a blind man from the distant Village of Healing. The man wears a blue shirt, which Kira's people are unable to make. The man is Kira's father, Christopher, who Kira long thought dead. Christopher reveals that he had been attacked years earlier by another hunter, who was jealous of his immediate potential of being a member on the Council of the Guardians. He was beaten and stabbed, blinding him. After being taken to the fields to die with the other rejected, injured, and dying citizens of their society, he was rescued by some people he could not see. They took him to the Village that he now lives in. This village is full of kind and helpful people, as opposed to the selfish residents of Kira's village. Matt excitedly explains that they know the way to make blue threads, and he brings plants that will allow Kira to do the same. After a long heartfelt reunion with his daughter, Christopher reveals that he has enemies on the council. The one who maimed him years before was none other than Jamison. He tearfully apologizes for taking so long to return to get her. Because of his memory loss caused by the beating and his loss of sight, he had no way of finding her. Matt had gone looking for a way to make blue for Kira and stumbled upon Christopher's village, leading to this eventual reunion. Kira begins to wonder if her mother's sudden death and the deaths of the two other orphans' parents were actually by the council's hand to acquire the young gifted children so that it could mould them into creating the future that it wants. Christopher cannot stay and is forced to return to his village. Kira, however, decides to stay in her own community to continue to embroider the Singer's robe and help improve her society. Matt is designated as the "eyes" that will help Christopher find his way back. It is implied that Thomas, Kira, and Jo, who are the new holders of the Gifts, have the opportunity to change the cycle of their society and to improve the conditions in which they live by using their gifts to influence the actions of their people vastly. At the end of the book, Matt tells Kira that in the Village, all are important and married, which she would have to do without in her society in