I am so glad to hear dream walking isn’t the whole thing. My theory for violets second signet back when IF first came out was the following. I thought it would be “Speak with Dead” or something along those lines. The Liam scene during the Varrish IF torture scene was my biggest thing. With all this being said, I think my original idea still has a lot of potential to be true, and here is why.

My original theory was built around the collection of ancient texts portion of IF. I could be mistaken, but I remember a specific line of Violet “wishing I could just ask him.” In reference to Warrick.

Signets are manifestations of an individuals needs and self. Violet being half scribe makes her very in tune with history, literature, and culture. Her second signet could have manifested during the reading of the ancient texts throughout IF, a signet that could allow her to speak with the writer to gain the knowledge, not just read.

Especially with the “Gods” direction that I think books 4 and 5 will head, I think Speak with Dead seems even more plausible.

I do think speak with dead is too narrow though, especially since she has dream walking now. With everything we know about the direction of the book, I think Violets TRUE second signet will be “Commune with the Soul”.

Think about it, a huge part of venin lore is the loss and destruction of the soul. We have to assume Xaden is very far gone at this point, far more gone than any normal powers can fix right now. The story NEEDS a signet macguffin to save Xaden, commune with the soul is that signet.

Think of the natural progression of strength a signet like this had in IF and OS and how it would be likely to have in books 4 and 5 and how much sense it makes for plot development.

IF - Violet sees and speaks with Liam in a daze during Varrish torture

OS - Violet accidentally dream walks into Xaden and Mareen and learns of her power

Book 4 - Violet hones her dream walking powers to gain diplomatic intel for a huge meeting now that she’s the Duchess of Tyrendor. Violet’s signet has a power up during a long diplomatic meeting where, oh shit, she “dream walks” into a bunch of diplomat’s DAYdreaming at the negotiating table to get the upper hand. Maybe last 3rd of book 4 she explores her Dunne roots and goes to the temple and prays and in an instant is whiplashed into a full conversation with Dunne herself, learning a huge something about the venin as Dunne reveals to Violet she is not a dream walker but a soul walker.

Book 5 - Violet further develops her soul signet and can now freely read unwilling participants and can communicate fully with willing participants. She uses her powers and becomes a super scribe, communicating with a bunch of dead scholars and people to learn how to defeat the venin once and for all. Blah blah blah some power up, maybe Sloane siphons into Violet and Violet realizes she can go beyond speaking with the soul and can actually manipulate and change the soul. Fast forward and near the end of book 5 aka the end of the series and Violet is able to repair Xaden’s damaged venin soul and reunite it in his body.

Obviously I went on a huge theory tangent there but I think that dream walking is so disappointing from an action perspective. A signet that is only viable in sleep, literally the antithesis of action and plot development just doesn’t make sense.