I’ve been looking at the portal song and think it could give quite a few hints as to how the Unraveller prophecy will be fulfilled. Although seemingly fulfilled by their crossing over to Keltor, I feel that it has greater significance. It is possible it is even a ‘lost’ part of the Ledgendsong itself.
When night falls
And the darksong calls,
Will you hear?
Will you tread the moonpath?
Will you sing the lost soul home?
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When night falls
There are several ways to interpret this.
1) Literally; the Unraveller starting her quest at dusk. If this is the case, it is likely that when she succeeds the Unykorn will return with the dawn.
2) The night could be a metaphor for the effects of Chaos. This could either refer to the fact that only when hope seems gone does the Unraveller arrive; or that Chaos will appear to triumph over the Unraveller, to be defeated at the last moment.
3) It is also possible that it refers to Ember’s blindness. At the end of Darksong, Ember is racing to Darkfall to be healed. We know that she will go completely blind shortly before she dies, and that once this happens, her sight can’t be healed. It is possible then, that this line means that Ember will become completely blind before she is healed, and shortly after (or possibly during) her healing fights her battle with the Chaos spirit. It would be appropriate as Lanalor says that Chaos enters your mind through the eyes. Ember being half blind is no longer relevant now that she has been identified as the Unraveller.
And the darksong calls,
There are two main possible meanings for this line, both related.
1) The darksong could be death, similar to the siren call of the mindstream in the Obernewtyn Chronicles. If she gets to Signe too late, it is possible that she is on the point of dying and must choose whether to resist death and fulfil her quest as the Unraveller, or surrender.
2) It could also refer to the indifference maintained by Dark Ember. Once again, if something happens to prevent or delay her healing, it is possible that Ember will succumb to fear and let Dark Ember and Chaos take control again.
Will you hear?
Although seemingly obvious, the answer to this can be either positive or negative depending on what it is referring to.
1) This line is most likely linked to the previous line as Ember’s choice to surrender to death/Chaos, or resist. In this case, the answer is that she should not hear.
2) In a similar way, it could also be asking if she will accept her role as the Unraveller. This combines crossing over to Keltor, resisting dark Ember, announcing her identity and actually freeing the Unykorn. Under this interpretation, she should hear.
Will you tread the moonpath?
Once again, there are two main interpretations for this, depending on how literal it is.
1) In a similar way to the moon leading the way and opening the portal in our world, it is possible that a rare double alignment of Keltor’s two moons is what allows Ember to find the Unykorn. They could either lead the way to a physical location where the prison is weaker, or, most likely, help guide her through the Void.
2) Less literally, it could also refer to Ember choosing to become soulweaver. As part of this, she would open her spirit eyes, negating her full blindness (see 1,3) and allowing her to see the truth during her battle with the Chaos spirit. She would also gain the blue tattoos, which would be in the shape of crescent moons, hence following the path of the moons.
Will you sing the lost soul home?
This line can probably be taken fairly literally.
1) Most likely, it requires Ember’s singing to break the prison and call the Unykorn. Given the frequency and seeming irrelevance, it is possible that this will occur in the clearing of her dream. In the dream Shenavyre or herself wanders around singing, watched by the manbeast and waiting for the Unykorn. The dream always ends before she sees the Unykorn. Although the clearing could be a physical location, it is more probable that it is one of the ‘bubbles’ within the Void.
2) It is also possible that it simply refers to the way that movement while segueing can be controled with music. In this way, Ember would quite literally sing to guide herself and the Unykorn back through the Void.
From this, a theory can be formed as to the events of the climax. Although in many cases it is possible that all of the interpretations are correct, I believe that the following combination is most likely.
Ember goes completely blind, thereby preventing the Chaos spirit from influencing her when she segues, and possibly ridding herself of Dark Ember. By the time Signe is able to heal her, she is too far gone to be saved without her helping and resisting the call of death. Ember chooses to live and fulfil her destiny as the Unraveller. To do this, she undergoes the Darkfall process to open her spirit eyes so she can know the truth when seguing. As a full soulweaver, she is tattooed with crescent moons and later has Glynn as her myrmidon. She then segues to find the Unykorn and ends up in the clearing of her dream. She sings the song from her dream and, perhaps with a last-minute hitch, successfully frees the Unykorn.
