Loretta Thurwar is the novel’s protagonist and one of the highest-ever-ranked members of Chain-Gang All-Stars. Thurwar originally joined the CAPE program expecting to die; imprisoned for a murder she couldn’t forgive herself for, and subjected to torture, she did not expect to see or believe that she deserved High Freedom. Thurwar’s horrific imprisonment, which featured solitary confinement and torture by Influencer technology, which induces unprecedented physical pain and erodes mental health, speaks to the fact that in the world of the novel, many incarcerated people become CAPE fighters only to escape cruel imprisonment conditions—thus putting into question the idea that Links are there by choice. The CAPE program is thus an allegory for the real-world penal system, arguing that it embraces torturous punishment rather than rehabilitation.

Thurwar’s journey plays out the theme of Love and Forgiveness as Restorative Justice. Thurwar struggles to forgive herself: She was imprisoned for committing murder, which she knows was morally wrong and deeply regrets. Since then, she has killed many more people in CAPE battles—work that requires her to dehumanize her opponents and somehow get over killing extremely vulnerable and weak combatants like the teenager Teacup.