“How far would he have to travel to find the remnants of what had been a healthy, vigorous people?” 

Even Doro, who is an agent of change and disruption, is undergoing an upheaval which not even he can control. He is coming to understand that the continent in which he was raised is being fundamentally transformed by the trans-Atlantic slave trade. He never does find his missing villagers.

“Anyanwu’s ears and eyes were far sharper than those of other people. She had increased their sensitivity deliberately after the first time men came stalking her, their machetes ready, their intentions clear.” 

No matter how fantastic the Anyanwu’s and Doro’s science fictional abilities are, Butler situates them within the real world of trauma and reaction. She and Doro have already experienced multiple “deaths” before this one; their chief superpower is their ability to live on and learn from them.

“You exist and you are different. That was enough to attract me.” 

The connection between Anyanwu and Doro has many facets. Importantly, it is one of dominance and coercion. Yet both are special, drawn together by the trauma of having lived multiple lives and deaths. Thiers is a codependent relationship.