themes identified in Iron Gold, which I assume are gonna set the tone for the remainder of the series now that we're in the third quarter:
emotional dysregulation (added this in after posting)
manhood (been a theme, extra heavy in IG tho)
the inescapable dread of succumbing to all your worst traits and becoming the person you never wanted to be but feel that you must in order to also somehow be the person you think everyone needs and expects of you while simultaneously coping with their disappointment about your decisions
I really am so glad we got Lyria as a character (however long she lasts, because I don't think she's actually dead yet, and neither is Cassius tbh) (no body=no evidence, y'know).
We FINALLY get a pov of a refugee who's genuinely suffered the worst effects of the "liberation" of her people, and her chapters are just. so so important to me for a lot of reasons. like the social isolation she experiences, the anger stage of grief she's been dealing with since the start which only got worse with the death of her family, the ACTUAL noble behavior we see in a young adult that comes from a place of love, guilt, and bravery, vs. her foil Lysander with his skewed Gold concept of nobility (no, I don't think he's a foil to Darrow, I argue that Romulus is Darrow's foil in IG).
My fave scene from IG tho is the one in the renovated museum (thank you for actually portraying the significance of historical narrative accessible to the public, Pierce) and I felt like I was back in college reading books for my global literature course when she was wandering around Hyperion, learning a cityscape for the first time (so reminiscent of Teju Cole's books). I've never enjoyed narratives where we get nothing but a silent observer reflecting on their surroundings in solitude, but Lyria was a breath of fresh air describing the hall where thousands of Red sigils lay as a memorial + the mourning Red pilgrims juxtaposed against the carefree Gold museum visitors. The Gold child getting loose and running all over what I assume was meant to be a reference to the US holocaust museum (in which one section exhibits hundreds of pairs of shoes taken from people sent to nazi concentration camps; it's a really impactful experience I think everyone should visit) sold that for me.
anyway. Pierce. i'm not gonna say thank you for shattering my heart with this book bc you also managed to piss me off at the same time (was I wrong to hold out hope for Darrow despite guessing that he'd 100% leave his endangered child behind in favor of the war effort? like yeah, he had his reasons and one of those was doing more to save said child from a distance and subvert his enemy's expectations with a long-term win instead of a predictable short-term win. nonetheless. fuck that. Sevro supremacy forever. not sure if i'll forgive Victra for doing Lyria like that tho; however it is in character! funny how she's more of a vicious lion than Mustang tho ngl)
ALSO just recalled. wtf is up with Darrow and everyone and their mother adopting The Gun as their new favorite weapon. what is Pierce trying to say about long-range weaponry and new modes of warfare and manhood??? more to be said on that later perhaps. Darrow's not even the Reaper anymore (fucking CALLED it when I said even the Howlers will abandon him!! the new ones don't count lmao) BECAUSE HE DOESNT USE HIS SLINGBLADE (or maybe he does and I just can't remember. but highkirkuinley I cannot for the life of me recall a single moment in this six hundred page installment where he summons it).
the slingblade has always symbolized sacrifice. what happens when he no longer chooses to use it?
edit: reread this and it's cultural abandonment. Romulus dies literally reaching out to the very establishment that raised him and doomed him. Meanwhile Darrow is succumbing to that very same establishment he swore to fight and ofc sacrifice everything for if necessary. The slingblade doesn't just symbolize sacrifice, it's twofold; the intersectionality of the symbol presents as male Red sacrifice. It inspires leadership and bravery in their culture! The very thing Darrow has become lost to! Which is emphasized more and more throughout the book! AHhbkljhoihnlk
Dido sacrifices the children in her family for "honor" by Gold standards. It's a necessary evil in her eyes as an extremist. Darrow begins to sacrifice his own family in a way (his relationship with them, proximity to them, etc.) and by forcing himself to put aside his emotions (a motif for every pov we get in this book in some form for everyone, btw) and adapt to warfare. Sacrifice no longer means what it used to when you become a legend, a myth!
What happens when a man actually becomes the myth? He's losing his humanity—the one thing that set him apart from Gold. The question of his identity is now in full swing, and with the support he continues to have (altho is slowly losing...), it's unlikely he'll face the consequences anytime soon.
