The Poppy War: Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis

Students get four days off to visit home and celebrate the Summer Festival. Kitay invites Rin to come home with him, and Rin accepts. A huge carriage picks them up at the Academy’s gates. Inside the carriage, Rin feels safe and clean, and she admires the wealthier neighborhoods the carriage passes through. They finally reach a huge compound, where the housekeeper immediately asks Kitay what he’d like to eat. Later, they sit down to a feast of expensive delicacies and discuss Kitay’s father, the defense minister, who’s working around the clock until after the parade to keep the Empress safe. Rin is overwhelmed by the luxurious estate and how many powerful connections Kitay and his family have.

The next day, Kitay takes Rin to the market. She laughs when they come across tiny statues of boys that appear to pee when water is poured over them, and Kitay insists on buying one for her. As they continue through the market, Rin realizes how much of a difference money makes: Kitay can do and buy whatever he wants. This reinforces Rin’s desire to earn her place in Sinegard.

That evening, Rin and Kitay attend a shadow puppet show. The story describes how the Trifecta—the Warrior, the Vipress, and the Gatekeeper—saved Nikan about 40 years ago. It describes the Trifecta, as children, coming from humble origins, training in martial arts with monks, and then approaching the gods in the Pantheon. The gods granted the Warrior a sword, the Vipress the power of hypnosis, and the sickly Gatekeeper the keys to “unlock the menagerie of the gods.” Now powerful heroes, the Trifecta then invited the 12 Warlords to a banquet, drugged them, and declared the Warrior the Emperor of Nikan. This united the country and allowed it to drive out Federation forces.

After the show, Kitay is disturbed: the story portrays “Nikara politics as usual,” with warring Warlords paying more attention to their own squabbles than to the threat that Mugen poses. Rin, though, doesn’t want to talk politics—she wants to talk about the Pantheon and shamans. She insists there must be some proof to the story, since there are records of shamans dating back centuries. Perhaps, she suggests, the Cike are shamans. Kitay is exasperated and insists all the stories are just exaggerated and only help the Empress (the Vipress in the story) hold on to power. Rin doesn’t argue, but she does observe that the puppet show glossed over the fact that Nikan won the Second Poppy War because of the genocide on Speer.

Rin and Kitay spend the next few days lounging, eating, drinking, and gossiping about their classmates. Kitay reveals that he doesn’t actually want to be in the military—he’d rather be a scholar—but as the Defense Minister’s only son, he didn’t have a choice. They briefly discuss Kesegi, but Rin doesn’t want to think about home. She’s too focused on trying to “erase her past” and become something better. Finally, it’s time for the festival’s parade. Rin stands with Kitay’s family beforehand, and Kitay observes that Nezha’s father, the Dragon Warlord, isn’t present.

Then, it’s time for the parade to start, so Rin goes to find a spot to watch (she can’t march in the parade with Kitay’s family). Huge puppets of mythical beasts go first, and Rin marvels at the Vermilion Phoenix. The country’s “illustrious houses” are next, and they’re boring. The Empress herself comes last. She’s not conventionally beautiful, but Rin finds herself overcome by the woman’s beauty and, when she meets the Empress’s eyes, she feels compelled to do anything to serve her.