Shadow of Night

“‘Lady alchemists are nothing but kitchen philosophers,’ Kit sniffed, ‘more interested in improving their complexions than understanding the secrets of nature.’

‘I study alchemy in the library—not the kitchen,’ I snapped, forgetting to modulate my tone or accent. Kit’s eyes widened. ‘Then I teach students about the subject at a university.’

‘They let women teach at the university?’ George said, fascinated and repelled in equal measure.”

Christopher “Kit” Marlowe is an early modern author Diana knows well, but meeting him in person is different than reading his work. He is immediately antagonistic to Diana and holds the gender-based prejudices of his day, highlighting Gender Roles in Different Historical Periods. Kit is also antagonistic toward women who study alchemy, dismissing their work as superstition, compared to the so-called serious work done by men investigating “secrets of nature”—thus, this quote also begins to explore The Relationship Between Science and Superstition.

“His eyes were smoky, and his instincts to pursue his prey and push it into submission were sharp. Not only did the sixteenth-century husband want to prevail over his wife, but the vampire wanted to capture the witch.”

Diana confronts Gender Roles in Different Historical Periods in Matthew’s own behavior. In A Discovery of Witches, Matthew’s best friend, Hamish, warned Diana that Matthew’s behavior would be different in the past, due to the surrounding cultural expectations between genders. Diana did not give much credence to his words then, but Matthew’s behavior begins to prove Hamish right.

“The Matthew Roydon who had been in sixteenth-century Chester vanished because he was displaced by the Matthew who’d traveled here from modern-day Oxfordshire. When we left, the sixteenth-century Matthew, presumably, would reappear. Time wouldn’t allow both Matthews to be in the same place at the same moment. We’d already altered history without intending to do so.”

Books that involve aspects of time travel must reckon with The Complex Nature of Time and how the operation of time travel works within their fictional universe. In some time-travel narratives, when people go back in time, they encounter past versions of themselves. In Harkness’s version of time travel, the time-travelling version of Matthew replaces the 16th-century version.

“While she transferred the box’s contents to a nearby table, Rima’s eyes strayed back to the little volume in its simple leather cover. In four hundred years, would the only proof of her existence be a page from her calendar, a shopping list, and a scrap of paper with her grandmother’s recipe for alfajores on it, all placed in a file labeled ‘Anonymous, of no importance’ and stores in an archive no one ever visited?”

Due to The Complex Nature of Time, Matthew and Diana begin leaving marks on the past that suddenly appear in the future. Rima is an archivist in Spain, and she finds an unattributed diary the reader knows to be Diana’s. The diary has no name, and it contains commonplace lists historians consider to be of “no importance.” Rima puts herself in the position of the mystery woman and wonders how history will treat her own legacy. Of all the historical anomalies, this is the only one Ysabeau, Marcus, or Knox don’t find, due to historians’ dismissal of it.

“The de Clermont family was a menagerie of formidable beasts. In Matthew’s presence I was always reminded of wolves. With Ysabeau it was falcons. Gallowglass had made me think of a bear. Philippe was akin to yet another deadly predator.”

Diana gets an opportunity to meet de Clermonts who have already passed by the 21st century, namely Matthew’s stepfather, Philippe. Harkness’s version of the vampire is a creature who is predatory and instinctive. Though all vampires are predatory, their individual characters determine their specific predatory qualities. Philippe reminds her of a lion, who is often considered lord of the jungle. Like a lion, Philippe is a “lord” among vampires, as he is highly respected and powerful.

“When my finger passed over my lips, my senses were flooded with information: wind on a craggy peak, the comfort of a bed of leaves in a hollow between two trees, the joy of running free. Accompanying it all was a steady, thundering beat. A pulse, a heart.”

After Diana timewalks, her magic changes. Having successfully manipulated the threads of time without realizing how she did so, Diana begins to experience more magic she doesn’t yet recognize as being the power of a weaver. She tastes the blood of a deer and experiences the life of the deer. This power parallels a vampire’s power: When a vampire drinks blood, they witness the memories of that creature.

“‘Matthew knows I’ll never leave him.’

‘Of course you will. One day your life on this earth will draw to a close and you will make your final journey into the underworld. Rather than grieve, Matthew will want to follow you into death.’ Philippe’s words rang with truth.”

Philippe is a father figure to Diana, telling her difficult but necessary truths. At first, Diana insists that she and Matthew have a secure and unshakeable bond as mates. Philippe points out that death will one day break their bond. He believes that Matthew will choose to die by suicide at that point. Thus, Diana and Matthew’s mating has consequences for the whole de Clermont family, who believe they will one day lose a son and a daughter.

“‘The manjasang make families through death and blood,’ Philippe began when I stood before him. His words sent fear instinctively trilling through my bones. He smudged his thumb in a curve that started in the center of my forehead near my hairline, crept near my temple, and finished at my brow. ‘With this mark you are dead, a shade among the living without clan or kin.’ Philippe’s thumb returned to the place where he began, and he made a mirror image of the mark on the other side, finishing between my brows. My witch’s third eye tingled with the cool sensation of vampire blood. ‘With this mark you are reborn, by blood-sword daughter and forever a member of my family.’”

Philippe officially becomes an adoptive father to Diana when he chooses to make her a blood-sworn daughter. Blood sustains vampires, and death results in vampires becoming family, so using blood to anoint Diana in this baptism-like ceremony bonds them together eternally and even echoes through time, to the 21st century.

“As for the impossible, I have walked this earth longer than man’s memories and have seen things that later generations discounted as myth. Once there were creatures who swam like fish in the sea and others who wielded lightning bolts instead of spears. They are gone now, replaced with something new. ‘Change is the only reliable thing in the world.’”

Philippe has a unique perspective on The Relationship Between Science and Superstition. He has lived so long that he has seen many types of knowledge grow and fade in human history. He observes that what man thinks is “impossible”—thus what is scientifically possible and what is mere superstition—is more of a social construction than objective fact.

“The Hart and Crown represented urban living at its sixteenth-century best. The parlor was a good size but felt snug and comfortable. Its western wall was filled with a multipaned window that overlooked Water Lane.”

The Hart and Crown, where Matthew and Diana stay in England, is a fictionalized version of the historical building called the Staple Inn. The Staple Inn has the same multipaned windows and looks out over High Holborn. It is slightly more north of the Thames than the Hart and Crown would be; the Hart and Crown is in Blackfriars, right along the Thames, so Matthew and Diana can easily and often travel by river.

“‘Fian augmented his teacher’s salary by causing thunderstorms during dry spells and early thaws when it looked as if the Scottish winter would never end. His fellow villagers adored him, by all accounts. Even Fian’s pupils had nothing but praise. Fian might have been a bit of a seer—he’s credited with foretelling people’s deaths, but that could have been something Kit cooked up to embellish the story for an English audience. He’s obsessed with a witch’s second sight, as you’ll remember.’

‘Witches are vulnerable to the shifting moods of our neighbors, Matthew. One minute we’re friends, the next we’re run out of town—or worse.’”

One of the key differences between 21st-century Matthew and 16th-century Matthew is that Diana’s version of Matthew is sympathetic to the plight of witches. As James VI of Scotland persecutes witches, Matthew tries to run interference on behalf of the Congregation and save as many witches as possible. Matthew doesn’t understand why Fian’s neighbors turned on him, but Diana, who is a witch, knows how witches have become scapegoats throughout history.

“Before, it was my emotions that set off the magic. Now an idle question is enough to make me see beneath the surface of things. But I have no idea how I animated that bee.”

Diana learns how and why her magic works the way it does at a much slower rate than her magic develops. As such, she often accidentally does magic and doesn’t know how or why. By thinking about a bee on Mary’s shoes, she accidentally made it animate and fly away. This foreshadows Diana’s weaver ability to create her own spells, as well as her power over life and death.

“I thought of Annie: a mother who’d died alone in a church cellar, an aunt who couldn’t take her in because of her husband’s prejudices, a life that promised little in the way of comfort or hope. ‘Do you teach your female servants how to read?’

‘Certainly,’ Mary responded promptly. ‘They learn to write and reckon, too. Such skills will make them more valuable to a good husband—one who likes to earn money as well as spend it.’”

After taking Annie into her care, Diana thinks about Gender Roles in Different Historical Periods. Susanna couldn’t take care of Annie because Susanna’s husband thinks their social reputation would be harmed by taking in a child whose mother had them out of wedlock. Without the privilege of status or wealth, like Mary has, Annie’s life will be much more difficult if she doesn’t have marketable skills like reading and reckoning.

“‘There are witches—a very few witches—who can move between this world and the next.’

‘Time spinners,’ I said with a nod. ‘Yes, I know. I’m one of them.’

‘Not between this time and the next, Diana, but between this world and the next.’ Marjorie gestured at the branch by my feet. ‘Life—and death. You can be in both worlds.’”

Diana’s gathering helps her cast a “forspell” that shows them what Diana’s true powers are. Diana finds out that she can manipulate not only the threads of time but also the threads of life and death. Weavers can all manipulate the threads that make up the universe to some degree, but even among weavers, this is a rare power.

“Philippe de Clermont had been very specific with his daughter and grandson. They were to watch for signs: stories of a young American witch with great power, the name Bishop, alchemy, and then a rash of anomalous historical discoveries.

Then, and only then, were Verin and Gallowglass to return to the family seat. Philippe hadn’t been willing to divulge why it was so important that the family come together, but Gallowglass knew.”

As of the 21st century, Gallowglass has been waiting for hundreds of years for the moment to come when he can help Matthew and Diana. Even though Diana and Matthew think they are changing the past too much, they may have always been fated to do so—and in fact, characters like Gallowglass may have known about their time travel during the timeline of A Discovery of Witches before they ever made the decision to travel back. Gallowglass has watched Diana and kept her safe for her entire life so that she could one day go back in time.

“‘You try it,’ Matthew said, handing Jack his pen. Jack gripped it with great concentration, his tongue stuck slightly out. Matthew rubbed the boy’s back with his hand, relaxing the taut muscles wrapped around his rangy frame. Jack was not quite sitting on his knee but leaning into the vampire’s comforting bulk for support. ‘So many monsters,’ Matthew murmured, meeting my eyes.

‘Do you want to draw yours?’ Jack inched the paper in Matthew’s direction. ‘Then you could sleep, too.’

‘Your monsters have frightened mine away.’”

Matthew’s largest pieces of character development revolve around forgiving himself for his actions and overcoming his fears about children and being a caregiver. He fears passing on his blood rage. He also fears giving Diana another child she might one day lose, having seen the effect that had on Blanca. Matthew used to think it would have been better to not have a child with Blanca, so she wouldn’t have gone through the heartbreak of loss. However, though he is conflicted about having a child, Matthew is a natural caregiver. He is particularly kind to Jack, who has been mistreated his whole life. Matthew has also undergone significant trauma, and he uses his experiences to help Jack.

“I saw the golden ring stitched into the fabric covering his heart.

‘What is that?’ I said, nodding at the badge.

‘It warns unsuspecting Christians that I am a Jew.’ Rabbi Loew’s expression was wry. ‘I have long believed that even the dullest would eventually discover it, with or without the badge. But the authorities insist there can be no doubt.’ Rabbi Loew’s voice dropped. ‘And it is far preferable to the hat Jews were once required to wear. Bright yellow and shaped like a chess piece.’”

The segregation of Jews into the Jewish Quarter in Prague, and the way they are legally forced to wear markers foreclosing their identity, reminds Diana of the religious injustice of the 16th century. Rabbi Loew makes a joke about his mark not being as conspicuous as past centuries. Diana, who has perspective of the future, including the yellow star Nazis would one day force Jews to wear in the very same location, is able to see a long legacy of oppression and thus hold even greater empathy.

“‘You promised to accept me as I am—light and dark, woman and witch, my own person as well as your wife.’ What if he had changed his mind? What if he wasn’t willing to have this kind of unpredictability in his life?

‘I do accept you.’ Matthew reached out a gentle finger and touched by cheek.

‘No, Matthew. You tolerate me, because you think that one day I’ll beat my magic into submissions. Rabbi Loew warned me that tolerance can be withdrawn, and then you’re out in the cold. My magic isn’t something to manage. It’s me.’”

Diana’s discussions with Loew made her realize the similarities between marginalized and persecuted demographics in the world of the novel, like witches and Jewish people. She doesn’t want Matthew to simply “tolerate” her magic, but to fully accept her without trying to change her identity.

“That night marked the true beginning of our marriage. Matthew was more centered than I had ever seen him. Gone were the sharp retorts, abrupt changes of direction, and impulsive decisions that had characterized our time together thus far. Instead Matthew was methodical, measured—but no less deadly. He fed more regularly, hunting in the city and the villages nearby […] Matthew’s ritual of taking his mate’s blood from a vein near the heart and my new ritual of the witch’s kiss that gave me access to his thoughts provided us with a deeper intimacy.”

Matthew and Diana’s power struggle finally results in a mutualistic practice of seeing into the other’s mind, via either drinking blood from a heart vein or performing a witch’s kiss. This leads to true understanding and acceptance between them for the first time, cementing them as equals.

“That was the problem with my father: He saw everything. His watchfulness put vampires to shame. Though I had hundreds of questions—about my mother and her magic, about the page from Ashmole 782—they all seemed to dry up under his quiet regard. Occasionally he asked me something trivial. Could I throw a baseball? Did I think Bob Dylan was a genius? Had I been taught how to pitch a tent? He asked no questions about Matthew and me, or where I went to school, or even what I did for a living. Without any expression of interest on his part, I felt awkward volunteering the information. By the end of our first day together, I was practically in tears.”

When Diana meets her father, he does not ask her the questions she feels he should be asking her. Diana thinks the questions he asks her are “trivial”—she doesn’t consider her father’s perspective, as a man who is encountering a grown version of a daughter he just saw as a young girl, while also knowing he’d never live to see this grown version of his daughter in his own lifetime. Diana doesn’t think Stephen is showing “any expression of interest,” but Stephen is asking Diana for her opinion on the things he is interested in. In this way, he is trying to share his interests with her and connect with her.

“‘But he didn’t say goodbye,’ I said numbly.

‘A parent should never have to say a final good-bye to his child,’ Matthew said.”

Matthew has an empathy for Stephen that Diana cannot. Diana sees their meeting as that of a girl given one more opportunity to connect with the father she lost while very young. However, Matthew knows what it is like to lose a child. He sympathizes with Stephen’s emotions over having to say goodbye to Diana, knowing he is “losing” a version of his daughter that he’ll never live to see. As Diana helped Matthew to heal with Philippe, Matthew helps Diana to understand Stephen.

“‘The tenth knot captures the power of eternity, a weaving of life and death. It is rather like your husband’s snake, or the way Corra carries her tail in her mouth sometimes when it gets in her way.’ She held up the tenth knot. It was another ouroboros. The sense of the uncanny built in the room, lifting the hairs on my arm. ‘Creation and destruction are the simplest magics, and the most powerful, just as the simplest knot is the most difficult to make.’”

Diana is unique even among weavers. She holds the power to weave life and death. Goody Alsop and her mentors did not hold this power, but they passed down the knowledge for how to create the knots that weave life and death, knowing their knowledge would be used one day. Diana finds symbols from multiple parts of her life coming together in similar imagery: The eternal knot looks like her own familiar, which in turn looks like Matthew’s family symbol.

“Ysabeau and Sarah had perfected the art of acerbic banter. Marcus and Em had tried without success to persuade them to obey the rules of courteous communication, but the two clan matriarchs knew that their sharp exchanges helped maintain their fragile balance of power. ‘You should not be up here, Sarah.’

‘Why not? Afraid I’ll catch my death of cold?’ Sarah’s voice hitched with sudden pain, and she doubled over as if she’d been struck. ‘Goddess help me, I miss her. Tell me this is a dream, Ysabeau. Tell me that Emily is still alive.’”

Ysabeau and Sarah play small roles in this novel, but large roles in the All Souls Trilogy. They are the respective matriarchs of the de Clermont and Bishop clans, and they are powerful leaders in the vampire and witch community. Their alliance symbolizes advances in interspecies relationships. Though vampires and witches are historic enemies, Sarah and Ysabeau are bonded by their loss of a spouse: Sarah’s partner, Emily, recently died. The two matriarchs understand each other’s pain better than anyone else, and Sarah turns to Ysabeau for help in her grief.