The recurring motif of stars, constellations, and horoscopes symbolizes the rigid, predetermined social order of Solaria and the characters’ struggle with fate versus free will. The entire world of Zodiac Academy is built on the belief that one’s birth stars dictate their power, status, and destiny. The Heirs derive their authority from this system, viewing their inherited power as a birthright ordained by the cosmos. This celestial framework is central to the theme of The Corrupting Influence of Inherited Power. It gives the Heirs a reason to excuse their cruelty; they are merely preserving a fated hierarchy.

The arrival of the Vega twins, whose existence disrupts this established order, forces every character to confront whether their lives are truly written in the stars. Tory, in particular, rebels against this fatalism, asserting her own agency. After deciding to flee the academy, she reflects, “The stars might have guided us to this school, but I’d been making my own luck and guiding my own destiny for long enough to know that I could take my fate into my own hands when I had to” (39). Her internal conflict highlights the novel’s central tension between a divinely ordered society and an individual’s power to forge their own identity.