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!