The Starless Sea

The key is the symbol of the keepers of the stories, as burned into their chests. Unsurprisingly, the Keeper’s roll of the die will always be the key—except for Zachary, who rolls hearts, foreshadowing the heart becoming the keeper’s symbol in the new Harbor. The story must be locked at the end, and in this incarnation, the key is Zachary, though he also embodies other symbols at various times.

The sword is the symbol of the guardians, tattooed onto their chests. A particular sword also appears in several of the stories. It is first used to kill the Owl King; then, it sits in the Keeper’s office. Eventually, Dorian uses it to kill Zachary, which brings the story to its end. 

The crown is one of the many symbols associated with the Starless Sea. It often appears above an owl, denoting the Owl King. It is also used on the outside of the new door to the new Harbor of the Starless Sea in the new story which has been created, along with the heart and the feather, taking the place of the bee in its imagery. Mirabel wears a crown and her father’s dice roll is all crowns, suggesting that the crown is also a symbol of Fate.

The heart represents poets and storytellers who share their emotions. The heart also appears in the story of Time and Fate, when Fate’s heart is stolen by the mouse during her death (the ice sculpture of Mirabel, who is Fate personified, has a pulsing red light where her heart is missing). Fate’s heart is later used to reanimate Zachary.

The central area of the Harbor at the Starless Sea where the Keeper resides is also known as “the Heart.” The heart symbol replaces the key symbol in the imagery of the new Harbor. Zachary’s dice roll is all hearts, indicating his nature as a storyteller. 

The feather is the final symbol in the series referring to the Starless Sea. It is on the key given to Kat to open the door to the new Harbor. The feather replaces the sword in the original sequence.

The egg first appears in the initiation process for potential guardians. The guardian must protect an egg for six months before they are forced to crush it. The egg dissolves into gold dust, marking the guardian’s hand forever. Allegra says that stories are like eggs: self-contained and fragile. Because people who love the stories want to live in them, their attempts to get inside the egg will break it. Simon describes the story’s ending in this metaphor: “The egg is cracking. Has cracked. Will crack” (374).

The imagery is repeated when Zachary drowns in the honey after his death. In all these cases, the cracked egg is a symbol for possibilities and change beyond what is possible within the egg. This change can result in beautiful but permanent effects: “If an egg breaks it becomes more than it was and what is an egg, if not something waiting to be broken?” (245).