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Chapter 27
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Glass Sword, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Oppression, Cruelty, and Inequality
Division and Hierarchy
Identity and Change
Betrayal, Distrust, and Isolation
Justice vs. Vengeance
Summary
Analysis
The Colonel leads Mare to the control room in Barracks 1. There, she meets a pair of men dressed in green uniforms. They’re identical twins and strangely in sync with each other. They introduce themselves as Rash and Tahir from the Free Republic of Montfort, a well-fortified and hidden mountain nation. In Montfort, newbloods live openly and call themselves Ardents. Rash and Tahir themselves are Ardents; their ability links their minds together. According to Rash and Tahir, Montfort desires to aid Reds’ and Ardents’ struggles for liberation in other nations.
Montfort exemplifies the kind of society Mare wants to create in Norta—one in which newbloods can enjoy safety and freedom. Rash and Tahir reveal that the problems of hierarchical division and the oppression of people with red blood exists in more places than just Norta. Reds and newbloods must fight for equality in solidarity with each other everywhere to eliminate the injustices they face.
Active
Themes
Mare guesses that she and Montfort’s people share a common enemy: Maven, and Silvers like him. But she thinks of Cal and Julian and wonders if Montfort believes Silvers are categorically evil or not. Since Montfort has already allied with the Scarlet Guard’s Command, Rash and Tahir promise safe harbor and freedom to any Nortan newbloods that come to live in Montfort. In return, they ask Mare to fight in the coming war. Once again, Mare is set apart from everyone else; ordinary newbloods will be protected, but she must fight and lead.
Mare is unwilling to ally with people who view Silvers as their unequivocal enemies. She believes it would be unjust to punish all Silvers indiscriminately for Silver society’s crimes against Reds and newbloods. Additionally, Mare is dismayed to be treated by other newbloods as if she’s special or more important than other people. She still doesn’t want to be a leader or to stand out from everyone else.
Active
Themes
Mare asks if Ardents have simply replaced Silvers as overlords in Montfort. Tahir responds that they only desire to help people like them escape suffering. Still, Mare refuses their deal, because she doesn’t want to run away or ignore the plights of Reds in Norta. When Mare leaves the control room, the Colonel follows her. He observes that her usual allies—Kilorn, Cal, and Farley—have been avoiding her. Mare tells him about her plans to go to the Choke to rescue the Little Legion, and he agrees to help her.
Active
Themes
Mare lies down in the empty infirmary, unable to face her family. She relives the moment Shade died, when he came back to save her. Julian chastises Mare for isolating herself when other people need her, including her own family. He tells Mare that people aren’t born evil, but they can become evil. He’s afraid of what Mare could become if she allows the horrors she’s suffered to change her for the worse. Mare doesn’t want to become a monster, so she promises Julian that she’ll try not to lose herself. He offers to ask Sara to heal the scars Maven gave her, but Mare wants to keep them as reminders.
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Julian walks Mare to Barracks 3, where her family’s bunk is. Along the way, Mare recognizes a few newbloods from the Notch. She realizes she doesn’t know who else died in Corros, but she doesn’t have enough strength to grieve for anyone else but Shade. Inside the barracks, Mare finally joins her family. They seem angry, like they blame her for surviving while Shade died. Instead of mourning Shade, Mare tells her family about the broadcast, which will go out tomorrow. Bree and Tramy are eager for a civil war.
Active
Themes
Mare also announces to her family that she’s going to the Choke. At once, her father forbids her or any of her siblings to go, but Mare is determined to save the kids of the Little Legion. Bree and Tramy volunteer to go with Mare to help and protect her. Mare wants to refuse their support, but she needs them. She starts shaking and cries as her mother holds her.
Active
Themes
