Vicious

The book’s final image matches its opening one—with Sydney digging up the body of an EO. When she brought Barry Lynch back to life, his EO ability didn’t work right. It isn’t revealed whether Victor’s power reacts the same way, and it may be that Victor no longer cares about his power now that Eli is behind bars, freeing Victor from the jealousy and vendetta that has preoccupied his two previous lives. With this ending, Schwab portrays moral ambiguity more optimistically, suggesting that the absence of moral absolutes also create the opportunity for individuals to grow and change. Leading up to, during, and after the climactic battle at the abandoned building, Schwab explores how the character’s outlooks have changed over the course of the struggle between Victor and Eli.

In Chapter 67, Serena observes that Sydney seems like more than she was before death, contradicting Eli’s essential belief about EOs. Sydney seems to be the only EO in Vicious who experiences positive change after being reborn, showing how the same experience affects people in different ways. Coupled with Eli’s desire to kill Sydney, Serena’s observation is irony. Eli wanted to become an EO in order to be more than he was, but he became less. He tries to kill Sydney because he believes she is less when she’s actually become more. Schwab suggests that Sydney’s different response to rebirth may be due to the fact that Sydney disliked her life before and decided to live her second chance on her terms. Sydney experiences more of Rebirth Syndrome than Post-Traumatic Death Disorder, which affects the adult EOs more deeply.

At the end of Chapter 68, Detective Stell calls Serena to tell her there was no body at the bar Eli sent him to. When Serena asks why he called her, the detective says he trusts her, which hints at how Serena’s powers truly work, and foreshadows Eli’s eventual arrest. Schwab portrays Serena’s arc as tragic, as she realizes too late how she might have resisted Eli rather than aided him. Serena and Sydney are allowed a brief reconciliation, as Serena acknowledges that Eli’s moral outlook is at odds with her own and reckons with the morally ambiguous nature of being an EO. Just as in their previous lives, they are not easily defined as purely good or purely evil. Instead, Schwab suggests that both motive and action combine to determine the moral worth of an individual’s behavior.

The ability that Eli thought made him so powerful and special works against him in the end. When the police storm the building, they find Eli standing over Victor’s mutilated body. By contrast, Eli’s ability removed all the evidence of his injuries, making it appear as though the confrontation was one-sided. Eli tries to argue he killed Victor in self-defense, but with no injuries, the argument doesn’t stick. As foreshadowed earlier in the novel, the ability which Eli believes sets him apart from other EOs ultimately dooms him.

Dominic, Sydney, and Mitch feeling pain at Victor’s death foreshadows the cops no longer being under Serena’s influence. Earlier, death didn’t break Serena’s control over an officer, but here, her own death releases the police from her influence, allowing them to see Eli for what he is. Serena’s ability protecting Eli is another ironic twist; Eli murdered EOs because he believed they were unnatural, but an EO’s ability was all that stood between his freedom and conviction.