Red Rising

Darrow wonders aloud if Mustang will go behind his back; she convinces him of her loyalty. Darrow orders that the army set out to take House Jupiter’s castle and build a larger battalion. The army hurries through hard snows, and spring suddenly arrives as they gather supplies from fallen castles. Darrow’s army surrounds Jupiter’s castle, and they surrender. Their leader is a thin, timid boy named Lucian.

That night they feast and enjoy their victory. Darrow announces that they will all become drunk. His army knows they only have Bacchus’s grape juice, not wine, and that he has a plan. Darrow sends Pax and his troop outside. Darrow acts friendly with Lucian in the warroom. 

Mustang enters and acts befuddled; Darrow tells her to join Pax outside. He lets Lucian discuss his past freely. Lucian asks Darrow to talk about himself, and Darrow asks Lucian to stick his hand out and fetch him a bag. Darrow overturns the bag, and rings from all Houses but Pluto spill out. 

Darrow stabs his dagger through Lucian’s hand and into the table beneath it. Darrow says, “Jackal, I am Reaper” (345). He explains how he knew Lucian was the Jackal. Darrow’s army, finished playing drunk, stands behind him. Pax, Mustang, and their ranks are finding the Jackal’s hidden army. The Jackal reminds Darrow of his father’s ability to kill or promote Darrow after the game. Darrow knows a position with the ArchGovernor would improve his later rebellion, but he doesn’t want to let the Augustus family win. 

Pax enters and announces that they have beaten the Jackal’s army. Pax taunts the Jackal, who threatens him. Darrow promises the Jackal freedom if he cuts off the hand stuck to the table. The Jackal cuts his hand off. A Proctor delivers a sonic detonator to help the Jackal, who stabs Pax. The detonator goes off and sends Darrow and the Howlers flying. The Jackal comes for Darrow, but Pax lies on top of him and dies as the Jackal stabs him. 

The Howlers and Darrow set off to find the Jackal. Sevro tracks him into the mountains. Apollo’s Proctor arrives and takes out the Howlers. Darrow attacks Apollo, but his shields resist Darrow. They fight and rise into the air as Apollo’s gravBoots activate. Apollo says he has taken Mustang hostage and will hurt her if Darrow conquers the Jackal. 

Darrow yells, “I’m going to rip out your bloodydamn heart!” (353), and Apollo beats him and lets him go. Darrow activates the gravBoots he took from Fitchner and stabs Apollo through the eye socket with his knifeRing. Apollo falls to the ground, dead. Darrow tells the Howlers they will conquer Olympus. 

Darrow takes Apollo’s weapons. He and Sevro wear gravBoots and lift all the Howlers as they fly to Olympus. Darrow encounters Venus lounging in her quarters, and they tie her up. They take Juno and Vulcan as well and descend through the levels of the Proctors’ headquarters. Darrow faces off with Mercury’s Proctor, a skilled fighter, and defeats him. 

The Proctors of Jupiter and Minerva attack Darrow’s troops, who retreat. Jupiter injures Darrow with a razor, the only weapon that can penetrate a pulseShield, and Darrow attacks him ferociously. They fall down a flight of stairs and through a window. Jupiter approaches Darrow in the snow and tells him he will die by the ArchGovernor’s wrath. Darrow says he will win and edit the holo footage, both to impress the Drafters and expose Augustus’s cheating and bribery. 

Darrow gives the signal to Sevro, who is hiding in a ghostCloak. Sevro attacks Jupiter and leaves him severely injured. Milia tells Darrow they discovered Olympus’s armory and Mustang’s location. 

Darrow enters Mustang’s quarters and tells the servants inside to leave. He finds her sleeping in a corner of the room. He tells her what the army has accomplished and kisses her. He longs to take her to the nearby bed but decides against it. He sends her to steal the Jackal’s standard. He tells Sevro to edit the footage the Drafters will see. 

Darrow brings Fitchner to Olympus, and he is relieved at Sevro’s safety and Darrow’s victory. Fitchner offers information in exchange for Darrow to explain his extreme competitiveness in the game. Darrow lies that his family wanted him to exceed their low status. Fitchner says that Darrow must face Cassius, as well as the fallout from the death of Apollo and the exposure of Augustus’s trickery. Fitchner reveals that the Jackal and Mustang are twins. 

Darrow marshals his army to prepare for a battle against the Jackal and Mustang. He and the Howlers travel to House Mars in gravBoots. Darrow finds Antonia, Vixus, and Cassandra hung from crosses. He and the Howlers overtake those present at the castle. Darrow greets a spindly Roque. Pollux greets Darrow and tells him not to kill Cassius. 

Darrow apologizes for Julian’s death upon seeing Cassius in the warroom. Cassius admits defeat and declares that they are enemies, bound to kill each other if their paths ever cross again. Darrow takes the Primus badge and Mars flag and sees his Reaper sign on every castle on the map. 

Darrow’s army of 300, newly outfitted with weapons from the armory, prepares to encounter the Jackal and his sister Mustang in battle. Mustang and her troops arrive, and she gives Darrow the Jackal, tied up and naked before him. “I have won” (375), Darrow declares. 

Ships arrive at Olympus as Darrow awaits with his army and the Proctors, all bound except Fitchner. Sevro tells him that in the footage he edited, he could cut out Darrow’s utterance of bloodydamn just before he killed Apollo’s Proctor. The Institute’s Director, Clintus, compliments Darrow’s win and tells him many prestigious apprenticeship offers await. Darrow participates in a ceremony and learns of a grand party to come in Agea. 

ArchGovernor Nero au Augustus speaks with Darrow about the Jackal’s loss, and Darrow promises discretion. Augustus plans to buy Darrow’s silence with leadership opportunities and elite privileges within his house. The ArchGovernor and Darrow dispute how long his lieutenants’ loyalty will last now that the game is finished. Darrow misses his family and considers his decision, anticipating murdering Augustus one day. 

He decides to accept the ArchGovernor’s offer and swears an oath to him in front of all present: “I will forsake my father. I will abandon my name. I will be your sword. Nero au Augustus, I will make my purpose your glory” (382). Augustus speaks a commission over Darrow.