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Chapter 25
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Poppy War, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Dehumanization and the Horrors of War
Identity, Cultural Trauma, and Coming of Age
The Purpose of Education
Addiction, Drugs, and Control
History
Summary
Analysis
Rin wakes in a strange bed and quickly realizes she isn’t restrained. She’s on a boat, and after vomiting and realizing she’s now wearing Cike robes, she lets herself out of the room. Up on deck, Ramsa waves and then hugs Rin. He says that Rin’s eyes look like Altan’s now, and he explains that the Cike is all on the ship. “Things are getting messy on the mainland,” he explains. They saw Altan burn the research facility, and Rin confirms that he’s dead. Ramsa explains that Rin’s “friend” suggested they sail to Speer, where they found Rin on a sheet of glass. She’s been out for three days. As Rin asks what she did, Kitay appears and asks her to explain. He looks suddenly ancient, and Rin again asks what happened.
It’s implied that Rin’s eyes are now red like Altan’s because she’s fully embraced the Phoenix. Her red eyes thus suggest her lack of humanity, and her corresponding embrace of vengeance and violence. Additionally, it’s interesting that Rin has to ask what happened. She experienced what happened herself through the Phoenix, so asking here suggests she perhaps didn’t fully understand the consequences of her choice. That is, she perhaps made these choices naively—and hasn’t fully matured yet.
Themes
Ramsa leaves Rin and Kitay alone, and he leads her to the railing and points. In the distance, a huge mushroom cloud billows up from the sea. Kitay explains that he felt the blast from Nikan, and the smoke has hidden the sun for days. The cloud is over Mugen—the volcano under the island erupted. Everyone likely died instantly. Kitay’s voice is flat. Rin can’t fathom that she actually did it. Kitay remarks that it was miraculous that Rin, on nearby Speer, survived—but Rin notes that the gods protected her. She doesn’t understand why Kitay looks so upset. She’s alive, after all.
Kitay is a loyal soldier in the Empress’s army. He’s been raised to serve his country and also dehumanize the Mugenese. However, his tone here paints a picture of utter tragedy—one that he can’t quite comprehend and definitely can’t get behind. It’s another sign of how far Rin has gone that she doesn’t understand why Kitay is angry. She selfishly believes that she’s alive, and that should be enough. But Kitay is more concerned with the fact that thousands of people died—and his best friend is both responsible and nonchalant about it.
Themes
Rin explains how she asked the Phoenix to destroy Mugen. Kitay is enraged: Rin did to Mugen what Mugen did to Speer, and the fact that they tortured Altan doesn’t justify murdering innocent civilians. She insists that the Mugenese aren’t human, but Kitay observes that the Mugenese think the same of the Nikara. Upset at Kitay’s lack of support, she tells him to leave her alone. Mugen is gone now, but she wants to start a war with the Empress and make her suffer. Kitay is incredulous, and he says this isn’t Rin.
Kitay articulates clearly what Tearza did not: it’s inappropriate, he suggests, to seek revenge on this scale and to wipe out an entire country of people, most of whom weren’t soldiers actively engaged in the war with Nikan. While he acknowledges that each side dehumanizes the other, he nevertheless maintains that Rin has taken things too far.
Themes
Rin returns to her cabin and cries alone. Enki visits later with food, and Rin demands opium: she needs a break from the Phoenix’s desire for more destruction. She knows Jiang would tell her to immure herself in the Chuluu Korikh—and she realizes she belongs there—but she can’t give up until the Empress and Feylen are dead or contained. She knows now that Altan was weak, because he was taught to become angry. Rin, on the other hand, chose the Phoenix and her anger. As she smokes opium, she wonders if she’s a goddess, a monster, or both.
Rin essentially acknowledges here that she’s lost control. She may have fully embraced the Phoenix of her own accord, but acknowledging that she belongs in the Chuluu Korikh suggests that the Phoenix is in control of Rin to an unsafe and unhealthy degree. And this in turn leads Rin to opium. It allows her to control some aspect of her life and her thoughts when everything else feels impossible to control.
Themes
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Qara and Chaghan enter Rin’s room while she’s sleeping. Rin admits to burning Mugen, shares the news of Feylen’s escape, and says Altan is dead. The twins felt Mugen burn and Feylen escape—but Chaghan didn’t feel Altan die, so he believes Rin is lying. Chaghan leaves, and Rin asks Qara what she and Chaghan did. Qara said they did something Rin suggested in her first-year Strategy class: breaking a dam. They didn’t evacuate the villages first. Trembling, Rin has second thoughts about what she did. Qara insists they must believe they did what they had to do: they won a war, and they avenged Altan. It might be a lie, but they have to believe it. Rin knows that this fight isn’t over. There are still Federation troops in Nikan, and the Empress is still sitting on a throne somewhere. The Cike are now free agents.
Qara confirms that she and Chaghan killed thousands of people, too—Nikara as well as Federation soldiers. That Rin has second thoughts about what she did after hearing this suggests that the wisdom of Rin’s mentors still holds—recall that Irjah said breaking a dam like this would cause numerous problems, practical and political. He and Rin specifically suggested a civil war would happen, which seems to be where Nikan is headed now. Most importantly, Qara insists that Rin will only be successful and able to live with herself if she doubles down and actively shapes her thoughts to reflect what she wants to be true.
Themes
The Cike gather for a Speerly ceremony to say goodbye to Altan. Rin and Chaghan sit together far away from the group, and Rin shares with him that the Empress betrayed Altan. Chaghan says that based on Rin’s Hexagram, that makes sense. Rin knows she’s being unfair, but she accuses Chaghan of not doing more to stop Altan from going to the Chuluu Korikh. But Rin remembers that the future isn’t set in stone: Altan made his choices. Chaghan suggests that they should worry about Feylen before the Empress, as the God of the Four Winds is strong and unpredictable. He then reveals that Altan named Rin the Cike’s commander before he died. He agrees to help Rin avenge Altan’s death. Rin realizes that she’s fully in control of the gods—and she’ll make them “do such terrible things.”
Here, Rin finally shows that she’s moving toward maturity. She instinctively wants to blame Chaghan for what happened to Altan, but the more mature part of her recognizes that the Phoenix is right and that Altan made his own choices that led to his death. Rin, now in control of the Cike and able to channel the Phoenix, feels fully in control of her life and of what happens next. However, there’s still the implication that Rin is losing something as she embraces this violence and destruction—namely her humanity and her capacity for compassion.
Themes
