Content warning: This section of the guide explores racism, enslavement, and murder.

Initially, Dara’s ring looks like an expensive piece of jewelry to Nahri. It represents the vast difference between the way Nahri and Dara see the world. The ring represents the multitudes within Dara—his captivity, history, and miraculous survival—but without hearing his story, the ring holds no meaning but potential profit for Nahri.

The ring is Dara’s vessel of enslavement, but since he does not know how he came to be freed of enslavement, he also does not know how the ring functions. He only knows that he cannot take it off. It represents the mystery of Dara’s life, even to himself. When Nahri gets too close, neither of them has a choice, and the ring shows Nahri some of Dara’s happiest and most painful moments. The ring represents Dara in that it is beautiful, bright, and enticing, but when Nahri gets close she learns painful truths.

When Ali cuts off Dara’s hand with the ring attached, Dara immediately turns to ash. Without the ring, he is no longer tethered to this world. In the Epilogue,