Holiday ti Nakamura

They call her Six, meaning she’s always got your back.

Okay I'll bite, why do you think Virginia will step down as sovereign and who do you think will replace her?

Related thought: I was very into the idea of splitting the solar system into spheres of influence when Diomedes suggested it. Obviously his initial approach was naive. But it seems like a natural progression for the story, so I wouldn't be surprised if a Triumvirate does end up happening. Just need to pick a better third than 🙄Lysander🙄

Thank you for biting lol. The answer is Holiday!

I think it’s been foreshadowed quite a bit that Virginia will step down as sovereign once the war is done. In IG she tells Darrow that maybe after her term is up she won’t run for office again, and in DA when she’s escaping the citadel she vows that it’s the second to last time she leaves it, so clearly she’s had enough of the sovereigncy. And, to be honest, it seems many of the people have had enough of her. Yes the day of red doves was instigated by lilath and the abomination, but there had to have been resentment building for it to go off the way it did. And also, my girl deserves a BREAK. If she and Darrow both live they are heading off to a cabin in the middle of nowhere like “no one ever bother us again please and thank you.”

As for Holiday specifically as the replacement, I think it’s been foreshadowed as well. In DA, we find out she’s been reading Silenus’s meditations on Virginia’s recommendation, and Virginia says this:

And then in LB, she gives a rousing speech to what remains of the high command and victra says this:

We’ve seen her pull away from the howlers and more into virginias confidence over the last few books, and I think these two things could be setting her up as a replacement sovereign (or, honestly, a leader under a different title, as a signal that they are moving further away from the society).

And honestly, I think holiday would be a great candidate. She’s intelligent, level headed, firm but willing to compromise, humble without being a pushover. She’s an important figure in the initial rising, a long time son of ares, and she’s also got a legion military background, so I think she’s in a unique position to understand both the supporters and the skeptics of the republic.

She also has absolutely no desire for that kind of power, which is one of the qualities that make the best leaders, because she won’t become power hungry and abuse her position. And most importantly, she’s not a member of the previous ruling class. If the republic ever wants to move forward with true equality, they can’t keep handing the reigns from gold to gold to gold.

I also think, assuming Virginia lives and steps down willingly, she’d be a great confidante to holiday and be able to help her bear the weight of all those people. She’s mentioned how lonely the morning chair is, and I think she’d be more than willing to be an understanding ear if holiday took it over, since they’ve become so close.

Also, yeah, the spheres of influence really intrigued me when diomedes brought it up, especially since we saw how so many of the citizens of mercury were vehemently against the rising. I could see someone else (not Lysander obviously, as I suggested maybe Cicero since he got more focus than I expected this time around and he seems fed up with war already and more willing to lay down arms than, say, Julia au Bellona) ruling the core with some version of the hierarchy still intact but without the unwilling subjugation of anyone who doesn’t actively choose to, as diomedes said “give up their freedom in exchange for security.” Idk it doesn’t seem ideal, but this series is all about exploring the little gray areas.

Ephraim: I don’t care about anyone or anything, much less my own life—

Holiday: We have Volga.

Ephraim:

I immediately like Holiday and Trigg

1.3.3 Morning Star by Pierce Brown

SPOILERS

Pages: 518

Read Time: 11 hour and 4 minutes

Overall Rating: ★★★★★ Storyline: ★★★★★ Dialogue: ★★★★★ Characters: ★★★★★

Genre: Adult Science Fiction

TWs for the book: Violence, war, torture, gore, death, murder, blood, su*c*de, confinement, paranoia, cursing, classism, gun violence, slavery, kidnapping, body horror, emotional abuse, genocide, physical abuse, racial slurs (in accordance with the races of this universe), sexism, su*c*dal thoughts, xenophobia, grief, cannibalism, medical trauma, colonization, drug use, self harm, PTSD

POV: First person; Darrow

Time Period/Location: A future of genetically enhanced and segregated humans across the Solar System, including Mars, Io, Earth, Luna (Earth’s Moon), and the outskirts of Jupiter.

First Line: I rise into darkness, away from the garden they watered with the blood of my friends.

After the tragedy of the Triumph at the end of Golden Son, Morning Star opens a year later, with Darrow imprisoned by the Jackal in a stone box. He is slowly going insane from the darkness, but, just as he is about to end it all, he is slowly lifted from it. The entire time he was inside a stone table, and it has been 9 months that he has been in the box, after being tortured for 3. He is being given by the Jackal to Cassius au Bellona and Aja au Grimmus so the Sovereign can have him dissected. He is taken by Legion XVIII Grays, and during this, rescued by two of them, brother and sister, Holiday and Trigg ti Nakamura. On their way out they encounter Vixus, who reveals that Victra is alive. Darrow demands they free her, which reveals their escape. Darrow kills Vixus, and they escape into a tunnel dug by clawDrills with the help of Ragnar, Sevro, and the Sons of Ares, who Sevro now leads as Ares. This, however, costs Trigg’s life. Darrow awakes in the underground Sons of Ares run city of Tinos. His entire Red family is there, as is Dancer, Sevro, and Ragnar. Sevro reveals to Darrow a lot of things, such as Darrow’s Carving being made public after the Society fake executed him as a Gold and not a Red spy, that the Moon Lords of Jupiter and the rest of the outer Rim planets had rebelled with the aid of Mustang and the Telemanus family, and that Sevro had taken Darrow’s original Red eyes in place of his Gold ones. Darrow undergoes another carving by Mickey to restore him back to how he was, but has his sigils removed so his hands are bare. They go on bigger and bigger missions till Darrow, Victra, and Holiday are inducted as Howlers. Sevro then decides to move on with their mission to economically collapse the society by kidnapping Quicksilver, the richest Silver in the Solar System and the Jackal’s silent partner, and bombing Phobos. They smuggle into Phobos and find Matteo, the pink that trained Darrow in Aureate society before he went to the Institute, but Sevro breaks his jaw when he doesn’t know where Quicksilver is. They head to his office, and are shocked to find Mustang, Kavax au Telemanus, Moira au Grimmus (sister to Aja), and Cassius brokering a peace treaty between the Moon Lords and the Sovereign. Sevro goes off the walls, drunk on power, and begins a battle. Moira dies, Cassius and Mustang escape, and Kavax, Matteo, and Quicksilver are taken prisoner. Darrow assumes control from Sevro and they escape in the void of space out the window and into the back of Holiday’s ship. Once back in the Sons of Ares safe house, they stress on how to escape, and then go to question Quicksilver. He reveals he was the original Son of Ares all along after having found it with Fitchner. Darrow and Sevro fight, and Sevro defers leadership to Darrow. In order to save the Sons of Ares on Phobos and cause a ruse for another plan, he starts a rebellion of all the lowColors on the moon. As the rebellion rages and he is assumed to be on Phobos, him, Holiday, and Ragnar escape in a ship headed for the south pole of Mars, where they plan to raise an Obsidian army and lead them out of slavery. Mustang also accompanies them on this journey, saying she needs proof that Darrow is fighting for the right cause. After the Obsidians challenged Gold years back, the Golds had marooned them on the poles of the planets, brainwashing them into thinking Golds are Asgardian gods and that their technology is magic to keep them in check. Ragnar intends to show his tribe the way to freedom and have them join the Rising, but they are shot down by Cassius and Aja. They fight off cannibals and snow storms and Carved monsters, but eventually track down Cassius and Aja. Mustang shoots Cassius through the throat and he survives but is subdued, and Aja brings down Ragnar before stumbling off of a cliff. As he lay dying, his sister and her Valkyrie arrive on griffins. He tells her to live for more, and then dies. This leaves Darrow, Holiday, and Mustang to entreat Ragnar and Sefi’s mother, Alia Snowsparrow, to join their cause and tell her people the Golds are false gods. She knew already, however, and tells Sefi to turn them into the Golds on the floating mountain of Asgard. Sefi takes them, but not before making a deal with Darrow to let him prove to her the gods are false, and he does, killing Procter Mercury, who was disguised as Loki, and another Gold disguised as Freya. They capture the rest of the Golds in the mountain, return to the tribe, and present them to the war council and Alia. She demands the Golds freed so Sefi beheads Alia, and then slowly kills all of the Golds. Several weeks later, she has united the Obsidian tribes of south Mars, and leads them all back to Tinos. Their next move is to sail to Io to convince Romulus au Raa to ally with them against the Society’s Sword Armada, led by none other than Roque au Fabii. Darrow convinces/tricks them into an alliance, and they defeat the Sword Armada. Roque kills himself before being taken prisoner or disgraced, and Antonia flees, but is soon caught. Darrow destroys Romulus’s ship port, framing Roque for it, so the Moon Lords will not be a threat to him for the rest of the war. They broadcast that they are sailing to Mars when they actually sail for Luna.  During this time, the Obsidians revolt after Darrow’s uncle Narol was publicly executed by the Jackal. They hang Gold prisoners and attempt to hang Cassius, but Sevro proves a point that they need to be better by hanging himself. Cassius and Sevro fortunately survive the display, and shortly after Victra and Sevro are married. They sail on Luna, and, after rebonding with Cassius, Darrow decides to let him go before one of the Obsidians or Reds sneak into the prison during the battle and kills him. He betrays them however, and kills Sevro, captures Darrow and Mustang, frees Antonia, and escapes. They bring Darrow, Mustang, and Sevro’s body before the Jackal, and the Jackal demands Cassius to cut off Darrow’s sword hand, which he does. He then takes them before the Sovereign. Octavia executes Antonia for her cowardice during the battle in the Rim, and then starts live-streaming the execution of Darrow. The Jackal demands to put him down, but instead, Cassius reveals the entire thing was a trick and starts killing the Praetorians in the room. Together, Darrow, Mustang, Cassius, and the now revived, not dead at all Sevro take down the Truth Knight and the Joy Knight, pin the Jackal to the floor, cut Octavia’s belly open, and kill Aja. They let the Sovereign die, leaving her grandson Lysander alive, and then hear the Jackal laugh. He begins to instruct his Bonerider, Lilath, to detonate 30 megaton nuclear warheads all over Luna. He gets around 15 of them off before Darrow rips out his tongue and the Ash Lord destroys Lilath’s ship. Mustang becomes the new Sovereign of the Society, and the Jackal is hanged. The Ash Lord flees to Mercury, and Cassius takes Lysander with him to start a new life. At the end of the book, Mustang and Darrow are on Earth where she reveals that she has been keeping a secret from him. Another ship with Darrow’s family and the Telemanus family arrive, and he is introduced to his and Mustang’s son, Pax. 

Darrow O’Lykos (The Reaper of Mars; The Morning Star): Darrow’s humbling at the hands of the Jackal is some serious character growth that was much needed. He realizes that he and the people around him are not invincible, and is more willing to make sacrifices and smarter decisions. The reveal of him having a son with Mustang is a lovely closing arc (despite there being more books). Eo and their child was lost, but he gained a new life, in a better world with Mustang and their son, the ultimate reward for his sacrifices. The grace he shows for Roque, Cassius, and Thistle despite what they have done to him show him to be a true judge of character.  The only thing I wish had been shown more was his PTSD from the Jackal. Granted he does have it, and it is shown, but I felt as though there could have been better representation of that. 

Cassius au Bellona (The Morning Knight): Cassius has one of the best redemption arcs I have ever seen, starting with when he covers the naked and tortured Darrow after he is brought out of the Jackal’s box with his own Morning Knight cloak. Darrow never gives up on him, even when they are enemies, and it eventually gets through to him. He shows grace, mercy, true honor, and a lack of the “revenge/blood for blood” motto he has in the first and second book. It was a really scary plot twist to go from Cassius being good, to him “killing” Sevro and “capturing Mustang and Darrow”, to him then being revealed as good again. 

Sevro au Barca (Goblin; Ares): I’m sorry but you will be hard pressed to find a more badass scene than when Sevro hangs himself to save Cassius. 

Storyline: The storyline of this book is exquisite. It keeps you on your toes the whole time, and everything flows together really well. Everything makes sense (no “Game of Thrones finale” endings here). Nothing magically resolves itself, there are no plot holes, and the author isn’t shy about killing major characters (RIP Ragnar, Roque, Lorn, Tactus, Quinn, Lea, Pax, Fitchner, and Uncle Narol).

Representation: Orion xe Aquarii, Thistle, and Aja au Grimmus are the only people of color explicitly mentioned. Quicksilver proclaims very proudly that Matteo is his husband. Holiday explains that her brother Trigg was engaged to a man named Ephraim. There are more comments alluding to the fact that Roque and Tactus were involved, and Tactus’ brother makes a joke asking if him and Darrow were involved, as Darrow “wouldn’t have been the first.”

Summary: The plot twists of this book, the secret plans, the bold moves, the character development, the gut wrenching emotions, the entertaining and powerful dialogue, all combines into a serious masterpiece of a book and a great ending to the first part of the series. It has a heavy happy ending; there are still problems, nothing is perfect, they only arrived there through blood, sweat, tears, and death, but everything is good, because they have won, and Darrow has gotten back what he lost in a new way. 

Quotes:  “All deeds that last are painted in blood.” (pg. 5) “’I will give Eo your love. I will make a house for you in the Vale of your fathers. It will be beside my own. Join me there when you die.’ He grins. ‘But I am no builder. So take your time. We will wait.’”-Ragnar Volarus (pg. 237) “’This is always how the story would end, Adrius,’ I say down to him. ‘Not with your screams. Not with your rage. But with your silence.’”-Darrow O’Lykos (to Adrius au Augustus) (pg. 501) “’A man thinks he can fly, but he is afraid to jump. A poor friend pushes him from behind.’ He looks up at me. ‘A good friend jumps with.’” “Justice isn’t about fixing the past, it’s about fixing the future. We’re not fighting for the dead. We’re fighting for the living. And for those who aren’t yet born.”-Darrow O’Lykos “And I wonder, in my last moments, if the planet does not mind that we wound her surface or pillage her bounty, because she knows we silly warm things are not even a breath in her cosmic life. We have grown and spread, and will rage and die. And when all that remains of us is our steel monuments and plastic idols, her winds will whisper, her sands will shift, and she will spin on and on, forgetting about the bold, hairless apes who thought they deserved immortality.”-Darrow O’Lykos “If your heart beats like a drum, and your legs a little wet, it’s because the Reaper’s come to collect a little debt.”-Sevro au Barca “Man is no island. We need those who love us. We need those who hate us. We need others to tether us to life, to give us a reason to live, to feel.” “What is pride without honor? What is honor without truth? Honor is not what you say. It is not what you read.” Romulus thumps his chest. “Honor is what you do.”-Romulus au Raa

Day 28: Float

I remove my gloves and clench my right fist in the air as Eo did before she died, but unlike Eo, my hands bare no sigils. Removed by Mickey when I was carved in Tinos. I am the first soul in hundreds of years to walk without them.

One of my favorite scenes in the whole rr saga

Holiday and Trigg 🤭🌠

Random headcanons that have no bearing on the plot:

When Pax grows up, he is his mother’s height at most. Very tall for a Red but short for a non-Bronzie Gold. Sevro is in denial that Pax is taller than him until the difference is too much to ignore.

Electra on the other hand is Victra’s height and bullies Pax mercilessly about it. She’ll lean her elbow on his head, look around in mock bewilderment like she can’t see him, that sort of thing.

Calypso is the opposite. She is her father’s height but has her mother’s looks. She enjoys teaming up with Electra against Pax even though he is taller than her.

Diana-Selene is an enigma. She looks related to her sisters but isn’t obviously Barca or Julii either way. She’s bubbly and excitable. No one understands where she came from. Still, in some ways, she scares Pax more than Electra does.

Pax has a celebrity crush on Cassius. Cassius is the only major Rising figure he has never met, so there is a certain mystique about him. On rare occasions, Darrow would talk about him with a weird mix of fondness and wistfulness. So Pax associates Cassius with good things. Pax knows the bad things Cassius did but he can’t help the positive association through his father. (Virginia talks about Cassius even less and is strictly neutral and guarded.) Talking about Cassius agitates Electra, though, so Pax keeps this all to himself.

Cassius and Julian met Apollonius several times growing up since he and Karnus were drinking partners. Apple’s personality stressed Julian out but Cassius, like Darrow, was fascinated by his flamboyancy.

Before the Institute, for a year or two, Julian was obsessed with Rim culture. He even studied Japanese since it’s still commonly spoken there. This baffled Cassius but it made Julian happy so he endured the obsession. Cassius still understands some Japanese to this day but can’t speak or read it. Karnus made sure to crush Julian’s spirit about liking Moonie stuff at every chance because he hated anything Julian liked on principle.

Pytha has known Cassius since he was born. They obviously weren’t close at the time, but she crossed paths with the Bellona kids often enough for Cassius to know her name. He is grateful for their serendipitous reunion after the Rising. It is comforting to have even a small piece of House Bellona with him. Still, he was a bit startled by how fast she adjusted to calling him by his first name rather than dominus, even though he insisted on it.

Pytha loved to blast loud techno in the Archi. Lysander always hated it. Cassius did at first too but he grew fond of it over time. He’ll never admit it though.

After living on the Archi for so long, Cassius is used to living in cramped spaces, and fighting space pirates in tight corridors. Wide open areas make him nervous. Sort of the opposite of Darrow’s claustrophobia, but it’s not a full blown PTSD symptom in this case.

Cassius enjoys playing Karachi. Lysander hates it because it relies on reading people rather than strict game logic. (I’m pretty sure that was stated somewhere in Iron Gold, actually, but I can’t find it.) Diomedes is weirdly good at the game, like to a scary degree. Ajax hates card and board games in general. He only ever played them with his mother because she never judged him harshly for making bad moves.

Holiday used to third wheel at Trigg and Ephraim’s outings early on in their relationship because Trigg was too nervous to go alone. After they became more established, they did go on dates with just the two of them, but Holiday would still often join them because they had a lot of fun together. It turned out Holiday and Ephraim got along really well. In the end, Trigg often had to do damage control on their appalling behavior when they got too drunk and unruly.

Incorrect Red Rising Quotes

Darrow and Sevro: [hugging and crying after resolving a fight between them]

Holiday, confused: Are- Are they in love?

Mustang: Yes, very much so.

One moment in Morning Star that is severly slept on is Darrow opening up to Holiday of all people about his experience on Attica. He talked when he felt ready, was not pressured whatsoever and answered Holi, because she saw him there, had an actual idea of what he's been through, not just the...results, so he felt comfortable opening up to her.

That was actually the moment I started to like Holi. She also opened up about stuff, she was genuinely concerned and she cared about Darrow and his state of mind, not just curious or preoccupied with the mission.

All my heart goes to fierce women who are able to crush me, but who, in a perfect universe, would choose not to due to their soft side.

In other words,

I am a bottom.

(CREDITS:

Aja & Victra drawings: @phantomrin

Sefi: @pallasillustration

Thraxa & Holiday: @violetfeverdreams )

Holiday ti Nakamura, the dragoon turned Howler and winner of the fan voting contest!

I really really like how she turned out! Like all the women of Red Rising, she’s a wonderfully complex badass. Hope you guys like her!

Instagram: pallasillustration

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/V7V0ST11

So, Mustang made a little comment about Holiday’s husband. She’s married? I want to meet this guy! I bet he’s super chill. Holiday gets more than enough drama from her friends and her job.

Red Rising Character Designs: Holiday ti Nakamura

“Look past our Color,” Holiday says. She reaches a tattooed hand down. I stare at the Gray Sigils etched into her flesh, then look up to search her freckled, bluff face. Eo’s words sound so different from her mouth. Yet I think it’s the moment my soul comes back to me.

Signed, Sealed and Delivered

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader Summary: Day 10 of my 25 Days of Christmas Celebration Calendar.  Y/N gets Fury an early Christmas present. Fury is not very jolly, or so they think. Words: 1040 Warnings: Fluff, alcohol, drugging. A/N: If you liked this please leave feedback/reblogs and consider donating to my Ko-Fi and/or Patreon, links are in my bio. If you would like to be tagged in future works please send me an ask. Merry Christmas! 😘🎄🎅🤶

It is the day before Christmas Eve and Y/N is sitting in one of the conference rooms, waiting for the debrief to start after having just gotten back with Bucky and Clint from a mission in the Maldives. Freshly showered, dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans, fuzzy reindeer socks, and a red cashmere sweater, she lounges back in her chair with a cup of hot chocolate while Bucky and Clint sit on either side of her when Fury, Steve, Tony, and Maria Hill walk in.

Fury tosses down a picture on the table of a middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair, dressed in only a bright red speedo and bound with his hands behind his back and a bright red and green bow on his head. "Agent y/l/n, would you care to explain what that is?"

"An early Christmas present for you, Director," Y/N grins cheerily while Bucky and Clint try to hide their grins behind their hands.

"And how exactly did this present end up unconscious in a broom closet of the Soneva Jani hotel?" Fury asks as he takes a seat opposite her.

"Well, you see, it happened like this..."

Y/N, Bucky, Clint had been tailing Thomas Riddle Jr for the past week while he was in the Maldives for a 'business trip'. In reality, he was setting up meetings between their good friends AIM and Hydra to exchange information and weapons of mass destruction.

Currently, y/n was lounging at the bar, drinking her pina colada (non-alcoholic, of course since she was on the job), while Bucky and Clint were hanging out on the lounge chairs close to Riddle and his entourage. From the corner of her eye, y/n saw Riddle get up and saunter his way over to her in his speedo, over-oiled chest gleaming and what she assumed was supposed to be a seductive smile, but in reality, just came off as creepy. She pretended to ignore him as he slid into the seat next to her and flagged down the barman. "One old-fashioned and whatever the lady is drinking," he ordered in a thick English accent. Once the barman left to make their drinks he turned to her, resting his hand on her lower back. "So, what is a goddess like you doing all alone in a place like this?"

Plastering a coy smirk onto her face she leaned in closer to him and batted her eyelashes, her hand landing high on his upper thigh. "I'm just waiting for a gorgeous, English knight in shining armor to sweep me off my feet," she says sweetly as she hands him his drink.

"Well, gorgeous, it looks like today is your lucky day," he grins cockily as he downs his drink before taking her hand in his, "What do you say we get out of here, my damsel in distress?"

"Lead the way, handsome," she smirks mischievously as he leads her away from the pool area and into the hotel, unseeing of the two figures shadowing them. When they reached an empty hallway inside the main building she pushed him up against the wall, leaning in close to whisper into his ear, "What are AIM and Hydra up to?"

"They are planning a takedown of the Avengers facility in upstate New York in order to capture the Avengers and torture them until they are as compliant as little lambs that they can use to take down the UN and all governments apart of it," he slurs out as he drags his lips up and down her neck before slumping over and snoring quite loudly.

Y/N brings her hand up to her ear to press on the comm device hidden by her hair. "Did you boys get that?" she asks as she pushes Riddle off of her so that he falls to the floor and continues sleeping.

"Loud and clear boss," Clint says through the comms as he and Bucky round the corner with Bucky looking very much like a sulking child.

"Did he have to touch you so much? I was about 2 nano-seconds away from ripping his hand off," he pouts as he draws his girl into his arms for a tight embrace, the fabric of the camouflage wrap on his metal arm feeling delightfully cool on her sun-warmed skin.

"He was. This guy is lucky that serum took effect when it did," Clint snorts from where he lounges against the wall. "So, what do you wanna do with this guy until Shield gets here?"

Y/N gets a mischievous glint in her eyes that immediately spells trouble. Running up to their room, she comes back with the new instant-lock cuffs Tony designed as well as a red and green hair ribbon and some duct tape. Working quickly, she cuffs his arms behind his back, tapes his mouth closed and ties the ribbon into his hair in a pretty, festive bow before Clint and Bucky shove him into the maintenance closet since it wasn't safe to keep him in his room or leave him in the hall for anyone to see. After radioing Shield on where to find their prisoner, the three of them went back outside to enjoy the last of the warm climate before they had to head home.

"So you see, director, I just wanted to add a little holiday flair to brighten your day," y/n smiles innocently.

"I see. Well, luckily for you, once Riddle woke up and heard his own confession he was more than willing to provide us with all the intel we needed to prevent the attack, as well as shut down several other operations in exchange for the comfort and safety of the Raft. So, well done. But if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I will personally ensure that you get back to back sparring sessions with agents Romanoff, Hill and Captain Danvers. Now get the hell out of here!" Fury dismisses them.

Bucky and Clint are quick to make their escape, but y/n turns around at the door to give them all a salute and a cheery "Merry Christmas!" before she's out the door and down the hallway.

Nick merely shakes his head, whispering beneath his breath, "Merry Christmas indeed, agent y/l/n."

Tags:

@mcdesij @spiderrrling @arrow-guy @interestedbystanderwrites @murdocksmartinis @gwendelerynan @here2have-fun @bookscoffeeandracoons @bambamwolf87 @loricameback @rockrchick51 @love-nakamura @baebeepeach @timelordy-fangirl2 @jewelofwinter @caramell0w @jewels2876 @ladysergeantbarnes @notawritergettingtherethough @patzammit @fanfictionjunkie1112 @lumar014 @kirstie-evans-writes @robertdowneyhiddleston @lil-lex1 @dragonrosegardens @bookgirlunicorn @farfromshawn @shadymidge @kaithezaftig @that-place-called-middle-earth

Dark Age Reread Questions and Observations!

I just reread Dark Age (much slower this time!) and picked up on some things I didn't really catch the first time around. A few questions and topics for discussion:

1. Obviously we didn't get much of the Rim in this book. There's been a lot of talk of Diomedes and some of Dido -- I'm curious about Marius and Pandora, who were introduced in IG but weren't mentioned at all in DA. What do you see their roles being in Book 6?

2. Is Pytha really going to stick with Lysander? Based on Lysander's last chapter monologue about "honor and cruelty in moderation," I'm expecting we're going to see him getting even darker in Book 6. Will Pytha have his back no matter what, or will her affection for Cassius get in the way? I think we're likely to see her betray him.

3. Who poisoned Kalindora? I think we can be reasonably confident it wasn't Darrow, as he never made any mention of poisoning his blade and has never done so in the past (wouldn't Lysander have checked the remnants of his slingBlade for poison after picking it up? What a dumbass). The obvious answer is Atalantia, but it almost feels so obvious that it might be a red herring. But who else could it be? Atlas?

4. What's the whole deal with Figment? The Fig we knew mentioned that she stole something from Quicksilver. Was it the parasite? The orb? What can we learn from what little the parasite has told Lyria? It mentions new protocols being implemented for "Énatos Figment" and "Sfaíra Access granted." Anyone know the etymology of those words, and what they may hint at? They seem like they might be Greek. Where is The Womb (Somewhere on Oculus presumably?) and who is Astarte? The parasite tells Lyria "She was you." Does that mean she was the original Figment? Was she the Brown, or someone who came before? Lots of questions surrounding this plotline that I'm excited to see answered.

5. What happened to Rhonna and Colloway? I think the last we heard about them, Darrow was wondering if Rhonna made it to the Morning Star, and then speculating that it was bound to be a tomb anyway, and implying that their survival was all up to Char. Are they alive? Did they escape, or were they captured by Society forces?

Also, a few observations/predictions

1. I actually wrote a whole post about this one, but - Volga, as mentioned in her letter to Lyria, has Situs Inversus, a condition where her organs are all on the opposite sides of her body than they would normally be. This means, among other things, that her heart is on the right side of her body, not the left. It seems unlikely to me that this is going to be throwaway information. I think we're gonna see that discrepancy save her life next book.

2. There seems to be some history between Rhone ti Flavinius and Holiday ti Nakamura - if I have their history right, the Nakamuras were protegés to Rhone, and were in the Dracones legion with him (would that put him on Attica with them when they rescued Darrow?). I predict a confrontation between the two of them in Book 6. Coincidentally (or maybe not), they are now both the Dux to Lysander and Virginia respectively, the leaders of their factions.

3. We very likely met Lyria’s brothers. In one of the later chapters, when Darrow is preparing for Lysander’s attack, he sends three Red snipers to try to take Lysander down. He asks if they are brothers, and they say yes (since Lyria has only two living brothers, one of the three is probably Varon, Liam’s father and Lyria’s brother-in-law). There was a “dour” one (Likely Dagan) and a handsome one (probably Aengus or Varon). At least one of them made it to the Mound with Darrow (with a head wound) and probably survived. Seems like too much attention was paid to them at a climactic moment for them to be just random Reds.

4. In one of the final chapters, Lysander notes that the Archimedes escaped with Darrow, Cassius, Thraxa, Harnassus, and "the core of the Howlers" onboard. I think we can assume that that includes Screwface. I missed the fates of Thraxa and Screwface after my first read, but now it seems they are all alive, which is good.

5. On the topic of Rhonna - I think she's alive (unlikely to be killed offpage after surviving Lysander), and my dark horse prediction is that she is going to be the one to kill Lysander. There are a few others who are probably more likely (best odds on Cassius, then Atalantia, then Darrow or Ajax), but I think dying by Rhonna's hand would be very satisfying and earned after his murder of Alexandar and general racism towards her. Double points if she just pops him in the head.