10 Most Powerful Signets In Fourth Wing, Ranked

Fourth Wing is immensely popular for its focus on dragons, and the humans in Rebecca Yarros’ novel are able to wield incredibly powerful magic through their bonds with these creatures — but some of these signets are more powerful than others. Signets manifest after a first-year student at Basgiath War College bonds with a dragon, and it’s impossible to predict when each student will receive their power or what it will be. Violet Sorrengail spends much of the first Empyrean series novel stressing over whether she’ll get her signet, and she receives a powerful ability when it does manifest.

Of course, there’s no shortage of powerful signets in the world of Fourth Wing. Some are beneficial for their sheer strength in battle, while others grant their users the ability to manipulate those around them and tilt interactions in their favor. Both types of signets have their advantages, but The Empyrean Series’ powers do come with limits. Those limitations can render even the strongest abilities less powerful than others, putting one character at the mercy of another in the process.

10
Mira Sorrengail’s Power To Extend Wards

This Signet Is Handy In A Tough Situation

Violet’s sister, Mira Sorrengail, has a powerful signet in Fourth Wing, but it’s easily the weakest of the book’s top 10 powers. Mira has the ability to extend wards in The Empyrean Series, and these wards keep enemies like venin and wyverns away from Navarre’s citizens and army. With the wards falling and causing so much trouble in the first two books, Mira’s signet is undoubtedly useful. It saves lives, as demonstrated when she manages to get the recruits out of harms way during an attack in Fourth Wing.

Unfortunately, Mira’s power is only handy as a last-minute defense. It does little to eliminate the threats the wards are addressing in the first place, and it’s also a temporary fix. This prevents Mira’s signet from ranking higher on a list of Fourth Wing‘s most powerful abilities. Fortunately for her, she’s skilled in combat and has other things going for her.

9
General Melgren’s Ability To See Outcomes

This Signet Has Some Major Limitations

Fourth Wing builds up General Melgren’s power, suggesting it’s the most useful signet in the entire series. But while Melgren’s ability to see the outcomes of battles falls in the top 10, it’s got significant limitations that prove it’s not the strongest in Yarros’ world. Melgren seeing the outcome of battles can prevent losses for Navarre and save its dragon riders’ lives. It gives him a significant advantage in warfare, and that’s crucial to Navarre’s survival. This makes him an impressive and intimidating leader, though it doesn’t make him the all-powerful being Violet believes he is at the beginning of the book.

For one, Melgren can’t tell when a battle will unfold, even if he’s able to see the outcome of one. This means Navarre is still at risk of losing certain confrontations based on the information its leader doesn’t have. On top of that, Fourth Wing and Iron Flame prove that Melgren can’t see the outcome of anything involving three or more “marked ones.” Considering those are the characters he needs to watch out for, his signet’s limitations render it a lot less useful than initially implied.

8
Dain’s Retrocognition Signet

This Fourth Wing Ability Is Powerful But Has Downsides

One of the biggest moments from Fourth Wing sees Dain betraying Violet with his retrocognition signet, which allows him to read people’s memories by touching them. Naturally, such a skill makes Dain an asset to any military force. This is especially true if Dain’s power is kept under wraps, as his victims won’t be expecting him to have the knowledge that he does. This is how he tricks Violet at the end of Fourth Wing, proving that his signet is every bit as dangerous as the book suggests. However, like General Melgren’s power, Dain’s has serious limitations.

Dain is only able to read other Fourth Wing characters’ memories if he’s touching them, meaning his ability is useless if he can’t get close to someone. There are also only so many times his victims will fall for his trickery, as Violet and her friends demonstrate throughout Iron Flame. The sequel reveals that Dain’s signet can be blocked through practice, so anyone who learns of his power can negate it. This makes him slightly less threatening, and it prevents his signet from ranking any higher.

7
Quinn’s Astral Projection

Quinn is one of Fourth Wing‘s third-year cadets, and she has a surprisingly powerful signet for a more minor character. Yarros’ book reveals that Quinn’s ability is astral projection, which she can use to make people see things that aren’t there — and even change her appearance to look like someone else. These are useful powers to have both in combat and in political situations, making Quinn a force to be reckoned with, especially if her ability grows over time.

While Quinn can’t actually do much harm with her signet, it can be used in tandem with someone else’s to distract and do damage. It’s not as dangerous as some of the other abilities Yarros introduces. However, it is among the series’ biggest threats, especially off the battlefield.

6
Imogen’s Ability To Erase Memories

This Signet Could Be More Dangerous Later On

Imogen has a powerful signet at her disposal, and readers may not find out how effective it is until the third Empyrean book — or even later. Fourth Wing‘s pink-haired third-year has the ability to erase other people’s memories, which makes her an asset to her allies and a massive threat to everyone else. In terms of warfare, Imogen’s signet allows her to sneak around without consequences and manipulate other people. It’s easy to imagine how she can use this to her advantage, even turning the tide in certain conflicts.

It’s possible readers don’t know the full potential of Imogen’s ability either, as she could be erasing Violet’s or Xaden’s memories without them realizing it. Imogen’s signet isn’t all that handy in combat, and it can’t access memories that are too far in the past. However, it’s among the strongest of the mental signets, making Imogen a character that readers should pay close attention to.

5
Brennan’s Mending Signet

There’s A Reason Healers Are So Exceptional

Healers are incredibly rare in the world of Fourth Wing, so the fact that Brennan Sorrengail has the ability to mend other people’s wounds makes him a powerful dragon rider. While Brennan’s signet doesn’t give him much help with opposition, it’s a handy ability to have inside and outside of combat situations. Brennan brings Violet back from the brink of death, so he’s clearly wielding a lot of healing power. While he can’t save everyone, Brennan is an incredibly useful asset in warfare. The fact that he can save people makes his signet one of the top five most powerful abilities in Yarros’ series.

Unfortunately, Brennan’s power does come with limits, as he’s unable to heal anything to do with magic. As far as readers know, he also can’t bring anyone back from the dead. Given that Brennan’s healing abilities aren’t limitless and can’t harm enemies, it’s not as powerful as some of the series’ other signets.

4
Xaden’s Inntinnsic Abilities

There’s A Reason These Signets Get People Killed

Iron Flame reveals that Xaden has a second signet, and the fact that he’s an Inntinnsic — someone who can read minds without touching another person — could get Xaden killed by Navarre’s higher-ups. There’s a reason these abilities come with a death sentence, so there’s little doubt that it’s one of the strongest signets currently in the series. Of course, Xaden can’t fully read minds; from what he tells Violet, he gets flashes of people’s intentions. Even still, this is a big deal, and it makes him a dangerous opponent.

While Xaden’s Inntinnsic powers are powerful enough to fall in the top five, readers haven’t seen enough of them to conclude that they’re the strongest in the series. They can’t actually do damage to an enemy. Therefore, they’re not as effective as three other signets from The Empyrean Series — at least not currently.

3
Bodhi Can Weaken Or Block Other Signets

Bodhi is a supporting character in Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, but he arguably has one of the most powerful signets in the entire series. Bodhi’s ability allows him to weaken or negate other dragon riders’ signets, so he could technically render even more powerful abilities useless in a fight against him. In a sense, this should make his signet the strongest overall; although Xaden’s shadows and Violet’s lightning contain more raw power, Bodhi could take them on and live to tell the tale.

The reason Bodhi’s signet doesn’t land in the top spot is because it doesn’t help him against other threats in Fourth Wing. It may be the most powerful ability among signet users, but it won’t do him any good when facing creatures like dragons, wyverns, and griffons. It also doesn’t prevent him from taking harm from ordinary weapons and other, non-signet forms of attack.

2
Xaden’s Shadow-Wielding Signet

Fourth Wing Has Shown How Deadly It Can Be

Xaden’s shadow-wielding signet is undoubtedly one of the strongest powers in Fourth Wing, and Yarros’ books show just how dangerous it can be. Xaden’s shadows can be used in close combat or at a distance, and readers know he can kill multiple people with them without even moving. There’s a reason that Xaden is at the top of his class at Basgiath War College, and it’s because he has a huge amount of raw power thanks to his signet. Combined with his Inntinnsic abilities, his shadows make him nearly unstoppable. They are a bit more powerful than his other signet, at least from what readers have seen so far.

It’s tempting to say that Xaden has the most powerful signet in The Empyrean Series overall, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Even if he has a better grip on his power than Violet, there’s little doubt her lightning will be more effective by the end of the series. She seems to have the more powerful ability, and even Tairn knows it.

1
Violet’s Lightning Signet

Fourth Wing Is Teasing Her Becoming The Strongest

Violet Sorrengail is Fourth Wing‘s main character and the book’s underdog, so it’s little surprise that her signet has turned out to be the most powerful in Yarros’ series so far. Through Tairn, Violet gains the ability to wield lightning, and she’s proven how vast her raw power is on numerous occasions. Not many dragon riders have an ability so strong that they can take on the venin and their wyverns, and this alone makes Violet’s signet one of the most significant in Yarros’ romantasy series.

Violet’s lightning is just barely more powerful than Xaden’s at the current point in the series, but she’ll likely surpass him in due time. Tairn keeps telling her that Xaden is only the strongest dragon rider “for now,” suggesting that Violet’s signet has more potential than his. Only time will tell if she becomes the strongest player in Fourth Wing, but the series sure seems to be setting that up.