This post contains MAJOR SPOILERS from late in the set. Do not read this post unless you've read ALL of the books that have been published. You've been warned.
Note: I cited the page numbers for the scenes mentioned so that my points can be verified. After I realized that I overlooked something, I revised my final list of the two probable leak candidates up to four probable candidates. I am uncertain whether the list can be narrowed down further, although I do strongly suspect that the leak is a certain character rather than the other three.
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Mr. Forkle reveals in #9 Stellarlune that the Black Swan has a leak. This explains how the Neverseen always seem to be one step ahead of the Black Swan.
Stellarlune, page 387: "Does that mean you think it's someone we know?" Grady asked. "Someone in the Black Swan?" Sophie added. "It's hard to say," Mr. Forkle told them. "Though I don't believe anything was said or done maliciously, if that's what you're worried about. Secrets have a way of slipping through cracks, especially as our order grows larger and larger."
I feel like Mr. Forkle has vetted all Black Swan members well enough that he knows he can trust them. If the leak is unintentional, it could be anyone in the order. A member could speak about plans around family, and a family member could leak the information. This idea intrigued me, and I decided to try to uncover the identity of the leak.
This is a partial list of what has been leaked:
- Edaline tells Sophie that Gethen somehow knew that Prentice had been healed (Nightfall, page 764).
- Gethen tells Sophie that he's pretty sure that she's hiding an ability with her gloves (Flashback, page 81).
- Gethen knows what Fintan told the Black Swan about the Celestial Festival, and he acknowledges that Fintan didn't quite have it right (Flashback, page 757).
- Gethen knows that the kids have been training and wonders why Tam hasn't made more progress with his force field (Flashback, page 759).
- Gethen knows that Fitz suspected Alvar all along but nobody believed him, not even Sophie. He even mentions how much Fitz relies on Sophie (Flashback, page 760).
It's unsettling how much Gethen knows. The leak must be someone who is around Sophie all the time.
The Keeper books are so complicated and lengthy that it's difficult to spot most of the clues. Additionally, some aspects of the series seem silly, which makes them easy to ignore. For instance:
Nightfall, page 487: Mr. Forkle wasn't the only one waiting for her. The other four members of the Collective were there... Livvy was Physic again... Grady was there too. And Alden and Della. And Fitz, Dex, Biana, Tam, and Linh. And Sandor, Grizel, Woltzer, Lovise, and Cadoc.
By listing every character present, Shannon is giving us the means to figure out which character is the Black Swan's leak. Someone who is always around during certain events and discussions is the Black Swan's leak.
In Stellarlune after the Neverseen destroy Brumevale, Mr. Forkle
explains that Brumevale can only be found if one knows the
exact location of the stairs.
Stellarlune, page 387: "I wonder how the Neverseen were able to find it, then,"
Edaline said. "We're trying to figure that out," Mr. Forkle told her.
The
Neverseen were able to locate Brumevale because the leak was present
when the kids arrived at Brumevale for the Forkle twin reveal (Nightfall, page 159). These
characters were at Brumevale that day:
Sophie, Sandor, Fitz, Grizel, Keefe, Biana, Woltzer, Dex, Lovise, Linh, Tam, Tiergan, Forkle
In #8 Legacy, Lady Gisela knows that Keefe has been worrying about whether she killed Ethan (page 576). No doubt she learned from the leak. I found each scene where Ethan is mentioned, noting who is present.
Sophie, Sandor, Fitz, Grizel, Keefe, Ro, Dex, Lovise, Forkle, Elwin, Livvy, Edaline, Lord Cassius
Comparing this list to the Brumevale list, we can eliminate Biana, Woltzer, Linh, Tam, and Tiergan, since they were not part of the Ethan conversations. The possible leak list narrows down to:
Sophie, Sandor, Fitz, Grizel, Keefe, Dex, Lovise, Forkle
The ogres attack Havenfield in #5 Lodestar. Immediately after the attack:
Lodestar, page 491: The ogres had almost won. Somehow they'd seemed to know that Sandor wouldn't be there.
The
leak must have told the Neverseen, which is how the ogres knew. Sandor
isn't present during the attack because he's at Lumenaria with Sophie,
Forkle, and Oralie. The leak must have been present during the
discussions about the planned visit with Gethen.
I checked through the discussions about Gethen. These characters were present:
Forkle, Oralie, Sophie, Sandor, Edaline, Grady, Fitz, Grizel, Biana, Woltzer, Dex, Lovise
Keefe can be removed from the possible leak list, since he was with the Neverseen and not
in on the discussions about the Gethen meeting. The remaining possible
leaks are these characters:
Sophie, Sandor, Fitz, Grizel, Dex, Lovise, Forkle
Sophie, Forkle, and Sandor know where
Sophie's human family is living after their second relocation (#8 Legacy,
page 300). Since the Neverseen haven't gone after Sophie's human family
again, Sophie, Forkle, and Sandor cannot be the leak. I never considered that any of Sophie, Forkle, or Sandor could be the leak, but I kept all three as possibilities until I could eliminate them. In case of a bizarre plot twist, it's best not to overlook anything.
This decreases the leak candidates to:
Fitz, Grizel, Dex, Lovise
I had previously narrowed the leak list down to Fitz and Grizel, but I'm not sure if my reasoning was sound. This is what I thought:
Lady Gisela seems to know that Keefe recovered the memory where she took him to
Nightfall to seal the door with his blood (Nightfall, page 125). I went back to Lodestar and found where Keefe shares the memory with Sophie (page 353). These characters are present in the immediate aftermath:
Sophie, Sandor, Fitz, Grizel, Alden, Grady
These would be the remaining leak candidates:
Fitz and Grizel
The problem is that in the scene with Lady Gisela, Sophie mentions Nightfall first. That might have tipped off Lady Gisela that Keefe recovered his memory.
If so, then the leak list can only be narrowed down to these characters:
Fitz, Grizel, Dex, Lovise
Could Dex trust someone who is working for the Neverseen? It is possible.
Could Lovise? Yes.
I feel like we can rule Fitz out, since he is Sophie's Cognate.
Even though I'm not sure I can eliminate either Dex or Lovise, I believe that the leak is most likely Grizel.
In #5 Lodestar, Sophie comments that Grizel accidentally switched Sophie's and Keefe's Imparters (page 264). Since Grizel is on my list, the Imparter switch is a possible red flag. I wondered if Grizel could be the leak and did it on purpose so that Lady Gisela could talk to Sophie. However, Sophie is the one who suggested that Grizel compare the Imparters, so the switch might have been accidental.
When Fitz and Biana arrive at Dex's home just prior to Dex discovering the Imparter switch, Grizel is mentioned as not coming along (Lodestar, page 217). She's not present when Dex discovers that Sophie has Keefe's Imparter. Rather conveniently, no one talks to her about the Imparter switch.
When I looked at the scene where the Imparters are switched, I found it a bit odd that Grizel takes the lead in searching through Keefe's things (Lodestar, page 111). The kids typically drive the plot—not the bodyguards. Grizel does drive the plot at times. Speaking of which....
Mr. Forkle asks Sandor to check the Silver Tower to help figure out how the Neverseen got to Wylie.
Lodestar, page 280: "If you're looking for powerful senses," Grizel jumped in, "You should have me go with him. Sandor lacks a certain... shall we say, sensitivity?"
Grizel is involved in everything. Culprits frequently do this so that they can interfere with the investigation. The Imparter switch and Grizel insisting on going to the Silver Tower are two red flags that make her a strong candidate for being the possible leak. Of the four possibilities, Grizel is by far the most likely leak. Some of her behavior is suspicious, so for that reason, I believe that the leak is Grizel.
What's interesting is that the type of information leaked to the Neverseen changes beginning in Lodestar, and Grizel's first appearance is on page 11 of Lodestar. When Alvar was the leak, Council information was leaked to the Neverseen—no doubt what Alvar learned from Alden and from his own work with the Council. Beginning in Lodestar, the information leaked becomes specific to Sophie and her friends.
Assuming that the leak is Grizel, here is a list of key points.
- Alvar outs himself as a Neverseen member near the end of Neverseen (page 621), and Grizel makes her first appearance at the start of Lodestar (page 11). Grizel takes Alvar's place as the leak from the Vacker household.
- Grizel switches Sophie's and Keefe's Imparters (Lodestar, page 264).
- Grizel decides that she, Sandor, Sophie, and Fitz will be the ones to see where Cyrah's starstone goes (Lodestar, page 525).
- Grizel insists that she go through the mirror first (Lodestar, page 551).
- Grizel is present when Gisela explains where Sophie's family will be found in Nightfall (Nightfall, page 370). Alvar is found in that exact location.
- Grizel is present during Prentice's healing (Nightfall, page 580). This information is leaked.
- Grizel goes with Linh, Tam, and Fitz to the Unity Fountain in Atlantis to locate Nightfall (Nightfall, page 641). The location is leaked to Lady Gisela.
I feel that Grizel's contact is most likely a Councillor or someone who works for the Council. If the contact is a Councillor, then I expect it to be one of the Councillors who has been involved in the plot, such as Bronte, Emery, Terik, Oralie, Alina, or Noland. Of those Councillors, Alina is the most suspicious.
In Everblaze, Alina advocates for the ability restrictor to be placed on Sophie.
The Council decides in Flashback to send Alvar to Everglen for six months. The Neverseen's plan was for Alvar to be sent to Everglen where they would restore his memory so that he could open the gate. How strange that the Council does exactly what the Neverseen want.
Terik speaks about it, saying that he descried Alvar again (Flashback, page 28). I doubt that Terik is with the Neverseen since he lost his leg at Lumenaria. But then, Brant was killed at Lumenaria, so another Neverseen member could have been injured. Furthermore, there's been a lot of chatter recently about Terik faking his ability and that he could be with the Neverseen. We can't rule it out.
Alina argues several points in favor of Alvar going to Everglen in Flashback (pages 37-39). It's possible that Alina is with the Neverseen and that she argues in favor of Everglen so that the Neverseen's plan will work.
Alina later wants to train Keefe and keep Sophie away from Keefe (Unlocked, page 591). If Alina were to train Keefe, that could help the Neverseen if Alina were aligned with them.
I found a scene that negates the likelihood of a Councillor being the contact. Sophie reveals to the Council that Tam sent her a warning about Keefe (Legacy, page 150). Lady Gisela is surprised to learn about the warning (Legacy, page 579). Either the Council doesn't contain a Neverseen member, or that Councillor wisely chose not to leak information told only to the Council.
If a Councillor isn't the contact, then they might be a Vacker. I doubt that the contact is Alden, because Alvar was the Council's leak, which would have been unnecessary if Alden were also working for the Neverseen. Della is also unlikely to be the contact, since she stayed with the kids at Alluveterre. There was no indication that Della leaked the location, so she's not likely in league with the Neverseen.
While Grizel is probably the Black Swan's leak, Grizel's Neverseen contact could be anyone. And then again, perhaps Grizel herself is a member of the Neverseen. She could have pretended to be upset after the Havenfield attack.
All of my past Keeper posts are linked from this page:
Keeper of the Lost Cities Summaries, Reviews, and Theories
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