‘ACOTAR’: Who Is Koschei the Deathless? All About the Death-God Villain
What To Know
- Koschei the Deathless is the main antagonist in the upcoming ACOTAR book, A Court of Splintered Harmony.
- He is the eldest and last surviving ancient death-god.
- He was first mentioned in A Court of Wings and Ruin and is known for being confined to a lake by an ancient spell.
While we may not know who the next main ACOTAR couple is, we do know who they’re up against.
Sarah J. Maas has revealed the synopsis for the highly anticipated sixth book in her romantasy series, A Court of Splintered Harmony, and Koschei is at the center of it. After he was revealed as a key antagonist in the previous book, A Court of Silver Flames, Koschei the Deathless will continue to threaten Prythian and team up with Fae allies eager to reclaim the human lands.
It’s been almost half a decade since the previous installment in the series, so even the most dedicated ACOTAR fans may be in need of a refresher. Who exactly is Koschei? What has been revealed since he was first mentioned by the Bone Carver in A Court of Wings and Ruin? Swooon has the full recap before A Court of Splintered Harmony comes out on October 27.
Who is Koschei the Deathless?
Koschei is the eldest of the three ancient, super-powerful death-gods. He’s the last remaining one after the Bone Carver and the Weaver were killed during the war against Hybern in A Court of Wings and Ruin.
He’s first mentioned in A Court of Wings and Ruin by the Bone Carver, when Feyre goes to the Prison to seek out more allies against Hybern. Feyre has already met the Bone Carver’s twin sister, the Weaver, but not their elder brother, Koschei. They come from a place that the Carver believes no longer exists, falling into the world of Prythian tens of thousands of years (or more) ago. At the time, they were feared and worshipped by the Fae.
During his meeting with Feyre, the Bone Carver explains that he willingly accepted imprisonment. He’s hiding from his more-powerful siblings. He doesn’t want to remind them he’s alive, hence his reluctance to join the fight against the evil Hybern king.
Like the Weaver, Koschei was tricked long ago into diminishing his power. He tried to make himself the world master once, but he was “confined and bound by his little lake on the continent” before Prythian was divided into courts. The High Lords hadn’t even existed yet. We still don’t know the identity of the ancient female Fae warrior who outsmarted and trapped both of them.
“Clever, that Fae warrior. Her bloodline is long gone now — though a trace still runs through some human line,” the Carver tells Feyre. “No one remembers her name. But I do. She would have been my salvation, had I not made my choice long before she walked this earth.”
The unnamed Fae couldn’t kill the death-gods in the end because they were too strong. They could only be contained. Despite their diminished power, their influence remains “considerable.”
Through Elain’s seer abilities, the gang finds out that the human queen Vassa and several other women are being held captive by a sorcerer (Koschei), who has cursed Vassa to turn into a firebird during the day. Vassa’s fellow queens gave her up to Koschei when she wouldn’t side with them alongside Hybern. Feyre’s father, figuring out the queen’s betrayal, strikes a bargain with Koschei to temporarily free Vassa. It hasn’t been revealed what exactly the Archeron patriarch bargained with before his death.
Koschei becomes more involved in Nesta and Cassian’s book, A Court of Silver Flames, when it’s revealed that he’s become an ally of the evil human queen Briallyn.
We also get more information on Koschei via Vassa. (It’s worth mentioning that fans have theorized that Vassa is a descendant of the ancient Fae warrior, though that has yet to be confirmed.) Vassa explains to Nesta and Cassian that Koschei is no mere sorcerer. “He’s confined to the lake only due to an ancient spell. Because he was outsmarted once. Everything he does is to free himself,” she says. That’s why he and the human queen are tracking down the Death Trove.
Why was Koschei imprisoned in the first place? Vassa says the story is too long to tell, though it likely has something to do with his previous plans to take over the world. “But know that Briallyn and the others sold me to him not through their devices, but his,” Vassa said. “By words he planted in their courts, whispered on the winds.”
Koschei is truly immortal. Everyone assumes that he cannot be killed, and Azriel says that the “depth of his knowledge is fathomless.” He appears for the first time at the end of the book in a shadowy form, instructing Cassian to relay a message: “Tell my Vassa I’m waiting.” He and Briallyn winnow away without a confrontation.
So, Koschei is still in play. Beron, the High Lord of the Autumn Court, already pledged his forces to Briallyn, so there’s a chance he’s on Koschei’s side.
Tell us your theories below!
