An Ember in the Ashes

The trial in Chapter 16 embodies the book’s major theme Fear Is Inescapable. Elias’s greatest fear is causing harm, and seeing the bodies in the field paralyzes him in his fear because he doesn’t want to believe he’s capable of such atrocities. In particular, the image of Laia’s corpse frightens him because he was so drawn in by her beauty and hidden strength, and the thought that he could kill someone he finds so compelling troubles him deeply. Elias is unable to put the field and his fear behind him until he comes to terms with both the fear itself and the possibility that he is capable of so much killing, showing how fear stays with us even when we think we’ve moved on.

Elias begging corpses who can’t respond for forgiveness means he is completely lost in what he’s allegedly done. Deep down, he knows ghosts can’t forgive him, but he is looking for someone to absolve him of his guilt. He has not yet realized he’s the only one who can forgive him. The inevitability of the deaths also rob Elias of his belief that he has any choice in the deaths, and this also highlights the theme of The Power of Choice.

Helene’s arrival breaks Elias from the paralysis of fear. After days of wandering through the dead, he doesn’t immediately notice that Helene is alive, showing how completely fear can close us off from the world. Though none of the corpses have moved or spoken to him since the one who guided him to the field, Elias doesn’t doubt Helene is among his kills. When he realizes Helene is real, Elias breaks through the fear holding him back, which suggests a few things. First, it shows how strong the bond between Elias and Helene is. Second, it illustrates how we must believe in fear to give it power over us. Elias doesn’t believe he’s capable of killing Helene, which both lets him break free of his fear and foreshadows how he almost kills her in the third trial. Third, given Elias’s realization here and the horror he later feels when he almost kills Helene, it is likely he will be faced with killing Helene again later in the series.

Chapters 18 and 20 set up for tension later in the book. The Commandant has fixed the trials in her favor, but with help from Nightbringer, she is able to hide this from the Augurs. Marcus and Zak have received similar training in hiding their thoughts from the Augurs, which suggests Zak lets the Augurs read his mind in Chapter 20 so Helene won’t die. Zak warns Elias the creatures of myth are returning, likely because he knows from his interaction with the Nightbringer. Zak offers Elias just enough information to be helpful but doesn’t explain anything outright, showing his conflicted loyalties. Zak’s admission that he wouldn’t know who he is without Marcus supports the book’s theme What Makes Us Who We Are. He’s loyal to Marcus because they’re brothers, but he also realizes Marcus is dangerous to the empire, Elias, and Helene.

Laia learns that the ghuls are real in Chapter 17, mirroring how Elias learns the creatures from myth are returning. The ghuls forming Darin’s shape symbolizes how losing Darin is Laia’s greatest fear. The ghuls likely know this and purposefully drag out Laia’s fear so they can feed on it. The blacksmith is later revealed to be a Scholar sympathizer, and he helps Laia here both because he liked her brother and because he doesn’t want to see her harmed by the Commandant.

The Commandant knowing Laia opened the letter shows how she knows things that should be outside her abilities, and the punishment she exacts is overly harsh to make it clear Laia doesn’t have many chances left. Laia’s inability to remember her brother’s face while the Commandant brands her shows how enough pain blocks everything else out. In this moment, Laia fears for herself more than she fears for Darin, and her attention is focused inward because the pain will not let her do otherwise.