Cauldron Save Us

In this spoiler-free finale of A Court of Thorns and Roses , Feyre’s story comes full circle and the payoff is enormous, in both good and tricky ways. After Amarantha kills her, Feyre’s bargain with Rhysand quite literally saves her life… but not without a cost. We unpack Feyre’s near-death experience, how she watches her own corpse through Rhysand’s eyes, and what that vision might mean for their...

In this spoiler-packed breakdown of chapters 45 and 46 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , Ariel and Corryn are saying goodbye to Thorns and Roses and trying very hard not to cry about it. Feyre has died, been remade, and is trying to live with what she has done, all while we as readers are suddenly looking at every character through a very different lens. We talk about how shocking it is that Beron...

In this spoiler-free breakdown of Chapters 43 and 44 of A Court of Thorns and Roses, the final trial has arrived… and everything hurts. The faeries’ attitude toward Feyre has completely shifted, Amarantha’s grip is slipping, and the tension is thicker than Lucien’s hair. Feyre’s last task is the literal embodiment of the trolley problem, and Sarah J. Maas foreshadows it every chance she gets. To w...

In this spoiler-filled breakdown of Chapters 45 and 44 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , Feyre’s final moments Under the Mountain are brutal, heartbreaking, and deeply symbolic… and are driving us crazy. We debate whether the faeries’ sudden reverence for Feyre is genuine or just another act of survival under Amarantha’s rule. Ariel and Corryn dive into Feyre’s spiritual awakening as she begins to...

In this spoiler-free breakdown of Chapters 41 and 42 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , we’re officially in the final stretch Under the Mountain, and Feyre is hanging on by a thread. With her last trial looming, she’s hit with the gut-wrenching realization that even if she survives, she’ll still die long before Tamlin ever does. But no pressure, right?! 🫠 But it’s not all despair. Rhysand’s mysteri...

In this spoiler-filled breakdown of Chapters 41 and 42 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , Ariel and Corryn are back Under the Mountain and losing it… in the best way. Between a mysterious “pig man” fae throwing shade at Amarantha on behalf of the King of Hybern and Rhysand pulling a Say Anything, things are getting wild in Prythian. We unpack the layers of the iconic scene where Rhys sends music int...

In this spoiler-free breakdown of chapter 40 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , Feyre’s second task proves that Amarantha really know how to torture someone. Our girl’s trapped in a pit with Lucien, a giant grate is coming down fast, and her only hope is a riddle carved into the wall that she has to solve. The only problem? She can’t even read the damn riddle. Ariel and Corryn unpack the psychologic...

Goodbye gladiator-style trials, hello psychological warfare. In this spoiler-filled breakdown of chapter 40 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , Ariel and Corryn break down how Sarah J. Maas turns survival into a mental labyrinth as Feyre faces humiliation, fear, and the cruel twist of not being able to read her way out. We dig into the privilege of literacy, why this scene hits so hard, and how Rhys’...

In this spoiler-free breakdown of chapter 39 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , Feyre’s life Under the Mountain somehow gets even worse. She’s trapped, branded with Rhysand’s tattoo, and convinced the eye on her palm is watching her back. Two silent attendants haul her from her cell, strip her down, paint every inch of her body, and dress her like a “heathen god’s plaything.” It’s disturbing, demean...

In this spoiler-packed breakdown of chapter 39 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , Ariel and Corryn dive head-first into the infamous “paint and party” scenes. This week, we’re unpacking one of the most divisive moments in the entire ACOTAR series: Feyre being paraded around Under the Mountain as Rhy’s “plaything.” We break down why this scene is still hard to stomach; the loss of Feyre’s bodily auto...

Welcome back to Cauldron Save Us , where this week’s episode dives into Chapters 37 and 38 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , and things are getting intense . Feyre is dying. Her arm is shredded. Her options? Limited. Her savior? Shockingly… Rhysand. We’re talking about Feyre’s brush with death, the mystery of Rhysand’s powers, and what his surprise intervention really means, especially when he conf...

Welcome back to Cauldron Save Us , where your favorite duo Ariel and Corryn finally drop the act; we’ve been playing our spoiler-free listeners HARD. We’re covering Chapters 37 and 38 of A Court of Thorns and Roses and talking about how Rhysand is NOT the villain we pretended he was, but rather, how much of a hero he actually is. We break down the infamous bargain scene and why Rhys “twisting” Fey...

In this spoiler-free breakdown of Chapter 36 of A Court of Thorns and Roses, Feyre is thrown headfirst into Amarantha’s first trial, and it’s giving full Gladiator energy. As the crowd mocks her and the stakes couldn’t be higher, Feyre uses what’s working against her to work in her favor. From the moment she’s dropped into the arena, she goes from being prey to full-on predator, and it’s an incred...

This week, Ariel and Corryn dive deep into Chapter 36 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , and Amarantha is putting on a full production that is equal parts Gladiator , Star Wars , and James Bond villain theatrics. But for all her cunning, it turns out this evil queen may have seriously miscalculated with this trial. We discuss how this chapter recontextualizes so much on a reread: from Rhys being the...

In this spoiler-free breakdown of chapter 35 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , Feyre gets a very bloody wakeup call as she gets her first taste of what it really means to be Under the Mountain. Feyre’s self-blame over Clare Beddor’s fate is fueling her determination to survive, but Amarantha’s clever wording has us all sweating. What happens if Feyre does complete the trials? Will she, Tamlin, and...

In this spoiler-packed breakdown of Chapter 35 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , we’re locked in a cell with Feyre and losing our minds over how little ol’ TamTam is doing to help. We’re talking about how sitting around in a dungeon waiting for the next trial might be more torturous than the trials themselves. Feyre’s guilt, her isolation, and her fear are palpable… and made all the worse by the in...

In this spoiler-free breakdown of Chapters 33 and 34 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , Feyre makes the ultimate choice and heads Under the Mountain!!! Guilt-ridden over failing to break Amarantha’s curse by not telling Tamlin that she loves him, Feyre steps into the lion’s den to fix what she believes she broke. Alis lays down a few simple rules before Feyre embarks on her journey… which Feyre imme...

In this spoiler-packed breakdown of Chapters 33 and 34 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , Ariel and Corryn are dissecting every cursed moment of Feyre’s iconic Under the Mountain entrance. We’re talking Suriel prophecies (that “Stay with the High Lord” line hits very different now), Alis’s broken rules (Feyre breaks every. damn. one. of. them), and why Feyre’s only trying to save the Spring Court wh...

In this spoiler-free breakdown of Chapter 32 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , Ariel and Corryn are reeling from the bombshell that upends the entire first half of the book: there is no blight. It's a curse, and it's way more specific, painful, and brutal than Feyre (or any of us) could have imagined. Feyre returns to the Spring Court to find it in ruins, only to be met with a full info d...

In this spoiler-filled breakdown of Chapter 32 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , Ariel and Corryn finally get to scream the truth from the rooftops: it’s a curse, not a blight! And oh boy, is it a convoluted one. We dig into the 7x7 curse (named for the seven High Lords?), question why The Mountain is considered “sacred,” and what Amarantha’s long game tells us about power, patriarchy, and vengeanc...

In this spoiler-free breakdown of Chapter 30-31 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , Ariel and Corryn are feeling a LOT of feelings. From running into her ex-situationship, Isaac, to realizing just how out of place she feels among humans now, Feyre’s going through some growing pains. We discuss how her time in Prythian has changed her worldview, especially when it comes to love, power, and privilege....

In this spoiler-packed breakdown of Chapters 30–31 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , Ariel and Corryn are truly amazed by how much groundwork Sarah J. Maas sneakily lays down in just two chapters that sets up for the rest of the series. We talk about a prevalent theory in the ACOTAR fandom that Nesta may have never been fully human, and how that might explain why she was able to break through Tamli...

In this spoiler-free breakdown of Chapters 28-29 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , Ariel and Corryn finally reveal their surprise they’ve been hinting at… WE’RE RECORDING IN THE SAME ROOM!!! During this special episode, we freak out over Feyre’s heartbreaking departure from the Spring Court. Tamlin finally tells her he loves her… right before sending her away. We’re talking about why this moment is...

In this spoiler-packed breakdown of Chapters 28-29 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , Ariel and Corryn are grieving right alongside Feyre as she’s forced to leave what she now considers home: the Spring Court. We’re talking about the symbolic weight of the dress Alis puts Feyre in, Lucien’s frustrating (but understandable?) goodbye, and Tamlin’s major character flaws on full display. From his refusa...

In this spoiler-free breakdown of chapter 27 of A Court of Thorns and Roses , Ariel and Corryn are processing the emotional fallout from Rhysand’s surprise visit right alongside Feyre. Tamlin is going full-beast mode, Feyre’s blaming herself, and we’re all left wondering what exactly the blight really means when Amarantha is clearly the Big Bad. And just when Feyre’s ready to stay and fight alongs...