Sacrifice
Prodigy is a war story, about a group of people leading a resistance against an oppressive regime. As a result, they are all forced to make sacrifices for the sake of their war. Kaede, a young pilot, dies in a horrific plane crash while fighting. Day makes the decision to lie to June about his terminal illness and end their relationship instead, so that he can spare her inevitable sadness and allow them both to work on politics and the war, rather than giving in to grief.
The Inescapability of Oppression
Day and June flee the Republic for the Colonies halfway through Prodigy, after hearing that the Colonies are a safer, freer place to live. Upon arriving there, they initially think that that’s true: there’s more commerce, more light and sound, and people generally appear to be happier, as opposed to leading the strict, career-focused lives that they lead in the Republic. However, as they spend more time in the Colonies, they realize that life isn’t as ideal as it seemed, because people still live in poverty, and are faced with a judicial system that doesn’t care about them if they don’t have money. Despite how perfect a world may seem, Prodigy makes the bold claim that oppression is everywhere and exists even in places that seem perfect.
Secrets
June acts as a spy for the resistance when she goes to the Republic’s capital to work and live with Anden. In spite of the fact that she does like him and think that he is a decent person, she keeps her true motives from him and lies to him. Furthermore, as her work grows more intense, she learns more about her brother that he kept from her while was alive, specifically the amount of work he did with the resistance. While both of these instances show characters keeping secrets for the sake of a larger plan, they also show the negative effects that secrets can have on relationships, as characters begin to wonder if they ever truly knew the people close to them in the first place.
The Freedom of Youth
In spite of everything that they go through, Day and June are still teenagers experiencing normal teenage emotions, specifically romance. While they may spend most of their time fighting a war, they also have numerous moments to relax and be a happy couple, showing that even in times of war, happiness and light still endure.
