Second Signets
A spoiler-free guide to Fourth Wing, Iron Flame & Onyx Storm (The Empyrean).
Only showing what’s been revealed up to your current progress. Future events, identities, and relationships are hidden.
Overview
A second signet is an additional rider signet associated with exceptional dragon-bond circumstances rather than the ordinary single manifestation.
By b03c012, second signets are confirmed as a hidden pattern among some marked riders rather than only an abstract rule. Garrick is treated as having one, Violet is treated as a live but still-unidentified case, and Violet tentatively connects a memory of Liam possibly wielding ice to the same pattern.
Mechanics
Sloane states the rule she knows: a second signet can occur when a dragon bonds someone in the direct familial line of that dragon’s previous rider.
Andarna tells Violet that she does not control how Violet uses her power, leaving Violet’s possible second signet uncertain and making clear that Andarna cannot simply choose its manifestation for her.
Xaden describes second signets among marked riders as connected to their relics and to the dragons that chose them. He frames the pattern as a deliberate draconic advantage, not a random anomaly.
Limitations
Sloane says the same rule that allows a second signet also carries an equal chance of madness.
Second signets among marked riders are not universal enough to make every apparently single-signet marked rider suspicious, which lets Xaden publicly present as having only one signet.
Known Users
Garrick effectively reveals that he has a hidden second signet.
Xaden is included in the marked-rider pattern of hidden second signets.