* FairForItsDay: Howard seems to be actively trying to subvert or deconstruct the DamselInDistress trope as it existed at the time with Olivia. She requires Conan's rescue and protection, but rescues him in turn, and displays admirable [[TheDeterminator determinator]] qualities. She's also the story's point-of-view character, inviting comparison on if the reader would be able to cope with the events described as well as she does. Finally, she does not fall instantly into Conan's bed at the end, and given her backstory as a SexSlave to a {{Sadist}}, this could be a rare realistic portrayal of a rape survivor. In '''1934'''.
* NoYay: It's very easy to read sexual subtext between the demigod and the iron shadows... which only serves to make the horrific treatment they subject him to even more repellent.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: The creepily FauxAffablyEvil Shah Amurath makes for a very memorable villain. He only gets about a page or so before Conan offs him.
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