When the fear takes over, use the only thing more powerful, more indestructible, to fight it: your spirit. Your heart.
-- Spiro Teluman (chapter 2)

Importance: Spiro Teluman, a character from An Ember in the Ashes, is a blacksmith who served as a mentor and friend of Darin. In Chapter 3, Laia repeats Spiro’s advice to herself when she must confront the Commandant, who is locked in a battle with Elias. This quote, which is placed toward the beginning of the novel, introduces and foreshadows Laia’s central internal conflict—her feelings of inadequacy, particularly with respect to her bravery and power. Spiro’s advice helps her to summon her courage in order to confront the fearsome figure of the Commandant. Importantly, Spiro suggests that spirit and heart are necessary to fight fear. This allows Laia to look inward and recognize her own power. It also contradicts the evil logic of the Empire, which believes that...