Throne of Glass Chapters 21–24 Summary & Analysis

Summary: Chapters 21–24

Chapter 21

Celaena and the other Champions are climbing the outer wall of the castle for their second test, a grueling task for which each Champion has been allowed one tool of their choice to help them in their ascent; Celaena has chosen a tin of tar to help her fingers stick to the wall. As she is climbing, another Champion, Ned Clement, falls and dies. Celaena is a few maneuvers away from grabbing the golden flag and winning when she sees Grave sawing away at Nox’s rope below her; she backtracks her route to save him, grabbing Grave’s rope just as Nox’s breaks and flinging herself off the wall.

Chapter 22

Celaena freefalls with Grave’s rope tied around her waist. She grabs hold of Nox in the middle of his fall, saving him. Cain seizes the golden flag, winning the competition, and Celaena starts again to climb to the top, frustrated at having forfeited first place.

Chaol tries to cheer Celaena up after she places eighteenth. Celaena tells him about her training as an assassin, how Arobynn spared no expense in hiring the best tutors for her from all over Erilea, but then forced her to pay him back once she turned fourteen. Later, they find out that another Champion—who was missing from the test that morning—has been found dead, torn apart as Bill Chastain had been. Over the next two weeks Celaena passes two more tests and begins to feel unsure that she will actually be able to win the competition.

Chapter 23

Celaena is dreaming that she is back in Endovier, being whipped, when Chaol wakes her up after hearing her screams. He tells her that today is Samhuinn, a holiday commemorating the gods and the dead, and asks if she will be attending services. She refuses, saying she will worship in her own way, and he leaves after telling her there will be another test tomorrow.

After services, Dorian goes for a walk by himself around the castle grounds. He runs into Celaena, who is walking with Chaol and Nehemia. Dorian asks Nehemia if she is attending the feast that night, and is surprised to discover Celaena’s annoyance at having not been invited. They mock him in Eyllwe, and go off on their own.

Celaena pesters Chaol about her desire to attend the feast, and Nehemia demands that Celaena give her lessons in the common tongue. At that moment, they come upon Cain, who is kneeling in the dirt. He leaves as soon as they arrive, and they see that he’s sketched what Nehemia calls a “Wyrdmark” in the dirt; she tells Celaena that they should leave it alone and not look into it. Before leaving, Nehemia agrees to give Celaena lessons in Eyllwe in return for Celaena’s tutoring.

Chapter 24

That night, Celaena discovers that the large tapestry hanging in her bedroom conceals a doorway into the stone, leading to a dark passageway. A breeze washes through the passage, and Celaena decides to explore, using yarn and a piece of chalk to trace her path in order to not get lost. After descending a long staircase, she chooses to walk through an archway to find that it follows a sewage line leading directly out of the castle. She is tempted to escape, but stays out of fear that she would be caught and Chaol disgraced. She hears whispers down one passageway and goes in the other direction, climbing a staircase that leads her directly above the great hall, where she observes Chaol and Dorian at the feast of Samhuinn through a grate in the wall. She watches Chaol get up and leave, and sprints back to her room to return to bed before he finds her missing.

Drunk after the feast, Dorian goes to Celaena’s chambers, watching her sleep. Chaol finds Dorian there, and throws him out, warning the prince that she is still an assassin. Celaena wakes up, and Chaol bashfully gives her one of the rings handed out as gifts to women at the feast. She accepts it and falls back asleep.

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