Year One

One of the central tensions in Year One can be found in the interplay between prophecy and free will, as these interwoven forces jointly shape individual destinies and chart the world’s future. The novel presents a landscape in which prophecy lays out a clear trajectory, declaring that Fallon Swift will become “The One” who will heal the world after the Doom. However, even within this framework of inevitability, the novel emphasizes that free will and personal choice remain crucial in determining how the prophecies unfold.

The prophecies woven throughout Year One strike a double note, pronouncing inevitability while also provoking individual choices. Passages like Mrs. Frazier’s warning that “with the lightning and a mother’s birth pangs comes The One who wields the sword” initially present destiny as an inevitable, almost mythic force (9). This language frames the coming conflict as ancient and unavoidable, foreshadowing that light and dark will battle over open graves as a mysterious child arises to alter the course of the world. At first glance, the prophecy appears to be a set script, but the characters’ actions soon show that individual human decisions are needed to imbue the prophecy’s broad script with deeper meaning.