Elderling Creations Theory (Spoilers through all the books and Dragon Haven)

[maulkin]

One point that is made very strongly in Dragon Haven (and more subtly in Fools Fate) is that the relationship between dragons and elderlings is one of mutualistic symbiosis. Dragons need elderlings as much as elderlings need dragons. Associating with dragons unleashes enormous potential in humans, resulting in their transformation into elderlings. Likewise, it was only by associating with humans that the hatchlings of the Rain Wild Chronicals were able to complete their transformation into dragons. In particular, several of the dragons lacked the capacity for speech and complex thought until they developed a bond with the keepers. Even the more intelligent dragons appeared to lack the capacity to cooperate or engage in complex social interactions until they acquired these abilities from their keepers. This makes me wonder what would happen to dragons if humans disappeared from the World. Would they remain intelligent and socialized or would they degenerate into solitary, brutal creatures, lacking art, culture and beauty?

It seems likely to me that the Skill is not a quality of humans or dragons but is produced by the interaction between humans and dragons. Without this interaction, perhaps neither humans nor dragons would be able to communicate mind to mind or manifest any of the other skill-related powers. In this way, it would function similarly to the Wit, which is a product of the interaction between humans and animals. It is clear that the animal partner is changed just as much by the wit bond as the human partner. In the absence of dragons, humans discovered how to develop the Skill through interactions between humans, but it was still this quality of interaction/bonding that was important. Skill-users either form coteries or develop a personal bond with the king. Eventually, this intimate bond leads them to seek to merge their identities entirely through the creation of a stone dragon.