Summary
Chapter 13: Day
Day dreams about an incident when he was younger. He and his brothers were playing street hockey with a paper ball when Day accidentally threw the ball in a police officer’s face. The officer beat Day mercilessly, and only stopped when John and Mom offered him most of the family’s savings. He also took the chicken Mom was preparing for dinner. John scolded Day, and explained that the police officer acted that way not because of the ball, but because Day looked at him defiantly.
Day worries that John will die because of him.
Chapter 14: June
Thomas invites June to a movie, and June agrees, mainly to avoid making him suspicious. He asks where she was last night; he came to her apartment hoping to surprise her. She evades the question. Thomas gives her some details about the execution and points to an ad that reveals that it has been moved up twenty-four hours to tonight. This means that June and Kaede won’t have time to rescue John and Day as planned. June notes that Commander Jameson must have purposely hidden the change from her. She begins to formulate a new plan.
Chapter 15: Day
On the morning of Day’s execution, a group of officers come in to offer him a last request. June mouths to him that he should ask to see John. Day does, and John urges him to be strong and fight to the end. They tearfully say goodbye. Just as Day is led to the yard, he hears Thomas arrest June and inform her that she’s being investigated.
Chapter 16: June
Thomas brings June down to the building’s basement and gently questions her about the missing electro-bomb that June gave to Kaede. Just as Thomas realizes that June stole it, a blast goes off and June realizes that the Patriots have shown up as planned. She cuts off the building’s power and rushes upstairs to rescue John and Day. As she runs, she sees on the monitors that the people in the square are rioting because the Patriots are raining money on them. Meanwhile, John and Day fight off their guards, but Day is woozy from being hit in the head. The electro-bomb only disables guns for two minutes, so John sacrifices himself to buy June and Day time to escape. His plan works and they escape the building. Kaede and the Patriots pick them up and speed away on motorcycles.
Chapter 17: Day
Day wakes up on a rooftop in Valencia, on the outskirts of the Republic. June explains to him what happened. The JumboTrons below are showing footage of what they claim is Day’s execution, but Day immediately recognizes John as the person being shot. He is horrified but June convinces him that John willingly sacrificed himself so that Day could survive and save Eden.
Chapter 18: June
Day and June sleep in a train in Barstow. They decide to go to Las Vegas to make sure Tess is all right, and then to head to the warfront and rescue Eden. They kiss, and June asks Day about his street name. He explains that it’s to remind him to “take it all one day at a time... You try to walk in the light” (304).
Analysis
Legend leaves many parts of the plot unresolved. For instance, we never find out why Anden is important, or what happened to Eden. This is because the novel is the first in a trilogy. But even though Marie Lu leaves some plot threads to be picked up in the next books, the characters do reach a satisfactory resolution. Day and June have both grown up as a result of their adventures in the novel. After witnessing the deaths of John and Mom, Day has developed a new sense of purpose and responsibility. He has begun to feel obliged to care for June, Tess, and Eden. He is no longer a rambunctious younger sibling, but the head of his own family.
June has also changed for the better. After Metias’s death, her only meaningful relationships were with her dog and her work. This lack of intimacy with other people helps explain why she was so dedicated to serving the Republic, and why she was so unwilling to question the government even when she saw evidence that it was not all what it seemed. After she becomes friends with Day and Tess, she has something to live for besides her job. This allows her to think independently and realize the serious problems with the military and her society. As discussed earlier, she has also become more aware of her own privilege, and has developed a sense of empathy and camaraderie with people from poorer backgrounds than her own.
The end of Legend also resolves the novel’s central theme of revenge. By finally giving up on avenging Metias’s death, June achieves closure and can move on emotionally. Instead of being motivated by revenge, she is now motivated by positive forces: namely, her friendships with Day and Tess. Likewise, Day's concern is for Eden's life rather than avenging the deaths of Mom and John. This suggests that in the next books, Day and June’s motivations will be very different from the ones they had in this novel.
The previous chapters of Part II gave readers a mixed impression of the Patriots. Although they help the characters, they are also willing to be brutally practical when necessary. The climax of the novel (which occurs when Day escapes from Batalla) shows the Patriots in a very positive, heroic light. They rescue Day and it’s implied that the money they rained on the crowd is the 200,000 Notes that June gave them, which means that they effectively performed the rescue for free. However, they also leave June and Day within the Republic’s borders, a potentially dangerous situation. These mixed signals establish an air of mystery around the Patriots and builds suspense around the events in the following novel.
In the final chapter of Legend, Lu finally reveals the meaning of Day’s street name. His resolution to take things one day at a time reflects his spontaneous lifestyle. It is also a message of hope for the people around him, many of whom live in miserable situations. The idea that Day chose a name to inspire himself as well as those around him suggests that he is well suited to lead others, and foreshadows his role as a leader in the rest of the series.
