Upon returning to Meridian from Kandrakar, Elyon is forced to deal with the rebels and Guards' infighting before she and Will can inform the rest of the Guardians of the Council's decision.
- Accidental Public Confession: Taranee and Caleb's public argument over everything they've learned about Jade/Kage and Nerissa ends up exposing those details to all the rebels and Guards.
- Air Quotes: Elyon makes this gesture while telling her friends about the reason Kandrakar "helped" Meridian in the first place.
- Armor-Piercing Question: When Elyon tells the Guards that she's planning to make up for her blunders and be the queen that Meridian deserves, Erec tells her to be careful with her words and asks how much she really knows about the kingdom to know what's best for it. This question makes Elyon decide to do active research in order to become a real ruler instead of a figurehead easily pulled by others' strings.
- Big "WHAT?!":
- Caleb yells this twice when Elyon reassigns him away from the castle.
- The Guardians (other than Will, who along with Elyon is giving them the news) react this way twice, first when told that the Oracle is ordering them back to Earth, and then upon learning that Nerissa used to be a Guardian.
- Blunt "Yes": When Caleb questions if Taranee actually believes Kage's words, she snaps that she does because they explain things better than the story "the Mage" gave them.
- Broken Pedestal:
- Tynar's respect among the his fellow Guards has collapsed because they think that since he was the one who convinced them all to turn on Phobos in the first place, he's responsible for their precarious position in the new government.
- Erec and many of the Guards are shown having their doubts about Elyon's capacity to rule, with Elyon admitting they have every right to it. Though Erec promises they'll continue with their old duties as before, he makes it clear they expect her to shape up as well.
- Call-Back:
- Caleb tries to defend "the Mage" by bringing up that the latter assisted the Guardians on more than one occasion.
- Taranee recalls that when Cedric was undercover in Heatherfield and the Knights tried to frame the Guardians of Elyon's disappearance, they never went after anyone else on Earth. This makes her believe that Kage is unlikely to get bystanders on Earth caught in the crossfire.
- Cliffhanger: The dejected Guardians reluctantly follow the Oracle's orders and return to Earth.
- Conspiracy Theorist: Caleb is very much coming across as this in his stubborn refusal to believe the truth about Jade/Kage or Nerissa, no matter how many holes his friends poke in the logic of his beliefs.
- Continuity Nod: Hay Lin notes that the Shadowkhan did more damage to the castle than the heroes themselves did when Phobos was overthrown.
- Create Your Own Hero: Taranee lampshades the irony of how Nerissa invoked this with the Guardians; had she not convinced Kandrakar that Phobos was a threat to the realms outside Meridian, they wouldn't have raised the Veil and given the Heart to the new generation of the Guardians.
- Due to the Dead: With the Guards appeased for now, Erec states they'll give Granik the final rites he deserves.
- Following in Relative's Footsteps: Erec states that his father was the first of his family to join the Guard during Phobos' reign, and he himself was accepted last year following his father's death.
- Foreshadowing: Caleb and Aldarn's conversation reveals they haven't told Elyon about some problems in the eastern territories, with Caleb sending Aldarn to warn the garrisons they've sent there. Caleb also considers it a good sign they haven't received any worrisome messages, but he fails to notice the conspiratorial look Aldarn gets on his face as he ponders on the lack of messages.
- Get Out!: Elyon finishes reprimanding Caleb by pointing in the direction of the city and ordering him to take his troops and go patrolling like she told him to.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: With all the revelations she's been dealt with having made Elyon realize just how badly she's failed at being a ruler, she's deeply ashamed to the point that she actually bows low to the Guards while swearing to make up for her mistakes, even if she must stop her brother and try to make peace with Kage without the Guardians' help.
- A House Divided:
- Caleb's act of abandoning the Guards in Chapter 4 finally brings their tensions with the rebels to the breaking point. The only reason they don't finally end up drawing blood is because Elyon steps in and orders the rebels on patrol duty in the city while the Guards protect the castle, putting the conflict on hold for now.
- Caleb's growing frustrated with the Guardians for not sharing his opinion that the truth about Jade/Kage and Nerissa is just one big deception from Phobos' part.
- If Only You Knew: Upon learning Nerissa's ex-Guardian status, Irma's so overwhelmed by all the bombshells that she demands to know if there's more coming, like Cornelia's little sister turning out to be magical as well... which is the case as it canonically turns out later.
- Internal Reveal: Word of the truth about Nerissa/"the Mage" spreads among the guards and rebels, while Elyon and Will share with the other Guardians and Tynar everything they learned from the Council in the previous chapter.
- I Reject Your Reality: Caleb is the only one of the main cast who refuses to believe "the Mage's" story of Jade being Phobos' minion was a lie or that "the Mage" was Evil All Along, regardless of all the evidence and all the holes in the theories he tries to use to defend his beliefs. The authors explain in the reviews that he's grasping at straws because it's just too much for him to accept that all the losses and sacrifices of his comrades (including him having been a Child Soldier for his whole life) might have served only to help a tyrant get rid of another.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Erec, one of the Guards under the fallen Captain Granik, is openly hostile towards the heroes – including his queen – he blames for his comrades and captain's deaths, but Elyon admits he has every right to be angry over Caleb abandoning them and disillusioned with her record as a queen. His Armor-Piercing Question about her ignorance regarding Meridian also motivates her to do her homework about her kingdom so that she can live up to her promises of doing better.
- Jaw Drop: Hay Lin has this reaction to Taranee's Precision F-Strike.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Caleb abandoning the Guards to fight the Shadowkhan by themselves in Chapter 4 leads to one of the Guards attacking him, and then an enraged Elyon chews him out and reassigns him away from the castle.
- My God, What Have I Done?: In a case of a particularly prolonged reaction, Taranee's still kicking herself over the girls' mistake with Jade/Kage and tells Hay Lin they should have noticed the holes in "the Mage's" story about Jade.
- Never My Fault: Caleb utterly refuses to own up to his role in fanning the flames between the Guards and rebels to the point of accusing the Guards of treason when they confront him about abandoning them.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Lampshaded by Taranee in this chapter about making Kage an enemy.Taranee: We screwed up. We made a rash call on bad data and now we're all paying the price.
- Noisy Shut-Up: To prevent her soldiers from fighting each other, Elyon cries out "THAT IS ENOUGH!" while enhancing her voice with magic.
- Oh, Crap!: Caleb and many others have fearful reactions to Elyon's anger.
- Precision F-Strike: Taranee exclaims "bull crap" in her frustration at Caleb's refusal to accept the truth about Jade/Kage and Nerissa.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: While telling Caleb that she expects him to follow his queen's orders, Elyon asks "Am...I...Clear?".
- Punctuated Pounding: Erec does this when he attacks Caleb in his fury over the death of his commander, Captain Granik.Erec: You miserable [punch] worthless [punch] cowardly traitor [punch] the captain is gone because of you!!! [punch]
- Rage Breaking Point:
- Having already dealt with many stressful things in one day, Elyon loses her patience with Caleb's attitude as she puts her foot down with him.
- The Guards on the whole have this with the rebels' mistreatment as Caleb's abandonment of them in Chapter 4 is the last straw. Only Elyon stepping in to punish Caleb prevents it from escalating into a bloodbath.
- "The Reason I Suck" Speech: Elyon makes one to counter Cornelia's claim that she's been doing great as a queen.Elyon: I've prosecuted an innocent girl and, in the process, might have started a war! I can't even control my own people and keep them from tearing each other apart. So no Cornelia…I have not been doing a great job. All I've been doing is basically playing dress up like a little girl living out her fantasy of being royalty!
- Reassigned to Antarctica: Downplayed. Elyon essentially banishes Caleb and the other rebels from the castle by assigning them to patrolling the city and surrounding area instead, both to express her anger at his recent actions and to try and deescalate tensions between the rebels and guards.
- The Scapegoat: Tynar convinced his fellow Guards to betray Phobos under the belief things would be better under Elyon's rule, but since the rebels' open hostility has made life relatively harder for them, he also gets to feel the brunt of their anger. The Guard who decks him even holds him equally responsible over Captain Granik's death as Caleb.
- Silence, You Fool!: Elyon takes this approach when Caleb tries to protest against her orders.
- Talk to the Fist: While trying to deescalate the budding fight between the guards and rebels, Tynar is punched by another guard who blames him for their bad situation in the new regime.
- Tempting Fate: The chapter continues the previous one from Will's hope things can't get worse. She realizes she should have guessed this was happening as she and Elyon find the rebels ready to clash with the Guard.
- Theory Tunnel Vision: Caleb is so convinced of Nerissa's lie that Kage is a minion of Phobos that he refuses to acknowledge any evidence to the contrary and relies on increasingly convoluted theories to justify his viewpoint.
- Unhand Them, Villain!: A non-villainous variant occurs when Cornelia is keeping Erec suspended in the air with one of her vines. When Will orders her to put him down, Cornelia sullenly releases the vine's grip, causing Erec to fall a couple of meters.
- Villain Has a Point: Recalling the "Not So Different" Remark Jade made about him and Raythor, Tynar admits she may be right.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Elyon is pissed when she finds the rebels and guards coming to blows over their rising tensions, especially at Caleb, whose denial about the truth about Jade/Kage and "the Mage" is only enflaming the problem, leading to her reassigning him away from the castle as punishment for this and his actions in Chapter 4.
- The above-mentioned coming to blows is a result of the guards angrily attacking Caleb for abandoning them during the Shadowkhan attack, which got Captain Granik and many others killed.
- Would Hurt a Child: Caleb, a teenaged boy, admits he intends to execute Kage, a preteen girl, the first chance he gets, much to Taranee's horror.
