Much of the plot in Jensen’s narrative is driven by the different leaders’ contrasting methods of wielding their authority. Specifically, the author juxtaposes Silas’s authoritarian regime with Aren’s more egalitarian brand of leadership in order to highlight the stark differences in the two men’s values and priorities.

Although he initially hides his true motives, Silas cultivates a tyrannical style of leadership by spreading hateful propaganda and playing upon the fears of his people in order to incite their hostility against Ithicana. Silas even goes so far as to starve his own people to intensify this tension, placing far more importance upon feeding his own greed than upon taking proper care of his nation. Although he has the option to buy provisions for his citizens, he chooses to hoard weapons instead, framing Ithicana as a scapegoat for his own excesses. With this strategy, he also uses his people’s ire for their neighbor to justify his plans for conquest. Just as he indoctrinates Lara and his other daughters to infiltrate and destroy Ithicana from within, Silas also cultivates and weaponizes the fear of his people to feed his avarice and thirst for power.