Empire of Storms is the fifth book in Sarah J. Maas’s YA fantasy series, Throne of Glass. Maas published the first eponymous Throne of Glass novel in 2012, introducing Celaena Sardothien, the protagonist whose true identity as Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, the rightful Queen of Terrasen, is revealed at the end of the second novel, Crown of Midnight. In the third and fourth books, Heir of Fire and Queen of Shadows, Aelin works alongside her allies to reclaim her throne and defeat the evil Valg King Erawan. Published in 2016, Empire of Storms was released in the same year as A Court of Mist and Fury, the second installment of Maas’s adult fantasy series, A Court of Thorns and Roses. Maas is also the author of the adult fantasy series Crescent City. Her work is characterized by the creation of intense fantastical worlds with intricate magic systems, strong female protagonists, and sweeping romances set against the backdrop of large-scale conflict and war.

This guide refers to the 2016 Bloomsbury Publishing Kindle Edition.

Content Warning: Both the source text and this guide contain descriptions of enslavement, sexual assault, attempted suicide, and abuse.

Plot Summary

The narrative begins with a brief flashback to Elena Galathynius and her husband Gavin Havilliard’s discussion of how best to destroy the evil Valg King Erawan. (The Valg are parasitic demons who can possess and destroy the bodies of others, and Erawan holds near-godlike power.) Elena and Gavin attempt to create a self-sacrificial plan to imprison Erawan in order to buy time for another savior to arise and permanently destroy him.

The narrative then shifts to Elide Lochan in the Oakwald Forest, who was left behind by the Ironteeth witch Manon after the city of Morath was destroyed. Elide has escaped the clutches of her uncle, Vernon Lochan, who kept her chained and enslaved in Morath.

Now, Elide is pursued by Lorcan Salvaterre, one of the blood sword cadre for Queen Maeve, whose true intentions and nature are yet unrevealed. Lorcan can sense Elide’s Ironteeth witch heritage and believes that he can interrogate her for more information about Morath and the location of the Wyrdkeys that he seeks on Maeve’s behalf. (Combined with a magical Lock, the Wyrdkeys can open the Wyrdgates—portals to different dimensions. Maeve has been seeking these keys for her own ends.) Elide and Lorcan encounter the monstrous ilken, flying Valg soldiers from Morath who are searching for Elide. After Lorcan fights them off, he and Elide start traveling together and eventually join a traveling troupe. Elide wants to find Celaena Sardothien (who, unbeknownst to her, is really Queen Aelin Galathynius). Elide only knows that she must give Celaena the Wyrdkey and join the court of Queen Aelin Galathynius to join her court, though she does not know that these women are the same person. 

Aelin marches north to her country of Terrasen, along with her romantic interest Prince Rowan Whitethorn, her cousin Aedion Ashryver, her friend and shapeshifter Lysandra, and Lysandra’s ward Evangeline. When they reach their destination, the lords of Terrasen refuse to crown Aelin. She is angry, but she lets Evangeline stay with the lords to avoid further danger. She tells Darrow that even though they have rejected her as queen, she will still aid Terrasen aid when she is needed. Aelin receives word that Erawan plans to attack Rifthold in the land of Adarlan, along with the Ironteeth witches and their flying wyverns. This attack will be led by Manon Blackbeak and her minions, the Thirteen. Aelin sends Rowan to retrieve Dorian, another of her allies. She plans to travel with her cousin Aedion (the leader of Terrasen’s armies) and Lysandra to Skull’s Bay. Her goal is to ask Captain Rolfe to be her ally and fight against Erawan. 

In Rifthold, King Dorian Havilliard struggles to cope with the recent death of his lover, Sorscha, who was murdered by his father in Heir of Fire. He also struggles to control his newfound magic. When the witches attack, he uses his magic to destroy some of the wyverns. One witch almost kills him, but Manon beheads the witch, revealing her shifting loyalties. Rowan arrives and kills more witches, then escapes with Dorian in a boat headed for Skull’s Bay. Iskra Yellowlegs, one of Manon’s rivals in Erawan’s forces, arrives at the scene and accuses Manon of willingly killing a fellow witch. When the witches return to Morath, Iskra puts Manon on trial. Though Manon is found not guilty, the Ironteeth Matrons of the Yellowlegs, Blueblood, and Blackbeak clans sentence Manon’s second-in-command Asterin to death. The next day, Manon asks to kill Asterin herself, but she cannot bring herself to do it and instead frees Asterin before turning her sword on her grandmother, the Blackbeak Matron.

As they fight, Manon’s grandmother reveals that Manon is actually half-Crochan, the other species of witch. (While vicious Ironteeth witches hold more Valg traits, the peaceful Crochan witches hold more Fae traits. The Ironteeth witches hunt and kill Crochan witches.) Manon learns that she is in fact the heir to the Crochan crown. Manon flies on her wyvern Abraxos and heads to safety, briefly encountering Erawan’s monstrous, shape-shifting Bloodhound in the forest and fighting it off before continuing toward the coast. 

Aelin, Aedion, and Lysandra stop in Ilium, a town on the coast that used to be inhabited by the Mycenian people. Aelin seeks to retake the temple for symbolic reasons and fights off the soldiers who occupy it, using her fire magic to purify the temple before approaching the Stone, a holy relic. The thousand-year-old ghost of Brannon appears to her; he is the father of Elena, who had the same fire powers that Aelin does. Brannon tells Aelin to find the Lock and bind it with the Wyrdkeys; the Lock can be found in the Stone Marshes of Eyllwe. Suddenly, Valg soldiers arrive at the temple, including the Overseer of Endovier, the master of the camp where Aelin was once enslaved before the events of Throne of Glass. The overseer has an iron heart that Erawan controls. Erawan tears the overseer apart and blasts Aelin with his power before she manages to fight his presence away. Aelin and her allies board a ship to Skull’s Bay.

Meanwhile, Dorian and Rowan arrive in Skull’s Bay and meet Rolfe. They are surprised by the presence of Fenrys and Gavriel, two members of Maeve’s cadre. Rolfe refuses to help them, so Rowan and Dorian discuss their options with Fenrys and Gavriel, who have been sent to kill Lorcan for disobeying Maeve. Rowan tries to rally the two to Aelin’s cause. Days later, Aelin, Aedion, and Lysandra arrive in Skull’s Bay. Aelin adopts the role of her former identity, Celaena Sardothien, because she and Rolfe have a shared history. Rolfe still refuses to help. After several confirming that Rolfe’s magical tattoo can sense the location of Wyrdkeys and the Lock, Aelin demands that Rolfe rally the Mycenians, as he himself is of Mycenian heritage. When he refuses again, Aelin draws Erawan’s forces to her location, thereby forcing Rolfe to agree to help her. They fight the Valg ships. Lysandra takes on the form of a sea dragon to fight the attacking sea wyverns, and Aelin becomes possessed by the goddess Deanna, who destroys many of the ships in the bay, including those on Aelin’s side. After the battle, Aelin and Rowan consummate their relationship. 

Meanwhile, Lorcan and Elide grow closer as they travel, and Lorcan discovers the depth of the abuse that Elide suffered in Morath. He protects her when the traveling troupe attempts to turn her over to Morath soldiers. Elide and Lorcan then sail toward Eyllwe to find Aelin. When they stop for supplies, Elide is nearly abducted by her uncle Vernon Lochan, but Lorcan saves her. They travel to the Stone Marshes, sharing a kiss as they camp.

Meanwhile, Aelin and half of Rolfe’s ships sail to Eyllwe to find the Lock. On their journey, Abraxos brings a heavily injured Manon to the ship. They heal Manon but keep her as a prisoner until her loyalty is confirmed. Dorian and Manon grow closer on the journey, with Manon sharing the truth of her dual heritage and Dorian confessing his fear of his power.

The group discovers that Maeve has set much of Eyllwe on fire, hoping to blame Aelin and sow discord. Aelin and Rowan use their magic to put out as much fire as they can. When they arrive in the Stone Marshes, they find the Lock in a temple, but soon hear Lorcan’s warning that 500 ilken are headed toward them. They fight off the ilken. Lorcan and Elide reunite with the group, and Fenrys and Gavriel attack Lorcan because their bond with Maeve compels them to do so. Elide is injured as she shields Lorcan. Rowan declares Lorcan is under the protection of Aelin, which allows Fenrys and Gavriel to resist Maeve’s order to attack. They return to the Lock and open the chest, finding a witch mirror inside. Manon tells them that witch mirrors can see the past, present, and future, and Erawan plans to use them to destroy Aelin’s armies. The group returns to their ships, where they are met with new allies, including Ansel of the Briarcliff, Queen of the Wastes, whom Aelin has summoned. They discuss strategy until Maeve’s armada appears. (Lorcan summoned Maeve because he thought that Ansel’s ships were Erawan’s and wanted to protect Elide.) Maeve demands Aelin’s surrender. 

Aelin and Manon step into the witch mirror together and witness the memories of Elena, learning that she prematurely used the original Lock (the Eye of Elena) to trap Erawan. However, the gods wanted her to bind the Lock and the Wyrdkeys to help them return to their home dimension; she wasted the Lock, which can only be used once. As punishment for her mistake, Elena was tasked with training the next member of Brannon’s bloodline to forge a new Lock (Aelin), even though this process is fatal. It is also revealed that Aelin died as a child, and Elena sacrificed her own soul to bring Aelin back. Now, Aelin understands that the cost of the war is her life. She and Manon return to the beach to find Maeve holding Elide captive. (While Manon and Aelin were in the mirror, Rowan flew to his cousins in Maeve’s armada and asked them to switch sides.) In the battle, his kin turn on Maeve’s armies and fight for Aelin. 

The Thirteen arrive with Abraxos and join the fray. However, Maeve slips away to the beach, where Lorcan sent Elide to be safe. Maeve demands that Aelin go with her, or she will take Aelin anyway and also torture Elide. Aelin agrees to go, and Maeve orders her to be whipped and forced into an iron box. Maeve dispels the bonds with Lorcan and Gavriel but forces Fenrys to come with her. When Rowan arrives at the beach, Aelin is gone. He reveals that he and Aelin were secretly married. He also realizes that Aelin plans to sacrifice herself and have Lysandra pretend to be Aelin for the rest of her life so that the war can continue in Aelin’s absence. Galan Ashryver, Aelin and Aedion’s cousin, arrives, having been summoned by Aelin. The Silent Assassins also appear. Manon, the Thirteen, and Dorian plan to search for the lost Crochan witches. The other armies plan to march north to Terrasen with Aedion, while Rowan, Lorcan, Gavriel, and Elide will search secretly for Aelin.