what does honor mean to a prince who has been sent away from the very people he's supposed to protect? apollo is eighteen years old, the prince of north ixia, and living in new york because the political violence in his homeland became dangerous enough that his father sent him away. he's arrogant, privileged, and absolutely convinced that he's better than almost everyone around him. i don't think there's much point in arguing otherwise, and i don't think he'd appreciate us trying to. but i wonder how much of his need to be the best comes from knowing what's waiting for him back home. when billy asks why someone with apollo's wealth would bother risking his own life instead of hiring someone else to fight, apollo explains that leaders in ixia are expected to lead, not delegate. he doesn't seem to believe being a prince puts him above the suffering of his people. if anything, he believes it makes him responsible for standing in front of them. so how is he supposed to accept the safety his father gave him when he knows his people are still living through the violence he was sent away from? i don't think apollo resents his father for protecting him. he speaks proudly of his family and seems to honestly love the responsibilities that come with his name. but i wonder if there's a part of him that feels he has to make that protection worthwhile. he can't be there to fight for his people right now. he can't stand beside them, and he can't promise that the country he eventually returns to will be the same one he left. but he can train. and he does. constantly. i think apollo is trying to turn himself into a weapon for ixia. not because he wants to spend his life fighting, but because he believes becoming strong enough might give him the chance to bring his people peace. there's a difference between wanting to be the best for your own satisfaction and believing you have to be the best because people are depending on you. and i think apollo is probably a little bit of both. what interests me most, though, is how much honor seems to matter to him. when seven suggests killing an opponent who can no longer defend themselves, apollo refuses. there's no honor in that, regardless of how much easier it might make winning. i like that about him. he doesn't believe victory excuses everything you do to achieve it. but apollo admits to shiv that he's never actually killed someone with his sword. he's an incredibly accomplished fencer, and i'm not questioning whether he's talented, but there's a difference between training to fight and knowing what it means to take someone's life. he's spent years learning what an honorable fight should look like. what happens when he finds himself in one that isn't? what happens when showing mercy means risking the people he's sworn to protect? when the people threatening his homeland don't care about his family's traditions or how fairly he wants to fight? i don't know what apollo would do. i don't think we have enough information to say, and i'd argue that's part of what makes him interesting. his decision to participate in the ritual only makes me more curious. we don't know exactly what apollo intends to wish for, but the doorman specifically warns him that the ritual concerns this plane, not ixia. i think there's a reason his homeland comes up in that conversation. i believe apollo wants peace for his people. and i believe he sees something in the ritual that might allow him to accomplish what years of training and an ancestral sword cannot. but there's also a conversation with celeste that makes me wonder how much of himself he's willing to give up to get there. she tells him he's missing out on life. apollo responds that he's setting himself up to enjoy it. he's eighteen. he's been given an opportunity to live somewhere safe, to experience things other people his age take for granted, and he seems perfectly content to put all of it off until he's accomplished what he believes he needs to. i wonder when he'll feel like he's done enough? when ixia is finally safe? when he's made his father proud? when he's become the greatest swordsman his homeland has ever known? or is there always going to be another reason he can't allow himself to stop? and what happens if he actually succeeds? what happens when the violence ends, his people are safe, and the country he's spent his life preparing to protect no longer needs him to fight? apollo is preparing to lead ixia, but so much of what we've seen of that preparation revolves around becoming a better warrior. i don't think those are necessarily the same thing. a warrior might have to kill someone to protect his people. a king might have to sit across from that same person and negotiate a peace neither of them wants. there are going to be decisions he can't solve with his sword. compromises that won't feel particularly honorable, and victories that won't look anything like the ones he's spent his life training for. and i wonder if apollo has considered that being a good king might someday mean choosing not to fight at all. because i don't think his honor is misplaced. i think it's one of the best things about him. he believes leaders should share the dangers their people face. he believes there are lines you shouldn't cross simply because crossing them would make winning easier. he takes his responsibilities seriously, even when the people around him don't understand why. those are all qualities that could make him a wonderful ruler. but he seems to understand so much of his worth through what he's capable of doing with a sword, and i wonder whether he recognizes how much he has to offer without one. his father sent him away because he wanted his son to survive. i wonder if apollo understands that surviving doesn't have to be something he spends the rest of his life repaying. i hope he gets to return to ixia. i hope he gets to see his people living without fear, and i hope he gets to grow old in the country he's so determined to protect. but more than anything, i hope he gets to discover that his greatest contribution to his homeland might not be winning its wars. it might be making sure his people never have to fight another. apollo has spent his life learning how to draw his sword for ixia. i wonder if anyone has taught him when to put it down.