I must begin by stating that, if you haven't finished reading or listening to Prince Lander & the Dragon War, this post will contain spoilers. There is information in this post that you may not want to read yet, and therefore it would be best for you to finish consuming the book in your format of choice before you proceed further. If you choose to ignore these cautions, I cannot be held responsible for any ensuing tears or outrage.

So way back in Ember Rising, we learned that the second Lord Blackstar was married to a doe named Lucianne, who was said to be the sister of Lander Whitson. As a result of this family connection, Smalls and Emma-and their many siblings-are distant, distant cousins of Victor Blackstar, Cole, and Heyna. However, if you've made your way through Dragon War, you'll probably have noticed something. While the book features Lander's brothers Grant and Lemual, and mentions another brother named Davis...there is nothing about Lucianne.

Now, if you're like me, you were probably expecting Lucianne to appear and have some kind of role in this latest book. As such, for her to not only be entirely absent, but not even reference, is a surprise-and a rather disappointing one at that. Still, it opens up opportunity for discussion, and my brain working the way it does, I've come up with a few theories as to why Lucianne is nowhere to be found. I intend to list them in order from what I consider to be least to most likely; feel free to share your thoughts.

Lucianne is at the camp throughout the book, but just never appears or is mentioned.

This possibility really doesn't make much sense at all to me, hence why it's at the bottom of the list. I just can't see her not being present during the many Whitson family moments throughout the book, from discussions between siblings to the family gathering at Grant's bedside. About the only way this would be believable would be if Lucianne herself was somehow impaired, perhaps being afflicted by some illness or other. However, if that were the case, I feel like this fact would have been brought up and that Lander would have made time to visit her as he did Grant.

Lillie is newly pregnant with Lucianne during the events of the book.

This possibility seems only slightly less outlandish, but I felt it was worth bringing up. The main issue I see with it is two-fold. First, it seems a bit unlikely that Whitson and Lilly would have another child when their youngest, Lemual, is almost an adult. Second, there's the issue of Lucianne's future husband. Assuming that Jon or Dane Blackstar is the second Lord Blackstar mentioned in Ember Rising, they're already old enough to be marching to war by the time of Dragon War. The idea of one of them marrying a doe who wasn't even born yet at the time certainly raises my eyebrows-then again, rabbit aging and maturation isn't something Sam has delved too deeply into.

Lucianne left the camp with the First or Second Scouts.

A plot point in the course of Dragon War is the contingency of the Third Scouts, a group of young bucks and does who will be sent out to ensure that some remnant of the Trekkers survives in the event of a catastrophic loss to the dragons and Grimbles. Of course, as the group is known as the Third Scouts, one has to wonder-what about the First and Second Scouts? It seems possible that these groups may have served similar functions and been sent out earlier, but perhaps be thought to have been lost. However, I feel like they would have been brought up if this were the case, given how often Davis was referenced.

Lucianne went to Kingston with Massie and stayed there.

So at the start of Dragon War, Massie has been dispatched to Kingston in hopes that a: the settlement is still there, and b: the inhabitants will be able to send aid to Whitson's forces for the impending final battle with Lord Grimble and King Namoz. No mention is made of Massie taking anyone with him, but it seems plausible to me that he could have had a few companions. Lucianne, as a princess, could certainly have been one of them, and having gotten her to the relative safety of Kingston I doubt Massie would have wanted to take her back into danger. The only real issue with this is, again, the fact that nobody mentions her at all, even to say that they hope she's safe with Massie.

EDIT: Turns out Massie is stated to have had a “band” with him.

Lucianne's role and relationships are among the pieces of history intentionally or accidentally garbled in the time between the Tales of Old Natalia and the event of The Green Ember.

We know that certain facts about the time of Whitson and Lander were forgotten or misremembered by the time of Jupiter and his heirs. The dragons themselves are considered by many to be the stuff of legend, rather than fact, and the fate of the starsword is likewise shrouded in mystery. Whitson Mariner is remembered as one of the founders of First Warren, whereas Dragon War reveals that he died before the city was even conceived of. If details like this became lost or altered in the more than a century since the Dragon War took place, then Lucianne's story may have been similarly corrupted.

Under this assumption, it is possible that Lucianne wasn't Lander's sister but rather his daughter, or perhaps even his niece by Lemual or Grant. This still makes the idea of her being married to Jon or Dane Blackstar seem somewhat problematic. However, it's possible that Lord Blackstar II was in fact neither of them, but one of their sons or even another, younger brother. Fleck may well have lived to a great age, old enough that Jon or Dane may have chosen not to succeed him in favor of a younger heir. Alternatively, of course, there's the sad possibility that one or both of them may have died young, perhaps at the talons of their hostile neighbors in the High Bleaks.

Lucianne was adopted after the end of the Dragon War.

This theory may sound a bit bonkers at first glance but hear me out. We know that there were a number of orphans in Whitson's camp, particularly those rescued from Grimble Island early in the book. Given the uncertain fate of Grimble's loyalists by the end of the book, and the fact that these children were to be offered up as payment to the dragons, I could see them not being reunited with their biological parents afterwards-if said parents were even still alive or interested in taking them back. As such, I could see Lillie taking one or more of them in, particularly in the wake of her husband's loss.

One candidate in particular stands out: Hollie Grimble. She is most decidedly NOT going back to her now monstrously transformed dad. I would guess that her mother is either dead or, given that she hooked up with Grimble, may not necessarily be someone Hollie would be interested in going back to either. Whitson also openly declared her to be his ward, and gave his life saving her from her own monstrous father.

There's also the matter of Mother Saramack's apparent prophecy regarding Hollie, of "a long, hard road" with a "golden home" awaiting her at the end. Undoubtedly, having to overcome both her sense of guilt at Whitson sacrificing himself for her and the shame of being Grimble's daughter could be a process that will be both long and hard for her. If, however, she caught the eye of Jon or Dane and chose to go with them to Kingston, that would certainly make for a "golden home." No doubt it would also be somewhat easier to live among the Kingston rabbits, who weren't much involved in the conflicts with Grimble's faction and thus wouldn't necessarily bear animosity towards Hollie simply for being Grimble's daughter.

Now, the one issue that seems to exist in this theory is fairly obvious: Hollie's name is Hollie, not Lucianne. However, it seems possible to me that, as part of the process of being accepted into Whitson's family and rejecting her wicked forebears, Hollie may have taken or been given a new name. Thus, with a new family and identity, she would be free to pursue a path out of the shadow of her father and grandfather.

Well, those are my thoughts.