rhyssescups:

CC HOEAB SPOILERS AHEAD. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

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HOEAB made it obvious that the identity of Hunt’s father is going to be important down the road, so here’s my theory:

Hunt’s father was the King of Hel.

There are numerous things throughout the book that led to me suspecting this. Firstly, it’s revealed in chapter 9 that Hunt’s real name is Orion, who was a great hunter and also the son of Poseidon in Greek mythology. It’s likely that his real name will come into play later in the series, since there’s a reason it hasn’t been revealed to other characters yet (Bryce, etc.).

In chapter 55 we learn that Hunt was never told who his father was and that his mother was an angel, albeit a low-ranking one. This tells us where his Malakim heritage comes from:

Now, why would Hunt’s mother keep his father’s identity a secret? There are many reasons, one of them being that his identity must remain a secret in order for Hunt to remain safe. If word gets around that his father was a powerful demon, then he will be hunted (no pun intended) by powerful forces who wish to either covet his powers to further their own agendas or destroy them altogether. I don’t think the Asteri are aware of his father’s identity, if they were, I don’t think they would’ve freed him at the end of HOEAB, they would’ve wanted to keep him under their thumb.

In chapter 15 Hunt reveals that when he was younger he desperately searched for someone who shared his power of lightning, so they could assist him in learning how to control it. However, he was unable to find anyone who shared the power and had to end up teaching himself how to control it:

The possible reasoning for this? He inherited the lightning from his father. If he truly was a powerful demon then why would anyone on Hunt’s side of the world share that power? To find someone who could possibly assist him, he would’ve had to venture to Hel.

We also get this in chapter 6:

Hunt describes his powers as being “truly destructive”, not only does he have the lightning affinity itself, but he also has the depth of power needed to make it truly destructive and world shattering. This is just an assumption on my part, but it sure sounds like a power of Hel to me.

There’s also Aidas’ reaction to seeing Hunt for the first time in chapter 51:

The passage itself is pretty much self explanatory, Aidas is seemingly aware of Hunt’s heritage. He’s the Prince of the Chasm, so he’s familiar with demons, obviously.

There’s also the epilogue at the end of the book:

Aidas and Jesiba both knew Hunt’s real father. It’s important that they say that his father “would’ve been proud”, which implies that he passed away. Aidas suggests that Jesiba knew Hunts’ father “the best”, which doesn’t help us out much seeing as we know little to nothing about her, but her connection to his father could’ve been the reason behind her moving to the House of Flame and Shadow.

Finally, onto my main point and the reason that I created this post, all of the high ranking demons that we have met or heard of have all been Princes of Hel, we haven’t met any kings. You’d think that they’d be kings of their respective realms, but they’re not. I could be reaching, but I just think it’s very fishy. If they all wanted equal power, then why not all be kings? This is why I think Hunt’s father might’ve been the King of Hel. Hunt has an immense amount of power, he had to have inherited it from somewhere and as far as we know, his mother was a low-ranking angel who didn’t have much power, which leaves his father. Upon studying him for a few short moments, Aidas recognized Hunt’s power, which means that his lightning power is distinct enough for Aidas to be able to connect the power to Hunt’s identity. If there was a King of Hel, I’m assuming Aidas would’ve been familiar enough with him to have known his powers.