Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Mortal Engines, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Social Class
Sacrifice
Dangers of Technology
The Importance of History
Prejudice and First Impressions
Friendship
Summary
Analysis
In Batmunkh Gompa, Tom is frightened to see Valentine—who tried to murder him—but he also admires how daring Valentine must be to conduct a secret mission among enemies. Tom follows Valentine through the city, hesitant to tell Hester, since Tom isn’t ready to betray London.
In spite of everything, Tom feels one last flicker of admiration for Valentine, and this seems to be what makes him hesitate to betray London. His hesitation goes to show how difficult it is to abandon a long-held loyalty.
Themes
The more Tom watches Valentine, the more he realizes he needs to protect Batmunkh Gompa. He shouts out Valentine’s true identity, but as he unmasks the red-robed monk, he realizes it’s the wrong person and that he lost the real Valentine back at the city’s main square. He takes a taxi at once to Miss Fang and tells her what he saw.
As Tom has more time to think, he realizes that he’s finally ready to leave his home city behind. But his hesitation cost him his chance, and Valentine manages to slip away in the crowd.
Themes
Miss Fang, who is having tea with Khora and another aviator, guesses that Valentine wants to sabotage Batmunkh Gompa’s fleet of airships. Khora doubts one man can do that much, but Miss Fang says they shouldn’t underestimate Valentine. Tom says he needs to go find Hester, but Miss Fang forbids it, saying she needs Valentine alive for questioning. Nevertheless, when Miss Fang leaves, Tom goes to find Hester anyway.
Although Tom has decided to trust Miss Fang over Valentine, his strongest allegiance remains to Hester, showing how their bond has grown after a relatively short amount of time traveling with each other.
Themes
Tom tells Hester everything. They run to find Valentine, but when they see fire rising from one face of the Wall, they realize it’s too late and that Valentine has already sabotaged the fleet. They run to investigate. Khora is bleeding from a sword wound Valentine gave him. Hester runs ahead into the burning airship hangars, and Tom goes after her.
Although Valentine is a violent character, he commits much of his violence without being seen, like the burning of the airships, and this is how he maintains his public reputation as a respectable person.
Themes
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Tom gets lost in the hangar tunnels. Suddenly, he comes across Miss Fang and Valentine in a sword fight. The two fight fiercely while Tom watches from the shadows. Eventually, Miss Fang knocks Valentine’s sword away and levels her blade at his throat. Valentine stalls for time. All of a sudden, the searchlights of his ship turn on, blinding Miss Fang. He picks his sword back up and slits her throat.
Valentine tricks Miss Fang after she won fairly, suggesting that, like many other characters in the story, he is ruthless and willing to do whatever it takes to personally survive. This passage suggests that sometimes simply being heroic, like Miss Fang, isn’t enough to prevail.
Themes
