How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
They would all say, when they woke to their headaches and their shame, that the culprit had been a Graceling boy, Graced with fighting, acting alone. They would assume she was a boy because in her plain trousers and hood she looked like one […]. (1.17)
Sure it makes sense to wear pants—instead of a ball gown—if you're planning to take out a bunch of bad guys, but Katsa isn't just being practical here. Her trousers and hoodie look is just as much for disguise as it is for functionality.
Quote #2
They wound their way to one of the forest paths that paralleled the main road and set out eastward. They pulled their hoods low and pushed the horses hard. (3.19)
Again with the hoods. It's a good way to emphasize that they are incognito and acting in secrecy, and yes, we know these hoods are probably attached to cloaks of some sort. Still, we kind of like to picture Katsa, Oll, and Giddon making their way through the woods in matching hoodies.
Quote #3
They established regular meetings that took place in secluded rooms. There was an atmosphere of adventure at the meetings, of dangerous freedom. (3.43)
The Council depends upon secrecy and lies to make its very existence possible, and as the Council exists to do good, it's hard to see all the necessary deceit as a bad thing. But who gets to decide when it is and isn't okay to lie to a king or a government, or a government's constituents? Who gets to choose what is—and isn't—for the greater good?
You might think that Katsa and the Council are justified in doing the things they're doing the way they're doing them, and Shmoop might be right there with you, but you have to admit: there's a lot of gray area here.
Quote #4
Randa's castle was full of secret inner passageways […]. They were so plentiful that even Randa didn't know all of them—no one did, really, although Raffin had had the mind as a child to notice when two rooms came together in a way that seemed not to match. (9.12)
It's the passageway in Raffin's workrooms that allows Katsa and the Council to keep Prince Tealiff secretly stowed away, and it's because they are able to kidnap him back from Murgon's dungeons and keep him hidden that he ultimately recovers and lives. Just one more example of how secrecy and deception can sometimes be used for good reason and with positive results.
Quote #5
"Don't feel too kindly toward me, Katsa. Neither of us is blameless as a friend." (12.91)
When Po makes this statement we know he's been deceiving her in some way, even if we aren't yet sure how. Does the fact that he essentially owns up to his deception and apologizes for it before he makes clear what he's done soften the blow for the reader? Do you think it makes a difference to Katsa? When someone lies to you, whatever the reason, does it help to know that they feel bad about it? Why or why not?
Quote #6
"What will Randa do to you?" Giddon asked.
"Whatever he does," Oll said, "we'll support you."
"No," Katsa said. "You won't support me. I must be on my own in this. Randa must believe that you and Giddon tried to force me to follow his order, but couldn't." (13.59-61)
What do you think: is this deception necessary? Why or why not? What would happen if Katsa, Oll, and Giddon went to Randa as a united front and told him point blank that they wouldn't carry out these kinds of missions for him any longer? Could there be any benefit to taking that approach? Explain.
Quote #7
She had thought him a fighter, just a fighter. […]
She had trusted him. She had trusted him, and she should not have. He had misrepresented himself, misrepresented his Grace. And that was the same as if he had lied. (12.137, 13.139)
This brings up a good question: What makes something a lie? Let's say, for example, you tell someone you went to the Junior Olympics for your sport (as in, to watch the competition), and they think you mean that you participated. Is it a lie to allow them to misinterpret your words? Or what if you intentionally leave out some important information when you're explaining something because you know it will upset someone. Is that the same as lying? Or is it only lying when you blatantly say something that's not true?
Quote #8
"His Grace has been a secret since he was a child, Kat."
[…] "His mother knew he'd only be used as a tool, if the truth came out." (14.59, 14.61)
Should Po have told Katsa the truth about his Grace from the beginning? Could Po have told Katsa the truth about his Grace from the beginning? How do you think Katsa would have responded? Clearly Po's mom and his grandfather have been keeping this secret for a long time. Do you think they have been justified in doing so? Why or why not?
Quote #9
A woman staggered across the fields toward them, a small woman with arms raised, her face a mask of terror. […] And behind her an army of men on galloping horses, led by one man with streaming robes and an eyepatch, and a raised bow, and a notched arrow that flew from her bow and struck the woman square in the back. […]
"What a terrible, terrible accident!" the man screamed. "My wife! My beloved wife!" (23.12-23.16)
Okay—here's where the lies get spooky. There seem to be two major things that separate Leck's lies and deceits from the kind of lies and deceit in which many of the other characters, and the Council, have engaged. First of all, Leck's Grace allows him to manipulate other people's minds so that they have no power to disbelieve his lies. And second, his lies are all told for personal gain. No one else stands to benefit from Leck's lies and deceit. Quite the contrary, in fact—many people suffer because of Leck's deceptions.
Quote #10
In the end, Leck should have stuck to his lies. For it was the truth he almost told that killed him. (35.47)
We love this twist. The lying, cheating, self-serving, maniacal villain who's brainwashed everyone around him is finally brought down when, for once in his life, he starts to say something straightforward. Ultimately though, Leck's motives for telling the truth in this situation are the same motives that have propelled him to spend his life telling untruths: greed, sadism, and personal gain. So maybe those are the things that actually did him in.