The Power of Five: Five Kinds of Magic

Last week I looked at Brandon Mull’s use of five, primarily in the Fablehaven Universe and The Five Kingdoms.  I made some connections between the series and how we can use them to connect the “concrete nouns” of the Mull-tiverse (characters, settings and objects).  This week I’ll focus more on what this teaches us thematically about the five uses of magic.  I hope to solidify what was introduced last week to better understand the real purpose that the Mull-tiverse theory has taken on: bringing more light into the world.  In doing so, I also hope to weave in another piece that I introduced last week: the five Wizardborne races of Lyrian from Beyonders.

I’ll start off by saying, this was a lot more challenging than I thought it would be.  Between brainstorming and drafting, I had a few false starts and started to wonder if I was going down the wrong path.  But all it took was remembering two things that I have already mentioned in previous posts: 1: this is a fan-theory and can easily be disproven, but that is not the point—the point is to learn something from it and 2: (I’ve already said this in this post) This specific theory is to explore how we can bring more light into the world.

So let’s start with light: in the Mull-tiverse, light comes from the Source.  I toyed with identifying one type as Source Magic, but it’s all in the name: Source.  It isn’t magic itself, it’s the source of magic.  There are a few instances where we see how weirdly similar the Source and the Void are, too: Cole notices the similarities between being in the slipstream and being in the terminal void; Seth reflects on the feelings of being encompassed by darkness and being encompassed by light; both can prevent, or at least slow death: the Source can grant immortality while the Void makes one undead.

The five methods of magic exist between the Source and the Void and can be influenced by one or the other.  For the rest of this post, I will be using the names given to the types of magic in the Outskirts to label the different types of magic.  The justification here is that the creators of the Outskirts did so from the Echolands, which means it is highly likely that they existed in other realms first (again, we could theorize on just that one point in a post on its own—that’s coming, too).  We won’t worry about that today because today is about what the magic does and what that teaches us.

Shaping

Raw Shaping is what magic is called in the Echolands itself, and Shaping is what magic is called in Sambria because, as Dandalus explains it, it was closest to how Shaping worked in the Echolands.  Shaping is what created the Outskirts as a tangible place where Dandalus and the other creators of the Outskirts could “live again.”  That is what Shaping does—it creates, and brings life to things where you didn’t expect to see life.  Last week, I also associated this magic with healing.  This still felt like a bit of a stretch at first.  I made the argument that it is about safety and sanctuary last week.  I still hold to that, but an even more compelling argument is that Cole, who has what they call “raw shaping” ability can rejuvenate people and items who have lost their magical ability.

Shaping almost always relies on the Source for its power, so we often associate it with “good” magic.  Originally, I was tempted to call this form of magic Source magic because of this.  It is the magic associated with fairies in Fablehaven and Dragonwatch; it the magic Mira uses in the Outskirts, and Cole has Raw Shaping power.  Dandalus, the first High Shaper is also called the “Warden of the Light.”

But then there’s Brady’s Wilderness, which was a form of Shaping that nearly killed Cole, and, of course, there was Carnag, which was the manifestation of Mira’s power when she was separated from it.  Carnag, along with the other manifestations of powers separated from their hosts in the Outskirts (which we will explore today) is evidence that Shaping can be used by tapping into the Void as well.  However, I will still say that this is likely the magic that is closest to the Source.

What does it teach us?  What theme does the magic called Shaping reveal in the Mull-tiverse?  Well, it teaches us that there are still miracles out there (yes, I am aware that this is a little on the nose since the princess with Shaping ability’s full name is Miracle), but this is truly what this kind of magic teaches us in the Mull-tiverse.  We learn that we can be healed of emotional or physical wounds.  We learn that we can “reshape” our lives through our choices and we learn that healing and giving life give us more power that harming or taking life.  Cole is healed in the slipstream; Seth is healed in the aether, Kendra is constantly helping others, and the races or Eldrin in Lyrian represent new life and fresh starts as well.

I mentioned last week that I felt like the connections of the five Wizardborn races would be different because they were a product of magic rather than users of magic.  Eldrin, one of the ancient wizards from Lyrian created two races and one of them, in particular, is a great representation of this kind of magic.  I am speaking, of course, of the Amar Kabal, or the seedfolk.  Drake, in particular, illustrates the miracle of second (and in his case many more) chances.  The seedfolk live multiple lives: when they die, their Amar (the seed on the back of their neck) is removed, planted, and the are born again from the amar.  Drake squandered so many lives, but when his Amar grew back defective, he had the ultimate change of heart with his “last chance” by joining the cause against evil.  With Drake this goes even further to show that that wasn’t even his last chance, as he thought it was.  We see him in the Five Kingdoms in the Echolands, where he once again helps the heroes with their quest.

Enchanting

This is the magic associated with Eloweer, and in the Outskirts, it’s not a whole lot different than Shaping, but it is used with completely different purposes in mind.  The difference between Shaping and Enchanting in Eloweer is that the creations in Eloweer are not tangible.  They are only illusions.  Much of the time these illusions use literal light.  However, there is definitely darkness and secrecy in it.  Confidence lounges are a big deal in Eloweer, and when you go into a Confidence lounge, you don’t want anyone knowing who you actually are.  They use the “light” of their Enchanting to hide rather than to reveal.  These secrets are ultimately used to support the power structure of Eloweer.  It is a very “dog eat dog” world, or a “knight kill knight” world to be more literal. 

Of course, there are good characters from Eloweer.  In fact, I feel like Five Kingdoms does a great job of illustrating the good that can be done with any type of magic if you lean toward the Source rather than the Void.  However, this magic is used to influence power.  It is the kind of magic I associated with demons in earlier posts.  Demons are all about contracts and agreements that help their own self-interest.  They use information to gain power for themselves and want to dominate.  Another connection between enchanting and demons is that no demons start off as demons.  It is a choice they make, which ultimately changes their entire nature, including their appearance. 

The object I connected with this magic was the Oculus—the device that allowed you to see everything at once.  The original connection was because of the craving this kind of magic gives one for knowledge.  But think of how overwhelming this is.  Kendra can’t handle it for very long when she touches the Oculus—she doesn’t know what to do with that vast amount of information.

Often times, throughout the Mull-tiverse when magic is used to assert power, it teaches us the dangers of doing so.  Very often, I would argue that those who use it rely more on the Void than the Source.  However, what is the flip side?  Information is good, right?  Knowledge is power, but it doesn’t have to be corrupt power.  This is used to teach us what we can do with that ability. 

The other thing this power can do is allow you to change yourself.  Cole and his friends use masks that change them into animals.  Even that comes with a warning and a cost—it’s hard to change back.  We see that Cole and Dalton both struggle to even want to take off their masks because of the power they feel.  Humbuggle teaches us that no demon starts as a demon; they change into demons based on the magic they commit to.  My theory suggests that this is Enchanting that leans toward the Void.  So it becomes about what you do with that power.  It’s about honor (for my Five Kingdoms fans out there, yes: I did it again.  The princess with enchanting ability is Honor—it’s almost like he did it on purpose).

The message comes mostly as a warning with this magic: be careful what you do with the power you are given.  Lean toward the Void and it will corrupt you as it literally corrupted the demons.  Lean toward the Source, and you can change yourself in remarkably powerful and honorable ways.

One last piece on Enchanting: for the Wizardborn races of Lyrian, the one I see this in the most is the giants.  This is because of the literal change they undergo from day to night: they are dwarves in the day and giants at night.  The creatures they are at night are monsters; the creatures they are during the day, not so much.  The giant (technically half-giant) that we become most familiar with is Aram, and listen to this conversation between him and his mother in “Seeds of Rebellion”:

“’When a government becomes unjust, honor is often found among the lawless.  Over the years, you have developed many talents that may now prove useful to an honorable cause.’

“Aram shook his head. ‘Where’s the honor in suicide?’

“More honor than attends a life of indifference, idling away your years quashing brawls in a tavern.” (116-117).

Honor is what helps him to make a decision on which side to join rather than remaining indifferent.

Tinkering

 When I first started thinking about this in the larger context of the Mull-tiverse, I wondered if I should come up with a different way of describing it.  But as I allowed it to bounce around in my brain, the more it still made sense in that way.

In Five Kingdoms, this is the magic associated with Zeropolis—the kingdom that is most like Earth, but with more advanced technology.  It is also the magic that I associated with dragons and with the translocator.  The reason for the connection between dragons and Zeropolis is because of their connection to elements (breath powers and crystals) and the reason for the connection between Zeropolis and the translocator was because of Zeropolis’s use of thruports to connect with Earth’s internet.  Of any of the types of magic, this is the loosest connection between the place, creature and object, but that is because this is the most diverse types of magic.

This is more of an elemental magic: Tinkering in Zeropolis uses crystals to make further advancements in Artificial Intelligence and other forms of technology.  This is more of a stretch, but the translocator can take you wherever you want to be… as long as you’ve already been there before, so it depends on the environment(s) you know.  Dragons are incredible creatures—some of, if not the most powerful magical creatures on Earth.  But they depend on their natural abilities to become that—their breath powers (which appear as unusual weather to the untrained eye), their wings, their indestructible scales.  In other words, it is the being itself that is magic—the physical characteristics.  In fact, not to be too gruesome, but they’re even valuable when they’re dead; Tanu was thrilled to have the opportunity to harvest dragon parts from a fresh dragon corpse.  This also reminds us that creation of potions and other consumables is part of this magic.

So, what is this supposed to teach us thematically?  Well, let’s take a look at what else happens as a result of using this type of magic.  This, more than anything, teaches us about balance.  Dragons are supposed to be solitary creatures, but what happens when they join forces?  Chaos.  When artificial intelligence gets too out of control?  Chaos.  But when everything is balanced, it’s all hunky dory.  Unfortunately, it is very rarely in balance.  We are in a constant state of change.  Noticing a theme here?  Yep, all the forms of magic deal with change.  Change through healing, change through decisions, change due to imbalances in our environment.  This magic teaches us that the only thing constant in life is change and that as these changes happen, the best thing to do is to remain constant.  If you know the Five kingdoms, you should’ve seen this one coming.  Princess Constance’s magic is strongest in Zeropolis.

It is leanings towards the Void or the Source that create this imbalance, even with this magic, and it takes a tremendous amount of control to achieve it.  There are plenty of direct themes to nature through this magic as well.  Yes, the fairies are often associated with nature, but, really, in the Fablehaven universe, it pretty much all is: there are protections that prevent mortals from seeing magical creatures for what they truly are; boundaries set up to protect nature and the creatures in it; all are battling to either keep or sway the balance.  In Zeropolis its control of information and technological advancement that keep the kingdom running smoothly, and when one AI (Roxie) tips those controls in her favor, everything goes haywire.

This was also the more difficult component to make a connection to with the Wizardborn races of Lyrian.  I went back and forth between the Drinlings because they can eat raw material, but not manufactured, and the Treefolk, which we know very little of—just that they are super intelligent gibbons or humans covered in shrubbery (made from elements).  Ultimately, since the concept with Wizardborn races is that they are a product of the magic, I went with the Treefolk since they are made from the elements.  Unfortunately, since we know so little of them, that’s about all there is to go on.

Weaving

Call me crazy, but this next one, although it is the creepiest, is also my favorite.  It is my favorite because of what it represents, though.  Just as Shaping is the closest to the Source, Weaving is closest to the Void.  At least, that is much more often how it is portrayed.  Some common exercises in Weaving are summoning and binding.  In Necronum, Weavers summon Echoes.  In Fablehaven and Dragonwatch, the undead are summoned to do the bidding of Shadow Charmers.  This magic is used to bind people with magical oaths, which basically take away their will.  There are very few examples of this type of magic being used for good—it is magic that prevents progress.

This was associated with the undead because it prevents progress to another realm after death, thus creating the undead.  They are left with nothing but longings and cravings.  It was associated with the font of immortality because even those who use this magic actively are trying to cheat death, but in doing so, they are restricting themselves in some way or another.

Either a feature or a side effect of this type of magic is that it sucks life out of its subjects or victims.  It is the antithesis of Shaping, which gives life.  We see this in several instances: The Underking is just a pile of bones with a crown; the inhabitants of Blackwell suck the life out of everything when they are freed, even the rats in their permitted areas.  The evil Echoes do everything they can to prevent Cole from returning to his body.

What is the lesson here?  Well, there’s a few different ways you could put it: it illustrates the contrast of being acted upon or acting.  A more common contrast used in literature (and you really should see this one coming at this point) is a contrast between fate and destiny (If you still need the reminders at this point, Destiny is the name of the princess whose powers are strongest in Necronum).  Fate is something out of your control—someone or something else is entirely responsible for the outcome of your life, and it doesn’t matter what you do—you can’t escape it.  Destiny, on the other hand, is more of a promise than a curse, and it is something we can take more control of.  Still wild, still something outside of ourselves, but a support more than an obstacle.  Just think of Thunder—the horse that is the embodiment of Destiny’s power.  It goes where it wants, but allows riders, and it guides people to the places that are going to help them the most.

Princess Destiny is able to see the future; but she is still able to act how she wishes—it is more out of trust of her ability that leads to those decisions (acting) rather than compulsion in seeing the future (being acted upon).  We see this in Kendra, too, when she is at the gateway to the Void.  She doesn’t know that’s where she is at the time, but in the presence of the Underking she sees the future (or at least a version of it) in which she possesses both the crown of light and the crown of darkness.  She sees the power she would have, but she chooses not to take that advantage.  It is strange that in the presence of the Void, she is able to see the future, but it fits with the Weaving method of magic.  Additionally, when Seth is stabbed by the Unforgiving Blade, he can sense his future and his path to becoming undead.  For a while, he accepts that as his fate, but then he learns that he still has a choice in the matter and takes action.

With this in mind, I find it interesting that in Lyrian, which is just a dark place to begin with, the Wizardborn race that I feel was created as a product of this magic are the drinlings.  Drinlings have a lifespan of about two years—the shortest lifespan of any of the Wizardborn races.  It would be so easy for them to just moan their time away, longing for a longer life.  But their lives are so full!  They are constantly learning, they are built to endure some hefty beatings, and they are so willing to act on the right cause because they don’t see their two-year lifespan as their fate, but as their destiny.  They don’t see a two-year lifespan as an obstacle preventing from living a fuller life, but rather an opportunity to make the most out of it.

Even though its affiliation with the Void is much more common, remember that none of these forms of magic are the Void or the Source themselves.  At its darkest (which is usually what we see), Weaving prevents progress.  But at its lightest, it can act more as a guide that still offers us a choice.  Choice is a huge theme throughout all of Brandon Mull’s writing—the heroes are those who chose to act.  Weaving represents the temptation to just take things as they come, or the feeling of being unable to act, or that we are not in control of our own lives.  It’s dark and scary to feel acted upon.  But not impossible to escape.

Wayminding

Last, but certainly not least, we have Wayminding, the magic of Creon.  This magic has the ability to extend life as well, but it has some incredibly unique features.  It’s no wonder this is a magic set apart from the rest.  In Creon, this magic is used to block memories outside its borders, open portals to other places within the Outskirts, and to other worlds, and travel through time itself!  The giants (and Humbuggle) use it to perform similar feats at a smaller scale.

On the darker side of this magic it is used to accomplish the same goal as Weaving, but with a different strategy: time manipulation rather than barriers to other realms.  Others have attempted to use it in order to be in more than one place at a time, or to exist in all of time at once.  The Perennials Serpent, which is the embodiment of Princess Elegance’s Wayminding ability, is a creature that ends up existing long before Elegance herself was born.

At its best, it is used to get people where they need to be, when they need to be there.  Again, similar to fate vs. destiny, but in a more tangible way in actual space and time. 

The displacers of Lyrain are the closest connection to this kind of magic: their bodies are able to separate due to cross-dimensional connection.  Ferrin’s hand even makes it to Earth and still survives, so they are able to separate quite a bit and be in multiple places at once.  Maldor uses the displacers as his spies, and they are great at it—it’s what they were made to be.  Yet they can still act on their own, and make their own decisions.  Otherwise Ferrin wouldn’t have defected. 

Ferrin is also a fantastic example of what this type of magic is intended to represent.  For most of the Beyonders series, Ferrin doesn’t know what he is going to end up doing.  He keeps his options open.  He is devoted to Jason as a friend, but is also willing to abandon the cause against Maldor at any moment.  He is, therefore, residing in two places at once.  He sees multiple outcomes simultaneously, rather than just one single option.  He is even skeptical of the prophecy because he is able to see so many different outcomes.  So many people try to live this way, and it tears them apart.  But Ferrin, who can literally be torn apart and still survive, manages to hold himself together.  He walks the line between two realities within the same world.  It is very… elegant… to be able to do so.  But ultimately, he has to choose.  As we all must do at some time or another.

The Power of Five: Cross-Series Connections

As promised last week, I am spending the next five weeks exploring the use of five throughout the Mull-tiverse.  This week, we’re exploring the overt use of five (and one less overt that just dawned on me this week, but that I am very excited about).

In quick review, before diving in: five crowns for five races in the Fablehaven universe; five powerful artifacts featured in the same series; five kingdoms within the Outskirts for magic that works in five different ways.  These are the topics that lead me to believe that there are five major “realms” or realities within the Mull-tiverse.  Also mentioned were the five pieces of the Eldergem, which seems like its own thing, but, hey, a reference to five, so we’ll see what we can do with that.

Let’s start with the five crowns and five races:

Fairies: The fairy crown is one of the original two.  Fairies are beings of light and guardians of The Source.  “Fairykind” includes not only all types of fairies of all sizes, but astrids, unicorns, nymphs, nayads, dryads, satyrs (indirectly) along with several others I am likely missing.  Their magic centers on the use of light and healing or purifying.  Often this transfers into the physical beauty of nature—light helps plants grow, etc.  Often, fairykind are the ones that take action to restore balance when things start to go wrong.

Demons: Although the demon crown was not one of the original two, for a long time I saw the demons as the primary enemy of the fairies.  Since the climax of the Fablehaven series centers around the demon prison, this makes sense.  Their magic also seems to contrast in some regards since all demons are corrupted forms of other beings.  Humbuggle teaches us in “Champion of the Titan Games” that nobody is born a demon and that all demons become such as a matter of choice.  They establish magical contracts—bargaining is a big deal, and information is one of their biggest bargaining chips.  They are cunning and deceitful, always trying to withhold what they know through trickery.  Their interest is in justice and power rather than balance.

Undead: The undead are the true opposites of fairykind.  The Underking possesses the other original crown, and the undead (wraiths, phantoms, etc.) are guardians of The Void, so to speak.  They are the true source of darkness.  There are a few significant moments where the undead are featured throughout Fablehaven and Dragonwatch, but it is interesting how little that happens.  This is because the undead are stuck.  They cannot change, and are trapped between life and death.  They seek their own interests, and will still act on their own desires, but nothing changes when they do—nothing ends their misery.  And the more likely scenario is that they are used as the objects of an agreement rather than one of the participants.  Even when Kentra faces the Underking in “Master of the Phantom Isle,” the confrontation amounts to nothing on his part.  He moans, groans, and threatens and then… nothing.  He just wants his secret kept that he can’t actually do anything.

Dragons: Dragons have always been a favorite topic of mine, and I love what Brandon Mull does with them.  They are apex predators that nobody wants to mess with in a fight.  Their magic, mostly seen through their breath powers, is more elemental.  Mortals who don’t “drink the milk” see them as strange weather patterns rather than some other kind of creature, and the mass destruction they have caused in the past has been attributed to natural disasters and plagues.  It is driven home many times through the Dragonwatch series that they are meant to be solitary creatures, not beings that congregate, and when they do congregate, things get messy really fast.

Giants: Giants are an interesting topic in this because some are incredibly good, and some are incredibly bad.  They had their own realm (Stratos) for a time before it crashed and landed on New Zealand.  They are obsessed with size, for obvious reasons, and are considered expert in a very unique type of magic: truth-revealing magic.  Many of the magical devices they use are meant to reveal truth and honesty: candles that burn out when you lie, scales that tip when you lie, and even the Waystar, which is always appears as the observers favorite color, even if they don’t know what that color is before seeing it, is meant to reveal a map.  Truth and light are powerfully connected, despite there being evil giants as well.  However, the giants from Stratos (sky giants) seem to be the best at truth-telling magic.

In picking this apart, these five became less about the beings themselves and more about different purposes of magic: Light, Bargaining, Darkness, Elements, and Truth.  Seems pretty random, but we’ll explore that more in depth next  week.

So what about the five artifacts:

1: The Chronometer manipulates time in a variety of ways.

2: The Font of Immortality grants immortality… sort of… you have to drink from it at least once a week in order to gain immortality.

3: The Oculus allows you to see everything and everywhere all at once.

4: The Sands of Sanctity has healing power

5: The Translocator can take you anywhere you have already been.

These don’t exactly play nicely with the five beings in terms of any solid connections, although there are a few: the Oculus could be very beneficial in truth-telling, the Sands of Sanctity heal and purify, which could be seen as a connection to fairy magic.  Before our heads get spinning too much, though, let’s explore the five kingdoms.

The Outskirts are an off-shoot of the Echolands created by six “shapers” after a few failed attempts.  (Side note here—the fact that they were all in the Echolands to start means they were all dead.  It is said several times throughout the Five Kingdoms series that the place was never meant to exist).

Each of the five kingdoms represents some kind of “space between,” and magic works differently in each kingdom:

Sambria, introduced in Sky Raiders, is seen as a space between wakefulness and sleep.  In Sambria, magic is called shaping, and it enables its users to create anything they imagine.  One of the most dangerous places to be in Sambria is known as Brady’s Wilderness, where a young boy named Brady imagined up a delicious but treacherous landscape of giant desserts inhabited by dinosaurs and skeleton warriors.  It is also stated that shaping in Sambria is closest to what they call “raw shaping” or the original power that created the Outskirts.

Eloweer, introduced in Rogue Knight, is seen as a space between reality and imagination.  In Eloweer, magic is called enchanting and works similar to Sambria, but the creations are not tangible.  People can also change their physical appearance in Eloweer.  Places called confidence lounges are unique to Eloweer.  These locations allow people to mingle in disguise and exchange information, which is seen as very valuable currency.

Zeropolis, introduced in Crystal Keepers, is seen as a space between virtual reality and tangible reality or a space between technology and sorcery or magic.  In Zeropolis magic is called tinkering, and thins the line between technology and magic.  Magic here is directly connected to crystals.  Tinkers can manipulate these crystals.  Zeropolites enjoy the closest connection to Earth via the internet by the use of what they call thruports.

Necronum, introduced in Death Weavers, is seen as a space between life and death.  In Necronum magic is called weaving, and enables clearer communication with the Echolands.  Necronum also has the closest connection with the Echolands themselves.  One form of weaving allows living beings to enter as “bright echoes.”

Creon, introduced in Time Jumpers, is seen as a space between time and… well… space.  In Necronum magic is called wayminding and enables its users to travel across space or through time through wayports.  Wayminders are able to open wayports to earth, where they kidnap people, usually children, to be slaves.  It is the most mysterious of the five because once you leave its borders, it becomes incredibly challenging to remember details of your time there.

Other fans have speculated that there is a connection between the artifacts featured in Fablehaven and the kingdoms in the Outskirts.  I love this idea, but it also gets tricky.  Especially with Junction—the city in the middle of the Outskirts where all forms of magic are useable.  Junction also houses the foundingstone, which operates much like the oculus.  Also, two of the artifacts seem to have the strongest connection to Creon: the translocator and the chronometer.  But let’s give it a try just for fun:

Since Creon is the only kingdom affiliated with time manipulation, we will say that the chronometer is the artifact for Creon.

This leaves us to tackle the problem of the translocator.  Two other kingdoms could claim this one: Necronum due to its connection to the Echolands, or Zeropolis due to its connection (virtually) with Earth.  Since the Outskirts were designed from the Echolands, I am going to make the argument that they are part of the same larger realm, especially since the Outskirts were “never supposed to exist.”  This, I would argue, makes Zeropolis the more likely candidate to be connected to the translocator.

That leaves us with the oculus, the sands of sanctity and the font of immortality.

The next somewhat obvious connection is between the font of immortality and Necronum.  Those seeking the font of immortality are seeking to cheat death, so the connection with the Echolands and the ability to go there alive makes a pretty strong case for this artifact.

The oculus, which reveals all, would be strongly coveted in Eloweer, where they treat information as currency within the confidence lounges.  But does that just mean Sambria is left with the spoils with the sands of sanctity?  Not necessarily.  the Sands of Sanctity have healing power, but think of the name: Sanctity.  Why do they use sanctity to connect with healing?  Sanctity has to do with being holy or sacred.  Healing helps with that because it makes you “whole.”  It fits.  But it had to be given the name for more than just that.  It’s not a far stretch from “sanctity” to “sanctuary” which is a holy place, or a place where you feel safe.  Where is the most important place for you to feel safe?  The place where you are at your most vulnerable: when you are asleep.  Maybe it’s a bit of a stretch, but I really don’t think so.  Sleep is also one of the most healing things for us!  What do we need when we’re sick?  Sleep!  What do we need when we’re troubled?  Sleep!  So here’s the breakdown:

Sambria: Sands of Sanctity

Eloweer: Oculus

Zeropolis: Translocator

Necronum: Font of Immortality

Creon: Chronometer

But where does that leave us with the five crowns and the five races?  Well, the connection wasn’t very clear between the artifacts and the races, but what if we match the races with the kingdoms?  Let’s give it a whirl:

Fairies: Beings of light, protectors of The Source and… healers.  Well, that connects fairies with Sands of Sanctity, but just to make sure, can we connect it with the Shaping of Sambria where you can create anything you want, like beautiful gardens, or… oh, that would work!  And if that’s not enough, Sambria, again, was said to be the closest to raw shaping or shaping from… The Source!

Demons: The confidence lounges of Eloweer made me think of the demons immediately because of their use of knowledge as currency for their bargaining chips.  But then I wondered if giants would be a better option due to their knack for truth magic.  However, since confidence lounges are still filled with secrets, and there is still much cunning in the magic of Eloweer, I am sticking with my original connection: demons and the magic of Eloweer.

Undead: This is a no-brainer: Necronum, the space between life and death, is definitely the kingdom with the strongest connections to the undead.  There isn’t much else to say here.

Dragons: This one was a little trickier.  My initial thought was Zeropolis, but this was just because Roxie, the personification of Princess Harmony’s shaping power, takes the shape of a giant mechanical dragon.  It seemed like too much of a stretch.  But then on considering the traits of the dragons, or at least their use of magic, I wondered if there was something more.  Dragon magic is elemental.  It is found in their breath powers.  Not very techno-savvy.  But then, no magic is in Fablehaven.  If that’s all it was based on, nothing else could connect with Zeropolis.  It’s all about technology—their magic is useless without crystals… And that’s the thought that got me back on the dragon track.  Dragon magic is elemental, and crystals are an element.  Tinkers are basically manipulating elements with the purpose of advancing technology.  Dragons don’t exactly manipulate elements, but to the untrained eye, they are tampering with the elements (I could blame last night’s storm on a dragon with an icy breath power since I haven’t drinken any milk).  So I am sticking with Dragons and Zeropolis.  Roxie is simply a nice bonus as far as that goes.  She combined a lot of elements, and it was a big mess.

Giants: Facing the same problem again.  Do giants just get the scraps left over from the other connections?  How could space between time and space relate to giants and their power?  I have to admit, this one stumped me.  I wasn’t at all sure what to do about this, and it really did feel like Creon was just the one that was left, which is so sad since Creon is such a fascinating place: it stands apart from the other kingdoms—not necessarily geographically, but still—when you leave it you lose your memory of it, or it at least goes fuzzy, and you can jump through space and time through wayports.  Elegance’s, the princess with wayminding abilities, power takes the form of a giant snake that exists in all time—it’s just cool.

Determined to not make this a throw-away I started thinking about magic within the Fablehaven/Dragonwatch universe that operated the way wayminding operates, and it certainly exists: Seth loses his memory during Humbuggles game at Stormguard castle while they are seeking to win the Wizenstone, and the protections guarding the ethershard automatically transport you into a cage to trap you if you so much as touch the Ethershard.  Kendra uses a banishing rod to remove the Wizenstone to a place she doesn’t know.  Humbuggle, who possesses the Wizenstone, can pop up, seemingly wherever and whenever he wants.

This drew me to review the history of the Wizenstone and the Ethershard.  Bother were part of the Ethergem: the Wizenstone the largest, and the Ethershard the smallest.  We actually have a lot of details on the Ethergem:  It came from The Source as a gift to the giants.  Its intended purpose was to create a crown for the giants to set them apart from other beings in their sky realm of Stratos.  The demons and dragons had other plans for it, though.  They wanted their own crowns, and, long story short, it got broken into five pieces.  The breaking apart of the Ethergem is what caused Stratos to fall.  The giants, determined to not let anything like that happen again, guarded the Ethershard in Stratos using the magic that transported those attempting to steal it in cages.

So the power that acts in the same way wayminding in Creon works came from the Ethergem, which was a gift to the giants!  And Stratos was meant to be set apart from the rest of the kingdoms of Earth!  As stumped as I was, I didn’t expect to find anything solid, but this is now one of my favorite connections across series.  Here’s the breakdown again:

Fairies—Sambria—Sands of Sanctity

Demons—Eloweer—Oculus

Undead—Necronum—Font of Immortality

Dragons—Zeropolis—Translocator

Giants—Creon—Chronometer

The only thing that disappointed me is that I wasn’t able to connect Lyrian from Beyonders yet.  I actually started rereading Beyonders this week in hopes of discovering something.  And between that, and looking at a fan Wiki, https://beyonders.fandom.com/wiki/Wizardborn, I’ve got a start.  Determined to find a significant “five” within Beyonders, I decided a good place to start would be the Wizardborn races.  On the fan Wiki, there are six.  This bummed me out until I read the list: the giants created by Zokar, the Treefolk created by Certius, the Drinlings created by Eldrin, the Displacers created by Zokar, the Amar Kabal created by Eldrin and the Manglers, where were “evolved by Maldor.”  I am making the argument that “evolving” and “creating” are not the same thing.  Maldor used magic to change a type of being already in existence while Certus Zokar and Eldrin created entirely new beings.  So, apologies to the writer on this Wiki, but I will not be including manglers as a Wizardborn race.  I wasn’t able to tie these in yet, but hope to make those connections in the coming weeks as the exploration of “five” continues!  The working theory is that since these races are all a product of magic rather than users of magic or the magic itself, the connections are going to be different.

I hope you enjoy these connections!  Next week, I’ll be looking more at the different ways magic is used and how that ties in to themes in the Mull-tiverse.

The Power of Five: Introductions

 The number five is very prevalent throughout Brandon Mull’s canon.  There are (currently) five series included in this canon: Fablehaven, Candy Shop Wars, Beyonders, Five Kingdoms, Dragonwatch (and since he is said he is working on a third Candy Shop Wars, that will (for now) remain at five).  Three of those five series are made up of five books: Fablehaven, Five Kingdoms, Dragonwatch.  But it goes a lot deeper than that as well:

 

1: There are five prominent artifacts featured in the Fablehaven universe:

            The Chronometer, which can manipulate time in a variety of ways

            The Font of Immortality, which grants immortality to those who drink from it regularly

            The Oculus, which allows you to see anywhere and everywhere all at once

            The Sands of Sanctity, which heal those it is poured over

            The Translocator, which can take you anywhere you have already been

2: There are five Kingdoms in the Outskirts:

            Sambria

            Eloweer

            Zeropolis

            Necronum

            Creon

3: There are five crowns that represent five kinds of magical beings:

            Fairies

            Demons

            Undead

            Dragons

            Giants

4: The Ethergem was broken into five pieces:

            The Wizenstone

            The Ethershard

            The feature stone on three of the five crowns: Giant Queen, Dragon King, Demon King

5: (This one is just a theory I would like to explore in more depth) There are five main realms in which magic operates differently.

This last one is speculative, but the plan is to explore this over the next few weeks on this blog.  Here is the starting point for this:  We know of four, for sure, already:

            Earth

            Lyrian

            The Echolands (I am not saying the Outskirts here because the Echolands already existed, and the Outskirts was created from the Echolands)

            The realm of the Torivors—This one has only been referenced, not actually visited, but I believe it to be a key piece of the Mull-tiverse theory.

I’ve been thinking about his use of five, and it got me wondering about what five symbolizes in other places.  A quick Google search provided some cool insight:

            1: Five is used to represent curiosity and adventure—how perfect is this for the Mull-tiverse!

2: It symbolizes human perfection (the human body, with outstretched limbs forms a pentagon, we have five fingers on each hand, five toes on each foot, etc.)

            3: Five is a core number in numerology representing life, destiny, soul, personality and maturity

            4: The pentagram is a significant magical symbol, which represents light and health

            5: There are five traditional elements: earth, fire, water, air and spirit (which is sometimes called ether or aether)

There is a lot more than this, but we’re kind of on a “five” kick, if you haven’t figured that out already.  The five I selected were the ones I thought were most interesting and relevant in terms of the Mull-tiverse if we’re exploring the number five and how it supports themes in this theory.

The themes of five are much more overt in Fablehaven, Dragonwatch and Five Kingdoms, but with all this information, I bet there is relevance in Candy Shop Wars and Beyonders as well.  So here is the plan:

For the next five weeks (not counting this one) I’ll be looking at the significance of the use of five and what it means for the Mull-tiverse:

            Week One: The obvious fives and how they are connected across series

            Week Two: Five ways that magic is used

            Week Three: How five leads us to light

            Week Four: Five Mull-tiverse character archetypes

            Week Five: Five realms of the Mull-tiverse

This is going to be quite the adventure.  I am hoping to carry the theme of five throughout the blog posts after that, but everything needs to start with a foundation.

See you next week as we dig deeper into how the number five helps us connect the worlds within the Mull-tiverse!

Bringing Light

 This week, I ‘m going to do something a bit different for my blog post.  I still have plenty of ideas to dig into the Mull-tiverse theme, and this week’s post will still be related to that, but I won’t be looking at any of the books in particular.

Last week, I watched a live stream interview with Brandon Mull where he talked about his journey to becoming an author, his process, his inspirations, and how his faith impacts these things.  It was a beautiful interview that gave me more respect for him not just as an author (which I already had) but as a human being.  I left that event thinking, if I ever have the opportunity to meet him in person, I am going to take it because I want to thank him in person for the inspiration he has given me and so many others.

There are plenty of things that I could discuss about that interview here, but I am going to focus on three comments he made (one random, one insightful, one inspiring).  The intent is not just to rehash the interview and do a play-by-play.  For one, he had some very vulnerable moments where he shared some personal experiences and, while this increased my respect for him and aspire to have the will to be that vulnerable in the right moments, I don’t feel it is my place to pick apart his life experiences.

This is a fan blog, but it is more about the content than the man himself.  That being said, any opportunity to get content from the author is golden.

Random: One of the things he asked was if he had a favorite of his characters or if there was one he felt particularly connected to.  He didn’t really answer this, but he did.  First he explained how it was his job, as an author, to hide the fact that all of his characters are part of him.  As an aspiring writer myself, I appreciated this, but when he got down to talking about one particular character, I was actually surprised: It was Nate from Candy Shop Wars.  The reason I say he didn’t really answer this is because his explanation was that Nate was closest to him personality wise at that stage of his life.  I honestly expected it to be Seth from Fablehaven and Dragonwatch since there is more content about Seth, but it was also very intriguing and made me more eager to read the Candy Shop War books again (also, he said his next one would “probably” be a CSW 3 book).

Insightful: Another one of the questions, really the main question that they focused on the most, was how his faith impacted his writing.  He basically told his life story as a response, but one thing that he said really stood out.  I wish I had written his exact wording, but here it is in a nutshell: a time came where he had a decision about what kind of stories he wanted to produce.  He said he was so full of ideas that there were plenty of directions he could take.  The decision he made was that he wanted to share stories that brought light into the world.

This, of course, got me thinking about all his books that I’ve read and the light that they have brought to my life and my son who has read some of his books too.  It also made me think of his literal use of light: the Source, the orantium blast that destroyed Maldor, and how thematic light and the battle between light and darkness is across all his writing.

To go full-on Nerd for a moment here, I LOVE fan theories.  I don’t necessarily agree with every single fan theory out there, but I love the idea of fan theories.  One of my favorites is one of the biggest out there: The Pixar Theory, which suggests that all Pixar movies exist in the same universe on one gigantic timeline (if you don’t know about it, look it up; it’s fascinating).  Any time Pixar comes out with a new movie, I try to see how it fits in to the Pixar Theory.  Then I watch the Super Carlin Brothers (probably the biggest proponents of it) to see what they have to say about it.  At one point, the Super Carlin Brothers made a comment that made me love fan theories even more.  They were addressing some comments about people who had found content that disproved the theory, and basically their response was: You don’t get it.  That’s not why fan theories exist.  It’s about the message that the theory teaches as a whole.  With the Pixar theory, that message is about two sources of energy that we all need: emotions and memories.

Back to the interview with Brandon Mull: his comment about light, with regards to this blog, made me rethink what purpose it can serve.  It’s fun to see how the worlds are connected, and point out the Easter Eggs in his writing, and I’ll continue to do that.  And because of the comment from the Super Carlin Brothers, I had always intended to get to the point where I identified the overarching theme.  Then the author, himself, handed me the answer: bringing light into the world.  I know this is super vague, and could go in a lot of different directions.  But Brandon Mull handed me the compass, so to speak, to identify the theme.

Inspiring: This one is going to take a sharp turn away from the book content pretty soon, so to avoid distracting from the comment Mull made later on, I’m going to get this out here now: there was a specific moment in Dragonwatch: Return of the Dragon Slayers that popped into my mind and became even more meaningful than it already felt when I read it for the first time.  It was the moment when Seth was immersed in the aether at the Source.  You can read my detailed analysis of this scene in last week’s post as it relates to the Mull-tiverse, if you want.  His comment made me realize that there was imagery he uses that I was missing out on.

Brandon Mull made a comment directly about his faith that struck me.  I have been thinking about it all week, and not as it relates to his writing.  He had been recounting a time in his life where he had felt “unfixable.”  He didn’t see any way that he could be repaired, so to speak.  The way he was able to move past that was his reliance on the Savior, Jesus Christ.  He said he had always thought of himself as a faithful person—had great faith in prayer, liked going to church, served a mission for his church, but it wasn’t until that experience that he truly understood Christ’s role as our Savior—that he can fix the unfixable, heal the unhealable, and bring light where there’s darkness.  I don’t remember if those were his exact words, but it’s what I left thinking about after the interview.

What’s funny is, as I started watching the interview, knowing he would be talking about his faith, and still thinking that it would be interesting to dive into his writing again based on what he said.  While that is true, and I am excited about continuing to explore his books to develop this fan theory further, when he made this comment, at least a piece of that went away.

It became, and remains, much more important to learn how to rely on Christ and become a better person.

Moving forward, I’m still going to explore Brandon Mull content and the Mull-tiverse theory because, as I said, this is a fan blog.  And I hope it is as fun for you, the readers, as it is for me.  But I’ll be diving into themes more, and since Brandon Mull is a Christian, and since I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and therefore a Christian as well, I’ll be exploring Christian themes in the writing.  It's going to be a great ride!

Source Abilities

 Continuing from last week on further connections to the Mull-tiverse that “Return of the Dragon Slayers” offers us, I’m going to write today about the most obvious one of all: The Source.  Dragonwatch is not the first time we have heard about The Source.  It’s even called the same thing in The Five Kingdoms—it’s what the slipstreams in the Echolands (which are made of a substance called ether) lead to.

Playing devil’s advocate for a second (just because that’s fun sometimes), let’s make the argument that “The Source” is such a generic term that it can be used in different series, even by the same author, and not be the same thing.  Plausible.  Until you hear this from Konrad:

“This world can be debilitating,” Konrad said.  “But better, higher purer realms exist.  The Source is proof of that.  It connects to them” (519).  And later this, when he is talking about entering the Source himself: “The Source unnaturally prolonged my life… Too many of those days have been spent without my wife.  It’s time to see if I can catch up to her” (543).

I would argue that this is more than a wink and a nod to anybody who has read The Five Kingdoms series.  So today, I’m going to spend some time exploring the connection between Seth, and another Brandon Mull hero who spent some time in the Source… Or at least something that led to it: Cole Randolph.  The burning question that pulled me into my explorations for this post was this: Was Cole Brandon Mull’s first Shadow Healer?  After all, both spent time in the Source, and both had remarkable healing abilities after that experience: Cole was able to unblock the effects of shapecraft, reuniting others with their powers, and Seth was able to end the suffering of the undead.

So let’s dive in:

Cole spent more time in the ether of the slipstream than Seth spent in the aether of the Source—or at least more page space—which means we have a lot more detail on Cole’s experience.  In the fourth book of the Five Kingdoms series, “Death Weavers,” Cole dives into the slipstream to rescue Destiny, and stays behind so he wouldn’t get captured.  At first, the ether whips around him, physically trying to pull him toward the Source.  But his experience changes when his thoughts changed:

“But somebody had to save Tess.  And so many others.  He had to hold on… He needed to live.  He had to see his family again.  He had to help Dalton and Jenna find their way home.” (411)

These noble thoughts cause a shift in how Cole experiences being in the slipstream:

“The windy fluid still mostly whooshed around him, but now it felt like some of it flowed through him.  As he paid attention to the sensation, it gradually increased.” (412)

This is our indication within Five Kingdoms that the slipstreams do more than just carry echoes—or at least living echoes like Cole—into the next realm.  And it doesn’t take a whole lot for it to do more—just the right thought pattern. 

As a side note at this point, I love that there is something tangible that changes Cole that is directly tied to his thoughts; Cole has been heroic up until this point, but I would argue that this is the point where he truly becomes a hero.  And as a side note within the side note, being a literary nerd, I also love that this follows one of the conventions of Epic Heroes, which is a descent into the afterlife.

Okay, back to it.  Cole’s thoughts change, and the more he focuses on those thoughts, the more his experience in the ether changes.  One of my favorite moments as we are following Cole’s thought process starts off feeling like a tangent, but ends up being a remarkably profound moment:

“A memory stirred.  When had he heard wind like this?  The terminal void behind the cloudwall!  He wondered if the swirling maelstrom might be composed of this same ether.” (412)

As I read this section again this morning, preparing for this post, I had a total geek out moment at the use of the word… you guessed it… “void!”  Granted, this is void with a lower-case “V” but it’s no accident that “void” was used here.  There are plenty of other words to use—maelstrom, for instance.  In this little “this seems familiar” moment that Cole has—which happens SO MANY times in the course of a normal day—Cole hits on something profound: Although there are drastic contrasts between the Void, and the Source, they are connected.

Also, which other Mull-tiverse hero has experienced both the Void and the Source?  Seth!  Okay, Kendra, too, but we’re focusing on Cole and Seth today because he was immersed in it.

The passage with Cole in the slipstream is one of the richest passages in the Mull-tiverse.  And it doesn’t end with Cole’s connection between the void and the slipstream:

“Cole began to feel hot inside.  Although the ether penetrated his body, something within him resisted the shrieking gale, causing incredible friction.  The heat became uncomfortable before Cole recognized the scalding element as his power.

“He was feeling his power!” (412-413)

Unlike Seth, who discovers what the change within him means only after leaving the aether, Cole discovers it while ether is still swirling around and through him.  It heals him of his wounds, and he starts to hear the homesong:

“Cole had lost everything—his home, his family, his friends, his future—but this song promised restoration.  Peace and joy and endless abundance that included all he believed he had lost.” (413)

Even though Cole ultimately decides to leave the slipstream rather than continuing on to The Source, this is a significant experience, and completes his journey to becoming a true hero: he goes from desperation to resolve to pain to peace.  It is only after Cole feels peace that his transformation is complete, he can harness his power, and go on to complete his quest.

Now let’s explore Seth’s experience in some more detail.  We don’t have as much to explore here since Seth’s experience is a quick dip in the aether rather than a prolonged battle with a slipstream.  But there are definitely similarities.

I “Return of the Dragon Slayers,” Seth is invited to either drink from the Source or bathe in it.  Not wanting to become one of the undying, Seth opts for the bath.  I might add here that this likely prolonged his life, which I thought was interesting, though never directly addressed.

So the circumstances of the experience were quite different, though both Cole and Seth chose to “dive in.”

Before taking the dip in the aether, the Alderfairy asks Seth, “Do you formally renounce darkness?” and before answering, here is what we get for Seth’s reaction:

“He considered the champions of darkness he had met… then compared them to those who favored the light…Seth reflected about how he felt in the presence of the Void, contrasted with how he felt here beside the Source” (520).

Even though this is much more condensed, it is essentially the same though process that Cole goes through.  Seth thinks about his enemies and then his friends.  Then he thinks about the Void and the Source.  I’ll point out here that Seth has been dealing with darkness for NINE books now!  He became a Shadow Charmer in the second book of Fablehaven, and is reflecting on it near the end of the fifth book of Dragonwatch.  So even though we have a brief paragraph here, he is reflecting on TONS of experiences.  So it is not a light decision (pun intended) when he answeres, “I renounce darkness.  I’ll fight for the light.  I’ll help keep the balance” (520).

It’s also important to point out here before we go on that Seth has gone through a TON of desperation and suffering at this point.  He has also been firmly resolved for a long tome to not allow the darkness within him to get the better of him—and that includes the suffering caused by the stab from the unforgiving blade.  This is not to cheapen Cole’s experience at all—he had been through a lot too, and his experience was also after a lot of desperation and suffering.  We are just given a great illustration of those stages while he is in the slipstream.

Now, let’s look at Seth’s experience when Konrad has fully immersed him in the aether:

“For a moment, time slowed, and Seth experienced overwhelming bliss.  Not a single fear could trouble his mind.  He was forgiven and deeply loved.  Whether he lived or died, everything was going to be fine.” (520-521)

Seth finally gets the feeling of peace he has been longing for.  In his mind, the word is “bliss” and later “happiness,” but the idea is the same.

I said earlier that I felt like Cole became a true hero when he left the slipstream.  Even though Seth enters the Source so close to the end of the Dragonwatch series, I would make the same argument for Seth.  He was incredibly heroic in several instances through the entire Fablehaven and Dragonwatch saga.  But he became a hero and did the most heroic things of all after leaving the aether.  This is when “darkness is replaced by light” (paraphrasing what Konrad says on 521) and Seth becomes a Shadow Healer.

This leads us back to my original question: was Cole Brandon Mull’s first Shadow Healer.  Through most of my exploration on this topic, I was convinced that he was:

Seth, who actually has the title of Shadow Healer is able to end the suffering of the undead.  He is able to dispel the darkness within them and show them the light.  Cole is able to heal the damage caused by shapecraft to those in the Outskirts, and almost everyone in the Outskirts, at least in a way, is undead because they are in a “space between.”

Both heroes were fully immersed in substance connected to the Source, which travels through many dimensions, as established in Dragonwatch.  This means that even though it was called aether in one and ether in the other, it’s the same stuff.  Both had powers before, and both powers changed after being in the Source.

I am telling you, I was so convinced of this.  But then I read this:

“The aether works a little differently on everyone, depending on who they are and what they really want.” (519-520)

So I had to ask: what did Cole want?  Considering Cole’s specific experience, I had to go with what caused the change in his experience once he was in the ether.  Here’s that passage from “Death Weavers” again:

“But somebody had to save Tess.  And so many others.  He had to hold on… He needed to live.  He had to see his family again.  He had to help Dalton and Jenna find their way home.” (411)

To sum up: Tess, The Outskirts, Life, Family, Friends.

And for Cole, this isn’t a priority order, it’s a sequence order to the end result of getting back home.  He has to make it home, but he has to save the Outskirts in order to do that.  It’s important to point out that he is still willing to help save the Outskirts even if it means he can’t get home, but that is his goal, and his powers are uniquely suited to allow him that opportunity—in the Outskirts.  Not on Earth.  Because that is also a contributing factor.  After all, the Mull-tiverse is a multiverse.  That, and healing the effects of shapecraft is not Cole’s only ability.  He is able to use raw shaping to recharge magical devices and others with magic abilities in the Outskirts.  So ultimately, I do not think Cole is a Shadow Healer.

Just for fun, let's look back at Seth for a second.  What does he want?  His statement in “Return of the Dragon Slayers” is “I renounce darkness.  I’ll fight for the light.  I’ll help keep the balance” (520).  And again, I’ll point out: On Earth.

Their powers are in separate dimensions, where magic works in different ways.  Cole loses his abilities when he returns to Earth, and I am guessing the same would happen to Seth if he ever went to the Outskirts or Lyrian... even though these abilities were gained in a substance that travels through all dimensions within the Mull-tiverse... or would he?  What would happen if Seth ever traveled to other dimensions?  And what if Cole somehow found the Source on Earth?

Well, those are questions to explore later on. 

Colson, Selona and The Source

 Fair warning: there will be spoilers for the final installment of Dragonwatch in this post.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I haven’t been neglecting Brandon Mull’s books.  Before reading “Return of the Dragon Slayers,” I wanted to reread the other books in the Dragonwatch series.  I was hoping to find some new support for the Mull-Tiverse theory in doing so, and boy did I!

For today’s post, I would like to focus on some new information that we learn in “Return of the Dragon Slayers,” namely the secrets of Selona, and what those secrets do to support the Mull-Tiverse theory.

In the last installment of Dragonwatch, we learn where Selona is, and how it stays hidden.  Unlike some of the other secret places in the Fablehaven/Dragonwatch universe (The Fairy Realm, Zzyzx, the stadium in Humburgh) it is not a pocket dimension, and unlike the preserves and dragon sanctuaries, it’s a little more unique than just distracter spells, although very powerful distracter spells are used to protect Selona.

Gerwin explains it this way:

“Long ago, our kingdom was part of the normal world.  But as our people became the Fair Folk, mortals began to instinctively avoid our land, driven away by our magical natures” (427).

I know, this is no different than the preserves and the dragon sanctuaries.  The dense population of magical beings naturally causes mortals to steer clear of the area.  But this is only the beginning of Selona’s secret.  This was not enough to satisfy Konrad that Selona was safe, and Gerwin explains this, too, when he says, “My dad always told me that too many important things are hidden in Selona” (429).

He elaborates on this a little bit by referring to the fact that the sovereign skull, which protects humans from full-on dragon attack, is hidden in Selona.  He says he didn’t know all the details, but it is understood that other significant magical items (and, as we learn later, The Source) are hidden within the kingdom as well.

Moving everyone into a pocket dimension didn’t seem to be an option for an entire kingdom and all its inhabitants so Konrad, and the other powers that be, took a different approach:

“Selona is markedly distinct… Imagine two entirely different maps covering the same area, both perfectly accurate.  The sun shining on Poland is the same sun giving light to Selona”  (429).

While this is really cool to think about, you may already be thinking, What does this have to do with the Mull-Tiverse theory?

Well, let’s dive into it!

This, as I see it, is the strongest evidence that supports that the Earth in Beyonders, and Candy Shop Wars is the same Earth as the Fablehaven/Dragonwatch universe.  The strongest link is between this and Candy Shop Wars, so that’s where I’ll go next.

In an earlier post, I pointed out that Vista, Colorado (from Beyonders) and Colson, Colorado (from Candy Shop Wars) were a little more challenging to fit into the same Earth as the Earth in Five Kingdoms and Fablehaven/Dragonwatch because those two series only use actual places.  Selona changes that in one regard, but it also hands us an awesome explanation!  A combination of high magical population and protections brought on by other spells (to keep magical items safe) can cause the general population to avoid, and even forget about an entire kingdom… or city!

Let’s talk about Colson, California.  Right out of the gate, the biggest flaw in this idea is that Nate’s family just moved there.  So how did they find it if it was protected?  I’ll tell you: I don’t know.  I’m still fleshing that part out, but here’s what I have so far: First off, I don’t think that what is hidden there is anything nearly as significant as the location of the sovereign skull or the Source (though, I think it’s connected—I’ll get to that), which means the spells would not be nearly as strong.  Additionally (or maybe alternatively?) it is possible that it is a much newer protected area than Selona, which is ancient.  Another idea is that somehow there was magic involved in the job offer that Nate’s dad received—one that he wasn’t even aware of—that needed to occur in order to bring Nate to Colson, similar to the way that Rachel and Jason were drawn to Lyrain.

So, I just said that it’s possible that the magic protection in Colson isn’t as old as the magic protection in Selona.  There is actually support of this in the book.  The first is the name of Ms. White’s shop: “Sweet Tooth Ice Creame and Candy Shoppe.”  I know that there are still little towns that have novelty stores that still use the old fashioned spelling, but you can’t overlook any detail in a fan theory.  Additionally, there’s this little nugget from page 30: “All along Main Street from Greenway to the hill topped by Mt. Diablo Elementary, the buildings looked like they were trying to belong to the Old West.”

Or maybe the people in the town are now trying to make it not look like the old west anymore.  Maybe the magical protections began in the old west days.

If this isn’t enough to convince you, no worries, this is not where it ends!

The tasks that Ms. White gives to Nate, Summer, Pigeon and Trevor are to get them to find a magical item—specifically a draught from the Fountain of Youth.  There are TONS of legends out there about the Fountain of Youth.  I think it’s safe to say that this would be a location worth protecting with magical barriers.  But they’re not looking for the fountain itself, just a draught from it.  So, while it is incredibly important to protect, it is not nearly as important as protecting the location of the actual Fountain of Youth.

So here’s the story: Someone, at some point way back in history, found the Fountain of Youth, and pulled a draught from the fountain and kept it.  Whoever that was, or whoever got it from them, found a safe place to hide it in California in the day of the Old West.  I am guessing that individual was a magician, not a wizard.  Why do I say this?  Well, partially because that is the established source of magic in Candy Shop Wars, but also because the spell was clearly not as strong as those put over Selona.

But wait!  There’s still more!  Let’s look back at Selona again for a bit:

Powerful magic was used to protect Selona because it was the location of the sovereign skull, yes, but the biggest reason they went to such extensive measures to protect it was because it was also the location of The Source.  We learn in “Return of the Dragon Slayers,” we learn that on Earth, the access to The Source is a pool of a substance called aether, surrounded by a remarkable garden. 

Seth bathed in it, which healed his “unhealable wounds” and turned him into a Shadow Healer.  Kendra’s ankle was healed in it, as well as the Fairy King’s bit from a narcoblix.  But these aren’t the coolest things the aether can do:  Konrad and his children drank the aether and became undying.  Aether was used to water crops and livestock in Selona, and it turned the inhabitants into the Fair Folk.  Konrad’s wife bathed in the aether, and it prolonged her life!

I don’t know about you, but this sounds like a way cooler version of the Fountain of Youth than most other legends.  So the connection is even stronger!  The Source, or at least its location on Earth, is the Fountain of Youth!

I have to say, I was very excited to discover this, because I was originally really worried about finding connections between Candy Shop Wars and the other books.  This discovery brings it fully into the theory in my mind and I am so excited to find more connections!