Throughout most of These Hollow Vows, Brie operates on incorrect or incomplete information. Part of this comes from her own incorrect assumptions about the fae, which is partially because others intentionally hide information from her and partially because different characters are magically bound from revealing certain information. Though all these sources of misinformation or mystery affect the way Brie moves through Faerie on her quest to save her sister, they prove to have different levels of effect—and different methods to overcome the obstacles they set in her path.

Brie’s assumptions prove to be the most widespread source of misinformation for her in the text, and yet they ultimately become the easiest for Brie to overcome. Though Brie does not make the decision to stay in Faerie until the end of the novel, she quickly realizes that her assumptions about faeries as a whole comes from ignorance and bigotry. As she meets Finn and her allies—especially Lark, Pretha’s young daughter—she learns that assuming that all faeries are good or evil is as misguided as assuming that all humans are good or evil. She increasingly learns to understand that the societies of Faerie and Elora have more in common than they have differences, and she comes to see good and evil as a personal matter or, more frequently, one that follows the corrupting forces of power.