This is it, y’all. This is the chapter I’ve been waiting for. This is the chapter that made me so mad I had to temporarily stop reading.

BUT FIRST! Each chapter opens with a little bit of in-universe flavor text, something from an in-universe book or from Brennan’s diary. Mostly it’s just worldbuilding nuggets that are fine but not relevant. This time we get:

Winning the War Games isn’t about strength. It’s about cunning. […] No one stays friends forever, Mira. Eventually those closest to us become our enemies in some way, even if it’s through will-intentioned love or apathy, or if we live long enough to become their villains.

Esprit de corps, motherfucker, ever heard of it?

I can’t even claim that the school, as we have seen so far, actually does this, but if that’s the intention (the author’s intention/the school’s intention/whatever) then it’s dumb as fuck because they’re a military. You want them to work together. Hell, last chapter we had Mira pointing out that unit cohesion is important! This book just has no sense of consistency in what kind of vibe it wants these riders to have.

Anyway, War Games is basically Squad Battle on ten shots of espresso and it’s coming up soon.

It’s two days after the events of last chapter and Violet is pestering one of her teachers for news of Mira and her squad. Xaden is hanging around with her, for support and also for bantering opportunities. They pounce on the teacher as soon as he comes out of his office and ask for information. The teacher says the whole incident is classified, but after some pestering at least tells Violet that no one died. Her sister is safe.

There’s a bunch of summary and then we skip ahead to the first day of War Games. It’s wing vs wing and one side is defending while another attacks. There are certain items in play that are worth points. The defending wing has a valuable dragon egg (fake) and the attacking wing has a less valuable flag and they’re going to go out and try to steal from each other. Finally, an exercise in this nonsense college that makes some amount of sense.

They walk out to the flight field to mount up and Tairn shows up in a saddle.

A fucking saddle.

A FUCKING SADDLE.

“I can’t use that.” I shake my head. “It’s not allowed.”

“I decide what’s allowed and what’s not,” Tairn growls

WHY IS IT NOW ALLOWED, BOOK? WHY? WHY DO YOU HATE SENSE THIS MUCH? WHO DISALLOWED IT?

Clearly the dragons don’t mind because Tairn is right here like “fuck it, this makes more sense and it’s not even uncomfortable and I’m find with it” and yet FOR SOME REASON it’s “not allowed”????

SAYS FUCKING WHO?

I have never been so mad at a FUCKING SADDLE before in my life, not because the saddle is bad but because it’s existence here means IT’S POSSIBLE AND Y’ALL KNOW IT’S POSSIBLE AND YOU DIDN’T DO IT BEFORE NOW AND JUST FUCKING WHY?

But I know why. It’s because the author wanted to write in a scene about disability accommodations. It’s clear in this interview she gives.

I can only speak for myself here, but there are plenty of times I don’t want to accept accommodations. I want to be capable of accomplishing the same feats as my peers—like signing thousands of books a day when necessary—without complaint or injury. But I also recognize that it’s not possible. My wrist simply won’t hold out and there’s every chance my hip will slide out when I sit incorrectly, or I’ll pass out when my heart races due to POTS.

Violet accepts the accommodations she absolutely has to in order to be a dragon rider. She can definitely get in her own way and put her body through too much at times because of her stubbornness, which I’ve found to be a personal theme in my life. Accepting and asking for appropriate accommodations is a very personal journey, and it was important for me to show that in Fourth Wing for readers who may or may not struggle with the same choices.

And that is a noble goal. In fact, throughout this scene Violet is furious about being presented with an accommodation has to be talked into it, with other people and her dragons pointing out that this isn’t a failing and her life will be better and stronger if she takes it and she has complex feelings about it but ultimately accepts. And it’s good. On an emotional level, at least. It’s written with some strong emotion that comes through clearly and that’s great!

But why is about a fucking saddle?

PEOPLE HAVE DIED, BOOK.

CHARACTERS HAVE FALLEN OFF THEIR SEAT AND DIED MULTIPLE TIMES SO FAR.

WHY DON’T THEY GET A SADDLE?

WHY IS THE ONE FUCKING ACCOMMODATION THIS????

I am so absolutely furious because it’s an ‘accommodation’ that makes sense to an abled person because we all know what saddles are it’s just too fucking obvious. It’s something everyone already uses. There is going to be zero need to change any minds or thoughts when a character is given a saddle because it’s just “oh, yeah, of course” and also IT MAKES NO SENSE THAT THEY DIDN’T ALREADY HAVE ONE.

Look at that quote above. The author talks about how her hip slips out if she just sits for too long. Why not use that? Why not have saddles that she can’t use because they’re too wide and prolonged sitting messes up her joints? Why not have to modify her saddle into something that makes people go “wow, princess, you need a chaise lounge there?” Because in this book it’s a normal saddle and exactly zero other characters in the story have a problem with it.

Why doesn’t this book challenge literally anything about ableist ideas?

AND WHO IN-UNIVERSE SAID THAT RIDERS CAN’T HAVE SADDLES I’M STILL MAD ABOUT THAT ONE.

Also it’s dumb as shit that this comes up the same day as their field exercise because she has no chance to practice with it or get used to it or find out if, IDK, having her legs tied in place just pulls her hip joint out while they’re making hard turns. Feels like that’s something you need to safety test before you go into a battle with it, mock or not.

But this book cares shit all about safety procedures so off we go to have a little battle. Andarna decides she wants to come to. Sure, we haven’t seen her much this book, come on along.

Violet finds out she really loves flying when she’s not terrified of falling off all the time and her magic starts getting all sparky, implying she was too tense to manifest a signet before.

Violet’s group comes across another bunch of dragons and it’s quickly clear that this group is guarding the fake egg. Also this book still doesn’t understand what ‘training’ is and has the kids go after each other with full on magic and live weapons because sure, why the fuck not. Let’s burn some students to death. That’ll help things.

One of the egg defenders is Jack, who is being his usual dumbass self and picks Liam to grapple with. The dragons are fighting very close together in midair because sure, why not, and Jack jumps onto Liam’s dragon so he can go do a stabbity-stab.

Violet and Tairn go into a desperate dive to catch Liam after he falls off his dragon, and Violet has to stop time again for a second so they can catch up and save him. Afterwards, Violet is furious and looks around for Jack to enact some revenge. Surprising herself and everyone else, she finally manifests her special powers and fries him to death with lightning.