Oathbound by Tracy Deonn Summary, Characters and Themes
Oathbound by Tracy Deonn is the second book in the Legendborn Cycle, continuing the story of Briana “Bree” Matthews as she battles powerful magical legacies, trauma, and identity under the crushing weight of duty and supernatural war. Building on the events of Legendborn, this novel immerses readers in a richly layered world of Arthurian legend reimagined through African American spiritual traditions, rootcraft, and personal sacrifice.
As Bree grapples with fractured memory, volatile magic, and love complicated by betrayal and destiny, Oathbound examines what it means to reclaim one’s agency in a system that seeks to define you. It’s a fierce, genre-bending mix of fantasy, Black girl power, and mythic reckoning.
Summary
The story opens in turmoil as Briana Matthews is seized by the Shadow King’s dark magic. In a moment of panic and resolve, she willingly offers herself to the demon whose power threatens to destroy everything she’s known.
Her last memory before vanishing into darkness is of Nick running toward her. What follows is a brutal journey through unfamiliar landscapes until Bree arrives at a sterile corridor.
She’s in the presence of Erebus Varelian—once a disguised Merlin within the Round Table—who is in truth the Shadow King. Now his reluctant student, Bree surrenders her title, power, and Excalibur in a desperate bid to gain strength and eventually reclaim control.
At Erebus’s stronghold, Bree is assaulted by two cambions, Zoelle and Elijah, who try to feed on her magic. The encounter ends with their defeat, thanks to the bloodmark Bree inherited from her maternal line—a force that burns those who try to take from her unwillingly.
This mark signals her value to demons and paints a target on her back. Despite her exhaustion and confusion, Bree resolves to train.
Erebus demands she suppress her power to avoid detection. Her early failures result in more attacks from the twins until Erebus intervenes again.
He then alters her bloodmark so he can monitor her at all times, reinforcing his total control.
As Bree tries to gain mastery over her root magic, she is forced to confront herself and her motivations. Her defiant decision to become a weapon, rather than a monarch or a girl in need of protection, signals a transformation in her identity.
She is no longer willing to be shaped by the expectations of others.
After an especially harsh training session, Bree wakes to find her memories damaged. She struggles to recall essential people and moments, haunted by fragmented feelings of guilt, gratitude, and longing tied to unrecognizable figures.
When she confronts Erebus, he admits her memory loss is a consequence of their pact but denies actively causing it. He argues that the price of her strength is the erasure of parts of herself.
To further her magical control, Erebus traps her in a dome of black aether and forces her to manifest a magical shield. Bree channels her desire to protect and conjures a successful defense, marking a turning point in her power.
Meanwhile, back in the world she left, William, Nick, and Larkin scramble to find her and Selwyn. Nick is devastated, blaming himself for failing to stop Bree’s abduction.
A trace of black aether confirms demonic involvement. Nick’s bond to Sel reveals that Sel is alive—but altered and dangerous.
They assume Bree is needed alive, which gives them hope. William, acting in secrecy, entrusts Alice to the care of Rootcrafters, an ancient and secretive magical faction.
But his knowledge of their leader, the Hunter, and their involvement in Bree’s disappearance leads Valec, one of the Rootcrafters, to erase his memory of that discovery.
Elsewhere, Bree and Zoe infiltrate the opulent Penumbra Estate under the guise of aristocratic socialites to retrieve the King’s crown, a magical artifact. Disguised and masked, they attend a gala hosted by the Shade Mikael.
Bree enters the underground vault to steal the artifact, defeating a powerful warlock using her shadow-root magic. But she is interrupted by a masked male thief—who proves to be her match in both magical skill and combat.
Their encounter is unexpectedly intimate. When the thief calls her “Bree,” she is stunned to recognize him as someone from her erased past.
This masked stranger is revealed to be Nick. He pretends she is his fiancée to avoid detection.
Their charade is filled with tension, humor, and fragments of old connection. Bree plays along, though confused and cautious.
She learns that her memory loss has hurt those who once loved her, even if it granted her power. Zoe, ever loyal, steps in to protect Bree’s cover as the situation becomes more dangerous.
Bree walks out with Nick, struggling with emotional currents she cannot yet name.
Bree’s journey intensifies when she learns of Selwyn’s transformation. Natasia, Sel’s mother, reveals that consuming Bree’s magic has driven Sel into a monstrous, demonic version of himself.
Despite safety measures, Sel finds Bree, drawn by a deep magical bond. His arrival is both terrifying and sorrowful.
Their confrontation is emotionally charged, filled with layered truths and painful revelations. Bree learns that her bloodmark may have roots in Sel himself, upending everything she believed about her lineage and the source of her strength.
In a moment of clarity, Bree challenges Erebus directly and demands the return of her soul—fragmented and hidden. She faces the temptation of trading Alice’s soul to reclaim her own but chooses herself for the first time.
The return of her soul floods her with emotion and memory. This reclamation marks her full return—not as a puppet or victim—but as a self-defined force.
Erebus loses a piece of control over her, and Bree gains her agency back.
The story culminates in a tragic and mythic transformation. Sel, meant to be destroyed by the enchanted crown Bree recovered, survives.
Instead of death, he is reborn. The crown, a weapon forged to kill pretenders, recognizes Sel as a true heir.
He rises not just alive, but changed—crowned and declared the legitimate successor of the Shadow King. Bree, witnessing this new reality, is left with the realization that the battle ahead will not only be against enemies but between loyalties, legacies, and love.
In the end, Bree reclaims her identity and begins to grasp the full scope of her power and purpose. Sel, now elevated into an uncertain and threatening destiny, stands poised on the edge of becoming either an ally or a new enemy.
Their fates, once interlinked through protection and friendship, now orbit around a rising conflict that promises to reshape everything they believed about who they were and what they were fighting for.
Characters
Briana Matthews
Briana Matthews, or Bree, is the complex, evolving protagonist of Oathbound, and her arc is one of transformation, agency, and reckoning with power—both inherited and self-claimed. At the start of the narrative, Bree is physically broken, emotionally frayed, and submerged in grief and rage.
Having lost so much and been forced into unimaginable bargains, she chooses to study under Erebus, the Shadow King, abandoning her position as Crown Scion. This decision marks a radical departure from her former identity and initiates her into a brutal world of deception, magical manipulation, and identity fragmentation.
Her memory is compromised, likely due to Erebus’s influence, and she struggles with amnesia that strips away emotional touchstones—friends, lovers, protectors. Yet, this void becomes a crucible: in learning to survive and grow despite her memory loss, Bree reclaims power on her own terms.
Her character crystallizes around a turning point when she names what she truly desires—not salvation, not even revenge, but power: to become “untouchable, unstoppable, impervious. ” No longer just a vessel of others’ expectations, Bree becomes a weapon forged by her own will.
Her relationship with her root magic matures alongside this evolution; from volatile and dangerous, it becomes more precise, driven by intentional emotion rather than fear. As she confronts Selwyn in his monstrous form and later confronts Erebus to reclaim her soul, Bree demonstrates not only strength but unshakable resolve.
Her ability to walk into danger, challenge manipulation, and choose her path—no matter how painful—marks her as a profoundly courageous and dynamic character whose evolution is as emotional as it is magical.
Erebus Varelian / The Shadow King
Erebus is one of the most enigmatic and chilling characters in Oathbound, serving both as mentor and tormentor to Bree. His dual identity as Erebus Varelian, a high Merlin of the Order, and the Shadow King, a demon of immense power, reflects the novel’s central themes of deception, duality, and corruption.
Erebus’s mentorship is laced with coercion, and his lessons—while effective—are rooted in emotional manipulation and magical dominance. He strips Bree of her title and weapon, alters her bloodmark to gain control, and withholds or obscures key truths about her memory loss and magical legacy.
Yet he is not a flat villain. Erebus is a master strategist who understands both human frailty and magical politics.
His insights often push Bree toward greater self-awareness, even if his intentions are shrouded in darkness.
Erebus sees potential in Bree not merely as a tool, but as something akin to an heir or extension of his vision. His praise is rare but significant, and his willingness to let her grow—even under harsh conditions—positions him as both jailor and liberator.
His motives remain partially veiled, especially concerning his relationship with Selwyn and the enchanted crown. That he allows Bree to claim herself at the moment she reclaims her soul speaks to a nuanced, if twisted, respect.
Erebus is the architect of much of Bree’s pain, but also the fire through which she is reforged.
Selwyn Kane
Selwyn Kane undergoes one of the most haunting transformations in Oathbound, becoming a tragic figure of broken bonds and monstrous inheritance. Once Bree’s protector and a fiercely loyal Kingsmage, Sel is rendered unstable and increasingly inhuman after consuming Bree’s root magic.
His transformation into a demonic hybrid leaves him volatile and unpredictable, a being ruled as much by instinct and hunger as by memory and love. His connection to Bree deepens even as it threatens to destroy her; he can track her through magical cues and remains attuned to her presence, even amid chaos.
When he finally finds her, the confrontation is laced with pain, longing, and violence—he taunts, mourns, and threatens in equal measure, signaling the splintering of his soul.
Sel’s descent culminates in a symbolic rebirth when he touches Erebus’s enchanted crown. Expected to perish under its magic, he instead survives and is transformed, revealed as the true heir to the Shadow King.
This moment is catastrophic and cathartic—Sel is no longer merely the protector, the broken mage, or the love interest. He is something new: a sovereign entity whose future is murky, dangerous, and entirely uncharted.
His arc is one of tragic inevitability, a meditation on power inherited versus power earned, and the cost of sacrifice without choice.
Nick Davis / Benedict Pierce
Nick is the emotional anchor in Oathbound, a symbol of lost love, loyalty, and unfinished stories. Initially remembered only through flickers of emotion by Bree—longing, guilt, and gratitude—his return is steeped in heartbreak and tenderness.
Disguised as Benedict Pierce, he reenters Bree’s life during the Penumbra Estate mission, pretending to be her fiancé to protect their identities. The masquerade triggers a cascade of conflicting feelings for Bree, who feels both drawn to and distant from him.
His presence is a stark reminder of what she has forgotten and what she might lose again.
Nick remains deeply in love with Bree, and his attempts to jog her memory are filled with subtle grief and quiet hope. He respects her agency but cannot hide his pain.
His role shifts from knightly protector to emotional foil, someone who represents the life Bree left behind—not just by circumstance, but by choice. His heartbreak is dignified, his bravery quiet, and his devotion unwavering.
Nick’s pain lies in being remembered only in fragments, and yet he does not abandon Bree. His continued presence offers a counterbalance to the intensity of Erebus and the volatility of Selwyn, grounding the narrative in human vulnerability and the yearning for lost intimacy.
Zoe and Elijah
The twin cambions, Zoe and Elijah, are dangerous, semi-feral beings under Erebus’s command, and they serve as both antagonists and reluctant allies to Bree. Initially mistaking her for food, they attack her, setting off a violent clash that underscores the unpredictable threat of demons.
Yet as the story unfolds, their role becomes more complex. They function as foils to Bree’s own struggles with power and identity.
While they revel in their instincts and hunger, Bree is burdened by conscience and restraint. Despite their aggression, they are not entirely unsympathetic; they are tools of Erebus’s machinations, punished when they misstep and disciplined to serve his greater designs.
Zoe, in particular, becomes more than a predator—she is a mirror to Bree’s own evolution. As Bree grows more confident and dangerous, Zoe transitions from mocking threat to wary rival.
Their interactions are laced with challenge and grudging recognition. Elijah, though less foregrounded, complements Zoe’s chaotic energy and plays his part in training exercises and infiltration missions.
The twins highlight the line Bree walks between humanity and monstrosity, and their existence within Erebus’s court serves as a constant reminder of the price of proximity to power.
Alice Chen
Though largely unconscious for much of Oathbound, Alice’s presence looms large. A close friend and former ally of Bree, Alice has fallen into a magical coma, her soul trapped in purgatory.
Her condition is both a motivator and a source of guilt for Bree, who feels responsible for Alice’s fate. William entrusts her to the Rootcrafters for protection, an act that fractures alliances and sparks secret deals, especially with Valec.
Alice embodies the stakes of Bree’s choices—the collateral damage left in the wake of power struggles and magical bargains. Though voiceless, her plight drives key decisions and underscores the emotional cost of Bree’s transformation.
William and Larkin
William and Larkin represent two sides of the Order’s remaining resistance. William is analytical, pragmatic, and occasionally ruthless—he arranges Alice’s handoff to the Rootcrafters and navigates complex magical politics with tactical precision.
Larkin, on the other hand, is more emotional and reactive. Their disagreement over secrecy surrounding Alice’s transfer illustrates the cracks in the Order’s unity.
Both characters care deeply about Bree and their fallen friends, but their differing approaches create friction. Together, they reflect the ongoing tensions within a collapsing institution trying to protect what little is left of their world and values.
Valec
Valec is a Rootcrafter of significant power and secrecy, emblematic of the mystical, shadowy side of the magical world beyond the Order. He shelters Alice in exchange for a future favor from William, displaying a transactional but protective nature.
When William learns the truth about the Hunter and Bree’s disappearance, Valec erases that knowledge, showing both his allegiance to Rootcrafter survival and his unwillingness to let the Order dictate the terms of their war. He is a figure of quiet authority, mystery, and immense magical knowledge, whose role in the narrative suggests a much larger magical network at play beyond Bree’s immediate struggles.
Themes
The Cost of Power and Transformation
Briana’s journey in Oathbound is marked by the continual sacrifices demanded of those who seek power. From the very beginning, she forfeits her safety, identity, and relationships to pursue greater strength under the mentorship of the Shadow King.
This trade is not transactional but deeply existential. The physical and emotional cost of her transformation is heightened by the steady erosion of her memory and the increasing detachment from her previous self.
Her agreement with Erebus is not merely a contract but a relinquishment of autonomy, where the price of power extends beyond her control. She gives up Excalibur, the symbol of her status and identity within the Order, and undergoes brutal magical conditioning, forcing her to reshape her sense of self.
Power here is not a reward but a burden—every enhancement to her magic comes with increased isolation, scrutiny, and a sense of moral compromise. The more Briana becomes capable, the more she is alienated from those she once loved, and from the human vulnerabilities that previously defined her.
Ultimately, the transformation into something “untouchable” is shown as both empowering and hollowing, a survival mechanism that demands the suppression of memory, intimacy, and emotion. Through this, Oathbound critiques the myth that power alone is redemptive, emphasizing instead its corrosive impact on identity, connection, and trust.
Memory, Identity, and Emotional Fragmentation
The loss of memory becomes one of the most painful and destabilizing consequences of Briana’s pact with Erebus. Stripped of the names and faces of those who once mattered most, she becomes unmoored, unsure of whether her choices are truly her own or manipulated by external forces.
This amnesia is not only a plot device but a thematic lens through which the novel interrogates identity. Briana is caught in a liminal space where past loyalties and affections echo through instinct, even when conscious recognition fails her.
Her inability to recall relationships with figures like Nick and Alice doesn’t erase the emotional residue those bonds left behind, suggesting that memory and emotion, though interconnected, can operate on separate tracks. The question of who she is becomes increasingly fraught: is she still the girl who fought for her friends, or is she now the weapon Erebus is shaping her to be?
The uncertainty surrounding her memories creates a rift between her internal convictions and the external roles she is expected to play. In turn, this fragmentation deepens the novel’s exploration of how identity is constructed—not solely through memory, but through choices, values, and emotional truths that persist even in the absence of recollection.
The Complexity of Consent and Manipulation
The recurring dynamic between Briana and Erebus complicates traditional notions of consent. While Briana ostensibly agrees to be trained by the Shadow King, that agreement is made under extreme duress—out of desperation to save Selwyn and secure safety for her loved ones.
Erebus exploits her vulnerability and reinterprets their bargain at will, ensuring that her autonomy is always constrained. He weaponizes half-truths and emotional pressure, constantly pushing her toward actions that serve his goals under the guise of teaching.
Even when he offers her choices, those choices are shaped by conditions he controls, stripping them of genuine freedom. The theme of manipulation runs through Briana’s relationships with other authority figures as well, including the Order and the Rootcrafters, each of whom seeks to use her abilities for their own agendas.
Her power becomes a commodity, and her agency is repeatedly undermined by those who claim to be her allies or mentors. This manipulation extends to magical dimensions, as evidenced by her unintentional memory loss—an outcome she did not knowingly agree to but must suffer the consequences of regardless.
Through these dynamics, Oathbound raises questions about what it means to give consent in a world where knowledge is obscured, power imbalanced, and every option comes with a hidden cost.
Legacy, Inheritance, and Rebirth
The revelation that Selwyn is the biological heir of the Shadow King introduces a dramatic reinterpretation of legacy in Oathbound. Sel’s transformation from Kingsmage to crowned prince of the demonic realm is not framed as destiny, but as a culmination of secrets, lineage, and choices made under impossible pressure.
In parallel, Briana grapples with her own inherited gifts and burdens—the bloodmark passed through her maternal line, her magical potential, and the political and emotional weight of being Crown Scion. Both characters are forced to confront the implications of what they were born into versus what they want to become.
Legacy here is not a fixed inheritance but a question of interpretation and rebellion. Sel’s survival of the crown’s destructive power and subsequent transformation suggest that birthright alone is not enough—it must be claimed, and once claimed, it reshapes the bearer.
For Briana, the theme of rebirth is just as strong. Her reclaiming of her memories and her soul becomes an act of self-authorship.
Rather than passively accepting what she was molded into, she makes a defiant choice to reassert her agency. This mirrors Sel’s shift as well, though his direction appears darker and more ominous.
Together, their intertwined fates underscore the novel’s complex view of legacy—not as a script to be followed, but as a force to be confronted, redefined, or rejected altogether.
Emotional Vulnerability and the Illusion of Imperviousness
Briana’s stated desire to become “untouchable, unstoppable, impervious” is born from profound emotional trauma—loss, betrayal, and the constant threat of annihilation. She believes that detachment and power will shield her from the pain of connection and the unpredictability of relationships.
Yet the narrative continually undercuts this belief. Despite her best efforts, Briana remains tethered to people like Nick, Selwyn, and Alice—not only through memory and blood but through unshakable emotional impressions.
Even when her mind cannot recall someone’s name, her body and soul react with longing, guilt, or trust. This tension creates a dissonance between her projected strength and her internal vulnerability.
Her emotional life resists suppression, surfacing in moments of conflict, affection, and recognition. The romantic and intimate undercurrents of her interactions with Nick, for instance, expose cracks in her resolve, suggesting that imperviousness is neither sustainable nor desirable.
Similarly, her confrontation with Sel reveals how deeply entangled their histories are, and how difficult it is to wield power cleanly when emotions remain unresolved. Through Briana’s arc, Oathbound challenges the idea that invulnerability is the ultimate goal.
Instead, it portrays emotional openness—not as weakness—but as something that demands greater courage than brute strength. Her journey reveals that healing and trust may offer more enduring power than any magical construct ever could.