Threshing Day Summary

Rebecca Yarros’s Threshing Day is not Empyrean Book 4. Instead, this companion collection features 13 stories that return to Basgiath War College and reveal how familiar characters experienced the day their dragons chose them.

Spanning several years, the stories explore the riders’ motivations, family histories, relationships, and the secrets surrounding their dragon bonds. They also introduce new details that could become important as the Empyrean series continues.

The 13 Threshing Day Summary Stories in Order

The stories follow the characters’ different Threshing years, showing why each rider and dragon ultimately chooses the other.

1. Brennan Sorrengail and Marbh

Brennan enters Threshing determined to prove himself beyond the Sorrengail name. Before the trial, his father offers encouragement and gives him a good-luck bracelet.

Brennan eventually encounters Marbh, an orange daggertail. The dragon challenges him to reach his back without touching the ground. Brennan takes the dangerous leap and manages to secure the bond.

Their encounter highlights Brennan’s courage and quick thinking. It also offers a glimpse of him before the events that shape his role in the main series.

2. Mira Sorrengail and Teine

Mira enters Threshing already drawn to Teine, a green clubtail she noticed during Presentation.

Teine tests her determination by knocking down a tree beside her and injuring her with a talon. Despite the pain, Mira refuses to back down. When questioned about her loyalties, she insists that she belongs to herself and wants to use her power to protect those she loves.

Teine chooses Mira, and she completes their first flight despite her injury. Her happiness is tempered by the realization that her mother did not come to watch. Teine helps her understand that she no longer needs to measure herself by her family’s approval.

3. Xaden Riorson and Sgaeyl

Xaden enters Threshing with a mission beyond finding a dragon: he wants to keep the marked cadets alive.

The situation becomes deadly when Prince Alic Tauri and other cadets take Garrick hostage. Xaden kills Alic to protect his friend, and Sgaeyl destroys the bodies afterward.

Once they are alone, Sgaeyl demands honesty. Xaden explains that witnessing his father’s execution convinced him that he cannot remain powerless while the marked cadets face danger.

Then comes one of the collection’s biggest revelations. Sgaeyl identifies her former rider, Maxrim Riorson, as Xaden’s grandfather. Xaden has understood Maxrim to be his great-uncle, but the apparent contradiction is explained by a hidden truth about his family: his publicly understood ancestry does not reflect his biological lineage.

That secret helps explain how Xaden could bond with Sgaeyl despite the restrictions surrounding dragons bonding with descendants of previous riders.

Sgaeyl chooses Xaden knowing his memories, weaknesses, and ambitions. Their bond also hints at how much dragons may know about human family histories.

4. Garrick Tavis and Chradh

Garrick’s story overlaps with Xaden’s Threshing. He leaves his closest friend reluctantly, reflecting how deeply he feels responsible for protecting Xaden.

The story also explores Garrick’s family ties to Fen Riorson and his long-standing feelings for Imogen.

His dragon is Chradh, a brown scorpiontail who claims not to have bonded before. However, details about Chradh’s age, voice, and knowledge raise questions about the dragon’s identity and history.

Chradh chooses Garrick because of his tendency to act for others and hints at understanding the kind of power Garrick needs. His story leaves readers with questions that have not yet been fully answered.

5. Dain Aetos and Cath

Dain’s Threshing is shaped by his relationship with his father, Colonel Aetos.

His father pressures him to follow expectations and asks him to watch the marked cadets for opportunities to report them. Dain must choose between obeying his father and trusting his own instincts.

During Threshing, Dain saves another cadet and ultimately chooses Cath, a red swordtail, rather than the dragon his father expected him to bond with.

Cath makes his priorities clear: their bond must come before the Codex, orders, and even Dain’s father. For Dain, the decision marks an important step toward making his own choices.

6. Bodhi Durran and Cuir

Bodhi enters Threshing tired of being defined by his relationship with Xaden. Although he loves his cousin, he wants to be recognized as his own person.

Xaden believes Cuir is waiting for Bodhi, but Bodhi resents having another decision made for him. When he runs toward a different dragon, Cuir—a green swordtail—rescues him from danger.

Cuir gives Bodhi a choice rather than forcing the bond. He recognizes Bodhi’s desire to gain power so he can prevent people from being hurt.

For Bodhi, the bond represents something important: being chosen for who he is, rather than simply for his connection to Xaden.

7. Imogen Cardulo and Glane

Imogen enters Threshing angry at Navarre and grieving her mother and sister, Katrina. Her complicated feelings for Garrick also become more apparent.

When Glane, an orange daggertail, appears, Imogen discovers a connection to her family. Glane claims to have bonded with Imogen’s grandmother and remembers meeting Imogen when she was a child.

The problem is that official records list Glane as a relatively young dragon with no previous riders.

Imogen and Glane agree to keep each other’s secrets. Their encounter raises questions about the reliability of dragon records and whether dragons conceal parts of their histories from humans.

8. Rhiannon Matthias and Feirge

Rhiannon enters Threshing excited to become a rider. But when she finds Visia badly injured, she puts helping another cadet ahead of her own chance to bond.

Feirge, a green daggertail, intervenes and drives the attacking dragon away. Feirge has apparently been watching Rhiannon since Presentation and recognizes her willingness to help others.

Rhiannon eventually bonds with Feirge, using her resourcefulness to climb onto the dragon’s back.

Her story reinforces an important theme of the collection: Threshing is not only about surviving. It also reveals the qualities that make someone worthy of a dragon’s trust.

9. Sawyer Henrick and Sliseag

Sawyer enters Threshing for the second time. His previous failure has left him ashamed and frustrated, particularly after watching other cadets bond while he returned to the infirmary.

When Sliseag, a red swordtail, chooses him, Sawyer initially believes the dragon has made a mistake.

Sliseag recognizes Sawyer’s determination and the anger he has struggled to hide. Their bond helps Sawyer understand that his earlier failure did not mean he was unworthy of becoming a rider.

Instead, the dragon suggests that he simply was not ready before.

10. Ridoc Gamlyn and Aotrom

Ridoc begins Threshing terrified and uses humor to cope with the danger. He encounters Aotrom, a brown swordtail whose playful personality initially seems unsuitable for someone who believes he needs a more responsible dragon.

But Aotrom recognizes that they have more in common than Ridoc expects.

The story also reveals more about Ridoc’s childhood and how humor became a way to ease tension between his parents. With Aotrom, Ridoc discovers a dragon who understands his personality rather than trying to change it.

Their bond develops into a partnership built on shared humor, mutual understanding, and equality.

11. Liam Mairi and Deigh

Liam spends much of Threshing carving a wooden dragon while waiting for Deigh. Xaden joins him, giving readers another glimpse of their close friendship.

Liam also thinks about his younger sister, Sloane, and the letters he has been saving for her.

When Deigh appears, the dragon reveals a connection to Liam’s family: dragons from Deigh’s line have previously bonded with riders in Liam’s family. Deigh also knows Liam’s mother by her title, Rune Master Colonel Mairi.

For Liam, becoming a rider represents an opportunity to do more than survive and protect Xaden. The story carries particular emotional weight because readers already know Liam’s fate from Fourth Wing.

12. Sloane Mairi and Thoirt

Sloane enters Threshing grieving Liam and wanting nothing to do with becoming a rider. She resents Basgiath and fears being turned into another weapon for Navarre.

Imogen finds her and gives her the wooden dragon figurine Liam carried. Sloane eventually encounters Thoirt, a red daggertail.

When Sloane deliberately puts herself in danger, Dain breaks the rules to save her. Their interaction reveals the depth of Sloane’s grief and the complicated feelings surrounding Liam’s death.

Thoirt then reveals that she is Deigh’s sister. Rather than forcing Sloane to bond, she gives her time to grieve and the freedom to choose.

Thoirt also confirms that Sloane inherited their mother’s gift, while Liam did not. Sloane finally chooses Thoirt, beginning a new bond without having to leave her grief behind.

13. Aaric Graycastle and Molvic

Aaric enters Threshing already drawn to Molvic, a blue clubtail. He is prepared to repeat the year rather than settle for a dragon he does not want.

As a member of Navarre’s royal family, Aaric has a complicated relationship with power and authority. Molvic knows his family history and challenges him to prove that he will choose a different path.

Aaric makes his intentions clear: he wants to fight the war beyond the wards, not simply serve the monarchy as a prince.

He chooses to identify himself as Aaric Graycastle rather than allow his royal status to define him. Molvic accepts him on those terms.

The Biggest Revelations in Threshing Day

The collection’s importance goes beyond the individual bonding stories. Several revelations expand what readers know about the riders, their families, and the dragons themselves.

1. Xaden’s hidden family history

Sgaeyl’s former bond with Maxrim Riorson initially appears to conflict with Xaden’s understanding of his family tree. The collection reveals that Xaden’s publicly understood ancestry conceals his biological lineage, helping explain how the bond was possible.

2. Glane’s hidden history

Glane claims to have bonded with Imogen’s grandmother, despite official records suggesting otherwise. This raises questions about how much humans know about dragons and whether the dragons themselves are concealing their identities.

3. Thoirt and Deigh are siblings

Sloane’s story reveals that Thoirt is Deigh’s sister. Their connection adds another layer to the stories of Liam and Sloane and makes their family history even more significant.

4. Dragons may know more than humans realize

Several stories show dragons possessing knowledge of family histories, previous bonds, and information that does not match official records. These details suggest that the human understanding of dragon history may be incomplete.

5. The collection adds clues for the future

Threshing Day revisits events from earlier in the timeline rather than continuing directly from Onyx Storm. It offers additional context and potential clues, but readers should distinguish confirmed revelations from theories about what will happen next.

Does Threshing Day Change the Main Empyrean Story?

Not directly. The collection does not continue the main timeline beyond Onyx Storm or resolve its cliffhanger.

Instead, it changes how readers understand the past. It gives more context to:

• The reasons dragons chose particular riders.
• The histories of the marked cadets.
• Xaden’s family and his relationship with Garrick.
• The connections between Liam and Sloane.
• Imogen’s family history and her relationship with Garrick.
• The mysteries surrounding dragon identities and previous bonds.

Rebecca Yarros has confirmed that readers do not need to read Threshing Day to understand Book 4. She has also said that relevant developments from the collection will be incorporated into the next main novel. That makes the book optional, though it offers additional context for readers who want to explore the world more deeply.

Where Does Threshing Day Fit in the Series?

The safest reading order is:

Fourth Wing
Read our complete review:
👉 Fourth Wing – Epic Dragon Fantasy Series | Rebecca Yarros

Iron Flame
Read our complete review:
👉 Iron Flame Review — Rebecca Yarros Delivers a Powerful Sequel

Onyx Storm
Read our complete review:
👉 Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros – Onyx Storm review

Threshing Day
Read our complete review:
👉Threshing Day Review: Is Rebecca Yarros’s Empyrean Companion Book Worth Reading?

Although the companion stories take place earlier in the timeline, reading them after the first three novels provides the necessary context and helps avoid spoilers.

You can also explore our Complete Threshing Day Guide for more background and reading-order information.

Final Summary

Threshing Day fills in 13 missing pieces of the Empyrean story.

Brennan and Mira offer more insight into the Sorrengail family. Xaden and Garrick reveal additional details about their friendship and the marked cadets. Dain’s story explores his struggle to make his own choices, while Imogen’s raises questions about dragon records. Liam and Sloane’s stories add emotional context to their family, and Aaric’s offers another perspective on Navarre’s royal family.

Most importantly, the collection gives the dragons more depth. They emerge not merely as powerful companions, but as characters with their own histories, knowledge, preferences, and possible agendas.

For fans of the Empyrean series, that is the main appeal of Threshing Day: it does not replace the next novel, but it makes the world surrounding the main story richer.

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Explore More Threshing Day Guides

Want to go deeper into Rebecca Yarros’s Threshing Day? Explore our complete guide, discover what happens in all 13 stories, or read our full review to decide whether this Empyrean companion book is worth your time.

• Complete Threshing Day Guide — Explore the book’s background, reading order, and everything you need to know about Threshing Day.
• All 13 Threshing Day POVs Explained — Discover each rider’s story, their dragon bond, and the major revelations hidden throughout the collection.
• Threshing Day Review — Read our full review of Rebecca Yarros’s companion collection, including its strengths, weaknesses, and whether it’s worth reading.