Five Broken Blades

Monsoon season is a recurring setting motif that emphasizes the plot’s development and twists. For most of the narrative, the monsoon season is used as a temporal point that determines what the main characters believe to be the “before” and “after” periods of Joon’s reign. An example of this dynamic occurs when Royo remarks, “The monsoon moon is coming, and with it, downpour rains, but that shouldn’t be until after the millennial celebration. And who knows what Yusan will look like at that point” (310). For Euyn, monsoon season also signifies his reinstatement in the royal family as well as the moment he expects to become Yusan’s new monarch after having committed both regicide and fratricide in one fell swoop. By the end of the novel, however, the meaning of monsoon season changes to represent the deadline by which Euyn, Mikail, Aeri, Sora, and Royo must acquire the Ring of the Dragon Lord from Quilimar in Khitan. Monsoon season therefore exchanges its original connotation of national change for a more nebulous one of danger, desperation, personal risk, and potential loss, given that all of the main characters’ loved ones hang in the balance.