Heir of Fire

In this second section, “Heir of Ash,” the narrative stakes are raised as the protagonists experience emotional breakthroughs and learn crucial information about their enemies.

As she prepares to face the skinwalkers alone, Celaena is rescued by Rowan. Her worst fear is being abandoned by her loved ones, since her parents and some of her closest friends have died. Rowan’s decision to stay by her side, despite their previous argument, cements his loyalty to Celaena. She then realizes that his friendship helps her confront her trauma: “He was helping. And he was willing to meet a horrible fate in order to keep her alive. He hadn’t left her alone. She hadn’t been alone” (168).

Significantly, Rowan also experiences a cathartic breakthrough when he chooses to help Celaena. In the last chapter of Part I, Rowan shares his guilt over leaving his mate, Lyria, alone, which led to her being killed while he was on a mission for Maeve. As a result, his choice not to abandon Celaena provides a symbolic parallel that ties back to the theme of Redemption Through Self-Acceptance. This marks a shift in their relationship and foreshadows the evolution of their bond as one of complete trust and loyalty, symbolized by their eventual use of the carranam and the Blood Oath.

The passage where Rowan takes Celaena to the frozen cave further cements their relationship. On the surface, it depicts Celaena learning to control her magic better—a literal aspect of the theme of Staying in Control—and stumbling across key information when she finds the legendary warrior Brannon’s sword and ring. However, the narrative later loops back to this passage when Celaena realizes that Rowan “had known exactly what sword he was picking up that day in the mountain cave, [...] had thrown it to her across the ice as a future bargaining chip—the only protection he could offer her against Maeve, if she was smart enough to figure it out” (512). Additionally, the symbolism of Celaena’s nickname of Fireheart is introduced through flashbacks of her childhood, which provide important background information about her life and trauma, as well as clues about the enemies she faces in the present.

Manon is also depicted making her first conscious choice against the established order, which heralds her character growth. She picks a small, untrained wyvern as her mount because, unlike the bigger, stronger beast that she was expected to choose, “[Abraxos] was a warrior” (184). She reflects that “his fight with Titus hadn’t been so much about survival as it had been a challenge to claim her. As his rider. As his mistress. As his” (184), an emotional insight that foreshadows Manon’s growing empathy. When Asterin declares her unconditional faith in Manon, for example, the latter wonders:

For a heartbeat, Manon wondered when she’d ever earned that kind of loyalty. They weren’t friends—at least, not in the way that humans seemed to be friends. Every Blackbeak already owed her their loyalty and obedience as the heir. But this… (222)

The unfinished sentence, which indirectly reflects Manon’s thoughts, suggests that she does not yet possess an adequate emotional vocabulary. However, she is growing more aware of the nature of her bonds with others.

On the other hand, Dorian and Chaol grow further apart. Dorian finds hope and relative safety when he meets Sorscha, who falls in love with him and helps him subdue his magical abilities. Meanwhile, Chaol is exposed to more and more danger as he and the rebels learn more about the king’s unnatural way of making magic vanish years ago. Both characters attempt to stay in control, but Dorian’s situation is ambivalent, and Chaol has not yet picked a definite side in the upcoming conflict. This foreshadows the climatic way their friendship develops at the end of the book.

In short, this section can be summarized by Manon’s statement about Abraxos, which can be applied to all the protagonists: “Each of [their] scars [...] weren’t the markings of a victim. Oh, no. They were the trophies of a survivor. [They were warriors who had] had all the odds stacked against [them] and survived. Learned from it. Triumphed. (225).”

Maas’s character arcs tend to revolve around protagonists who fall from grace in some way or another (e.g., Celaena’s trauma leading to her depression, Manon’s choices leading to her rebellion, Dorian’s secret leading to his isolation, etc.). Part I centers around the first part of their journeys and then culminates with Celaena and Rowan vowing to “find the way back together” (302), thus developing the theme of redemption through self-acceptance.