Warning: Spoilers for Onyx Storm

Sarah J. Maas' Onyx Storm and its cliffhanger ending were packed full of new locations, new lore, and new characters. That included Theophanie, a new venin antagonist who seemed primed to become the big bad of the series moving forward.

Unfortunately, that is apparently not the case, as Theophanie was killed off in the climactic battle of the book. As such, new Onyx Storm theory suggests that Theophanie actually has much deeper ties to Violet than ever realized, and it's both tragic and compelling.

The Theory Posits That Theophanie Was In Love With Asher Sorrengail

It Makes A Strange Amount Of Sense

The theory, which was first posted on Reddit, but has since been deleted, posits that the venin Theophanie had met and fallen in love with Asher Sorrengail at some point in the past. It's not crazy to think this theory has some merit, either. A huge part of Onyx Storm's plot involved Violet and her squad traveling to the islands off the coast of Navarre, following in the footsteps of her father, who had often traveled to the islands, to track down his journals.

While all the islands like Zehyllna play a role in Onyx Storm, Unnbriel is of particular importance: not only did Asher travel there, but he also brought Violet there when she was just a toddler in order to dedicate her to the goddess, Dunne, at the Temple of Dunne. It's not clear exactly why he did, but we know Lilith wasn't happy about it, that Violet didn't complete her dedication (hence her hair only being part-silver), and that it had something to do with Violet being sick. Whether it was her unnamed Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or some other sickness, it appears Asher had his reasons for taking his young daughter to the Temple of Dunne. We also know that, in her past, Theophanie herself was a priestess of the Temple of Dunne on the island of Unnbriel.

It Frames Theophanie's Hatred Of Lilith Sorrengail In A New Light

She Saw Lilith As Competition In Two Ways

It's not out of the question to think that at some point in his travels, Asher met Theophanie and the priestess fell in love with him. Maybe learning that Asher was in love with Lilith, or even simply being turned down before that, is the reason she left her service as a temple priestess and turned venin. It would certainly explain her venomous hatred for Lilith Sorrengail. That hatred seemed to simply stem from the fact that Theophanie saw the general as competition; it can be assumed that she and Lilith had clashed during battles and the venin's enmity grew out of those confrontations.

Theophanie's seething hatred of Lilith and the fact she seems to know a lot more about Violet and the Sorrengail family than she should then make sense: she knew Asher a long time ago. And she loved him.

Yet, during the final battle of Onyx Storm, Violet suddenly realizes that Theophanie isn't a lightning wielder like her, but that her signet is storm-wielding, just like Lilith. "She's the answer to my mother," she tells Bodhi, to which an annoyed Theophanie hisses, "She was the answer to me." Again, at the moment, it read like Theophanie's pride simply rearing its head. Putting it in the context of Theophanie having loved Asher but him marrying and loving Lilith, however, suddenly, those words take on a deeper meaning. Theophanie's seething hatred of Lilith and the fact she seems to know a lot more about Violet and the Sorrengail family than she should then make sense: she knew Asher a long time ago. And she loved him.

Why The Theophanie Onyx Storm Theory Might Not Work

She's Probably Too Old For The Timeline To Line Up

That said, while the theory that Theophanie loved Asher is a really interesting one and would explain a lot, there's one way it doesn't make sense. We don't know how old Theophanie is or how long she's been venin, but the context of Onyx Storm makes it seem as though she's old old, too old to have been a contemporary of Asher Sorrengail. While her exact age isn't stated, there's a sense that she's at least a few hundred years old, and if that's the case, then the theory obviously doesn't work, as it was explained in Onyx Storm that venin don't feel love – not in the way humans do, in any case. It's unlikely that, if Theophanie were a venin when she crossed paths with Asher, she would have fallen in love with a weak human.

It's not clear how old the Temple of Dunne on Unnbriel is, but it's implied that it's ancient; even if Theophanie was hundreds of years old, it still would have been the same temple that Asher visited.

On the other hand, that only lends credence to the other popular fan theory that Asher Sorrengail wasn't human, but venin - and is, in fact, the Sage, whose name was revealed as Berwyn in Onyx Storm. It would explain why Theophanie is so competitive with the Sage; hatred that strong usually only stems from thwarted love - or whatever es for love with the venin. There's still so much mystery around Asher Sorrengail's history, his travels, how he died, and why. It's not like there isn't a precedent in the Empyrean Series books for a Sorrengail family member faking their own death, after all. So while Theophanie's age and the timeline don't seem to add up to the theory that she loved Asher, they also don't disprove it, either.

It Proves Just How Rich Theophanie's Backstory Could Be (& How She Was Wasted)

She Was Killed Off Way Too Soon

Whether the theory is eventually proven true or not, it still drives home just how wasted Theophanie was, and it's a shame. Onyx Storm just touched upon her backstory and that there was so much more to her than meets the eye. Unfortunately, Theophanie was unceremoniously killed off just as the book hinted there was a complex and fascinating backstory behind her. It's a recurring pattern in the Empyrean Series - characters are killed off right as they start to get interesting (or are already dead), and we either don't learn anything else about them or we only learn about them posthumously. Asher Sorrengail. Lilith Sorrengail. Naolin. Liam Mairi. Now Theophanie.

It's a real shame, too, as there is so much to explore with Theophanie's story, and it was hinted that she has a connection to Violet's half-dedication at the Temple of Dunne. Giving up her priestesshood is still clearly a sore subject for her, even after years. It bothers her, bothers her badly enough that it throws her off her game during the final fight with Violet and reveals an emotion that's not just a venin's calculation, seething fury, or taunting:

"I hold my next strike when she appears twenty feet ahead. 'Tell me, do you miss Unnbriel?'

Her eyes flare, and she startles.

Victory. I gather more and more power, spooling it like molten thread. 'Do you not yearn for temple?' I use the words the high priestess had on me.

Her face twists with an emotion that almost looks like longing, but it's quickly masked with anger. 'Do you?' she counters. 'Or are you immune, having only been touched, but not dedicated?' She charges forward. 'Do you know the pain of never being allowed to return, of knowing that it would sever the very thing that's kept me untouchable all these years?'"

Onyx Storm – p. 737

With that one exchange, Theophanie upended everything we thought we knew about the emotional landscape of venin, who have been described in the Empyrean Series as operating almost like psychopaths, feeling nothing for others outside of calculation and how to achieve their ends. A venin who longs for the temple and who openly acknowledges that it causes her deep pain to be cut off is virtually unheard of. It leads to the question: if that bit of knowledge about venin is wrong, then what else have the people of Navarre been wrong about? Or perhaps Theophanie was an anomaly, still able to feel human emotions after years. And if that's the case, then it's entirely possible that she was also able to feel some form of love.

The Empyrean Series Needs Better & More Fleshed-Out Villains

It's A Big Problem Three Books In

But Theophanie's life being cut short in Onyx Storm isn't just frustrating because of the way it stunted her fascinating personal story. The bigger issue is that Theophanie was the first actually interesting villain the Empyrean Series has had, and three books in, that's a huge problem. The venin have mostly been a nameless, faceless horde aside from the Sage, who only appeared in brief scenes in battle that revealed nothing about him before he was seemingly killed by Xaden. We know now that he's not actually dead, but it's not as though that reveal made him any more interesting. He's still a blank cipher, for the most part.

Theophanie was the first actually interesting villain the Empyrean Series has had, and three books in, that's a huge problem. Simply put, the villains of the Empyrean Series have been boring.

The human antagonists in the books have also been incredibly one-dimensional, simply because their antagonism towards Violet has been so over-the-top and comically exaggerated that they have had no layers or subtlety as characters. Jack Barlowe simply decided he hated Violet on sight and went out of his way to be sadistic, and the villainous Basgiath leaders, such as Colonel Aetos and Commandant Varrish, are basically interchangeable in their corrupted evil.

Simply put, the villains of the Empyrean Series have been boring. None of their motivations have been explored beyond an overly simplistic "I want power." They aren't fleshed out at all and, as such, merely serve the plot without adding any real color or richness to the story. Killing off Theophanie, the one villain of the series who showed there was more to her than there seemed to be, who had layered and complicated motivations, was an incredibly foolish move on Sarah J. Maas' part. Of course, the next book after Onyx Storm could reveal she's not dead after all. But with a series that has already gotten so much flak for repeating the same storylines and plot twists, that would be a problem in and of itself.