The Icebound Land

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of physical abuse, emotional abuse, and addiction.

While little of the narrative takes place in Araluen as a setting, the country still forms a vital component of each protagonist’s identity, shaping their actions and choices both negatively and positively. Halt’s choice to betray his king to save Will demonstrates a dramatic change in his character: Prior to this point, he has been characterized as non-traditional but deeply loyal to the throne, but his love for Will leads him to value his protégé’s life and safety over his duties to his country. The novel argues that individual loyalty, motivated by love, is far more valuable than loyalty to one’s country, although the latter is still necessary to create a functioning system in which to keep people safe in the first place.

Halt’s love for Will is strong enough to cause him to risk permanent banishment. Tellingly, all of Halt’s friends in powerful positions, including Crowley and King Duncan, are confused about why Halt would betray everything he has been loyal to for years seemingly without cause. Their refusal to acknowledge Halt’s obvious reasoning demonstrates that they have suppressed individual love in favor of loyalty to their positions.