104 pages • 3 hours read
Marissa MeyerCinder
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 35-38Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 35 Summary
Torin demands Emperor Kai fulfill his duty: “I have allowed you your freedom, but it is time to put an end to this. You are embarrassing yourself” (345). Despite having learned Queen Levana’s plans, Kai knows marriage to the queen is the only option to avoid a war and gain access to the antidote for the plague. Desperate to stop him, Cinder kisses Kai. She then declares that Kai loves her. Queen Levana explains that love has nothing to do with marriage on Luna, and then exposes Cinder as Lunar.
While Kai digests this information, Levana orders Cinder to be arrested and deported back to Luna. Kai attempts to intervene as a Lunar guard restrains Cinder, declaring that she is not Lunar, only a mere mechanic. No longer willing to keep her secret, Cinder confirms that she is Lunar, and accuses the queen of wishing her dead because she is a shell, and therefore immune to the queen’s glamour. The queen takes aim once more, as she and Sybil inform everyone that Lunar shells are carriers of letumosis, and that the blame for the plague rests on their shoulders. Cinder states that she is not a shell. Kai steps in to aid Cinder, refusing her arrest, to which the queen offers the opportunity for Emperor Kai to negotiate for Cinder’s life.
Chapter 36 Summary
Queen Levana states her terms: her desire to reign as empress, in exchange for peace, the safety of Emperor Kai’s people, and Cinder’s life. Cinder knows the queen can’t be trusted and pleads with Kai with her eyes, as a guard is covering her mouth. Kai states that he will not marry the queen. Levana is furious. Kai and Levana discuss how things will proceed. During the discussion, Cinder’s retina scanner uncovers the queen’s glamour, a realization she states out loud: “It really is an illusion. You’re not beautiful” (361). Queen Levana then manipulates Cinder to hold a gun to her own head. Cinder’s programming kicks in, and she initiates a “resistance procedure” (363). Cinder again feels pain, and her cyborg system alerts her of rising physiological states that could be problematic. Cinder, however, feels “[s]trong. Powerful. On fire” (364).
Cinder’s ability to reject the queen’s glamour makes Levana fearful. Cinder then aims the gun at Levana but shoots an intervening guard instead. She then runs out of the room, losing her foot in the process. The others follow and although the queen attempts to harm Cinder, Sybil tells Levana of the nearby security cameras, indicating the cameras would catch her in the act. Flattened on the ground by her fall, Cinder sees Kai pick up her mechanical foot. He refuses to make eye contact with her.
Hurt and confused, Kai asks Cinder if what they shared was real or due to her Lunar magic. She tries to assure him it was and is real, but the many lies she’s told him stop her from further explanation. Kai, feeling hurt, retorts, “You’re even more painful to look at than she is” (368). The chapter closes with a negotiation between Kai and Queen Levana: Kai will detain Cinder until Queen Levana takes Cinder to Luna, for a trial. In agreement for releasing Cinder to the queen, Levana agrees to not go to war with Earth, at least for now.
Chapter 37 Summary
Imprisoned, Cinder reminisces about her first meeting with Kai and thinks about his smile. Dr. Erland makes an unauthorized visit; the guards disallow him from meeting with Cinder. Erland uses his Lunar magic to get his way, leaving he and Cinder in private.
The discussion begins with Cinder’s inquiring about Kai and what happened after Cinder left the ball. Erland steers the conversation to Cinder’s Lunar abilities. Erland says, “And it seems your programming worked just as it was meant to—another impressive decision by your surgeon, or perhaps it was Linh Garan’s prototype that did it” (375). Cinder lacks an understanding of her abilities and control over her Lunar gifts. What she does understand is how being both cyborg and Lunar translates to her being an even greater social outcast. Resigned, Cinder says, “Good thing Levana’s going to put me out of my misery” (376).
Thinking Dr. Erland is visiting her to obtain another blood sample, she offers her arm, which he declines. He tells her of his planned escape to Africa, to continue his letumosis research, and asks Cinder to meet him there. Her gifts her a titanium, customized prosthetic hand and foot that harbor hidden tools, including a stiletto knife and screwdriver. Prior to leaving, he offers her with one last gift: the knowledge that Cinder herself is the missing Princess Selene.
Chapter 38 Summary
Cinder believes Erland to be lying about her being Selene, but her retina display supports his claim. He continues conveying to her that she must remain free from Queen Levana and take the queen’s place as leader of Luna. A quick synopsis of Cinder’s history follows, including Dr. Erland’s awareness of Princess Selene surviving the fire in which it assumed she was killed, changing into a cyborg, and his years-long search for her. This has been the reason for the implementation of the cyborg draft.
Queen Levana is unaware of Cinder’s true identity. Cinder asks additional questions, wondering if Kai knows, and at the knowledge that he doesn’t, Cinder says she wants to inform him. Erland says that’s not possible. He gets Cinder to focus on escaping the prison and meeting him in Africa, which is part of his plan to remove Queen Levana and make Cinder queen. Erland leaves her with his tools. Cinder removes her ID chip, and remembers her new Lunar abilities to manipulate others—an advantageous skill for breaking out of prison.
Chapters 35-38 Analysis
Cinder’s conviction and kiss spark the notice of Queen Levana. Everything about who Cinder is—cyborg and Lunar—are now at risk of exposure. Cinder, however, stands tall, and does not deny who she is, regardless of the consequence she may face.
Unlike the clock striking midnight as the reason for Cinderella’s quick escape from the ball, the events leading to Cinder’s attempted escape present a risk to her life. The queen, through her second in command, attempts to manipulate Cinder into shooting herself, brainwashing that Cinder rejects due to her cyborg programming. After rejecting the glamour and then attempting to shoot the queen, Cinder runs out of the ball; instead of losing her glass slipper, Cinder loses her mechanical foot and boot. While it’s clear Kai cares, he’s also resigned to his position:
Kai took in a single breath, dipped his head at her, and then stepped aside as the Lunar guards trudged down the steps. They lifted Cinder’s broken body off the gravel path. She tried her best to stand, peering at Kai, wishing she could have just one moment to tell him how sorry she was. One breath to explain (369).
Cinder’s happy ending with a prince who loves her never arrives. Emperor Kai rejects her, knowing she is both cyborg and Lunar. He questions if his feelings for Cinder are only Lunar manipulation, and imprisons Cinder for her eventual return to Queen Levana and Luna. Awaiting her fate, Cinder’s prince charming arrives in the form of Dr. Erland, but not for romantic reasons. He arrives with a new mechanical prosthesis, knowledge that she is Princess Selene, and a plan to take back the throne: “Many people have been looking for you. But finding you and being able to reinstate you as queen are two very different goals. I have planned this moment for a long time. I can help you” (383). Cinder’s rescue from her circumstances and approaching death come in the form of a man who is also Lunar and never rejected Cinder for being cyborg or Lunar.
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By Marissa Meyer
