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Roën
An ancient Seer and the former elder of the clan; she was also Zélie’s childhood mentor. Zélie believes in the beginning of the novel that Mama Agba is dead, but she discovers that Mama Agba started the Iyika rebel group and has been fighting for the maji since she said goodbye to Zélie in the last novel. Now, Mama Agba has the white hair that marks her as a maji (she had enchanted black hair in the last novel that allowed her to pass as a kosidán) and does everything in her power to instill a sense of pride in the young Iyika rebels. She functions as a voice of wisdom, reason, and experience—she’s the only maji who survived the Raid, and so she’s the only living maji who received a full education in Yoruba and in using incantations. Because of this, Mama Agba is the only one able to interpret for Zélie what the moonstone is and what it’s capable of doing. Though Mama Agba is clearly and unwaveringly on the side of the maji, she still treats Amari with generosity and kindness that Amari gets nowhere else in the maji sanctuary. Mama Agba makes the point to Amari that the fight they’re in now is just an iteration of a fight that’s been going on for centuries—and she encourages this kind of understanding of historical context among her maji mentees as well. Because of Mama Agba’s age, she’s no longer a very powerful Seer, and so her contributions are mainly knowledge and wisdom. However, Mama Agba’s final and most important contribution is herself: when Zélie realizes that she and the other elders are supposed to use the moonstone to combine their lifeforces, Mama Agba offers herself as the necessary blood sacrifice to stabilize the magic.
Mama Agba Quotes in Children of Virtue and Vengeance
The Children of Virtue and Vengeance quotes below are all either spoken by Mama Agba or refer to Mama Agba. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter Twenty-Five
Quotes
Do you accept these people as your own?
Will you use your strength to protect them at all cost?
The burden of her questions expands in my chest as I look to the Reapers gathered around Mâzeli. Bimpe watches with fingers pressed to her lips. Màri frantically waves her hand, almost immune to the gravity of the moment. Though I’ve only known them for a few hours, they already feel like blood. Like home. Being around them feels more right than anything has felt in years.
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Chapter Forty-Five
Quotes
“I do not think you’ve gone far enough,” she says. “You speak of this war as if it is the start, but the maji and the monarchy have been fighting for decades. Centuries. Both sides have inflicted great pain on each other. Both sides are filled with mistrust.” [...] “You cannot blame Zélie for her actions any more than you can blame Inan for his past mistakes. You have to look beyond the surface if you truly want to achieve the peace you seek.”
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Chapter Sixty-Four
Quotes
“This war didn’t start when magic came back, Inan. You are only seeing the end of a battle countless have given their lives for. By winter’s dawn, we will have wiped the scourge of maji from this land. Even your wretched father couldn’t achieve that.”
“Mother, what are you talking about?” I grab her arm. “We’re fighting the Iyika. Not the maji.”
“We’re fighting them all. We have been for decades. This war started long before the Raid. It began before you were even born.”
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Mama Agba Quotes in Children of Virtue and Vengeance
The Children of Virtue and Vengeance quotes below are all either spoken by Mama Agba or refer to Mama Agba. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter Twenty-Five
Quotes
Do you accept these people as your own?
Will you use your strength to protect them at all cost?
The burden of her questions expands in my chest as I look to the Reapers gathered around Mâzeli. Bimpe watches with fingers pressed to her lips. Màri frantically waves her hand, almost immune to the gravity of the moment. Though I’ve only known them for a few hours, they already feel like blood. Like home. Being around them feels more right than anything has felt in years.
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Chapter Forty-Five
Quotes
“I do not think you’ve gone far enough,” she says. “You speak of this war as if it is the start, but the maji and the monarchy have been fighting for decades. Centuries. Both sides have inflicted great pain on each other. Both sides are filled with mistrust.” [...] “You cannot blame Zélie for her actions any more than you can blame Inan for his past mistakes. You have to look beyond the surface if you truly want to achieve the peace you seek.”
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Chapter Sixty-Four
Quotes
“This war didn’t start when magic came back, Inan. You are only seeing the end of a battle countless have given their lives for. By winter’s dawn, we will have wiped the scourge of maji from this land. Even your wretched father couldn’t achieve that.”
“Mother, what are you talking about?” I grab her arm. “We’re fighting the Iyika. Not the maji.”
“We’re fighting them all. We have been for decades. This war started long before the Raid. It began before you were even born.”
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