There’s 1 Crucial Detail Veronica Roth’s New Divergent Books Cannot Change

Veronica Roth’s new Divergent books will significantly change the original trilogy, but they must maintain one key detail from the original story. The 2010s were the decade of YA dystopian media, spurred by the success of the books The Maze Runner, The Hunger Games, and Divergent in the late 2000s.

Both The Maze Runner and The Hunger Games have been explored further in the years since. However, Veronica Roth has mostly refrained from touching Divergent since the book Four came out, only putting out a short story in 2018. However, news broke that Roth is officially revisiting the world of Divergent with a new book duology. The first book, The Sixth Faction, will release on October 8th of this year, and the untitled second book will come out in 2027.

Roth revealed that she started this new Divergent journey by brainstorming what she would fix about the original series (via Winter Is Coming). The Divergent books received many criticisms, some of which were really valid. The new duology is allowing Roth to think about the storytelling choices in a new way.

Instead of writing a prequel or sequel, the books will exist in an alternate universe where Tris doesn’t choose Dauntless at the Choosing Ceremony after a traumatic incident.

Because of the intent to fix the books and the alternate-universe setting, The Sixth Faction and its sequel will inevitably make significant changes to the original universe. However, one key element of the original books cannot be altered: Tris and Four’s profound connection.

Tris & Four’s Relationship In Divergent Is Deeper Than Most YA Book Romances

Veronica Roth doesn’t think of Tris and Four as soulmates (via Nylon), and they don’t need that label to be a meaningful couple. They have a much deeper connection than most YA couples because they have shared values, compatible personalities, and mutual respect that is forged through shared experiences. The Sixth Faction is going to take away that last component.

However, their personalities and values align so much that Tris and Four would almost definitely connect under most circumstances. They still have the same patience, loyalty, and willingness to fight for what they believe in, whether Tris joins Dauntless or not. Their chemistry isn’t reliant on them being in the same faction so much as who Tris and Four are to their core.

Tris’s joining Dauntless is simply the inciting incident that gives them enough time together to realize they could connect on a profound level. There are only two circumstances where I could see Tris and Four not connecting.

Firstly, if they don’t meet, they obviously won’t form a relationship. However, based on the comments at BookCon 2026, it seems like Tris will be going factionless in the duology. Four’s mother is the leader of the factionless, so it’s inevitable that they will come into contact.

Secondly, one or both would need a drastic change in personality and core values. This is possible for The Sixth Faction, as trauma can change a person. However, completely delineating the new version of Tris as someone completely different would isolate the target audience. Tris’ character is a large part of why audiences fell in love with the Divergent books in the first place.

Taking these things into account, even if Tris and Four met under different circumstances, they would more likely than not eventually reach the same place of connection. They just need an inciting incident that forces them to interact.

Tris & Four Would Be The Ultimate Star-Crossed Lovers

Dauntless and the factionless are pretty staunchly on opposite sides of the conflict in Chicago. The “brave” faction serves as Chicago’s police and military, upholding the social structure that keeps the factionless in poverty. They’re the enforcers who make sure that the factionless stay at the bottom. They’re the ones making sure the factionless perform forced labor.

However, as shown in the Divergent series, there’s a division throughout Dauntless about it means to be free through bravery. Four doesn’t agree with treating the factionless in degrading ways. Eric believes in punishment and cruelty, while Four believes in protecting everyone, including the factionless.

Four seems like just the type of person to give a factionless young woman a romantic chance. Similarly, Tris seems like the kind of person not to judge a person based on their faction but instead by their values and behaviors. If she’s factionless, she might be willing to have a romance with a Dauntless young man, even if that would be taboo.

Obviously, there is no guarantee that Four will stay in Dauntless in this alternate universe version of Divergent. If he stays in Dauntless while Tris becomes factionless, they could be the ultimate star-crossed lovers.

They could still have the same mutual respect regardless of being on opposite sides of a conflict they didn’t start. Plus, the idea of them choosing each other, which Roth emphasized in her Nylon op-ed about Tris and Four’s relationship, would hit even harder with the societal pressure not to choose each other.

Tris Is Better Off Without A Love Interest Than With A New One

Veronica Roth’s new books could choose not to introduce Tris and Four at all, which would be a mistake in my opinion. Their connection is a driving force in both of their stories. However, on the off-chance that Roth completely removes Tobias Eaten from Tris’s story, I would rather her not have a love interest.

For one thing, any other love interest for either character when they’re both alive and living in the same city would just feel wrong.

It was already a little divisive to see Four move on with Christina in “We Can Be Mended,” but that at least made sense. Four was no longer in a world where Tris existed. He and Christina bonded over their mutual love for Tris and their loss. I can understand why they might turn to each other for comfort and then find love.

However, I wouldn’t say the same thing about Four and Christina if Tris were still alive. Unless Roth decides to kill Four off in The Sixth Faction, Tris will be in a world where Four exists. It’s better that romance not be part of the story if they’re both going to exist in the Divergent alternate universe but not be together.

On top of that, Tris is a strong protagonist. As much as I think Tris and Four are better characters with each other in their lives, Tris doesn’t need a love interest to be compelling. The way she engages with the world around her is interesting. She has meaningful thoughts, and she isn’t afraid to stand up for them. There’s no reason why she couldn’t command a story without a love interest in her life.

Ultimately, Four and Tris’ connection is an anchor in Divergent that just shouldn’t be removed or replaced, even if it forms under different circumstances.

Release Date

March 21, 2014

Runtime

139 minutes

Director

Neil Burger

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  Shailene Woodley

  Beatrice ‘Tris’ Prior

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  Theo James

  Tobias ‘Four’ Eaton