51 pages • 1-hour read
Curse of Shadows and Thorns
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Themes
Content Warning: This section includes discussion of gender discrimination, enslavement, and attempted death by suicide.
The Importance of Choice in Love
The idea of choice is a central concept in Curse of Shadows and Thorns. From the first chapters of the novel, it is clear that Elise feels she has little choice over what happens in her life, yet still longs for the ability to make her own decisions. This sense of powerlessness extends to her romantic prospects, introducing the novel’s thematic interest in the importance of choice in love.
When she learns that her father has opened up bidding for her marriage, Elise laments, “Timoran wives were given purses to spend at their leisure, they turned heads when their husbands took mistresses, kept silent over matters of state. A voice? No, thinking was better left to the men” (23). Though Elise seems to have a crush on Legion in the first chapter when she sneaks out to the gambling hall to get a glimpse of him, her feelings for him immediately change when she learns he is the one who will be deciding who she must marry. Elise and Legion’s relationship is grounded in the fact that her future is left in the hands of a stranger, and Elise initially directs her anger about this at Legion, as if he is the one who robbed her of her choice. Things change once the two get to know each other, and Legion surprises other Timoran royals when he affirms that the choice of who Elise is to marry “‘will be her choice in the end, not his’” (149).
Elise and Legion’s relationship subverts the power dynamics of Timoran society, giving Elise the agency over her own life she has always desired. The language of choice is embedded in magic, such as Legion’s curse, as he explains to Elise, “‘Trust, choice, and devotion must be given in equal measure from the royal to me, and me to them. To help must be their choice” (247). Choice is also required for Bevan’s elixir to work, and when Elise is denied a choice over what happens for a night, she begins to hate Legion.
When Elise learns more about the curse, she sympathizes with Legion because he has no choice over his actions, much like she was given no choice over her life in society. Even so, Elise continually makes the choice to help Legion when he could harm her. She is willing to sacrifice her life to let Legion live without the curse, literally spilling her blood for him at the tombs to help him. Elise regards these choices as proofs of her love and devotion to him, as well as her commitment to doing what she believes is right for the kingdom at large.
However, when Valen gets his memories back and Elise wants to stay by his side, Elise observes, “He made his choice. And I wasn’t it” (278) when he sends her away, breaking her heart. Though choice is paramount for Elise in her relationship with Legion, Valen’s choice to leave her symbolizes the most significant shift in their relationship, laying the groundwork for a discussion of choice in the following novels in the series.
The Complexities of Trust, Loyalty, and Forgiveness
Throughout Curse of Shadows and Thorns, Elise must continually reevaluate who she trusts and where her loyalties lie. Loyalty is an extremely important quality within the New Timoran nobility, so much so that Elise frequently laments how conformist the people in court are and how they refuse to question the injustice of the king’s actions. As Elise seeks to find her own way in life, the novel examines the complexities of trust, loyalty, and forgiveness.
Elise’s lack of unthinking loyalty singles her out in her family, even from Runa, who is truly disloyal to the crown but upholds the image of loyalty. Elise is loyal only to those who earn it, such as Mavie, Mattis, and Siverie, who is introduced holding a knife to Elise’s throat to foreshadow her alliance with the Agitators. As with Siverie, many of Elise’s gut instincts about who to trust are correct, such as when she mentions that she likes Halvar when she gambles with him in the opening chapter.
Legion poses a problem for Elise, as she cannot figure out whether or not to trust him. When Elise sees that Legion puts his trust in Ettans like Halvar and Tor and doesn’t have a problem with her friendship with her maids, she begins to think she can trust him. Though Elise’s trust in Legion continually flip-flops throughout the novel when she sees him confront Siverie, when she learns about his affliction, and when his romantic feelings for her become clear.
Elise must again question where her loyalties lie when she learns that Siv is an Agitator and Legion is the Blood Wraith in quick succession. She feels alone when she learns that two of the people she trusted most have lied to her, and she ignores the prophecy the witch girl had told her, “trust those undeserving of it” (170). The prophecy does not elaborate exactly who Elise needs to trust, but she eventually learns that she must trust both of the people who betrayed her, and makes the choice to believe that both Siverie and Legion’s intentions were good. In many ways, choice goes hand-in-hand with trust, as Elise must make the decision whether or not to forgive those who betrayed her, and “‘Trust, choice, and devotion must be given in equal measure’” (247) in the curse she is trying to break.
At the very end of the novel, loyalty becomes of the utmost importance, especially as her disloyalty makes Elise an enemy of the crown and Siv’s disloyalty to the Agitators places them in an awkward situation when they must beg for protection. Ultimately, it is Valen’s loyalty to his family that makes him leave Elise, and, though it is unclear whether or not she forgives him for this, Elise trusts that fate will bring them back together in the future.
Power Versus Justice
Power is yet another central idea in Curse of Shadows and Thorns, especially amongst the Timoran royals Elise associates with. Unlike others in her family, Elise sees how the royals are obsessed with power and how it has corrupted them, making them ignorant or indifferent toward how their selfishness impacts others. Through Elise’s opposition to this way of ruling, the novel examines power versus justice.
Elise continually sets herself apart from her family, complaining about how she doesn’t understand their interest in power and finery over the problems of others. She takes serious issue with the imbalance of power in her kingdom and how cruelly the once-powerful Ettans are treated by her family. Power in New Timoran always involves subjugation, as the Timorans believe that the Ettans had to be enslaved so they would not rebel against the new rulers.
Similarly, the Timorans banished all those who possessed magic for fear that the fae would overpower the Timorans. Valen’s curse was established on the fact that the Timoran king who cursed him did not believe any of his descendants would give up their own power for another, which is why Elise is the only one who can sacrifice herself to break the curse. She knows that “no Timoran royals [she] knew would even consider” (268) doing something selfless like spilling their blood to open the Black Tomb, let alone sacrificing their life for someone else.
As Elise reads Lilianna’s journal, she sees that this is not always the case for people in power and that some rulers can reign in a just way. However, it is clear to her and most of her friends that the power held by the Timoran nobles is built on the backs of others, and that justice cannot be restored while her family is in power. Though Elise is initially excited to hear about Jarl’s ideas for changing the kingdom, Legion knows that most people aren’t as concerned with justice as Elise, highlighting how important power is as a motivator for many characters. Jarl wants power and, unlike Elise or Legion, is willing to make the Night Folk suffer for it, just as the Timorans have subjugated the Ettans to maintain their power.
Power and the quest for it continually corrupts characters within the novel, while the search for justice often does the opposite. When Elise learns from the Storyteller that Legion will ultimately bring about equality and justice in the kingdom, she tries to sacrifice her own life and power for this possibility, emphasizing the importance of justice to her. Though it is not revealed whether Elise and Valen will create a just new kingdom in this novel, Elise’s care for others is never broken, showing how justice still drives her at the end of the novel when she looks forward to “a new, rising Etta” (285).
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