Unmarked spoilers for Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth ahead
- Why would an angry planet ghost care if some tiny human ate another human's soul? Something's up with the creation of the Beasts during the Resurrection, the missing one, and the River behaving like the Emperor is one of them. They're nightmare monsters that kill everything in their way, but the Emperor was lying when he said they pursue Lyctors — they're only after him, and seem to go after Lyctors only because he keeps putting them between him and the Beasts. (Although various Lyctors have managed to lure Beasts into dangerous places, like Cyrus getting one to chase him into a black hole, this could easily be explained by the Lyctors engaging first, after which the Beasts would naturally want to finish the fight.)
- Throughout the series, the First characterizes as Beasts as chasing down Lyctors and the Emperor because they committed the sin of implanting a soul inside another body; Muir's glossary on them basically says that in direct terms.
- However, that can't be accurate because of Teacher and because of Alecto; Teacher has dozens to hundreds of souls inside him, while Alecto (presumably) has John's soul inside her, and neither of them draw Beasts. It would actually be completely inadvisable for Teacher to even exist on the First if he did, given it's within the Empire.
- Beasts make far more sense if recontextualized; they aren't vengeful, they're just hungry, and Lyctors are a fire that never goes out. It's a buffet that never ends. This could be the answer behind the missing Beast, a massive monster that isn't a threat but isn't dead. Either Anastasia or some proto-Lyctor experiment is inside the Beast and is being constantly fed on, slaking its hunger and ending its aggression. There's potential for it to be Samael inside of the Beast as well, as we only have John saying he's dead.
- For Hell magic, Ianthe is one of the only necromancers shown to not have any kind of necromantic specialty, despite discussing her interest in liminal magic ("I'm interested in the place between death and life ... the place between release and disappearance. The place over the river.") and has a noted fixation on Hell (Ianthe always wanted everything brought back to liminal spaces and Hell [...]). Augustine alludes to siphoning drawing power from Hell, but even God (supposedly) doesn't really know what Hell is like. With Ianthe as the last full Lyctor in the service of the Emperor, it would make sense that she might cultivate a unique specialty.
- For Heaven magic, Abigail expresses the belief that there are vast untapped domains of spirit magic based on the belief that there is a place beyond the River ("[...] There is a whole school of necromancy we cannot begin to touch until we acknowledge its existence"), and that the current state of the River is due to it being messed up (presumably by necromancy). It's even less clear what Heaven magic would entail, but could be the ultimate source of John's ability to resurrect people.
- Not only are Lyctors (which John is, in addition to his other abilities) an example of Our Liches Are Different, John himself briefly mentions something interesting about Anastasia and Samael, the only other example of the supposed perfect Lyctorhood that he possesses: "She hadn't got his soul inside her all the way— if she had, Samael dying would have killed her too." As far as the method goes, it's already known that even immortals can't survive a black hole, which Domincus will turn into if the Emperor dies for too long, or possibly sinking below the stoma layer into Hell.
- This could ultimately lead to a pay off for "An afterlife subscription to Palamedes Sextus' Top Nerd Facts" and actually has some support with the "astonishingly shitty book" Palamedes is stuck with in his River bubble: the protagonist Abella is noted as being too skinny, Palamedes says he's fond of a spoiled swordswoman that the narrative is unkind to, and Abella ultimately ends up with "an insanely tedious widower" who's husband "ate a grenade in the war".
- It's mentioned that "he" left the too long. He could be John and the souls were left too long without bodies, coming back as devils.
- Unclear; her status is tied to her (supposedly) failed ascension, but Anastasia remains very shrouded in mystery and the missing Beast is not addressed.
Beyond that, there are several distinctions made between the Lyctorhood process and true immortality, which seems to be solely reserved for the Emperor and possibly the girl within the Locked Tomb. Teacher makes a distinction in Chapter 8 between the two when referring to the origin of the Lyctors. Additionally, scrap of paper Gideon finds with her name on it implies that the Lyctorhood process was viewed as "incomplete" by the original eight, but that "Gideon" perfected it. Cytherea also makes a few mysterious remarks about Gideon after she reveals that she is a Lyctor, the most intriguing of which is "...You're not going to die here Gideon. And if you ask me to let you live you might not have to die at all."
- Tenatively jossed. While there's not an answer yet as to how she survived the nerve gas meant to kill her, she truly did die, and Mercymorn makes mention of her corpse.
- Unjossed as of As Yet Unsent, which reveals Gideon's corpse is completely pristine and intact, months after her death. Given her father does have Resurrective Immortality, Gideon might as well, and her soul is simply too bound up with Harrow's to properly resurrect.
- Not only is the Moon missing from all descriptions of the First, but John's preferred term for Alecto is "Annabel Lee", and the line of the poem that references the Moon is his favorite. Besides that, she was his cavalier, and the orbit of the Moon around the Earth could be said to mimic the bond of a necromancer and cavalier.
- Muir also has a way of writing around harder sci-fi concepts, and this would also avoid the complications of underground oceans and ground that melts into air even in the perpetual chill of the Ninth, and could ultimately also tie into the missing Resurrection Beast.
- A note from someone at Canaan House (likely Cyrus), included at the end of the Sermon on Necromancers and Cavaliers mentions they created the phrase "One flesh, one end".
- Augustine refers to Cris as a "fanatic" and that it was her "influence" over Alfred that led to him changing in some way.
- Augustine also mentions that he has spent a myriad telling himself he could have "talked [Alfred] out of it", and it's peripherally mentioned that his Lyctorhood, despite being the first Saint to ascend, was very rushed and hurried, which might happen if Alfred mortally wounded himself to force Augustine to use his soul or have it be wasted (much like Gideon).
What leaves this as a theory instead of one of Muir's more buried hints is that there is some rather hefty contradictory evidence as well:
- All components of the Eightfold Word were worked on presumably before the first ascension, meaning it was unlikely to be a surprise to those involved.
- Teacher also says that the acolytes deliberately searched for a form of immortality that would allow them to range apart from the Emperor, further supporting the above.
It's possible that there's some reconcillation between these two contradictory lines of evidence, such as the original plan for cavaliers to be consumed being random House recruits and not necessarily loved ones, but there's no evidence to suggest such a thing was ever discussed. And, with the Lyctors in question dead, it's unclear if there will ever be an answer given to clarify what exactly happened between Alfred and Cristabel.
- Confirmed, minus the bit about being missing, though he's noted to be the most reclusive of the Lyctors.
- Confirmed
- Confirmed
- Confirmed
- Confirmed
- Confirmed, though the eyes are an indicator of her relationship to Alecto, not Commander Wake
- Gained some support from the added content for the paperback edition, where even the Cohort's intelligence services have no idea what's going on in the Ninth. It seems likely that if someone were to want to hide a child within the Nine Houses, the Ninth is possibly the only place that would be feasible.
- Confirmed, though Gideon wasn't taken to the Ninth to be hidden, but as a weapon to open the tomb
- Confirmed
- Confirmed
- Confirmed. Pyrrha Dve uses Herald bullets, one on Mercymorn the First in Harrow the Ninth and one on Ianthe the First in Nona the Ninth.
- Mostly confirmed. The majority of Act 5 is from her perspective, but she remains with the First and this comes very deep into the book.
- Slightly off base, but mostly confirmed. The Sixth do not make up a huge portion of the book, but Camilla is a member of Blood of Eden, and Palamedes did have some plans set up prior to his death.
- Confirmed: The Emperor quotes extensively from Earth culture up to the modern day, and Commander Wake refers to Domincus as "my long-lost natal star".
- Jossed, his plans involve Harrow, though Gideon's spirit briefly appears during his meeting with Harrow.
- Unjossed and partially confirmed in As Yet Unsent, where Camilla convinces Blood of Eden to take Gideon's corpse based on a note, though whether or not it is the same note as the one Gideon gives Palamedes is unclear.
- The announcement of the book makes mention of a "menacing sky-blue circle", which could be Number Seven, as the only known attribute of it is that it is blue. While the mystery girl's identity is intentionally vague, if Camilla and Palamedes perfected Lyctorhood, they would be a draw for Beasts as well.
- Pretty well confirmed with the blurb for Nona being released in advance of pre-orders, but holding off for final confirmation.
- Confirmed.
- Building off that, she's specifically the RB of Earth—John's second name is Gaius (the male form of Gaia, which is what the Greek/Roman primordial goddess of earth is called), and he used to call her One/the First, which could be because Earth is the First House.
- Confirmed.
- Semi-confirmed: Alecto in Harrow's body is the girl in the epilogue of Harrow the Ninth, but as the sole occupant not as part of a Mind Hive.
- Confirmed. His corpse returned as Ianthe's puppet in Nona the Ninth.
- The last thing Gideon sees is Alecto attempting to resuscitate Harrow's body, and Alecto's powers are so unclear that she might have stepped into Harrow's body to preserve them from drowning in the River, and effectively teleported them to Camilla. This would explain Camilla's confusion, as Alecto's eyes in Harrow's body would presumably be gold, and she doesn't seem to have a particular calling to either bones or the sword, and lacks Gideon's distinctive personality
- Arguably the strongest theory after the release of the extended teaser; not only did Alecto have to be present to transport Pyrrha and Gideon out of the River, Nona's first words were "no, no". Although some of her behavior can be interpreted as supporting the other two viable theories (Amnesiac Gideon or a Gideon-Harrow amalgamation), there's enough oddity left over that doesn't truly fit into either Gideon or Harrow's behavior that would make more sense in context of Alecto:
- Having to essentially be cared for from a state of total infirmity could be due to her long death, or relating back to some of Mercy and Augustine's comments. As for her behavior, it's not implausible that being deemed a "monster" who (to paraphrase) doesn't even know how to stand could be due to John never bothering to treat her with the same kindness and love that Nona's family does to her.
- Palamedes mentions that a soul temporarily inside a body will change its eye color, which is why Gideon's presence turns Harrow's eyes gold. Alecto is known to have gold eyes, and as cavalier in a Lyctoral bond herself, likely has the Lyctor's Healing Factor.
- Despite her known Healing Factor, Nona is showing signs of illness, though ignorable ones. This could be a sign of the long term posession by a soul in body that isn't otherwise wrapped in a Lyctoral bond.
- Although Gideon has surprisingly strong sense of other's emotions for someone being raised in a dark hole with a bunch of old weirdo nuns, Alecto's ability is nearly supernatural; it's possible Gideon has unknown abilities since she only ever met a few dozen people in her entire life, but evidence for that point of view is buried, if it's there at all.
- Her ability to understand all languages could stem from the nature of her creation as well: one of the more popular theories is that she contains the ten billion mentioned so frequently, and serves as the source of John's power. Stands to reason understanding all the languages those ten billion spoke might have persisted in her subconscious.
- The formatting of the book title in some formats as having "the Ninth" in Nona the Ninth struck out can reflect that it doesn't take place inside the Empire, or perhaps that Alecto was never Ninth; she was First, but was killed and stored on the Ninth. Likewise, this could explain the final book's title, as Nona directly means Nine and gives Alecto a tie to it.
- Nona has a secret that she's keeping from her family, and treasures every day as an impossible gift, even calling asking for more "greedy". That reads less like a truly confused or amnesiac character and more like someone who accidentally stepped inside Harrow and knows she'll have to leave soon.
- Camilla says something about Nona's birth that very directly that doesn't make much sense in the context of Gideon or a Gideon-Harrow Mental FusionCamilla: "You were waking up. You met me for the first time."Nona: "What did you think of me?"Camilla: "I thought I didn't know you at all. You were new."
- There is however, some notable counter-evidence, largely stemming from the fact that throughout Harrow, Alecto seems to be operating with an unknown agenda, even leaving Harrow for a time, seemingly to take care of other business. It would be hard to imagine Nona being capable of scheming like that. Likewise, that Alecto was capable of dropping Pyrrha and Harrow's body out of the River implies she is likely a necromancer herself, and should be affected by the presence of Number Seven. However there is enough mystery surrounding Alecto to attempt to reconcile those facts with the rest of Nona's behavior.
- Confirmed.
- Following Harrow the Ninth: unclear. Multiple living Lyctors were involved with Blood of Eden, but Anastasia's fate is unclear enough that she might be tied into their inception 5,000 years ago.
- Gained more evidence suggesting this is the case with As Yet Unsent which briefly refers to a document known as "Source Gram" that was created by someone with access to the Sixth, 6,000 years ago, and served as the inciting text for the foundation of Blood of Eden. As for whether it was Cassiopeia, Anastasia, or someone else, things remain unclear.
- Semi-confirmed as of Nona the Ninth: Cassiopeia was "Source Gram" and had given orders to the Sixth to start separating from the Empire, but she's still probably dead.
- Gained more evidence suggesting this is the case with As Yet Unsent which briefly refers to a document known as "Source Gram" that was created by someone with access to the Sixth, 6,000 years ago, and served as the inciting text for the foundation of Blood of Eden. As for whether it was Cassiopeia, Anastasia, or someone else, things remain unclear.
- Semi-confirmed, she has a cousin on her mother's side who's a member of Blood of Eden.
- Last we saw, Corona and Judith were with Camilla, so it would make sense if Nona had seen or heard about them. Last we saw of her, it seemed like Corona was on the verge of joining BOE, and Crown Him With Many Crowns would fit as a BOE name, given her nickname literally means "crown" in multiple languages. The Captain also works well as a nickname for Captain Judith Deuteros. Presumably Judith is still a prisoner of BOE, and if she's being forced to operate the stele it wouldn't be possible for her to attend, hence Camilla's response.
- All but directly stated with the release of the extended teaser: Crown mentioned to be extremely attractive, but Palamedes makes note of caring about her too much even though he probably shouldn't, which is in contrast to the rest of Eden. The Captain likewise gets a brief note that even Nona can't bring herself to love her, and Palamedes says he pities her and never liked her much.
- Confirmed.
- All but directly stated with the release of the extended teaser: Crown mentioned to be extremely attractive, but Palamedes makes note of caring about her too much even though he probably shouldn't, which is in contrast to the rest of Eden. The Captain likewise gets a brief note that even Nona can't bring herself to love her, and Palamedes says he pities her and never liked her much.
- Not entirely off base however, as a variation of this forms the backbone of As Yet Unsent, which details the first months of their capture by Blood of Eden.
- Jossed
- "Poor child," [Teacher] said, "we're all sorry. We never intended this to happen, none of us. The poor child."Gideon might have been the child in question; she might've not. She strongly did not care either way.
- Jossed, but not entirely off base; Gideon is the daughter of Alecto's necromancer.
- Jossed, she's a separate character.
- Jossed, she joins up with Blood of Eden
- Jossed, it was Earth All Along, though the missing moon remains unstated.
- Jossed, Number One is mentioned to be one of the dead beasts by Mercy briefly in Chapter 36 of Harrow the Ninth. The missing beast is either Number Three, Number Five, or Number Nine.
- Unclear after Harrow the Ninth. Mercy makes mention of examining Gideon's corpse, which might mean it was never actually missing, but Harrow doesn't notice any extra corpse aboard the Erebos, and Mercy is a traitor to the Emperor working with Blood of Eden, leaving the location of her body still unclear.
- Jossed as of As Yet Unsent. Her corpse was taken by Blood of Eden.
- Whether it's used to resurrect Gideon for real or simply for more blood to open the Tomb.
- Jossed. Gideon's body is important, but not because it's a MacGuffin.
- Nothing states that Anastasia ever left the Ninth, and a few of Aiglamene's comments that are somewhat cryptic might make sense if she is connected to Anastasia. Anastasia's partial Lyctorhood could've conferred stranger properties to her immortality, or required her to Body Surf to continue her duty.
- Largely Jossed. Harrowhark Nonagesimus is a direct descendant of Anastasia, the origin of the Tomb-keeper line. If Aiglamene or Crux were descendants of Anastasia, they'd likely be referred to as relations, much as Harrow does with her great-aunts. Furthermore, as of the end of Nona the Ninth, Anastasia was confirmed to be far from immortal; her bones are within the Locked Tomb, against a wall. Given the setting, however, that does not preclude body-hopping or other soul shenanigans.
- Jossed twice over: Nona is in Harrow's body, and is unaffected by Number Seven, which means she almost definitely isn't just an amnesiac Harrow.
- The second part of the theory is confirmed. As Yet Unsent shows that Gideon's body refuses to decay, and it seems plausible that Camilla would have more access to Gideon's body if it suddenly started breathing again than the unknown location of Harrow's body.
- Gained more support with the blurb describing Nona the Ninth making mention of BoE wanting to use her as a weapon, and in As Yet Unsent, they seem half-way to making a cult centered on Gideon's incorruptible corpse. If said corpse woke up and starting walking around, it makes sense they'd get even more obsessed with it.
- Jossed: Nona's body is Harrow's.
- Jossed. Alecto contains the dead soul of Earth.
- Basically just Rule of Funny.
- Jossed.
- Jossed.
- "Nona" is the first two letters of their house names, Nonagesimus and Nav. Which sounds like a name the mind behind "Sex Pal" would arrive at.
- Above ended up jossed: Nona comes from 'no, no', her first words, which mutated into Nona because Nona means Ninth.