Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of child abuse, animal death, and suicidal ideation.

Assassin’s Apprentice is written from an intimate first-person narrative, creating a memoir-like tone and style that allows the reader to witness Fitz for who he is and who he tries to be. As the child of a prince but born outside of marriage, Fitz exists in liminal space; while he “belongs” to the royal family, nobody seems to want him or know what to do with him. In addition, Fitz’s ability in the mysterious Wit is central to the narrative, affecting both his view of the world and his relationships with others. Throughout the novel, Fitz struggles to reconcile who he is with who he must be in order to belong at the palace, and this tension drives not only the action of the novel but also Fitz’s character development as he grows into adulthood.  

From the beginning of the novel, Fitz is revealed to be a child with the unique skill of mentally and emotionally bonding with animals, a talent that Burrich later identifies for him as the Wit.