So after reading Ember’s End, I had an interesting realization. It prompted some thoughts about the cover art we’ve seen so far in the series, and I thought I’d share them.
SPOILER WARNING: The bit about Ember’s End will talk about some pretty major plot developments. You have been warned.
Now then, we’ll go through this in rough chronological order.
The Black Star of Kingston’s cover is pretty straightforward, and seems to depict Fleck on deck during the Battle of Ayman Lake. It may not be a precise depiction of the scene, however, if the other buck pictured is meant to be King Whitson. The shot seems to be at a ship’s bow, but Whitson is noted as typically being further back on the command deck and the buck pictured has no armor. The Wreck and Rise cover similarly depicts Whitson searching his sinking ship. It seems fairly accurate, though I don’t recall a leaking lamp in the text.
The Green Ember’s cover seems to be more of just a theme piece for the beginning of the series. I don’t believe it’s meant to depict any particular scene, especially as Heather never carries a staff/walking stick in the book. The Last Archer, by contrast, seems to depict Jo on the night before the Battle of Cloud Mountain. It’s an epic shot, but I don’t know how well it depicts Jo’s mood in the text.
The First Fowler’s cover seems to depict the climax of that book, or else the conflict within the story. If the former, it’s not quite true to the text, as Jo has a flaming arrow nocked but Solus is flying toward him, rather than at Smalls’ party. Ember Falls’ cover seems to depict the hospital scene from the Attack on Halfwind, though Heather and Picket didn’t stand together like that in the book. The cover of Ember Rising seems to be another theme piece, as obviously no scene like it occurs in the book.
Now we come to the cover of Ember’s End, which I believe may also depict a scene from the book, though how accurately is up for debate. Certain details, like Heather’s worry and she and Picket being in a scene together, don’t quite match the text. However, it seems to me that the cover shows us a scene after the final battle. Obviously Picket is injured, and his expression doubtless denotes his mourning for Helmer and other lost friends.
However, there is one detail that becomes significant only after you’ve read the book. Picket is right-handed; both the book texts and covers confirm this. Yet on the Ember’s End cover, he grips his sword with his left hand. A cape covers his right side, and at first glance you’d assume that his right arm is under it.
But having read the book, the truth becomes apparent: Picket doesn’t have his right arm anymore. It’s a subtle detail, but I think it’s quite plain. That means that the cover shows him after he’s lost it to Morbin.
Going back to this topic: The Archer’s Cup cover doesn’t seem to depict any particular scene either. It looks like it shows Jo behind the water gate, but Emma and the Blackstars weren’t with him at that point.