An Ember in the Ashes

Laia and Elias come to fully trust one another in these chapters. It’s possible Elias was meant to enjoy his prize in a more violent manner as befits a Mask at Blackcliff, but his choice to be kind to Laia shows he isn’t like most other Masks. Elias confirms that the resistance is feeding Laia inaccurate information. Laia doesn’t jump to the conclusion that Mazen is lying, showing her tendency to think the best of people. In the midst of a string of days and nights where things have gone wrong, this night is almost perfect for both Elias and Laia. It’s the literary calm before the storm and foreshadows the climactic sequence and how both their worlds fall apart again in the final chapters.

Chapter 42 shows the differences between Helene and Elias that they do not resolve by the end of the book. Neither Helene nor Elias can come to terms with what happened during the third trial, each for different reasons. Elias mourns his friends and knows what they did was wrong. He doesn’t believe their friends should suffer for their triumph. By contrast, Helene does not regret what happened. Her unshakeable faith in the empire and all it stands for won’t let her see the deaths from Elias’s perspective, and Elias’s experience of a world outside Martial rule keeps him from believing as fully in Martial laws as Helene.

Helene’s promise to set Elias free in Chapter 44 shows that Helene isn’t heartless. While she believes fully in the empire, she understands that Elias cannot. Her offer to set him free would be the last thing one of them did for the other, and Helene cares enough about him to never see him again so he can be happy. Elias takes a moment to consider her offer, and in that moment, he isn’t protecting Laia, which shows that the idea of getting what we want most can distract us from everything else around us that’s important. The theme of The Power of Choice comes to a head here in that Elias is finally offered a choice, and he fails to act on it in time. The choice he was being given was powerful enough to distract him from his principles and his current task of protecting Laia, because having a true choice is so rare as to be shocking for him.

The Augurs fake Laia’s death during the third trial. The reason for this is never given, but it may be assumed that Laia has a part to play in the impending conflict and that the Augurs still have a use for her. The Augurs don’t object when Laia refuses to go with them, suggesting that she will do what she’s supposed to do if she joins them or not. The Augurs name Marcus victor of the trials, even though Marcus didn’t actually kill Laia and fulfill the winning terms of the fourth trial. The Augurs claim the logistics of the victory matter less than Marcus’s reaction, which questions what winning truly means. Marcus didn’t do what was necessary to win, but he thinks he did, so in his mind, he is the new emperor with control over Helene. The last glimpse of Marcus shows him looking defeated, which suggests he isn’t reveling in his victory as much as the Augurs think. It is also likely Marcus can’t celebrate his victory as much as he would have before because he had to kill his brother to secure it, something he cannot get past.

Mazen’s betrayal shows that the resistance isn’t always on the side of good. Young adult dystopian and fantasy novels often feature a rebel group fighting against an oppressive regime, and within the rebels there are selfless freedom fighters who are willing to do whatever it takes to overthrow the government. While these fighters have pure motives, the actions they take to achieve their goals are not always selfless. Mazen is one such fighter. He uses Laia to smooth over tensions within the resistance and get those who opposed him back on his side. As a result, his forces are stronger, and he feels confident in the attack they’ll launch against Blackcliff. Mazen doesn’t realize he’s played into the Commandant’s plan, and it’s possible the resistance will sustain great losses during this attack. Mazen also has no qualms about killing Laia to get her out of his way now that she’s no longer useful. He’s imprisoned other freedom fighters simply because they disagree with his methods, which suggests Mazen may be more of an antagonist in future installments.