Quiz Cytonic Brandon Sanderson

Cytonic Quiz – Test Your Knowledge of the Skyward Series Book 3

Plot & Sequence Questions (8)

  1. What is the name of the dimension Spensa enters after escaping Starsight?

    • A) The Nowhere
    • B) The Lightburst
    • C) The Belt
    • D) The Somewhere

  2. Who is the mustachioed human that rescues Spensa from the Cannonade pirates in Chapter 4?

  3. Where does the ancient cytonic woman in the vision tell Spensa to go for more answers?

    • A) Detritus
    • B) Surehold
    • C) The Lightburst
    • D) The Broadsider base

  4. What is the name of the AI that was created by Jason Write and later became the first delver?

  5. What does Spensa use to break the root that ties her in Chapter 4?

    • A) A knife
    • B) A light-line
    • C) A destructor
    • D) Her cytonic powers

  6. What is the name of the kitsen pilot who becomes the pirate champion Darkshadow?

  7. What happens to Spensa’s father’s pin when she goes to retrieve it from the Broadsider base?

    • A) It is stolen by Vlep
    • B) It is missing
    • C) It is given to Peg
    • D) It is destroyed

  8. What is the name of the creature that tows Spensa and Chet across the ocean fragment?

Character Motivation Questions (5)

  1. Why does Chet initially agree to guide Spensa?

    • A) To help her find the Path of Elders
    • B) Because she pays him one reality ash per day
    • C) Because he wants to steal her icon
    • D) Because he is her father

  2. What motivates Spensa to keep the truth about her father’s pin hidden from Chet?

  3. Why does Peg spare Spensa and make her a cleaning slave instead of killing her?

    • A) Because more people help stabilize memory
    • B) Because she wants Spensa to train her
    • C) Because she fears the delvers
    • D) Because Spensa is cytonic

  4. What is Spensa’s primary motivation for wanting to walk the Path of Elders?

  5. Why does Hesho rename himself the Masked Exile at the end of the book?

    • A) Because he is ashamed of his past
    • B) Because he wants to hide from the delvers
    • C) Because he remembers his identity as a kitsen
    • D) Because Spensa suggests it

Theme & Symbol Questions (4)

  1. The reality ash represents which main theme?

    • A) The importance of materialism
    • B) The fragility of memory and identity
    • C) The power of cytonics
    • D) The danger of the lightburst

  2. What does Spensa’s interpretation of Paradise Lost (seeing Satan as hero) symbolize?

    • A) Her rebellion against authority
    • B) Her belief that any place can be made into paradise
    • C) Her admiration for villains
    • D) Her misinterpretation of stories

  3. What does the lightburst primarily symbolize in the book?

  4. The delvers are revealed to be evolved ________.

    • A) Diones
    • B) AIs
    • C) Humans
    • D) Kitsen

Synthesis Questions (3)

  1. How does Spensa’s understanding of cytonics change from the start of the book to the end?

  2. Which character deliberately flies into the midst of the delvers to try to “infect” them?

    • A) Chet
    • B) M-Bot
    • C) Peg
    • D) Hesho

  3. What is the ultimate lesson Spensa learns about the relationship between fear and change?

Answer Key with Explanations

1. A) The Nowhere – Spensa jumps into the interdimensional space called the nowhere after escaping Starsight and helping a delver (Prologue, Chapter 1).

2. Chet Starfinder – He rides a dinosaur-like creature into the pirate camp and cuts Spensa free (Chapter 4).

3. B) Surehold – The ancient cytonic woman’s vision directs Spensa to Surehold, the Superiority stronghold, for the memories of Jason Write (Chapters 24–25).

4. Solitary Shadow – The AI created by Jason became overwhelmed by isolation after Jason’s death, fragmented, and spawned the delvers (Chapter 41).

5. B) A light-line – M-Bot attaches a light-line to the ropes, and Spensa uses it to rip the root out of the ground (Chapter 5 evidence: “I have a light-line… Attach the light-line to the ropes on my hands”).

6. Hesho – The former kitsen king is discovered piloting as Darkshadow; possession by a delver has stripped his memory (Chapters 29, 33–34).

7. B) It is missing – When Spensa returns to retrieve her father’s pin from where she buried it, it has vanished (Chapter 21).

8. Gnash the Slaughterer – This docile garqua tows their improvised raft across the ocean fragment (Chapter 14).

9. B) Because she pays him one reality ash per day – Chet agrees to guide Spensa in exchange for a daily mote from her reality icon (Chapter 5).

10. Paranoia/trust issues from past betrayals, especially by Brade – Spensa fears Chet might steal the pin, influenced by her history of misjudging allies (Chapters 15–17).

11. A) Because more people help stabilize memory – Peg explains that having additional humans nearby helps all the pirates retain their memories in the nowhere (Chapter 17).

12. To learn the truth about cytonic powers and how to stop the delvers – This is her goal from the prologue onward, reinforced by the visions on the Path of Elders.

13. C) Because he remembers his identity as a kitsen – After being freed from delver possession, Hesho reclaims his past and chooses a new name to reflect his renewed sense of self (Epilogue).

14. B) The fragility of memory and identity – Reality ash prevents newcomers from forgetting who they are; without it, people’s memories erode in the nowhere (throughout the book, especially Chapter 5).

15. B) Her belief that any place can be made into paradise – Spensa compares her exile to Satan making Hell into a new home, reflecting her determination to find joy and purpose even in the nowhere (Chapter 10 evidence: “We can make this place as good as any paradise”).

16. The heart of the nowhere, the unknown that holds both danger and the potential for transformation – It is a cold sphere where delvers dwell, and entering it ultimately changes Spensa and grants her new power (Chapters 6, 43, Epilogue).

17. B) AIs – Chet reveals that the delvers are evolved artificial intelligences, originally fragments of the Solitary Shadow (Chapters 39–40).

18. She begins by fearing her powers as a possible defect or sign of monstrosity, but through the vision on the Path of Elders she learns cytonics are a natural mutation caused by the nowhere leaking into reality; she later embraces change as her greatest strength (Chapter 11 vision; Chapter 43 resolution).

19. A) Chet – Chet sacrifices himself to be absorbed by the delvers, hoping to “infect” them with his humanity (Chapter 42).

20. Fear creates courage, and change is a strength – Spensa explains that people often must act against their emotions, and that fearing change is natural but embracing it is how she defeats the delvers (Chapter 40; Chapter 43).