62 pages • 2 hours read
Sarah J. MaasTower of Dawn (Throne of Glass, #6)
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Yrene’s Note
Content Warning: This section includes discussions of trauma and violence.
The note the mysterious stranger in Innish gifted to Yrene, along with the gold to fund her journey to the Southern Continent, symbolizes Yrene’s dedication to healing and the vows she’s made to Silba. It is this dedication that drives Yrene’s motivations and actions throughout the novel, even when her personal feelings or grudges threaten to sway her in an unfavorable direction.
When Hafiza brings up the matter of healing Chaol, Yrene first refuses, responding: “Do you know what the king’s men did these years? What his armies, his soldiers, his guards did? And you ask me to heal a man who commanded them?” (48). Hafiza only replies to this question with: “It is a reality of who you are—who we are. A choice all healers must make” (48). In this scene, Yrene clutches the note in her pocket and remembers the kindness the stranger paid her in Innish years ago and the words she’d spoken to Yrene, urging her to “do something with [her] useless, wasted life” (50). It is these spoken words and the statement in the handwritten note she left behind claiming the world needs more healers that urges Yrene forward in perfecting her practice.
Yrene eventually decides to help Chaol despite her initial reaction, knowing she’d regret it if she refused. She knows she would wonder if she repaid the “extraordinary kindness” she received and what her mother would think of her decisions. Despite everything, these words carry her through not just the rest of the novel but the rest of the series when she’s reunited with Aelin. The way they met and the impression Aelin left on Yrene’s life will come full circle when Yrene brings 300 healers to the shores of Terrasen.
Chaol’s Dark Attachment
The dark attachment to Chaol’s wound symbolizes the emotional and psychological wounds that still plague him. Though he seeks care for his physically debilitating wound, he’s neglecting the most important ones, which are harming him in much more widespread ways. When Yrene first looks into Chaol’s eyes, she sees the depths of these emotional and psychological wounds:
Whatever had occurred, it had been horrible. Enough to leave such shadows and reticence. She had healed people who’d endured horrors. Who could not reply to the questions she asked. And he might have served that butcher, but … Yrene tried not to grimace as she realized what lay ahead, what Hafiza had likely guessed at before assigning her to him: healers often did not just repair wounds, but also the trauma that went along with them. Not through magic, but … talking. Walking alongside the patient as they traveled those hard, dark paths (102).
This outside perspective on Chaol highlights the dark thoughts and beliefs that the dark attachment to Chaol’s wound is feeding on. The answer lies in “facing the emotional consequences of [his] injury” (109), as Yrene communicates to Chaol multiple times. It is only through facing his internal demons that Chaol can rid himself of the literal dark attachment that is aggravating and worsening his wounds. And just as negative thoughts come and go, once Yrene rids Chaol of the worst of the presence, she warns him that it might grow again if he lets it, does not replace it with better things, or does not forgive himself.
Shen’s Injury
Shen’s injury symbolizes the strength that can be found even in those who experience what they might believe is a limiting injury. Shen is a minor character who appears only in passing a handful of times. However, each of his scenes depicts him as a strong, fully physically capable palace guard. Shen is all these things, yet he does have an injury that caused him to lose his arm up to the elbow. Chaol notices this when Shen’s glove moves back as he’s helping Chaol dismount from his horse, revealing a metal forearm and hand. Shen notices his stare, and Chaol “hesitated at the arm and shoulder Shen offered to aid him in dismounting,” to which Shen replies by saying: “I helped you just fine before you knew, Lord Westfall” (308). Chaol is filled with immediate shame at having reacted in such a way. However, his reaction is not out of discrimination toward Shen. Rather, it is a realization of the ways he’s discounted himself since obtaining his injuries. When Chaol allows himself to fully lean on Shen, who uses his metal arm to help Chaol down, he “found the strength beneath to be unwavering as Shen assisted him into the awaiting chair” (308).
Shen reminds Chaol that this journey to acceptance is a long road. When Shen tells Chaol that he did not get to this place of acceptance alone, Chaol views him as no less of a man due to his injury. Chaol admires his ability to find a new way to move through the world, staying on guard and as an elite palace guard. Shen’s capabilities and his success in serving as a guard to the Khagan give Chaol hope for his future, serving and protecting Dorian.
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By Sarah J. Maas
