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Chapter 29: Matthias
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Six of Crows, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Greed
Friendship and Difference
Trauma, the Past, and Moving Forward
Identity, Values, and Growing Up
Summary
Analysis
Instead of being mad at Kaz for destroying their plans, Jesper is instead almost intoxicated by the risks he’s about to take. He doesn’t want to think about paying off his debts and doing right by his father—it’s more exciting to think about not dying. In the drüskelle facility, he and Wylan come to the dining hall. One wall features a huge banner of thousands of patchworked blue, red, and purple strips: trophies, taken from slain Grishas’ special battle garments. Jesper, had he gone to Ravka, would’ve worn purple.
Like so many of the other characters, Jesper is also running from his past. But rather than turning to puzzles like Kaz, he instead fixates on the adrenaline rush he gets from taking risks. It’s sobering, however, to come across the banner representing murdered Grisha. That is, they represent people just like Jesper who died just because of who they are.
Themes
Jesper and Wylan hurry past to the gatehouse’s courtyard, where only a single guard stands, looking bored. Studying the guard, Jesper can’t help but think of the banner in the dining hall. His father had been upset when Jesper’s power started to appear, and he’d encouraged Jesper to hide it. Now, Jesper wonders if his father had feared him, and he considers going to Ravka someday to learn how to use his power. But he shakes himself: that’s nonsense, and he has to focus. Telling Wylan to stay put and climb down in a few minutes, Jesper attaches a rope near the guard and begins to rappel down. But two more guards appear below Jesper. Wylan starts singing in Fjerdan, and he appears above in the semi-darkness, looking like a drunk soldier. The guards join in his song, giving Jesper the opportunity to kill and knock the three out.
Seeing the banner had a profound effect on Jesper. Now, he can’t help but consider how he’s gone out of his way to essentially run from his power and the fear it incites in people. Running—and insisting he’s not a Grisha—is how Jesper has thus far tried to control his own narrative. Meanwhile, Jesper continues to underestimate Wylan, who demonstrates here that he can actually be an important teammate and support the Dregs’ goal. He’s no longer a liability—he’s beginning to come into his own and gain confidence.
Themes
As Wylan helps Jesper hide the bodies, he says he only learned “schoolroom Fjerdan”—but he learned the national anthem. Jesper and Wylan steal uniforms and Wylan asks about killing the still-living guards, but Jesper refuses to do so. And uncharacteristically, he tells Wylan it’s good, and nothing to be ashamed of, that Wylan hasn’t killed anyone. With this task done, they hurry into the gatehouse. Jesper admires the neat wall of rifles and ammunition, while Wylan studies the winch. He wasn’t expecting to encounter a chain; they have to break it to trigger Black Protocol. Jesper begins to use his power to weaken the chain, while Wylan hacks at it with a pair of shears.
Wylan makes the case that the very things that Jesper has mocked him for, such as his fancy education, are actually helpful and not just signs that he's rich and soft. This may also be why he suggests killing the guards: he wants to look mature and competent. Jesper, though, makes a radical statement (given his job as a sharpshooting gangster) that it's totally fine to not have blood on one’s hands. His statement suggests that he’s beginning to accept Wylan as he is.
Themes
