Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses psychological abuse.

Tarisai is a protagonist who must grapple with two seemingly opposing concepts: her predetermined destiny and her own personal choice, and her initial upbringing and experience lead her to believe that one of these external forces must eventually be subsumed by the other. After she joins Dayo’s council, for example, her internal conflict is based on her desire to resist her fate and choose a different path. However, Tarisai comes to discover that destiny and choice are not always at odds; instead, they often inform one another. Ultimately, Tarisai’s fate directly influences who she chooses to become and how she utilizes her power.

During her childhood, Tarisai is led to believe that her fate is inescapable, particularly because she is half-ehru (a djinn-like creature who grants wishes). Her mother exploits her half-ehru heritage and commands her to kill Prince Dayo. Subject to her mother’s will, Tarisai must obey, and this cruel circumstance gives her a one-sided and uncompromising view of the nature of fate. However, despite the apparent hopelessness of her situation, she nonetheless embraces the possibility of choice and attempts to quell the urge to kill that her mother has unjustly instilled in her.