Iron Flame

“Xaden shoots Brennan a look that I can’t decipher, and I breathe deeply as it hits me—he probably knows my own brother better than I do. And he kept him from me. Of all the secrets he hid, that’s the one I can’t quite swallow.”

Xaden keeps secrets to protect the rebellion, but by keeping this secret, he and Brennan hurt Violet, whom they both love. This exemplifies how The Protective Power of Lies is conditional and subject to individual interpretation. While lies may protect people in some ways, they can damage relationships.

“Melgren thinks the wards are so infallible that he won’t alert the population. Or he’s afraid that telling the public will make them realize we aren’t entirely the good guys. Not anymore. Fen’s rebellion taught leadership it’s a lot easier to control happy civilians than disgruntled—or worse, terrified—ones.”

Violet makes her stance on the matter of truth and lies crystal clear. She views Melgren’s lies as the selfish self-preservation of Navarre and believes leadership finds it easier to control and manipulate ignorant citizens over informed ones. To Violet, knowledge is always preferable to ignorance, which leaves people dangerously unprepared.

“But when the lives of everyone around you depend on how well you can lie, it’s not easy to realize it’s the truth that will save you.”

Despite admitting this, Xaden continues to withhold the truth from Violet. This foreshadows the many secrets he will continue to harbor throughout the series, which will harm more than they save. If he were more forthcoming with Violet, she might have been more open with him and revealed her dreams of the venin, which could have changed the decision Xaden makes at the end of the novel.