63 pages • 2 hours read
Rebecca YarrosIron Flame
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Protective Power of Lies
Many characters in Iron Flame lie to protect the people they care about. The lies begin at the top of Navarre society: Navarre leadership has lied about the venin for hundreds of years to protect itself and the citizens within its wards. As a general in the Navarre military, General Sorrengail perpetuates Navarre’s lies by concealing the existence of venin from her children. Her son Brennan, on the other hand, lies about his death for six years so that he can rebuild the rebellion against the Navarre leadership and protect both Navarre and Poromiel citizens beyond the protective wards. Brennan reveals in the first chapter that he has limited Xaden and his friends’ knowledge for the past year for their own safety. Xaden lies and hides information from Violet because he believes it will protect her life and feelings, and Violet in turn hides the truth from her friends to protect them.
Yet throughout the novel, the protective power of lies proves to be illusory at best, and destructive at worst. Though General Sorrengail hid the existence of the venin from her children to protect them from them, Violet is nearly killed by venin in War Games, and Brennan turns his back on her when he discovers her lies. Violet’s relationship with Rhiannon deteriorates almost to the point of dissolving due to her avoidance and deception. While the Navarre leadership believes that lying to their citizens is the only way to keep the kingdom safe, Violet recognizes that their lies are fundamentally self-serving, “eras[ing their] very history to avoid conflict, to keep [them] safe while innocent people die” (317). Navarre’s lies only protect the people inside the wards, while abandoning those in need. That, Violet believes, is more out of self-preservation than a noble deed of protection.
The primary example of the protective power of lies and the consequences for relationships, however, is the conflict between Xaden and Violet. Xaden’s perspective directly opposes Violet’s. As someone who craves knowledge, Violet believes that enlightenment, rather than ignorance, is the greatest protection of all. Though she goes against her own values at first, keeping her friends in the dark, she eventually realizes that they deserve to have the information they need to make informed choices. Xaden, however, believes that the best way he can protect his loved ones is by concealing sensitive or hurtful truths from them. He lies about his deal with General Sorrengail to protect Violet during her first year at Basgiath because he worries that the truth might upset Violet. In the end, the lie causes Violet the exact pain it was intended to protect her from: It makes Violet doubt Xaden’s feelings and damages the foundation of their romantic relationship. When he continues to withhold truths about information about the rebellion until Violet can shield out Dain, he protects the rebellion, but it almost costs him his relationship with Violet. It isn’t until threats are made against Violet’s friends and family that she truly understands the benefits of strategic lies, or at the very least selective truth, which is sometimes the only thing she has “within [her] arsenal to protect [her] friends” (309). The realization does not alleviate her feelings toward the matter, nor does it completely alter her perspective, but it does illustrate the fine line between a protective lie and a destructive one.
Loyalty Versus Moral Duty
Basgiath War College preaches loyalty to one’s squad above all else, but for many characters in Iron Flame, this begins to conflict with what they believe to be their moral duty. Brennan chooses moral duty over loyalty to Navarre by rebuilding the rebellion and using his resources to help citizens beyond the wards because he “can’t stand by, safe behind the barriers […] and watch innocent people die at the hands of dark wielders because [Navarre’s] leadership is too selfish to help” (12). However, despite his moral intentions, Brennan’s loyalty to his cause becomes so strong that it eventually leads to a brief period in which he hesitates to come to Navarre’s aid when the venin move to tear down their wards.
From the start of the series, Dain is the prime example of loyalty. He is the perfect soldier, the epitome of what Basgiath teaches its students. However, it is his blind loyalty to his leaders that obstructs his ability to see moral boundaries. His extreme loyalty to and trust in his father, Colonel Aetos, is the reason he reports the content of Violet’s memories, which results in Liam’s death. This becomes a recurring issue in the novel when Varrish attempts to abuse Dain’s power by brainwashing him with carefully crafted versions of the truth. It nearly works, prompting Violet to tell Dain that she “think[s] [he’s] been lied to for so long that [he] won’t recognize the truth even when it hits [him] in the face” (315). By appealing to Dain’s eagerness to prove himself and protect his kingdom, Varrish nearly convinces Dain to steal Violet’s memories on more than one occasion. Yet moral duty to his friends and humanity does eventually win out after Violet reveals everything to Dain.
Violet possesses the strongest devotion to her moral duty of all her peers. She ignores all warnings not to get involved because she believes might help tens of thousands of people. She doesn’t stand by doing nothing, especially when “the answer to protecting both Aretia and Poromish civilians is right [there] at Basgiath” (56). Even when it puts her in direct danger, Violet ignores the express wishes of Brennan and Xaden—who have both warned her against trusting the scribes—to enlist Jesinia’s help in her research. As the final battle approaches, Violet is sickened by the thought of risking her friends and family to protect Basgiath but realizes there is not a choice to be made because “[g]oing might risk death, but staying risks [them] becoming just like [their] enemy” (551). Violet is loyal to her friends and family, but her sense of morality trumps nearly any other concern.
Xaden’s loyalty is to the rebellion but is foremost to Violet. Though he strives to do what he believes is morally correct, his love for Violet makes him selfish and more inclined to prioritize his loyalty to her over his moral duty to everyone else. It is for this reason that he ultimately chooses to become venin to spare Violet’s life, even when that presents near-calamitous issues to everyone on the Continent.
The Power of Love
For better or worse, love is the driving factor for many characters throughout the novel. Whether it is love for self, community, or friends and family, the drive heavily influences the characters’ actions, decisions, and behaviors. In Chapter 2, Violet relates love to hope, which is “harder to kill than a dragon” (15-16). When tortured by Varrish with information about the rebellion, Violet’s hope for her friend’s safety and the success of the revolution allows her to remain strong and unbreakable despite the frailty of her body. The same love fuels her during the final battle, motivating Violet to use her signet to the point of burnout and to attempt to imbue the wardstone with a fatal amount of power.
Throughout the novel, love proves to be a powerful tool for good. Violet consciously channels the power of her love as she protects her friends, family, and the people of the Continent. Though she refuses to say “I love you” to Xaden because of “the power that comes with” the words, she chants them to herself “like [her] own personal Codex” (254)—the book of rules and regulations that all riders live and die by. The implication that Violet’s love for Xaden has become her new Codex indicates that love has become her modus operandi and guiding force. Similarly, General Sorrengail’s love for her children prompts her to sacrifice her life to power the wards. Her choice will protect the lives of everyone in Navarre from the venin, but General Sorrengail thought only of preventing Violet from sacrificing herself and protecting her, Mira, and Brennan from further harm.
While love is a powerful tool for good, however, it can also be destructive. General Sorrengail’s love for her children is so powerful that she lets them live a lie to protect them, but in doing so, she is willing to sacrifice many other children outside the wards. When Xaden is harmed at his outpost, Violet abandons Basgiath without leave and later berates herself for “letting [her] emotions run amok, for letting [her] love for him overrule her common sense” (246). However, it is Xaden who is the primary example of the destructive power of love. His love for the rebellion and Violet are literal scars upon his body. He even admits to Violet that despite his commitment to the rebellion, “[he] would rather lose this entire war than live without [her]” (265). When Violet is tortured, Xaden risks the entire movement by rushing headfirst into a trap to rescue her. In Chapter 58, Xaden tells Violet that she “alone [has] the power to fucking destroy [him]” (542-43). This confession foreshadows Xaden’s final decision in the novel: to turn venin to spare Violet’s life, even though it could condemn the entire Continent.
Related Titles
By Rebecca Yarros
