Content Warnings in The Dragon's Emissary
I made this content warnings section to address in detail all the difficult themes within The Dragon’s Emissary. I did my best to point out all the major instances in each category and provide some context in case you want to skip those sections. I provided page numbers for people reading the paperback book and chapters for those reading the ebook.
Alcohol Consumption
This category is specifically for excess drinking, especially used as an unhealthy coping mechanism.
Erianna decides to go to a port in the south of Kialma’keer and sail back to Alaspinor. She then drinks duur’een wine until she gets very drunk, wakes up very hungover with vague memories of crying about Zelnor to Lia. She also keeps a smaller bottle of the wine with her. She’s never shown directly when drunk, the scene is only referenced.
Erianna drinks duur’een wine and gets drunk to forget that she abandoned Lyle. She compares her actions to those of her father, feels exceptionally guilty and sobs. (see also Depression)
Erianna drinks another entire cocktail and gets very drunk. She does so as a result of hearing Christine will be leaving soon again. For this page, you also need to know that Christine is planning to leave Bokest al’Bar soon, but first she wants to get revenge on her fiancé’s brother’s by trashing his shop.
Erianna and Christine are definitely drunk during this chapter. There’s a specific moment on the bottom of page 350 to page 351, where Erianna is overly flirty with Zelnor—which is where her drunken state is most obvious.
The most important thing that happens: When she sees the redheaded stranger from Moons’ Dance, realizes she was following her and is probably from the Broken Claim
Child Abuse
In a nightmare about her past, Erianna’s mother, Plindurin, painfully removes Erianna’s scales and threatens to pull out her gills. She uses light magic to cover up the damage. Plindurin clearly enjoys hurting her. She also treats Erianna more as a valuable tool than a child—making it clear that her only value is her singing voice and her beauty, since she’s failing to master light magic.
The section also reveals that Erianna’s family lived on the border of the Slums of Nirdeem, yet they always lived with higher means than they should.
Erianna has a flashback to her mother Plindurin using light magic to hold her in place. Given the blood in The Spider’s Nest and the fear Erianna feels, it’s implied that Plindurin is going to hurt her.
Depression
This category is specifically for excess drinking, especially used as an unhealthy coping mechanism.
In chapters 6 and 7, Erianna is depressed to the state of despondence, due to her use of light magic. This is more implied than anything. But there’s one section from Erianna’s point of view: starting after the scene break and ending at the bottom of page 111. Erianna struggles with feelings of worthlessness, self-hatred, and guilt over not being able to save Zelnor (or someone named Christine) from Torrin.
Erianna realizing that her abandonment of Lyle mirrors that of her father, struggles with feelings of guilt and worthlessness. She drinks to cope with these feelings and spirals, sobbing for several hours. (see also Alcohol Consumption)
Grief
This section doesn’t get specific pages because it’s more of a general theme. A deep sense of guilt tied to grief is a large part of what drives Zelnor. As I have said, it’s a theme that’s not addressed directly; it more so colors how Zelnor sees the world.
Magic Related Self-Harm
The self-harm instance is brief and unrelated to mental health, but I thought it warranted mention.
This instance occurs in third paragraph from the bottom. Zelnor is dreaming that she is a scarred, redheaded woman. The woman hears a noise and uses shadow magic to cast a spell to make herself blend into the shadows. In order to cast shadow magic, she needs to cause herself pain (hence why she cuts herself). Once hidden, she watches two children argue on the first floor.
Panic Attacks
Zelnor has severe social anxiety and some general anxiety. Her reluctance to approach and associate with strangers is displayed throughout the story. There are only a couple brief instances where it overwhelms her.
At the end page 24 and very beginning of 25, Zelnor has an anxiety attack about her magic’s reaction to everyone’s attention in the room being directed towards Erianna. This includes some shallow breathing and difficulty thinking. (also see PTSD section) Erianna takes Zelnor upstairs to her room.
Zelnor has an anxiety attack that her second spell will hurt Erianna, or attract too much attention, after she casts a spell to distract the guard in the Diamond District.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
The themes of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are mostly implied by the behaviors and patterns of the characters. Further, I wanted to provide the disclaimer that I’m not a therapist, and this is just my best idea at a few parts of The Dragon’s Emissary that are reminiscent of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
At end page 24 and very beginning of 25, Zelnor has an anxiety attack about her magic’s reaction to everyone’s attention in the room, due to her fear of hurting others after an incident with her magic. (see Panic Attack section)
Erianna’s worsening nightmares as she approaches her old home where she was abused is strongly indicative of PTSD, and therefore may be triggering. (see Child Abuse section)
Though not quite the same thing, Erianna experiences a vision very similar to a PTSD flashback. She briefly thinks she’s in The Spider’s Nest where Plindurin (her mother) is using light magic to paralyze Erianna. (see Child Abuse)