Five Broken Blades

Weapons are a recurring symbol of identity that signify key aspects of certain character’s personality and history. In the case of Euyn, his preference for a crossbow indicates his problematic passion for hunting while also conveying his personality as a prince of Yusan. Unlike Mikail or Royo, who prefer combat-melee weapons like axes and swords, Euyn betrays a noticeable lack of connection to the people that he kills, for the crossbow allows him to put maintain physical and emotional distance from his victims. Using the crossbow therefore highlights Euyn’s ability to dehumanize the people he kills—especially the people he hunted in Westward Forest—and he uses this approach to stave off any moralistic sense of guilt that would force him to condemn his own his actions. Likewise, Mikail’s choice of a flaming sword is also indicative of his personality. Given that the “flaming swords are only bestowed by the king of Yusan” (63), Mikail’s choice of weapon reveals his connections and his favored position in Joon’s court. Yet since his sword is only a copy of the real Flaming Sword of the Dragon Lord, his weapon of choice also hints at the disingenuity of his connection to Joon. The presence of the sword—a royal weapon—also implies that he and his group have a rival claim against Joon. Additionally, because Mikail is a Gayan, his use of the fake Flaming Sword demonstrates the conflict and tension that drive his ambitions; on the one hand, Mikail is using the king’s own bestowed weapon to dethrone him, and this holds a certain level of poetic justice. On the other hand, however, using Joon’s exclusive weapons and working as his spymaster limit Mikail to lurking in Joon’s shadow as one of his agents of oppression. This form of subterfuge clashes with his latent Gayan identity.