Fireborne

Dragons throughout the novel symbolize the different uses of uncheckable power. In one of his first sessions with Lee and his peers, Atreus asks, “How could such unbridled power not ultimately lead to corruption?” (104). Atreus follows this up by saying that worth and power must correspond to each other and that one only deserves the mantle of power if one can “be more reasonable and more virtuous than what came before” (105). In the age of the Triarchy, dragons became weapons of mass destruction and fear due to the unchecked power of dragonborns. Due to this, power was often abused by the ruling elite.

In the new regime, power is not inherited by dragonborn any longer but given to anyone from any class who tests well and is chosen by a dragon based on their own merit. Annie describes this change in her morale speech to Holbin, describing “a government where dragons abide by laws rather than create them” (170). Through this more inclusive selection process, Atreus had hoped to find more worthy riders who would not inspire the same fear or take advantage of the unbridled power of their dragons. However, the lingering effect of such uncheckable power is present in the way citizens react to the morale visits and the collections of resources Lee, Annie, and their peers do throughout the novel.