone.

Winter Turning

• In the prologue, Hailstorm disparages Winter as being useless and unwanted by the Icewing tribe, if only because it was the one way to spare him from the Skywing ambush. For a moment, Winter actually believes that's what his rather kindly brother thinks of him.
  • In turn, Hailstorm worries that perhaps his brother hates him for saying such things, unaware that two years from now, his brother still thinks the world of him.
• Winter's horrific treatment at the talons of his family. While he's not physically abused, the emotional abuse, not only because the IceWings have a Might Makes Right mentality but because of how Winter is forced to shove his true personality down, makes him way more of a Woobie than he was in the previous book. Particularly when his family very nearly disowned him when Hailstorm was captured, which they blamed him for, despite Winter being in no position to do anything about it.
• Moon sadly finding kinship with a withdrawn young Nightwing who the other young Nightwings look down upon for being introverted. He's just recovering from the trauma of the volcano, but what does it matter to his cohorts? The way they see it, he was "born in the wrong tribe". Poor Moon finishes that one Nightwing's sentence, no doubt familiar with the sentiment, or even jaded by having read this child's heartless thoughts.
• Winter and Qibli bonding over how their respective families are abusive and cruel to each of them. While it does bring them closer, there's something sobering about how these two are basically admitting to themselves and to each other they came from terrible families.
• Moon tearfully pleading for Kinkajou to wake up after Chameleon attacks her and puts her in a coma.
• After multiple issues with his conflicting memories and personalities from his time as Pyrite, including accidentally calling out to a SkyWing that Pyrite thought of as a friend and nearly starting a fight, Hailstorm finally has enough and tearfully confesses to Winter that he wants to go home.
  • Among all his conflicted feelings is the belief that being the mindless Pyrite was easier than worrying himself sick over the Icewing ranking system, and his understanding he killed his comrades while in the form of Pyrite.
  • Generally, the fact that the then-queen Scarlet was so cruel to take someone as bright, brave and confident as Hailstorm and change his body and memory into someone so insecure, clumsy and self-doubting as Pyrite is overwhelmingly tragic!
  • And even when he returns home and regains a good deal of his old memories and former disposition, it's not the happy home-coming he was hoping for. For returning home safely as a prisoner of war, his reward is to be automatically demoted to the bottom of the Icewing Meritocracy. Winter even feels bad that this is his people's reaction to his safe return.
• Winter reaffirm his hatred towards Nightwings to Moon's face and telling her and Qibli to leave him alone. Later, before the Diamond Trial, he reflects on how these were his last words to Moon before he presumably dies.
• Winter's parents hating him so much that they manipulate he and Hailstorm into a Diamond Trial with the assumption that their better, more capable, more liked son would kill The Unfavorite. It's only because Hailstorm can't kill the brother he loves that their plan fails.
  • Just Winter coming to the realization that his sudden ascension into First Rank was all part of a manipulative plan to get him out of the way.
  • At least in the graphic novel, before he engages in the Diamond Trial, Winter has this sobering thought, bordering on a "I have no parents" statement:
  Winter: I should have something to say to them. They are my mother and father. ...But I don't.
• During the Diamond Trial, Hailstorm soberly points out that for all intents and purposes, it's Winter's fault he lost his high ranking in court, all because he dared to risk being captured in place of his younger brother.
• Foeslayer's tragic character arc. Despite the legends painting her as the deceptive temptress who stole away Prince Arctic, she was actually in love with him, just as she was with her, but their love was destined to be short-lived. As such, her mother-in-law Queen Diamond cursed her to live, die and freeze for centuries to come. Even Winter sees this fate goes beyond mere punishment. By the time she meets Hailstorm and Winter, she's resigned to the idea that all she can do is let them kill her.
  • And even once she's freed, when Winter asks she not kill any Icewings, Foeslayer tearfully declares she doesn't want to see another Icewing ever again. There's something sobering and heartbreaking in how her overall experience with Icewings has traumatized her, to the point she doesn't want to see them if they so much as remind her of her late lover.

Escaping Peril

• The sobering fact that ^note  at least up until her death Scarlet being free meant she would continue hurting the dragonets (and by proxy Peril) from the shadows.
• Peril reflecting on how Scarlet was the worst dragon she ever knew. "Regret" does not even begin to describe how much she's come to look upon her former "mother figure" with disdain.
  • How it's framed: she's telling Chameleon he's the worst dragon she's ever met, before soberly remarking that distinction belongs to Scarlet.
• When Scarlet threatens Ruby that she will hurt her through her son Cliff by abusing him to fear her and twisting him into a killer who will serve and worship her, Peril comes to the rather startling epiphany that this is exactly what happened to her.
  • Generally, Peril looking back on Scarlet's treatment of her (the lies, making her a killer, brainwashing her to be blindly loyal to her) and realizing she never loved her can be likened to a victim of parental abuse coming to terms with the cruel nature of their parent's "love".
• Peril predicting that it may not be a good idea to let Cliff see the duel between his mother and grandmother, as it may be upsetting. Sure enough, her predictions are correct when he witnesses Scarlet beating up Ruby within an inch of her life.
• Poor Cliff missing his mother when Ruby (from his viewpoint) seemingly disappears. For good measure, there's also his sad accusation that Peril's a "bad guy" for making his mom "disappear", to the point Peril wishes she could somehow hug and reassure him.
  • And Chameleon's no help, as he theorizes that without the enchanted earring, the Ruby they knew is gone. Hypothetically, Tourmaline doesn't share the same feelings or memories of her son as "Ruby". And this revelation brings the poor Skywing prince to tears.
• Peril's inner thoughts reveal that whenever someone close to her died (such as Osprey, or Clay's brush with death at the end of The Brightest Night), she blames herself for it.
• Winter's last words, if Turtle hadn't shown up and saved him, would have been a Dying Confession Of Love to Moon.

Talons of Power

• The prologue. Turtle tried his best to impress his dad and finally be noticed, only for, through no fault of his own, him to fail. Gill is so angry that the King of the SeaWings, who we've only heard of as a kind, understanding, gentle dragon, specifically accuses his son that it's all his fault his sisters are dead. Made even worse that Gill was horrified at himself and wanted to apologize, but because of his capture by the SkyWings and eventual death at Tsunami's unknowing talons, never got the chance to reconcile.
• Due to Turtle making Anemone an animus, he thinks of himself as a horrible big brother to her.
• Anemone's been dealing with the trauma of murdering Whirlpool and the stigma of being an animus all her life, and near the end of the book finally snaps, basically reasoning that if everyone says animus dragons are evil, then she might as well prove them right.
• In the Night Kingdom, Darkstalker goes back to his and Clearsight's old school to despair at how much time has passed since he was put to sleep; his home, his whole tribe, is nothing like he remembers it; it was only a few days ago for him, but 2,000 years have passed by. Even worse is when Turtle tricks him into thinking someone else is there, and he desperately calls out for Clearsight, wishing she was still alive and wanting her back because life is almost meaningless for him without her.

Darkness of Dragons

• Qibli's mother sold him to Thorn. It worked out for Qibli in the end, but he only ever wanted to make his mother love him. Even years later, when she manipulates him into helping her get into the SandWing palace so that she can try and kill Thorn, he's come to accept, despite that tiny desperate hope, that she never loved him, and never will.
• Everything about Smolder and Palm. Due to Queen Oasis not wanting any more dragonets to fight over the throne, she nearly had Palm arrested and forced her to flee into the desert, hiding out for 20 years out of fear of going back. And because she was killed by a falling fragment of the comet from The Brightest Night, the two never saw one another again.
• Qibli's self-esteem is so low that despite loving Moon, he hopes she ends up with Winter out of fear that he won't be enough for her. Adding to that, Qibli acts like he does because he's constantly trying to think of how he can make himself likable to everyone else so that they don't abandon him like his mother.
• Darkstalker is so desperate to have Clearsight back that he transforms Fierceteeth into her, but is sinking deeper into frustration and despair because no matter what he does, he's caught in a trap; either he makes Clearsight the way she was in life and has to deal with her constantly criticizing him, or he alters her personality and thus, in his mind, it's not the "real" Clearsight.

The Third Arc

The Lost Continent

• The way Blue insists that he's always been a good citizen and has no reason to be deemed an enemy by the Hivewings. But it makes no difference, as his reward for being "good" is to become an enemy in the eyes of the Hivewings.