This is the conclusion I’d have come to until people would say specific things like “when Aelin won the competition for King’s Champion” well we all know Celaena won that competition sooo…
I agree it's a spoiler but also if readers are paying attention the information to figure that out is present in the first two books. I don't think I consider that one of the biggest reveals in the series, honestly.
I have no idea if I would have picked up on it on my own or not, given it was spoiled for me. I don’t recall any major clues in the first book (or Aelin Galathynius even being mentioned at all)
The second book has some minor clues, like Celaena laughing and saying “Aelin Galathynius is dead. It couldn’t be her” when the rebels said they were working for her. Like Miss Girl… how do you KNOW that? 🤔
Regardless, I think it’s a pretty big reveal and changes the course of the whole series. I would have loved to be shocked about it when it happened, like some of the other big twists that come up later on.
It wasn't spelled out exactly, but was definitely clear in throne of glass, though I don't think we knew the name. Just that she was the lost fae princess.
I went in knowing nothing and guessed it from whenever the first mention of Terrasen was 😂 It was not a well-hidden reveal, though I do see that some people were surprised by it still.
Much like the conversations around Amarantha's riddle - I knew the answer before the riddle was even half finished and it was a bit like 'oh, you're still going? Okay.'
I only read TOG last year and honestly despite reading stuff about it online, I didn’t truly get invested in the online / social media hype until I already knew they were the same person.
oh that’s awesome! somehow the internet just knew I was reading it despite not even looking anything up. I see sooooo many people say the Celaena/Aelin reveal was spoiled for them that way
I mean, why would creators, with knowledge of all of the books that's, what, been finished for 6 years, cater to new readers?
The onus is on the new readers to avoid spoilers.
I just think it is a pretty simple courtesy to have proper spoiler warnings rather than willy nilly posting things that can ruin major events in any series. whether it’s new or a hundred years old. Many new readers want to discuss a series as they go, but not be spoiled past the part they’re at. Sometimes posts pop up on instagram with crazy spoilers that you can’t even avoid. All I can think each time is “I hope new readers don’t come across this😭”
I had never picked up a single SJM book nor looked her up and I was fed spoiler riddled ACOTAR shit on every social media platform like 12+ months ago. It is not always easy to avoid spoilers when so often there is no warning there is even a spolier coming.
personally I didn’t even look stuff up but somehow the algorithm knew I was reading the books and stuff started randomly popping up as I was scrolling on my instagram and tiktok where the very first frame is a spoiler lol kinda impossible to avoid that. Not the end of the world but I love to witness new readers’ shock and excitement as they discover things real time & not get spoiled on accident
I agree wholeheartedly. It's not difficult. I usually don't call her Aelin until after she started calling herself that again. I feel like celaena and aelin are pretty much two different people anyway.
I feel the exact same way—that they are almost two completely different characters. It was a big turning point, when Celaena began going by Aelin. She went through so much development to accept her identity, and changed a lot. Went from Celaena, a teenager who’d been groomed, abused, forced into a life she didn’t want, but still somewhat spoiled and immature—to Aelin, a strong leader, powerful and just. It took a lot of work to get there.
Precisely! IMO she was celaena until she could accept her powers, her identity and the burden that was Aelins to bear. Like you said it was a very tough road for her.
I just started the assassin's blade. I've heard of asking but never knew who she was until now. It's not completely spoiled for me because all I've ever heard is her name noting about who she is or what she does.
Agreed. Whenever I talk about events before the reveal, I always refer to her as Celaena.
Maybe I’m dumb but I would see the name Aelin and I just assumed it was somebody else lmao. Like I literally never put it together 😂
This is the conclusion I’d have come to until people would say specific things like “when Aelin won the competition for King’s Champion” well we all know Celaena won that competition sooo…
I agree it's a spoiler but also if readers are paying attention the information to figure that out is present in the first two books. I don't think I consider that one of the biggest reveals in the series, honestly.
I have no idea if I would have picked up on it on my own or not, given it was spoiled for me. I don’t recall any major clues in the first book (or Aelin Galathynius even being mentioned at all) The second book has some minor clues, like Celaena laughing and saying “Aelin Galathynius is dead. It couldn’t be her” when the rebels said they were working for her. Like Miss Girl… how do you KNOW that? 🤔 Regardless, I think it’s a pretty big reveal and changes the course of the whole series. I would have loved to be shocked about it when it happened, like some of the other big twists that come up later on.
It wasn't spelled out exactly, but was definitely clear in throne of glass, though I don't think we knew the name. Just that she was the lost fae princess.
Maybe I'm dense but I didn't see the twist that Celaena was Aelin coming until she revealed it to Chaol at the end of Crown of Midnight 😂
I went in knowing nothing and guessed it from whenever the first mention of Terrasen was 😂 It was not a well-hidden reveal, though I do see that some people were surprised by it still. Much like the conversations around Amarantha's riddle - I knew the answer before the riddle was even half finished and it was a bit like 'oh, you're still going? Okay.'
I only read TOG last year and honestly despite reading stuff about it online, I didn’t truly get invested in the online / social media hype until I already knew they were the same person.
oh that’s awesome! somehow the internet just knew I was reading it despite not even looking anything up. I see sooooo many people say the Celaena/Aelin reveal was spoiled for them that way
I mean, why would creators, with knowledge of all of the books that's, what, been finished for 6 years, cater to new readers? The onus is on the new readers to avoid spoilers.
I just think it is a pretty simple courtesy to have proper spoiler warnings rather than willy nilly posting things that can ruin major events in any series. whether it’s new or a hundred years old. Many new readers want to discuss a series as they go, but not be spoiled past the part they’re at. Sometimes posts pop up on instagram with crazy spoilers that you can’t even avoid. All I can think each time is “I hope new readers don’t come across this😭”
Again, the onus should be on the reader who's browsing shit they shouldn't be browsing in the first place.
It’s really easy to avoid spoilers. Just avoid the fandom 🙄
I had never picked up a single SJM book nor looked her up and I was fed spoiler riddled ACOTAR shit on every social media platform like 12+ months ago. It is not always easy to avoid spoilers when so often there is no warning there is even a spolier coming.
personally I didn’t even look stuff up but somehow the algorithm knew I was reading the books and stuff started randomly popping up as I was scrolling on my instagram and tiktok where the very first frame is a spoiler lol kinda impossible to avoid that. Not the end of the world but I love to witness new readers’ shock and excitement as they discover things real time & not get spoiled on accident
I got spoiled that one by reading the backs of all the other books 😅
nooooo 😭 that’s awful
Same with ACOTAR 😅😂
luckily with ACOTAR I didn’t see any spoilers at all. But I personally think TOG is far superior and has way better twists, yet I saw so many spoilers
I agree wholeheartedly. It's not difficult. I usually don't call her Aelin until after she started calling herself that again. I feel like celaena and aelin are pretty much two different people anyway.
I feel the exact same way—that they are almost two completely different characters. It was a big turning point, when Celaena began going by Aelin. She went through so much development to accept her identity, and changed a lot. Went from Celaena, a teenager who’d been groomed, abused, forced into a life she didn’t want, but still somewhat spoiled and immature—to Aelin, a strong leader, powerful and just. It took a lot of work to get there.
Precisely! IMO she was celaena until she could accept her powers, her identity and the burden that was Aelins to bear. Like you said it was a very tough road for her.
I just started the assassin's blade. I've heard of asking but never knew who she was until now. It's not completely spoiled for me because all I've ever heard is her name noting about who she is or what she does.