CHAPTER IX – Thu­via, Maid of Mars begins with Cartho­ris, Thu­via, and Jav emerg­ing from a fall into the depths of Lothar, where they mirac­u­lous­ly avoid injury. The cham­ber they find them­selves in is cold and oppres­sive, and Jav’s fear inten­si­fies upon see­ing Komal—a leg­endary crea­ture believed by his peo­ple to be a divine exe­cu­tion­er. Yet, where fear dom­i­nates Jav, Thu­via steps for­ward with calm author­i­ty, con­fronting the beast with nei­ther weapon nor pan­ic. Her mys­te­ri­ous abil­i­ty to con­trol the banth reveals not only her brav­ery but also her innate con­nec­tion to Mar­t­ian life, dis­pelling the myth of Komal’s god­hood and reshap­ing the group’s under­stand­ing of the crea­ture as mere­ly an intel­li­gent preda­tor.

Their escape leads them through for­got­ten cor­ri­dors into the stark light of a bar­ren plain beyond the city. Here, the truth of Lothar’s decline is laid bare. Once a proud civ­i­liza­tion thriv­ing with war­riors and pow­er, it now clings to sur­vival through illu­sion and men­tal pro­jec­tions, with few­er than a thou­sand cit­i­zens left. The peo­ple of Lothar, hav­ing aban­doned phys­i­cal labor and mar­tial dis­ci­pline in favor of thought pro­jec­tion, live among echoes of their his­to­ry. Jav’s abil­i­ty to sum­mon illu­sions of armies and bat­tle­fields becomes a metaphor for their decadence—grand in appear­ance, but hol­low in pur­pose.

As they con­tin­ue, Jav con­jures a vision of Lothar’s ancient might—mighty legions, ban­ners fly­ing, and phan­tom swords raised in silent fury. But Cartho­ris sees through the grandeur. These appari­tions are pale reflec­tions of a soci­ety cling­ing to its for­mer glo­ry, unable to accept its dwin­dling real­i­ty. While impres­sive to behold, these men­tal pro­jec­tions are inef­fec­tive in real con­flict and serve only as dis­trac­tions. Jav, blind­ed by his peo­ple’s tra­di­tions, fails to grasp that no illu­sion can replace courage and action.

Sens­ing an oppor­tu­ni­ty, Jav attempts to use the false army to mis­lead Tario’s forces, giv­ing Cartho­ris and Thu­via a chance to escape. The plan unfolds with pre­ci­sion until Jav reveals his ulte­ri­or motive. Turn­ing to Thu­via, he propo­si­tions her shame­less­ly, offer­ing safe­ty in exchange for her affec­tion. His trans­for­ma­tion from reluc­tant guide to would-be cap­tor is swift, reveal­ing the rot beneath his civil­i­ty. He believes that the pow­er to cre­ate illu­sions enti­tles him to reshape oth­ers’ choic­es and feel­ings, but Thuvia’s response is imme­di­ate and sharp.

She con­demns his pro­pos­al, stand­ing firm in her val­ues and trust in Cartho­ris. Her refusal is not fueled by fear, but by an unwa­ver­ing belief in Carthoris’s hon­or and brav­ery. Even in dan­ger, she refus­es to sac­ri­fice her dig­ni­ty or loy­al­ty. Jav, exposed by her words, is left seething—a man of illu­sions undone by a woman of truth. Thuvia’s poise in reject­ing his offer solid­i­fies her as more than a damsel in dis­tress; she becomes a sym­bol of strength and fideli­ty in the face of betray­al.

The chap­ter clos­es with grow­ing ten­sion. Thu­via and Cartho­ris are sep­a­rat­ed once more, and Jav’s illu­sions begin to unrav­el under the weight of his des­per­a­tion. What had seemed a clever escape becomes a web of decep­tion and mis­placed ambi­tion. Jav’s actions place not only him­self but Thu­via at risk, as his self­ish­ness threat­ens to undo the fleet­ing advan­tage they held. Cartho­ris, unaware of this treach­ery, is like­ly prepar­ing to rejoin the fight, and the col­li­sion of illu­sion and real­i­ty now feels inevitable.

This chap­ter high­lights the fad­ing glo­ry of a civ­i­liza­tion too reliant on illu­sion and the resilience of those who hold onto prin­ci­ple in times of per­il. Thuvia’s abil­i­ty to tame Komal and with­stand Jav’s coer­cion reveals her qui­et pow­er, while Cartho­ris remains the embod­i­ment of deter­mi­na­tion and hon­or. Their fates are increas­ing­ly bound togeth­er, and with ene­mies both phys­i­cal and psy­cho­log­i­cal gath­er­ing, the strug­gle ahead will test not only their strength but their loy­al­ty to each oth­er and to what is right.