A motif of hunger underpins the novel’s portrayal of the temptations or desires that cause Asar internal conflict. Exposition regarding Asar’s childhood contextualizes the motif, linking it to the physical deprivation he experienced during his training with Gideon. However, rather than resent Gideon for honing him as a weapon, Asar “welcomed it” because “he was happy to try more torturous keys if it meant finding the one that would unlock his potential” (98). Asar’s hunger thus becomes associated with his insatiable desire for knowledge, power, and freedom. The potential costs of that desire are made clear in the first interlude, which describes Asar’s ascension to divinity as done with “the desperation of a starving soul willing to sacrifice anything, everything, for a single chance at redemption” (15).

However, this “hunger” coincides with one implied to be healthier: Asar’s desire for Mische. Gideon, for instance, warns Asar that his heart “will be [his] downfall” because he “crave[s] love like an animal craves meat” (176). Given the source, this framing pits Asar’s desire for Mische against his desire for power, godhood, etc. This struggle underpins much of the novel, gaining new dimensions via memories of his life with Gideon in Ryvenhaal. In particular, he recalls how he would avoid drinking the blood provided to him for days because he was unused to such abundance, and “if [he] never accepted it to be real, it would hurt less when it was taken away” (102). This memory contextualizes Asar’s fear of fully accepting his relationship with Mische—a fear that leaves him vulnerable to Alarus’s relics, which prey on his hunger for what Gideon taught him to desire.