Summary
Chapter 1: Day
Day wakes up in a tiny cell. He is in agonizing pain from his leg wound. Commander Jameson checks in on him briefly, and then June enters. She has lost her street urchin disguise and is back in her military uniform. Although Day hates her, he also finds her breathtaking. June interrogates him, threatening to torture John and Eden if he lies to her. Day confesses to many of his crimes, most of which involved helping other people. When June asks him about the hospital raid, he confesses that he robbed the hospital but insists that he didn’t kill Metias, even when June threatens to cut off John’s fingers. Day admits he threw a knife that hit Metias in the shoulder, but he is positive that he didn’t kill him. June doesn’t believe him. Day accuses her of killing his mother, and June apologizes, adding that she didn’t intend to kill any civilians.
She wants to know how Day escaped the labor camp he was sent to at age ten, where records say he died of smallpox. Day shrugs and asks her whether it really matters. He’s more interested in Tess’s fate. June vaguely replies that Tess is of no interest to her, and Day realizes that she is keeping Tess a secret from her colleagues. June orders Day moved to a new cell. On the way there, he sees a door marked with the same design as the metal plates at his house and under the pier. It opens briefly and he sees a body bag marked with a red "X." He suddenly wonders if the Republic is spreading the plague to its citizens on purpose.
Chapter 2: June
The government throws an elegant ball to celebrate Day’s capture. June is the guest of honor. Thomas is in awe of June and her beautiful dress, but she can’t relate to him as easily since the violent showdown at Day’s house. She continues to mull over Day’s guilt, and Thomas informs her that several generals from the warfront have visited Eden. June wonders what the generals could want with a sick little boy.
Chian congratulates June on her success, and June meets the Elector Primo, the dictator of the Republic. He thanks her for her service and introduces her to Anden, his handsome, twenty-year-old son. Anden plans to run for the position of Elector Primo next year.
After the ball, Thomas escorts June home. He asks her whether Day kissed her while she was undercover, and June realizes her mic (which is controlled by her tongue) must have turned on when they kissed. June admits that he did. Thomas tries to kiss her on the lips. June pulls away, disgusted by this “man with blood on his hands” (182).
June can’t bring herself to sleep or to put away the 200,000-Note reward she received for capturing Day. Instead, she reviews his case file. She notices that his Trial score of 674 out of 1500 is extremely low. Even children who fail usually score above 800, and June knows Day is extremely smart. She hacks into the database where copies of everyone’s exams are kept. She realizes that all the answers are correct; like June, Day got a perfect score. However, one word is written on his exam: “Attention” (187).
Chapter 3: Day
The next morning, several soldiers bring Day to a large public square for sentencing. A huge crowd has turned out to see him. When Thomas announces Day’s arrest, most of the crowd cheers, but some people boo as well. Security guards quickly suppress the booers. Day is sentenced to death by firing squad in four days. He notices that June is watching him with compassion and not the hatred he saw in her eyes the last time they met.
After the sentencing, Commander Jameson and June bring Day to the roof of Batalla Hall, where he is chained to a cement stand to bake in the sun for two days. Jameson puts June in charge of bringing Day his small ration of food and water. As Day lies in the sun, all he can think about is rescuing John and Eden. He thinks back to his Trial. As part of the test, children have to answer ideological questions about the Republic. Day did his best to answer well, but Chian, his examiner, corrected him several times.
Chapter 4: June
June brings Day food and water. He asks about John, Eden, and Tess, and June tells him what she knows: John is still in prison, Eden has been taken to the labs, and she doesn’t know what happened to Tess. She tells him her real name, and asks Day about an imperfection in his eye. He tells her about being taken to a lab for painful tests after he failed his Trial. The "imperfection" is the result of a needle. This shocks June, who believed the official story that children who fail the Trial are sent to relatively humane labor camps.
June informs Day that he didn’t fail, and she silently speculates that the tests were so the Republic could study Day’s DNA, and at the same time eliminate a prodigy with a rebellious personality. Day confides in her his belief that the Republic is purposely spreading the plague in poor sectors. June orders some soldiers to get Day treatment for his wounds.
Chapter 5: Day
Day wakes up in the hospital. He initially thinks he is back in the lab he was kept at after his Trial, but a doctor explains that June sent him here. Commander Jameson bursts in, furious about rioters who are protesting Day’s imprisonment. She sends him to a cell. On the way there, Day sees footage on the television monitors of the protests. Several hundred people have gathered in the square. Some have painted red streaks in their hair, mimicking the bloody wound Day had when he was publicly sentenced. Day realizes they are protesting because of him, and although he is initially pleased, it soon occurs to him that the military will probably kill them.
Chapter 6: June
June and Thomas watch the riots from Batalla Hall. June notices that the soldiers sent to suppress the crowds are carrying guns instead of the usual dust bombs and tear gas. She realizes that Thomas and Commander Jameson intend to kill the protesters. Thomas shouts for the soldiers to fire at will. June tries to stop him, but he throws her to the ground. More than 100 protesters die.
Analysis
In Part II, Marie Lu continues to use clothes to reveal clues about her characters. For June, the corset she wears to the ball is symbolic. A corset is an old-fashioned piece of clothing that squeezes a woman’s torso to give her an hourglass figure. They’re usually very tight and uncomfortable, and prevent the wearer from moving freely or even breathing. The corset represents the tight restrictions June must live under as a Republic soldier.
It’s also meaningful that June chose the dress with the corset over other gowns. It suggests that she still clings to the structure and obedience of her former life, even though she’s starting to want more freedom. After the ball, June comments that her expensive clothes could have bought lots of food for the poor (175). This echoes the observations she made in the Lake sector when she first began to understand what it was like to be poor. The fact that she’s still noticing her privilege shows that she has grown from her experiences undercover.
As Day sits in prison, he ponders whether he’s responsible for the bad events that he has indirectly caused. This question has no right answer, and it’s a good one for readers to discuss. One complication is that Day is slightly more responsible for his mother’s death than he is for those of the protesters. He could have reasonably guessed that shooting a soldier would put his mother in danger, but he had no way of knowing that his imprisonment would inspire strangers to riot on his behalf.
Unlike older dystopian novels, Legend was written when the Internet was commonplace. Lu acknowledges this by noting that the Republic has restricted access to the Internet (which mirrors the real life experiences of teenagers in China or the Middle East). Even a high-ranking officer like June isn’t allowed to access it. This tight control of information is another example of how the Republic keeps hold of power despite angering most of its citizens. This restriction on information also highlights the society’s barren intellectual climate. Because the Elector Primo and his government believe that the only use for brilliant minds is to safeguard their police state, the Republic has very little culture to speak of. Even the movie that Thomas and June watch in Chapter 14 is a nationalistic propaganda story of a girl who captures a Colonies spy; even art carries the message of the Republic.
Lu uses eyes as symbols and as plot devices. It is common in literature for a character’s eyes to reveal his or her innermost thoughts, and Lu uses this trope frequently. Day realizes who June is because her eyes resemble Metias’s. Similarly, the Republic harms Day and Eden through their eyes. In Day’s case, they take a DNA sample from his eye, and Lu implies that Eden was infected with the plague by an injection into his eye. June also uses the eyes to glean information - she first begins to question Day (and come around to trusting him again) when she notices an imperfection in his eye.
