The Throne of Fire

These chapters introduce Bes, the “dwarf” god who was beloved by the people of ancient Egypt. Bes has a complicated history with magicians, who captured him and forced him to perform. Bes helps Carter and Sadie because Bast asked him to, and Bes’s long-standing crush on Bast means he couldn’t say no, even though he isn’t overly fond of magicians. In Egyptian myth, Bes is portrayed as a small, “ugly” man, and Riordan stays true to this representation, giving Bes a big personality to match his unique appearance. As a god, Bes has inside knowledge of Egyptian influence, and he points out Egyptian architecture across different parts of the world. The Crystal Palace mentioned in Chapter 10 was a real structure, though there is no reference to a connection to Egypt. The palace was originally built in Hyde Park and later moved to Penge Common, where it burned in the 1930s as Bes describes. There is no reference to the sphinx statues, but the palace’s second location was known for its dinosaur sculptures, which were likely replaced by the sphinxes in the book.

Set returns to the series in these chapters. At the end of The Red Pyramid, Sadie and Carter made a deal with Set—the god’s help against Apophis in return for not banishing him into the Duat. In these chapters, Set both upholds his end of the bargain and displays his chaotic nature by revealing Carter and Sadie to Menshikov. As soon as it becomes clear Set is in danger, he switches sides, making sure Carter and Sadie get to safety—but only if Sadie makes another deal with him, showing that Set does nothing that won’t benefit him. In the previous book, Sadie learned Set’s secret name and used it to force him to help. Giving up the god’s name is a setback, but saving Carter is more important to Sadie than having control over Set, showing that she has enough confidence in their abilities to overcome any threat Set may become.

These chapters focus heavily on the power of names, representing the theme The Different Types of Power. Sadie’s visit with Jaz introduces the ren, which was believed to be the “name” part of the soul. Jaz’s ren takes the form of images from her life, showing that a name represents a person’s full identity. Later, Sadie equates the ren to the secret name, emphasizing that people are more than just what they’re called: They are made up of all kinds of feelings, thoughts, and experiences. This is emphasized when Ra passes his secret name to Isis, who nearly dies in the process of receiving it because Ra is so ancient and powerful.

In order to find Carter’s secret name, she must view his deepest secrets and the highlights of his life, and even then, he doesn’t relinquish it until his dying breath. This shows how protective magicians are over their secret names and suggests the power a secret name holds. Sadie doesn’t reveal Carter’s secret name to the reader, which preserves the reality of the story, as Sadie would not share such delicate information with strangers.

Carter and Sadie embody the theme of family in these chapters. Both characters have strong narrative voices, and from the beginning of the book, they constantly pass the story back and forth, including their own banter and commentary. In these chapters, however, their familial bond shines. Not only do they bicker, as young siblings often do, but they put themselves in danger without a second thought for each other. Carter leaps onto the dragon-serpent when it starts to charge at Sadie, getting poisoned and nearly dying as a result; Sadie, overcome by emotion at the sight of her brother getting injured, immediately unleashes Isis’s power to obliterate the creature, even though such strong connections with gods are very dangerous. Sadie also quickly sets about rescuing Carter and curing the poison, and the fact that she keeps his secret name private shows her respect and love for him.

In Chapter 11, Sadie’s ba visits Jaz’s ren while both of them are unconscious, suggesting that different parts of the soul can communicate with one another. This is Riordan’s creative take on Egyptian mythology and belief, as there is no direct mention of this in Egyptian myth. Sadie’s vision of Ra and Isis adds context to the background of the gods and suggests that waking Ra will bring forth more complicated consequences than Sadie and Carter can imagine. Riordan stays true to the story of the gods from mythology, Ra giving up his secret name to Isis in exchange for her healing the poison. In the Kane Chronicles story universe, having Ra’s secret name allowed Isis to put Ra to sleep. Apophis and Menshikov later link Apophis’s return to Ra’s waking, meaning that Isis’s long-ago actions directly contribute to the conflicts in The Throne of Fire.

Lastly, the siblings are once again faced with The Difficulty of Making Choices. This theme appears in both small and significant ways. Sadie is torn between her feelings for Walt and her feelings for Anubis, while Walt—seemingly torn between Jaz and Sadie, though Carter disputes this—struggles with his choice not to stick with the Kanes. Ra, too, makes a choice in his own way. Rather than struggle through a long, painful death, he gives Isis his secret name and agrees to abdicate the throne to her and her husband. Most significantly, this theme arises at the end of Chapter 12. Set provided the siblings with two vital pieces of information: the location of the third scroll, and information about Zia’s village. Sadie and Carter find their roles reversed: Before, Sadie wanted to put the mission on hold to try and retain some sense of normalcy for her birthday. Now, Carter wants to deviate from their duties to go find Zia, whom he is determined to rescue. With Bes and Walt as support, the siblings agree to split up in an attempt to achieve both their goals simultaneously—however, Sadie’s warning tells the reader that things will not go smoothly, implying that they may not have made the right decision.