Compare and contrast Anton and Illian, locating at least two points of similarities. Support your answer with evidence from the text.

How does Arena’s use of first-person narration guide reader allegiance between King Anton and Copelan, and where does Vasalie’s perspective prove most unreliable?

If you have read Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows (2015), how do Vasalie’s chronic pain and Kaz Brekker’s disability shape their respective approaches to power and leadership?

Dance is a recurrent motif in the novel, linked with Vasalie’s self-expression and evolving identity. Analyze how the motif informs the key theme of Physical Disability as a Source of Strength.

How does Copelan’s character arc complicate the novel’s exploration of loyalty?

Using separate objects, such as the Lensgraph, the glass tunnels, Anton’s palace, or other glass-related items in the novel, analyze the different meanings inspired by the motif of glass.

In what ways does Arena’s depiction of chronic illness play with traditional fantasy genre conventions?

What is the significance of the Fate of Morta, Eremis, and the connected prophecy in the plot? How do they link to Anton and Vasalie?