The story really picks up steam - the continuation of the origin story of Clare gives us the occasion to reflect upon the role of Claymores, and the rebellion of Teresa - the second reading revealed a more political book than I expected. Teresa not only rebels against her organization due to her act of justice - she notices that justice is far from the organization's objectives, and she understands that there is another meaning to her life. Clare offers her that meaning, but not the meaning that the organization set for her. So she rebels, knowing full well what awaits her.

The stacking of powers by levels is immature, and I think that the oversimplification of the levels is really problematic overall. Also, I'm a bit bothered by the splitting of the stories that go across volumes. Teresa of the Faint Smile ends here, and Marked for Dead starts here but doesn't end (it does in the next volume). And it's a shame, since this would've been solved with slightly thicker previous volumes - and, perhaps, they would've saved a volume or two.