Jade transports Frost and his army to the edge of the desert while giving him some additional help for his mission to take over Cavigor. The next day, Elyon gets more bad news and some hard decisions to make.
- Berserk Button: Following the realizations on how much she's been kept Locked Out of the Loop, Elyon has developed a hatred of information being kept from her.
- Big "NO!": Caleb gives one at the start of his rant when he's refusing to believe that the Oracle has confirmed Jade/Kage's story.
- Big "WHAT?!": This is Caleb's reaction to learning that the Guardians have been banned from returning to Meridian by the Oracle.
- Blood Knight:
- Frost is looking forward to shedding rebel blood at Cavigor, much to the uneasiness of Jade who orders him to use the Razor Khan only if absolutely necessary, as she recognizes this about him and doesn't want him to go too far.
- By taking a look at the Razor Khan's sharp blades, Frost believes that Jade is under her appearance of an honorable warrior and ruler more willing to spill some blood than Raythor.
- Call-Back:
- Frost reflects on how he initially looked down on Jade in Kage.
- As Elyon reflects on how she never before realized how vast Meridian truly is, she recalls the giant map Phobos used to show her when he wanted to take advantage of her powers. She also considers traveling across Meridian for firsthand learning, even though her attempts to find answers by her own means didn't alert her to her brother's evil nature.
- Because Jade prevented Nerissa from stealing Elyon's powers, Elyon hasn't discovered that "Trill" was all along Nerissa's cover identity or that the vision she had of her birth parents' awfulness was an illusion conjured by Nerissa.
- Elyon's efforts to do research in the royal library have been hampered by Jade's act of having it robbed of many books and records.
- Like in the original story, Drake is still one of the rebel leaders most willing to trust the Guards who defected to their side.
- Continuity Nod: When Cavigor's mentioned, Alborn and Miriadel shiver as they remember the time they were locked up there.
- Dramatic Irony: Caleb proposes taking out Jade under the belief that will get them rid of the Shadowkhan and enable them to defeat Phobos, but all the others disapprove that idea since it would make offering an olive-branch to Jade impossible and give her realm all the more reason to wage war against them. What none of them know is that the Shadowkhan are a Keystone Army that acts at all only when someone is controlling them.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Though Jade gives Frost the Razor Khan as backup in case he finds himself in a tight spot, she's disturbed by his obvious eagerness to test their destructive capabilities and tells him not to go overboard with it.
- Evil Laugh: Frost shows his excitement over having the Razor Khan under his command by laughing darkly.
- Facepalm: Elyon, displeased with her poor results in learning more about Meridian, drags her palms down her face. She later pinches her forehead while she rips into Caleb about the foolishness of his idea to assassinate Jade, while Drake rubs his face in his worry over Caleb's mental state.
- Get Out!: Vathek stops Caleb's argument with Elyon by striking the table with an ax and ordering Caleb to remove himself from the meeting. With everyone else backing Vathek up, Caleb sullenly complies.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Elyon's fury at Caleb eventually results in her eyes glowing white. Fortunately for him, Vathek takes that moment to interrupt the argument and order Caleb out of the room.
- Good Is Not Soft: Elyon's reaching the limit of her patience with Caleb's stubborness and Irrational Hatred towards Kage. She eventually declares that while she still values him as a friend, she will remove him from command if he doesn't shape up soon enough.
- Horse of a Different Color: Jade is using one of the giant snakes of the Shadow Realm as her floating mount.
- Internal Reveal: Realizing she's neglected to tell about it to her inner circle, Elyon informs them that the Oracle has ordered the Guardians to stay on Earth.
- It Runs in the Family: After reading many ego-inflating accounts of her ancestors, Elyon comes to the conclusion that her brother isn't the only member of their lineage who seriously needs to learn humility.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Knowing her northern army has next to no chance against the advancing Shadowhan army, Elyon gives the order for them to abandon their campaign and retreat to the capital to regroup while evacuating as many northern citizens as they can.
- Loud Gulp: Caleb does this a couple of times in the face of Elyon's ire.
- Never My Fault: Caleb still doesn't want to believe Kage's telling the truth about herself and "the Mage" as it would mean admitting he's doomed the kingdom by inadvertently giving Phobos a powerful ally. He even starts blaming Kage and her appearance on Meridian for all of his world's current problems, including the discord in their ranks, which he has contributed to by antagonizing the Guard.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Caleb's once again seeing Elyon's resemblance to Phobos when she's tearing into him.
- Pet the Dog: Frost admits to himself that while he initially assumed Jade to be The Load when the Knights were founded, she grew on him a little and gained some of his respect as she proved his assumptions wrong, even before returning as the Shadow Realm's ruler.
- Precision F-Strike: Elyon calls Nerissa a bitch during her argument with Caleb. Her adoptive parents are startled, but say nothing due to her foul mood and sharing her opinion of the sorceress.
- Rage Breaking Point:
- Following the past few days, Elyon's already on edge from the start of the meeting, and she finally blows up on Caleb for his refusal to accept his responsibility for the entire situation, and how he keeps making things worse, especially with his determination to kill Jade/Kage no matter what.
- Caleb also snaps at Elyon at the same time as his anger over everything and hatred of Kage get the better of him.
- Sadistic Choice: With her troops dispersed and the Guardians unavailable, Elyon is forced to choose between attacking either Jade or Frost's army. Knowing she has no idea if Phobos intends to attack the capital and that she's in no position to approach Jade either on battlefield or conciliation, she orders the northern troops to withdraw to the capital to regroup and have a relief force stop Frost from taking over Cavigor.
- Sanity Slippage: Elyon and her inner circle are quite aware Caleb's becoming increasingly irrational with his mistrust towards the Guard and hatred of Jade/Kage.
- Shadow Archetype: Both Caleb and Vathek abused Jade while believing her to be a minion of Phobos, but they've taken different reactions to learning the truth about her. While Vathek would want to believe like Caleb that everything's just a big deception of Phobos, he nonetheless accepts the truth and takes responsibility over how he treated Jade in his blind faith in "the Mage" and hatred of Phobos' minions, and he's disgusted with himself as he sees himself in Caleb who refuses to accept responsibility over driving Jade to the enemy's side.
- Slasher Smile: Frost shows his eagerness to fight the rebels with the help of the Razor Khan by giving several bloodthirsty grins.
- Stunned Silence: This follows after Elyon tells her inner circle about the Oracle's order for the Guardians to stay on Earth until Caleb's Big "WHAT?!" breaks it.
- Summoning Artifact: Jade gives Frost a gauntlet that enables him to summon the Razor Khan.
- What the Hell, Hero?: After finding out that her inner circle has been discussing about the recent developments without informing her, Elyon firmly makes it clear that she won't tolerate being kept in the dark anymore even for well-meaning reasons. She then blows up on Caleb when he declares his intent to kill Jade/Kage.
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Though Jade gifts Frost with the Razor Khan so that he can make a quick escape or have additional manpower if needed, she's unsure about the wisdom of the idea for the entire time. After seeing Frost's eagerness to see the Razor Khan in action, she admits to herself feeling like she's just created a monster and sarcastically thinks even Hak Foo might be better trusted with this power than Frost.
- You're Insane!: Elyon has this reaction when Caleb declares that Kage must be killed to stop Phobos since as far as they know, killing the Shadow Realm's queen would make peace with them impossible, and Meridian wouldn't stand a chance against them.
