58 pages • 1 hour read
Mary E. PearsonVow of Thieves
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 56-68Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 56 Summary: “Jase”
The Ballengers craft a plan to steal Montegue’s munitions. During their preparations, Gunner interrupts, carrying an unconscious Kazi. Jase stays by her side, and they share a tender moment when she wakes several hours later.
The Ballengers grow increasingly worried as constant patrols make it difficult for them to find food. Montegue’s troops begin blasting through the mountain to reach the Ballengers, heightening their anxiety. Amidst this turmoil, Kazi realizes that the bulk of Montegue’s munitions are hidden below Tor’s Watch. Despite Jase’s protests, Kazi volunteers to search for the munitions during daylight hours.
Chapter 57 Summary: “Kazi”
After much debate, the Ballengers agree on a group that will search Tor’s Watch with Kazi. Upon arrival, Kazi quickly notices the soldiers’ positions, indicating that the munitions are most likely hidden in Darkcottage.
Chapter 58 Summary: “Jase”
Kazi distracts the guards by pretending to be one of Zane’s paramours who has gotten lost. After a convincing performance, Jase swiftly eliminates them. He then notices three casks lining a tunnel, but Kazi warns him not to get distracted.
Chapter 59 Summary: “Kazi”
Kazi and Jase discover a room filled with munitions. They soak the area in kerosene, but as they attempt to leave, they encounter soldiers who threaten them with ashti. Jase quickly turns the tables, commanding the dogs to attack the soldiers. Meanwhile, Synové and Wren eliminate the remaining threats. Jase then ignites the kerosene trail, and they all sprint away, with Jase calling for the dogs.
As they near the vault entrance, soldiers pursue them. Jase fights off the attackers while the rest of the group heads inside. Miraculously, everyone manages to make it through the vault door, locking it just before the soldiers can breach it. Moments later, the munitions explosion rocks the vault.
Chapter 60 Summary: “Jase”
The vault shakes and buckles but holds firm against the blast. Determined to strike before Montegue’s forces regroup, Jase decides to attack the town. As he ventures into the tunnel, he finds all the soldiers dead from the explosion.
Jase observes the extensive destruction of Tor’s Watch. They discover 200 dead mercenaries and 40 launchers, though none have any ammunition.
On their way to Hell’s Mouth, Caemus and Kerry intercept them and offer their assistance. They bring the welcome news that at least 200 mercenaries had ransacked the town and left in the wake of the explosion.
Chapter 61 Summary: “Kazi”
The Ballengers enter the town, engaging in fierce exchanges of launcher fire with the remaining mercenaries. Citizens, armed with whatever weapons they can find, join the Ballengers in the fight. Despite the skirmishes, the town remains disturbingly quiet.
Jase calls out for Montegue but receives no response. The eerie silence is broken when they stumble upon Oleez’s corpse, hung above them, sparking grief and anger among the small army.
Determined to press on, they move to the Ballenger Inn, where they encounter Banques and several soldiers. Banques smugly encourages Jase to surrender, declaring him a criminal. As tensions rise, Montegue approaches, cradling Jalaine, who is barely alive.
Faced with an impossible choice, Jase trades himself for Jalaine, ignoring Kazi’s panic and desperation.
Chapter 62 Summary: “Jase”
Jalaine, with her remaining strength, asks Jase to bury her next to Sylvey. As Jase moves into Montegue’s custody, Kazi, desperate and determined, tells him to “blink last.”
Chapter 63 Summary: “Kazi”
This chapter shifts between Kazi and Jace’s points of view several times.
Kazi, Wren, and Synové brainstorm ways to rescue Jase as the soldiers begin to handcuff him. With one wrist bound, Jase catches a sword Truko throws at him with his free hand—he was prepared to do so by Kazi’s message to “blink last.”
Montegue challenges Jase to a sword fight. As the duel intensifies, Montegue starts to lose, prompting Banques to draw his sword. Kazi alerts the archers, and the Ballenger clan launches their attack.
Jase tries to get Montegue to surrender, but Montegue refuses and lunges at him again.
In the ensuing chaos, Kazi and her friends kill several soldiers. Banques intercepts Kazi, but Montegue’s dying scream distracts Banques long enough for Kazi to kill him.
The Ballenger clan ultimately wins back the town.
Chapter 64 Summary: “Kazi”
Kazi tracks down Zane as he attempts to flee with the papers Montegue was after. Zane taunts Kazi before lunging at her, prompting her to fatally stab him. In his final moments, Zane reveals to Kazi that her mother was at the old king’s farm.
Chapter 65 Summary: “Kazi”
A woman at the farm leads Kazi to her mother’s headstone. There, Kazi learns that her mother passed away from illness approximately 10 years ago. The woman reveals that the king had taken Kazi’s mother as his wife, though she was miserable. Touched by this revelation, Kazi carves her mother’s name on the gravestone and wishes her peace.
Later, Kazi and Jase participate in a public wedding ceremony once more. Amid the solemn occasion, the specters of Death and Kazi’s mother silently observe. Kazi bids them a final farewell.
Chapter 66 Summary: “Jase”
A year and a half later, Jase is engaged in business discussions with his youngest brother, Lukas. The Ballenger family is steadily rebuilding Tor’s Watch. They have laid Jalaine to rest alongside Sylvey, their graves marked and consecrated.
Jase eagerly anticipates Kazi’s return from a business trip amid this rebuilding.
Chapter 67 Summary: “Kazi”
Several of Kazi’s friends and colleagues from Venda arrive at Tor’s Watch, leading to a heartfelt reunion filled with joy and camaraderie.
Following them, the Queen of Venda and the King of Dalbreck visit Tor’s Watch to formally declare it an official kingdom.
Kazi takes a decisive step by destroying Phineas’s papers. The Queen appoints Wren and Synové as liaisons to Tor’s Watch, reinforcing the bonds between Venda and Tor’s Watch for continued cooperation and prosperity.
Chapter 68 Summary
A crow flies off with Montegue’s vial of stardust. The stopper comes off, and the crow accidentally scatters the dust across the land.
Chapters 56-68 Analysis
As part of the theme of The Power of Family and Community, Vow of Thieves also includes the subject of family legacies. The narrative frequently references the Ballenger family history throughout Dance of Thieves and Vow of Thieves. This history is meticulously documented, creating a tangible connection to the past throughout both novels. However, Kazi and Montegue each have their own family legacies that become apparent in this section, providing a deeper understanding of their motivations and actions.
The Ballenger history begins with 14-year-old Greyson Ballenger, who was charged with the care of 22 people after the death of his grandfather. Greyson led the group to the vault, and the original 22 members wrote all over the walls, making the vault an essential part of the Ballenger legacy. Over hundreds of years, the Ballengers have protected this history. The Ballenger family has a legacy of violence, as their control of the arena and its profits make them a lucrative target. As such, Vairlyn and the other Ballengers keep the vault stocked with dates and other long-lasting foodstuffs, despite never having needed them. They are always prepared to immediately retreat there when they feel threatened, and this emphasizes the vault’s critical role in their family legacy. It is all the more symbolic when the explosion decimates most of Tor’s Watch, but the vault remains intact. This illustrates that while outside forces may wound the family, its core remains strong and resilient.
Montegue’s family legacy, on the other hand, is marked by selfishness, single-minded focus, and a lack of empathy. Montegue, the antagonist, has one primary goal: to become a well-loved, well-respected leader. However, he pursues this goal in the worst possible ways, showing a complete lack of concern for the people he wants to rule. He institutes public hangings and other severe punishments, ruling from behind the scenes. He believes his role as king alone is enough to gain the people’s love and trust, saying, “I am the king…The only king. The gods have ordained it” (447). However, Montegue’s focus on results rather than people makes him an uncaring, unsympathetic figure whom his subjects easily betray when Jase reappears. For much of the story, Montegue’s father seems to be a good man who is an incompetent ruler; however, this changes in these chapters, and Montegue’s lack of empathy is shown to echo his father’s. Kazi discovers that Zane kidnapped her mother to deliver her to the old king, Montegue’s father, who then forced her to marry him. This act highlights the old king’s lack of empathy, which appears to be a family trait.
Finally, Kazi gains a new perspective on her family legacy, which relates to her visions of Death. Throughout the series, Kazi views Death as an adversary she must continue to defeat for as long as possible. However, she finally realizes that her visions of Death are actually a gift from her mother. First, Kazi realizes that Death was always pushing her to stay alive—it was never an adversary. She recalls that “Death passed the room, watching me. Impatient [… ]Blink last. Make it one more day…I had always thought those were my words, but they were his. They had been his all along. […] His challenge for me to stay alive” (347). When Kazi visits her mother’s grave, she realizes that she has had Death’s help all this time because it is a gift from her mother. After her mother had died, she had “[made] a bargain with Death” to have him watch over Kazi and encourage her to keep fighting (454). While Kazi is grateful for her mother’s help from beyond the grave, she now wants her mother to finally rest. The specters of Death and Kazi’s mother attend Kazi’s second wedding, signifying that her mother is finally at peace.
For Kazi and Jase, family legacies provide safety, comfort, and protection. They highlight the importance of history, resilience, and the bonds that tie individuals together. The Ballengers’ steadfastness and the evolution of Kazi’s understanding of Death underscore the novel’s message about the enduring power of family and of how legacies shape and guide the characters’ lives.
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