Kingdom of Ash

Kingdom of Ash contains many points of view from characters in positions of power and the weighty responsibilities they face. Dorian and Aelin face the largest burden, as they grapple with the price they must pay to forge the Lock: their lives.

Since Elena, the first Queen of Adarlan, appeared to Aelin inside the glass castle in Throne of Glass, Aelin has believed she would have to die to forge the Lock and banish Erawan forever. After learning that Dorian’s heritage makes him equally able to give his life instead, Aelin still believes this burden to be hers, “to sacrifice her very self to right an ancient wrong. To pay another’s debt to the gods” (3). One of those gods is Mala Fire-Bringer, from whom comes Aelin’s extremely potent fire magic. Yet, because the goddess “had blessed and damned her with such terrible power” (3), it made Aelin a target for the Valg king and prompted allies to rely on Aelin’s magic as their deliverance. When forging the Lock takes away most of Aelin’s power, “what did remain—a significant gift, yes, but nothing beyond the ordinary” (802). To have an ordinarily-sized gift is a relief to Aelin, not a tragedy, as it removes a huge weight of responsibility from her shoulders.

Dorian feels this same burden with his raw magic power. The temptations of absolute power are many: He looks at crowds of people with certainty that he “could kill them all. Whether by choking the air from them or snapping their necks” and “[t]he knowledge carved out another hollow within him. Another empty spot. Had it ever troubled his father, or Aelin, to bear such power?” (82). The magnitude of his abilities disturbs and scares him. When Dorian’s gift is mostly gone after forging the Lock, Dorian is finally able to come to terms with his identity as a son and a king—a human heir to the father he wishes he could have had and the ruler that Adarlan deserves.

Manon feels the literal and figurative weight of wearing a crown when she unites the Crochan and Ironteeth witches—clans that have been bitter enemies for generations. To bring them together, Manon must combine their distinct cultures, using the vicious battle prowess of the Ironteeth to win the war alongside the Thirteen, but also deploying her newly discovered empathy and warmth to earn the Crochans’ respect. When she wins over the Crochans through subterfuge, provoking an Ironteeth attack to defend the Crochans, Manon feels guilt but recognizes that “Perhaps such callous decisions were part of wearing a crown” (146). Like Aelin and Dorian, Manon must make tough and sometimes morally grey decisions to do what’s best for her people.