At the start of Heartless Sky, Lionel is enraged that Tory burnt off his hand in a battle. Lavinia uses her dark magic to fashion a new, magical hand for him, which is imbued with even greater power. Lionel’s hand symbolizes the challenge of eliminating evil, and the resilience of ruthless ambition. At first, Lionel is afraid that the loss of his hand will undermine his strength and magical abilities; he laments that “this loss was more grievous to me than the betrayal of my sons” (66). However, Lavinia uses her magic to create a new hand for him. The replacement hand undermines Tory’s attempt at lessening Lionel’s power and returns him to his status as a powerful antagonist. The new hand symbolizes how hard it is for the twins to eradicate Lionel, Lavinia, and their evil ambitions. Whenever the twins and their allies do manage to achieve a victory, their gains are short-lived and seemingly futile. Lionel’s new hand reflects the indefatigable nature of his lust for power. He has been hoping to seize the throne ever since he was himself a Zodiac Academy student (who secretly hated Hail Vega, the twins’ father).

Lionel’s regenerated hand also symbolizes the deepening bond between he and Lavinia. She gives him the new hand, which he does not have the power to restore or heal for himself. While the new hand replenishes Lionel’s power, it also places him under Lavinia’s sway. She restores his hand immediately before demanding that he marry and father a new heir with her; Lionel is uncomfortable with these demands because he can sense that Lavinia is becoming more defiant and powerful. Lionel’s intense emotional reaction to the loss of his hand paired with the knowledge that his sons have betrayed him (necessitating a new heir) reflects a form of castration anxiety and fear of a loss of virility; Lavinia manipulates these anxieties by pressuring Lionel to marry her and sire a child immediately after she restores his hand. When Lionel hesitates to comply with her demands, she threatens, “if you won’t make me your queen then I can just rip your manhood clean from your body” (78). Lionel’s body increasingly comes under Lavinia’s control, revealing a shift in the power dynamics driving the central conflict.