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Chapter 31
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Mortal Engines, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Social Class
Sacrifice
Dangers of Technology
The Importance of History
Prejudice and First Impressions
Friendship
Summary
Analysis
Katherine is surprised to learn how clever Pod is as he works on constructing a bomb. When he finishes, he explains that the bomb won’t make a huge blast, but it can destroy MEDUSA’s computer-brain if it’s close. Katherine plans to use her status as Valentine’s daughter to get close to MEDUSA.
All of a sudden, Katherine and Pod hear shouting from somewhere else in the Museum. Dog growls. A security team of Engineers comes down the stairs. Dog won’t calm down, so the Engineers shoot him and Dog dies. One of the Engineers comes forward and discovers Pod’s bomb. They take Katherine and Pod prisoner, planning to send Pod back to the Gut and to take Katherine to Crome’s dinner party.
The death of Dog, even though it wasn’t directly Valentine’s doing, suggests the death of the last shred of Valentine’s conscience and humanity.
Themes
Valentine pulls up at Guild-hall for Crome’s party. He orders two of his henchmen to take his airship up and go patrolling for any resistance from the League of Anti-Tractionists.
With Tom and Hester planning to arrive in London by airship, the launching of Valentine’s airship represents a significant obstacle.
Themes
As the Engineers march Katherine and Pod out of the Museum, Pomeroy shows up with a giant blunderbuss. Other Historians also hold antique guns. Pomeroy orders the Engineers to let the captives go. The Engineers laugh and refuse, so the Historians fire. About half the Engineers go down while the remainder scramble to fight back with their more advanced weapons. Pod himself grabs an antique gun and joins in. When the dust clears, the Historians have defeated all the Engineers.
The Historians don’t have the most advanced weapons, but they know the territory in the museum and they are willing to fight for their cause. The Engineers make the mistake of underestimating the weapons of the past, suggesting that in general the Engineering Guild of London has hurt itself by ignoring the Guild of Historians and the history that they represent.
Themes
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Clytie comes into the Museum and warns them that some Engineers escaped outside and have gone to raise the alarm. Pomeroy promises Katherine and Pod that the Historians will keep the Engineers busy at the Museum so that the two of them can sneak up Cat’s Creep, an old secret stairwell that leads to Top Tier, with the bomb.
The Historians represent knowledge, and so they know about a secret passageway to Top Tier that many others don’t know about. The escaping Engineers suggest that the battle is far from over and that things will only intensify once word gets out about what happened in the museum.
Themes
