Imago

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of sexual assault.

Jodahs enters the forest with its five parents and five younger siblings. They discover that resisters have destroyed one of Lilith’s gardens, but Lilith doesn’t resent the vandals. She has been raising gardens for other humans to use despite their view of her as a traitor. Both Tino and Lilith feel guilty for choosing to live with the Oankali. To everyone’s shock, Nikanj advises the family to be prepared to kill any resisters if necessary. Oankali fundamentally oppose violence and death, but their exile has made them vulnerable. Nikanj will try to heal any injured humans to avoid casualties. Jodahs thinks about how humans resent the Oankali, who treat them like children.

Jodahs and Aaor are paired siblings, meaning that one was born from a human mother and the other an Oankali mother, a few months apart. Paired siblings typically form a strong physical bond, but Aaor and Jodahs feel discomfort and avoid each other. Nikanj explains that ooloi have never had a paired sibling. Typical Oankali families have three children: a paired male and female, and a single ooloi.