I need a weapon,” Valkyrie muttered. You’re an Elemental with a Necromancer ring, trained in a variety of martial arts by some of the best fighters in the world,” Skulduggery pointed out. I’m fairly certain that makes you a weapon.” I mean a weapon you hold. You have a gun, Tanith has a sword... I want a stick.” I’ll buy you a stick for Christmas.

This exchange plays on the series’ recurring contrast between Valkyrie Cain’s growing supernatural capability and her lingering desire for something simple, tangible, and reassuring. Skulduggery’s dry reminder—that she is already, effectively, a weapon—frames power as embodied skill and identity rather than an external tool. Valkyrie’s insistence on “a stick” underscores her youth and practicality: she wants an object that feels controllable and familiar amid escalating danger. The humor (“I’ll buy you a stick for Christmas”) also highlights their mentor–protégé dynamic, where affection is expressed through sarcasm and understatement, softening the darker implications of violence and self-conception.