In the ending part of the Snowpoint arc, Jade carries out Vera's sentence the morning following Snowpoint's prison riot, and the nobles of Castwell's Peak learn about the current situation.
- An Aesop: Sofia delivers one by saying that it's sometimes better to simply pass the page of the story rather than obsess over revenge. While it's hard and you might not know what to expect, it can actually let you breathe and enjoy life, even by a little bit. She herself knows that if she'd sought revenge over the deaths of her mother and husband in shapeshifter purges instead of continuing her life with Maya, they'd have both ended up much unhappier.
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: When Maya wakes up, her mother pats her head lovingly while telling her not to move in her injured state.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Rolf and his companion are quick to beg for mercy when Ymir states that Vera and her fellow rioters are being taken to the courtyard. After Vera's sentence is carried out and Jade turns her attention to the others, most of them beg for mercy to no avail.
- Air Quotes: Idina Bexley does this with the word betrayal when she tells her fellow nobles about the terms of surrender issued against Castwell's Peak.
- Ambition Is Evil: Aspen Emmony is fine with driving the Mogriffs out of the Stone Nest so that she can reclaim the crystal mines, use them to raise her family's station and even gain prestige in the capital.
- Animal Motifs: Amelia's ambitious mother Aspen Emmony, who has Femme Fatale vibes, is known as "the Viper of the North", and her cold and calculating gaze is described to be like that of a snake ready to strike.
- Antagonistic Governor: Ymir tells Jade that the current governor of Peniculus has a nasty reputation. He's rumored to have hired an assassin to kill his predecessor, and he's obsessed with Amelia's family for holding the majority of the region's economic power.
- Anything but That!: The Elyon loyalists who were detained for taking part in the Prison Riot have this reaction when Jade sentences them to be taken to her palace's dungeons in the Shadow Realm, as ending up in the Land of Eternal Shadows is believed to be akin to being Dragged Off to Hell. Many of them actually feel facing Phobos himself would be preferable.
- An Arm and a Leg: Downplayed with Vera whose left arm is left completely paralyzed after its shadow is eaten by a Leech Khan.
- Best Served Cold: Idina Bexley has prevented her daughter and citizens from trying to hunt down the Mogriffs multiple times before Phobos' toppling. Some believe she's either still mourning her father Jesekiel or just waiting for the right time she can strike without too many risks, with the latter theory supported by her permission for Vera and the others to train in secret.
- Becoming the Mask: At the chapter's end, Jade finds herself starting to share with the villains she's fought with the fondness of making evil speeches and calls it getting too much into character.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Caroline shows she's started growing a spine when she viciously delivers a "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Vera, much to the shock of Amelia and Tinsley who actually take a couple of steps back. And while the latter two show sorrow as Vera suffers her punishment, Caroline watches with a cold expression.
- Big "NO!": One of the detained rioters has this reaction when Jade sentences them to be sent to the Shadow Realm.
- Big "SHUT UP!": Jade delivers this twice to the detained participants of the Prison Riot when they try to beg for mercy and object to being sent to the Shadow Realm.
- Big "WHAT?!":
- When Albel and Idina Bexley inform her fellow noble figureheads about the recent events, they have this reaction twice, first when they learn of Phobos' escape from the Infinite City and then upon being told that Vera has taken their children on her fugitive mission.
- Amelia has this reaction upon learning that Vera tried to kill Caroline in the previous chapter.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Alan's father, Donoban Ascelot, is a large man and one of the best warriors of Castwell's Peak. He's also rather carefree and loud, though he can act serious when the situation calls for it.
- Bring News Back: The chapter begins with Albel arriving to Castwell's Peak to tell the noble heads about Phobos' new allies, Elyon's order to evacuate the north, and the sedition of Vera and the others.
- Buffy Speak: While speaking about Vera's mental breakdown, Alan states that while she had her faults before their renegade mission, she never acted all "crazy-like".
- Bullying a Dragon: Vera, as delusional and obstinate as ever, continues to curb any of her fears by insulting Jade and calling the nature of her punishment a bluff. Once the Leech Khan tears into her shadow though, she finally realizes she's way over her head.
- The Bus Came Back: Jade unleashes on Vera the exact same Leech Khan that ate Nerissa's shadow in the first chapter.
- Call-Back:
- Amelia's mother has aspirations to take advantage of the power vacuum Phobos' massacre of noble families left behind. Said purge is also brought up in fear over the fate of Castwell's noble families.
- Jade remembers several instances when she defied her past enemies despite the odds being against her and berates herself for failing to realize that someone like Vera would act in a similar way.
- Calm Before the Storm: Though the siege of Snowpoint has been going successfully, some of the more experienced people of Castwell's Peak feel something might go wrong, and the governor summoning the rest of the noble heads to an urgent meeting confirms to Jasper and Leonard that something is off, with the latter even saying it feels like a storm's brewing in the horizon.
- Citywide Evacuation: The nobles of Castwell's Peak start making plans on following Elyon's orders and evacuating the city.
- Cliffhanger: Jade receives a call for help from Phobos and prepares to head out towards the Swamplands.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Ymir lampshades his position as one to Tyrian; when Jade sends the mad soldier to deliver her ransom letter, Ymir hopes Tyrian won't do anything stupid when he isn't there to keep an eye on him.
- Continuity Nod: When Alan talks about having heard about chocolate from Blunk, Philip recalls the crossbow Alan bought from Blunk.
- Crucified Hero Shot: Vera has her limbs spread and tied to two wooden poles when her sentence is carried out. Ironically enough, the painful ordeal of losing a part of her shadow in this position leads her to finally owning up to her own misdeeds.
- Cry into Chest: Tinsley cries in Caroline's arms as Vera's sentence is carried out.
- Defiant Captive:
- Despite being about to be subjected to her punishment, Vera still refuses to admit defeat and dares Jade to do her worst until the pain she goes through finally breaks her.
- While most of Vera's fellow rioters are terrified from witnessing her punishment, a couple of them dare to swear Elyon's vengeance upon Jade.
- Disappointed in You:
- After learning about Vera's reckless actions, Idina Bexley is clearly disappointed that contrary to what she believed while letting Vera participate in Snowpoint's siege, her daughter didn't have enough control over her vengeful desires, especially since she took the other noble heirs on her unsanctioned suicide mission.
- Amelia expresses her doubts that Vera's grandfather would be proud of the many lines she has crossed in her crusade.
- Dramatic Irony: The noble parents are hoping to convince Elyon to have the Guardians rescue their children, unaware they're currently forbidden from helping Meridian.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Aspen, not wanting to give in to the demands of her daughter's captors, gets the idea of directly persuading Elyon to help them when Idina points out that the queen has ordered the whole north to evacuate for a reason.
- Evil Laugh:
- When Aspen daydreams about her ambitions to raise her family's prestige, she giggles to herself in delight, unnerving Donoban who mutters to Leonard that Aspen is worse than a crow after seeing a shiny coin every time she gets that face.
- Jade laughs in mockery of Vera's empty threat of Castwell's Peak being able to stop her armies. She also lets out a dark laugh before unleashing the Leech Khan on Vera, and when the latter's bravado is broken by the Khan's first bite, both Jade and Tyrian chuckle.
- While speaking to the noble heirs' parents, Tyrian chuckles wickedly as he thinks about Vera's punishment.
- Facepalm: Idina Bexley pinches and rubs her forehead as she relays to her fellow nobles what Albel told her about Vera going rogue with the other heirs.
- Fake Defector: Discussed. Aspen believes that since Castwell's Peak pretended to be loyal to Phobos before he was overthrown, they could keep up that ruse and use it to act as spies for Elyon. Those plans are trashed when Tyrian reveals his side knows the truth about the city's true allegiances.
- Fate Worse than Death: Jade reinstates the original sentence she decreed for Vera in Chapter 30 as penalty for her stunt last night. It ends up being a downplayed version in practice though, for the Leech Khan eats only the shadow of Vera's left arm. This leaves said limb paralyzed, rendering her unable to fight, and the pain of the ordeal is enough to actually snap Vera out of her madness, leaving her to live with the horror of all that she's done.
- Flat "What": This is the first reaction that follows the Stunned Silence Jade's declaration of imprisonment in the Shadow Realm elicits in the rioters.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Alan and Philip ask Caroline to tell Vera that while they're sorry they couldn't help her deal with her pain and hatred, they don't forgive her for hurting them all with her actions. Amelia also tells Vera that she's started thinking her ex-friend has been using her grandfather's death as an excuse for chasing a twisted dream of purging Meridian of what she calls monsters, only to have turned into one herself.
- Generation Xerox: The noble heads of Castwell's Peak and their dynamics have noticeable similarities with their children. For instance, both generations have a carefree Ascelot hunter who likes to tease the serious and military-minded Wildstorm and is a Sitcom Arch-Nemesis with the snooty Emmony lady.
- The Glomp: When Caroline wakes up and finds Maya okay, she happily hugs her injured friend who needs to ask her not to hug too tightly.
- Greed: Ymir tells Jade that Peniculus, the biggest mining industry of the north or even whole Meridian, is known for its wealth and greed. He's heard from soldiers who served there that the citizens would sell info to anyone who pays enough.
- Gut Feeling: The Old Soldier Jasper has something of a sixth sense when it comes to bad news, so he already anticipates those are coming when Idina urgently summons him and the others to a meeting, especially since there's been no news about a final victory over Snowpoint even though the siege has been going successfully until now.
- Hand Behind Head:
- Donoban makes this gesture when Jasper reminds him of the time he caused a herd of tundra goats to run through Castwell's Peak and ended up owning a new wall to Aspen Emmony.
- Caroline does this in embarrassment after telling Maya that she won't be gone for long.
- Helping Would Be Killstealing: Jade tells Vera that if she'd immediately finished off Elyon and returned the throne to Phobos, he'd be in his subjects' eyes no different from his sister who ascended only thanks to the Guardians.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Ymir lampshades that Vera is a perfect example of what happens if a person allows themselves to become consumed by the Revenge Before Reason mentality. When Vera keeps insisting that she's only tried to get justice for her grandfather and protect Meridian from monsters, Amelia replies that to do that, she's turned herself into a monster of her own right, one her grandfather may not be proud of.
- Homoerotic Subtext: Caroline and Maya's friendship is starting to have romantic vibes; Maya invites Caroline for lunch to thank her for treating her (with Ymir even calling it a lunch date), and when Caroline flushes upon promising not to be gone for long, Maya replies she'd feel lonely without her around.
- Horse of a Different Color: When the nobles ride to the gates of Castwell's Peak, Donoban uses a big tundra goat as a steed.
- Hypocrite: Like in the previous chapter, Vera dares to call Caroline a traitor for protecting Maya, with the kind girl viciously calling her ex-friend out of betraying her and the others' trust.
- I Did What I Had to Do: When Tinsley can't believe Vera tried to kill Caroline for siding with Maya, Vera uses this argument.
- If I Wanted You Dead...: When Vera claims her city will make Jade beg for clemency, Jade laughs and tells her that had she chosen to, she would have finished off Elyon the night she freed Phobos and his army, so Vera's belief Castwell's Peak could do any better against the Shadowkhan is unfounded.
- I Have Your Wife: Jade tasks Tyrian with delivering her ransom letter to the nobles of Castwell's Peak while also sending photos of their children (along with Vera's ribbon and Amelia's necklace) along as proof of them being Political Hostages. The terms for the heirs' safe return are the city's total surrender and the parents being stripped of their noble ranks and wealth as penalty for falsely profession loyalty to Phobos, and the reply time is five days.
- It Runs in the Family: Jasper wonders (not for the first time) if all Ascelot men are noisy and carefree by nature, as while Alan and his father Donoban are that, Alan's mother isn't.
- It's All My Fault: Jade's rage at Vera and her riot is partially tied to her feeling responsible over the casualties since she believes she should have expected something like this from a captive whose defiant nature is akin to her own.
- Laughing Mad: When Amelia tries to make Vera realize the severity of her punishment, Vera stills for a moment at the thought of having her soul taken away before she laughs in denial as her madness overcomes her again.
- Love Redeems: Having noticed the courting between Tyrian and Rosetta, Jade hopes Rosetta will be able to reduce Tyrian's insanity, while Ymir is afraid Tyrian will instead turn Rosetta as crazy as him.
- Loud Gulp:
- Albel gulps before following Idina to explain what's going on, knowing she won't be pleased with his news. He later gulps again when he has to tell those news to the other nobles as well.
- Rolf gulps as he begs mercy from Ymir.
- Caroline gulps when she's afraid Amelia and Tinsley are considered accomplishes of the riot.
- Tinsley gulps when she sees the bound and frantic Vera's state up close.
- When Jade arrives to carry out Vera's sentence, Quinn gulps upon seeing how furious she seems.
- When Jade ominously threatens Vera with the Shadow Realm's horrors, Vera gulps before trying to keep up her bravado.
- Mama Bear: Not only there's the already established example of Vera's mother Idina, but Aspen makes it clear that if Vera's actions have gotten Amelia killed, there will be dire consequences.
- Mask of Sanity: When Alan and Philip are wondering how Vera could have turned so insane so quickly, Ymir speculates she might have been hiding the true extend of her psychotic hatred for the Mogriffs behind a facade of duty towards the Rebellion's cause so that she'd be allowed to go hunt them down. Her mother makes it clear that she would have never allowed Vera to participate in Snowpoint's siege had it been obvious she didn't have her obsession with revenge under control.
- Military Maverick: Lampshaded by Jade when she admits that when Tyrian isn't acting crazy or worshiping her, the mad soldier is actually quite useful.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Vera, who has spent the majority of her Sanity Slippage with a Never My Fault attitude, ends up having this reaction when the pain of having her shadow partially devoured is actually enough to snap her out of her madness and make her realize all the horrible things she's done.
- My Life Flashed Before My Eyes: After Vera's shadow is partially eaten, many memories of her life flash before her eyes, leading to her My God, What Have I Done? moment.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Jade compares Vera's Defiant Captive antics to her own history of refusing to give up in the face of impossible odds and berates herself for failing to ensure Vera wouldn't cause something like the Prison Riot last night.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Vera's filled with horror when she realizes what the Leech Khan is doing to her shadow.
- This is the collective reaction of the participants of the Prison Riot whom Jade sentences to be locked up in her palace at the Shadow Realm.
- When Tyrian informs Aspen that Castwell's past support of the Rebellion is no longer a secret to Phobos loyalists, the Emmony lady freezes as her mind flashes to the massacre of nobility Phobos committed.
- Old Soldier: Jasper Wildstorm, Philip's father and the head of the garrison of Castwell's Peak, is fifty years old and has three decades worth of military experience.
- Only in It for the Money: Jade gets from Ymir's description the image of Peniculus' residents in general being the type who cares only about their own gain and pockets to the point of selling info to anyone who pays enough, much to her disgust as most of her enemies at least tend to pick sides.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: As Albel is never seen far off from Vera, the residents of Castwell's Peak can tell something serious is going on when he rides alone to the city.
- Papa Wolf: The male nobles, especially Leonard and Donoban, are furious that Vera dragged their respective children into danger.
- Prayer Pose: Idina is holding her hands up almost in a praying manner when her fellow nobles enter her office.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Caroline of all people delivers one to Vera by directly calling her delusional ex-friend out of her petty and selfish actions and declaring that Vera brought Jade's punishment on herself.
- Sentenced Without Trial: When faced with Jade's punishment of being sent to the Shadow Realm's dungeons, some of the rioters demand to be judged fairly as Meridian's citizens, but Jade retorts that they lost their right to a trial the moment they angered her and tells them to consider themselves guilty and sentenced.
- Shoot the Dog: Tinsley's father Leonard is trying to think of how to explain to his animal-loving daughter that he was forced to put down her favorite tundra goat that got aggressive due to mating season and broke her mother's leg.
- Silence, You Fool!: Jade delivers this to the rebels whom she sends to the Shadow Realm for their role in the Prison Riot as they try to beg for mercy (or in the case of a few of them, curse her).
- Single Tear: Amelia sheds one when she confesses to Vera she considered her a friend before everything that's happened. She sheds another one when Vera's sentence is being carried out.
- Slasher Smile: Tyrian smiles almost psychotically as he watches Vera suffer.
- Smug Snake: Aspen Emmony, who's even known as "the Viper of the North", is quickly shown to be arrogant and ambitious, and she's confident of her ability to convince anyone (with the exception of Idina, Phobos and the governor of Peniculus) to see things her way.
- So Proud of You: When Maya asks upon waking up what happened, her mother replies with a proud smile that she saved Caroline's life.
- Spiteful Spit: Jade spits on the ground in disgust at Peniculus' Only in It for the Money mentality.
- Stunned Silence:
- When Idina's fellow nobles are told of Phobos' escape from the Infinite City, silence hangs in the room for several moments before they all let out a Big "WHAT?!".
- Shocked silence is the initial response to Jade's declaration that Vera's fellow rioters will be locked up in the dungeons of her palace.
- Suddenly Shouting: When Jade sarcastically congratulates the prisoners for angering her as much as some of her family's worst enemies, she almost roars out the end of her sentence, causing many of them to whimper in fear.
- Symbolic Mutilation: Vera getting the shadow of her left arm eaten by a Leech Khan renders the limb immobile, which Jade considers fitting since now the extremely stubborn Action Girl can't possibly keep fighting back as a political prisoner. This is what finally gets through Vera's madness enough so that she admits for once that she rather than someone else messed up.
- Tap on the Head: Averted. The two guards whose heads Vera smashed against a wall when she escaped her cell are in a critical state, and Ymir is unsure if they can make it.
- Tears of Remorse: Vera sheds these in the midst of her Villainous BSoD.
- Unbroken Vigil: After helping patch Maya up, Caroline spent the rest of the night keeping an eye on her until Sofia had to drug her to sleep.
- Villain Ball: Jade wonders if she's been embracing the evil queen persona too much to the point that she's started repeating her past enemies' mistake of not properly dealing with the extremely Defiant Captive and assuming she would give up just like that.
- Villainous BSoD: When Vera's torturous punishment breaks her mad self-righteousness, she's reduced to crying and shaking as she finally comprehends the damage her actions have brought upon her friends and home.
- You Monster!: When Amelia and Vera have a last talk before the latter's sentence is carried out, the ever-defiant Vera keeps insisting that she's only been trying to get justice for her grandfather's death and protect Meridian from monsters (which she's kept calling the Mogriffs and Jade), but Amelia calls her out of her BS by remarking that she allowed her desire for revenge to turn herself into a monster.
- You Owe Me: Aspen plans to invoke this to convince Elyon to help resolve the hostage situation on the logic that she owes Castwell's Peak for helping the Rebellion before and after her ascension.
