Empty Netters Podcast - Sci Fi Section Ep 11: Golden Son Chapters 18-24

Episode Date: October 7, 2026

We are diving deep into Pierce Brown’s world of the Red Rising saga. Join us for Chapters 18-24 of book 2, Golden Son. Using Lysander as a bartering chip, Darrow rescues the team from Aja while they drown in the river. Before they can escape, Aja attacks Quinn. They get her to the ship trying to save her life, and that’s when Tactus pulls his worst betrayal. Darrow and Sevro have a massive conversation. Chapters: 0:00 - Intro 1:27 - Chapter 18 Blood Stains  20:46 - Chapter 19 Stork  38:09 Chapter 20 Helldiver 46:39 - Chapter 21 I Will Come Meet You and Your Companion, Godchild  58:03 - Chapter 22 Fire Blossom Trust 1:19:00 - Chapter 24 Bacon and Eggs  1:26:45 - Honors  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Explorers, warriors, magi, intergalactic voyagers, and helldivers. Man your battle stations, draw your swords, and prepare for destiny. This is sci-fi section, a journey where we will be taking you through the epic expeditions of our favorite fantasy and sci-fi stories. The board is set. The pieces are moving. This adventure will be a deep dive. Dive, dive, rig for deep submergence into the world of Red Riders.

I am Dano, a little genius being carried around in a burlap sack held for ransom, and to my left is a devious degenerate, so addicted to Stimbs he cannot be trusted. C.P. Wands at the ready, and it is a swish and flick on that subscribe button. A swish and flick. It's easy. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it, and those who do not subscribe to this channel will never find these videos, so subscribe right now. Today, we are talking about chapters 18 through 24 of Golden Sun.

However, we have read this entire series. There will be spoilers galore if you venture any further. Do so with the knowledge that you may hear something you wish you hadn't. And now, we begin. Dero has claimed the sword arm of Cassius A. Bologna sending a ripple through the society. Now the sovereign makes a play to bring him into her ranks and take down Neroa Augustus and remove him from power. but Mustang, Severo and the Howlers have other plans. Chapter 18, Bloodstates.

Darrow and the Howlers jump from the window down towards the ground and make their way through the Citadel. Severo's prize and a sack slung over his shoulder. They make their way using grabboots silently through the villas where the Augustins are meant to be. The Bologna's will set to kill everyone they can find. But they can find nothing and no one in the bedrooms. Suddenly, a Jamfield hums to life encircling the entire encampment. Darrow notices people in ghost cloaks moving outside the windows. On the sixth level of the villa is where they finally find blood.

In the rooms, they discover dozens of pinks, browns and violets, slaughtered by the Bologna's. These servants never stood a chance. Darrow frantically searches for Theodore praying he won't find her murdered body, rage building inside him. On the next level, they find their first dead golds. Then, on the fourth, they break through a jam field and the noise of battle engulfs them. They smell smoke, blood, and explosions. Darrow cuts down four Praetorian grays in one stroke of his razor.

Obsidians and grays hunt down the Augustine golds. The grays turn on Darrow and the howlers. They make mincemeat of several, but not before Darrow sees a horde of obsidians and golds led by Carnus. They blast a hole in the ceiling all the way to the roof and use their grabboots to ascend into the sky. There they're intercepted by a Praetorian and a stained obsidian named Varga. Darrow demands to be taken to Aja to avoid any suspicion.

Aja doesn't like what Darrow seems to be up to, but knows he's protected by the sovereign for now. She tells him to go back to his room and this will be forgotten. Darrow says she's a disgrace for slaughtering low-colors and attempting to murder an entire family. He then signals clown to fly to him and present him with the bag. From the book, I open it up and pull out the air to the morning throne. I open it up and pull out the air to the morning throne like he's a freshly caught rabbit.

Lysander's hands and feet are bound gently, and a silk scarf has been tied over his mouth to keep him from making a noise. I untie it. Darrow tells Aja that she will let the rest of House Augustus leave on a ship that he has inbound, or he will kill the boy. It's a gamble, but one Aja can't afford to call the bluff on. The howlers dive into the pool where the survivors of House Augustus hide. They begin to emerge with all of Dero's friends, amongst others. Nero, the jackal, tactus, Roke, Theodora. Victra beams a smile when she sees Darrow and shouts to Aja from the book. I will remember you all with great joy, she laughs madly. Starting with you, Aja A grimace.

I will make a coat of your hide. The sovereign speaks into Ajas' calms, and she repeats her words to Darrow. From the book, The governor of Reyes sat upon his ice throne in his famed glass palace and asked one of my servants, Who are you to breathe fear into a man such as I? I, who have descended from the family that carved heaven from a place where once there was nothing but a hell of ice and stone? Who are you to make me bow? Then he struck the ash lord here under the eye with his scepter.

Go home to Luna. Go home to the core. the outer reach is for creatures of sterner spines. The governor of Rea did not bow. Now his moon is ash. His family is ash. He is ash. So run Darrow Ah Andromedus.

Run home to Mars. For my legions will follow you to the ends of this universe. As Zara ascends towards the ship to make their escape. Plan just inches from being executed perfectly. Aja moves. Quicker than any cat he has ever seen and grabs Quinn by the hair. Dera boards the ship as he watches her begin to bash Quinn's skull in, smiling at Darrow.

all the while. This whole section that we're reading today is so, I guess, except for the very end, is so intense, so much is happening. It's one of those sections where you, I almost have to read it twice because the first time through I'm just like this. And then you go through and I'm like, okay, actually what happened? I need to go reassess all the damage. And listen, after the gala, where we finally got a Darrow plan that went well, we are right

back to all hell, breaking loose every single time. anything goes down. Yeah, this is horrible. It's horrible. I actually joked every time I read this chapter specifically, it takes me a second to realize how much danger everyone is in because you kind of feel like, okay, Darrow just dominated the gala. He defeated Octavia with the Oracle.

He got his family to safety. You know, Augustus is like, get me out of here. And he's like, I got you. And I know Fitchner gets them, but he's like, just come with me. You know? So it almost is like Mustang summons the howlers. We're good here. And then you get in this chapter and they're like,

we are all dead. And I'm like, wait, what do you mean, dude? I thought we just won. And it's like, this is fucking brutal. And you are reminded quickly. I fucking hate Aja so much. I said this last time, dude. She is just so bad. It's like, I can't believe that in this moment, like I don't want people to sleep on what just happened to Quinn. Like this is a big deal. And in this chapter, we see Roke when he's pulled out of the pool, he sees Quinn and is so, so insanely happy. He's been desperate to see her again. We also know that Severo has feelings for Quinn. And for Aja in this moment to see Lysander

with a razor around his throat, to still make this move is just like, good God, you are a fucking weapon. It's horrible. I've always wondered this. Because the line, Darrow even says, he's like, why did Octavia say you can only spend Lysander once, idiot? I wonder if she said it. I would buy either way, Octavia or Asha, but I would buy Octavia going, kill one of them. That's Asha for sure.

Because he can't give you Lysander because otherwise they have to get away. Darrow even says, he's like, I'm actually lucky she didn't hurt more of, more. Oh, yeah, yeah. Which, well, I'll get to that point. The visual of Darrow, and sometimes I, there's one epic one in book three, I can't wait to get to, but sometimes I just have these visuals of what is happening in my mind, even though it's not exactly what's being described. Yeah.

But in this scene, I've always pictured it as a spiral staircase that DeRos looking down and Severo puts the, like the debris there or whatever, and it's bouncing. And they're like Jamfield. Yeah. So they're like something horrible is going down. The visual of Darrow, it's like the Batman shot in my mind. Like jumping down the parking garage. He jumps down the spiral staircase as like sounds of war exploded around him.

And he smashes down onto the marble ground and spins his razor, cutting four, Grays, Praetorian Grays literally in half. Yeah. And then I picture him just like straightening up and like looking down the hallway and I'm like, oh yes. Yes. Oh my God, dude. Literally that's, we're back to Coxstand, you know.

That is, that is incredible stuff. There's also a moment in here where he's like, uh, he says something. He's like, I move with my howlers and then like three sentences later, he's like, my hours. And you're like, oh, you're back. We are so bad. Oh, we are back. Uh, I fucking hate.

You said you hate. I hate how formidable, and I respect it, but I hate how formidable carnis is, even in that scene when Darrow is like, there comes Carnus with the whole crew, we got to go. Otherwise, we'll die. And I'm like, no, go kill him, dude. But he's like, we can't. He's a freak, dude. You know, even Ozza's like, yeah, I let loose Carnus in there and you're all fucked.

And that is, you know, the balona. I've had enough. I've had enough. Yeah. But this chapter rocks for, I, I, it's awesome. seeing, you know, what they, what they do at this point, they have Lysander, which is, like, that moment where you realize it's Lysander, you're like, oh, my God. Amazing. Are you fucking kidding me? That's insane. But I also love, we actually get this in a later

chapter where Nero kind of acknowledges with the Howlers. He's like, you know what? You did something at the Institute that. Yeah. Oh, God, I love that. I flagged it. And there's so much family loyalty here, like Lancers of House, blah, blah, blah, blah. And, you know, we remember the pride speech from carnes. I love there there's this moment between Darrow and several he says I pop my neck and rub the rain between my fingers per aspera ad astra through the thorns to the star several snickers you fancy little fart omnosphere lupus everyone a wolf the howlers flash smiles to one another and we rip away from the wall those little moments where the howl anytime there is a howler thing they are like this is our family yeah it's so cool these little early moments of of breaking from the

society. Like, these are all golds who went to the Institute, survived, and they're like, I don't give a fuck about a house. Like, I wear wolf pelts and black armor and wolf helmets, and that is the only thing I am loyal to. It fires me up so much. It's incredible. It's because they're the low drafts, right? And that's what Severo did. I would love to get, I would love to binge watch all the seasons of the Institute to see how all it shook out. because I'm, I bet every year it's, it's the Cassius's and the preems of the world and Mustangs, frankly, becoming primuses and recruiting low drafts into their little clans and they're used like pawns. And many of them are killed. I doubt ever was a guy like Severo able to wrangle up all the low drafts

and turn them into something bigger. And could they have done it without Darrow and Mustang being involved? Probably not. Like I think if Severo just had. had the howlers. Yeah. Eventually he gets steamrolled by, by a Titus, by a Darrow, buy a Cassi,

you know, and he's like, fuck, we tried. Legitimately, probably someone wins, and they're just like off in the woods somewhere.

Yeah. And they're like, oh, okay. This is game over? Yeah, yeah, dude, get out. And they're like, are you guys alive?

Yeah. Like, yeah, been fucking eating wolves by myself. So, yes, it is so sick. The, this dude, you kind of flagged us,

but Darrow, when, oh, no, you flagged the Victor version. When Darrow goes to Aja, I hope you remember the pain you brought others when I stand over your corpse. I need more future guaranteeing deaths by people. Okay, I'm glad you flagged this because it is, I think it is so badass in books, in movies, when we have multiple alphas.

Like, Aja is a fucking alpha, all caps. and when you had these terrifying people, we have that first moment where Darrow sees her and she literally like a lion like growls at him and he like looks away. And he's like, I might as well fucking knelt. These are awesome moments where you have an alpha big dog you and then you big dog back.

And she does it too. Like when he's being kind of a prick here and he's like, you know, challenging her and doing this and blah, blah, blah. And Aja goes, what I want is for Octavia to be obeyed. fly back to your room, boy, and take a nice shower and fondle the rose we left in your bed. Drain your anger or whatever this is into her. And leave your oath whole.

Do not raise a finger against me. You have killed Gray's only. That is easily forgotten, yes? Return and she will think this only a flight of a youth. Stay and I will add your corpse to those of your bronzy friends to the heap. Like this, that is such. How Darrow responds to that with also Alpha is. that is alpha shit dude like never backing down but there are some lines and some moments where I'm

like oof how do you not go damn I am afraid of like that one dude like that is a line that I would be like this I would look at the hallers and be like this I might we should go I might head to my room I actually that pink might still be there like pierce I just put a blanket over her that was it pierce does this shit so well where again I've mentioned it so many times with the jackal with roke it's unbelievable how many characters he has that have such distinct voices. And this is a distinct Aja. I have not seen this confidence and alpha threat from another character exactly like this. Without any humor. I would say Cassius and Tactus and Titus have a little sarcasm to it. Even Carnus. Like he'll say something snide. Like when she says boy here, she's not being petty.

She is like, you are a fucking child compared to what I have done and seen. Asha is not funny. No. No, no, no, no. But, dude, I like it because the, mark people for death, dude. Mark more people for death. It's kind of like the patriot with Mel Gibson and Lucius Malfoy, you know, and he's like, did he die?

Yeah, exactly. You and that stupid little boy? Yeah, so I'm like, you are now marked for death. And, you know, it turns out I was the better man wrong, my son was, you know. But I want more people marked for death because, dude, if you lose, if Darrow is wrong about that threat, you're just dead. So there's no real repercussions. You know, you just go, call your shot more often because either I, I announce that you're marked for death and then I do it, or you just kill me and I'm like, well, anyway.

For sure, man. It's, it's nutty. And I, I, we met, we just met Lysenter two chapters ago. I know that you have probably flagged this as well, but I, I, I'm in love with this moment. We've, we've talked about there's never been a smarter eight-year-old. Yep. And I love when he reveals Lysander, Aja goes, you promise to protect the sovereign, Asha Whispers, and you do this.

He is a boy. He is helpless. It's part of the game. Lysander says very seriously. You play it too, Asha. We're all on the board. Dude, it's an incredible... I'm dead serious, man.

If I were Darrow in that moment, I'd go, here, take him. Like, this kid is too valuable. I need him to be the sovereign. Like, I can't... This kid is literally, he is Marcus Aurelius. I need him to lead one day.

That's actually incredible. be true, Dan. He is Ender Wiggin. He is Mark Saralius. Just leave him be. I thought you're going to say, I'd be like, get away from me because I'm like, I can't be near this kid. This kid is, he's going to out think me. He's going to freak me out the whole time. He can't be near my friends. It's a nightmare. Unbelievable response. I want to add, though, a fucking pathetic, very rarely does this happen. A pathetic line from Aja there. He's helpless. He's a boy. I'm like, I disagree. We literally all know who he is. And what he's like, we've all seen the words that come out of his mouth. he is not helpless at all.

I disagree because while you are right, he's obviously very intelligent. Dude, she loves him. It's like maybe the only thing on earth she loves. And she's not thinking about his mind there. She's literally looking at an eight-year-old with a razor wrapped around his neck. Yeah. Like you were thinking in a very calculated way. She is thinking with love.

Like she is helpless. Like if he decides I want to kill him, what's he going to do? Yeah, Darrow will would cut his head off. I don't mean literally right now because obviously he could. But I mean if he gave him a razor and was like, fair fight. I think Darrow would put his fucking eight. That's what she means. Yeah, but it is it is a and actually I really like your take

that she, this is the only time, Aja isn't speaking sense because love is blinding her, but it is a completely untrue line when she's like, he's helpless and I'm like, shut the fuck up. She means physically. And again, you are right. He is, he could talk his way out of a situation because he is so intelligent, but

he is, this is what she means. I also love from Lysander in this moment when they're about to escape and Aja grabs Quinn, Lysander sees it first and screams no to her. Yeah. So it's like he is different. Yeah.

He's different. Oh my God, dude. It's in this bluff part, it's cool how Dero or excuse me, it's cool how Pierce always has other golds believing Dero will act gold. Because why wouldn't he, right? They don't know anything. It's great writing and it's helpful to Dero in situations like this. And it makes him a great character because even though he keeps saying he's gone, that

boy from the minds isn't totally gone. He's not Carnus. He's not Aja. They assume he is because they're like, they're both puffing their chest out. So he'll cut his head off. And Darrow's sitting there like, please God, don't make me cut his head on. That's my favorite part of this chapter, the internal monologue of Darrow being like, I would never kill this boy. Yeah. And they can never know that. Like that's why I have to present this. I am a machine of war. But if they knew my heart, I would be destroyed in this game. That's why he's the best. Yes.

That's why, you know, it's why we root for him. But like what an unbelievable bit of writing by Pierce to just reemphasize that to us, the readers, because it is, imagine being in Darrow's shoes, being like if any one of these fuckers calls my bluff and knows that I'm a pussy. Yeah, then it's all over. It's all over. Reaper's a bitch. Yeah.

There's like this, he actually cares about stuff. Yeah, yeah. It's dead now. Whose fault is the Quinn debaq? Quinn, 100%. Dude, I, we will, this goes way deeper and deeper and deeper. It is Quinn's fault 100%. Like, you, if you get within arm's reach of Aja, you are a fool.

And she did. There's no need for her to be in that situation. Back the fuck off. You can see the fury in Aja's eyes. Stay away from her in every sense of the word. It's not Darrow's fault, not even close. And it's, yeah, it's like you just can't put yourself in that situation. It's, I hate to say it.

No, I think you're right. Here's the problem with it, though. As soon as Octavia goes, you can only spend Lysander once, pal. That is in clear, like, I'm going to hurt someone else. Yeah. So I'm kind of mad at Darrow for being a little slow on that because he's like, what does she mean? And I'm like, yo, back up. Like, but also, I don't even think he could have stopped them anyway.

No. Like actually. And you all, he also has Lysander, dude. Like, what do you want him to do? Him get close? Because now you're really fucked. You're an idiot. Well, then it's also, Aja's, Aja, Dara says this, but she, I don't know why she just does that.

Like any of them coming up, look, when Rokes coming up, she should have just cut his head off. Because Daryl's like, I can't, I can't release my razor from Eliasander's deck. I can do literally nothing. Well, again, it's a, you are, you don't give a shit about these people. So you're not being logical in this. Because yes, Chris, could she go like this? Razor, Rokes' head, Tactus's head, Victor's head.

If, if, Darrow then goes like this, kills Lysander, sure, they will descend on them and kill everyone, but that's not worth it to Aja. She's like, I don't want him to die. Yeah, yeah. So that is why she doesn't kill everyone. But she thinks he's going to protect, he can only spend Lysander for Nero.

So she could just start killing off his friends and be like, I know you're not going to kill Lysander because you're only trying to protect Nero. But again, it's... She probably would have misjudged that. Yeah, but it's also a gamble. because I actually, like, Darrow says all the time, he's like, I wouldn't kill this. Dude, if she cut Severo's head off, I guarantee Darrow would go like this. That's actually a great question, Dan.

I guarantee it. Because it means his immediate death. Yeah. So I'm like, does he care about EO's dream enough for Severo? Yes, I think he does. And I can assure you to this, if she had got, like, somehow got Mustang and killed her, Darrow would have killed Lysander. Because I don't even think he knows.

Like, we see it in times. Yes. The emotions that eventually bubble up in Darrow because of certain people, he would fucking kill that child. Dude, what a thought exercise. Like, he literally would destroy the revolution in this moment. I'm so fucking loop. I just think it needed to be the most serious slow back away facing Aja of all time. Like, the fact that they were like, oh yeah, the stork's up there.

I'm like, dude, that needed to be like, slow, hands, hands. Yeah, definitely. Pay the ultimate price there, the ultimate price. That brings us to chapter. 19, stork. He stands quietly in his armor watching us, watching Roak hold the girl several loves but has never told the girl he could never have. Darrow can't leave Quinn there to die, but before he can make a move, the jackal swoops in on a pair of grab boots and scoops her up and brings her to the ship. Everyone boards and they lay Quinn on the deck. Seizures rack her body. The jackal

screams for a med kit and begins to survey the damage using Darrow's datapad. Her brain is swelling and there are no yellows on boards to fix her. Darrow tells the jackal of what has been going on with the sovereign and the balanus, the plan to kill the arch-governor. They need to move her to a med-bay if there's any chance of survival. Severum reminds Darrell

that they still need to get off this moon if they want a chance to survive. They head to the cockpit to find tactis who makes the mistake of a snide comment about the state of Quinn. Several drops him with a kick in the balls and a few elbows to the temple. From the book,

talk about Quinn again, and I'll cut your balls off and jam them in your eye sockets. Nero tells Darrow that he owes him a debt, if they make it to his fleet. Darrow reminds him that he owes one to his daughter and the howlers. Narrow questions who the howlers are, and they show his reluctance to trust Severeaux. Darrow reminds him that he owes one to his daughter and the howlers.

Narrow questions who the howlers are, and then shows his reluctance to trust Severeaux. From the book, Does your loyalty lie with me or with your father, Severo? Augustus asks. What father? I'm a bastard's bastard. Severo looks the arch-governor up and down skeptically, and I'll do respect my liege. I could give a cat's frozen piss about you. to. Your daughter brought me from the rim. My allegiance is to her, but above all, it's to Reaper. That's

it. Goat. Nero addresses Lysander. He tells him he has heard of how special he is, and then he tells Lysander he reminds him of his son Claudius. When Lysander asks what happened to him, Nero tells him, from the book. They left that part out, eh? Well, a large young man from the house Bologna by the name of Carnus took liberties with a certain young woman my son was courting. My son took umbrage and challenged Carnus to a duel. In the end, when my boy was broken and bleeding, Carnus kneeled, cupped my son's head, he puts one hand around Licender's head, and smashed it on the cobbled stones till it broke open, and all his specialness dripped out. He pats the boy on the cheek. Let's hope you never have to see such a thing. When Narrow tells Victor to bring Lycender to the passenger bay, tactus volunteers.

Pliny begs Nero to make peace with the sovereign and end this mess, but Nero says they head to Mars and head to war. From the cockpit, Mustang says they're close to entering the low atmosphere, but then a light on the control panel flashes. The cargo bay is open. Mustang says the Tactus volunteered. Darrow and several sprint to the cargo bay. From the book, Tactus wouldn't. He couldn't. But why the hell not? Why would I ever assume he wouldn't do what's best for him? It's in his nature. By the time they get to the loading bay, Tactus is a disappearing dot in the sky holding Lysinder. They have two minutes before boarding ships will descend upon them. What a fucking rat.

What a fucking rat. All-time rat. It's like, someone in the comments a few episodes ago said the second I met Tactus, I knew I could never trust him. I remember that. And I saw that comment and I was like, I hate how true that is.

And we hear the story of the violin. We see now, again, how many times Darrow saves Tactus's fucking life. And it's like, why dude Victor even said Tactus wants to be like you

but his brothers won't let it Tactus there is a better way Darrow has showed it to you time and time again over he just saved your fucking life what is your problem it is Tactus simultaneously feels like the most obvious betrayal candidate

but for some reason this always hits me so hard every time I go through this book this exact moment hits me so hard. How can he be so fucking stupid and be such a fucking rat? But I guess he thinks, well, now I'm the sovereign's lancer, right? Currently I am a lancer of House Augustus of Mars. If I do this, now I'm the sovereign's lancer.

And I'm so jealous of Darrow all the time. And I'm always bitching about that. And all these people are going to die anyway. All of House Augustus, including me if I stay, is just going to be killed by the sovereign. So I might as well just go and become one of her golden goses now if I save her grandson. So on paper, it's actually kind of hard to get mad at a rat for being a rat. If he is a rat, then this is actually prime rat opportunity. But God damn it, it fucking sucks.

And Dan, sure, Quinn's thing that I. just brought up was all her fault. This one, I am mad at the team again. This is on, this is on Darrow heavy. Head on a fucking swivel, dude. But it's brilliant writing by Pierce again, because everyone's thinking about Quinn. Yep. That is the only thing that you need to be focused on right now. If you are Darrow, if you're several, obviously, if you're roke, obviously. The one person who I don't think gets enough lack for this is Mustang. Interesting. the fact that she's the one who's like he volunteered. Yeah. Mustang

is a genius. Yeah. And I need her to be like this, uh, no. And honestly Vickra too, like put the, there's a line in the book that's like when they're like Victra take him to the car, uh, the passenger bed. She's like, of course you're asking the only woman other than Mustang to do it. And I'm kind of like, this isn't a sexist thing. Yeah. Yeah. At all. Like, Victor,

we trust you. Yeah. Fucker. Like go take that fucking kid down there. And like the fact that she pats tacked Tactus's arm being like, thank you, by the way. That was nice of you. When has Tactus ever been nice? And like, Vittra knows Tactus better than anyone. Yeah. And like she should be like, uh, no, dude.

You are up to something. You're a scumbag, dude. Dan, you're so right because literally, dude, keep this in mind. Mustang is the love of Dero's life. Okay. Who's in the cockpit right now? Nero, who is not doing anything. Mustang, who is the love of Dero's life.

Severo who just, Dero just said to Nero, Severo is as loyal as my own hands. Yes. And then Victora, and not that Darrow didn't trust Victor anyway, but the jackal has just come up from the lagoon, and he goes, dude, she took on three obsidians for me. She is with us, body and soul. Yes.

Also, the jackal here. Like, holy hell, dude. What are you doing? Dude. So these are your candidates. And then there's Tactus, who you have said out loud, he is not my friend, direct quote. He tells the violin story,

and he says, Tactus is not my friend. know this. He will never be my friend. His brothers won't let him, whatever, whatever. If that person wants to take the only thing keeping you alive, even if you want to trust him, you simply cannot give him Lysander here, dude. You go, oh, whoa, whoa, I appreciate you, Tactus, but anyone else. I hate to say it, Chris, this is a tuna melt on rye. This chapter is just, there's mayhem going on. Quinn is hemorrhaging. She's having seizures. The jackal is out of nowhere, like the savior. The man who scoops her up and is now performing the best surgery he possibly can.

I understand everyone's rattled, but this is just a huge ball drop by the gang. Huge. Everyone, like you said Mustang, but I'm kind of like literally everyone in the cockpit, every single person knows that Tactus is the most untrustworthy person here. Yeah. Everyone involved. And in that regard, you cannot allow your literal pot of gold. to be held by that person. Like even Nero, Dan. Like I think he's like, Victor, do it. And the

tax is like, I'll do it. I think if I'm Nero, I'm like, not you. I know. Because Nero's an idiot, right? Because Tactus is a Lancer of House of Augustus. And he's just like this, you are loyal to me. Of course. But Lysander is the only thing keeping Nero alive. So I think I go, no, let, let Virginia do it. Yeah. This is, it's a, it's a ball drop. It's a ball drop by nightmare. It is absolute brutal. Absolutely fucking nightmare. When Jackal's doing surgery and he's like cut her fucking hair off like all this shit's happening and roke's like let me do it and the jackal goes talk to her tell our story here we fucking go oh with the pigeons again i thought we were going to finally get you going that this was a great moment the pigeon story comes back

it is a great story but you're going to double down roke the roke has so many good stories and he chooses his worst one to save the love of his life the story is about him and quinn i know did and actually i laughed to myself here because if i'm darrow in this moment i'm like like, why did you tell me this story? This story is clearly about you and Quinn and should have been saved for this moment. No, you dumb fuck. It's about soulmates. It's about the person you love. Roke goes, your home is Mustang. Go find her. His, he's like, my home is Quinn. And it's so special that he repeats the story. You're, you are. Here we go. You are a heartless jag. Also, Dan, listen to this. This killed me. I've never really thought about it until this time.

Roke, the time I don't know why I think is so funny, but the timeline of Roke is, the timeline of Darrow is this. Roke, he goes to visit Roke to be like, hey dude, sorry I've been so distant. And Roke is like, it's okay. The winds blow, you know?

Then Darrow goes to a gala. After poisoning Roke. Poisons Rok. Spars with Carnus, spars with Mustang, like, you know, considers blowing up everyone he's ever known, decides actually I'm going to reveal my Lorne's secret, duels Cassius, takes his sword arm, they have this crazy escape. Fitchner shows up, who's now the

rage night, he meets Octavia, has an oracle strapped to his arm, gets prought to a room, Mustang sends a hollow, Severo's here. Yeah. And then the lagoon, like all this has happened. The Bologna's then try to murder Roke. Like Roke wakes up and he's like, what the fuck? And then the balones are like this, I'm here to kill you. And he's like, what the fuck? Exactly. So Roke's timeline is this, tells Pigeon story to Darrow, gets put in a 12-hour coma, wakes up, tells Pigeon story to Quinn. like Roke has told this story twice in like two hours of wake time. Like he literally, he woke up. He's probably groggy still. You're a piece of shit. No, it makes sense because it's the, it's the first thing of the top of his mind because he's like, actually just, I got a pretty story.

I just told this to Tara. It's also brutal. It's just devastation in this chapter. This quote, uh, I turned to Severo. He stands quietly in his armor watching us, watching Roke hold the girl several loves, but has never told the girl he could never have. The pain is raw and etched deep into the lines of his hawkish face. Impervious Severo, immune to hurt to sadness, to having his eye gouged out by Lilith, the jackals lieutenant. It all falls on him now. Quinn never called Severo goblin like the rest of us.

Fuck, that last night is so good. It's so good, and it's just, like we're saying, there's so much distraction. And I feel like we forget, we think about, A, it's awful this happened to Quinn, and Roke is obviously devastated, but this part is so bad, too. Yeah. Severo being like, I love that girl. And I could never tell her because she would never have me, but I do love her. And he's watching this happen.

And then amidst all of this and the mayhem of them trying to escape, Tactus does what he does. This chapter is Brutale. Incredible. I'll come back to that. Something you just said to remind me there. The Jackal, this scene that you said is awesome. He's normally so manipulative. I spend this whole time waiting for his angle.

But I kind of like it because he's like, these are my allies now. So I need everyone I can get. So I will try to save you win. But the awesome work from the Jackal. are really, really cool. Really crazy. Tactis, even before the betrayal. You're not Tacitus only says inappropriate things.

It's kind of his shtick. Yeah, it's all he can do. And it's fine. And once you accept that about him, it actually does me personally kind of make me laugh. Tactis hits my funny bone every now and then when he's just so out of pocket. Oh, for sure, whatever.

Because you're a fool to expect anything else from him. Yep. And in this scene, pre-betrayal, he's being so outlandish, but I'm thinking to myself, well, it's actually not really his fault. because he doesn't know how bad Quinn got hurt. He's safe on the ship.

So when he's running his mouth and Darrow and Severo are freaking out, it's kind of like, hey, dude, something happened. But then when he reveals he does know she's hurt, she's hurt and he wishes he could have smashed before she brain hemorrhaged. I'm like, bro. Awful. She is like, has a brain bleed and is dying, seizing on the deck. That's bowed fragments in her brain and he's like this,

can you keep her alive long enough for me to get in there? or Deborah's like, dude, it is the most. Swift kick to the dick that dense metal. That's what you get for that? Like he, and like, what does he say?

He's like, he's like, oh, my brother always told him and never take a eye off the ball or something. And it's like, dude, you are out of your mind.

He does know she's dying and he literally wants to bang. Another one here, great point that I never really thought about. And it's a beautiful line. So from the book, he is, from the book it says the love on this man's face oh it's when virginia grabs

cavix's arm yes and he's like look up he's like look virginia thinks i'm funny yeah quote the love on this man's face makes augustus's disinterest monstrous and even worse thinking about the jackal killing this man's son makes me sick yeah i actually kind of i know you know roke even says it about his mom where he goes she's she's loyal to augustus i couldn't possibly buy you at auction yeah i get that you really are loyal to the arch governor here, but it is kind of crazy that the telemanuses are so chill with Nero, and they're like,

Adrius killed Pax in the game for no reason. You know, like for literally no fucking reason. To the point that I'm like, at the very least, they should be challenging Adrius to duels, that Nero would have no choice but to accept and then watch his one-armed moron son get his fucking head cut off. Yeah, but you can't challenge the arch governor's son to a duel.

I do love how much they love Mustang, though. That is a really cool. It's very cool. You said several's quote, my loyalty is to reap. That quote is just, I couldn't care a frozen cat's piss. A cat's frozen piss about you. You fucking bitch. I'm loyal to your daughter and to fucking reap more than anything.

Dude, it's like the lone survivor line from Ben Foster, you know, and he's like, I don't care. I care about you. You and you and you. And you said this last chapter, but I'm really glad Nero apologizes about the. Yeah. Oh, yeah. He sees that and he looks at Darrow and he's like this. wrong. The Institute can create things stronger than the game. And here we are. So my last thing in

the chapter is we have talked a lot, especially in this book, but we have talked a lot about Claudius Augustus and what it did to narrow what it did to that family. I got to say, now that we're finally here, when you hear how Claudius died, you got bitched. It does call into question. You got bitched. A few things. Because first of all, Dan, what does he even mean by took liberties? Are they saying he raped her? Because if Carnus raped her, then I can kind of accept the duel. Knowing Carnus, I absolutely imagine that was the case. Because if it's like he was ruthlessly hitting on her and shit, and then Claudius was like,

or just slept with her. But that, I'm like, she wanted to bang him. If he raped her. No, no, I'm saying if that's the case, then I'm like, Claudius, you are a loser. Oh, yes, exactly. But if it was... So here's the problem, Dan. Either one scenario is she consensually banged Carnus.

And Claudius is a bitch. You got bitched. And the other scenario is he raped the girl, which I can accept the dual challenge. Are you fucking, you can accept? No, dude. Like, I wouldn't even challenge him to a duel. You go and cut his fucking head off. I mean, I would have just killed him.

But I can accept the dual challenge. But now we are in a duel. And it is a literal fair fight. And I presume it was to the death. And as we've seen, you're not allowed to change the fucking terms of the duel mid-dual. So it is sad. And it was his specialness that is now gone. But I am saying, Claudius, you are a pussy.

and there's a huge disavow, first of all, because there's a huge asterisk there that we need to understand. But I will say I love when we do these episodes because I love picturing and I hope everyone watching does this too. There's certain moments you just picture it in your head. The writing and the scene that would be narrow going, when my boy was broken and bleeding, Carnus kneeled, cupped my son's head and grabbing Lysander's head.

And the line of, of and smashed it on the cobblestones till it broke open and all his specialness dripped out. Because he has just said how special linesander is. That is an incredible line. It's the best line Nero ever he delivers. I'm being dead serious. It is an incredible, incredible line. And I can picture that scene.

And you're like, fuck, that is gnarly. I just wanted it to be. The way they all react about Claudius's death, I wanted it to be like, especially when he goes, they left that part out, A. I'm expecting a like, Claudius was minding his own business. and Carnus stabbed it in the back. I have to imagine the vitriol they have, Carnus did something horrible.

Yeah. There's just no way. There's no way that this was just like a, dude, she caught the scent of a bigger stag of her nostrils. And now you're butt hurt about it. It just raises a lot of questions, is all I'm saying. It raises a lot of questions about sweet clonies. Now we head to chapter 20.

Whether missile or boarding craft come, die like golds. Darrow asks the blue pilot sitting next to Mustang what their odds are. Her response is fitting for her color. From the book, they will destroy our engines with ripwing fire, precipitating a hull breach that will kill all aboard. Alternatively, precipitating a leechcraft assault, capturing all aboard. They all begin to analyze their odds as they leave the atmosphere

and enter open space knowing an armada will soon be following. They are going to die. Daryl will not let the torch he carries be extinguble. so he hatches a plan. He orders the ship to go straight at the ship the vanguard, chasing them. Darrow and Severo head to the loading bay and get into a star shell. The same one he tried to launch himself at into at the academy. Before he's loaded in, Victor arrives and leaves him with a deep kiss on the lips before lowering his visor. The last thing Darrow hears is the howlers hooting and hollering. From the book, in moments they'll shoot me into space. My breath raps, my heart rattles

against my sternum. I drink in my body's terror and smile. said this was suicide at the academy when I wanted to launch myself. Maybe they were right. But this is why I was made to dive into hell. Severo and Darrow fly through the air at ten times the speed of sound. The enemy guns can't track them. Their gambit is too unexpected and too sudden. From the book, railguns miss us, projectiles flash past. Severo is howling in the calm. Their shields are down. They can't bring them up fast enough. It takes time. Iridescent blue flickers over their hulls as this pulse shields power up. Too late, you sons of bitches.

Too bloody damn late. Darrow and Severo crash into the ship ready for battle. My first question for you is this. From the book, and I tease this in book one. I forget what it was, but I even said, this isn't perfect, but it's one of many coming. From the book, take us near the vanguard, I repeat to the blue. That would cause our chances of survival to decrease by,

never tell me the odds. Just do it, I command. So for anyone that likes Santa Feera sci-fi at all, That is a direct quote from Han Solo to C3PO when he says, going through the asteroid field would decrease our chances of survival by and Han goes,

never tell us the odds. And I remember the first time going through this series. I saw this line and I was like, that is actually an insane line, Pierce. And no offense, but like you can't be doing that type of plagiarism. But then there are ones sprinkled in throughout pretty much all the books.

And I was like, oh. No, every single book. I guess it's just an homage to his favorite project. Yeah, I think it's what Pierce law, and I can't wait to talk to him, hopefully on this show. but this is what he does. Like he makes these references because he loves them.

And I agree the first time I noticed, because there's a couple Enrid Rising. Yeah. The first one I was like, this one is the first like, this one is out of control. Word for word. And it's a famous line from Star Wars.

Yeah. This one is out of control if you don't know what Pierce does. But knowing what Pierce does, I think it's awesome. So Dan, here's my thought, though, on this read. Because I was ready for this and I was like, here it comes. Bang. I used to always think this was just Pierce tipping his cap to Yeah

Han Solo yeah I am now realizing Remember when Darrow goes Oh wait hold on You were realizing that this is Darrow quoting Hans Solo Yeah as he's downloaded all the books He's been watching movies and shit What is he the next Alexander the next Ender? Like Darrow loves Star Wars and he's just quoting Hans Solo

Olau when Darrow is sitting up at night brooding He's actually just watching Star Wars. He's actually just watching Star Dude, I can't believe it hit me like a ton of bricks. I was like, oh, this isn't Pierce at all. This is literally his character goes, that movie is gas. Yeah. And I like it. And Empire Strikes Back was amazing, and I'm quoting hot.

There are times where I hate to admit that I actually like Nero. Yeah. And it's just moments where he's so gold. And it just makes me think of the old sword and sandals stories and books that I absolutely love. But I read part of the quote at the top when he says, whether Missile or Bordencraft come, die like golds. Augustus says solemnly to us. Not because he wishes us to think him strong in his last moments,

but because he believes in what he is, a superior being, a master of his human frailties. For him, death is merely the ultimate frailty. Humans whimper when they die. They claw for life even if there is no hope. He will not. Death is not grander than his pride. Dude, it's amazing that quote. And I'm reading Carl right now.

And there's a book, I think, seven, is called The Inevitable Ruin. And I'm not spoiling it really if you haven't read Dutch and Carl, Call yet. but the inevitable ruin is that moment when you can no longer fight. When you finally realize, like you're doing everything. You're a human being, right? You're like, oh, the tank is filling with water. I'm going to drown. You're just punching, punching, punching.

I have to break this glass. The inevitable ruin is when you're like, that's it. I can't do it anymore. And that was just ringing so true to me in reading this Augustus quote. That was cool. Also, back to that hon thing. Great trivia question for the future, by the way. Do you know what C3 says the odds are?

blank to one. I think it's like one trillion to one. No, no. It's 3,720. Oh. And I was like, oh, that's cool. It's not that crazy. Yeah, like, we could make it.

I can get it. I was like, God, I need to remember that forever. Right before Darrow goes, Dan, Victor, tongue, throat, tonsile, talking. Tongue, tongue, Dan. He says the lips part. But it's, it's lip.

They're just doing this? They're fishing? Shut up. It's lip, lip, lip, lip. It's like the lip. They're not fishing, Dan. They're tonguing. Tonsel fucking hockey.

You are disgusting. And dude, you know what, Dan? You know me? I'm the Mustang and Darrow guy, but I'm not even mad about this. I can actually understand in this moment. Oh, dude, this. This section is actually big, big for me and Victor and Darrow. Yeah.

We will get into it more. Okay. There are a lot of moments here where I'm like this. Whoa. She's right there. She's right there. And she's doing everything she can. I appreciate this from Victor because he goes, this may be suicide.

And she knows that too. So she goes up and she goes, Yeah, where's fucking Mustang, pal? It's for both of them. Where's your fucking... This is your king, dude. Where's your queen, you bitch? Sitting fucking flying the ship.

She can't run down here one second? Victor can. Yeah, and dude, she... And I love how the howllers are like, Oh! She knows he needs it, but she needs it to, by the way. She goes, I'm not going to send this dude in a spit tube to his death without getting one kiss.

Correct. However, I will say, even though I can appreciate this, I cannot imagine it was helpful. Being loaded into a star shell in 0G spit tube, fully torped. I think it did help. You know why I think it helped? Is that going to go down before we fucking fire me 10 times and feed us out? Because otherwise all that blood is rushing to his head and he would have passed out but now he's got equal blood flow. Dude that's actually genius.

Fighters, fighter pilots. Top gun. Dude, they take they take Viagra before they fly every time. Is that true? Because they actually should. I can't tell you're making this up. Of course I'm making this up. But that should be real. This is real? I actually think that is a genius play. Equalize the blood The blood. God. Think about it. They definitely have Viagra.

This also made me laugh, Dan. They're doing their bullshit Latin back and forth, him and Severeaux. Yeah, yeah. And it goes, fortune favors the bolt. Like, Severo's chirping Daryl. Fortune favors the bold. Well, you can suck my, and it's like, pooh-shah, and they get fired.

And it actually made me want to, I'm not doing this all the time, but when we do go to Disney and stuff, and you're on, I think it's a different name now, but it was Tower of. Is it guardians now? Oh, it is guardians. Yeah, yeah.

I don't know what it's called. But any amusement park ride where you do the drop thing. Yeah. Like the elevator drop. Because the roller coaster you can see when it's coming, but that thing you don't know. My new game now with friends is trading insults until one of you gets cut.

You know, it's like, you just keep chirping each other until it's like, why don't you suck, but that is my new game. That's going to be incredible. That's fantastic.

And then, dude, you talked about TV, this being a show with Nero cupping his head. Bro, this scene, this is like the fallout scene on black tar heroin. Yeah. You know,

where like I want the show or movie, I guess, limited budget because them in these suits fucking missling through the sky, like rail guns missing them, exploding through the bridge is fucking all-time visuals. And again, dude, he doesn't fight like a gold. He is a psychopath. Oh, yeah.

They don't know how to deal. They can't even get the shields up in time. And the end of that chapter, out of me roars a madman scream. Yes. Yeah. It is perfect. God damn it, dude. Incredible.

And that takes us. To chapter 21, I will come meet you and your companion, Godchild. Darrow and Several blow a hole in the side of the ship. On the bridge, low colors with no helmets, gasped for oxygen that doesn't come. Others, including golds, get ripped out to die in space. Measures are taken by the ship to seal shut the gaping hole in the hole, and they face the two demons and metal killing machines who have come for them. Darrow and several cut through obsidians and grays like knives through butter.

They take care of two golds wielding razors with their pulse fists, and then turn to the blues in the control center. Darrow says he now commands the ship and they need to obey. They turn on the comms to see that somewhere on the ship, several golds lead a charge of gray captains and obsidian slave knights to come to reclaim command. They need to act fast. Darrow activates the comms on the ship and makes a speech to the entire crew. He tells them that the vanguard will now be named the Pax,

and the crew now belongs to him by the laws of naval warfare. Part of this overtaking means he needs to vent the ship. He has several activate the panel in the control center, and all the blues now see that with a press of a button, the ship's ducks will open, ejecting everyone into space to die. Darrow knows how to make those follow him. From the book, if I vent you into space, there will be no one to stop them from killing me. So you see, you are my salvation, and I am yours. I will not sacrifice 20,000 of you to kill 61 of my enemies. I choose this vessel above all others because of its crew, the best the society can offer.

To me, you are not expendable. So what I ask of you is this. Choose me as your commander and overwhelm those golds who think you are expendable. Darrow tells the tens of thousands non-golds above the ship to subdue the 61 golds and become loyal to him in House Augustus, and they will be rewarded. He unlocks the armory in waits. Then the bulkhead glows red-hot. Darrow waits for golds to come pouring out for a fight.

From the book, My razor ripples into killing form, long and terrible. company soon I say I glance at Severo who has been distracted by one of the hollow screens I order the Blues to take shelter they're doing it several murmurs gory hell Darrow come look Darrow still expects company and he and Sever prepare for a battle

suddenly a deep terrifying voice comes through the comms the voice asks Darrow if he is a god the blues around the mouth something in horror stained from the book then one of the blues gasps and we glance back to the HG monitor to see the cameras in the halls outside of

the bridge door relaying a scene of horror. It, he, runs at them from behind as they prepare to make entry into the bridge, an obsidian, but larger than any I've ever seen. But it's not just his size, it's how he moves, a dread creature stitched from shadow and muscle and armor, flowing, not running. Perverse, like looking at a blade or a weapon made flesh. This is a creature that dogs would flee, that cats would hiss at, one that should never exist on any level above the first tier of hell. On the holocam, Darrow and Sever watch in horror as the stained makes killing look like wind blowing seamlessly through a field. He gets the bulkhead door and crushes a gold skull with merely his hand. He leans through the melted door from the book. Godchild Andromedus,

I am Ragnar Valeris, the stained firstborn of my mother, alia snow sparrow of the Valkyrie spires north of the dragon's spine, south of the fallen city, where the winged horror flies, brother of Seffi the Quiet, breaker of Tannos, which once stood by the water, and I make you an offering of stains. Darrow accepts Ragnar's offer and learns that he was once a slave of the Julie. He hates them for their business in trading his kind. Darrow's first order is to save his friends aboard the stork.

A couple things to start here. There is only one thing in this entire chapter. His entire intro speech that you just read is incredible. Dude. It is, dude, it is, this is a common thing, right? Like, Mother of Dragons, first of his name, like, you know, there's a million speeches. What does Tyrion say? Titles, titles, titles, titles. Yes. Right. Like, this is a, Pierce didn't make this up. I've heard a million cool ones. And I just made fun of Danny's, but it's actually cool. Like, DeNaris Targaryen's intro is sick. And John Snow is like, what does he say? John Snow. This is John Snow. I think he goes like this. He killed a white walker or something.

God, the onion night is goaded. Goaded. He killed the whitewarker. I think Danny's coolest one is unburnt. Yeah. The unburnt. The unburnt. And I'm like, holy shit.

So Danny's is sick. This is amazing. And it's also funny because Danes is so cool because I know what she means. I'm like, oh yeah, she survived the dragon fire, blah, blah, blah. This I'm like, I don't know what the fuck this guy is talking about, but it is incredible. And this has already been said in this book, but I don't know why. just hit me here. The term, we give Pierce's credit for a lot of naming, howlers and shit like that. Stained is so sick. Stained is horrible. I think it's scary. It is. Like I hear stained and I'm like,

yike. I make you an offering of stains. Yes, but also when the blues go, stained. Yeah. I would be like this. Severo, we gotta go. Fuck. Dude, that is just so awesome. Dude, Ragnar Valaris. Folks, prepare to to meet the greatest character of all time. We finally got here. We finally got to Ragnar. Finally got to Ragnar. And I will say this too. This is the second thing. The choice to put Ragnar's dialogue in bold.

It's absolutely genius. It's the best decision in all of print literature. I'm serious. I agree. And I don't know if that was Pierce or his editors or whoever it was. It was Pierce for sure. Deserves to be taken out to a nice seafood dinner. Yes.

And then receive a blowjob. Yeah. And I'll call you the next morning. And I will call you. To see how you slept. Dude, this is. is it's just perfect dude

and it's like I don't even blink when it comes up the first time through you're not like what's going on you're just like oh okay this guy this guy's talking like that this line Dan from the book I'm gonna make sure you don't have this quote oh actually you kind of do

read it doesn't matter this line from the book and it says they start killing people yeah I'm good at it world's better than several and that terrifies me above all else I am the Reaper whatever doubts I had and myself fall away and I feel this stain creeping over my soul. This, I haven't read this yet, but Stormlight Archives, the Sanderson series, Dallinar is the man, and he has something called

the thrill. And when he gets to battle, the thrill takes him over. And he is one of the great fighters of all time, and he credits it to the thrill. Because his people are like, dude, you, you are a psychopath out there. But he's like, it's actually not me. I'm like, I'm overcome by something. And I don't want to spoil anyone for not reading it, but there's an epic twist. regarding the thrill, but the point is he's like, the thrill feeds itself with bloodshed and war, and I hate it. Like, I don't want to go out there and kill people, but then when the thrill takes over, I just go do something.

And this quote is so the thrill to me in a good way where Darrow's like, it terrifies me, how easy this is for me. And Darrow's relationship with war is something that haunts him forever, right? So I was like, God, dude, this is very stormlight here in the fucking best way. It's so sick. Yeah, it's, I love. love these moments when Darrow is just drunk and he's like this, it's, it's fight or flight. When he needs to survive, Darrow goes nuclear and it's amazing.

And this whole part is we get distracted by Ragnar to the fact that Darrow and several literally just launched themselves in fucking cigarette tubes. Amazing. Or cigar tubes and blew a hole through the greatest ship in the sovereign's fleet. And they are now beating the shit out of people and taking command. and all I can think about is Ragnar. And it's also epic. This is just another moment.

We see all of these different cool times where Darrow fractures the society by giving people purpose. And when he here, and we'll get more into this in this next chapter in a second. But here being like, I could easily just fucking obliterate all of you and just fly this ship to my people and be, I'm done. I've already won. Yeah. But instead he goes, I choose to save all of you because you don't deserve to die and I want you to follow me. And it's remarkable when we get these moments and we see them go like this. I will follow you.

Like the fact that oranges, browns are grabbing those guns and being like this, I'm going to try to kill a gold right now because I want to follow this guy. Talk about my whole life. Dude, I love that you said that because this, I wrote, this is such a tense part and it's a micro, it's a micro battle in terms of the scope of the actual war. Yeah. That is EO's dream, right? Like this is just a little battle on the Vanguard. but this line still tingles my balls every time he says it when he tells everyone on the packs to kill the golds a heavy silence as the first sparks of revolution are struck yes yes and again it's

nothing this is a nothing battle but i was like whoa it almost reminds you of what the series is about right because we're all like we're just so stuck in darrow but it's like the first sparks of revolution are struck and i was like god damn that was amazing uh dude when he takes the vanguard and he goes formerly known as the vanguard here hereafter known as the packs Awesome. First of all, gas. Second of all, did he have that prepped? No, I think it came.

I think it truly just came right out of him. And you know also, he goes, if I survive this and I get back to Cavax, he's going to be like this, hell yet. Yeah, yeah. Dude, because I just died that he's like, he's just been dying to name something the Pax had it in his holster and he's like, this is now called the Pax. Bitch. Quick trigger on that one, Darrow.

I love it. And then, dude, my last thing in this chapter is, you get a totally different vibe with obsidian when you meet Ragnar. I actually think it happens before, obviously with Ragnar. But when we meet Varga with Aja earlier, you're like, whoa, yo. Good call.

It's as simple as hearing a name. But you are like, obsidians are kind of fucking goaded. Dude. And here, hearing Ragnar, and I also love in this chapter, he talks about, he's like, I was sold by the Julie to the sovereign when the

I'm on the way. When the ash lord, right? Well, no, what he says is this. I am currently a gift to the Julie. And Darrow realizes, oh, it's because they just betrayed Augustus. This is their prize for pulling off this thing that is now failed. So he's on the way to the Julie family to be the gift. And then he's like this, but you have taken control.

So now I offer myself to you. And Darrow says he's like, did he just use a political loophole to fight against his captors? And the answer is yes. but like it's also so it's like that shows a they have free will they have choice they have feelings they have opinions but then the fact that he is also just a

killing machine and you're like oh my god it's incredible Dan the best comp I could come up with and this is not perfect but in Potter when they're learning apparition and they're like this is splinching like you're left your eyebrow over there and it's to the reader like splinching is funny yeah until Ron gets splinched

and he's like dying and you're like oh fuck dude that is kind of like they go darrow explains the colors in book one and he's like and the obsidian are a killing or a war color and i'm like okay and they're they're guards i get it yeah and then varga too but definitely ragnar you're like whoa too like this is like the fact that bling is not funny yeah the fact that darrow's like this dude'll fuck me up like you're like wait what so sick it's amazing need some essence of dittany for that shit yeah chapter 22 fireblossom why can we not simply restart the day do everything right save

the ones we love. Dero turns to the blues on the flight deck and says he needs a new captain. The steadfast blue he noticed earlier with tattoos up and down her arm steps forward. From the book, give me the badge and I'll carve you a hole back to Mars boy. This blue is Orion Z. Aquari. And she is the only sarcastic and brash blue Darrow has ever met. Naturally, she's perfect for the job. Dero issues a message to the rest of the ship and lets them know that the sovereign broke

the laws of the compact and attempted to murder Nero in his sleep under her own roof and her protection. They watch the grays, oranges, and other colors show a small spark of what Darrow wishes for, individuality, freedom. They rebel against the remaining golds on board and kill the last of them. Finally, Mustang and the Stork convened with the packs. Even the telemanus is shy away from Ragnar when they see him. Orion shows the full force of the ship and blast through the sovereign's fleet with ease. From the book, my newly appointed captain paces the command plank, arms crossed, my five-kilometer war vessel begins a roll, cycling through her banks of railguns as they hurl death into the face of the sovereign's fleet.

Orion half turns to face me, smirking for all to see. Now, about carving that path, Dominus. As they make their way free of Octavia's ships, Darrow and Severo are cut from their suits. Darrow finds Mustang and asks how Quinn is, but before she can answer, he sees Roak carrying her

lifeless body. Roke walks past Dero with Quinn in his arms and looks at Dero with disappointment. He tells Dero to look at his friend, now dead. He doesn't understand why Dero poisoned him, and now the girl he loves is gone. Darrow goes to the jackal and asks what happened. He said he tried his best, but she died.

Then the jackal says he needs Darrow's helmet cam footage of what he and Severo just did. Two men just took the strongest ship in the sovereign's fleet. Darrow pulls a false tooth from his mouth that the sons gave him to film the would-be suicide bombing at the gala. Darrow says he got it at the black market. It's been filming since he sat with the sovereign in her office. The jackal will give it to his media and make this a fair fight. Mustang comes to Darrow and says Severo needs him. Darrow asks of Roke, but she says he blames her.

Nice job by Darrow picking Orion. I'm being serious because I might have wavered when you hear all those other resumes who were like, I was the assistant captain, you know? Oh yeah. I mean, this is either a savant who is a lowborn and never had a chance or it's a delusional, arrogant shit bag. And you're dead. And you are now dead.

And you know what I liked in? You just said this. But one thing I, she wins me over at the end when she goes, Give me a chance. And I was like, you know what? Not enough people getting chances in life. That's what I've realized as I've gotten over. And also, I will say the arrogant, don't ask for a chance.

They demand it. The fact that she does go give me a chance, I was like, that's when you're like, yep, okay, you are legit. I'm in, dude. And her tattoos being mathematical equations up and down her arms. I'm like, oh, dude. Could have used that in grade school, eh? You got the tism.

Like, you're a fucking legend. Like, you are going to be perfect for this. I'm going to use that in 10th grade, dude. I wonder if you did that, dude. what if you got tattoos of homework questions? Could a teacher be like, you can't have that tattoo? I'd be like, well, it's a tattoo. What are you going to do?

I'm sorry. That's fucking incredible. They would probably go like this, wear long sleeves. I'd be like, no, dude, my body. My body my choice. Yes, dude, you can't fucking dictate what I wear. God, this is genius. We just craps.

You can't come into school wearing a banana hammock, Dan. And I'm like, you're right, I shouldn't have got these tattoos on my upper thigh. Yeah. That's on me. On my hog. That is welcome aboard tattoos to his heart. Unfortunately on me. When only this series is capable of this, Dan,

when Severeaux goes, where's Quinn? I literally go like this. Oh, yeah, Quinn. Like, dude, so much, a major character is clinging to life. And so much other shit happens with Darrow and the Revolution and Ragnar that when several's like, where's Quinn? I'm like, oh, my God. It is unfortunately easy to get distracted.

It's incredible, dude. It actually excuses some mistakes that are made, because you're right. It's all hell breaking loose. And I don't want to spoil anything, but it would be a cool, this is when some books, some books do multiple POVs like Thrones. And it'd be cool to know what was going on on the ship. Like if we were in Mustang's POV while Darrow's fucking being becoming boys with Ragnar. I'm like, hey, dude, we are taking fucking grenades back here.

So I'm curious what happened. And the jackal, you know, when he's like, I tried my best. You're like, I believe you. You absolutely did. I mean, it appears so. Yeah. The Roak shit, I truly get that he is sad and pissed and confused. But you got, no, you got to lean heavily on the confused part.

Confused. I mean, but we trust Darrow. He says that. He's like, I trust you above all else. Yes. And again, Roke doesn't look at him and go, fuck you. But he's just being like, the amount of times that Roke has said to Darrow, why do you leave us all out of your plans? Maybe we can help.

And here's another time where he poisoned. him. So Roke is like, I have no idea what your plans are. And now here we are. Lysander, your one bargaining chip is gone with Tactus immediately. And now Quinn is fucking dead, dude. Like, he's confused. Look at the results of your actions. I think it's fair. Well, how about a fucking thank you, dude? How about a fucking, I was drowning in the bottom of the lagoon like a fucking toad? Hey, Toad, thank me for saving your fucking pathetic life, you idiot. Because he was being a bitch before Quinn even died. Don't forget that. He came up. He won't even look at Darrow.

because in Roke's mind, he is like, maybe I wouldn't have been drowning in a fucking pool if you would just let me know the plan. Well, we trust Arrow. That's fair. He says he trusts error no matter what. Sure, but he's, but when you give someone your trust, you're allowed to question them too. You're allowed to go. It's not blind allegiance, dude.

Yeah, well, you're not allowed to go. You want blind allegiance. Yes, I do. You want people to follow like a dictator. Boom. Boom! I do think he deserves. He's being a bitch, dude.

And I think he needs to go, hey, buddy. I don't, I need some answers, but he's not allowed to go, look at Quinn. Look what you did. He doesn't do that. Yes, he does. He just, no, no, no, no. This is why it's great, because he says it like this. Roke walks past me with Quinn.

His face is slack and tired. That's not someone who's filled with rage. He wants to say something bitter, but he bites his tongue and just shakes his head at me. Fuck you. He still does not know why I attacked him in his room before the gala. And now this, I've never seen him so broken. Look at her, he tells me. Darrell, look at your friend.

I look at Quinn and feel everything go, quiet. He or she is peaceful in death. Why can we not breathe life back into her? Why can we not simply restart the day? Do everything right. Save the ones we love. I would have gone like this. Everything you just said, that quote just slapped in your face. He doesn't rage at him. He's not he bites back the rage. Yes. But he dude, him going look at your friend. I would have gone like this. I know. Isn't it such a miracle that she's the only one dead when all of you should be dead? You're right. Go get the champagne out because quite literally all of you should be dead and would be dead if not for me.

I'm sorry, I could only save 99.9% of you, you fucking selfish prick, skumpback. You are unbelievable. Loser. You are unbelievable. And dude, the molar cam,

you know, when he's like, the Jackal wants him. Here's my only fear with Darrow, dude. You know when Jackal goes, was that before, did you find out about the betrayal

before the duel or after? And Darrow's like, before. Because it was after. Yeah, and he's like this well played. Yeah, and Jack was like, good. And then he goes, dude,

Jackal's like, God, I wish we had that footage. And Darry was like, I have a molar cam. And he goes, where did you get that? And he's like, Black Market. And he's like, so you were planning? And he's like, hey, yeah.

And I'm like, dude, you know how I always make fun of people for underestimating Darrow when they know full well? He's the Reaper. Yeah. The Jackal is the most cunning motherfucker to ever live. And Darrow better watch himself with these lies. He's telling you've got to be careful, pal. He's like, yeah, dude, I already knew. And I'm like, lie to everyone else, bro.

But the jackal, watch yo step, my dog. This is a great chapter of introducing us to Orion. And it's great to see, as we said, like the revolution starting to work. These people falling in line. They get the packs. They reconvene with everyone. But Quinn is dead. And I do, that is huge here.

But I do think that part that you just brought up with Adrius is like he, Quinn dies. And he immediately comes over and he's like, I did what I could. But then he's instantly like this. Got to get that footage to my media because we are going to rouse a fucking revolution here. we're going to turn them on Octavia. And you're just like, oh, dude, you are doing your own thing. Oh, yeah. Yep.

Cannot be trusted, which we will see in a second. Yes. Which takes us to chapter 23. Trust. Say, just because I'm a revolutionary doesn't mean I can't get a massage from a pink, does it? That would suck sack. This is a great chapter. It's incredible.

Darrow goes to console Severo in the washroom. They talk of how good Quinn was. Severo says if any of them deserve to live, it was her. He shakes his head, realizing they will always. always be trapped in this endless cycle. It's all a game. He then shocks Darrow by saying he came for him because he was told what he is. Severo tells Darrow to turn on the jam field that he knows he has. Darrow does. He asks Darrow who sent him. Darrow says Mustang. True enough, but Severo asks who else. Darrow says Lorne, then Fitchner. Severo spits in his face. From the book,

guess wrong again, and I leave you like this. He snaps his fingers. I will not come back. I will not help you. I will not bleed for you. I will not saccharacter. my friends for a man who doesn't give enough of a shit about me to put his neck out just once. Trust goes both ways, Darrow. This time, you have to take a leap. He's not bluffing, and I know what I want to say, but how can it be? Severo is a gold, a bloody damn gold. He heard me say bloody damn to Apollo. He covered it up, didn't he? Or was that a mistake? Is he trapping me? No, no. If that's true, then the game is already over. Eo's dream has failed. Who is closer to me than he? Who loves me more than this strange, nasty?

the outcast. No one. So I look at him in his dull gold eyes. Ari's sent you. Severo stands and gives Darrow a small black rock, a whisper gem with a hollow that only Darrow's voice can activate. He blows against it and Aries appears in the hollow. From the book, My son, he warbles. I am sorry. Harmony has betrayed me and initiated a campaign against our principles. I discovered her intended use of you too late, but you were wise. This is why I chose you. Steps are being taken to curb her efforts. Continue with your own. Augustus against Bologna and fracture the pack Salaris. I realize this must be difficult. I have asked too much of you already, but you must carry on. So chaos, weaken them. You have much reason to

doubt me. We have not contacted you until now because you were watched by Pliny, by the jackal and by the sovereign spies. Troublemakers breed interest, but I have watched you too, and I am proud. I know Eo would be as well. In case you doubt the veracity of this message, a friend would like to say hello. Aries helmet fades and dancer smiles at me. Darrow, I want you to know, we're with you. Your family is alive and well. The end is coming, my friend. Soon you'll be with us.

Till then, trust the man Airy sent. I recruited him myself. Break the chains. Darrow is a red, sent to kill Golds and break the chains. And Severo knows. He hugs Severo and cries in his arms thanking him. From the book, I can't stop shaking and saying thank you. Eo was right.

I was right. You are my friend. I tremble out like a child. It almost makes him cry seeing me this way. A true friend. Darrow asks if Severo knows where this will end, and he remains on board. Severo says he traveled for six months to help Darrow. Lots of time to reconsider, and he didn't.

Not to mention, his gold brethren have been trying to kill him since he was born. Several heads to get a massage, and Victor finds Darrow to tell him that Augustus has granted him the statero on the ship, the largest. Darrow says she could have sent a low color to tell him, and Victor says she wanted to see him. Her family betrayed the arch-governor, and yet she still stays with Darrow. She shows a soft side for the first time. She cares for him, but Darrow can't care for her back in the same way. But he extends an olive branch and they reintroduce themselves to each other to start fresh and wash away the hesitation Darrell once had for her.

Restless and unable to sleep, Darrow walks the massive ship in all its halls and massive sections. In the mess hall, he finds another who cannot quiet her mind. Mustang. Dude, Whisper gem is gas. Very cool. Very snitch flesh memory, which is sick. Yeah, I mean that in a good way. just a really cool item. I loved that.

Dude, this is what I wanted to call back to, I said, remember that. Really unique writing choice, storytelling choice with Severo and Quinn. I am actually hard-pressed. We reference a trillion fantasy series in this show. I'm hard-pressed to think of another example where you give one of our favorite characters a love interest who never reciprocates it fully.

But she does do the stuff like won't call him Goblin. Yeah. So it's like, maybe. But then other guys in the friend group get with her, and then she just dies. And you're like, oh, my God. Like, you know, the Quinn stuff, all the hints made me feel like eventually several and Quinn will end up together. And it's like, nope, she died and he never got her.

Really, I don't want to say cool because it's so sad. But that's an interesting, you know, character development choice. Yeah, yeah. Dude, that was awesome. No doubt. This scene, this chapter, this interaction is A plus plus and And I think go ahead. It's just so cool that we're halfway through book two.

And not only does someone know, our best friend knows. Yep. It's like I remember this moment when the second he goes, because of what you are, I was like, holy fuck. And all of that is so perfectly paste. All of the lines are so perfectly delivered. Pierce is unbelievable. and I am just so grateful to Pierce, as grateful as Darrow is.

I mean, like, he is crying in several's arms. And the, again, the brilliance that will be when this comes to life of massive Darrow holding a smaller Severo, but in his heart he knows how small he is. Yeah. Is just brilliant. Dude. And it's truly how grateful I feel is exactly how grateful Darrow feels because we are like, dude, that weight off Darrow's shoulders of knowing like,

someone else knows. Someone can help me cover it up. Someone can help me make sure I don't make the wrong moves. They know the full weight of everything. It's just so fucking awesome. And for Pierce to give us that halfway through book two, brava. Brava. And it's in Dan, it's placed to perfection, not just where you said in the book in the series, but for this reason. It comes out of fucking nowhere. It literally reminds me of what's the dad's name in succession? Logan. It is Logan. Yeah, Logan Roy. It reminds me of Logan dying because you're like, the fuck. The episode starts and you're like, oh yeah, what's going on?

And then things start spiraling and you're going, wait, is he literally, are they about to kill him in this episode? This is that because things have just calmed down, right? And obviously we know that at some point this moment has to come, right? Like in the book, at some point someone's going to find out about Darrow. And I expected to be a huge build up to that moment or a huge twist reveal when it comes. But this is like you can't even believe you're reading it. You can't believe, you go, is this really happening?

Yeah. I almost didn't want Darrow to say it because I'm like, yo, what is happening right now? Don't do that. And even then when he tells him, I thought it was just going to be Darrow is a gold fighting for the resistance. Like Ari's told several, hey, he's also a gold on the trying to defeat golds. Yeah. But it's everything.

It's the carving. It's the whole deal and several is still there. These are two sappy examples, but I remember in looking for Alaska and sex education. Alaska, as spoilers, if you haven't read or watched those, Alaska and Pudges kiss and Mave and Otis's kiss. I was looking forward to so much. I was like, please nail these. Nailed. Both of those scenes are fucking perfect.

And this rings of that to me where I was like, man, I, They better nail when Severo finds out. And it's like, oh my God, dude. I could read this part over and over. It's so good. And Severo's so money in this section. In the beginning, he says, it's all piss and shit, isn't it? Severo says, doesn't matter how pretty they dress it up.

We're still in this game. We're always going to be in a slagging game. Spit on their empire. Spit on the piss and the shit. I came for you because he told me what you are. Read the next quote, too, because this one is this part just. That part is just so good because that preface, the I came for you because he told me what you are, is several looking at Darrow and going,

this is all bullshit, dude. I am gold, but I see it. Like, I get why you are here. I get why Aries is doing what he's doing and I'm in. And then after it all, leaving, when he says, feels good. That's how I know it's right, Reap. Despite all this shit, it feels good in here. He taps his thin chest.

It feels, how do you say bloody damn go? Oh, dude. Dude, I would feel like the strongest man alive if I were Darrow in that moment. Feels bloody damn good. You literally, because like after all the emotions of finding out that several knows, he then goes, he's like, you know where this road leads, dude. And several was like, yeah, I don't fucking care, dude. And then he looks to him and says, it feels bloody damn good.

You're like, we are going to do this. Yeah, we're going to win. It's fucking awesome. Unbelievable. Harmony rat fuck as we predicted, as you expected. Absolute piece of shit. And we still got dancer. That's exciting. That's a happy.

That made me emotional. That's a happy reveal. We're with you, dude. And your family's alive and well. You're like, dude, that is another moment where you're like, oh, you're literally Matthew McConaughey and Interstellar watching. Yeah, yeah. I kind of hate that he's like, I recruited several.

And I'm like, okay, you, you, Erie sent you there and you just said, hey, dude, go get Darrow. Come on. Also, Aries, not good enough, soldier. Like, he's like, Darrow, people were watching you. And I'm like, buddy, he almost blew up all of Kingdom. He was two seconds from blowing up all of Kingdom come. And you were like, couldn't, couldn't get a whole. Yeah. Not good enough, Soldier. I like that he says we were watching. Yeah. Because that makes me think like maybe you could have done something at the last second if I was about to fuck up, but you trusted me. Yeah, okay. But as I'm just saying, I need a little bit more. I want a little more emphasis on the like this. You did really well.

Like that I'm with you. I hung you out to dry. God damn it. And then Darrow is a good man for turning down Victora in this moment when he walks her back. Pretty much everyone on our fangs are. So this part breaks my heart because, as I mentioned earlier, Victra coming up here for like the third time in this book and being like, dude, I am on your fucking side. I think it is so, it's difficult because the reason Darrow is cold, yeah, he's definitely a little. I love the line of here where she's like, you're a strange man, dude.

Like you love women, but you don't enjoy us. You don't enjoy us. Like, what's your deal? I think there is a part of Darrow that is a little shut off to her because he's like, I don't know if I can fucking trust you. He even says he's like, you are Antonia's sister and that is very difficult for me. But I think the bigger thing is because he is so in love with Mustang without question. But Victra being so soft here against all.

And she also says in this section, she's like, this is how I was raised by my shit-ass mother. I have to be this way to protect myself because she is kind. She does have love. and that's why against everything in her family, she is loyal to Darrow. I wish Darrow could be a little bit nicer to her. Dude, the sister line is totally uncalled. The sister line is completely,

that is so fucking foul, dude. Totally, totally uncalled for. Absolute violation. Oh my God. Absolute violation. It's the most offside thing I've ever seen in my life. Don't call her sister there, bro. She's the hottest person you've ever seen in your life.

And like, I actually kind, I'm a Mustang guy, but I actually wanted this sexual tension to go a little longer. I think we could have played a little triangle game. little triangle offense for a little bit. You got to be careful. We couldn't. We could. But we could, but we couldn't. No, Mustang's back. But it could have been fun, but we could. The call and her sister was an absolute violation. But I did like the reintroduction because he's like, all right, dude, even after, we've just dealt

with Tactus, who's way more devious than her. Yeah. But Tactus has just confirmed every fear I have of being a duplicitous taint. He actively in that moment goes, I am fully trusting you. everything that has made me hesitate with you before, I am going to shed away right now. We're going to introduce ourselves to each other. And I fucking love it. Lovely. Love it.

And it was time based on what's about to happen. Yes. Now, chapter 24, bacon and eggs. You're not invincible, Darrow. I know you think you are, but one day you'll find out you aren't as strong as you think you are, and I'll be alone. Mustang and Darrow talk about anything other than what they should.

They laugh about the size of their beds, wonder if obsidian's cuddle, and share history of how low colors have tried to be carved to match one another out of love. Darrow mentions that he thought of her often when they were apart, and Mustang feels the need to explain why she was with Cassius. Darrow says she doesn't need to explain anything. Mustang tells Darrow that she saw something in him that made her go against everything she was raised to think and to do. They did something different at the institute. They made an army out of friends instead of slaves. They broke the rules to be decent in a place of horrors. She tells Darrow to shove the idea of her feeling weak and lonely and going to Cassius's bed up his ass. From the book, I am not some

frill-wearing tramp. I am a genius. I say this because it is a fact. I am smarter than any person you've ever met except perhaps my twin. My heart does not make my brain a fool. I sought out a relationship with Cassius for the same reason I let the sovereign think she was turning me against my father to protect my family. Mustang says she knew she could make Cassius feel like he couldn't live without her, and that way she would be able to keep the people she cares about safe. She didn't want Darrow to die and leave her alone. Darrow consoles Mustang and makes sure she knows that she's not cruel.

In fact, he has fallen in love with this girl, despite all his fears, that she may be a distraction for him. She is the exact opposite. She is his purpose. And he feels all of this, she delivers her most important message from the book. You can't trust him, she says quietly. Who, I ask, startled by her sudden words. My twin, she whispers as though he sits in the corner of the room. He's not a man like you. He's something else. When he looks at us, when he looks at people, he sees sacks of bone and meat. We don't

really exist to him. I frown as she clutches my hand. Darrow, listen to me. He is the monster they don't know how to write stories about. You cannot trust him. The way she says it makes me know she understands our pact. I don't trust him, I say, but I need him. We can win this war without him, she says. I thought you said I wasn't strong enough. You're not, she says with a smile, not by yourself. She dons her lopsided grin. You need me. If only it were so simple. Dero turns to his quarters to Ragnar telling him a gold sits inside. Darrow enters to find the jackal. He sips a brandy and says they need to rethink their strategy and allegiance. Fond of understatements, the jackal says. This big chapter for you.

Oh, huge. And you could feel it coming with the Victor dismissal. Because otherwise, I know I was joking before, but otherwise you would have left that love festering. But when Darrow shuts it down, it must be because he's about to see Mustang and she is now back. So it's actually perfectly placed. This chapter after the Severo moment when he goes, who sent me, dude? I would have been so rattled when he sits down with Mustang and she's all of a sudden like, do you know, Did you know low colors can get carved into other colors?

I'm like, what the fuck is going to? Does everyone know? Does everyone know? You are completely like, dude, what the fuck? And you know how Darrow says, Severo knowing brings him peace? And it's awesome. I actually think it's more stressful in a way because before you're in full, no one can ever know mode.

Like I won't tell anybody. But now you're like, I can tell Mustay. I just told Severo. He was chill with it. I might as well tell Mustad. You know, it almost creates more confusion for you. Yeah. I really wanted that just full guard wall up.

And now he's like, holy fuck, dude. I'm going to just announce it over the comms. Yeah. Insane. Hilarious when the cook comes back with more food. And then, you know, they've churped him like, how much they can be eaten? Then he comes back again and he interrupts their like handholding. Yeah, and he's like, oh, oh, my dude.

Here's some more pheasant. Go, oh my God. And then this, dude, during the Mustang. speech. It says she starts this conversation. It says from the book, she looks around as if she as if she could escape the conversation. I'm sorry, Michelin Man, from the book. She looks around as if she could escape the conversation she started. If she stopped, I would be happier for it. And I was like, been there, dude. Been there. Been there. A lot of people, you know, when you're in a convo and you're like, this sucks so much, I would give anything for this person to stop talking.

Oh, yeah. Like I just please, dude. Please, please, dude. Just never mind. But this. But this is for those of us who were heartbroken by the sight of seeing her with Cassius, this was a big section. This was a big moment. And this quote, she says, the man who stood beside me, letting me raise myself up by my own strength when I fell, the man who couldn't look at me for three years after my mother died. That is the man I rejected for you. No, she corrects herself, not for you, for living differently, living for more, more than pride. She, in this moment, Mustang is like, dude, you and I figured out something very different and very special. And I believed in that.

And her explaining the whole Cassius thing, especially after the whole Victora standoff, you're kind of like, these two just got to fuck. Please. Can you two be together? And like if the cook walks out here one more time, dude, unless he's bringing a tray of fucking condoms, then you need to stay in the fucking kitchen, dude. Just a tray of sex toys, handcuffs. He comes out and he's like this. You're done eating, I suppose.

At least food. Smashes off everything at the table. I do hate Daryl's line of, if only it were so simple. I'm like, it is simple, you dumb bitch. Every time you've trusted her, you guys win. Just fucking trust her. Damn, he almost banged her in Olympus when he was like, is there time? Do we have time?

I'm like, you surely have time now, dude. This is one of the only times I am going to be. fully on your side where I'm like this, forget that rusting bitch and just please. Mustang, dude. It is amazing how Darrow several times

already, but in this whole series, gives the most James Winston level pump-up speeches that have me ready to run through a fucking wall of adamantium. That happens many times in this book. Yet this part from Mustang. Unbelievable shout to James Winston.

Yeah. He's the goat, dude. He is the goat, dude. Mustangs talk here actually does the job even better. Like legitimately, dude, when I think about how inspired I am, Darrow depends on this support more than even he will ever even process. It's her love and her belief that keeps his mind, right? And this section, which she does many more times,

but this section is really, really one of the special ones that brings me such great joy. And to close the chapter hilariously, with all that awesome. especially for me, I somehow leave that convo without just pure inspiration and instead just fear of the jackal. Like somehow by the end of that, all I can think about is how scared I am of the jackal. Yeah, it's awful. And it's confirmed when you see him in his room. Yeah, it's crazy that she's like this, do not. Also, that fucking line by her, like, she is a genius. But when she says he is the monster they don't know how to write stories about, you're like, and you shared a womb? Yeah. How did you survive? Like, what the fuck in?

is going on. And the fact that she like stops their lovely romantic moment to be like this, you cannot trust it. Yeah. And then he's like, I got to figure it out. And then he walks to his Roman Ragnar's like this gold breath. The jackals is in there. And you're like, fuck me. This fucking guy. He's like, please be victory naked. Please be victory naked. Please be victory. But that is the end of this episode as we get to our honors that we come to for this fourth episode of Golden Sun. In this section, the first honor. From the scrolls of Tyrion Lannister, given to the character who provided the most impactful words, we are going Virginia, Augustus, Mustang.

Honestly, she wins this honor for her entire performance in that chapter we just read. Yes, exactly. She does great stuff for her bacon and eggs alone. She wins this honor. And it's not just everything I just said, which is pure inspiration and belief and Darrow and all that stuff. It's the way she talks, tragic death of pinks, not inefficient. death of pinks, right? This, I've said this before, this is the gold we've been looking for. These are the droids we've been looking for. The way she thinks without being performative.

She didn't say that word to impress Darrow. She means it, right? Her speech about her family was incredible for me because think about this, dude. We only ever see Mustang through Darrow's eyes. We see their love. It blinds us to the internal turmoil she is feeling because we hate the jackal. We hate Nero because Daryl hates the jackal and hates Nero. So Mustang must hate them too, right? Wrong. That is her twin and her father at the end of the day. So all the things that she's been doing where she's protecting her family,

it's just a new look at what she's going through too. We think Daryl has all these secrets. Mustang has plenty of shit on her plate as well, pal. And when she reminds Dara of what they did at the Institute and how that needs to be their strategy moving forward, it's these are the different, she is a difference maker. She sees the field better than him. He is blunt force.

She is a genius. Yes. And when she tells Darrow to shove it up his ass. Can you imagine how good she would be at risk? Oh, it's incredible. It's unbelievable. And when she tells Darry to shove it up his ass when he thinks she went whimpering into Cassis, it's his arms. It's amazing.

But also how she felt like a bad person manipulating Cassius. Yeah. Right? Like that is so awesome. She is perfect. Darrow needs her and we need her and I need her. Marry me. Correct.

The next honor, Dobby, the house elf, given to the character who is the unsung hero providing aid behind the scenes. Few people here who provided some good aid, but none more important than Ragnar Valeris. We honestly just couldn't go over his first week without not giving him an honor. But it's also true. Stained without him, they do not take the packs. Yeah, yeah, yeah, true. And without him, there is still more doubt than there needs to be in the hopes of the uprising and the hopes of rebellion and individuality. A stained, one of the most impressive obsidian's Darrow has ever seen showing the ability to see a political loophole and change his allegiance because he hates the captors that have traded his race for centuries. This is a big deal. And getting

Ragnar on his team and offering him stains, the fact that he stands there outside his room, the most devastating killing machine Darrow has ever seen is a massive draft pick. This is huge. I don't want to make it sound like Ragnar is an ape, but every time he does that, it reminds me of a Caesar when he offers the hand and you just drag it. And he's like, I make the offering of stains. And Darrow's like, and you're like this, dude, you are like, I now have a killing machine. Oh my God, dip. But Ragnar is impressive.

The way he speaks, you know that we have a lot of stuff coming from Ragnar. And he is a fucking beast. Absolute beast, absolute legend. I don't even want to say more because of what's to come. The way of the Benegeserite, given to the character who could not be trusted or shows outright devious nature. also a few nominees this week could have given it could have given it too but we are going with Tactus

I have said on this show many times Tactus is a roller coaster and it occurred to me that that's not entirely true because even though roller coasters can scare you and make you sick and throw up they always bring you back to your friends safely every now and then you hear of a story of some super coaster

freezing one billion feet in the air and stranding everyone terrified and alone and completely fucking you and it's a lot and completely fucking you And if my analogy was correct in Tacitus is a roller coaster, he is certainly a fucking broken one. I guess it was his brothers. Everyone keeps saying that. It's gold societal norms also.

But he is the most selfish pricklic to ever live. Darrow has done everything for this fuck, including to a fault, turning a blind eye at Tactis's misdeeds. Starting with killing his primus at the institute. Yeah. Darrow says, I thought I could change him. And it's like Darrow never watched a rom-com in his fucking life. And now he has suffered the same fate as many innocent girls trying to change a fuck boy. But you cannot change him.

And as I said above, this betrayal is inexcusable. Take Ajah's explanation that you read earlier where she goes, when Darrow tries to fight. And she says, stop now. We can forgive you. It was only graze. It was a flight of youth. There are some things you can forgive. This move from tactics.

there is no going back from. And to make the decision so fleetingly, like he hasn't even thought about it, like he doesn't care, made me fucking sick. And I hope Darrow cuts his fucking bloody damn head off. Yeah. Fucking brutal. And finally, our last honor,

the sword, axe, and bow given to the character deemed to have earned our loyalty, belief, and trust above all. This one goes to Severo of Arka. There is no way to describe adequately how unbelievable and important Severo is. in this section. We obviously end the last episode with Severo showing up to break Darrow out, but here, all we see is loyalty and ability. The second Severo shows up, the way Darrow is injected with belief, with strength, and with hope is remarkable. He is always saying Severo on me.

Severo is his guy. He's always there. The way Severo spits in Narrows face and is like, I don't give a flying fuck who you are, I am loyal to the Reaper. And that is it. He is, he is, the one who jumps in the star shell with him and launches himself through space, howling as he does it, to this unbelievable warship and takes it over with Darrow. He is always there. He's always the guy. He can always be relied upon. And then all of that, all of that momentum and belief that he gives Darrow to then conclude with him going, and I know you're a fucking red. And I'm still here. I traveled from the rim six months to. be with you knowing where this leads and I couldn't care less I am here I am your guy through and

through it is the most MVP shit I have ever seen several is truly like the lifeblood that pumps through Darrow in this section it without him he there's no hope I really I really believe that and in that section one of the great trust one of the great chapters of this series when we find out that several knows and is still side by side with him is fucking unbelievable. Do we talk often about best friend Hall of Fame? This is name the trophy after him. Severus my one-one.

Yeah, name the trophy after him best friend. Unbelievable. That concludes episode four of Golden Sun. Next week we'll be reading through chapter 31. So you will stop at Die Young. And that is not a great chapter title. Yep, it's more chapters we usually do, but about the same amount of pages.

And we want to get part three done in two episodes for you. So that's what we're going for. It's going to be incredible. Going to be incredible. We cannot wait for next week. We'll see you then. Hail Reaper.