Skyshade

In the novel’s fifth and final section, Aster weaves the romance and fantasy genres together to resolve this novel’s conflicts while gesturing toward problems to be resolved in future novels. The fantasy elements in these chapters include apocalyptic prophecies, newly discovered magical powers, and battles teeming with monsters. As for romance, Isla has a passionate encounter with Grim in Chapter 37. As the Nightshade ruler observes, this is a “final night together in case [they] all die a gruesome death tomorrow” (395), which makes the scene similar to the night Isla shared with Oro before the battle at the end of Nightbane. Skyshade ends on a cliffhanger when Isla goes through the portal with Lark into the otherworld, making it clear that Isla and her love interests have more romantic fantasy adventures ahead of them.

Lark causes Grim and Oro to set aside their enmity to protect Isla and their world in a major demonstration of their love and loyalty for the protagonist. Although the two men still despise one another, they fight side by side because they share a common foe and know that their beloved would be devastated if something happened to either of them. This choice temporarily resolves The Tension Between Love and Duty. In this case, each man’s love inspires him to act in accordance with his duty toward Isla. At the end of the novel, Grim and Oro’s fear for Isla unites them: “All he could do was run as fast as he ever had in his life, next to his enemy, whose devastation he could see was as sharp as his own” (418). The chapters entitled “Oro” and “Grim” are the only two that don’t follow Isla’s perspective, emphasizing her sudden absence from their lives. Isla deceives her love interests and faces Lark without them. Although she uses their trust and loyalty against them—arguably abandoning a moral duty to repay that trust with honesty—she does so to protect them both, once again illustrating that love motivates people in complex ways.

The novel’s conclusion explores the theme of The Uncertain Existence of Free Will by presenting Isla as both a prophesied heroine and someone fighting to make her own decisions. Early in the story, Isla is told that “a storm to end all storms” will strike (89), and she takes matters into her own hands by creating that storm. After spending much of the book seeking oracles and augurs who can reveal her destiny, Isla has the opportunity to seize the power to see the future. However, rather than claiming her mother’s magic, she decides “to stick to her plan” (393). This choice demonstrates Isla’s belief in free will; she trusts in her strategies rather than looking for prophetic guidance. In addition, the novel’s climax sheds new light on Sairsha’s death and the theme of fate. As a follower of the prophet, Sairsha was convinced that Isla needed to take her life and that her heroine could save the world. Her faith is vindicated when Isla uses the shadow power she gained by killing her to subdue Lark. By going through the portal with Lark, Isla acts on the hope that she is destined to bring salvation rather than ruin and proves that she’s prepared to take great personal risks to make this prophecy come true. At the same time, Aster shows that Isla makes this decision of her own free will to work toward her personal goals, noting that this is her “final chance at redemption” (417). Although Isla fulfills her destined role to save the world, her choices show that she retains some free will.

Isla makes significant progress in The Journey Toward Self-Acceptance in these final chapters. She literally and figuratively sets herself free by destroying the shademade bracelets that block her power, which is an essential part of her: “She scraped every ability from where it had been buried, every bit of power that she had ever taken, every strength she had been afraid to use” (382). This marks a key moment in her journey to accept herself and her power. Isla continues to battle self-loathing, such as when she learns that she accidentally killed her parents when she was an infant and describes herself as “[v]illainous from the first breath” (384). However, receiving her parents’ absolution through her father’s letter helps her to forgive herself: “We made a choice, and we have never once regretted it” (391). Learning about her parents helps Isla understand who she is and what she’s capable of. This self-acceptance gives her the strength she needs to defeat Lark, as demonstrated by the fact that it takes all of her considerable magic to stop her ancestor: “All the people she had killed, all the death, all the blood, all the dreks, all the things that made her a villain, instead of burying it down, she took hold of it and let it consume her” (414). By the end of the novel, Isla doesn’t revile herself and her power as she did at the start of the novel, but her continued desire for redemption is important to the resolution. She goes through the portal because “she could bring everyone she had ever killed back to life” with Lark’s power (417). The novel’s cliffhanger ending reveals that Isla’s journey toward self-acceptance is not yet complete.