Line #177 Literature/KnightsOfTheBorrowedDark


1	[[quoteright:290:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/knights_of_the_borrowed_dark_0.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:290:''[[{{ArcWords}} Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito.]]'']]
3
4	->''"A hundred tongues, a hundred mouths, one iron voice."''
5	-->--'''Motto of the Order of the Borrowed Dark'''
6
7	''Knights of the Borrowed Dark'' is a 2016 middle-grade [[{{DarkFantasy}} fantasy novel]] written by Dave Rudden.
8
9	[[{{FieryRedhead}} Denizen]] [[{{MeaningfulName}} Hardwick]] is an orphan. And he has been for eleven of his thirteen years of life—that is, until he's contacted by [[{{LongLostRelative}} an aunt he's never heard of before]] and sees her colleague destroy a [[{{EldritchAbomination}} reality-defying shadow monster]] with spoken sunrise.
10
11	He's taken to a place called Seraphim Row, a candle-lit mansion of secrets, and learns that creatures called the Tenebrous tear into our world through the shadows. And his aunt is part of an ancient order of [[{{MagicKnight}} Knights]] who fight to beat them back. Not only that, but Denizen has [[{{SuperpowerfulGenetics}} fire in his own bloodstream,]] giving him the potential to join their fight... and possibly [[{{TellMeAboutMyFather}} finally get answers about his parents as well.]]
12
13	''The Forever Court'' takes place six months later, with the Order [[{{NothingIsTheSameAnymore}} still dealing with the aftermath of the events of the first book]] and the implications it carried. And nowhere are the effects felt stronger than in Seraphim Row. But as Denizen is adjusting to his new life of Knighthood, the Order receives an unexpected letter from the Tenebrous. And not only that, but another dangerous power is gathering in preparation for war...
14
15	The final book in the trilogy, ''The Endless King,'' came out 2018 and follows Denizen and his friends as they travel to the Order's ancestral home, Daybreak. It isn't long before a shocking arrival comes bearing the even more shocking news that the Tenebrae's leader has fallen—and with Usurpers targeting Daybreak, real war is rising.
16	----
17	!!''Knights of the Borrowed Dark'' contains examples of
18	* AccidentalMurder: [[spoiler: The Opening Boy didn't mean to hurt Grey during their fight, but ends up ''impaling him.'' Later, after cutting him off its arm, the Boy brings Grey back up to Denizen and Mercy, and acts very relieved that he's still alive.]]
19	* AnAesop
20	** Bravery is a choice.
21	** You may not get noticed or rewarded for doing the right thing, but it's still worth it.
22	* AffectionateNickname
23	** Vivian refers to Adebayo Sall as "Ade" and even "dear Ade".
24	** Simon calls Denizen the shortened "Den."
25	* AfterActionPatchUp: Jack gives one to D'Aubigny after Rathláth.
26	* {{Allegory}}: For bullying. The Cost also represents scars from self-harm.
27	* AlmostKiss: [[spoiler: Denizen gets one with Mercy, before they're interrupted by Vivian.]]
28	* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Subverted and Deconstructed. The Tenebrous ''seem'' to be this... until Denizen meets Mercy, who is extremely nice. This is explored further; Tenebrous, while alien to the world, are not inherently evil, and are individuals with their own desires and emotions. However, most Knights won't believe that Mercy isn't a monster, and even Denizen seems to think of her as an exception rather than proof that Tenebrous aren't all evil.
29	* AmbiguouslyEvil: An interesting case with [[spoiler: Mercy]], who's actually more ambiguously ''trustworthy'' than ambiguously ''evil.'' Despite [[spoiler: being the Endless King's daughter,]] she has been nothing but kind and straightforward with Denizen, and has never done anything evil, but the ending of ''The Forever Court'' suggests that she may be up to something, or be more shady that she seems.
30	* AnimalisticAbomination: Some of the Tenebrous take forms that look vaguely like animals. Pick-Up-the-Pieces, for example, looked like a cat.
31	* ApologeticAttacker: Both [[spoiler:Grey and Vivian]], to each other.
32	* ArcWords:
33	** The Hardwick family motto. "Yield not to evil, but attack all the more boldly."
34	** The words of the Croits. "She loved. She stole. And we knew fire."
35	* AnArmAndALeg: [[spoiler: Greaves]] loses half an arm at some point during the third book.
36	%% * ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Pathetic, cowardly, ''short--''
37	* AscendedFridgeHorror:
38	** [[spoiler: Thralldom]] is discussed very openly in ''The Forever Court''. Not only is it made explicitly clear that yes, [[spoiler: the Three were literally inside of Grey's mind and killing him with the unbearable pressure of it,]] but it also provides a nasty bit of in-universe ParanoiaFuel: [[spoiler:''anyone'' could be a thrall, and there's ''no way of knowing''.]]
39	** It also addresses what has to happen to Knights who lose control to their powers in order to protect the public.
40	* BackToBackBadasses: D'Aubigny and Grey fight Pick-Up-the-Pieces in this manner, and Denizen and Vivian get in this formation when the Croits attack.
41	* BadPowersGoodPeople: Knights' powers come from the world where the Tenebrous live.
42	* BaitAndSwitchGunshot: [[spoiler: When Grey has a gun to Denizen's head, and Denizen thinks he's been shot when it goes off -- but Grey moved it at the last second and fired toward Crosscaper instead.]]
43	* BallOfLightTransformation: Mercy likes taking a form made of light.
44	* BattleInterruptingShout: [[spoiler: It only stops the Redemptress, but Denizen yells one of these.]]
45	* BigBadEnsemble:
46	** The Endless King and the Clockwork Three in book one.
47	** In book three, there's [[spoiler: Dragon, the Emissary, and the Opening Boy.]]
48	* TheBigDamnKiss: [[spoiler: Denizen kisses Mercy to return the Cants, with their kiss saving the multiverse.]]
49	%% * BigFancyHouse: Seraphim Row.
50	* BigWordShout: "STOP" is yelled a lot.
51	* BirthdayBeginning: The story technically begins on the day ''before'' Denizen's birthday, which is twenty-tree minutes past midnight on October 3rd. Not that he knew this, of course.
52	* BittersweetEnding: At the end of the series, [[spoiler: the Usurpers are dead and the Cants have been returned to the Tenebrae. Breaches have become nearly unheard of, eliminating the need for an Order that fights Tenebrous; Denizen goes to college and becomes a teacher, Abigail has gone into private security, and Ed does architecture for the Order. However, there were countless casualties during the War of Daybreak. Denizen found out the girl he had a crush on was mostly just using him, and the cost of saving the multiverse is becoming mostly iron, which he barely survives. And Vivian is dead, so he doesn't get a life ''with her.'']]
53	* BlackShirt: The Croits, kind of. They're waiting for the Redemptress to awaken and the War That Will Come, but are isolated from the world and are preparing for it.
54	* BlackSwordsAreBetter: Denizen's knife is made from a shard of a Malleus's hammer and is thus black.
55	* BlessedWithSuck: [[spoiler: The Cants gifted to Denizen turn out to be this due to how much trouble he has controlling them.]]
56	* BodyHorror: [[spoiler: ''Grey's hand'' -- already iron from the Cost, now misshapen and filled with clockwork that seems to be ''growing out of him''. Made even more visceral when he rips a stray strip of his skin loose without even flinching.]]
57	%% * BodyMotifs: Hands.
58	* BodyOfBodies: Dragon, a stained-glass dragon Tenebrous made out of the iron corpses of Knights.
59	* BondingOverMissingParents: Downplayed, but it's definitely there between Denizen and Grey.
60	* BookcasePassage: The entrance to Retreat involves one of these. Denizen Lampshades it.
61	* {{Bookends}}
62	** The prologue of the first book is called "Tick," and chapter 31 is titled "Tock."
63	** The epilogue of book one is Daybreak; the epilogue of book three is Sunrise.
64	* BreadEggsBreadedEggs: "There are a ''lot'' of people in Dublin. With cameras. And phones that are cameras. And phones that are cameras that can phone people with cameras."
65	* BreakTheCutie: Everyone gets it to some degree.
66	** Because WarIsHell, most of the Knights had already gone through this before the story began, becoming "iron inside" blatantly or beneath a mask. Grey in particular is very much of that second variety, and gets extra helpings of this trope over the course of the first book before he (possibly) crosses the DespairEventHorizon.
67	** The kids aren't excused from this, either. Darcie takes it hard whenever someone gets hurt, and MuggleBestFriend Simon picked up a lot of long-lasting trauma from his RunOrDie situation at Crosscaper. Denizen gets to experience several near-death experiences, [[spoiler: betrayal by the second friend he's ever made, the death of someone he cared about, and witnesses other various traumatic events.]]
68	* BrickJoke
69	** When Simon and Abigail start theorizing on why Denizen is taking so long to try on a shirt, Abigail suggests that he might have knocked himself out with a Higher Cant again.
70	** "I should just try to [[spoiler: kiss Mercy]] again and then Vivian would magically materialize."
71	%% * BrokenRecord: "I need to speak to Edifice Greaves." [[spoiler: Poor Uriel...]]
72	%% * BrokenTears: The Opening Boy and [[spoiler: Grey]].
73	* BrotherSisterTeam: Uriel and Ambrel. They strategize in combat very, very well... and had a meltdown when separated.
74	* BungledSuicide: Implied. While he never makes any active attempts to kill himself, this actually happens ''twice'' to [[spoiler:Grey. The Three don't kill him for his rebellion like he hoped, and Vivian spares him after they fight.]]
75	* BurningWithAnger:
76	** Denizen, sometimes. He holds his power, or his [[GlowingEyes eyes start glowing]], or he catches on varying degrees of literal fire. He all but ''exploded'' during his Dawning.
77	** When Grey finds out [[spoiler: the Opening Boy is still alive]], the air around him catches fire.
78	* CallingTheOldManOut: Denizen delivers one to Vivian. After eleven years in an orphanage, and nearly a month of being ignored and left in the dark about his parents, he confronts her about how he's been treated. He threatens to fight her to keep her from just leaving again... [[spoiler:and it ''works''. He gets answers. And after learning that she's actually his mother, after learning what happened eleven years ago, after learning her reasoning, he still doesn't back down.]]
79	* CallAHumanAMeatbag: Mocked-By-A-Husband calls humans "little meat."
80	* CapitalLettersAreMagic:
81	** All over the place. Not only is "Knight" always capitalized, there's also the Cost, TheOrder, the King [[note]]the "Endless" part of his name seems to be optional in casual conversation[[/note]], the Court [[note]]in reference to the Forever Court, so this one may be justified[[/note]], Dawnings, Breaches, Tenebrous, the Book of Rust, Cants and Higher Cants [[note]]which are also called Epithets[[/note]], and the name of every single Cant revealed so far.
82	Entirely averted when it comes to the Knights' actual power, which isn't even given a real ''name'' and is simply referred to as "the power of the Tenebrae" or some variant thereof. It's also surprisingly averted in regards to the Endless King's mercy, [[spoiler:up until TheReveal that it's actually a Tenebrous ''named'' Mercy.]]
83	** The Croits take this up to eleven: almost all of their terminology is capitalized words.
84	* CapturedSuperEntity: [[spoiler: Mercy. Just being in the real world was enough to subdue her long enough for a cage to be built to keep her in.]]
85	%% ** In the third book, [[spoiler: the Endless King.]]
86	* CargoCult: The Croits... at least until the Redemptress awakens and is no longer inanimate.
87	* ChangelingFantasy:
88	** Deconstructed. Denizen is whisked away from the orphanage he's lived at since he was two to meet a long-lost aunt, discovers he has magic powers, and is introduced to an exciting secret world of adventure and monsters... except all that is ''definitely'' not as glamorous as it sounds. Denizen developed a skeptical view of life and some pretty severe trust issues because of his time at Crosscaper Orphanage (and reading lots of novels with this trope), and his war-hardened aunt refuses to talk to him about his parents... He eventually learns that [[spoiler: Vivian is his mother, who left him in an orphanage because her world got his father killed, and she wanted to keep him away from it. This only ends up sucking him further in, however.]]
89	** The life of the Knights isn't pretty either. Joining the Order is a lifetime contract, meaning he'd have to throw away any other future he wanted to become a Knight; he is technically given a choice about it, but there are so many moral strings attached that he feels guilty even ''thinking'' about choosing, and why would he want to return to Crosscaper anyway? The magic is dangerous and unpleasant, his Dawning leaves a permanent impact on his personality since his anger fuels it whether he wants it to or not, and it comes with a Cost. The secret MagicalSociety is made up of soldiers engaged in total warfare, which is extremely mentally scarring, and has high mortality rate. %% Not to mention the [[{{FateWorseThanDeath}} other unearthly horrors]] [[{{AndIMustScream}} that could happen]] due to the [[{{EldritchAbomination}} nature of the monsters they fight.]]%%
90	* ChangeTheUncomfortableSubject: Whenever Denizen asks about his parents around Vivian, or Vivian around the other Knights, they'll try to do this.
91	* ChekhovsGun: Hey, remember the Malleus's hammer in the Emissary's chest? [[spoiler: Yeah, Vivian goes to get that after Grey steals hers.]]
92	%% ** Simon's birthday also qualifies.
93	%% * ChekhovsGunman: The Emissary.
94	* ChekhovsSkill: [[spoiler: Mercy learning to take on a human form, and change it at will.]]
95	* ChildhoodFriends: Simon and Denizen have known each other since they were both three years old, and their friendship is a main motivator for both of them.
96	* TheChosenOne: Deconstructed with the Croits. They believe they are chosen, Favored by the Redemptress, and it twisted them into haughty, self-important monsters who believe they are destined to own the world.
97	* ComingOutStory: In the third book, Simon tries to come out to Denizen.
98	* ConspicuousGloves:
99	** The Knights each wear a pair of black leather gloves to hide the iron from the Cost.
100	** Grey is the only Knight at Daybreak to wear gloves.
101	* ConvenientlyInterruptedDocument: Page 136 of the Book of Rust has been torn out.
102	%% * CoolCar: The Jensen Interceptor.
103	* CreatureHunterOrganization: Deconstructed. The Knights' work is total warfare, and extremely taxing, physically and mentally. It's a massive responsibility, for them to risk their lives, fight, and die for a whole world of people who will hopefully never even know about what they do.
104	* CreepyCrows:
105	** Malebranche is made of this trope.
106	** Also, the Croit's emblem, the Crow and the Claw.
107	* CruelMercy: [[spoiler: The Three letting Jack live.]]
108	* CrushingHandshake: The man in the waistcoat gives one to Ackerby in the prologue.
109	* CueTheSun: The ending of the first book.
110	* {{Cult}}: The Family. They all live on an isolated island and worship a giant woman made of wire, who they believe is their sleeping savior. WordOfGod is that they ''are'' based on accounts of people who'd left cults.
111	* CurbStompBattle: Vivian beats [[spoiler:Grey]] in a matter of ''seconds''.
112	%% * CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon: "If he so much as catches a cold, the Malleus will melt you both down and use you as scrap."
113	* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: The Higher Cants, which take a large Cost and are very difficult to control, to the point where they can be deadly to the user.
114	%% * DarkFantasy: It is ''definitely'' horror-fantasy.
115	* DeathGlare: Vivian Hardwick has a very distinctive one.
116	* DeathWail: When she's told that [[spoiler: Vivian is dead]], Abigail starts screaming... except her jaw is clenched so no one else could hear it.
117	%% * DescriptionPorn: Hoo boy. The writing is absolutely ''lovely'', rife with imagery and making use of other beautiful figurative language, so many things are described like this.
118	* {{Determinator}}
119	** ''Vivian.'' She's been a Knight for nearly two decades and has risen to the position of Malleus, which in and of itself implies this, but she also [[spoiler: gets shot in the back at nearly point-blank range, ''survives it'', gets up, and prepares to go back into battle only a few hours later.]]
120	** Grey never stops fighting. He also [[spoiler: gets ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice, turns his stomach to iron, and take the Opening Boy off Os Reges Point into the Tenebraic ocean with him. And he survives all that.]]
121	* DidYouJustRomanceCthulhu: Did you just romance [[spoiler: ''the Endless King's daughter?'']]
122	%% * DiedOnTheirBirthday: {{Defied\|Trope}}. [[spoiler: Simon very nearly dies on his birthday]].
123	%% * DisappearsIntoLight: Mercy does this a lot... because she ''is'' made of light.
124	* DissonantLaughter: He only does it once, but Grey laughs going into the fight with the Bad-Dream Angel.
125	* DramaticIrony: Denizen and Simon's plotlines. Denizen is motivated by knowing that, even though he's in some very dangerous and unpleasant situations, Simon is safe; Simon, conversely, is able to keep going because Denizen is out there somewhere, away from Crosscaper, and Simon needs to be able to warn him when he gets back] In reality, ''neither'' of them are safe.
126	* DramaticPause: Greaves hesitates while speaking, and Denizen wonders whether it was an actual hesitation or intentionally one of these.
127	* DramaticThunder: Frequent at Crosscaper, and is Lampshaded by Simon.
128	* DullSurprise: Uriel was expecting Greaves's reaction to [[spoiler: the story, and the disproving thereof, of the Redemptress]] to be a bit more dramatic. Or just to be anything other than a flat "OK."
129	* DumbStruck: After [[spoiler: Ambrel is snatched away in the Tenebrae]], Uriel goes through a version of this. He can still speak, but it's only one sentence.
130	%% * DyingAlone: A Knight's ultimate fate.
131	%% --> '''Grey:''' We die alone, or we die in twos or threes, but we always, ''always'', die in shadow.
132	* EldritchAbomination: The Tenebrous don't obey the laws of our world and look and feel wrong and alien.
133	%% * EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: If the Endless King Breaches.
134	* EpicFail: A very drugged-up Denizen attempts to use the Art of Apertura. It goes about as well as one would expect.
135	* EscalatingPunchline: It felt like vomiting wasps. Sharpened wasps. Holding toothpicks.
136	* EveryScarHasAStory: Vivian shares some of hers near the beginning.
137	* EvilChancellor: Discussed when Denizen contemplates diplomacy. [[spoiler: Later, after learning about Malebranche being a traitor, he wonders whether he counts as a Grand Vizier or not.]]
138	%% * EvilIsPetty: The Clockwork Three destroy meaninglessly.
139	%% * EvilTwin: Inverted (well, [[{{GrayAndGreyMorality}} depending on which side you're looking at it from]]) and Played With. Ambrel could be seen as Uriel's evil twin, or Uriel could be seen as Ambrel's good twin. They start out on the same side, but as the story progresses, Uriel begins having doubts and [[spoiler: eventually preforms a HeelFaceTurn,]] while Ambrel becomes more and more fanatic.
140	* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: Discussed and Subverted. When Malebranche asks about Denizen, Greaves guesses that he thought he'd be taller. Malebranche replies that he thinks all humans look the same.
141	* ExtraDimensionalShortcut: The Art of Apertura Cant is somewhere between this and [[ShadowWalker Shadow Walking]], as it allows Knights to use shadows to enter the Tenebrae and travel through it to anywhere they've already been in the real world.
142	* ExtremeMeleeRevenge: [[spoiler: Uriel does this to the Redemptress for ruining his Family as Denizen was trying to make peace with Her.]]
143	* EyeScream: [[spoiler: Denizen's pupil explodes into iron.]]
144	* FactionMotto: The Order of the Borrowed Dark has one: "''Linguae Centum, Sunt Oraque Centum, Ferrea Vox.''"
145	* FamilyEyeResemblance: Denizen has the same hard grey eyes as Vivian.
146	* FateWorseThanDeath: The consequences of messing up a Higher Cant. You could burn your mind out, or blow up, or create another Breach.
147	* FictionalCountry: Adumbral.
148	* FighterMageThief: When the Neophytes fight together, Abigail is the Fighter, Denizen is the Mage, and Simon is the Thief.
149	* FightsLikeANormal: All the Knights, as a way of minimizing the Cost.
150	%% * FireForgedFriends: Abigail and Matt.
151	* FlamingSword: Uriel's Prayer allows him to summon a sword that is literally made of fire.
152	* {{Foreshadowing}}
153	** Tons in the prologue of book one.
154	*** The offness of the strangers foreshadows them being Tenebrous. They avoid the lights, their eyes look wrong, and when asked about their names, they say that they're "new".
155	*** The strangers asking about Denizen: Has he turned thirteen? Has another relative come to take him away to a new life? And the odd phenomena they mention are all related to the Tenebrae and the Knights' powers: fires, disappearances, injuries, spacial or luminal distortion, shadows moving strangely...
156	*** What they say at the end of the chapter, about confusion and symmetry, and just wanting a little more misery in the world hints at their motivations.
157	*** Ackerby hears ticking. %their interrogation of Ackerby [[spoiler: gives a slice into a variant of the process they used on Grey.]]
158	--> '''The Man in the Waistcoat:''' Given time, we can be... persuasive. Imaginatively and painfully so.
159	** Simon suggests that Denizen's aunt might have been waiting for him to be older, and that she might travel a lot and have a BigFancyHouse. Turns out he's more right than he thinks.
160	** Before Denizen gets to Seraphim Row, basically everything Grey does is this to something about Knighthood:
161	*** He drives up to Crosscaper at night with no headlights on because the ''Intueor Lucidum'' lets him see in the dark.
162	*** He doesn't take off his gloves to eat because of the Cost.
163	** Vivian asking if Director Carsing still runs Crosscaper.
164	*** She also hesitates while saying "I owe it to your parents", [[spoiler: probably because she was going to say "father" instead.]]
165	** Simon is the only person still awake in Crosscaper for no explainable reason... [[spoiler: except he's a Knight.]]
166	** Grey has never been much good at self-control.
167	%% ** "Something has the Tenebrae stirred up."
168	** D'Aubigny promising that she'll bring Denizen home.
169	** All of what Simon overhears the man in the waistcoat say in chapter 16 turns out to be significant:
170	*** The Clockwork Three have a real person with them; they've wormed into his head and can force him to do things. They also call him "Knight," and that explosion sure looks like a Cant. [[spoiler: It turns out this person is Grey.]]
171	*** Them having tasted fire and the "tools often break in the hand" line both reference [[spoiler: the events of eleven years ago, when every attempt of theirs to create a thrall ended in a casualty and Vivian hurt them worse than anyone had before.]]
172	** Grey taking a while to get back from Rathlath and going expressionless at the mention of the Woman in White. Grey's deterioration as a whole.
173	** Denizen's first experience with the Art of Apertura, and Grey having warned him about needing to look out for sharks in the Tenebrae.
174	%% ** "I like exploring, peering up at all the different worlds."
175	** Before she [[spoiler: gives Denizen the Cants]], Mercy says, "Wait long enough and the sun always rises. Do you believe that?" It seems random at the time, but hints at [[spoiler: the fact that the Knights' power was the Tenebrae's sun.]]
176	** Aall the sun imagery in reference to the Knights' powers. Special mention to Denizen's Dawn being described as like "a hole had been torn between here and the heart of the sun."
177	** Uriel remained stone-faced while Ambrel prepared a sneak attack on Grandfather from behind. It didn't work on him, but they got [[spoiler: Denizen]] this way.
178	** When [[spoiler: Denizen asks who stole the fire from the Endless King, Mercy doesn't answer, she changes the subject and starts talking about the rarity of human and Tenebrous working together, and how it's ended in pain and death every other time.]]
179	%% ** "You didn't speak to prisoners. They might infect you with dangerous ideas."
180	** A ton for who the third Usurper is: Abigail and Matt coming across frozen Tenebrous; Denizen hearing what sounds like the Boy's sobbing; Grey's confusion and inconsistency surrounding his Aperture taking them to Crosscaper; the graffiti; Denizen wondering whether the Three were really dead; the frost on Os Reges Point.
181	* FreakOut: [[spoiler: Grey has one when remembers what the Clockwork Three did to him; he ends up ''trying to shoot'' Vivian and Denizen.]]
182	* FriendshipMoment: Simon and Denizen get a sweet one at the end of chapter 20 of ''The Forever Court''.
183	* GallowsHumor: Denizen is very prone to this. He makes jokes about how many near-death experiences he's had, and uses a bit of it to stay calm in chapter 25. Abigail and Grey also do this a couple times.
184	* GenreSavvy: Denizen grew up reading fantasy books, and is able to lampshade a lot of tropes. Simon, too, to a lesser extent.
185	* GeometricMagic: Justified. [[spoiler:Mercy's cage]] is a poorly-drawn circle on the ground. Thoroughly Discussed and Exploited by Denizen, who realizes instantly that it's probably very dangerous.
186	* GiveHimANormalLife: [[spoiler:What Vivian wanted for Denizen.]]
187	* TheGlassesComeOff: Darcie takes off her tinted glasses when explaining to Denizen her job as a Lux Precognitae.
188	* GlowingEyes: Knights' eyes glow when they call on their powers.
189	* GoMadFromTheRevelation: Tenebrous are driven insane from the weight of being able to see the entire multiverse above them at all times. Denizen himself almost dies from seeing it.
190	* GoodIsNotNice: She may be protecting the world from shadow monsters, but Vivian still acts very rude to Denizen, refusing to speak to him and criticizing almost everything he does.
191	* GrayingMorality: The series presented itself at first as a [[BlackAndWhiteMorality traditional good vs. evil story.]] This quickly became muddy ''at best'' in book one, and the conflict became even greyer in book two. The Tenebrous aren't monsters; they're complex, individual creatures capable of feeling love and grief and everything in between.
192	* HairFlip: Grey's character tic. Played for Drama when it's used to nail home [[spoiler: just what the Three have done to him.]]
193	* HalfIdenticalTwins: Uriel and Ambrel Croit, Justified due to their ''whole family'' looking creepily similar.
194	* HeadbuttingHeroes: Vivian and Greaves really don't like each other.
195	* HeartTrauma: [[spoiler: The Endless King's heart was carved out.]]
196	* HeroesPreferSwords: Averted. All Mallei wield hammers.
197	* HeroicSacrifice:
198	** [[spoiler: D'Aubigny and Jack fighting the Clockwork Three so Darcie and Abigail could get away. Jack survives but is left severely wounded, and D'Aubigny dies.]]
199	** [[spoiler: Vivian fights Dragon so the Neophytes can get away. She ends up killing it, but at the cost of her own life.]]
200	* HeroicWillpower: Invoked into a Double Subversion. [[spoiler:It's implied that Grey tried to fight the Three's control, but either failed or became worn out. However, Denizen attempts to convince him to fight it again... and it works.]]
201	* HeroWithAUniqueName:
202	** Most everyone else has a real name (Vivian, Simon, Abigail, etc.) and then there's ''Denizen.''
203	** Somewhat Subverted in book two with the introduction of Edifice Greaves, who isn't TheHero, but whose name is also a noun not usually given as a name.
204	** Turns out it's Justified; Vivian wanted to give Denizen a normal name, but his father didn't because he was never going to be normal.
205	* HopelessWar: The Knights are engaged in one with the Tenebrous.
206	* HopeIsScary: Denizen brings this up when wondering whether [[spoiler: Uriel was able to reason with Ambrel and get back to Trinity.]]
207	--> ''No.'' Denizen had dabbled in hope before. Every orphan in Crosscaper had. ''Maybe someone will come along and tell me it's all been a mistake, that I don't belong here—that there's a family and a home and love waiting for me outside these miserable walls.''\
208	Hope was paralysing. It encouraged you to put your determination aside and rely on somebody else's, when that energy would be much better spent being your own best chance for happiness, your own best plan for survival.\
209	* HopeSpot: Simon is given one in chapter 16 when Mr. Gilligan returns from his vacation.
210	* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Jack and D'Aubigny. She only comes up to his chest.
211	* HumanoidAbomination: The Clockwork Three, Mercy, and some other older Tenebrous.
212	* IgnoredExpert: Darcie gets very concerned about the Breach in Rathláth, but no one pays attention to her worry.
213	* IncomingHam: Edifice Greaves loves showy entrances.
214	* InnateNightVision: The ''Intueor Lucidum''.
215	* InsistentTerminology: Every Knight has their own, much to Denizen's confusion: Vivian hates the word "magic", D'Aubigny insists that their fight against the Tenebrous is pest control and not "war," and Grey says Tenebrous aren't monsters.
216	* InstantlyProvenWrong: Mercy bragging about how human she can be... followed immediately by her umbra taking out every light and even the fridge in a store.
217	* InstantSedation: [[spoiler: The Croits drugged Denizen and it knocked him out almost immediately.]]
218	%% * IntergenerationalFriendship: Denizen and Grey.
219	* InternalReveal: That the Clockwork Three are at Crosscaper. Denizen finds out in chapter 23, but the audience has known for almost the entire book.
220	* InvisibilityFlicker: [[spoiler:Simon]] inverts this, flickering into invisibility (or at least translucency) several times.
221	* InMediasRes: ''The Endless King'' starts off with a prologue from Director Ackerby's perspective involving what seems like a Breach at Crosscaper and Denizen asking for help. The first chapter takes place "some time earlier." Around the middle of the book, we get the context of that scene from Denizen's perspective.
222	%% * IronicEcho: [[{{TakeThat}} "I guess I'm just a blunt instrument."]]
223	* ICallItVera: Denizen calls his knife "Falter" to invoke this trope.
224	* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: Played With. [[spoiler:The Clockwork Three want Vivian to kill Grey because they think it'd be fun. Once Grey makes it perfectly clear that he has to fight her, she doesn't even try to talk him back and ends up neutralizing (but not killing) him.]]
225	* IResembleThatRemark: "I am very calm," hissed Mercy. After [[spoiler: giving an implied war threat.]]
226	* JigsawPuzzlePlot: The book has two major plot threads that don't converge until very late in the story, with each picking up many more questions along the way. No one explains much to Denizen about anything, and nothing he uncovers about his parents gives him answers either, only deepening the mystery further. Simon, meanwhile, has no sources of information at all, and the reader has only a minimally better idea of what's going on than he does. None of this is helped by the fact that the Knights know virtually ''nothing'' about the Tenebrous, and a lot of their prior notions and ideas were called into question or straight-up debunked by later events and reveals, and new puzzle pieces were brought up right up until the end of the book. And though the major {{DrivingQuestion\|s}} have been answered and some other mysteries explained by the end of the first book, there's still a lot left open.
227	* JustBetweenYouAndMe: Discussed. Grey mocks this trope when talking to Denizen about how the Tenebrous aren't monsters. [[spoiler:Kind of ironic, given that he actually exploits a variation of it later.]]
228	* KillTheOnesYouLove: [[spoiler:Poor Grey. He tries to MercyKill Vivian and Denizen in order to prevent the Three from subjecting them to the kind of torture he was put through, and give them a quick death. But while he was dealing with the Hardwicks, he knew the Three were at Seraphim Row, and he was under the impression that they had killed ''everyone'' until Vivian told him much later that only D'Aubigny was dead.]]
229	%% * KnightErrant: The Knights Peregrine.
230	%% * LampreyMouth: Dragon is described as having one.
231	%% * LanguageOfMagic: Kind of. The Cants are in a magic language, but it isn't exactly language; it's elemental, like speaking with the senses of nature.
232	%% * LastNameBasis: D'Aubigny, Jack, and Greaves.
233	* LateForSchool: Played With. Denizen wakes up late on the first day of classes at Daybreak and freaks out, but is stopped in the halls by Greaves, who doesn't even want him to go to class anyway.
234	* LetterMotif: '''Gre'''y and '''Gre'''aves, probably because [[spoiler: they're [[{{Foil\|s}}]]
235	* LockedOutOfTheLoop:
236	** Denizen feels like the other Knights are hiding something from him throughout most of the book, both about Knighthood in general and about his parents.
237	** In book two, Denizen truly ''is'' LockedOutOfTheLoop about ''why'' Greaves is apparently untrustworthy, and about [[spoiler: all of Vivian's plans to protect him.]]
238	%% * LockAndLoadMontage: An entire chapter is devoted to this.
239	* LongList: Denizen rattles one off when Mercy asks what he's nervous about. It ends with "so many things."
240	* LoopHoleAbuse:
241	** [[spoiler: The Clockwork Three aren't very specific in their orders for Grey, so he uses this to fight their control.]]
242	** The deal with the Forever Court was no hammers at the Concilium. They never said anything about the obscene amounts of explosives in the floor.
243	* LoveObstructingParents: Vivian isn't too accepting of Denizen having a crush on a Tenebrous...
244	* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler: Vivian is Denizen's mother.]]
245	* LuminescentBlush: Justified. Due to the fire in their blood, every single Knight can get this quite literally, and usually ''does'', to a small extent, as a default.
246	* MagicKnight: The Knights of the Borrowed Dark, obviously. They have powers that can be used to defeat the Tenebrous, but also train extensively at hand-to-hand combat so they don't have to use their powers unless it's absolutely necessary.
247	%% * MagicalSociety: The Order of the Borrowed Dark.
248	* MalevolentMutilation: [[spoiler:Uriel]] is threatened with this when [[spoiler:Ambrel comes after him with the intent to ''shave off parts of his hands'' with a file.]]
249	%% * ManchurianAgent: [[spoiler: Grey, the Clockwork Three's thrall.]]
250	* MassOhCrap:
251	** Simon, Abigail, Darcie, and Vivian ''all'' have this reaction when [[spoiler:Uriel]] mentions Denizen having taught him the Art of Apertura... in front of Greaves.
252	** When Simon, Abigail, Ed, and Matt realize that [[spoiler: lighting Daybreak was a challenge beacon.]]
253	%% * MasterSwordsman: D'Aubigny and Grey.
254	* MeaningfulName: ''Everything.'' To the point where there's a lexicon of them in the back of the third book.
255	** Tenebrae means "darkness" in Latin, and it's also the name of a candle-extinguishing festival.
256	** Seraphim are a type of angel associated with fire.
257	** Malleus means "hammer".
258	** Hardwick means something along the lines of "herd and outlying farm," or "brave in battle." Denizen's claim that it translates to "safety through caution" might reference the armorial motto of the Duke of Devonshire.
259	** A denizen is an inhabitant of a certain place.
260	** Vivian means alive; [[spoiler: she's Denizen's mother, who he previously thought was dead.]]
261	** Simon means "listening" or "he has heard" and Hayes means "descendant of Aodh," who is a fire god.
262	** Graham means "grey home" and [=McCarron=] means "little dark one." His nickname Grey [[spoiler: references his PTSD and how he's stuck between light and dark.]]
263	** A fuller is a blacksmithing tool, as well as a groove on the side of a blade.
264	** Corinne means "beautiful maiden" and her last name references UsefulNotes/JulieDAubigny.
265	** Darcie means "of the darkness" and wright is a name for a craftsman.
266	** A falx is a type of sickle, and Abigail means "my father is joy."
267	** The surname Croit. It means "to place one's heart," or "to believe," but has several other possible significant meanings. It's related to croft—an enclosed area of land—which contrasts with the meaning of Hardwick, and can mean "raw" or "fresh blood."
268	%% * MeaningfulEcho: These are all over the place.
269	%% ** "Well, you know what they say about plans."
270	%% ** "I told you not to overthink stuff."
271	%% ** "If not me, who else?"
272	* MentorOccupationalHazard: An interesting case with BigBrotherMentor Grey. While he doesn't actually die, he is put through a lot, and breaks in a way that spurs on Denizen's character development similarly to what this trope invokes. %%The trope is, however, played straight with [[spoiler: D'Aubigny.]]%%
273	* MercifulMinion: Inverted and then played straight. [[spoiler:Grey's orders were just to keep the Hardwicks at Crosscaper until the Three returned, but he decides to kill them instead... believing it to be a MercyKill. He ends up letting Denizen leave, which goes against his own plans and his orders.]]
274	* MercyKill: Invoked, Subverted, and just generally Played With. This is what [[spoiler: Grey thinks he's doing to Vivian and Denizen. He shoots Vivian, but she survives, and Denizen manages to get away.]]
275	%% * MetallicMotifs: Lots. Iron, gold, bronze...
276	* MindRape: [[spoiler:Thralldom is absolutely horrible. The Clockwork Three literally got inside of Grey's head, forced him to do things for them, and played with his memories.]]
277	* MoodWhiplash: Denizen running from the Woman in White in Rathláth is a scary, tense scene... and then he hilariously falls on top of a four-year old girl. It whips back quickly, though.
278	%% ** "Mr. Gilligan looked up, [HopeSpot}} their eyes meeting for one long moment,]] and then [[spoiler: [[{{BreadEggsMilkSquick}} his car exploded.]]]]"
279	%% ** The end of chapter 24 is ''made'' of this.
280	* MyBloodRunsHot: Due to their powers, emotionally-flooded Knights can literally raise the temperature of a room they're in.
281	%% * NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast
282	%% ** The Endless King
283	%% ** Dragon
284	* NeverFoundTheBody:
285	** Eleven years ago, [[spoiler: the Clockwork Three wiped out Vivian's cadre one by one... but they were taken alive, so no one was able to record even how they died. Denizen figures out the reason for this later.]]
286	** This trope is why [[spoiler: Uriel and Mercy believe Ambrel could still be alive.]]
287	* NicknamingTheEnemy: All the Knights' terminology for the Tenebrous is of their own invention.
288	* NobleFugitive: Mercy in ''The Endless King,'' due to her father being overthrown and her being Dragon's challenge.
289	* NothingIsScarier: The Tenebrae, the world where the Tenebrous live, is an dark, endless expanse of... ''nothingness''.
290	* NotQuiteDead:
291	** [[spoiler: Vivian comes back after being shot and laying in a pool of her own blood for who-knows-how-long.]]
292	** [[spoiler: Grey survives his TakingYouWithMe moment, barely, by turning his stomach to iron, and Denizen manages to save him with the Bellows Subventum.]]
293	* OhCrap: [[spoiler: The Man in the Waistcoat]] has one when he learns that [[spoiler: Denizen has freed Mercy.]]
294	* OneHitKill: Grey delivers one to the Bad-Dream Angel using Sunrise.
295	* OneLiner: Denizen drops one after using Sunrise on the Woman in White. He then Lampshades it and mocks himself for it.
296	--> '''Denizen:''' I'm sorry, did you not hear me the first time?
297	* OnlyFriend: At the beginning of the book, Simon is this to Denizen.
298	%% * TheOrder
299	* OrphansOrdeal: Lampshaded. Denizen has pretty severe trust issues as a result of this, and is desperate to know ''anything'' about his parents. Grey hasn't said much about his past] other than that he ''is'' an orphan, but given the negative reaction he displays whenever he brings it up, this trope is strongly implied. Simon actually seems to be the best off when it comes to this, but it still affects him.
300	* ParentsWalkInAtTheWorstTime: Played With hilariously. [[spoiler:Denizen and Mercy truly were about to kiss when Vivian found them... but she thought Mercy had made Denizen a thrall. So Denizen had to awkwardly explain to her that, yes, he really was trying to kiss a Tenebrous.]]
301	* {{Patricide}}: [[spoiler: Mercy kills the Endless King in order to replace him.]]
302	* PhlebotinumOverload: Mercy gave Denizen knowledge of all seventy-eight Cants, which he can now use at will and with minimal Cost. The Cants are still WildMagic, and Denizen has an extremely difficult time controlling them. There's a reason most Knights only specialize in a select few of them; they want to be used, and it's painful.
303	* PoorCommunicationKills: [[spoiler: Eleven years ago, Vivian's entire cadre was wiped out by the Clockwork Three; when she learns that they've returned, rather than stay with her current cadre and at least warn them of the possible danger, she leaves. If she had communicated with them, maybe D'Aubigny could have lived, and at least something could have been done about Grey.]]
304	%% ** So much of the second book involves the main characters purposefully withholding information from Greaves. And Vivian being vague with Denizen.
305	* PowerAtAPrice: The Cost, which turns Knights' skin to iron the more the use their powers.
306	%% * PowerDegeneration: See PowerAtAPrice above.
307	* PowerGlows: Justified, as the Knights are fighting darkness, and their powers manifest as fire.
308	* PowerIncontinence: Zigzagged. It ''is'' possible to control them, with extensive training, but even then it's hard. The power is triggered by strong emotions and needs to be tamped down. Most characters, especially the experienced Knights, are able to prevent any accidents from happening but can still be seen holding their power when angry, and it leaks if used when they're emotionally unstable.
309	* PreventTheWar: The reason it's so important to [[spoiler:find and return the Endless King's mercy.]] The Knights are already at war with the Tenebrous, but if the Endless King Breaches, it'll become public.
310	%% * PrimalFear: The dark.
311	%% * PropheticName: ''Simon Hayes''. See MeaningfulName.
312	* PubertySuperpower: Connections to the Tenebrae Dawn when you turn thirteen.
313	* PubliclyDiscussingTheSecret: Grey and Denizen do this twice, and though the first time was late at night in an empty cafe, the second was in a crowded park and, much to Denizen's dismay, Grey decided to use a Cant.
314	* PunctuationShaker: Tenebrous names employ this sometimes, such as with Pick-Up-the-Pieces, Mocked-By-A-Husband and the title Tenebrous use for the Endless King, That-Which-Is-Endless.
315	%% * PunnyName: Downplayed, but still... [[spoiler: The [[{{ConflictingLoyalty}} conflicted]] character with [[{{AmbiguouslyEvil}} questionable motives]] and [[{{AlternateCharacterInterpretation}} ambiguous actions]] is [[{{MeaningfulName}} nicknamed]] ''[[{{GreyAndGrayMorality}} Grey]]'']]? Gee, [[{{SarcasmMode}} I wonder why.]]
316	* PutOnABus: Grey was [[spoiler:taken away by the Order]] after book one, and was absent for the entirety of ''The Forever Court''.
317	* RageBreakingPoint: Denizen manages to reach this several times over the course of the book, probably because he never gets the answers he's looking for [[spoiler: until the last one.]]
318	* RealMenGetShot: Vivian has been shot ''twice'' now. The first time [[spoiler:was nearly point-blank to the back, and incapacitated her for a significant amount of time before she managed to heal herself]]; the second time was to the shoulder, bounced off the iron of the Cost, and did literally nothing.
319	* RedOniBlueOni: Denizen and Simon, respectively. Denizen is skeptical, driven, and short-tempered, while Simon is more calm, controlled, and relaxed. This is further represented by their [[spoiler:Dawnings. Denizen's power manifested as raw and angry fire; Simon's was bending light, a difficult ability that requires a lot of patience and discipline.]]
320	* ReligionIsMagic: The Croits believe they get the Favour from their Redemptress. [[spoiler:This isn't actually true.]]
321	%% * RewatchBonus: Due to the copious amounts of {{Foreshadowing}} and the nature of its JigsawPuzzlePlot, a reread (or several) can be very rewarding. To list a few examples: all of Simon's chapters—16 in particular—carry heavy reread bonuses, as does the prologue, and many scenes involving Vivian or Grey take on a different light after the [[{{TheReveal}} Reveals]] involving them.
322	%% ** You can really see what Greaves is doing to [[spoiler: see if Denizen's a thrall]] on the second time through.
323	* RunningGag: Denizen's near-death experiences. Specifically, how many he's had, and whether or not he's used to them yet.
324	* RunOrDie: Simon. He's trapped alone in Crosscaper with the Clockwork Three, and he has no powers, so all he can hope to do is avoid them by sneaking, hiding, running, and simply trying to survive until... ''something'' happens.
325	* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler: Grey has one nearing the end of the book.]]
326	%% * SceneryPorn: Due to the DescriptionPorn. Special mention to the description of Os Reges Point.
327	%% --> Five great spears of slick black stone rose out of the sea. At their base, the ocean dashed itself to spume and spray, trying and failing to bring them down. They marched like soldiers of ever-increasing height, the fifth and final one a massive pinnacle that must have been more than half a kilometer tall, its staggering bulk bullying the horizon aside.\
328	Beyond them, the ocean went on forever, rising in iron-grey swells, then falling to lines of foam. The air was crisp and clear, the night sky filled with stars, but clouds had massed on the horizon in a vast continent of grey and white and black. Lightning stung its depths.\
329	%% [[{{JawDrop}} Denizen's jaw dropped.]] It actually dropped. He had always thought that phrase was a cliché. It wasn't. He'd just never been to Os Reges Point before.
330	* SecretWar: The one between the Knights and the Tenebrous that's been going on for centuries.
331	%% * SequelHook: What the ''hell'' does the ending of the second book mean?
332	* ShapeshifterModeLock: Downplayed. [[spoiler: Taking some Cost from Denizen leaves Mercy permanently partially iron, but she can still change shape, it's just harder.]]
333	* SheIsTheKing: [[spoiler: Once Mercy takes over for her father, she keeps the title "The Endless King" because Tenebrous don't have gender binaries so it doesn't matter.]]
334	* ShoutOut:
335	** Vivian has fought a Tenebrous named [[Literature/RawheadRex Rawhead Rex.]]
336	** Grey is named after Graham Tugwell, Dave Rudden's friend and writing buddy, and his phoenix tattoo is for Sarah Maria Griffin.
337	** D'Aubigny's tattoos are based off Rudden's friend Eilish.
338	** The Hardwick's and the Order's mottos are both taken from book 6 of ''Literature/TheAeneid.''
339	** "There was a phrase Denizen had heard in [[Series/FawltyTowers an old TV show]] the orphanage director had liked—''Don't mention the war''."
340	%% ** [[{{Literature/TheDivineComedy}} Malebranche.]]
341	* SlidingScaleOfUnavoidableVersusUnforgivable: Comes up in regards to [[spoiler:Grey shooting Vivian.]] Denizen seems to place it more on the unforgivable end, but the action is ambiguous enough that cases could be made for both sides. [[spoiler: People seem to have forgiven him, though.]]
342	* TheSnackIsMoreInteresting: When asked about her thoughts on Greaves, Abigail responds with her extremely elaborate food order off the menu at the Goshawk. ''Then'' she answers the actual question.
343	%% * StarfishLanguage: The Tenebrous don't speak using them, but the Cants are technically this.
344	%% * StealthPun: "Allow me to caw in more civilized tones."
345	* StealthHiBye: Greaves came to watch the Neophytes train without anyone noticing him arriving, which was disconcerting compared to how his entrances [[{{IncomingHam}} usually go.]]
346	* StepfordSmiler:
347	** Of the Empty variety, there's the Man in the Waistcoat, although the smile doesn't really do much to convince anyone that he's normal.
348	** Grey is depressed, and there are a few moments when his mask slips, although the full extent of this isn't apparent until later. [[spoiler:He drifts into the Unstable territory when he has a SanitySlippage and still doesn't stop smiling.
349	* StrongFamilyResemblance: The Croits all look extremely similar, to an almost creepy extent.
350	%% * SurprisinglyCreepyMoment:
351	%% ** Given that it's middle-grade, and has a [[{{ClicheStorm}} fairly generic plot summary,]] the events of the prologue can come as an ''incredible'' shock.
352	%% ** Happens again in chapter three. Denizen is on the way to meet his aunt, [=McCarron=] seems friendly, things are a bit weird but nothing too horrible... and then a massive EldritchAbomination ''suddenly pulls itself out of the rubble of a collapsed tunnel.''
353	* SurprisinglySuddenDeath:
354	** Subverted. [[spoiler: Vivian being shot in the back out of nowhere. She gets better]].
355	%% ** [[spoiler: Ambrel, too. Possibly.]]
356	** [[spoiler:Matt, cut in half [[KilledMidSentence mid-conversation]] in the final battle.]]
357	%% * SurvivalHorror: Simon is stuck in this.
358	* SurvivorGuilt: [[spoiler:It turns out this was the reason the first Croit even started their cult: his guilt over surviving while his love, the Redemptress, did not. This helps Denizen come to terms with his own SurvivorGuilt.]]
359	* SympathyForTheDevil:
360	((Utilized in an absolutely heartbreaking way. [[spoiler:Denizen figures out what happened to the Redemptress and the First Croit, and sympathizes enough to try to talk Her down. He cries when Uriel and the others kill Her.]]
361	** In the third book, Denizen can't bring himself to kill [[spoiler: the Opening Boy]] because he sees himself in it.
362	* TakenForGranite: Well, iron. If the Cost progresses enough, it turns a Knight completely to iron.
363	* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath:
364	** Downplayed and Double Subverted. Denizen tries to talk [[spoiler:Grey]] out of killing him. [[spoiler:It doesn't seem to be working, and Grey shoots anyway... but spares Denizen anyway and lets him escape.]]
365	%% ** Denizen also tries this on [[spoiler: the Redemptress.]]
366	* TalkingYourWayOut: Denizen does a variation of this when he's [[spoiler:kidnapped by the Croits and offers to teach them the Cants.]] Although it's less talking his way out of capture, and more talking his way out of being murdered and having his blood used as crusade-paint.
367	* TattooAsCharacterType: D'Aubigny has two tattoos: a colorful dominant one across her shoulders, and a black rose on her stomach (although the meaning of that one doesn't fit). Grey has a phoenix on his shoulder blade. Both characters do have supernatural powers, although neither has actually ever even mentioned their tattoos.
368	%% * TeethClenchedTeamwork: Vivian and Greaves.
369	* TermsOfEndangerment: The Clockwork Three call Vivian "dear girl" and [[spoiler:Grey]] "little Knight." The latter case is particularly creepy because it sounds almost dehumanizing, as if they were using it as part of their psychological torture.
370	* ThatsAnOrder: Vivian says this when she commands the other Knights [[spoiler:to stand down while she goes after the Clockwork Three.]] Naturally, Grey disobeys anyway.
371	%% * ThemeNaming: A lot of the names in the book have to do with darkness.
372	* ThemeTwinNaming: Uriel and Ambrel are both named after angels.
373	* ThinDimensionalBarrier: Although the barrier between the real world and the Tenebrae is never very stable, they almost overlap in some places, creating these spots. At Os Reges Point, the worlds are so close that they almost coexist, and so many Knights have lived at Seraphim Row and thinned the wall there that they have to light candlewards to lessen the danger of it falling into the Tenebrae.
374	%% * ThisIsReality: "But that was in books, and monsters were real."
375	* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Uriel repeatedly throws copies of the FlamingSword he can summon [[spoiler:at the Redemptress.]]
376	* TrainingTheGiftOfMagic: The power is hungry and dangerous, and the Cants (the only moderately safe way to even use the magic) are potentially deadly without training, so this becomes necessary to everyone with a connection to the Tenebrae, whether they decide to join the Order or not.
377	%% * TrappedWithMonsterPlot: Simon's plotline.
378	* TrustPassword: Invoked [[spoiler:by Denizen to prove to Simon that he is real. When he starts really overthinking it]], it turns into more of a case of SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay.
379	* TwitchyEye:
380	** [[spoiler:Grey]] develops this.
381	** Also occurs when someone is struggling to control their powers.
382	* UnreliableExpositor: The Knights don't know a whole lot about the Tenebrous, which results in this. They warn Denizen that this is the case, though. Grey also has a habit of glossing over information, or giving incomplete/inaccurate explanations, such as when he told Denizen that the reason they lit candles in Seraphim Row was because they'd miss colors (in reality, it's because they act as anchors that prevent the house from falling into the Tenebrae).
383	* TheUsurper: In the third book, the Endless King is overthrown and three Usurpers, [[spoiler: Dragon, the Emissary, and the Opening Boy]], declare challenges to try to take his place on the throne by proving their strength to the other Tenebrous. Ultimately, [[spoiler: Mercy ascends by returning the Cants.]]
384	* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler: By the end, the Clockwork Three are both metaphorically and literally falling apart.]]
385	* WackyAmericansHaveWackyNames: Downplayed, but the [=PenumbraCorp=] agent is named ''Strap.''
386	%% * WainscotSociety: The Order of the Borrowed Dark.
387	%% * WalkInChimeIn: "That sounds like an excellent idea, because I'm about ready to retire."
388	%% * WallOfWeapons: The Room of Swords.
389	* WarIsHell: This is iterated and reiterated to Denizen frequently.
390	* WasItAllALie: [[spoiler: Denizen asks Mercy this after learning how she's been using him since the events of book one. She did genuinely like him, but she did have an ulterior motive for basically every single one of their interactions.]]
391	* WeaponOfXSlaying: The hammers of Mallei are the only weapons that can kill certain ancient Tenebrous.
392	* WelcomedToTheMasquerade: Denizen after his Dawning.
393	* WesternZodiac:: Although he probably thought he was a Taurus for most of his life, Denizen is a Libra, since he was born on October 3rd. It seems like an odd sign for him at first, since he's easily angered and has NoSocialSkills, but it does fit with his role as TheHeart, his longing for familiarity and peace, and the importance he places on deep relationships, among other traits.
394	%% ** Simon (born October 26) is a rare heroic Scorpio. Fitting, given his love of mystery novels and the significance of his detective skills.
395	* WhamEpisode: Chapter 25. [[spoiler:Grey is the Clockwork Three's ManchurianAgent, Vivian Hardwick appears to die, and it's finally revealed what the Three want and why they're after Denizen.]]
396	* WhamLine:
397	** Book One: [[spoiler: "Denizen... I'm not your aunt. [[{{LukeIAmYourFather}} I'm your mother.]]"]]
398	** Book Two: "The Order live?"
399	** Book Three: ''[[spoiler:The Opening Boy had its foot on the Endless King's neck.]]''
400	%% * WildMagic: The power of the Tenebrae just wants to be used.
401	* WithDueRespect: The members of Vivian's cadre do ''not'' use this when they are disagreeing with her, but Grey puts the phrase in as a slightly-sarcastic afterthought when he (probably) accidentally insults her.
402	--> '''Vivian:''' Eager? You didn't think that odd?
403	--> '''Grey:''' I just thought you'd paid him a visit. With respect, Malleus.
404	%% * YouKnowWhatTheySay: [[{{MeaningfulEcho}} No plan of action]] survives first contact.

Context Literature / KnightsOfTheBorrowedDark