A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

In the faerie realm of Prythian, Rhysand, the High Lord of the Night Court, narrates a brief prologue set 500 years before the events of the series. Two years before the end of an ancient war to free humans from faerie enslavement, Rhysand searches the battlefield for his friends. The seven courts of Prythian are deeply divided: some fight for human freedom, while others, including the court of Hybern, fight to keep humans enslaved.

Weeks after the events of A Court of Mist and Fury, where Feyre Archeron left Tamlin, High Lord of the Spring Court, to be with Rhysand. Feyre, once human, died saving Prythian from the evil faerie queen Amarantha and was resurrected as an immortal High Fae. But Tamlin's possessiveness has impeded her psychological recovery since her return.

Rhysand, Feyre’s true love and fated mate, rescued her from an unwanted marriage to Tamlin. As they fell in love, they worked together to thwart the King of Hybern, who seeks to use the ancient and powerful Cauldron to enslave humans once again. Tamlin, desperate to win Feyre back, aligned himself with Hybern, unintentionally causing Feyre’s sisters, Nesta and Elain, to become High Fae. Feyre pretended to still love Tamlin and returned to the Spring Court as a spy. She and Rhys secretly wed, and Feyre became the High Lady of the Night Court.

Now, Feyre works to undermine Tamlin’s authority and weaken Hybern’s ally in Prythian. She manipulates a public conflict between Tamlin’s sentry and Ianthe, a High Priestess sympathetic to Hybern. Tamlin, politically pressured, is forced to choose his alliance over his own men, losing their loyalty.

A delegation from Hybern arrives, including Jurian, a resurrected human warrior who once fought against the King of Hybern but now serves as an emissary to Hybern’s mortal allies. Feyre learns of Hybern’s plan to destroy the Wall dividing the faerie and mortal realms and returns to the Night Court with Lucien, Tamlin’s emissary and Elain’s mate.

Feyre reunites with Rhysand in the Night Court, and together they work to build alliances ahead of the looming war with Hybern. Feyre’s sisters struggle to adjust to life as High Fae—Nesta is bitter, while Elain is too devastated by the loss of her human fiancé to connect with Lucien. Elain’s cryptic dream-talk worries her sisters. Feyre is also concerned about Rhysand’s willingness to sacrifice himself for his friends in the upcoming war.

Rhys’s Inner Circle—Cassian, his general; Azriel, his spymaster; and Morrigan, his cousin—help plan their strategy. They also support Rhys’s call for a council of all seven High Lords of Prythian. Nesta begins training with Amren, Rhys’s ancient and otherworldly deputy, who believes Nesta’s connection to the Cauldron could be crucial.

Desperate for more allies, Feyre seeks the Bone Carver, an ancient death-god, to aid them in battle. The Bone Carver agrees, but only if Feyre retrieves the Ouroboros mirror, rumored to destroy anyone who gazes into it. While researching in Velaris’s library, Feyre and Nesta are attacked by Hybern spies, narrowly escaping when Feyre makes a bargain with Bryaxis, a monster hidden at the library’s depths.

Afterward, Feyre realizes Elain’s dream-talk had predicted the attack, revealing that Elain is a seer. Based on one of Elain’s visions, Lucien embarks on a solo quest to find another potential ally: a human queen named Vassa.

When Hybern attacks the Summer Court, Feyre, Rhys, and their friends rush to defend it. Though they achieve a hard-fought victory, the battle exposes Feyre to the horrors of war and strains her relationship with Tarquin, the High Lord of the Summer Court, whose trust they betrayed during their earlier attempts to thwart Hybern.

At the council of High Lords, old grudges threaten to sabotage the war effort. In a surprising turn, Tamlin arrives and reveals he’s been a double agent, using his alliance with Hybern to gather valuable information. He’s furious that Feyre’s actions left him vulnerable to Hybern. An uneasy alliance forms, driven by Nesta’s appeal to principle and Feyre’s embracing of her full powers. The next day, Hybern uses the Cauldron to destroy the Wall, setting the stage for an all-out war.

Rhys, Cassian, Azriel, Mor, Feyre, Elain, and Nesta arrive at the war camp, where Elain nervously asks if many soldiers will die. Feyre confirms that many will. To prepare Elain for her upcoming encounter with Graysen, they use a glamour to make her appear human. While Cassian stays behind with the army, the group winnows to Graysen’s family estate, a fortified location designed to protect against faeries. Graysen and his father, Lord Nolan, meet them at the gates, where Graysen refuses to believe that Elain is High Fae, though they are aware of her true nature due to Jurian’s revelation.

Jurian, now a double agent working for the King of Hybern, explains his true loyalties and warns that Hybern will attack the Summer Court. He also informs Rhys and Feyre that Tamlin has returned to Hybern. Later, Feyre and Rhys confirm Jurian’s story by reading his mind. Elain insists she loves Graysen, but he rejects her, leading to a confrontation with Nesta, who slaps him. Jurian agrees to return to Hybern and reveals weak points in Hybern’s forces, further deepening the alliances among the group.

The battle at the Illyrian war camp takes an unexpected turn when Hybern’s forces retreat, and Tarquin’s troops massacre the fleeing soldiers. The following days are filled with tension as Feyre struggles with the brutality of war. She plans to release Bryaxis only when they locate the main Hybern army, but Azriel reports that Hybern’s forces are marching toward the Winter Court. In response, Feyre decides to seek out the Suriel for guidance. After encountering the Suriel and learning that Nesta’s connection to the Cauldron might help locate Hybern’s forces, Feyre and her allies prepare for another confrontation.

The group faces increasing pressure as the Hybern army continues to advance. In a desperate move, Feyre seeks out Elain’s help in tracking the Cauldron’s movements, leading them to a breakthrough when Elain’s vision points to the Hybern army’s location. With the help of the Suriel, who warns Feyre of the dangers ahead, Feyre’s group prepares to act, but Elain is soon kidnapped by the Cauldron in disguise as Graysen. Feyre and Azriel devise a plan to rescue her, using Feyre’s disguise as Ianthe to infiltrate the Hybern camp.

Inside the enemy camp, Feyre and Azriel locate Elain, and with the help of Jurian, manage to escape with her. However, they are pursued by vicious faerie hounds, and Feyre is struck by an ash arrow. Just as they near the edge of the camp’s wards, a sudden gust of wind saves Feyre, and she realizes it was Tamlin who sent the wind to help her. They manage to escape with Elain and a rescued human girl, Briar, and return to camp, where Feyre is healed. The sisters find solace in each other’s company as they sleep together after their harrowing ordeal.

Azriel is recovering from injuries but is unable to fight in battle. Kallias and his army join the war camp, while Feyre wonders whether Tamlin will join as well. Meanwhile, Feyre and Mor reconcile, and Mor reveals her bisexuality, explaining that she is only romantically attracted to women but fears her family’s reaction, especially since it is not accepted in the Hewn City. Feyre promises to be there when Mor is ready to share her truth. As Hybern plans to attack the human realms, Amren discovers how to defeat the Cauldron, leading to a critical moment in the war.

Feyre helps Rhys evacuate humans from her former village to the Summer Court, and in an effort to aid their mission, she decides to conquer the Ouroboros mirror. Feyre successfully defeats the mirror’s test and earns the Bone Carver’s support in the battle. As the Prythian forces prepare for battle, Feyre realizes her father’s ships are arriving to assist them. The battle begins with devastating blasts from the Cauldron, resulting in the loss of the Bone Carver and Illyrian forces. Feyre, Amren, and their allies press on with the mission to destroy the Cauldron, while Nesta and Cassian sacrifice themselves to distract the King of Hybern, which leads to the King’s eventual death at Elain’s hand.

Amren uses her remaining strength to defeat Hybern’s forces in a burst of flame and light, but the Cauldron’s destruction causes a massive rift in the world. Feyre and Rhys, exhausted and on the brink of losing everything, must work together to repair the Cauldron. Rhys dies in the process, but the High Lords, including Tamlin, help bring him back to life, with Tamlin offering his power despite the tensions between them. Feyre is left to grieve her father’s death, cremating his body as Elain and Nesta deal with their own emotions. Feyre also invites Lucien to live in Velaris as a symbol of new alliances.

The aftermath of the battle sees Feyre and the others working toward peace and healing. At a grand meeting, the treaty between humans and faeries is renegotiated, and stories are exchanged, bringing progress despite lingering conflicts. Feyre returns home with her sisters, sensing that their journey isn’t over. Elain plans to build a garden, symbolizing hope for the future, as Feyre continues to navigate her complex relationships, the new world they’ve entered, and the work still ahead to heal the wounds of war. Rhysand can’t wait to spend the rest of his life with Feyre, and Feyra feels the same. 

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