Masters of Death

Time’s watch is a symbol that represents immortality. When Brandt steals the watch from Time in the game, he gives it to Fox so that neither of them will age during their love affair. Although Fox enjoys this idea at first, he soon sees it as a curse because their separation over the hundreds of years feels eternal. Fox begins to feel like the watch is a curse because it reminds him of how Brandt chose his own mortality over his love for Fox. Fox’s final decision to trade the watch back to Time in exchange for Brandt’s truth shows how Fox puts more importance on his time with Brandt than on eternity. Fox does not believe that immortality is better than mortality. Instead, he thinks that mortality makes people cherish their lives with their loved ones. Although Brandt feels nervous to choose mortality, he realizes the importance of cherishing time with loved ones, rather than taking it for granted.

Ledgers are a symbol of the possibility of changing a person’s fate. In the afterlife, the archangels measure people’s merit based on their actions. Even if a ledger is negative and points toward punishment in the afterlife, the archangels give people the possibility of improving their ledger. Although Mayra and Cal know that it will take hundreds of years to pay off their debt, they appreciate the possibility of the afterlife together. At the tables, the archangels keep another ledger of the immortals and mortals who have played the game over the centuries. This ledger also represents the possibility of change because the game allows characters to improve their fate. In both instances, ledgers symbolize people’s fates and how characters can change and improve themselves, oftentimes for the better. The ledgers also represent the unfixed nature of people’s morality. Although many cultural beliefs represent a duality in the understanding of good and evil, the ledgers show the possibility of changing a person’s fate, even in the afterlife.