1017

The Return, also known as 1017, is the last suriving member of the Burden, a group of Spackle who were enslaved by humans after the Spackle War. He was originally a house servant, living in his Mistress' garden with his One in Particular, a fellow Spackle with whom he had a special connection with.

He is the current Sky after the previous one was killed by David Prentiss, Sr.

Description[]

1017's skin is an odd shade of white, due to being part of the Burden. He also has a different type of lichen growing on him for clothing.

It was noted by Todd that 1017 made rude clicking sounds around them whenever he interacted with the human.

Personality[]

1017 is shown to be hateful towards humans and desired for revenge against them after the slaughter of the Burden and his family. He's defiant and rebellious. He's defensive and was upset that the Burden just accepted all the horrible things being done to them. He refuses help from others, even when he needs it. 1017 is withdrawn from the rest of the Land, spending most of his time by himself. He doesn't think he is truly a part of the Land. He was turned bitter and angry by the loss of his One in Particular and his time as a part of The Burden, though later in Monsters of Men he begins to change, becoming more understanding and making human allies. Though he is rude to The Sky at first, he ends up genuinely caring for him. He hates the idea of making peace with the humans and is eager to kill Todd. Despite this, he cannot kill. When he tried he stab Viola, he saw that she was banded like him and couldn't do it. He was unable to kill Ben as well. This showed that under all his grief and rage, he has a good side to him.

History[]

Chaos Walking[]

The Ask and the Answer[]

1017 first encounters Todd Hewitt in New Prentisstown, and the two have several altercations - 1017 is angry and vengeful because of the death of his One in Particular, directing this hate at Todd Hewitt, because Todd (known as "the Knife" to the Spackle) knows that the horrors he commits are evil.

When the Burden are finally murdered by Mayor Prentiss at the end of the novel, 1017 is the only one left alive so that he may return to his people to tell them of the horrors the humans have committed and lead them to war.

Monsters of Men[]

The rest of the Land were hesitant to welcome the Return at first, but quickly embraced him in spite of his reluctance. Unable to speak the true voice of his people because of his time in captivity, the Return became the charge of the Sky, the leader of the Land. He almost wages war on all settlers, but stops short because he realizes he is not doing what is right for the Land. With the knowledge that only peace can bring calamity, he lets the humans go.

The Sky began to mentor the Return, promising him his revenge against Todd Hewitt and the rest of the humans. As the war between their people raged on, the Return began to understand his enemy and grew close with Ben, Todd's adoptive father who the Spackle treated in his ill health. When the Sky is murdered by Mayor Prentiss, the role of the leader of the land passes to the Return, who becomes the new Sky and leads the final Spackle charge against the Mayor.

At the ocean, the new Sky charges towards Todd Hewitt, mistaking him for Mayor Prentiss as the two wear a similar uniform, not knowing that his true enemy is already dead. He shoots Todd with an acid rifle, killing him almost instantly. He admits that he was unsure whether it was really the Mayor or not.

He offers his own life to Viola, but she refuses to kill him as well as denying him forgiveness, so that he will regret his action for the rest of his life.

The Sky tries to rectify his mistakes, overseeing that Todd is brought into the Spackle camp and watched over the way that Ben was when he fell into the arms of death. He shelters Todd and his companions, hoping for a day when the Knife will awaken and he can finally receive the forgiveness he craves.

Relationships[]

Ben Moore[]

1017 was willing to revive Ben as part of forgiving the humans and helping Todd.

David Prentiss, Sr.[]

1017 despised David for killing his mate and enslaving his species. After the majority of The Burden were slaughtered, the Return desired for revenge against Prentiss.

"One in Particular"[]

1017's mate was a male Spackle. When he was killed by the Prentisstown army, 1017 expressed grief over his mate's death.

The Sky[]

The Sky was 1017's mentor before the leader's death. There were several accounts in which the Return mistrusted the Sky, as the Sky believed in peace while the Return did not.

Todd Hewitt[]

1017 initially despised Todd because he was a human who was killing The Land, unaware that Todd was forced to kill Spackle under Prentiss' rule. After accidentally shooting him with an acid rifle, the Sky was willing to heal Todd as forgiveness against the humans.

Viola Eade[]

1017 first interacted with Viola through a peace delegation, and knew about her through Todd's Noise. The Return initially tries to murder Viola to punish Todd for killing the Burden during the delegation, but stops when he sees that Viola's arm is infected with David's bands. Later, Viola yells at the Sky when he accidentally shoots Todd, and profusely apologizes before wanting to not live with his mistake for the rest of his life.

Trivia[]

1017 was named after the number on the brand on his arm put there by Davy before becoming the Sky.
It is implied that the Sky isolated the Spackle from humans after killing the Knife (Todd Hewitt).
Because 1017 had a male mate, he is the third LGBT+ character in the series alongside Ben Moore and Cillian Boyd.
1017 is called "The Return" by the Land because he "returned" to the Land and told them about the horrors of humans.