Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass, #6)

“That long-ago first khagan had been wise. Not once during the three hundred years of the khaganate had a civil war occurred.”

This passage emphasizes the Khaganate’s long-standing stability and dominance. The mention of the absence of civil war for 300 years demonstrates that the Khaganate is a powerful force to be reckoned with. However, it also serves as a foreshadowing of the potential disruption should they engage in external conflicts. It raises the question of whether they will be willing to leave the peace of their empire to come to aid another continent in a costly battle.

“No word—there had been no word about Aelin. Where she was now, what she’d been doing. Aelin, who might very well be the thing that cost him this alliance.”

This passage reflects Chaol’s lingering emotional conflict. Despite his efforts to overcome his deep-rooted grievances with Aelin, his unresolved resentment illustrates the depth of his internal struggles. With time, Chaol may overcome these barriers, but this still festering wound emphasizes the many emotional and psychological wounds that feed on him.

“But Nesryn did not come in. And he could not go to her—not without dragging poor Kadja from wherever she slept, listening for any sound that she might be needed. He was still waiting for Nesryn when sleep claimed him.”

Chaol is unable to move to Nesryn when the physical and emotional distance starts forming between them. His helplessness in this passage while waiting for Nesryn to come represents the growing separation that will continue throughout the novel as they walk their different paths.

“We met someone. Who set us all down a path I fought against until it cost me and others much. Too much. So you may look at me with resentment, Yrene Towers, and I will not blame you for it. But believe me when I say that there is no one in Erilea who loathes me more than I do myself.”

This passage highlights the depths of Chaol’s self-loathing and guilt. By asserting that no one resents him more than he resents himself, Chaol exposes the depth of his inner conflict and the emotional scars he carries, which affects his healing process. If he cannot confront them, he will not have any chance of walking again.

“If these things feed upon us by nature…If they feed, and yet you are healthy […] Then it must be feeding upon something else. Something within you […] Perhaps we should discuss it […] What happened—whatever it is that you feed this thing.”

Yrene’s statement here connects Chaol’s physical wounds with his internal struggles. The entity feeding on Chaol represents unresolved trauma and emotional pain manifesting physically. This connection highlights the theme of Healing as a Multidimensional Process, where mental and emotional states are intricately linked to physical health.

“Five hours of agony, and she’d known it had not all been physical. She had sensed, shoving against that wall, that the darkness had also showed him things on the other side of it. Glimmers had sometimes shivered past her. Nothing she could make out, but they felt…they had felt like memories. Nightmares. Perhaps both. Yet he had not asked her to stop. And part of Yrene wondered, as she trudged through the palace, if Lord Chaol had not asked her to stop not just because he’d learned how to manage pain, but also because he somehow felt he deserved it.”

This quote uses characterization to highlight Chaol’s struggle with self-worth and self-destructive tendencies. Yrene’s observation that Chaol endures pain because he feels he deserves it highlights his internalized guilt and self-loathing. This self-punishing approach reflects his struggle with self-acceptance and emotional healing.

“The brace held. The saddle held. He was peering down at it—then at the gates, at the city awakening beyond them, the tower jutting high above it all as if it were a hand raised in bold welcome. Sunlight broke through the open archway, gilding them both, but Yrene could have sworn it was far more than the dawn that shone in the captain’s brown eyes as they rode into the city.”

Maas depicts Chaol’s experience of riding a horse through imagery that conveys a sense of liberation and regained autonomy—a rare occurrence amidst his current struggles with paralysis. The description of the "sunlight" breaking through as an “open archway” represents hope and new beginnings to show Chaol’s emotional uplift. By riding a horse on his own, Chaol experiences the independence he craves and believes for the first time that he might be able to reclaim the life he once had.

“It had been mortifying to be helped into the saddle like unruly baggage after he’d refused the mounting ramp—mortifying to see those guards in their pristine uniforms, the armor on their shoulders and hilts of their swords glinting in the early morning sunlight, all watching him fumble about. But he’d dealt with it.”

The passage uses contrast to highlight Chaol’s conflicting feelings of independence and shame. While riding the horse on his own provides a sense of autonomy, his embarrassment about needing help underscores his internal struggle with pride and acceptance of his physical limitations. As much as he’d prefer not to, the reality of his situation is that he must rely on others for help in some things—a truth he finds difficult to accept.

“Yrene turned to him, assessing the brace and the saddle as the crunch of approaching wheels on gravel filled the courtyard. The amusement faded. Dismounting in front of these women…Enough. The word sounded through him. If he could not endure it in front of a group of the world’s best healers, then he would deserve to suffer. He had offered his help. He would give it.”

Yet again, Chaol feels discomfort and shame at being assessed for his injuries. However, he is now more self-aware of this fact and chides himself for feeling this way, demonstrating his growing self-awareness. Here, he recognizes the necessity of their scrutiny, as a healer’s job is to assess injuries and develop recovery plans.

“‘And you could truly ride?’ Yrene felt Chaol’s inward flinch—mostly because she flinched as well. At the disbelief.”

Maas depicts Nesryn’s disbelief about Chaol’s ability to ride, revealing her underlying doubts about his recovery. Yrene and Chaol’s bristling reactions to this comment point out the harm in Nesryn’s attitude toward Chaol’s recovery. While she only wants the best for him, Nesryn’s disbelief reveals that she isn’t positive about his chances at full recovery, which is harmful to Chaol’s confidence and emotional state.

“‘I didn’t want you to parade me around. To let them handle me […] Do you have any idea what it is like? To go from that’—he waved a hand toward her, her body, her legs, her spine—‘to this? [….] It is [hard]. But you made it harder today. You make me sit here mostly naked in this room, and yet I have never felt more bare than I did this morning.’”

While Chaol’s chiding of Yrene in this section is a distraction from the issue he faces internally, it is also an important moment for setting boundaries. In doing so, Yrene and Chaol come to an understanding that brings them closer. Chaol’s reaction to Yrene’s decision to treat him serves as a learning lesson for the other healers. It also provides her with an unfiltered glimpse into his feelings about his condition, which she has not yet received thus far.

“There had been no heat in it—the kiss. No real feeling. He expected it. He’d practically shoved her away these weeks. He didn’t blame her at all for the surprise.”

Chaol’s description of his unsatisfying and dispassionate kiss with Nesryn, evidenced by a lack of heat and feeling, reveals the growing distance between them. The dispassionate kiss signifies the end of their romantic connection, and the lack of emotional reaction underscores the inevitability and acceptance of their parting.

“The suite was mostly dark, save for a colored glass lantern Kadja had left burning on the foyer table. Their bedroom doors loomed like cavern mouths. The pause in the dim foyer went on for a heartbeat too long. Nesryn silently stepped toward her room.”

Maas uses a simile with Nesryn and Chaol’s bedroom doors to symbolize the growing emotional chasm between them. They retreat to their suites and then to their private bedrooms, whose doorways are described as looming “cavern mouths” without saying a word to each other. This represents their inability to communicate about the distance they’re allowing to form between each other.

“It had been her joy—the undiluted joy of that memory—that had won him that bit of movement. What she’d opened up, given up, to push back the stain of that wound.”

This passage illustrates a common theme Maas incorporates in all her works—the power of love. By feeding a memory of love to Chaol, Yrene gains ground with the dark presence in his wound and weakens it. She uses vivid imagery to juxtapose the joyful nature of an undiluted memory and the stained wound.

“Wind-seeker, her mother had once called her. Unable to keep still, always wandering where the wind calls you. Where shall it beckon you to journey one day, my rose? How far the wind had now called her.”

The passage employs flashbacks and symbolism to connect Nesryn’s past with her current journey. Her mother’s nickname for her, “wind-seeker,” represents her quest for autonomy and self-discovery. She has always sought the wind and believes it’s carried her to the Southern Continent, where she’s finally found a place of belonging.

“Patients had bad days. They were entitled to them. It was natural, and a part of the process. But…they had worked through so much of that. He had started to tell her things, and she’d told him things so few knew, and she’d enjoyed herself yesterday.”

Yrene’s reaction to Chaol’s foul mood represents the blurring lines between patient and healer. There has become an emotional intimacy between them that has far surpassed the clinical relationships she keeps with all other patients. This realization establishes tension and conflict to come as their feelings for each other grow stronger.

“One of the guards he did not know approached him, older and grayer than the rest. Like Brullo, his former instructor and Weapons Master. Dead—hanging from those gates. Chaol pushed away the image. Replaced it with the healer still asleep in his bed. How she had looked when she’d declared to the prince, the world, that she felt safer there. With him. He replaced the pain that rippled through him at the sight of the exercising guards, the sight of this private training space, so similar to the one in which he’d spent so many hours of his life, with the image of Shen’s artificial arm, the unwavering, quiet strength he’d felt supporting him while he’d mounted his horse. No less a man without that arm—no less a guard.”

Shen’s presence contributes to Chaol’s evolving self-perception. By comparing his physical limitations to Shen’s artificial arm, Chaol gains insight into his strength and worth despite his physical impairments. Shen helps Chaol understand that his physical abilities do not make him less of a man or guard. His successes give Chaol hope in his future, even if Yrene doesn’t succeed in healing him as completely as he’d hoped.

“And as Chaol rode back to the illuminated palace across the city, he could have sworn that some weight in his chest, on his shoulders, had vanished. As if he’d lived with it his entire life, unaware, and now, even with all that gathered around him, around Adarlan and those he cared for…How strange it felt. That lightness.”

After a day spent with Yrene, simply as Chaol the man—not the guard—Chaol feels lighter than he has in a long time. His experience with Yrene has provided him with a sense of freedom from his internal struggles, evidenced by some of the weight in his chest vanishing. This marks a significant step toward his healing.

“He didn’t understand—how she could be so delicate, so small, when she had overturned his life entirely. Worked miracles with those hands and that soul, this woman who had crossed mountains and seas.”

The passage employs contrast and paradox to highlight Yrene’s strength. Despite her physical delicacy, her significant impact on Chaol—shown by the fact that she “overturned his life entirely”—emphasizes her transformative influence.

“He hated the edge to her voice as he nodded, the dimming of those eyes. He’d done wrong by her, too. In not first ending things with Nesryn, to make it clear. He’d made a mess of it. A fool. He’d been a fool to think he could rise above this. Move beyond the person he’d been, the mistakes he’d made.”

This passage reveals Chaol’s self-reproach and guilt, which allows the dark presence in his injury to come creeping back, seizing some of his hard-won mobility. He acknowledges his failure to handle his relationships with Yrene and Nesryn and worries he’s caused emotional harm. He believes himself a fool trapped by his past mistakes and struggles once again with feelings of inadequacy.

“Yrene gazed down at her hands, lying limp at her sides. Summoned forth the faint white glow of her power. Let it fill the room, echo off the rock in silent song. Echo off those bells, the voices of thousands of her sisters, the Towers voice before her. Enter where you fear to tread…Not the void lurking within him. But the void within herself.”

It is not until Yrene faces the void within herself—her lack of connection to her family and the anger and resentment that’s festered because of it—that she can see Chaol’s injury and treatment from a different perspective. Finding the evidence of Yafa Towers, who attended the Torre long before Yrene did, gives her the familial connection she needs to face and overcome her negative feelings. This provides her with the light and positivity she then weaponizes against the darkness in Chaol’s wound.

“This was not the end. This crack in him, this bottom, was not the end. He had one promise left. To that he would still hold. It is not the end.”

Up until this point, Chaol has only been focusing on the promises he’s broken. This has emotionally beaten him down to the point of docility. However, in his last bout of healing—both physical and emotional—Chaol clings to the one promise he has not broken: to serve Dorian to the best of his abilities and bring an army back to Erilea. This renewed focus on his duty underscores his determination and the emotional breakthrough necessary for his healing.

“I realized the night before. That I had one of my own. My hatred, my anger and fear and pain […] They were all parasites, feeding on me these years. Sustaining me, but also feeding on me.”

Yrene relates the literal Valg parasite to the metaphorical emotional parasites that have been tainting her thoughts for years. By overcoming her psychological parasites—the grief over the loss of her mother, which turned into an overwhelming hatred for Adarlan and its people—Yrene can move on from her past and see the people of Adarlan through an unbiased lens.