The Stonekeeper

When Emily confronts Trellis, there are a few revelations that raise more questions than they give answers. Trellis reveals that he was not actually after Emily’s amulet but wants her help to defeat his tyrannical father, the Elf King, and this potentially casts doubt on his role as the antagonist. However, the situation remains ambiguous due to a lack of information: This is the first time that the Elf King is mentioned, and because Emily has had no interaction with anyone outside of Silas and his robots, she has had no indication until this point that Alledia is in a state of political turmoil and needs rescuing. Moreover, Trellis’s actions and his visual design—he has razor-sharp teeth and claws, snake-like eyes, and a large scar on his face—suggest that he is a villain, even if he claims to want to “free the land” (164). Things get even more complicated once Emily has defeated Sybrian, who is capable of mind control. There is a drastic change in Trellis’s countenance once Sybrian is gone: His old look of malice and fierce confidence is replaced by fear and confusion. However, this is also ambiguous, and the novel doesn’t specify whether the change is because he is now free from Sybrian’s control or because his confrontation with Emily has ended in his defeat.

The most import aspect of Emily and Trellis’s showdown is that Emily demonstrates mastery of the amulet, showing that she is growing as a leader and is learning about Power and Responsibility. First, this happens when she manages to stop Sybrian from entering her mind. Previously, during moments of intense confrontation, the amulet had to guide her—like when she and Navin were escaping the aggressive birdlike creatures on the flying mushrooms. The amulet had to talk Emily through that encounter, giving her ideas and instructions. But this time, Emily has internalized the process of blocking out fear so that she can focus on tapping into the amulet’s strength to confidently use it for her aims. This is evident in the fact that the text is presented in square boxes that signify her internal thoughts, rather than the stylized text bubbles that the amulet speaks in.

Emily’s mastery only grows from this point onward. After defeating Sybrian, she turns her attention to Trellis, and the amulet’s power surges through her in a way it never has before. However, rather than giving into the amulet’s corrupting influence, she resists its encouragement to kill Trellis. The visuals that depict this scene highlight Emily’s growing power. A bright light emanates from Emily as well as from the voice of the amulet compelling her to kill Trellis. Close-ups of Emily’s face show her eyes glowing red and her expression of anger and hatred; meanwhile, Trellis looks absolutely terrified and powerless. Yet, as Emily regains control, the bright light around her recedes, her eyes go back to normal, and her anger turns into a look of concern and even pity. She clasps her hands around the amulet, signifying that she is back in control, and the page ends with a small panel of Trellis looking meek and insignificant in the bottom right corner.

Emily’s ability—and choice—to resist the amulet also return to the theme of Growing Up. Unlike the instance where she annihilated the arachnopods, Emily has become more aware of her power and what it is capable of. She is growing into a confident, competent person who is aware of and careful about the ethical implications of power. Ever since her dad died, Emily has felt like her life is spiraling out of control. However, in resisting the amulet, she demonstrates that she is the one in control—not the amulet. It shows that she has grown in maturity by not only accomplishing her task but also learning from her previous mistakes. While her journey to maturity will continue throughout the remainder of the series, she has come a long way in her personal growth from the beginning of this novel.