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Chapter 19
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Red Queen, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Biological Determinism and Social Inequality
Trust and Betrayal
Power and Degradation
Revolution vs. Stability
Summary
Analysis
Mare screams along with the crowd as she makes the lights go out so that her friends can escape. In the chaos, Mare stumbles upon the murdered bodies and notices the silver blood trickling from their bullet wounds. Mare cannot hold the lights off any longer and apologizes to the person dragging her away from one of the bodies. She realizes that it is Cal, trying to make sure she is all right. Cal tells Lucas to take Mare out of the ballroom, but he refuses to run away himself.
Because they do not yet know of her involvement in the assassination, Cal and Lucas try to protect Mare. She thus feels her betrayal of them even more acutely. She must sink deeper into her performance in order to avoid their suspicions, leading to another lie. Mare’s observation of the silver blood helps anchor her to the feeling that the murders were politically motivated: after all, there have been countless Red bodies left to bleed on the warfront.
Active
Themes
Mare sees one of the dead bodies as she leaves, posed in the middle of the ballroom with a lance sticking out of him. On the lance is a red sash stamped with a torn sun. As soon as Mare and Lucas leave the hall, there is an explosion behind them. Lucas says that it is a bomb, and based on the sash, it was set by the Scarlet Guard. He assures Mare that she needn’t worry about Cal being hurt by a bomb. However, Mare is more preoccupied by her confusion: a bomb was not part of the plan. She feels betrayed.
Now that the plot has exceeded Mare’s expectations of violence, she feels that she has been used. She already knew she was a pawn, but now she realizes that she may not have been as capable of assessing people as she thought she was. She is now not sure of her allegiance to the Scarlet Guard but also knows that she is, at least in part, answerable for their actions.
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Lucas leads Mare underground, where the rest of the royal family except Cal lies in wait. The king rages about the attack and wants to know about “my son.” Mare notices that Maven appears used to being overlooked this way. Mare tells the king that Cal went after the shooters and that the Scarlet Guard left behind a banner. The king and queen fight over which of them is responsible for letting the Scarlet Guard become such a danger. Elara leaves to question the servants.
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Evangeline comes in, obviously crying for her brother, followed by Cal, who is soaked in Red blood. They bring Mare with them to a prison cell containing four people, including Farley, Walsh, Kilorn, and a third lieutenant named Tristan. Cal, who remembers Kilorn from the Stilts, demands that Mare explain his presence. She feigns ignorance at his involvement in the Scarlet Guard, claiming only to have helped him get a job. The rest of the royal family enters as well and watches as Cal directs the torture of Farley by a sentinel to get information out of her. The sentinel freezes Farley’s blood until Cal finally cannot take it and calls a halt.
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Themes
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Someone bursts in, calling for Evangeline. Mare and Farley are both surprised to see Evangeline’s brother, healed from the attack. Mare must force herself not to react. Evangeline’s brother, also a magnetron, detaches one of the bars of the cell and plunges it into Tristan’s chest. Mare grabs Evangeline’s brother around the neck and shocks him until he drops to the floor. Mare realizes that everyone is looking at her, afraid. Cal looks ashamed, either because he tortured Farley or because his torture failed to extract information from her. Maven and Mare play for time, convincing Cal and the king to address the kingdom. Evangeline tells Cal that he is weak. Mare renews her resolve to protect Kilorn.
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On the way back to the throne room, Mare drips silver blood while Cal drips red. Mare asks Cal how many casualties there have been, and she is struck by his casual tone when he lists off the ten dead and fifteen wounded. Mare thinks, “I never wanted this” as Maven takes her hands in their usual spot in the throne room. King Tiberias speaks, vowing to avenge the fallen against the ungrateful Reds. Mare notices the smell of blood as the court yells, “Strength. Power! Death!” Mare meets Maven’s eyes and knows that they are both thinking, “What have we done?”
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