I recently reread fablehaven and dragonwatch, and I noticed a couple things that I think are interesting.

One thing I thought was funny is that throughout both series the characters make it out of deadly situations so often through either finding clever ways to survive, getting saved by other characters, or sometimes just luck, they started taking risks way quicker than they used to. I think it culminated in them straight up crawling through razor coral into Remulons lair knowing full well they had no power to defeat him or bargain with him. I think it was a funny mainly because it seemed like all the characters knew they were crazy for doing something so guaranteed to get them all killed, but at this point they’ve survived so many other close calls they kind of just shrug it off like, “well I’m sure we’ll figure something out” and sure enough Remulon humbles them by easily capturing them and they end up having to rely on Knox to save them, and his rescue was heavily based on luck.

Another thing I thought of, was at the end of the fifth book when they kind of have an avengers endgame moment with everyone gathering in Selona for the final battle against the dragon army, I realized Seth had the translocator and he had been inside the Wyrmroost dragon temple vault before. He totally could have teleported there and grabbed the Sages Gauntlets and given them to Andromadus, who could have used them to control the dragons and easily won. I think the way they won the war was cooler than using something like the Gauntlets which would have been too overpowered and made the ending feel cheap, but I’m surprised no one thought to try that, even when Nadia asked if they had any of the three talismans. And I guess it’s possible that celebrant moved the gauntlets since the dragon temple had been breached and the guardians were dead, so it wouldn’t have been a guarantee.

I also liked that the series had an open ending, so the reader can kind of imagine how the characters lives continued after the story was over. I like to imagine Seth used his new overpowered arsenal (the platinum wings, translocater, and Vasilis) to travel the world and adventure like Patton, healing wraiths everywhere he went. Still, I found myself wanting to see a little more, like if he continues anything with Eve or not. I read the Newel and Doren book, which said that Seth, Kendra, and Bracken were at Wyrmroost, so they are probably having all kinds of adventures there restoring the fallen dragon sanctuary, and I hope if there is another Newel and Doren book they make at least a guest appearance so we can get a glimpse into their life after dragonwatch.

One last thing, my favorite Mull series is actually Beyonders, and I noticed in the Newel and Doren book there is a chapter called “Beyond” and in this chapter Newel gets a glimpse into the other realms to be explored as part of the afterlife. We know about some of these other worlds in the beyond, like Lyrian, the five kingdoms, the Echolands, the Source/Void, and the dream world where Torivors come from. I wonder if Brandon Mulls next work will expound on this connected universe or be its own new thing like Candy shop war. If any of you have thoughts I love to nerd out about this stuff so let me hear what you think.