A Reaper at the Gates

“One piece remains, and beware the Reaper at the Gates! The sparrows will drown, and none will know it. The past shall burn, and none will slow it. The Dead will rise, and none can survive. The Child will be bathed in blood but alive. The Pearl will crack, the cold will enter. The Butcher will break, and none will hold her. The Ghost will fall, her flesh will wither. By the Grain Moon, the King will have his answer. By the Grain Moon, the forgotten will find their master.”

This quote is the prophecy given by Shaeva at the time of her death. The repeated references to the Grain Moon reflect its importance; the Grain Moon, a recurring motif in the novel, signifies bad tidings for the protagonists and acts like a deadline.

“Some feral darkness rises within me and takes control of my body. I felt it once before, months ago when I found the Nightbringer outside Kauf Prison. An animal cry explodes from my lips.”

This quote highlights Laia’s fey powers, foreshadowing future events in the fourth book, where Laia’s fey powers will be further explored. Through its use of animalistic imagery, the quote also highlights Laia’s fury at seeing someone she loves in danger, and her brave response to this threat.

“Why is it always us? All of these people—so many children—hunted and abused and tormented. Families stolen, lives shattered. They come all this way to be rejected yet again, sent outside the city walls to sleep in flimsy tents, to fight over paltry scraps of food, to starve and freeze and suffer more.”

The emotive language in this quote highlights Tahir’s emphasis on the brutality of war, specifically, on the unjust treatment of refugees in wars. The Scholar refugees continue to suffer, despite running away from their homes and cities to escape the Empire’s torment. This quote also emphasizes how war and political strife affects children disproportionately.

“In one swoop, she has undermined my authority, destroyed my reputation, and guaranteed that the Paters will turn to her for guidance. And all it cost her was the entire bleeding fleet.”

This quote highlights Keris’s greed for power and her willingness to do anything to get it. It also highlights Helene’s political naivete; she underestimates Keris’s hunger for power. However, it also marks a moment of learning for Helene since she later recovers from Keris’s manipulations and is able to outsmart Keris.

“My body grows fatigued, but there are dozens of injured left. One by one, I sing them well, until I can hardly walk. I need to leave. I need to eat.”

This quote highlights Helene’s compassion and devotion toward her people. Despite being tired and feeling weak, Helene continues to heal the children in the ward, putting her own life at risk to ensure their safety. It foreshadows Helene’s bravery at the end of the book, when she sacrifices herself to ensure the evacuees safety.”

“Love. I sigh. Love is joy coupled with misery, elation bound to despair. It is a fire that beckons me gently and then burns when I get too close. I hate love. I yearn for it. And it drives me mad.”

Tahir uses metaphoric language in this when comparing love to fire to highlight the conflicting nature of the emotion for Laia. Laia loves deeply, but also suffers great loss. She loves and loses her family and friends. And her romantic love life has also been a hardship, since Keenan (the Nightbringer) betrayed her, and Elias is now a Soul Catcher.

“‘Our stories are not bones left on the road for any hungry animal that happens along.’ The Kehanni’s voice rises, and I flinch back. ‘Our stories have purpose. Souls. Our stories breathe, Laia of Serra. The stories we tell have power, of course. But the stories that go untold have just as much power, if not more. I will sing you such a story—a story that was long untold.’”

This quote highlights the role, power, and emotional significance of storytelling for the Tribes. Storytelling is intrinsically tied to the Tribes and their sense of self. Culture, history, and heritage are passed down through storytelling.

“I sing the two notes back to him. Two notes become four, four become fourteen. Rage for my enemies, I think. Love for my people. This is my song.”

This quote reveals essential traits of Helene’s personality. On the one hand, Helene is defined by her love and compassion for her people and her loved ones, and on the other hand, Helene is also ruthlessly brave and vengeful against her enemies.

“They know the humans want their power. But why, when we keep the balance? Why, when we take the spirits of your dead and move them on so that you are not haunted by them?”

The jinn, aware of the essential role they played in keeping the balance in the world of the living, never suspected the greed of the human beings. This quote and the questions asked by the jinn highlight The Corrupting Nature of Power.

“The King shall light the Butcher’s path, and when the Butchers bows to the deepest love of all, night approaches. Only the ghost may stand against the onslaught. Should the Lioness’s heir claim the Butcher’s pride, it will evanesce, and the blood of seven generations shall pass from the earth before the King may seek vengeance again.”

A prophecy from the augurs’ book that the Jaduna gave to Laia, this quote is instrumental in Laia figuring out that Helene, as the Blood Shrike, has the last piece of the Star. This prophecy is a key moment that allows the narrative arc to change.

“The first time I killed, I was eleven. I saw my enemy’s face for days after he was gone. I heard his voice. And then I killed again. And again. And again. Too soon, I stopped seeing their faces.”

The repetition of the word “again” highlights the trauma Elias suffered as a result of killing people. However, the repetition also signifies that killing becomes a repetitive and normalized action as a result of the schooling he received as a mask. Therefore, through exposure to death and killing, masks become desensitized to killing.

“‘It is true, Laia,’ the Nightbringer says, and my very soul shudders, for I know he tells no lies. ‘Your mother lives. You know her. And now, you are free.’”

The truth, rather than freeing Laia, further paralyses her. Laia receives a massive shock in this chapter, confronted with the knowledge of how her mother killed her sister and father, and with the knowledge that her mother is alive and not the person Laia thought she was.

“His name, his history, his birthright, his curse. The truth of all creatures, man or jinn, lies in their name. The Nightbringer’s name was his making. And it will be his unmaking.”

The novel places a lot of importance on names, and the Nightbringer’s name, “Meherya,” is especially significant because it means love. However, as pointed out by Cain, the Nightbringer allowed himself to become bitter and vengeful because of the love he has for his people as well. Therefore, love is both the Nightbringer’s blessing and curse.

“The Strength of the butcher bird is the strength of the Empire, for she is the touch against the night. Your line will rise or fall with her hammer, your fate will rise or fall with her will.”

This quote highlights the importance of Helene as a character in the novel, and it explains why Marcus starts to trust Helene and her advice more toward the end of the book. He also tries his best to keep her safe when he sends her away with Livia and his son, knowing that Antium was going to fall.

“‘There is no Mirra of Serra!’ Cook shrieks so loudly that a pack of sparrows takes flight from a nearby tree, as frightened as I am. ‘She’s dead. She died in Kauf Prison when her child and husband died! I’m not Mirra. I’m Cook. And you will not speak to me of that murderous, traitorous bitch or what she would or wouldn’t do. You know nothing of her.’”

The repetition of the word “died” emphasizes Cook’s trauma. Her vehement denial of her past self reflects her guilt over the deaths of her daughter and husband; she disassociates herself from Mirra because that is the only way she could move forward.

“‘So they can have hope!’ I scream at her, an eruption born of my guilt over giving up my armlet to the Nightbringer. It is born of my rage at myself for not being able to stop him, frustration at my utter inability to do anything to help or protect or save my people.”

This quote highlights Laia’s compassion for her people as well as her helplessness in the face of their pain. Most importantly, it highlights the importance of hope as an emotion in people’s lives and in their fight for their survival.

“‘Hail nephew.’ I pull him close to me so that he’s only inches from my face. ‘I wish for you joy and a family that loves you, adventures that shape you, and true friends to have them with.’”

This quote is bittersweet. Helene’s wishes for her nephew are a reflection of things that she lost. Helene loses most of her family members, her friends, and her freedom over the course of the series.

“‘I cannot leave the city,’ I say. ‘Not like this. Not skulking through the shadows. There are men back there who were counting on me, and I left them.’”

This quote highlights Helene’s sacrifice for her people. She is willing to give up her life and safety for the sake of her duty, knowing that the Martial soldiers need her.

“I think of baby Zacharias and the innocence of his gaze. Marcus too must have looked that way once. Perhaps that’s what his twin, Zak, saw when he looked at him: not the monster he had become, but the brother he had been.”

Despite hating Marcus, Helene decides to have mercy on him when he is dying because Marcus too used to be innocent some time. This quote emphasizes how hunger for power and violence can corrupt and change a person over the course of their lives.

“‘You have already destroyed us’ I shout. I fight to keep from hitting him—not because I am afraid, but because I know it will do no good. ‘Look at what the Scholars are. Look at what we have become. We are nothing. We are dust. Look’—my voice is ragged now—’look at what you did to me. Look at how you betrayed me. Is it not enough?’”

Laia’s anger against the Nightbringer is twofold. Firstly, he betrayed her trust and manipulated her to get her armlet from her, which contained a piece of the Star. Secondly, he is set on destroying Laia’s people; every time the Scholars suffer because of the Nightbringer, Laia’s guilt resurfaces.

“He falls silent as we leave Antium far behind. Soon, I forget the fighting. I forget the face of the girl I loved. I think only the task ahead. All is as it must be.”

This quote highlights a monumental shift in Elias’s character arc, signifying the moment Elias gives in to the demands of Mauth’s magic. He sacrifices his human desires of love and companionship to atone for his guilt for not doing his duty as Soul Catcher properly.

“I gesture the Martials in. ‘I’m not going to tell a mother with a crying child she can’t escape through here,’ I snap. ‘I don’t care if she’s Martial or not. Are you?’”

As a Scholar, Laia has endured discrimination her whole life. This is a point of commonality between her and the Nightbringer. However, their responses to these experiences is a core difference: Though they both experienced discrimination, oppression, and betrayal, unlike the Nightbringer, Laia does not allow her experiences to turn her bitter and vengeful.

“‘Empress?’ She cocks her head. ‘To be Empress is the least of my desires, girl. Why stop at Empress? Why, when the Nightbringer would offer me dominion over the Tribes, the Scholars, the Mariners, the Karkauns—over all the world of man?’”

This quote highlights the extent of Keris’s greed. Her desire for power does not end with becoming empress. Rather, she intends to rule over everyone and everything; she wants her power to be absolute.