Themes Amari and the Great Game B.B. Alston

Power and Responsibility in Amari and the Great Game

Thematic Claim: True Responsibility Requires Choosing Restraint Over Power

Amari and the Great Game argues that the most difficult test of a hero is not winning power, but deciding when to refuse it and how to wield it without becoming a monster. Amari Peters, a thirteen‑year‑old born magician, is offered the Crown of Vladimir — the ultimate source of magical might. Yet throughout the novel, she must repeatedly weigh the desire to save her brother and defeat her enemies against the risk of losing control. The story insists that responsibility is not simply about using power for good; it is about understanding the costs of power, resisting the temptation to abuse it, and sometimes surrendering it entirely to protect others.

Tracing the Theme Through Three Key Plot Movements

1. The Offer of the Crown: Refusing Power Out of Self‑Awareness

In Chapter 6, Steward Cozmo presents Amari with the Crown of Vladimir and asks her to lead the League of Magicians into war against Prime Minister Bane. The crown contains the accumulated magic of hundreds of magicians — enough to make her “stronger than any magician who has ever lived.” But Amari refuses. She knows she barely understands her own abilities and fears what she might become if given unlimited power. This initial refusal is a responsible act: she recognizes that she is not ready. Cozmo warns that refusing comes with “grave consequences,” foreshadowing the greater danger of letting Dylan claim the crown. Amari’s choice here establishes the core tension: she must either step up and risk corruption, or step aside and risk catastrophe.

2. The Great Game: Accepting Power Under a Personal Code of Restraint

When Dylan is freed and Cozmo declares the Great Game, Amari has no choice but to accept the Game Ring and compete for the Crown. She desperately needs to win — to break her brother Quinton’s curse and to prevent Dylan from starting a war. Yet she makes a private promise: “I won’t try to steal Dylan’s magic. I won’t become a monster to win.” This self‑imposed boundary defines her idea of responsibility. The Victor’s Rings are designed to reward ruthless competition; the game’s rules even allow a magician to steal an opponent’s magic entirely, destroying them. Amari’s decision to compete while refusing to use the most brutal tactic demonstrates that she places moral limits above victory. However, the strain of this commitment is tested when she loses control during a training exercise in Chapter 22, conjuring a violent storm after being humiliated. That loss of control — a direct result of suppressed anger and frustration — shows that even good intentions cannot guarantee perfect restraint. Responsibility requires constant vigilance, not just a one‑time promise.

3. The Final Surrender: Protecting Others by Giving Up Power

In the climactic scenes of Chapters 35 and 36, Amari faces Cozmo’s ultimatum: one magician must take the other’s magic. She fights Dylan but nearly loses herself to foul magick until Elsie Rodriguez stops her. When Cozmo threatens Elsie, Amari surrenders her Victor’s Ring — her chance to win the Crown — in order to save her friend. She allows Dylan to take her magic and the Crown. This act is the ultimate expression of responsible power: she prioritizes another person’s safety over her own ambition and even over her brother’s curse. In the aftermath, Amari loses her magic but gains clarity. She tells her friends that she will keep fighting, even without her powers. The novel’s conclusion argues that responsibility endures even when power is gone. Amari’s willingness to start from scratch, relying on courage and friendship, proves that true strength comes from character, not spells.

Character and Symbol Connections

The theme of power and responsibility is woven through several characters and symbols:

  • Amari Peters embodies the struggle between desire and duty. She wants to save Quinton and stop Dylan, but she also longs for acceptance and fears her own darkness. Her journey is about learning that responsibility is not a burden to be shrugged off, but a choice to be remade daily.

  • Dylan Van Helsing serves as a foil. He was twisted by his own suffering in the Sightless Depths and now sees the Crown as a tool for vengeance. He represents the path Amari could take if she lets anger and fear dictate her actions. His use of foul magick without guilt shows power without responsibility.

  • Maria Van Helsing acts as a mentor, teaching Amari the difference between fair and foul magick. In Chapter 12, she explains that “being good is a choice” that must be made “again and again.” Her own life — hiding her magic, working within the Bureau, trying to protect both Amari and her brother — illustrates the exhausting work of responsible power.

  • The Crown of Vladimir symbolizes absolute power that bypasses personal growth. It promises immediate strength but demands the wearer submit to a legacy of cruelty. Amari’s rejection and eventual surrender of it suggests that true authority cannot be inherited or stolen; it must be earned through integrity.

  • The Victor’s Rings represent the competitive, zero‑sum nature of the Great Game. They force magicians to treat power as a prize to be taken from others. Amari’s refusal to use the rings for outright theft — even when she is desperate — underscores her commitment to a different kind of power, one based on cooperation rather than domination.

  • The Time‑Freeze Stone (and the fortune cookies that warn of unseen dangers) highlight the consequences of uncontrolled magic. The freeze was caused by an unnamed magician, and Bane uses it to seize power. This backdrop reminds readers that even a single irresponsible act can destabilize an entire world.

Complexity and Contradiction

The novel does not offer a simple lesson. Amari’s power is both a gift and a curse; her self‑control is repeatedly tested, and she fails more than once. In Chapter 22, when her emotions get the better of her, she summons a storm that nearly injures other trainees. Director Harlowe uses that incident to brand her as “Dangerous,” a label that follows her for the rest of the book. This contradiction — that a fair magician can still cause harm unintentionally — complicates the idea that good intentions are enough. Additionally, the book questions whether it is ever responsible to refuse power. By turning down the Crown early, Amari allows Dylan to advance; later, she must enter the Game on worse terms. Her decision to surrender her magic in Chapter 36 saves Elsie but leaves Quinton’s curse unresolved (until Dylan secretly lifts it). The novel suggests that there are no clean choices — every act of responsibility comes with a cost.

Another layer of complexity appears in the character of Jayden, who represents the ordinary, non‑magical perspective. He supports Amari without magic, reminding readers that power is not the only way to be responsible. Meanwhile, Lara Van Helsing and the Bureau’s anti‑magician policies show that fear of power can lead to oppression, another form of irresponsibility.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Amari refuse the Crown when Cozmo first offers it in Chapter 6? Amari refuses because she knows she is not ready to handle such immense power. She has barely begun to understand her own magic and fears that accepting the Crown would lead her to become a tyrant or a pawn in a war she does not fully comprehend. She asks for time to find another solution.

2. How does Amari’s personal code of restraint affect her actions in the Great Game? She vows not to steal Dylan’s magic even though the Game’s rules allow it. This commitment limits her options and puts her at a tactical disadvantage, but it also preserves her identity as a fair magician. She prioritizes moral integrity over winning, which ultimately leads her to surrender her ring in Chapter 35.

3. What does Maria Van Helsing teach Amari about the nature of magical power? In Chapter 12, Maria explains that fair magick is selfless and foul magick is selfish, but the same spell can be used either way depending on intent. She also warns that “being good is a choice” that must be made repeatedly, comparing Amari’s inner light to a flame surrounded by tempting darkness.

4. How does the symbol of the Crown of Vladimir complicate the theme of responsibility? The Crown offers instant, unstoppable power without requiring the wearer to earn wisdom or self‑control. It represents the seductive shortcut that Amari must resist. By refusing and later surrendering it, she shows that responsible power is built through growth and sacrifice, not inherited from a violent legacy.

5. In what way does Amari’s loss of magic in Chapter 36 reinforce the story’s message about responsibility? Losing her magic does not end her fight. She tells her friends she will keep working to stop Bane and help the supernatural world. This shift proves that responsibility is not dependent on magical ability; it stems from character, loyalty, and the willingness to act even when you are no longer the most powerful person in the room.