The Lost Heir

As in The Dragonet Prophecy, Sutherland uses the Prologue for both exposition and foreshadowing, offering an ominous transition between the ending of The Dragonet Prophecy and the beginning of The Lost Heir. Sutherland also uses the Prologue to remind the reader of important events in the previous installment, and of Webs and Morrowseer, minor characters in the first volume who will play bigger roles in this book. Sutherland also introduces Nautilus and Crocodile, who will appear later in the story with minor but pivotal roles. These reintroductions signal a shift from character-driven drama to a broader political and ideological conflict, as formerly peripheral figures begin to exert outsized influence. This chapter hints at the multi-layered theme of War and Power, signaling that the relatively simplistic conflicts and alliances introduced in The Dragonet Prophecy may not be as straightforward as they first appeared: The Talons of Peace, supposedly the underdog rebellion against the war, seems to have its own opaque goals and internal strife, represented by their attempt at killing Webs and the fracturing into smaller factions, such as Webs and Crocodile versus the rest of the Talons of Peace. This split complicates the reader’s expectations about good and evil, emphasizing that in the world of Pyrrhia, power corrupts monarchs and revolutionaries. This narrative ambiguity also positions peacekeeping as its own form of power struggle, forcing the reader to reconsider whether the Talons of Peace are truly benevolent or simply another faction vying for influence through a quieter form of control.

Part 1 returns to the primary narrative from the dragonets’ point of view, this time focusing on Tsunami’s perspective. Part 1 functions mainly as exposition for the SeaWing kingdom, as well as Tsunami’s current conflicts and internal insecurities. One of her main preoccupations in this book highlights the theme of Adoptive Family Versus Birth Family; since Tsunami became aware of her heritage, she has been increasingly torn between her fantasy of her royal lineage—particularly contrasted with her dissatisfaction with her upbringing—and the other dragonets, with whom she constantly bickers. This ideation is clear through her fixation on the fairy tale The Missing Princess, as well as her dreams of being welcomed into the SeaWing kingdom with feasts and celebrations in her honor. This story within a story serves as a cultural myth that shapes Tsunami’s self-concept and distorts her expectations. She sees herself as both a daughter returning home and a rightful heir returning to claim her destiny. This hope is shattered with her birth uncle Shark’s less-than-warm welcome and his hostile treatment of the other dragonets. While Tsunami is not yet aware of the truth, she feels, and attempts to ignore, the cognitive dissonance that foreshadows her lack of acceptance by her family. The pain of this dissonance is amplified by her reluctance to acknowledge that the cruelty of Queen Scarlet may be mirrored—though more subtly—by her own birth family. This disconnect between fantasy and lived experience is central to Tsunami’s arc; her fairy-tale framing makes her unaware of early warning signs, forcing the reader to consider how stories shape identity, expectations, and grief. In particular, the idea that love and recognition are earned through biology is slowly dismantled, as Tsunami must learn to define family through trust and mutual care, not bloodline.

Another theme introduced in this section is that of Intrinsic Culture Versus Belonging. Tsunami struggles with several insecurities during these exposition chapters; bickering with her fellow dragonets leads her to feel like her leadership position is being usurped, thus heightening her sense of ostracism from the group and enhancing her hopes for a warm homecoming. This sense of ostracism is emphasized when she attacks the SkyWing patrol: Although she does so to protect Sunny, the other dragonets see her actions as endangering rather than saving them. This pushes Tsunami further toward the SeaWings, as if her genetics will automatically grant her belonging with this group. On the surface, this is true; her affinity for water, as well as her gills and fluorescent scales, show that she is a royal SeaWing, thus leading to the presumption that she is fluent in SeaWing culture. These assumptions reflect common dynamics of diaspora or adoption, where individuals may look the part but still experience cultural alienation. Riptide is confused when she doesn’t understand Aquatic, believing that she cannot belong to the sea kingdom. However, her lack of fluency in SeaWing culture actually has the opposite effect, pushing her back to the dragonets of destiny. This becomes a pivotal moment in Tsunami’s evolving understanding of home as a community of shared understanding and mutual protection rather than place of origin. Riptide only believes her story when the other dragonets come to her aid, and though Shark believes that she is a SeaWing princess, he treats her coldly as an outsider, a bare step above his capture of her friends. The illusion of biological belonging collapses quickly, underscoring that culture is taught and internalized rather than inherited. Tsunami’s discomfort reflects broader questions of diasporic identity and the emotional cost of returning to an unfamiliar homeland. The trauma of rejection, especially from a place imagined as a sanctuary, complicates Tsunami’s already fragile sense of self. Rather than experiencing wholeness, she is fragmented between tribe and team and between role and reality.

The symbolism of language as identity accentuates this theme of intrinsic culture versus belonging. Aquatic is a language exclusive to SeaWings. Though it was developed for communication underwater, it can also be used as a secret code. In this way, fluency in Aquatic also signals fluency in SeaWing culture, marking the user as belonging. Although Tsunami considers herself a SeaWing, she cannot fully pass when interacting with other SeaWings because she doesn’t know Aquatic. Realizing that Webs, also a SeaWing, chose to withhold this identity marker from her further increases her sense of ostracism not just from her adoptive family but also from the culture she seeks to join. This betrayal by Webs is both a pedagogical failure and an erasure of identity that is felt deeply by Tsunami. By denying her language, he denied her access to a cultural birthright. It marks her as an outsider and keeps her from understanding Shark’s ominous secret communications about her friends. On the other hand, Tsunami’s dependence on the common dragon language, rendered in the novels as English, aligns her more firmly with the intertribal dragonets of destiny, as it promotes a position of unity and interconnection rather than secrecy and isolationism. The spoken language becomes a symbol of coalition—an imperfect, inclusive language that resists the tribal elitism symbolized by Aquatic. Language thus becomes a stand-in for both inclusion and rejection, with Aquatic functioning as a literal barrier to understanding and belonging. Tsunami’s struggle considers legitimacy, history, and who gets to claim authority within a cultural narrative. Her failure to speak Aquatic excludes her from power structures that depend on inherited fluency, raising questions about who gets to belong and who is allowed to lead.