This is a small thing in the grand scope of the entire Earthsea Cycle, but I want to highlight the sword of Erreth-Akbe for a minute. Here we have a legendary sword, one that an ancient mage defeated a dragon with, a battle of so much cultural significance that they put the sword atop the highest tower in the capital city in the heart of the realm. Any time the city is visited or mentioned, there's some romantic description of the way it glints in the sunlight high above everyone. It has all the trappings of A powerful magic item, or A Secret Tool That Will Be Important Later, and yet, no one in the books ever does anything with it. And I honestly think that's kind of a flex? It's like the anti-Chekhov's gun. On the surface you could argue it's a red herring, or thoughtless set-dressing, but I think it's a really clever hidden-in-plain-sight symbol. One of the recurring themes of the Earthsea books is looking critically at cultural assumptions and power structures and making choices that may fall outside of those. Having the wisdom to seek balance with the world/with oneself rather than simply adhering to what is expected and trying to defeat your problems with power. And in that sense the sword is kind of like a meta discussion with the reader about the assumptions we bring into fantasy. Do the characters in this story need a magic sword? What would they actually do with it? How would a weapon help, and why do we assume it would? Ursula K LeGuin puts this traditional fantasy hallmark up high for you to admire, but it's on the shelf narratively. It may be a symbol that people (in our world, and in Earthsea) revere, but as alluring as it may be it's not the answer to the world's problems. There is no one simple answer.
