With two days having passed since the jailbreak, Jade reunites with Phobos and his army in their abandoned fortress hideout to lay down her plans.
- Accidental Hero: When Jade wants to hear ideas on how Meridian's people can be convinced that Phobos is a better ruler than Elyon, the Mogriff and Lurden lieutenants reveal their respective people are ready to follow him because the actions he took to get them on his side enabled them to reinhabit their ancestral lands the past queens drove them away from. Phobos, who hadn't really considered how making allies out of Meridian's more discriminated races would influence them and was mostly motivated by spite towards the traditions that denied him the throne, is honestly surprised to learn of this.
- Ambition Is Evil: Both Phobos and Raythor lampshade that even when playing the role of a trusted servant, Cedric has always held his own ambitions over any others, which is why Raythor doesn't consider it a wise decision from Jade's part to give the shapeshifter command over the Shadowkhan.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: The Shadowkhan seem to be settling down in Jade's palace and taking up different duties of their own volition. She soon finds members of the Samurai Khan acting as patrolling guards, the Bat Khan nesting in towers like gargoyles, the Sumo Khan working as gatekeepers, the Ninja Khan trailing her as personal servants/bodyguards... and some of the Leech Khan splashing in the royal garden's fish pond.
- At Least I Admit It: When Raythor's furious over the "heroic" rebels showing their full hypocrisy in the Swamplands, Frost notes with dark amusement that as much as the rebels like to accuse Phobos and his followers of being monsters, their own hands aren't clean of blood either, and Phobos admits to all assembled that they'd all be hypocrites if they claimed they haven't dirtied their hands at some point.
- Bait-and-Switch: When we get to the abandoned fortress, Frost is narrated to be on a mission that "requires all his courage and dedication" as he attempts to sneak around to snatch something. He's taken by surprise by Tracker and Sniffer at the last minute, and Tracker reprimands him for trying to take his stuff while holding in his hand Frost's prize... which is revealed to be a box of sweet rolls, a treat the two hunters have been fighting over during their whole time in the fortress.
- Bizarre Dream Rationalization: Phobos' public apology to Raythor befuddles Frost so much that he asks Tracker if he's dreaming this in his Infinite City cell. When Phobos then promotes Raythor to his second-in-command, Frost decides he must be dreaming.
- Brain Food: Jade is at one point eating a giant rat's brain and gives a piece of it to a shadow bird.
- Call-Back:
- The massive amount of food stolen from all over Heatherfield, which was mentioned in the news during Chapter 5, is revealed to have been taken for the use of Phobos' army.
- When the Shadowkhan assaulted the Infinite City, they took away all the Guards and rebels stationed there while leaving only Vathek and Tynar behind. These soldiers are revealed to be imprisoned in the dungeons of the abandoned fortress, with Raythor having given the Guards a chance to atone for betraying Phobos by returning to his service.
- Chekhov's Gunman:
- This chapter introduces members of the Ninja Khan that are dressed in long red robes instead of the usual black ninja garbs assisting Jade in her library. Their significance is revealed many chapters later.
- This chapter introduces an Escandor captain named Ymir and a Mogriff who become Jade's Mook Lieutenants for the Snowpoint arc.
- Continuity Nod:
- In Kage, Jade ate the brain of a giant rat while starving on Meridian and enjoyed it. She seems to have included that in her regular diet.
- Not wanting to wear a dress like the first time she became the Queen, Jade creates her new outfit by herself instead of letting the Shadowkhan pick her clothes.
- Since the events of the original story, Jade has remained friends with Sniffer and civil with Tracker.
- Jade refers to her history with Shendu and Drago while telling Raythor that she's quite experienced about dealing with reptilian characters like Cedric.
- Costume Evolution:
- Jade decides it's time to ditch the ninja robes she's been wearing ever since arriving on Meridian and starts wearing a battle kimono with black biker shorts and an indigo crown shaped like dragon/demon horns.
- Phobos has changed his usual robe for a new black one.
- Divide and Conquer: Jade splits up Phobos' forces to travel to different regions in order to both distract Elyon and gather more supporters for Phobos. The plan is for Frost to lead an army to take over Cavigor in the southern desert and add the prisoners to Phobos' ranks, while Jade will march with the Mogriffs and Shadowkhan to the northern mountains to protect the Mogriffs' lands. While Elyon and the Rebellion's attention will be on the two armies, Phobos, Raythor, Tracker and Gargoyle will enter the Swamplands with a small troop in order to free the local cities from the rebels' dominion. All of these campaigns get turns on being focused on for the duration of several successive chapters.
- Double Take: When Raythor examines one of the stolen letters authorizing a dispatch of troops, he assesses it to be in order all the way to the royal seal until he realizes there's no seal.
- Even Evil Has Standards: While Raythor views Elyon as the usurper to Phobos' rightful ruler, he's absolutely outraged to learn that the rebels in the Swamplands have been persecuting the locals and without Elyon's knowledge despite having sworn to serve her and painted themselves as heroes and protectors of Meridian for years.
- Foreshadowing: Following Phobos' Motive Rant, Jade thinks it's best for her to avoid cult-like opinions that can seriously mess up with one's head. She ends up having to deal with those during the Snowpoint arc.
- Full-Circle Revolution: It's revealed that the rebels have been abusing their authority in the Swamplands by accusing people they consider to be monsters for the strange disappearances of other people. What's more, the fact that this is revealed in a half-burned letter Riverdeen's mayor wrote to Elyon to ask for her help indicates she's been Locked Out of the Loop on purpose.
- Hand Behind Head: Jade rubs the back of her neck in bashfulness when Raythor compliments her new appearance.
- Hidden Depths: It's revealed that while his intentions were self-serving, Phobos' efforts to bring Meridian's discriminated races under his banner did give them better standards of living than they've had in centuries. He was also greatly invested in securing the eastern Swamplands in order to shorten the distance between east and west to improve the transport of goods and enhance the trading routes, showing that he had an actual interest in ruling his kingdom and wasn't completely focused only on fighting the Rebellion and finding Elyon.
- Ignored Epiphany: Downplayed. Before leaving the Shadow Realm, Jade briefly hesitates with the acknowledgement that her plan to return Phobos to power will start a new war on Meridian, no matter how she chooses to look at it. However, because she already promised Raythor her help and discovered some questionable things about the rebels' recent actions, giving her hope there's a just cause to fight for, she remains set on her course.
- Internal Reveal: Raythor informs Phobos that some of the imprisoned Guards have told him about the second thoughts many of them have been having about turning on the prince. The rebel prisoners forcing those Guards to shut up prevented Raythor from learning the exact reason for those misgivings, though.
- Locked Out of the Loop: By studying the records she had stolen from the royal archives during the assault on Elyon's castle, Jade has discovered that the rebels have been mobilizing troops in the Swamplands and northern mountains to eliminate any local Phobos supporters without Elyon's knowledge.
- Meaningful Name: Phobos tells Jade that his name means fear (in Greek), and that it shows how much even his parents considered him the pariah of the royal family, so he embraced the name's meaning and wore it with pride.
- Monster in the Moat: Gargoyle has installed himself in the moat around the abandoned fortress.
- Motive Rant: Phobos makes one when Jade expresses her disbelief on how Meridian's people have always believed blindly that Elyon is by default her brother's superior as a ruler.
- Not So Above It All: Tracker, the feared and taciturn hunter, has taken a liking to sweet rolls and been fighting with Frost over them following their escape from the Infinite City. When Frost accuses Tracker of hogging all the sweet rolls, Tracker says they're not all for him and gives Sniffer one, which Frost calls cheating.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Phobos publicly apologizes to Raythor for throwing him in the Abyss of Shadows before promoting him to second-in-command to fulfill another one of the terms Jade issued as part of their deal, all his present lieutenants are shocked by this unexpected show of kindness to the point that Frost half-seriously considers himself to be dreaming.
- Pet the Dog: When Jade appears, Sniffer rushes to greet her, and Tracker exchanges pleasant words with her.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Though Phobos is angry at the Guards who betrayed him, he's decided to give them a chance to reaffirm their loyalties and serve him again to make defeating Elyon easier... and only after he's back on the throne, he'll punish them for betraying him in the first place.
- Properly Paranoid: Knowing how ambitious and manipulative Cedric can be, Raythor is afraid Jade giving the shapeshifter command over the Shadowkhan will prove detrimental to them all. Aware Raythor doesn't have the best of history with Cedric, Jade gently reassures him that while he doesn't have to trust Cedric, she can keep the latter in line (partly because it's unlikely he would know how to make the Shadowkhan act against her orders), but she also promises that if Cedric does betray her after all, she'll make him regret it dearly.
- Puppy-Dog Eyes: Jade sends a pleading gaze at Raythor while trying to reassure him that he can trust her to be able to handle Cedric.
- Purple Is Powerful: Jade's royal banners were already shown to be purple in the second chapter, and now her new outfit includes purple flame patterns in her battle kimono, a black and purple sash, and an amethyst tiara shaped like dragon/demon horns.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Jade tells Phobos to invoke this trope by actively taking part in helping the commoners against the rebels' misconduct so that his PR can improve.
- The Sleepless: Downplayed; as long as Jade remains in the Shadow Realm, she has nearly infinite stamina and energy, allowing her to stay awake for a long time with little to no repercussions.
- Swamp Monster: Gargoyle is revealed to originate from the Swamplands, which is why Phobos takes him along to serve as a Native Guide if he needs to navigate the swamps.
- Then Let Me Be Evil: Phobos states during his Motive Rant that he's been treated as a bad omen ever since childhood and had to fight for everything he had, with even his name showing how much he was seen as the taint on Meridian's royal bloodline, while his sister's birth was celebrated simply because only girls can become rulers.
