Empty Netters Podcast - Sci Fi Section Ep 8: Golden Son Chapters 1-6

Episode Date: September 16, 2026

We are diving deep into Pierce Brown’s world of the Red Rising saga. Join us for Chapters 1-6 of book 2, Golden Son. Darrow is dominating at the Academy just like he did at the Institute… until he isn’t. Karnus au Bellona makes sure this blood feud his family has with Darrow is only intensifying. When Nero turns his back on the Reaper it could mean the end of Darrow’s mission, and his life. Chapters: 0:00 - Intro 3:18 Chapter 1 Warlords 17:25 - Chapter 2 The Breach 31:02 - Chapter 3 Blood and Piss  42:15 - Chapter 4 Fallen 53:35 - Chapter 5 Abandoned 1:00:40 - Chapter 6 Icarus 1:09:25 - Honors Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Explorers, warriors, magi, intergalactic voyagers, and hell divers, 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 rising. I am Chris Powers, a low-ranking gray, ready to betray my vows, attack Adominus, and leave my family orphaned from my insolence, and by my side, is a man who has taken every gift I have ever bought him and sold it for drug money.

David Powers. Don't forget the pinks. It's wands at the ready, and it is a swish and flick on that subscribe button and that like button. a swish and flick. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it, and those who don't subscribe to this channel will never get to watch these videos. Please subscribe. Today, we will be talking about chapters

1 through 6 of Golden Sun, book two in the Red Rising series. However, we have read this entire series. We have read this book, Golden Sun, many times. So there will be some spoilers here and there. So if you would like to venture further, do so with the knowledge that you may hear things that you wish you hadn't.

And now we begin. And Daniel, I would actually like to, before you take us into Chapter 1, book 1, I would like to say one thing about the prologue if you want to call it. It is cool when you pick up a second book in a series because you really have no idea where we're going to, or a TV show, where you're going to start, right? For sure. Where are we? Has time passed?

Yeah, exactly. Where, what's going on? And it's cool how in this, that first, it's like on the Kindle. It's like one page. So I don't even know what it is in print. But it's, you are right where we left off. Yeah, like right there, Augustus is waxing poetic how the balona's don't forgive or forget, but narrow protects what's his. And Darrow's like, I do all those things too.

I don't forgive. I don't forget. I protect the voice of my people, blah, blah, blah. But I love that closing line, especially for me, where it goes, but then his daughter takes my hand. And I feel all the lies fall heavy on my shoulders. They say a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. They made no mention of the heart. And it's just an interesting way to end the prolog

from a book that often is like, oh, this is the most agro dude bro book ever. And I'm like, bro's in love. Bro's in love, dude. And don't you fucking forget it. And that line being the last line of the prolog, I actually really think speaks to that where he's like, dude, this is not just a war book, you know?

It's also just an example of how great the writing is, the dynamics of what's going on here, the fact that he's pledged fealty too narrow. We'll get into it. It's unbelievable. But we have, Finished red rising. Darrow has defied the Proctors and won the Institute,

a step closer to rising to the ranks where real change can fall on the galaxies and its colors. Darrow has pledged fealty to House Augustus to a man who killed his wife and whose daughter now has his heart. The blood feud with the Bologna's extends from House Augustus to Darrow himself. Which gets us to part one, bow,

and chapter one, warlords. Hick-Sunt-Leonis, the words of our master, Neroa Augustus, arch-governor of Mars, 13th of his name. My warlords echo the phrase, here be lions. I'm gonna say, bro, I gotta say, Hicksonclione's is just all time. One of the great phrases you will ever hear. It's been two years since winning at the Institute,

and now Darrow stands bruised and bloodied on a starship he commands. Now a Lancer of House Augustus. He has not seen Mustang in years since saying goodbye to her with a kiss. and parting gift of a ring and a razor. Darrow has not heard from the sons of Ares either, even after being told by dancer they would contact him. Darrow is now in the academy, now commanding fleets of warships in games

meant to test the fluency of their military minds. Roke stands with Darrow on the deck of a ship, part of his command. Killing in space is more like poetry than killing on land. This is why Roke is a prodigy at it. Tactus and Vyctis and Vycour from the viewpoint of the ship as they all discuss their tactics while pursuing Carnus on his wounded ship.

Roak warns Darrow that Carnus might be trying to plan a trap. Darrow has a trap of his own. This is the last ship in Cassius' older and murderous brothers fleet. This is his chance to end this game and win the test, claiming a fleet for himself to use for the Sons of Ares. So I love this, do I just said to you, the prologue starts minutes. In script writing, we go dash moments later.

Yes. We were dash moments later in the prolog. And now we go, oh, cool. We are going to pick up immediately where we left off. And then let me give you the first line of chapter one. Well, hold on. They give us the end game body blow kick to the nuts of a five years later title card. That is what happens here.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It goes, my silence thunders. I stand on the bridge of my starship, arm broken and held in a gel cast, ion burn still raw on my neck. And I'm like, jeesh, dude. What happened? That is insane. And it's only a few lines after that where it's.

says, I'm 20 now. And you're like, yeah, because, dude, I... Like, didn't Red Rising start? He was 16? And you're like, after the prolog, you're thinking, I thought we were going to be in the shuttle ride home to. I was like, what did they, I wonder what they talk about.

Yeah. Like, so how was spooning my daughter? What's the next plan? Like, dude, and then it's like... The next thing you know, bro is broad shoulder and 20 years old. You literally open this line and you're like, what the fuck? It's Captain Kirk now. It's going on.

So that is... I believe it. But it's awesome. It gets you, it gets you right. right in it, dude. Yeah, I love that we waste no time. I mean, we are literally just in a battle immediately already. It's unbelievable.

It's sick that his man of worship is called Quietus. Yeah. I think because twice now, end of book one and in the prologue, Nero is like nothing from the Institute last. He says that to Dara. He's like, don't think any of these alliances will hold. Yeah. Right.

So, and I know what he means. Loyalties and friendships are amplified in the Institute. right, and you can't blindly count on them when you graduate in the real world. But I think it's cool, both for the book and for world building that reputations and nicknames and little tidbits like quietus stay.

Absolutely. Like, Derek's like, oh yeah, they made fun of me when I didn't handle Titus correctly and I got this sick horse and they called it quietus because I was bitch. But then it became cool and now my fucking starship is named. I became primus. I won the institute and now I'm in the academy

me and I have a man of war and I'm going to call it that suck me and like all the people that were in his class are like oh dude quiet yeah that's gas you know like that is a really cool thing it is so cool here seeing we see roke with darrow love that I also love the idea that ship battle like what we'll call it like you know military tactics in space on ships with fleets is so much different than the craziness of the institute and I like that it is more of a rhythm. It's more of a calculated thing. And Roak is like a master at it. Because Roak in Red Rising, not really the guy that you think of when you think of military tactics. You think of a guy who's like willing to kill and be ruthless. And then he has found something that he's stupendous at.

Really, really cool. Dude, sir, you have a quote. No. I was just going to get into also how it's really amazing then, too, you have these relationships like Mustang. You have these relationships specifically like Severo. And we get into the, this book and you're like, can't wait to see all that. And it's like, I haven't spoken to a Mustang in years. And Severo is on Pluto. Like, I don't know what the hell he's up to. And it's actually tactis. And we meet Victora, sister of Antonia, that psychotic bitch who slit someone's throat. These are the people who are his warlords on his ship. You're like, Jesus. Like, you do in that moment think of what Nero said. And you're like, yeah, I guess so. It is very different here now. So

pretty wild. Victor, what a woman. What a woman. Dude. Tactis is such a roller coaster. I know. I do love him in this chapter when he goes, when Rope goes, he's doing key bumps off his ring. And Rope goes at your fifth stim shot today. He goes, yes.

Thanks for noticing. And he's like, and he's like this. And I'm tired of this shit. I want different drugs. They're literally in the middle of a battle. And he's just dusting rails off his knuckles. I love that. is here, dude. That is so awesome. It is crazy. I'm with you big time on Roke, Dan. He is a bit,

a bit left out of Book 1. Certainly the second half of Book 1, right? We've assumed dead. We're not around. And I think not only is it a cool thing. It's just a cool moment where you're like, oh, wow, Roak's dope at that. It's cool for the story. But also, it's epic for this reason. And they do this in Potter a little bit with, I would say, Neville Longbottom, where you go, why Gryffindor? Yeah. And then he cuts the head off Nagini and you go, oh, yeah, he's the man. Yeah. And a little bit of Roke, when he's the poet, you're going, why Mars? Yeah, why house Mars did this guy end up here? And then you put him in space and you go, oh, I see. But you also, we learn here in chapters later that there's also a massive connection with Roke's parents and

narrow. Yep. So that makes sense as well. Yeah, for sure. But we start to see the, this is, you know, there's a trilogy here technically. And we have six books in this series that we're going to go all through. The first three are kind of their own trilogy, but even here in this book, we get more politics than we did in Red Rising. Yeah, true. Red Rising is the fucking mud, dude. It is, we are in the mud and we're fucking wrestling. This, we are kind of in the arena. It's a little bit of politics already. And it's very interesting when they're talking about all of these different dynamics. And to be thrown into chapter one of this book, he's in the academy. This is a test. sure. They're not actually firing

nukes at each other. This is more of a test. It's a game. It's another game. But people can die. People can get very seriously hurt. And it is crazy that we are launched into right off the bat. Who is he chasing? Who is he up against? Cassius

his brother. Blood feud. And there's this quote of that curly-haired family. Cassius is the favorite son. Julian was the kindest. And Carnus, my broken arm stands testament. He's the monster they let out of their basement to kill things. Pretty cool to see that like this Bologna family, this, you know, big and pristine, blonde-haired, curly-haired family has a psychotic person in it. Yeah, it's awesome.

Oh, shit. So true. Also dude, Darrow being a peerless scarred, which he gets from winning the Institute is just so fucking badass. Like when that scene when he's describing himself and he's like, my hair's long, my scar races my cheekbone. I was like, Darrow's the hottest dude alive in this moment. And he's just fucking firing me up. Well, it's just, it's so cool in the first book hearing how monumental meeting a peerless scar is. And now he's 20 and he is one.

Sons of Ari's wildest dreams. And you're like, damn. Yep. Okay. A couple things here that I think are really fitting from character stuff. I love how Darrow says he gives Mustang a horse crested ring as a parting gift. She gives him a razor. And Pierce writes, and it's Darrow's thoughts.

He writes, fitting. Yes. And I think it is so good because that's kind of a theme of Darrow's character. Like, let's talk love languages. Okay. Darrow, he, he, he, the person he wants to be, which is like how he gives gifts is, is really sentimental and loving, you know, and, and, and cherishes the little things, which is why he's like, hey, you know, we call you Mustang because I sell you on a horse and I got this horse

but the person he projects, which is how he receives gifts, they're like, here's, here's a weapon of death. Yes. And he's like, thank you. Dude, I would have lived in peace while my enemies brought me war. Yep. Like this is, he deals with that. He deals with that.

So true. And great call back there. That is awesome. And then, dude, think about, this kind of hit me the first time in this read. Think about Darrow the person right now in time. He has a few lines about this that says, this is not the future I plan for myself, right? He's like, I didn't envision this. But legitimately think about this.

He wins at the Institute, right? falls in love with his arch nemesis's daughter, but he wins, and just like the son's asked him to, they said win, go win, he does. Then he presumably, he spends a year on Luna, like falling in love with Mustang, or maybe on Mars, but he's with Mustang. Then he leaves a crying Mustang on Mars.

He hasn't heard from her in a year while he's grinding at the academy, and he hasn't heard from the sons in two years. And he's like, do I just do this? Am I just a gold bag? Do I just go about all this shit? What are we doing? Dad, like, imagine being...

Can I get a text? Yeah, like, imagine being a secret agent. Shoot me a... Hey, all systems go, hope everything's well. Ags. Hags. Dude. Dancer. Imagine being a secret agent undercover, but you never hear from the police again.

You never hear from your hand. You were just now a drug dealer. Yeah. You know, you're like, oh, I'm... Because you get, there's no back. You can't go back. does anyone know what I'm doing? Like literally, dude.

So it's just so funny to me that he's like... Deep cover, dude. He's like, am I... I just, I think he literally, he's like this close to just becoming like a praider killing Reds for the rest of his life. And he's like, yeah. He's just a lancer of House of Gustus.

And he's like, are we doing that plan still? Or am I, is this just me? Like, not enough credit is given to the mental turmoil in this moment that Dara must be going to. He's like, where is everyone? Truly stunning stuff. Two years, dude. Like, that is fucking insane.

and then I wonder this bro I thought this all the time I wonder what you think I've never said this to you and it would have got more Hunger Games comps not that I give a fuck but that's what would have happened I can't believe the Academy wasn't book two and then this is book three

like the Darrow like this is he's been at war he's been in a war game for a year oh yeah and I'm like that would have been gas no it would have been I'm not saying it needed to do it wouldn't have if you think that book would It wouldn't have been fun. You don't know math. It would have been fun, but it would have been too

similar to the first book. Which is why Pierce's goaded. Yeah, Hung Games book two was amazing. Book three is terrible. Yeah, I think it was pretty good. But this is why this is better. Yeah. I agree. Because it didn't go into, I can go back to the well. We're in a fucking new, we're at the water and call. Not a way, we're at the lake. Yes. This is the lake. This is a bigger step up. That's why it's better. But it would, there's a, there's a, when Pierce is done with this series and authors always go back and write these like random ass things, I want him to write a little Vela that is the academy. I hope to God he doesn't do that.

And I will read it. If it's God he doesn't do it, that would be awesome. No, this is what I always say with prequel shit. I'm like, I know what happens. I don't give a fuck. Yeah, see, I don't, I don't like that take because I think some of them are awesome. You know what I do? Because you're soft.

You're a pink. No, dude. Well, that would be nice, but I think what it's probably. You want to just be getting fucked by golds all the time and not having any real rights or ability to do anything that you want? Am I? Well, I don't want to get in trouble. be careful

I think if the sex was the sex that I want then yeah I would have but we can't guarantee that pal you're right imagine you get put in tactics's room and you're like oh Jesus damn it he's just pumping you full of key bumps

okay now I'm back in Dan give me the novella Pierce I'll take them to Academy novella here B Lions is tremendous that's my last thought it's unbelievable and yes Darrow has a trap of his own for Carnus and we get into the bath. Oh, oh, actually, thank you.

I did want to say this. This is my last thought. That exchange that you just brought up, where Darrow goes, I don't have the direct quotes, but he's like, I hope Carnus fights us. And Roak goes, oh, you have your own trap. And Darrow's like, it ends today, brother. Yeah. And Roe goes, you could have mentioned.

It's just a lot of Darrow not communicating that well with his friends. Well, as we know, I, because you and I have gotten into multiple debates about this and like what to do in these situations. I always have a little bit of sympathy for Darrow because you have to remember he is undercover. Like, yeah, he doesn't share. This is a game, sure. And Roke has, he has every reason to believe that Roke is like,

this is my boy. But I always give him a little bit of leeway when he does things and doesn't communicate because he's like, I don't fucking know any of you do. Yeah, yeah. Like I am a red under, in disguise. Yeah. I am not going to allow myself to get so comfortable that I'm sharing everything with you guys.

So I get it. But I also get Roke being like, what the fuck? Yeah. Tell me shit. And it's why it's such a good dynamic. A couple times, you know, and we'll burn him again. I'm like, dude, you've got to chill a little bit. Yes.

Um, okay. That brings us to chapter two. The breach. This is my fault. I broke the rules of the Institute. I changed the paradigm and thought they wouldn't adapt, that they wouldn't change their strategy for me. And now I have lost so many lives. I may never know the tally. Insane. Darrow begins his assault on Carnus's last ship, surrounded by blues operating various parts of the

ships, missiles, comms, and navigation. They're a calculated color, more computer than man. As it seems Darrow's fleet is being torn to shreds. He releases two squadrons who he had stationed a half hour earlier surrounding the asteroid to flank and smother Carnus. He has won. Darrow is now to be a praetor. And with such a title, the Bologna's will be sick to their stomachs, and Daryl will get to his own fleet with some familiar faces. Severo from Pluto, the howlers, and Quinn to bring a smile to Roke's face. As they make plans, a helm blue gets Dero's attention. On the screen display, there's a single red dot, an enemy that shouldn't be there. A destroyer ship they thought to have destroyed three days prior now sails head on directly towards Dero's man of war. He shouts

instructions for an evac. Everyone rushes to pods, but Theodora's personal valet advisor tries to help a blue still clutching his operations display, and he isn't going to make it. Darrow launches himself across the ship and grabs her just as the destroyer rams their ship. Darrow wakes after being knocked out. The escape pod with his friends has launched. He grabs Theodora with her legs shattered and rushes them to his quarters where another escape pod waits. Dozens from the crew, oranges, blues, grays, obsidians, cooks, soldiers, mechanics, scramble in the madness looking for safety and fearing for their lives. One of the great Corpals pulls a gun on Darrow, saying he deserves a seat in the pod over Theodora.

Another Gray shoots him. The pod launches, and Darrow watches his ship explode into blistering rubble. The amount of death that this has created ways on him. Darrow loads himself into a star shell, a suit that can act as a human torpedo. He intends to launch himself through space at Carnus's ship to take vengeance, but the proctors override his controls. Chapter 2, immediate Darrow fuck up. Oh, dude. And all time fuck up. And I don't even, it's not even that he, the plan was so bad. It's just the level of catastrophe that occurs is so bad. And I actually have this here. I'll say this now. A huge switcheroo from Pierce, right? Where you're like, oh yeah, all as well. And I will give him credit on this one because he really lets it breathe on this time because the whole time I'm starting this chapter. Darrell's like, don't worry, I have a trap. Yep, here it comes.

Yep, carnus is flanked. Yep, we did it. That whole time, I'm going, don't celebrate early. Oh, yeah. All good. And Pierce lets me enjoy it so long that it works because I believe it. I called my mom. I tweeted it.

I was like, we did it. We won the academy. Everything, I have a cold, freezing cold takes exposed. I genuinely forget this chapter every time I reread the book. They're just so happy and chilling and kicking it. And then when that blue goes Dominus. Yeah. And you're like, oh, no.

No. What the fuck. Pierce goes, Fuck you, loser. You idiot. You fuck. Sike.

Why would you ever get comfortable? You more. Outrageous. Before that, it is fun for a minute. Victra constantly hitting on Darrow is amazing. I love it. And as you just said with the key bumps, I need to go to a brother's wrath party. He's like, he reminds me of Bruce Wayne when he's like, one party with my friends and you'll never need funding again.

But this is drugs and sex. He's like one party with my brothers. It's that like ASAP Rocky clip where it's like the door opens to a room and it's a party the likes of which you've never seen. So when you're in fifth grade and you get called up to the seventh grade math class and they open the door and they're all doing fucking dust. Yeah. Like what the shit?

Fuck, dude. So yeah, I need to attend one of those parties. Crazy. And then this also made me laugh. You said this. Darrow goes, when I'm as a parader, I can choose my own crew. Yeah. So he's like, Severo, the Howlers, Quinn, Faroak.

and he says internally to us, the reader, that Severo and I aren't great at keeping in touch, certainly since I got to the Academy, we chat on the HoloNet. He sends holograms of perverted unicorns and video clips of himself reading puns. Yeah. His Algo must be insane.

I can't. Darrow's because of several or severals. This is a moment, like Pierce ahead of his time. This is genuinely how I imagine your friends that you don't talk to all the time, but they DM you. reels all the time. And it's the most perverted shit you've ever seen. And you're like, what are you scrolling every night? That is what Severo's doing at night. This literally made me,

I don't know what, maybe I'm just more online now than I had when I read this last, but this part made me laugh so hard. Just thinking about Severo in the group chat, several's DMs, where you're like, bro, you have fucked up my algorithm now because I clicked on this. And this is some of the most recent shit I've ever seen. It is astounding. That I really enjoyed that. I lose it in this part at the dynamics. There's a quote here I have. The dynamics of all these other colors, kind of the first time we've really seen it. You don't see this in Red Rising. Red Rising is it's all gold, it's all young kids in this game. And now here we actually see the hierarchy and the dynamics of how these people interact when they're on these ships, when they're doing all of these

different games. I love this quote. Each man and woman shares it in their own way. That is the scheme of the society to prosper you your superior must prosper as i found a patron in augustus so must the low colors find their own in me it breeds a loyalty of necessity to golds that the color system itself cannot create by mere dictation i love seeing the blues the grays the obsidian like waiting there for fucking death marches he's insane but the way they call their odominus the way he is like the way they look at him in a dress him as a gold is crazy. And then as their man of war is blown to pieces and people are dying. Like this, yes, this is a game. Yep. There are many people dying in this moment. And in that moment, color kind of goes out the window. They're all scrambling to try to survive. And seeing a gray,

who has, as we hear in some of the quotes, taken vows to obey and to serve the golds, pulling a gun on Darrow because he's like, I have a family. I'm not dying because you're bringing your pink Theodora, no way. That is also a wild, any bit of hierarchy that you can claim as a lower color, a gray looking at a pink and being like, I am of a higher color than that pink. I'm getting on the fucking pod instead of her. Which, by the way, in military, the ranks are, I God, I wish I could remember a few good men quote directly. but it's like that following order saves lives, right?

Like doing your job and based on your rank saves lives. Yeah. So in a clearly the color hierarchy grew from military rankings, that that gray is right in a lot of ways where he's going, dude, there's a very simple order to this. This is what happens. Read your next quote because I want to talk about that, but this quote is a perfect tee up for it. So get into that. This is as things have been blown to shit and we're out of control. I smell it rather than hear it.

I shout at the grace to get in the pod. Only one stays behind now, face drawn and quiet, as the sergeant and a corporal pull themselves into the escape pod. They strap in across from me. I activate the launch function and salute the gray who stays behind. He salutes back. Proud and loyal, despite the quiet in him, as he faces his last moment of life,

eyes distant in thinking of some young love, some path not taken, perhaps wondering why he was not born gold. Bro. So for the hockey... Brutal. For the hockey crossover people that listen to our hockey show, we are bringing the Jim Powers line to sci-fi section. This chapter is a great action because it is calamity, but holy fuck. And we just learn a lot.

Yes, we learn a lot of like how this goes. You know, it's scary. The most great action for me is the scene that culminates with that quote. So it's incredible start to finish. She's carrying Theodore. They get into his private quarters. The Grays are following. there are people crawling through, including an obsidian, holding the door open trying to get in his quarters, and the grays kill them to get the door closed, right?

So now they're in there, and then Darrow goes, there's four seats picked two. Yeah. You know, and he's strapping Theodore in. And as the gray is pulling a gun on Darrow and talks to him like that, and he gets his fucking head blown off because that is not how you talk to a Dominus. You bitch. But this line, Dan, were I still the man that E. I would have stood frozen in horror, but that man is gone. To that, Chris Power, as I say, fuck yes, because that's true.

You know what this is? Kill the boy, John Snow. Yeah. Yes. It is a big similarity in that element. So yes, that man is gone. That's true. But I'm also me, the reader, glad it's true because there is no time for that boy.

He needs to be gone. Like, we are in a fucking, what did you say earlier? Like, we are in the shit now. Yeah. It's Vietnam now. It's Vietnam now. Yeah. But, but, but, I think.

so importantly at the same time. Even as he's saying that quote in the book, that's all happening because Darrow is insisting Theodora gets a seat. And that is the man that he knew. You know what I mean? Like he's so two things at once where he's like, that guy is dead. And I'm like, well, actually not really because you're saving a slave out of compassion. Yeah. If the man was truly dead, you would have just gone, three Greys get the seat. You would have killed Theodora yourself. So it's really cool. That's a really cool moment for me as him where he's like, man, I'm so different, but also I'm not. As we see through these books too,

I mean, many, many people watching this and listening to this can relate. Darrow is so hard on himself. Yeah. He is never giving himself grace for anything. And that even in the moment of pure calamity and death, he can't give himself even a shred of sympathy for what he's dealing with. And that it is a, he's a good man for saving Theodore. But he's like, no, no, no, I am a piece of shit.

Yeah. Because all of these people are dead because of me. What do you think about this, dude? I think it is bullshit. There are two things I think are bullshit in this chapter. One, I think it's bullshit they turn off his spit tube when he's going for it. It first to me, when I'm first reading, I'm like, that doesn't feel very Proctor-like unless he was literally about to die. And then in the next chapter, they say it was unbecoming.

They're like, oh, doing that would have been unbecoming, unfitting of a gold praetor. And I'm kind of like, disagree, dude. A gold praetor would be like, I will go rip their throat out. I will fly through space and rip their throat out. Like, I kind of think that's bad for him by the Proctors. Okay. My take on it is, one, I think he would have died. Okay.

I think it's, obviously, he's not going to die in this juncture. Yeah. Two, but for the Proctors, I could see that as it, because Darley in that moment, makes sure to say, to note, this is not what this is used for. Yeah. And I could see the Proctor's being like, Jesus Christ. Hold on. And also, definitely looking at the fact that this is a Lancer of House Augustus.

If they let that happen and he died, they don't know how Narrow feels about it. Yeah. Narrow could have been like, are you guys. kidding me you let him do that like that's my lancor he came in second yeah in the academy don't let him kill himself i think the the unbecoming part is not a you can't go and try to take action yourself i think it's a you've lost my good man yeah this is a game you have lost you've been outmaneuvered you've been out maneuvered do not lash out like a wild animal now i think that is the unbecoming part so they're not saying this is literal war yeah yes absolutely go die on your

shield. They're saying this is a game and you lost. So then here's my other question. And, you know, I'm not saying, like, I have an issue with this. Actually, I'm just saying this kind of frustrates me. Either from the book standpoint or from the literal academy standpoint, Carnus, because to be very clear, this is usually the ships aren't blowing up. It's all fake. Like, you get hit and they go, you're out. Like, that ship is out, but no one is actually blowing up. This one got blown up because a ship ran through them. Yes. Carnus is in this version of the game. Carnus is dead.

Like the ship Carnus is on. Oh, I agree. This is cheating. Is dead. But it's okay that there's another ship. But my point is, Darrow and all his warlords are alive because they've escaped. And Darrow has six other ships floating around, which he can so easily get on. The fact that they go, you lose.

I'm like, no. He took a really embarrassing, what should have been an easy win. It actually was way harder. But Darrow still wins. No, this is bullshit. It's insane to me that they go, he loses. You want to talk about Michigan, Western Michigan? Dude, a second back on the clock saying that's cheating.

This is cheating. Because also the ship that Carnus uses has been destroyed. Yeah. Per the game, they're like, this ship is dead and decommission. Yep. The fact that it can still actually function doesn't matter. That's bullshit. Because all those people, those would have been nukes that would have blown the ship up.

Yeah, dude. And I'm like, there's six other ships alive. This is cheating. So stupid. The Primus is alive on one team and dead. dead on the other team. And he has more ships alive still. I'm like, ridiculous.

And it actually pisses me off that no one ever is like, that was unfair. Because that's the world. Yeah, yeah, that's gold life. That's gold life. So to chapter three, blood and piss. Mother bid me to tell you, a pauper can never be a prince. Every time you look in the mirror, remember what we did to you. Remember you breathe because we let you.

Remember your heart will one day be on our table. Rise so high in mud you lie. 833 men and women died as a result of Carnus's actions. Darrow sits on the rescue ship with his lieutenants contemplating what just happened to them. Back at the academy, preparations are being made to celebrate Carnus's victory. Bullshit. Roak tries to tell Darrow that coming in second is something to take pride in. Darrow doesn't see anything but anger in the way he was defeated.

From the book, Roak, come now, he continues. It's not victory that makes a man, it's his defeats. You think our ancestors never lost? You don't need to huff and puff about this and make yourself one of those Greek cliches. Drop the hubris. It was just a game. Darrow goes to be alone in the garden to contemplate his loss. He's interrupted by a call from Augustus on his datapad.

He's failed him. From the book, his words echo in memory. Even if you lose, even if you cannot take the victory for yourself, do not allow a balona triumph. Another fleet under their control will tip the scales of power. Darrell floats in a pool in the garden, and when he begins to exit, he knows. notices his clothes and razor are missing. Then, Carnus, along with six of his cousins and brothers, surround him. They hate Darrow and want to kill him for what he did to Julian. But that would mean war. Instead, they break sticks from a nearby tree. Darrow does his best while injured to fight them off

as long as he can, but soon he's beaten and bloodied on the ground. Cagney, Carnus's cousin, sits on Darrow's chest and saws off his hair with a knife. Then Carnus breaks his sternum with a headbut and pisses on Darrow as he lays in the mud. Tough beginning of a book for Darrell, buddy. Carnas, having killed Claudius Augustus, is so great for the rivalry. It's unbelievable. You know how like sometimes it'd be, you know, you're watching sports and it's like you hate your other, you know, your rival team. But sometimes when they win, it's like more fuel to the fire.

So you're like, good. CP. We are three chapters into this book and everything we've heard about Carnus, the last chapter we hear that he is the murderer that they brought out of the basement. to kill people. And then we have this quote. When he approaches, Darrell calls him Goliath, his call sign. The quote is, Goliath the breaker, Goliath the sun killer, Goliath the savage. Mustang says he once broke the spine of a fancy loon-born gold over his knee after the brat thought to splash a drink in his face at a pearl club. His mother then bribed the judiciary to let him off with a fine. The list of fines he's paid for murder stretches longer than my arm, grays, pinks, even a

Violet, but his true reputation comes from killing Claudius A. Augustus, the arch governor's favorite son and heir, Mustang's brother. Fuck. It is insane. Look, great for the rivalry. That the arch governor's son was murdered by this lunatic. And he's just in the academy. Yeah.

Dude, and I've never quite got the lore on this. We should talk to Pierce. But it's, he's way older. And then when they hear Dero's going to the academy, he's like, I'll go. I'm like, have you been already? Have you not gone? Could Daryl go back? Like the academy is interesting to me.

Well, that's Victor, too. We learned Victor is six years older than them. So it's, there's a lot. Again, this is the hierarchy, the dynamics. Like we're not a bunch of kids in the institute anymore. Yep. I've got some Roke stuff for you. Yes.

So really great Roke line here for me. Because Daryl's like, you don't understand. Roke says, of course I don't understand. You never let anyone in. Not me, not several. Look how you treated Mustang. You drive friends away as though they were enemies. And then Dary was like,

You have no idea, buddy. You have no idea. Awesome line, very true. Kind of goes back to what I was saying before where it's just a lot of communication, Darrow, a lot of communication chances where you're not talking. But for us readers, Pierce sets up a world where we know what cyber on. I think you, Dan, even joked in the very beginning of book one. It's like the prolog. You don't even know who Darrow is yet. Yeah. But it's like the very beginning of book one, he's like, death to gold. You know, and you go, okay. I said, we don't know what golds are, but I hate him. establishes the sides, the stakes, all that stuff, right? But as the first book goes on, I would argue it becomes clear that, because it's a great story, because Pierce is a great writer, that there's nuance, right? There must be some good in gold, right?

And it's not death to golds, it's find the golds who see things differently. Yes. That's what we're trying to do here. And you see that in Mustang, right? That's like the gold star, the North Star of it, evolve. Evolve, Darrell, be better, be better. sure. But we saw it in Roak, too, I felt like in book one, the soft-spoken poet, like, oh, of course, like Roak will see it the right way. Yeah. But here, in the line, the quote you read, you get a

flash of like a darker side of Roak where he's like, it's just a game. They died for a cause. It is the first time. I put that quote in very specifically because that last line, it was just a game. Over 800 people died. Yeah. And it is. He's the first time for me in both Red Rising and Golden Sun, obviously, early Golden Sun, where you're like, oh, Roke is a gold. Yeah. He is not, he is the poet. He is sensitive.

He is sweet. He's thoughtful. He's so thoughtful. But he is a fucking high-born gold. Yeah. And genuinely, he doesn't even realize that he's saying it. But in that quote, Roke goes, I do not care about those low colors that died. This is how.

this works. This is how we establish the society. This is how gold stays on top and to Roke. That is normal. That is how it should be. That is scary. And that is why I give Darrow credit or leeway, as I said earlier, when he's like, yeah, I don't tell you a ton of stuff, dude, because it's as wonderful as you are. If you were born a different color, you'd probably be my best friend on earth. But you are a fucking gold cunt. And you don't, you don't care about all of these people dying. Yep. That shit is scary. And, dude, my most important point about Roke right here. Not right now, Roke.

Not right now. Dude, and he's like, you got second, Daryl, it's okay. And I'm like, Roke, shut the fuck up, dude. Like, literally, you know how this works. Are you out of your mind? He literally comes off that ship going, my good man, it's okay. We're second of all the lancers and all the realms. You got second.

Not right now, dude. Because he knows, Dan. He knows that this was irrelevant. He knows that they had a seven to one ship advantage and should have crushed Carnus like a cockroach like Victor asked. And they fucking have been humiliated and eight billion people died. And he's going, a second. Not right now, dude. So brutal.

This is the end of this chapter as we get into the next. Him getting jumped and beaten half to death by these people and then pissed on. This book is, this is probably my favorite book in the series. Oh, I thought you hated it. I love this book because it is so gnarly. It's like it's, we get a lot of awesome Darrow victories in Red Rising. And we're, again, three chapters in, and we have two back-to-back chapters of Darrow really low, really, really low. And it's crazy as the reader when you have this moment, when Darrow's just naked in a pool and then six, seven people surround him.

You're going, how's he going to get out of this? Yeah. And he doesn't. Yeah, right. And it's just crazy. this quote, I bite through half my tongue. Warmth fills my mouth. The ground is the softest thing I feel. You're just like,

reading it, you're almost in disbelief. Yeah, yeah. Is he getting beat to shit right now and humiliated? And the answer is yes. The answer is yes. It is fucking pathetic to me that the balona are still giving darrow shit for killing Julian. They can hate him. They're allowed to hate him and be like, you killed our brother. I would, I would hate him for life, right?

But the fact that they keep dragging the morality of it in his face, and I'm like, it was the passage, you dumb fucks. I don't understand how they're like, how could you do that? I agree, and I'm always, I do to you all the time as we discuss this. I always try to see the other side and reason with it. And again, I think it's great writing by Pierce because it makes us pissed. The balones are pathetic.

They are psychopaths. And the fact that Carnus, your savage lunatic killed the narrow sun and you're like, this is a blood feud. And I'm like, are you out of your life? If anything, we're even. That wasn't the passage either. And this was a fair situation. And it just, it bothers me that narrow,

narrow put Darrow in against Julian because he was like, I know you will kill Julian. That drives me insane because they should hate Narrow more. But they just let it go to Darrow. And Darrell was like, dude, are you kidding me? Yeah. Like, in fact, I saved your brother Cassius's life multiple times in there. Give me a break.

So real. The other thing here we forget as we move on. on. Don't forget that Cassius was pissed on in the Institute. Like, this is a big deal. Dude, they hate, golds hate getting pissed on. Oh, it is actually, you would think that golds would love a golden shower. They do not. They do not. They do not. Do you, are you pissed about this because I was? Darrow going for a naked swim as soon as they land. And his entire crew, I know he was like, leave me be, but I'm like, it's not outside the realm of possibility that Carnus comes to beat him up. And the fact that.

fact that he is alone and naked. And I'm like, guys. You know, I, listen, it's tough. You should always, but at the same time, it's like, that's your boy, dude. I would be a little annoyed with Darrow. I'd be like, brother, it sucks. That we always got to keep an eye on you.

You're always going to get jumped. Every time game of touch football, every time I look over, you're on your ass. You would think that Carnus would be celebrating right now. That was great. Like, if I had any hair in my lungs, I'd scream at you. That is truly what's happening. And it's like, I'm kind of like, I'm kind of like. What the fuck is going on here, brother?

Like, get your shit together. Fair, fair point, but still, like, give him at least carnis. Here's an idea. Go take a naked swim in your quarters. That's what I'm saying. I'm like, why did you go to the river naked, dude? Like, that's on Darrow. Yeah, it's on Darrow.

No, no, that's just on Darrow. He goes, leave me alone, don't follow me. And you go, okay? And then he gets his ass beat and he comes back and he's like this. Seriously, I'd be like this, are you kidding me? You're out of your mind. And I will say, I know, I keep, keep adding more things.

Cagney, I have never wanted to chop someone's fucking head off their body quicker than Cagney. This loser bitch just coming in here, hiding behind Carnus, acting all tough, calling him like a little bitch and then cutting off his hair. I'm like, Cagney, you're useless. You are absolutely useless. God, dude. You know how when you're, this happens in shows too, but you just, I just find when I watch shows and read books, I just root for people's death. Oh, it's getting the neck. Yeah, I'm like, I cannot wait for them to fucking die.

call. Take us into chapter four where we will meet actually the most annoying piece of shit on earth. Chapter four, fallen. Hell, I'd hide a boy

in the gut of a horse any day, but I wouldn't know how to bribe someone properly if my life depended on it. Darrow sits in Nero's office. It's been two months since he was beaten by Karnas, both in space and on the ground.

His hair has grown back and his bones have healed, but his reputation has not. He can feel his standing with Nero slipping by the day. Darrow fears the Sons of Ares chose the wrong man. Politics are not his strength. That quote. Pliny, a Politico in Nero's camp, relays news of the Sons of Ares attacks. Dero hates this man and even suspects he is the

architect behind trying to ruin his reputation and may have even put Carnus up to the beating. Leto stands in his office, a Lancer, 10 years older than Darrow, and said to be the next best with a razor in the galaxy besides Lorne Aarcos. Dero likes this man. It's suspected that he will inherit Nero's estate over his own kids. They all discuss who could be Aries and what his thought process is with all of these recent terrorist attacks. Even Darrow silently is confused by what's going on. He's tried to contact Dancer to no avail. Nero says he wants results, and his plan is to sow division amongst the low colors, from the book.

I intend to poison the sons of Aries' roots. I want suicide bombers, not grays, find the ugliest, nastiest reds on Mars, hold their families hostage and throw their families hostage and throw. threaten to kill their sons and daughters if the fathers do not do as we command. Focus the suicide bombers on surface areas with high youth destiny, as well as two choice minds. No women bombers. I want social divide. Women against violence. How little life costs here. Just words in the air. Urban areas too, he continues, not just browns and red minors and agriculturalists. I want dead blue and green children in schools or arcades next to Sons of Aries glyphs. Then we'll see if other colors still sing that girl's gory damn song.

Dude, how little life costs here is such a good line. Such a good word's in the air. He's like kill, kill, kill, kill. And you're like, Jesus, dude, those are people. Finally, Nero addresses Darrow. He mentions that it was a gamble to take him into his house. And now the blood feud between him and Cassius has become burdensome. As a result, he has sold Darrow's contract to another house. Darrow attempts to object, but Pliny spins nonsense of how Darrow has brought shame to House Augustus with his actions and even tries to drive a wedge between Nero and his daughter. Darrow stands firm in highlighting the hypocrisy of this decision,

but Nero says he was embarrassed by his enemies, which embarrasses him. His mind is made up. Before we discuss anything in this chapter, we have to give a quick shout out to India. The start of this chapter is he's sitting at a desk in Nero's office, and Dero's like, this is a gift from his ancestors where they chopped the head off, the leader of the great Indian Empire,

who was the last. last great country of earth to fall to golds. Shout out India. Shout out India. Really? A lot of respect. Really good job. A lot of respect to India.

The tactus hints that Pliny might have put Carnus up to beating Darrow. Yeah. And then he says he definitely arranged for the holocam to record it. It's kind of a throwaway line here. Yeah. And just to highlight Darrow's humiliation. I actually, dude, when I read that, I always, always felt like the holocam recording would have helped Darrow because if he just comes back

beaten to fuck and they all are bragging about what happened. It's humiliating. And what happened is he gets beat up and pissed on it. It's just the piss. But he actually does really well with I agree. I would say. If they were making fun of me here and we had the video of the fight, I would be like this. Watch this, dude. But you never know what they show. We know that they can alter Holo Cam. Like this could just all of a sudden he's getting the shit beat out of him and pissed on and it's dead. Good point, Dan. And pliny. he definitely edited that shit. That actually makes me even more mad now because I was going to say, dude, he holds his own. He bashes some skulls in that fight. And I would have been like,

you're the man, Darrow. My bad. But when it was edited and it's just a fucking gurgle fest, piss job. Just brutal. Just mouthwash, Listerine piss color. This, it is nuts, man. Again, I love this book because of how insane it is in the beginning. We get these two early chapters. He loses in space, then gets his ass beat. This is the worst chapter of all for me. It's an awful dude. It is just, All of the, how high we felt at the end of Red Rising. And now we're in chapter four. And Nero is like this, you're gone, dude.

Yep. You have failed me. I am terminating our contract and you are now a dead man walking. Yes. Reading this chapter, you're just like, what the fuck? It's unreal, dude. It is insane. I want to say two things.

And then you can get to that Pliny quote and then we'll talk about him. There's the line here from, that narrow says, A fool pulls the leaves, a brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots. Lauren A. Arcro's told that to my father once. Yeah. And that's what he's saying. I don't want to pull the leaves of the Sons of Ares terrorist attacks.

I just want to say, Pierce Brown does a great job seeding things when necessary. Lorne is not really a player in Book 1. He's mentioned, at times, he comes up, right? We know he is. He almost drafts Darrow or whatever. He's one of the drafters, whatever, whatever. But he's not really a player.

So far, in four chapters of Book 2, Carnus has quoted him, Nero has quoted him, and Leto is said to be as good with a razor like he's a young Lorne Arcos. you know, I'm not getting into any spoilers, but I'm saying like, Pierce does a good job being like, these, here are important people.

So when you're reading this book, if people are mentioned, pay attention. Yeah, absolutely. And then I also thought this, Dan, Leto is the man. Leto is so goaded. And it's kind of funny. If you look back,

maybe Pierce didn't know Leto was a character yet, which is completely fine, right? Like you're an author. You don't know what's, I'm sure he has plans for Golden Sun, but I don't know if he knew everything as he was writing one.

But when you look back in one, it's kind of funny, because Nero is devastated that Claudius is dead, disgusted with the jackal, sexist about his respect levels of Mustang, right? And he's desperate for Darrow. Like, he's like, God, like, they killed my son. And but now I'm kind of like, bro, you had Leta. Lotto's right here.

I was like, why are you fucking tweaking so badly at the Institute? Like, you, because Letto's like 10 years older than Dary. Yeah, yeah. Like, you had a 28-year-old Lotto when Dero was at the Institute and you were like, oh, my God, my house is in Shambles. I'm like, you got a dog. You got a stud. You got a thoroughbred right under your own.

It's remarkable. Okay, so take me to this quote. Letto is the man, but Pliny is the biggest son of a bitch on earth. I can't fucking stand this rat. And he is Grimm and Wormtom. It is the exact. Really good one. I mean, this is truly the exact comp.

You have this king, if you will, in Nero, and you have this little bitch Politico, whispering in his ears, sewing division. He's just such a scumbag. but everything he says is so good. Oh, dear, his quotes are incredible. Oh, my God. It's insane. This quote, Darrow, is that, it's unbelievable?

Darrow, is that the misapprehension you suffer? In fact, you owe him. Protecting you costs us money. It costs us opportunities, contracts, trade, and that cost has proven too dear. We must be seen to promote peace with the balona. The sovereign wants peace. You, you're a source of friction, a chafing burr in our proverbial saddle. and an instrument of war.

So now we melt our sword into a plow share. But not before you use it to lop off my head. Darrow do not beg, Pliny sighs. Show some resolve, young man. Your time here has expired, yes, but you've got pluck. You've got the vigor of a young man. Now straighten that spine of yours and leave with the dignity of a gold

who knows he tried his best. His eyes laugh at me. That means leave this office now, my good man, before Leto throws you out on your preposterously toned buttocks. Dude, okay, he is such a scumbag, but I do have to, I didn't even write this quote down, and I just found it because I want, I want it, because I love it when Darrow snaps. Me too. And there are these times where I'm like, Darrow is a peerless scarred goal. Yeah.

And Pliny is a bitch. Because Leto snaps at him too a little bit. Oh, yeah. Don't fucking talk to me, Pixie. And I'm like, why wouldn't you just backhand this dude across the face? And then Darrow says this, the last time one of the arch governors. lackeys touched me. I buried a knife in his cerebellum six times.

I look at his hand as he quickly withdraws it. I square on my shoulders. I do not answer to a scarless pixie whelp. I am a peerless scarred. Arch primus of the 542nd class of the Institute of Mars. I answer to the arch governor alone. Dude, calling, we got to bring back

Welp. Dude, I love Welp. Welp's great. Calling someone a Welp is incredible. It is a classy insult. It is dignified. And you shame the person you call a whelp so significantly. And that like these are the times where I mean, these characters are so good that's why they're constants in stories like this. Like Grima, like we said, and Pliny here, I'm just like the minute we meet him, you're like, I swear to God,

this piece of shit. So dude, I wrote this. The after this conversation with Pliny and right after the shit with Carnus, we are four chapters into this book. And I'm reminded, that this book makes me so mad. Oh, man. It is, it is, something about me that I love this book so much, but it is fury. It is true fury. It's like the Order of the Phoenix, where Harry's like, I just feel so angry all the time. That is me reading Golden Sun.

Oh, it's remarkable. And this Pliny is such a pricklic. Such a little pricklic. But it's an amazing convo because Darrow makes amazing points to defend himself, but there are really two things for me. one august is saying and this is harsh but fair august is saying you told me you would win and you lost and that changes everything and you lost to the bologna's it does change everything oh yeah which sucks so badly but that is a fair point and he lost in embarrassing fashion like you're sitting there celebrating your win and then you get fucking truck sticked and you and then you get pissed on

yeah dude right people died in the game then you came back and got even more humiliated and then two, dude, Pliny's comments about housing Darrow costing them money is actually true. And even though this is such bullshit and they're telling a lot of lies, I actually get what they mean here where he's like, dude, you, when you're, if you are invulnerable, if you're, if you're invincible, then it's okay. It's worth it to us because you're such a power among the galaxy in the realm and whatever. but if you are if you're a risk at all you cost us too much like this is actually fucked and I hate him and want him fucking dead but that point stands where you go okay you're right and it's like darrow's like so i'm

just kicked to the curb and they're like yeah yes i'm sorry but i'm not sorry but that that that was fair yeah and that's why it's such a good convo it's raging but it's a good combo it's a big it is absolutely brutal and as i said i think this chapter is it's the most frustrating chapter in the world because you truly, you see the scheming, the lying, and the politics that Darrow is just not equipped for. And it is just loss after loss after loss. And now here, he's truly kicked out on his ass. Yes.

Unbelievable, bro. Now, chapter five, abandon. I always knew his friendship was conditional, yet still the wound, Nas deep. Carving in me a loneliness I can't express, a loneliness I've always felt among these goals, but tricked myself into forgetting. I am not one of them. Fuck. has three days to prove his worth to any family for sponsorship, but the price on his head is high.

The other Lancers make bets on how long he'll survive on the outside. Some say three days. Tactus, says 10. Dero learns it was Tactus who launched the escape pod without him. He always knew his friendship was conditional. Darrow hears rumors of Julia Al-Balona's desire for Darrow's head, from the book. They say every night since I stole Julian's life in the passage, his mother, Julia Al-Belona, has sat at the long table of her family's high hall upon the slopes of Olympus Mons and lifted the semicircular lid of a silver tray brought to her by the pink man-servants. Every night the tray remains empty, and every night she sighs in sadness, peering down the table at her large family only to repeat the same vindictive words.

It is clear I am unloved. If I were loved, there would be a heart here to sate my hunger for vengeance. If I were loved, my boy's murderer would no longer draw breath. If I were loved, my family would honor their brother. But I am not. He is not. They do not. what have I done to deserve such a hateful family?

Some of the Lancers suspect it'll be a duel. Darrow couldn't deny that of Cassius if he's challenged and still keep his honor. But none have seen Darrow use a razor and suspect he can't. Darrow sits and thinks of the last conversation he had with Mustang, how she told him he was better than becoming her father's warlord. He needs her now more than ever and regrets not giving all of himself to her. Tactis launching the escape bot without him cuts Darrow fucking deep, but it cuts me so deep too.

I told you he's a roller coaster. It's, he is the most complicated friend in the story. It's like, it is so savage that in this game and like Daryl's right there. Bro,

he's right there. She just saved Theodora. It's like, just get, hold on a second, get him. And dude, what sucks is the Institute had tons of twists and turns.

Cassius, Antonia, Mustang and Pax, even tactis there. Like this, you're never, you're always like, Whoa, whose side is everyone on?

And I'll say again in this episode, nothing lasts beyond the Institute. We've been told that, okay? But seeing them interact on the man of war, for me made it feel like it was now beyond a schoolyard friendship. Like now we are friends because you're here with me. Yeah, man. Severo's not even here.

Mustang's not even here, but you're here. It's now beyond that. Tactus is my friend. And it's weird. Like, I don't believe Tactus wanted Dero to die in that scene. Darrow even says, My Star Rising helps them. Yeah.

But I do think when it comes to risking your own life to save Darrow's, he's not that good. He's like, we're not that good of friends. I'm fuck out of here. I got parties to go to. Yeah. I got below to do. Fuck. Whereas like Darrow, you know, Cassius, they would have saved each other early.

You know, Roke, Roke feels like he would have saved Darrow if he could have. But, you know, fuck. I also wanted to talk about the memory with Mustang. This is the same theme what I brought up earlier about their presence, the horse and the razor. She chose peace. She's like, I'm choosing peace. stay here. This is what the people need. And he chooses the blade going, this is what the people need. And I also hate how that departure went down because I always wanted to be like, he got dragged to the academy. He wanted to

stay with her, but he got dragged. But it is 100% like, she's like, stay with me. And he's like, no. Yes. She shoves the razor in his hand and is like, get out of here. Yeah. It's fucking devastating. This is a, it's just, this is a quick, super quick chapter. And it is just very much, Darrow is now just sitting in regret. He's, he's like, I have made. this played this so badly. And now my friends are literally sitting here betting on how long I'm going to live. Dude, because it's trust Mustang, right? Like she said at the institute,

changed the paradigm. They did. And it worked. And here, the status quo is just going to the academy. Yeah. Changing the paradigm would have been staying with her and trying something different. And I fucking wish he had.

I guess it would have been hard to like look at narrow and be like, I'm not going. Yeah. But whatever. Here's two funny things for you. One, that betting thing that you just brought up, I feel like Darrow totally missed an opportunity to get in on that action.

because he should have gone 14 days, I'll bet you. And then he'll go, I'll give me a thousand to one odds. Because then if he lives, he gets the money. And if he loses, he's just dead. He's dead. I'm like, buddy, you hammer the over. Dude, take that bet. Like, I can't believe they're throwing numbers around.

I'm like, Darrow, speak up, speak up. That should have been huge, win-win for him. And then this, Stan. You read the long quote about Cassius's mother, Julia Abalona. I got to tell you, dude, it has been two years. of her doing this. So one, I hope she's been eating

big lunches to figure out how she's not eating any dinners. They even say that she's like withered and skinny. And two,

again, we will say, I would be upset at Daryl. Like he killed Julian whatever. At what point do you go like this? Enough, mom. I would stop going to dinner.

Dude, when the tray gets dropped down, I'd be like, this is such a long speech, too. Do I have to fucking sit here

and let you do this whole fucking thing every night, Yeah, his head, his head isn't in there. It's no heart. Enough. Just take the fucking tray away. I truly, I think I would absolutely either tune it out and be like, okay, here we go.

Or I would stop going to dinner. I don't know what the rules are in the Bologna family. Like no video games until you ate dinner and eat all your vegetables. And I would be pretty pissed that I can't go back and play FIFA or something. But I would be like this, I'm not, no, I'm not going to that table tonight. Like, are you kidding me again? It's Friday night. Or, or I would cut a hole in the table and the tray.

And when it is dropped in front of her, I'd get under the table and stick my middle finger up out of it. They'd like this, quit bitching, mom. Quit bitching. Why don't you go out there and cut his heart out? Like, also, we're trying. You know, like, we're doing things. You want me to do here. Like, eat fucking dinner.

Dude. Also, can we talk about what a fucking vice script, Julian, had on the balls of this whole family? It's so true. How nice can one kid possibly leave? He was a, dude, he's clearly the worst of them. And they are morons for letting him go to the institution. Well, you can't. It's penalty by death to do it.

I know, but you got to get ahead of it. Yeah, yeah, true. Like when he's applying or whatever, you're like, no, no, no, you will die. Yep. Or like, why didn't he, why didn't you make him tougher, dude? Like, he is a bitch. And I think, I actually like that her name is Julia because in a way, it's like she was named after her. Like, I kind of get why she's so upset.

But, dude, enough at the dinner table. This is fucking stupid. It's an amazing quote, but I'm like, and the first night she did it, Dan, I would have been like, whoa. Oh, man. Actually, to me, it's night five. Yeah, yeah. Five in a row, and I'm like this, holy shit, we got to do something about this. Actually, you know what it might be?

It might be the next Monday. Yeah. We get through a weekend. She does it again. And then we come back Monday and she does it again. I'm like, has she not eaten? Yeah, but we are on day 730. Like, okay.

We're in trouble. Fucking calmed out. Like, yeah, dude. Unbelievable. Which brings us to chapter six, Icarus. Then what is your six? suggestion. You stop being a little bitch. Good advice. Darrow and the other lancers land on Luna. In the distance of the citadel, they see a Bologna ship land as well. Roke says he's going to

attend a conference on politics by Quicksilver. Darrow asked him to meet him later for a chat, along with some nice wine. As Darrow is taken to his quarters, Victor's pink comes to him to relay that Victor would like to see him. Victor asks why Darrow has always kept her at arm's length. He brings in Roke and tactus, but not her. Darrow says he knows that Tactus is not his friend. He shares a story of a violin he once bought him. From the book, Friend? I laugh at the idea. After Tactus told me how his brothers broke his favorite violin when he was a boy, I had Theodora spend half my bank account on a Stradvarius violin from Quicksilver's auction house. Taxus didn't thank me. It was as if I'd handed him a stone. He asks what it was for.

I said for you to play. He asked why, because we're friends. He looked back down at it and walked away. Two weeks later, I discovered he took it and sold it and used the money for pinks and drugs. He is not my friend. Victor explains from the book, he's what his brothers made him to be, she notes, hesitating as if reluctant to share her information with me. When do you think he's ever received something from someone without wanting something in return? You made him uncomfortable. Darrow considers Victor a potential threat and even a snake in the grass because of her sister, Antonia. Victor says she hates that she's lumped in with her, an evil rotten seed since birth. She also goes on to reassure Darrow that Pliny has been behind sullying his

reputation. Victor points out that Darrow being unaware of Pliny's action shows how ill-equipped he is for the politics of this game. Victor has arranged an escape from here for Darrow with a safe house. She has a couple of her grays sneak them out with ghost cloaks and board a shuttle. So we're on the run. Some awesome world building that I just wanted to point out here. One, and this is a nothing line, but just cool. I love when books do this. Pierce says, the one sixth gravity on loon or lets the loon born builds to their heart's desire and build they do. And you're like, oh, cool. You could make buildings super tall and like have crazy architecture because nothing's pulling

it down. And that's just like a tiny thing when you're in. It's going to be when this becomes a property on this big screen or small screen, whatever, it's going to be a challenge to meet my imagination with what Pierce has done with the words he creates with on these planets. I really think that's cool. And then another world building slash backstory thing. I love that Roke Convo when he's like, we'll drink wine.

And Roke goes, let's chat, not the usual banter. And Dero says something like, what do you mean? You're not going to get pissed drunk and talk about like your glory middle school days and Quinn's fucking dimples and blah, blah, blah. And Rook's like, on my honor, on my honor. Ha, ha, ha. But it's just stuff like that works so well from an author to not that I had any doubts about Rok and Dara's friendship, but the friendship they've built between book one and now,

it's those lines that I go, oh yeah, they're boys. They've been getting, they've been getting hammered drunk for years now talking about all this bullshit from their lives. That works so well. I go, oh, yeah, they're amazing. Yeah. So good. It's incredible. I have always, always loved the violin story so much. I know. Victra gives good excuses. You just read the quote. She gives good excuses for tactis as to why he behaved the way he did. But it makes, I don't, I don't accept those. I don't accept those excuses. And it makes me understand tactis in a way that I don't previously, even with all the roller coastering. I keep saying he's a roller coaster. With all the rollercoastering, this story resonates with me so much because Roke would never do that. Cassius, pre-Julian

discovery, would never do that. Those two, in fact, clasped arms. And and talked about being brothers and being praetors together, you know. Tactis is not the time. Remember I said before, I'm out here looking for golds who see things differently. And is it Mustang? Is it roke? You know, I don't know yet. Tactis is not the gold I seek.

He's not the drums I'm looking for. He is not a gold who can fix the world. Not yet. Yeah. Maybe not ever. Maybe not ever. But like, it's that story where I'm like, dude, you are a gut maggot with no guts. The, this chapter is so awesome because, A, it's cool that we see Darrow on the run. And it's like, things are clearly bad. But in this moment at least, we learn of the complications of Tactus. And if we can trust him or not, if he's a friend or not, but more so how complicated his own life has been with just a simple little story. Yeah. And it goes to show the golds are nuts. We learn of Carnus in the first few chapters like, this guy's just murdering people.

people left and right. You're the richest. Why are you killing everyone? Just calm down and live your life. And then here we hear that Tactis's brothers are fucking psychopaths who have just like tortured him his whole life. And you're just like, what the hell is going on? Yep. And then even Victra, we see the beginnings of what we hope is an actual friendship here. And Victor being like, trust me, man. Like you talk to all these. I'm right here. I've done nothing to make you think that you can't trust me. And really Darrow is like, well, your sister is the worst person I've ever met. And she's like, well, I fucking hate her. And she hates my family too.

So give me a shot. That dynamic with her and her half sister is also so complicated. And you're like, we do hate the golds if we're on Darrow's side. But then you see all these stories and you're like, man, these are people too. They are golds, but they're people with the most complicated lives of all time as well. Yeah. And it's kind of like, yep. Shit.

Dude, I love that scene. The quote I read at the top, stop being a little bitch. Yeah. Is from that scene where him and Vector are fencing, essentially. And it's an amazing. scene because their banter is awesome. She is awesome. And the, I appreciate, I genuinely appreciate from Darrow when she says, let's go here, let's go here. And it's somewhere off campus. He goes, he's finally a little weary of his friends where he's like, yo, dude, is this a trap? And she's

like, what the fuck? But he's like, what do you mean? What the fuck? Like everyone betrays me all the time. Thank you, Darrow. Because how many times in the Institute, Dan, did he just run head first into Leah getting her throat slit into like, oh, Rokes hurt? And he's like, I'll be right there. And it's like, finally, Victor's like, hey, let's go off campus. And he's like, fuck you. And I'm like, good, dude. Good. Keep your guard up.

And I'll say again, even though I would cut Victor's fucking head off to save Mustang if I could, I do love her. And it's great that she's always hitting on Darrow. Just drag. And say, take it easy. No, I would, dude. That's how I feel. And people need to understand that.

I know there are a lot of Victor fans in the comments. I'm a Victor fan. She's number two. She's awesome. She's awesome. As we finish this chapter, I want to call this one part out. Okay. the pacing of these books is awesome.

Oh my God. And you can't be all gas all the time. I was thinking it's kind of like a DJ, right, where they track beats per minute and you have to like lower them at time. You just can't be like, do, do, do, do, because then everyone's like, all right, dude, but if you can work the beats for a minute correctly,

and Pierce does that really, really well. And I also think Potter is expertly paced, though Potter has slower sections than these books probably, but in but the credit to potter is and you say this potter or sneaky mystery books which is why they're sick and even in those slow sections there's always like clues hidden in there to spike your interest level for sure so that's why potters pay so perfectly but here they go darrow your contract is running out in three days and it's culminating at the summit since i've read a book in my fucking life i know whatever's going to happen to darrow is going to happen at the summit yeah right and it is so easy and would have been fine by the way for any author to to land on Luna and then for Pierce to go, I sulk in my room for three days and now I put on a brave face to go face the action at the summit.

And I'm like, okay, like here we go and now get to that action. But here we fill those three days with, and I won't say what happens yet, but with this unreal maneuvering before the big play, which we all know is happening anyway at the summit and then it just makes them so hard to put down because you're like, oh, okay, I can breathe till the summit.

And then it's like, no. Victor's like, come here, we need to put you in a ghost cloak and sneak you out to meet someone. And you're like, who? You know, like, it's just so fun. The amount of times reading this section where I was like, I'm going to read this chapter and finish and I got to go do a couple of things.

And I was just like, I turn the page and I'd be like, just keep going. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So total credit to Pierce there because there is, it's not just constant fucking insane action, but it is constant dip down into really exciting new piece of information that I need to have. Absolutely. Let's get into the honors for this episode. of Golden Sun. We'll start from the scrolls of Tyrion,

Lanister given to the character who provided the most impactful words. This will go to the poet himself, Roke. This is a tumultuous section. There's not a lot of impactful words in a good way. Yeah. There's a lot of shit words from sons of bitches like Pliny and Nero.

But Roke has an interesting section here where we pointed out that, one part where he shows that he is gold. It's like, it's a quote that we don't love for him. Yeah, there's two parts I don't love from him. That one and when he goes, you got second. Oh, shut the fuck. Yeah. It is interesting, however, to always look at his perspective. Roque is incredibly intelligent and it helps Darrow figure out how to navigate through this new era and chapter of his life. He's also always in Darrow's ear about being a little bit more patient and a little bit smarter. even in that first moment where they're in the academy and he's talking about Carnus, he's like,

it might be a trap. Yeah. And Darrow's like, I have a trap of my own. Maybe if he had had a little less hubris and been like, well, what could he do? They would have figured that out. And then in the end of this section here, Roke talking to Darrow being like, don't do anything crazy. Yeah. We can figure this out.

Someone will buy your contract. We can figure out how to keep you alive. Roke is always trying, at least, to be the voice of reason. He's often the voice of reason, and Darrow does listen to him. Sometimes he doesn't listen to him. But Roque is always there with a measured bit of context to everything, which is very impressive. Dude, and I'll add, Severo's on Pluto, Mustang hasn't talked to him in a year, the howlers are gone, Cassius wants him dead, Cassius won't breathe in the same room as him. Victra is trying, but Darrow's nervous.

Tactis is a fucking prick, and Darrow already says he is not my friend. Roke is his friend. Everything Roke does comes from a place of love. And yeah, maybe he has misguided opinions on the way the world works because he was brazed gold and borne gold. But Roke is his friend and Darrow has no doubt about that. And at this point, at this specific, specific juncture, with everyone spread across the galaxy,

that's pretty much the only one he can say that about. Roque I know is my friend. So I will always appreciate Roke's words for that. I agree. The next award is Dobby the Houseelf, given to the character who is the unsung hero providing aid behind the scenes. In this one, we are going with Theodora, The Rose. I really love the broom closet exchange when Darrow gets to Luna and he goes,

why am I here? I'm not a broom. And she's like, he does not fit in a broom closet, bitch. It's amazing when you get a character introduced in a book and we, the reader, are told, oh trust me they have history over the last year and actually pulling that off but they do it with these two i totally believe her and darrow have grown close over this year at the academy with her being his valet and that is awesome um because that's effective writing and really good storytelling i believe when darrow has multiple grace die just to protect her just to save her uh i really like that scene the broom closet scene actually when she gets to flex her muscle about being a rose

Yeah, that was very cool. Guys like, oh, you're a rose. He's like, oh, fuck. But I also thought, Dan, in that scene, or Theodore in general, but it was highlighted to me in that scene, think about the psychology of a pink. Aging is dying to that, right? Like, a gold is built for war, right? And like, but a pink is literally beauty.

Beauty in, like, never, the world has never seen levels of beauty. They're created for pleasure. And when she says, you know, all flowers wilt, that's, like, That's, what's the thing called? Sepica. Sepica. Like that's Sepica. She's like, I am nothing. I was a rose and now I am nothing.

But she handles wilting, to use her words, with such class. I really appreciate that. And it's a theme throughout, no spoilers, but it's a theme throughout that treat pinks well and they will reward you. And this is some Game of Thrones shit too, right? Dan, I would say Littlefinger makes a fucking living dealing with the brothels. Information, my good man. And who could possibly have more information than pinks and the roses of the gardens? So Darrow having an ally in Theodora is lovely.

Is incredible. Next, the way of the Benegeseret given to the character who cannot be trusted or shows outright devious nature, I want to give an honorable mention to Cagney Abelona. Just such a bitch. God, she's so annoying. Cannot wait to watch her get her head cut off. But this can go to none other than Pliny. existed. Truly the biggest rat snake we might ever meet in all of these books, but just the way

he pours poison honey into Nero's ear, who is also someone we hate, but even seeing him get manipulated by this guy is so annoying. The way he speaks to Darrow is its vintage worm tongue. And it is just truly a character every single time he is on the page. Every time he's speaking, we get so annoyed. It is remarkable how much I hate this character. Dude, when Leto at the beginning keeps going, Darrow, what do you think? And Darrow won't talk because he's like,

Nero's not looking at me and I'm not going to speak out of turn. But then Plinyke's being like, don't ask Darrow such big questions. It has to be yes or no. He can't possibly comprehend that. And you're like, are you fucking kidding you, dude? And also, the big reveal is, I think it's in this chapter from Victor when she's like,

bro, he told Augustus to kill you at the end of the institute. He was literally like he killed a proctor, kill him. And I was like, What the fuck, dude? This guy is all-time scumbag. Pliny is a true, true rat. It's unbelievable. And then finally, the sword, axe, and bow,

given to the character deemed to have earned our loyalty, belief, and trust above all. We are going with victra. Kind of a tricky one. You know, it's funny. This one, this is kind of like our MVP, and you can interpret that two ways. The way we describe it, who has earned our loyalty, makes it a good guy.

But if this was purely MVP, I would have given it to Carnus. Like this section Carnus wins MVP, where I'm like, you have performed the best over these chapters. But Carnus has certainly not earned my fucking loyalty. No. So we are going to Victra, who has. A little bit of a cheater too.

Yeah, true. She says in that scene I talked about that loving so much, must we always fence Darrow? And to that, Chris, say, yes, I hope so, because your banter is amazing. I really love their interactions. Victra's character, Strap in for new readers, re-readers are well aware.

Victor's character fucking rocks. It rocks that she's rich as fuck. It rocks that she's Antonia's sister, but only half-sister and hates her. It rocks that she's older and a fucking giant. It rocks that she's a badass. And it rocks that so far she is one of the few people willing to stick her neck out, her neck. Yes. To help Darrow.

Even Roke, who I said is Darrow's only true friend right now. Yeah. Make some excuse about all my mother's senator's seat. You know I would if I could. He doesn't do it. His only friend. Victra is the only one and God knows where we're going, but she's the only one going, yo, put this ghost cloak on and let's try to make some moves here.

And immediately comes to his aid. She's like, they get to Luna and she's like, all right, dude, we got to do something now. Yep. Love that. In a moment in time when Darrow's girlfriend is gone and abandoned him, he hasn't heard from the Sons of Ares in two years. His friends are falling like flies and he's been released from the service of House of Augustus and is a dead man walking. this one woman is willing to do something about it. And for that, you have my sword, axe, and bow.

100%. That wraps up episode one of Golden Sun. We'll be diving next week back in. But this book is tumultuous. Tough stuff. However, next week potentially delivers, in my opinion, the greatest moment in Red Rising history. Hail Reaper.