Summary
Lekan, the final living sêntaro, explains the history of the gods and goddesses using moving, magical murals. He then claims that if Zélie performs a specific ritual on the centennial solstice, the tenth centenary anniversary of the Sky Mother's gifts to mankind, she can restore magic to Orïsha. To perform this ritual, Zélie needs three sacred objects: the bone dagger, a powerful weapon carved from the bones of the first sêntaro; the sunstone, a living piece of the Sky Mother's soul; and the scroll Amari stole. After much argument, Zélie consents to become the mamaláwo, the leader of the sêntaro, and Lekan performs a blood magic ritual to awaken Zélie's latent magic and her connection to Sky Mother. The ritual drains Zélie physically but awakens a new, overwhelming sense of magical awareness.
Meanwhile, Inan climbs the mountain and feels Zélie's magic awaken. He carries Amari's headdress, committed not to fail her a second time; Inan ashamedly recalls how, when their father forced them to spar, Amari gained the upper hand but refused to strike Inan. Inan, however, succumbed to his father's pressure and struck his sister, permanently scarring her, though they never discussed the incident.
Inan and Admiral Kaea catch up to the group as they try to escape on Nailah. Zélie, Tzain, Amari, Lekan, and Nailah are forced to go single file when they reach a rotting rope bridge. Zélie, still weakened from receiving her magic, nearly dies as the bridge collapses beneath her. Lekan, distracted while using his powers to save Zélie, is murdered by Admiral Kaea. With his dying breath, the sêntaro implores Zélie to live and restore magic to Orïsha.
Inan decides to lean into his magic after seeing Lekan use magic as a weapon; the prince realizes magic's potential to help him rule Orisha. Kaea breaks down emotionally, having failed to apprehend the maji, and Inan plans to rebuild the bridge and pursue Zélie.
While traversing the barren desert, Amari remembers Binta, their dreams of exploring the world, and how the Queen punished Binta for things Amari did. The group arrives in Ibeji, a guarded desert outpost, where Amari sees laborers in the stocks for the first time. She is shocked and disgusted by their treatment, especially since most of the labor force is made up of divîner children. Zélie buys prohibitively expensive water for the laborers and asks them about their work; one girl, Minoli, reveals that the laborers compete in an arena to win their freedom. The nobles hope to use the laborers to win Babalúayé's relic, a jewel Amari and Zélie suspect is actually the sunstone.
The group watches the competition in the arena, which is flooded with water. Groups compete for the sunstone by fighting on boats. All of the competitors die, and no one claims the prize. Zélie feels each death as intensely as if it were her own, and she senses the spirits that died and went to apâdi, the spiritual realm for souls who die traumatic deaths. After the competition, the group attempts to steal the sunstone, but the guards catch them. The guards beat to death a young divîner boy who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, believing he attempted to steal the stone. Zélie tries to intervene but is caught. Thinking quickly, she offers herself as a contestant in the next night's games as an explanation for her unauthorized presence in the arena. She plans to reanimate the spirits of those who died in the arena to make a reanimated army of soldiers. However, Zélie initially does not feel the spirits' presence. She realizes that in their last moments, the dead went to beautiful places and memories. Zélie then calls on the spirit of the laborer girl, Minoli, who pulls Zélie into her spirit world.
Inan explores Chândomblé and Lekan's memories, such as the sêntaro's belief that Zélie was "the one." When Inan looks at the murals of the gods he realizes that he has a connection with Orí, the god of dreams, spirits, and minds. Inan decides to reenter the dream world to get the answers he needs. Zélie and Inan meet in the dream world, where Zélie discovers she can control the landscape. Ignoring Inan, she builds a waterfall and pool for herself, jumping in and swimming. This distracts Inan, who finds himself attracted to Zélie. In an offhanded remark about the price of water, Zélie inadvertently reveals to Inan that she is in Ibeji.
Inan wakes from the dream to Kaea pointing a sword at him; while using his magic, Inan glowed in his sleep. After some convincing, Kaea accepts that Zélie infected Inan and that his magic is not his fault. But when Inan refuses to go back to Lagos, Kaea accuses him of working for the maji. She attempts to escape the temple, screaming that Inan is "one of them." Trying to stop her, Inan reaches out with a tendril of magic like Zélie's, but he cannot figure out how to release Kaea and accidentally kills her. Kaea uses her last breath to call Inan "maggot." Inan, knowing he cannot return to his father after killing the woman Saran loved, resolves to cover up Kaea's death and find Zélie in Ibeji.
Amari, Tzain, and Zélie ready their crew of divîners to compete in the arena; it is the first time the games had a female captain, and the game makers charged the nobles double the usual fee. Zélie tries to provide the crew with bread, but they initially refuse to eat it; mistrustful after years of abuse, the contestants believe Zélie will kill them and take the money even if they win. Amari intervenes, telling the crew that they have no choice but to compete, and if they cooperate, they have a chance at survival. Tzain tries to convince Amari not to compete because if he and Zélie die, no one else will know about the ritual. Additionally, Tzain cannot bear the idea of Amari in harm's way. Amari decides to stay and fight, but three times as many boats compete when they enter the arena. Tzain encourages Zélie, who initially panics at seeing the sheer number of competitors, by comparing her to their mother. Zélie raises her first soldier and begins to battle. Amari tries to join the fight, but her memory of sparring with Inan paralyzes her. Though she wants to avenge Binta, she can't, and Tzain sustains an injury protecting her. The ship is hit and begins to sink. Left with no other choice, Zélie bites her palm and lets her blood drip into the water, summoning blood magic that reanimates corpses who bail out the ship. But the blood magic overwhelms Zélie, and she begins to drown.
With only two ships remaining, Tzain jumps into the water to save Zélie, and Amari pulls her unconscious body aboard. They try and fail to wake up Zélie, needing her magic. When the opposing captain lunges for Zélie, without thinking, Amari stabs him, winning the battle for their crew. 538 people die in the battle, and Zélie experienced all of their deaths. She receives the stone and is filled with the power of the Sky Mother; the effect is so powerful that the entire arena shakes. Massive celebrations follow their victory; fans crown Zélie "The Immortal," Tzain "The Commander," and Amari "The Lionaire." Amari, however, believes she is a coward. Tzain offers to help Amari leave and suggests she claim they kidnapped her. Amari decides to stay, sick of feeling like a prop and being told what to do.
Analysis
Lekan explains that whoever wields the bone dagger "draws strength from the life force of all those who have wielded it before." This statement evidences a theme prevalent throughout the text: warriors stand on the backs of their ancestors, drawing power and strength from those who came before. Adeyemi frequently states that she reveres her ancestors and heritage; just as Zélie's powers stem from her ancestry, Adeyemi's writing is a spiritual connection with her past.
Lekan describes the mamaláwo, the woman who leads the sêntaros, holding the bone dagger and the sunstone. This image foreshadows Zélie's becoming the mamaláwo. The image appears on the murals of the gods and goddesses, indicating that Zélie's role in restoring magic is divinely ordained.
When Inan climbs the mountain to Chândomblé, it parallels Amari, Tzain, and Zélie traveling to the temple and Amari climbing out of Inan's room to see beyond the palace walls. Amari climbed to liberate herself from the palace; Inan climbs with the intent to bring Amari back. Zélie returns to save her lionaire, Nailah, risking the lives of herself and her companions. Inan, by contrast, loses his snow leopanaire in pursuit of Zélie. Since the snow leopanaire symbolizes the royal house, Lula's death indicates that Inan is beginning to sever his ties to his family. Indeed, it is only after Lula's death that Inan chooses to embrace magic as a tool to find Amari.
In Ibeji, Amari reveals her ignorance about the outside world; she did not realize the guards abuse divîners in the stocks. Amari was confined to the palace, and her father hid knowledge about the outside world. King Saran intentionally cultivated Amari's prejudice against the maji by keeping her ignorant and sheltered. When she encounters the true horrors of the stocks for the first time, Amari resolves to challenge her father's policies. Amari analyzes her relationship with Binta. Despite their mutual affection, Binta took the fall for Amari's misdeeds and served her. In Ibeji, Amari realizes that the palace, though it was a prison, was also a privilege.
The image of the arena flooded with water starkly contrasts with the enslaved divîners dying of thirst in the desert. The water arena demonstrates the nobles' apathy and corrupt intentions; they have more than enough water to solve the divîners' plight. Instead, divîners fight to the death on life-giving water for the nobles' entertainment. Hypocritically, the nobles, who profess to abhor magic, fight for the sunstone and the eternal life it supposedly offers. Clearly, the suppression of magic is a tool to maintain wealth and influence.
Zélie considers getting vengeance for the people killed in the arena. At this point, she grapples with Mama Agba's philosophy of the staff; exposed to so much violence in such a short period, Zélie begins to be corrupted by the system that oppresses her, reflecting King Saran's hatred of the maji who killed his family.
When Amari is christened "The Lionaire," she feels discomfited, believing she is a coward for not fighting in the arena. Amari's self-doubt parallels Inan's self-loathing; the prince does not feel he deserves the title of captain after hesitating to kill the Lagos fugitive. Amari and Inan both internalized King Saran's philosophy that acting decisively and violently is a sign of strength.
When Zélie realizes that the girl in the stocks, Minoli, thought of her family farm in her final moments, this evinces the theme of beauty in resistance. Through this connection, the text argues that even forces as strong as apâdi (analogous to hell) have no power over those who can find beauty in adverse circumstances. This knowledge allows Zélie to form personal connections with the spirits and access her magic, saving the lives of her crew. Thus, her necromancy is not dark or macabre but rather a sacred form of human connection that transcends even death.
Similarly, Amari remarks that Binta could find beauty in every situation, whereas Amari could not. Though the King murdered Binta, she was not a victim of the palace in the same way Amari was. Amari's spirit broke in the palace, where Binta's love for life did not waver.
In the dream world with Inan, Zélie conjures a waterfall. She uses her powers to create beauty and life, whereas Inan uses his powers to exact his violent duties. Water symbolizes the threshold between life and death in the dream world, Ibeji, and the arena. Thirst chokes the laborers; the arena is flooded; Zélie nearly drowns while using her blood and the water to save her crew. Even Zélie's remark about water clues Inan into her location.
Kaea, Inan, Zélie, and Amari each demonstrate different expressions of prejudice. Zélie and Amari do not understand one another; they receive their prejudices from stories handed down by their elders. Zélie underestimates Amari, but when Amari kills the opposing captain, Zélie sees "the seeds of a warrior" in Amari. This statement foreshadows Amari's role in restoring magic.
Inan harbors hatred for the maji that wavers as he pursues Zélie; his prejudice is borne of a sense of duty. Kaea, by contrast, knows the maji well and refuses to alter her thinking even when faced with Inan's connection to magic. Her last word is "maggot," scorning Inan, who she had raised from birth.
