66 pages • 2 hours read
Christopher PaoliniTo Sleep in a Sea of Stars
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaPart 6, Chapter 1-Exeunt VIChapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 6: “Quietus”
Part 6, Chapter 1 Summary: “Recognition”
Kira slowly becomes conscious, experiencing memories she is unable to control. She understands that she is Kira and not Dr. Carr or the Jelly, but she remembers all of their pasts. She is now the Maw. The Jelly and UMC ships communicate with her, but she tells them to wait while she fully understands her situation. To save her, the xeno has fully absorbed all the entities—Kira, Dr. Carr, and the Jelly. In the process, the Maw now has the same priority as the Seed: the sacredness of life. Kira begins fixing everything, first reducing all the nightmares to their elements and unmaking them. She mines nearby planets and abandoned ships for materials, creates a fusion reactor within herself, and manufactures antimatter. Soon it becomes clear she is building an enormous space station. When the station is complete, she invites the UMC, the Knot of Minds, and Falconi, and Trig, to visit.
Part 6, Chapter 2 Summary: “Unity”
A ship from the UMC, one from the Knot of Minds, and the Wallfish all dock at her new station. Although Kira no longer has a living form outside the xeno, she creates a facsimile. When she welcomes them, she tells them that she designed the space station to be common ground between the humans and the Jellies. Kira sees it as a hub for both of their species, as well as others, and names it Unity. Admiral Klein is suspicious and hesitant, but Lphet, now the leader of the Jellies, accepts her offer, and Klein does too. Her only rule is no weapons. After everyone agrees, she turns her attention to healing Trig. She offers to heal the UMC and Jellies as well, but they refuse. She tells them that the system where she has built Unity will be under her control, and neither The League nor the Jellies have authority within. She then dismisses all of them, saying that she has work to do.
The Jellies and the UMC both send people to live at Unity. Tschetter lives there as well, intending to be an ambassador between the species. Kira communicates with Gregorovich, as she is now a ship’s mind as well. However, when she is sorting through the collective memories of the Maw, she discovers that it sent seven copies of itself into distant space and feels that they are her responsibility.
Part 6, Chapter 3 Summary: “Decession”
Kira summons the crew of the Wallfish to Unity. She tells them about the seven “seeds” and reminds them that there is a Seeker loose as well. Then she separates herself from the station and stands as Kira. Vishal and Nielsen tell her they have gotten engaged. She gives them all gifts: She gives Trig a Staff of Green for growing things; Hwa-jung an orb that will repair anything; Vishal an orb that will heal any wound; Sparrow a knife; Nielsen rings for she and Vishal, something to help with her pain, and power of attorney for Kira; and Falconi enough antimatter to power the Wallfish for years and plants for his hydroponics bay. Then she says goodbye and melts back into the station. Falconi asks what she is going to do, but she will not say.
After they leave, she tells Gregorovich that for his gift she will make him whatever body he wants. He decides to stay with the Wallfish, and they say goodbye. Kira separates herself into two parts: the Unity, with Carr and the Jelly deep inside, and herself, with the Seed and the Maw. She sets off on her journey to find the seven seeds.
Part 6, Exeunt VI Summary
Both UMC and Jelly ships escort her to the Markov Limit, but then she will be alone. She is worried about becoming mentally unbalanced by herself but is still able to get in touch with Falconi, who reassures her. She transitions to light speed and falls into a dreamless sleep. While she sleeps time passes, and one day the Wallfish appears to tell her that her family on Weyland is alive and then leaves. She smiles in her sleep and continues her journey.
Part 6, Chapter 1-Exuent VI Analysis
In the end, the xeno has once again done what it had to do to save Kira from the bomb. As a result, she is fully one with the xeno, and the Maw is now a part of them as well. In the process, she has given up her own body and is now in a similar position to that of a ship’s mind. She is free to travel, build, and grow whatever she likes. Not only that, but Kira now understands the value of Connectedness and Cooperation. This new understanding is what leads to her creation of Unity, a safe space in which all species can learn to cooperate, subject to no authority except herself.
When she decides to seek out the seven copies of the Maw, she separates herself from Unity and creates a ship for herself. Once again, she is free from the constraints of the space station and, now that she has accepted her new form, her capabilities are nearly limitless. Kira’s style of speech shifts in these final sections to something more formal and removed. She now sounds like a different being, no longer quite human, even though when the crew comes to visit, she takes on a human form for them. Her increased intelligence and wisdom, the product of her integration with the Seed, are what allow her to see the larger perspective and the importance of hunting down the copies of the Maw and the Seeker. Once again, however, this is work she must do on her own, and Kira finds herself alone again. At first, this ending may seem like a tragic one, since Kira is alone again without the family she so desperately wants. Her actions are heroic, and as is so often the case in her story so far, they involve personal sacrifice.
Kira’s actions have ended the war and saved humanity and the Jellies. She has been successful in Finding Family but now knows that she will never take her place among them. Her relationships with the entire crew, and especially Falconi, continue, but Kira has transcended her human form. She has taken on the xeno’s priority of the sacredness of life and sets herself the task of preserving it, even though it will mean that she is alone.
By uniting with the Maw and coming to a deeper understanding of the Seed’s purpose, her desires have now transcended her human wants and needs, and she chooses to serve the greater good of all life in the universe. The differences in the species are no longer relevant, and she seeks to unite them all harmoniously under the auspices of simply being living creatures. She successfully finds family in all the living things in the universe.
Though Kira’s focus and purpose has broadened, neither of her families has forgotten about her. The Wallfish crew checks on her family on Weyland and then seeks her out in space to inform her of their safety. Even though Kira is in hibernation, her slight smile shows both that she has received the message and that she takes pleasure in the fact that they would do something like that for her. Although she currently travels alone, Kira is successful in Finding Family, which she has so desperately wanted throughout the novel.
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By Christopher Paolini
