Empty Netters Podcast - Sci Fi Section Ep 9: Golden Son Chapters 7-11

Episode Date: September 23, 2026

We are diving deep into Pierce Brown’s world of the Red Rising saga. Join us for Chapters 7-11 of book 2, Golden Son. Is Darrow really going to align himself with the Jackal?? And just when he thought the Sons abandoned him, they come back. But not exactly in the way we all hoped… 0:00 - Intro 1:33 - Chapter 7 The Afterbirth 18:27 - Chapter 8 Scepter and Sword 28:13 - Chapter 9 The Darkness 40:24 - Chapter 10 Broken 52:00 - Chapter 11 Red 1:06:26 - The 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 Rising. I am Dan Powers,

soaked in urine, desperately trying to regain my honor and praying that the man to my left will purchase my contract. Chris Powers. Wands at the ready, and it is a swish and flick

on that subscribe button. A swish and flick. Those who do not believe in magic will never find it. And those who don't subscribe to this channel will never find these videos. Today, we will be talking

about chapters 7 through 11 of Golden Sliq. son. 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 things. You wish you hadn't. And now we begin. We have left Darrow as his contract with House Augustus has been terminated. And now his fate seems to lie in the hands of the tantalizing, though perhaps not trustworthy, Victra. And the super sexy, the sexy hands and long legs and tight butt of Victra. She's never wearing any clothes.

It's unbelievable. Chapter 7. The afterbirth. Eo would say this is the hell they've built their heaven upon, and she'd be right. Darrow is taken into the slums of Luna, as he's ushered through the streets and rows of small apartments and homes of the low colors. He sees murals and paintings of Eo, a sign of hope. His escorts have him and Victor disguised as obsidians. Their sigils on their hands are covered.

The grays they travel with use contacts to change their eye color, and even where they're. wear digital masks to look like pinks. These are the slums of this world, filled with beggars, drug dealers, thieves, killers. Victra takes Darrow to a backroom guarded by an obsidian who knows of him. There, she leaves him with a person they have set out to meet.

The Jackal... Fuck! The two exchange banter laced with insults. Eventually, the Jackal informs Darrow that Pliny, along with ruining his reputation, has also emptied all of his bank accounts. The Jackal explains that he was offered apprenticeships. He could have studied at the academy, become a

Politico or a Judishar, but he sees that power lies in owning things. He works in acquisitions and trade, buys things and people. Dan, I kind of think you're the jackals a little like, I got plenty of job offers. I got plenty of job offers. It's worth questioning. It is worth questioning. The jackal explains to Darrow that he wants him to help get rid of Pliny. For years, the jackal has had to kill some of Pliny's spies.

When Claudius was killed, Pliny cultivated, trained, and placed Letto in front of Nero. He knew Nero would love him like a son and make him his heir that Pliny could control. Then Darrow came into Nero's life and threatened Pliny's plan, which is why he spent two years patiently poisoning Dero's standing. He explains that Lost City and its crime families are actually run and controlled by the sovereign, Octavia Alune. But some of the low colors in those crime families have become restless. The Jackal wants to help them rise and then use them to kill the sons of Ares. Goldman Sachs called, dude.

They wanted me. They wanted me, but I wanted to go on my own. I wanted to start my own fund. It's a world of entrepreneurship. The jackal. Dude, Doing his own thing. No one cares about test scores anymore, by the way.

It doesn't matter that you fucking gagged me and bound me behind my back with my sister. You think I need the money? I don't need the money. I want to start my own shop. I want to rise myself. God, dude. Okay, I'm going to save that, but I will say, I'll bring this part up later. The, um, when they are cruising the low districts.

Yeah. Where the plebes, by the way, go from their factory jobs to their windowless apartments. Horrible. Like, dude, what a life. Feels like that scene in children of men at the end. They're just like running through slums. It's just nonsense. Dude, they are going through here.

And it says from the book, their windowless apartments, quote, some no more than one meter by three. Damn. That is too small. Which way is the one meter? It's like, it's got to be a rectangle. He must be in the rectangle, right? So he's saying it's three feet by nine feet, you know? And he's saying, and admittedly the next line in the book is only room enough for a bed.

But I'm like that only room enough for a bed, only room enough for a red. Only reds can live in there. Incredible line. Only reds can live in. Incredible line. How is that not in the book? Room enough for a bed, room enough for a red. old enough to crew, old enough to screw, not flipped out, old enough to screw, old enough to crew.

Dude, there is no bathroom. Like, there's no bathroom. That feels insane and illegal, frankly. It can't be up to code. There's no chance. Like, get somebody get a copper in here, dude. There's no chance. There's no chances up to code.

And I would say, for all the talk of golds saying the earth, right? Earth ran amok and we ruined society. The golds have built a better society. Well, I'll tell you what, bud, we live in shoeboxes now, but it ain't that bad. Like, they have built a much worse life. That's what you think. Dan, why don't we take a drive down to Skid Row? You see how some of the Reds live down there.

So are you saying no one's homeless? Everyone, I think there are also homeless people. Oh, they're certainly. And the ones paying for an apartment have only room for a bed. That's awful. What do you think a one meter by three meter goes for in Soho? Be honest. New York?

Yeah. Or London. Oh, fair. Let's say New York. I'm being dead ass, dude. Four thousand a month does not include utilities. And it's a walk-up.

There's no elevator in that building. There's no bathrooms, dude. Obviously, there's no elevator. I think legitimately in New York they could charge someone $1,000 a month. I think they could charge two. Literally just a bed. Right next to Jack's wife, Frida? Yeah.

Two. Easily. Can you imagine paying two grand? They go, you have to go outside to pee and poop on the streets and then come back in. Imagine waking up in the middle of the night having to pee in your one meter by three meter apartment with no windows. It's insane. Tough. Insane.

You're peeing in jugs storing them till the morning. That killed me, dude. There's no way that's up to code. It is awful. I love here how Victra, as she did last episode, kind of proving herself to Darrow here. in this world where he's not sure who he can trust. Severo is gone. Mustang is gone.

He is with Roke still, but in these moments, he's kind of with Tactus and Victor. And he's like, you both, I don't know. But Victor is being like, listen, dude, I am a saucy minks. And I'm always messing around and always joking. But I do like you. And I am trying to help you. And it is unbelievable that she clearly is. But she delivers him to Adrius Augustus.

It's unbelievable, Dan. you um well let's say that quote in a second but i on their way there this is just kind of weird timing that we read this at this moment in the year but uh and we had talked about this the other weekend darrow seeing the 10 foot tall graffiti of ios hanging and then he talks about how often he sees it you know like this is this is on luna yeah like that's pretty crazy and again weird timing because this has just come up a bunch in our lives but it reminded me of people sharing their 9-11 stories and how they were saying, I hate that I have to relive it every year.

And I was like, oh, man, fair. Darrow has to, like, it didn't quite cross my mind till I had just heard that 9-11 take where then now people, Darrow's like everywhere he goes. They're like,

and then here's this poor girl who gets hung and he's like, can we change the fucking channel? Just a random gal. Yeah, right. So that was kind of intense. He's just interacting with gold to truly, they're like, whatever,

who is that? Yep. Brutal. So then it's the jackal. I can't imagine you saw that coming. I didn't, you know, you know. Oh my gosh, of course not. But what's interesting is as I read it again upon the buildup

when he's like, and I see him. Yeah. There is a part of you that's like, oh, this is the Jackal. Because who would be here? Yeah. And why would Pierce be slow playing it like that? You know? Who would be here? But I love, we get a bunch of this in this episode and this section that we've read here. The way, I said this while reading Red Rising, the way Pierce writes the jackal's voice. Awesome. And Roke's voice is so. incredible. And there's just, I love, there's so many things about the jackal. You like a formidable adversary. Yes. And he is terrifying. The fact that he still has a stump where his hand should be from what happened with Darrow. That is only him. Only a gold who could easily get a new hand

is like him would do this. And there are just lines immediately. He says the jackal of Augustus and the Reaper of Mars together again at long last. How we have fallen. It's so that is, it, What a perfect intro. But as they're hurling insults, I wrote this quote down I love. I wonder why you provoke me still when your reputation is shattered. Your bank accounts empty. I shift in my seat. Oh, yes, you didn't know.

Pliny is thorough when he cuts a man's hamstrings. He emptied all your funds. So really, there's very little to you. But here you sit at the bottom of a moon alone with me, with mine, throwing insults. Those are the times where I'm reading these characters. And Darrow is so mentally strong because, A simple quote like that is when I'd be like this, this person is capable of so much more than me. I can't be a part of this. It's unbelievable.

So right after he says that opening line, Darrow has a great line where he goes, better to reign in hell than serve in heaven. Yeah. Right. And I just need to say, and I do this with movie quotes, so I'm being a hypocrite. But ever since Darrow, who was a moron low red minor hell diver, ever since. ever since Darrow got Matrix downloaded all the classics into his

dumb hell diver brain, he won't shut the fuck up quoting them. And unfortunately there's no one to call him out because no one knows he didn't grow up with this unbelievable education where he knows all this stuff. But literally like a year ago, someone was like, here's all the stuff. And now he's like, oh, Plato and Socrates

and I'm like, shut up, dude. You just heard about these books. Sir, the way you regurgitate the newest obsession in your life. You are a hypocrite. That's what I said. You are a hippocrit. Okay. It's just so funny. I wish there was one person there who knew his backstory.

And they'd be like, oh, more, hey, pal. More Virgil. We'll wait till a couple chapters, because that exact thing happens. It's unbelievable. Yep. Here, it's unbelievable. We get a lot of what do we expect when this meeting happens? All of a sudden, you're looking at what was the most dangerous gold, really, even more so than the proctors in a lot of ways at the Institute. now seemingly your only way out.

This is what Victora brought you to. And when you just hear the way he talks, they're talking about his standing when he says, I got plenty of offers, apprenticeships. I could have been a politico. I could have been a judiciar, but I just chose this life because that's who I am. And then he talks about the hypocrisy that they have.

This quote, They despise me because I ate students, but it's such hypocrisy. What else was I to do? We're told to win and I did my best, and then they criticize. Act noble, as though they didn't commit murder themselves. Madness. Him saying madness is one of my favorite lines here,

because you get a little glimpse into his mind of what he thinks is hypocritical, what he thinks is crazy. And you have these moments where Adrius is giving Darrow a lot of very important information. Oh my God. We hear about how deep Pliny's treachery really went. Pliny has been fucking over Adrius for decades. Yeah. And Darrow comes in and almost messes up his plan, but he very patiently was like this, I'll take care of this as well, which he did. And it's like Darrow says, that hits me hard.

I knew Pliny was dangerous. Perhaps I never really knew just how dangerous. And it is nuts in this world of golds that here he is in the slums of a moon, sitting next to the jackal being like, you are my salvation. Salvation here. You said him not having one hand is so awesome. The jackal not wearing a disguise is so badass. Everyone's got contacts and prosthetics and whatever just to look different.

He does not care. And I also love Dan how he is checking out Victra. They had that funny exchange where Darrell's like, I didn't think you cared about women. And he's like, I could be dead. I'd care about that woman. But she's in full obsidian cosmetics, which means she's so hot that even with bleached white hair and dyed or bleached white and dyed hair and everything, he still is like, you know. Like, God damn. Like, like, oh, shit.

She's like on Halloween. She's trying to wear a goofy costume. She's still gorgeous. So good. But yes, dude, that, the Pliny stuff. So this is one of my favorite, and I can't, I don't know this is true. I'll have to ask Pierce when we see him in January. When you are writing a sequel or any next book in your series, right, Potter 7,

there's so much stuff that you planned and there's so much stuff that you genuinely didn't know was going to happen yet. And great, great authors can retroactive. fit new stuff that you go, oh. And sometimes they might even go, I plan that. And maybe you didn't, whatever. There's always those debates about the horrocks. It's like, did J.K. know? Oh, sure.

And they're killing the diary in book two, did she know? Did she know? And I don't know. Maybe, you know. And in this, the, there's no whiffs of, of Leto in book one. I even said to you, I was like, you know, it's funny that Nero cares so much about Darrow. But the letto stuff here is so. effortlessly weaved into a storyline that was happening simultaneously during book one. We were not

privy to it because only all we got was the Institute. But him going, Oletto was put in your spot, like the new ward, the new air, then you were so dominant in the Institute, right? Like obviously you can't ignore first round talent like Darrow in the Institute when you're like, okay. To franchise player. Yeah, like that'll set you up for generations. Yeah. Right. So he couldn't into our first round talent, so Nero had to make a play on him. But that fucking Pliny's plans up makes, is why, like, we meet Pliny and he's so mean. And you're like, why do you possibly hate Darrow this much? Yes. And then you hear this and you're like, oh, I actually totally buy that. Yep. You know, and that's such, I don't know if Pierce in book one knew he was like,

and by the way, there's a guy named Leto who's not going to appear. I kind of doubt it, but it's perfectly executed. It's also just so brilliant. We get a little bit from Mustang in Red Rising, but it's so brilliant when you have a great villain that we learn a bit of backstory from. And even when they are so evil and so insane, you hear what quote unquote made them that way. And you have a slight tread of understanding. It's, Adrius is narrow's son. But there was a better son as far as Narrows was concerned. And Claudius was murdered by Carnus.

And from there, Nero was like this, I have no son. Yeah. And I will do anything to replace him. Yes. How is that supposed to make Adrius feel? Dude. And then even when you are just trying to exist and maybe win over your father's favor, which he acknowledges.

He's like, dude, yeah. I many times tried to get my dad's approval and I literally cannot. We'll get to that. Yeah. But you have this stud letto get placed in by this rat fox pliny. And you're just like, are you shitting me, dude?

Who are you? What is going on? So the hate we have. for a Pliny, imagine what Adrius feels for it. Oh, buddy. And it's kind of rattling how blind Nero is to Pliny, but that is also how it always happens, right? Grief, dude. And you just, you get lazy with your inner circle.

Like, this is how all the greats fall, you know? So it's like, I kind of see it, but you're like, man, Nero, you've got to fucking get him out here. Yeah. Think about how long we've kept Gavin around. Correct. It's unbelievable. And then it was also so brutal that just think about this chain of events. Victra offers Darrow true friendships, right?

We said that last episode. Sure. True friendship. A potential way out. He allows himself a moment of excitement at this stay of execution where he's like, oh, wow. And then her plan is a meeting with the jackal. And then the jackal's plan is to hunt down and kill the sons of Ares. And Darrell's like, oh, God.

He's like, damn. This is just horribly. Are these my only options? Like literally, he's like, wow, Victor, oh, you want. What's the move? And she's like, go talk to the jackal. And then the jackal says, we're going to uncover your disguise and kill you. And he's like, that fucking sucks.

And it really describes, however, how far we have fallen. Yes, yes. He is going, I've lost my contract. I've been humiliated. I've been pissed on. I still smell. I still reek. Yeah, I do.

I'm now in disguise as an obsidian in the slums with Victor. And she hand delivers me to the jackal. And he goes, let's kill Aries. And he's like, I'm kind of working for him. But also, it's been two years. hasn't heard from him. Bro. And Darrow is like, what do I do?

This, Aries and the sons, they might be fucking dead. Yep. So what do I do here? It's a, it's brutal. Bro, remember last episode we said he hadn't heard from them in so long? And we're like, what point are you just a gold now? Yes. I wrote right here, I would 1,000% just do that now.

Like when the Jackal says this, I'd be like, okay, there's this guy named dancer. I know where he is. Oh, yeah, yeah. What have you done for me lately? Literally just take them to, to Aries, H-Q. Admit everything. No, don't even admit it. Just be like, somehow I know, don't ask me how I know.

And then I will help you just kill all the sons of Aries and I'm a gold now. And then take me with you. Me and you go to the fucking top for the rest of my days. Jacqueline Reap, let's go. Like, 1,000%. I am weak, but that's exactly what I would have done. Crazy. Thankfully, Darrow is not weak yet, which brings us to chapter 8, scepter and sword.

So, I'll go along with this. Then, in the end, maybe I'll kill him for backs. Come on! The Jackal explains that the sons are different than any terrorist group the society has faced. Pliny was put in charge of getting rid of them, but he's been failing. The Jackal controls the media outlets in the Lost City and gives the son's life to show their power. Once he gets control of them through the crime syndicate low colors, he will tell his father and the sovereign that he can be rid of them.

He'll use Darrow as a symbolic figure to cut Aries head off. Darrow says he has no standing now. He was shamed. The Jackal tells him so was Cassius, and now he is dual. his way to the top and the sovereign is considering making him an Olympic night. He thinks he and Darrow can be a team to take power together from the book. Then let us rise together. I, the scepter, you the sword. You won't share. It's not in your nature. I do what I need to. No more, no less. And I need a warlord. I'll be Odysseus. You be Achilles. With no options, Darrow agrees to

work with the jackal on the condition that whatever happens, Mustang is not to be hurt. The jackal accepts the terms, but Darrow knows his true nature can never really be trusted. The next step is murder. A gold by the name of Fencore has learned of Adrius's criminal dealings and has attempted to blackmail him. Darrow is to cut him down. Adrius also says Darrow must be trained with a razor. From what he's heard, Darrow lacks skill with the weapon. Their conversation ends when a gorgeous pink enters the room and addresses Adrius. Darrow can barely keep his composure. It's Evie, the angel without wings who belong to Mickey. Adrius thinks Darrow fancies her and tells him to take her up When they leave, Darrow sees video footage of several bombings.

By Evie's reactions, he knows it's the work of the suns. Evie was there for the jackal. Darrow acts fast. He uses grab boots to fly through the halls back to the jackal. He arrives just as the bomb Evie planted is about to go off. The stained guarding Adrius throws him away from the bomb and curls his body over the explosion. Welcome back, Evie. Wow, dude, you know, you expect, I actually wrote this later, but it's,

It's an insane turn of events that that is the first person he sees and we see from his past. You know, obviously, we have to circle back. And it's like, here's Evie. And you're like, and it's again, it's just, I just always given double-risters to pierce. But the brilliance of the last time we saw Evie was when Darrow grabbed Mickey's hands, threatening to shatter them and was like, you will not fuck with her ever again. Yeah. And that's what Evie saw.

Like, Evie was like, oh my God. Dick Darrell cares about me. Absolutely. So then to see her first, for her to see him and the way she does, Adria says his name and she almost kind of breaks her cover. She's like, what? Unbelievable. She says later to you.

She's like, I would have recognized you anywhere. Yeah, yeah. Well, I think he said his name. We all heard it. Yeah. I think that this is really good writing and storytelling because sometimes the plot points happen just for the story. We say this in movies all the time.

That only happened because it's a movie. Yeah. because it makes sense. This, Darrow taking this deal isn't just for the story. It actually makes perfect sense because if Darrow is who he says he is, if he is a far planet hayseed

with no family or funds, this is the play, right? Odysseus and Achilles. Cassius fixed his rep, so so can Darrow, and he can be the figurehead who kills the sons. And then Darrow is right to question

the jackal's ability to share and question his motives and shit. But when the jackal's like, dude, Nero tossed us both aside. It's so relatable. Yeah. So if Darrow is truly Darrow-a-a-O-O-Andromatous, this deal makes perfect sense. 100% is why it's so good plotting because I'm like, oh, yeah.

It's so good for that reason. And then the internal struggle of Darrow is you all of a sudden realize you've put your trust to an extent in all these goals that you're meant to hate in Augustus. They're protecting you from all of these families. We saw in episode one of Golden Sun. Pliny saying it costs money. And we were like, that's a good point. But now he's in this situation.

and he's like, I fucking hate all of you. Why wouldn't I do this plan? It's my only option, and I can keep going if I do this. But it's always, it's the struggle with a character like the jackal. This quote, it's a good idea. I pause at his spreading smile with one problem. You are a sociopath, Adrius. You don't only do what you need to do.

You wear whatever face you need, whatever emotion you desire like a glove. How could I ever trust you? You killed Pax. I let the words hang in the air. You killed my friend, your sister's protector. It's a great reminder for Darrow. I think that's why he says it. Yeah.

And it's a great reminder for us. This seems like a good option. But then you're like, who am I dealing with? Yeah. It's crazy. It's crazy because it's an incredible. It's a person I will deal with in 0.01 circumstances. Pretty much never.

I would never get in bed with this guy. And then this is the point one. Yeah. So, and I also love this. This is also a quote from the book, such a great observation I thought here. Watching him now so small and plain in a world of gods, it's almost as if he's the hero,

nobly struggling against a father who rejected him, against a society that laughs at his size, his weakness, and scorns him as a cannibal, even though it was they who told him to do whatever he had to do to win. In an odd way, he is like me. He could have had his hand repaired, but he chose not to, wearing it as a badge of honor instead of shame. Dude, that, what's the, um,

this is Batman and the Joker? Yeah, and it's, what's the famous book where they wrote it from the villains, from the monstrous point of view? Oh. Beowulf. Beowulf. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you.

It's literally like when Darrow said this line, I don't know why it hit me on this reread, but I was like, man, the jackal is the hero. The jackal's archetype is the hero in a ton of fantasy stories. I literally like, oh, my father has rejected me and now I have to go make it on my own. And I was like, wow, that is actually so true. The beginning of that quote that I like is he says, I took his hand. He took a friend. Yeah, yeah.

he has done is bite and claw for his own survival. Yeah. And you, you, again, in that moment, you are kind of like, they are pretty similar where they are right now. It's crazy how similar they are, Dan. It really, that has hit me the most in this re-read out of the mirror between the two of them. I know Jackal's saying it blatantly, but I really was like, wow.

But Pierce's mastery with ending chapters, we have this unbelievable. Like I said, I get so fired up anytime we get to see De Andreas Monologue. Yeah. same way of a roke. And that's this whole chapter. We're hearing his plan. We're hearing what's been going on, what he's been doing. He makes a lot of sense. It's scary when he makes a lot of sense, but he does. And Darrow, along with us, the reader, are kind of like, all right, here we go. This is what we're doing here. And then Evie shows up and it is truly you're, you got the finger on the trigger, about to pull it. And then Evie shows up confirming, oh, they are alive. At least one of

them. Yeah. I need to talk to her. I need to figure out what's going on. And it is, it's truly like that moment where you're like, you were right about to jump. And now you're like, oh, fuck. Jesus Christ. You're just trying to like move your center of gravity back. Dude, you're so glad you said that. I wrote that it's fucking crazy that Darrow has been out with, without friendly contact for so long. And then C's fucking Evie first.

Then you get the harmony name drop. So you're like, what the fuck is going on, right? No dancer. What is happening? And then the great choice made by Pierce in this scene, like you just said, is because of speed. making decisions quickly can sometimes actually be a blessing because you just trust your instincts, but for someone like Darrow, who is deeply, deeply undercover, like life on the line. Good God.

Undercover. He needs info. Data, data, data. I cannot build bricks without clay. Yeah. Tell me what's happening. And Evie goes, the Jackal will die in 20 seconds. 20 seconds.

And now Darrow, he wants for few things in this life more than the jackal to die, right? If you said Darrow, fantasy draft, who do you want? Snap your fingers? They're dead. The jackal's probably two behind Nero. But if the jackal dies, the balona will probably buy him and kill him. Unless the sons are now going to take him back, will he be protected by them? Who are you working for?

These are all questions I would love to be answered. Is it revolution time? But he's got 20 fucking seconds to figure out if they're going to abandon him again or if he should save the jackal. So he's like, that is so, so, so good. The two funny things I had for you are one, the jackal goes, Darrow's like, I need to bad ladies to get to Fencoor or whatever. And the Jack goes, like, who said lady? And Darrell goes, oh,

tactis actually might be the better choice. Yeah, which is like such a fucking, such a funny comment. Tactis a dog, baby. And then I'll say again, I really need to know more about these brothers' wrath parties now that I have that piece of information. Yeah, man.

What's the creed quote? Like, you know, I, in the 70s, I had lots of group sex in the rain and the mud. It's possible that a man slipped in there. There'd be no way of known. way of knowing. That's, that is the brother's wrath. The brothers' wrath party. The lights go off and you're just grabbing. There's no way of knowing. You're grabbing, you're sucking. It's great. Dary was like, we should get taxed to that. And the other one is when Evey shows up, the Jackal says like, wow,

I didn't know Roses. And I was got to say for the, Darrow said, I didn't know, you cared about women. Jackal is pretty horny in this meeting, to be honest. Well, you know, he's clearly suppressed. Victra, Evie, which hand is it that he's missing now that I'm thinking about it? Good point. Probably his dominant one. Me too, because he probably reached for the ring. Probably put your ring on your dominant hand. Ooh. No, I don't even know.

Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. We need to look that up because if he lost his dominant hand, this horn dog meeting makes way more sense. Yeah, he's just pulling the stranger every night. It's unbelievable. Unbelievable. And that takes us to chapter nine, the darkness. I know where these words lead.

They gave me a hole in my gut. Put me weeping in the mud. Cassius standing over me. That is how this will end. The explosion of bleating. The deleterates the building and hundreds of people with it. Using the grab boots, Darrow grabs the jackal and flies him out in time before the ripple of the bomb takes them both. They slam into a nearby building, the jackal unconscious, and Darrow bleeding from the nose and ears, shoulder dislocated and puking from the impact.

Darrow steals a datapad from one of the Reds who is working with Evie and finds where they're camping out. Inside, Darrow finds Evie and Mickey. Even when she embraces him with love and tears of excitement in her eyes, Darrow scolds her. She's become a murderer. Mickey examines Darrow in delight. He can't believe how much he's grown and how strong he is. In his admiration, he explains that Harmony has given Evie Clause. He works for the Sons now, and Harmony appears just as cold as ever. They share that Dancer is dead, and now Harmony is in charge. Dancer was killed by a group of grays after a son's attack. After Dancer spared their lives,

Harmony vowed then for every one they killed of them, the sons will kill 100. Darrow learns that Harmony found Titus. Mickey consulted on his carving with a colleague. It makes sense that Harmony found a monster. Harmony and Evie tried to explain what they're doing with all these attacks and all of this death, but it only makes Darrow feel more alone. There is no plan. The sons are lost. Darrow wants to speak to Aries face to face, but Harmony won't let him.

He says he wants out, but Harmony expresses the simple truth. Out to what? From the book, How can you be done, eh? You're trapped. You bloody well can't go home to Lycos, can you? One way out. Buckle tight and stay the course. Harmony shows Darrow a map of several planets across the solar.

solar system and shares their plan. Bombs situated in more places than Darrow can fathom. Three days from now at the summit, the bombs will detonate, and Darrow will take out the highest of golds with a bomb strapped to himself as the sovereign makes her speech. Darrow tells Harmony he won't do it. Coldly, she tells him he doesn't even know what they took from him. She takes out a holocube and shows Darrow the true raw footage, recording of the day they killed his wife. Finally, he hears the words Dio spoke to Eo. From the book, in our bedroom there is a crib I made hide it before Darrow returns a crib Dio murmurs he must never know it would break him don't say it Eo don't I am with child

dude it's funny that the talk about getting drop kicked in the chest at this point they just she goes I would break him and then the next chapter is called broken and then the first line is I break and I was like it's all over pal me both pal it's all over Me both. One sick part about golds being so diesel is when they do get hurt, boy are they hurt. I actually love the descriptions when it's Daryl's like, the jackal's unconscious, his legs are burned off. I stand and puke by skeleton shatter, puke again. I'm like, Jesus Christ.

Rolls his shoulder back in its socket. Like they literally are like, they're like, I guess it's a touchy crawler. Yeah, it's Wolverine. But they don't heal. Yeah. They got to wait for someone to carve them again. I'm so deep in dungeon crawler right now, and they have healing potions in that. And it's like, there's a couple times in book seven where Carl was literally blown up,

essentially, and he drinks a healing potion, but your body does have to like literally come back together. Like his organs are like slithering back into his form. And that's why I feel every time Darrow survives one of these explosions are funny. Up until Harmony arrives, it is a slug fest of a reentry for Darrow. But I'm enjoying that Mickey Evie part because I really like Mickey. But I had the realization this time through that, Mickey reminds me a lot of Olavander because the way Mickey talks about Darrow, the weapon, his creation, is the same way Olavander talks about Voldemort and the wand and the elder wand, where he's like, oh, he did terrible things. Great, but terrible. And oh, the Dark Lord with the elder wand in his hand. And it's like, dude, are you quite well? I really like you. And I think you're funny, but you are freaking me out. And then it takes this super heavy turn when you realize Mickey is the prisoner here. That's the switch for me where I'm like, holy shit, dude, what the fuck is going on. Yeah. When Darrow kind of acknowledges like he looks withered, he looks more pale and all that stuff, you're just kind of like, oh, shit. And it's brutal. It's like, you're right. That interaction with the two of them at first is, it's tough. Like this quote, tears, Brim and Evie's eyes. I don't recoil from them. Who gives a shit about how she feels after what she's just done. But I release her, letting her slide pathetically down the wall, hoping she might show some glimmer of regret that would make me think those tears are for the people she killed and not for herself, not because she's scared of me.

you, you, you, you see such a drastic switch in where we left them. And also, like we talk about, Darrow's like, oh my God, the, the, the, the, the, how lost he must feel. And now to find them, and like the paradigm of all of them is so flipped. You're like, what is happening? God, like, the confusion for him is insane. Dude, it's out of control. And then Harmony shows up and it gets worse. And as he learns more and she's a psychopath. Yeah. Dude, dead ass, Dan, when you hear that Titus was found by Evie, I would have shot Evie on the spot. I'm being completely serious. We already know she's a psycho, but if that's who her champion is, she's even worse than I thought. And like, what are we doing here? Like, I don't care what information she has. I, sorry,

Harmony. I think I just said Evie. I meant harmony. When you hear that Harmony is found Titus, I literally would have reached up and snapped her neck and been like, okay, now Mickey and Evie, let's talk. Who else is here? Who else is in charge? But this, this cannot happen again. I know, man. And it's like, I feel like almost she even, like, got away with that news. Like, Darrow was too like, okay, but it was kind of like, of course, idiot. Like, you almost fucked everything up, you moron. And it's also, when she asks how he was found out, he doesn't even really tell her that he's an idiot.

And he slipped up. And it's like, you almost ruined everything. You clown. But, yeah, it's like, she is, harmony is, she's rogue. She's too intense. She's too angry. And it's like, in these moments. you're just desperate for any bit of solace

and you can't get it. It's crazy. Man, when he, you said this in the quick rundown, but the worst, I think, Darrow has felt this whole his whole life, his whole gold life, okay? Think about the worst he's felt his whole gold life. I would say when he killed Julian,

I would say the tightest debacle, just hearing how that all went down. I would say getting stabbed by Cassius. I would say the moment he thought, Mustang, he had sent Mustang back to her twin brother and it was all a trap. And then losing to Carnus. Those are probably like the five worst moments of Darrow's gold life. Yeah. Agree. Maybe I'm leaving out something egregious. No. Well, it. Yeah, it packs. For sure. For sure. Those are, those are it. Those are the six worst moments of his life. Legitimately,

dude, I'm not being dramatic. I think the moment in this chapter is passes all of those as the worst moment of his gold life, which is without question. When they talk about how abandoned he's been feeling this is the peak when he hears presumably there was no plan he is literal dancer was just figuring it out on the fly and darrow's like wait dude is there nothing well it's i mean you you are not saying that the worst moment is finding out that eo was with child no i literally think oh you're he hasn't happened yet that hasn't happened yet that he heard first there was no plan okay sorry so i completely disagree with you that that is absolutely the worst moment of his life what is when he finds out that EO is with child.

Oh yeah, but that hasn't happened yet. Okay, fair. All right. It will get past again very soon. Okay, okay. But that moment of just pure,

I can't, I'm trying to picture him because he's really phrased it well throughout this where he's like, man, I haven't heard from Mustang any year. I haven't heard from the Suns in two years. Like, what is going on? And then when you finally get here and they're like,

oh, dude, we just released you. Like, we, we have no idea what's going on. We have no plan. We just transformed your whole body. It's just like, yeah. It's a fucking nightmare.

I felt so deeply for Darrow in this moment. And then it's also cool, dude, because Darrow is, he's forced to listen to Evian Harmony run their stupid fucking mouths about how they need to fight this fight and like, Gold's need to feel it too. And he's like, he just knows so much more than them now. Yeah. Because he's been at the institute, been at the academy, been in society. He knows things that they can't even comprehend. So when they're like, we need to do this. And he's sitting there being like,

me and the Howlers could literally kill everyone here without breaking a sweat. And it's cool and it's easy for us to be on Darrow's side because we also lived through book one, unlike Evian Harmony. You know, like they don't know anything. But Darrow looked through book one and so did we. So it's just so annoying for him and us just to listen to them. And he's like, shut up. God, both of you.

Jesus Christ. I like the amount of times that in this section, Darrow's monologue is like, you have no fucking idea what I've seen and what I know. Yeah. Yeah, drives me nuts. I didn't quite get why it's a cool line in the book, but when Darrow's like, did she know? And Harmony's like, what?

And he's like, that it's a suicide, that it was a suicide mission with Evie and the bomb. And Harmony's like, yeah, I don't give a fuck. Like, she's worth it. I kind of don't get that. Like, Evie, she obviously didn't know Darrow was going to be there to take her upstairs, but I don't know why she couldn't have just walked away anyway. You know, like, why was it a suicide mission?

Well, I think maybe she didn't know the extent of the bomb. Yeah. Because think about it, if the stained didn't engulf that bomb, it would have been way more intense, and he would have never done that without Darrow coming in and notified. I'll buy that. I mean, it, 200 people. Yeah, he'll everybody up in there. The lost, what was it, the lost wee den or whatever?

That shit in shambles. Also, the suicide bomb plan from Harmony, when she's kind of like Darrow, this is what has to happen. It's actually, again, a good example of Pierce, because it's kind of believable with a dead dancer. because none of the sons of Aries I think that's not a move that the sons of Aries I think I know would do but if we only know as much as Darrow knows here so if it's like hey dancer's dead and there's no plan and this is all a mess so you just go blow yourself up and kill a bunch of golds

I can kind of see him being like okay yeah I mean this has to end at some point yeah right yeah and then finally the EO recording I don't think I saw this coming I can't remember what you remember from your first read In the reread, there were some clear signs I have felt like. I completely agree. And I do think I'm, I know what I know. And I'll never know how I would have reacted. And even this, like when he starts watching, you kind of in your mind go like, what could possibly be said?

And I think the first time I was like, oh, no, was she pregnant? Yeah. But either way, it still hits like a truck. It's awful. Were you, it's awful how Harmony weaponizes it too. Yeah. Do you think they were, which means they've known about this for so long. They've had that raw footage the whole time.

Oh yeah, absolutely. Do you think they were right to keep it from him? 100%. You cannot tell him this at the Institute. You would have gone psychotic. Nuclear. And then bigger question, is Eio out of her fucking mind? Yes.

Dude, I have known she has sucked this whole time. Easy. And had no idea what she was asking of Dero. Easy. But sacrificing their child is completely. Insanity. Well, you know, she

had a vision. Yeah, which was fucking complete bullshit. Eo had a vision and, listen, I don't agree with you that EO sucks. But there's a lot of times here where you're like, Eio was out of her mind. Yes. But it's important.

No. Well, yeah, it's important, but she is a moron and didn't know this was going to work. You're way too hard to me. Eo is the worst. In this moment, can you please? Give her a break. Please, Chris.

Like, good gosh. She killed her own baby. I mean, she'd get a Netflix special these days, but she did kill her own child. And I just want that on the fucking record. Which brings us to Chapter 10, broken. And even if I don't die tonight,

even if they do not discover I was the bomber by other merits, saving Roak's life means I will be found out. There is no going back. Darrow is shattered and dealing with the knowledge of what he lost. He starts to think of how he could have acted differently. What if he didn't pout about the laurel? Would Eo have taken him to that garden? Rage bills inside him and harmony goads his vulnerability. Darrow says he'll do whatever Aries wants. Dero sits with the jackal as he has yellow physicians fix his burnt and melted skin. The jackal suspects it was Pliny who tried to kill him. He doesn't

believe the sons would kill that many low colors. They decide to continue with their plan. Daryl will head back to the Citadel and Adrius will buy his contract at the end of the summit. it. Darrow withdraws from the likes of Roak and Victora. He can't let himself feel for them if he's about to kill them. He wears the bomb of Mickey's making in the form of a necklace around his neck and prepares for the gala. Darrow goes to see Roque once he's dressed for the gala, and he finds him reading in his room. Roke was afraid Darrow was tactis coming to shoot stims before the event. This is when he tells Darrow of the brother's wrath. From the book. The brother's wrath, they are terrible, terribly rich, terribly talented, and their chief virtue lies in their ability to sin.

They're prodigies at it. He explains that their why tactis is who he is. He wants to be like Darrow, but he can't, and his brothers mock him for it. Roke says he thinks sometimes Darrow understands them all better than they understand themselves, and other times it's like he couldn't care less. Darrow apologizes to Roke for being so distant. Roke eloquently tells him he doesn't need to apologize to him, not for being himself. He then tells him that he's arranged loans so that he can bid on Darrow, actively disobeying

his family. It means the world to Darrow. Darrow allows himself a moment with Roque and asks if he ever feels lost. Roke tells Darrow a story and shares with him that once Leo was killed in the institute, he felt lost to utter darkness. But then Quinn pulled him out of it, from the book. Home isn't where you're from. It's where you find light when all grows dark.

He grasps the top of my hand. Find your home, Darrow. It may not be in the past, but find it, and you'll never be lost again. Darrow embraces Roque and tells him he's too good for his color. and in another life they could have been brothers. Roke is confused, but before any words can be exchanged, Darrell slips a syringe into his neck and puts Roke to sleep. When he wakes, everyone he has ever known or worked for will be dead.

Plans are forming here. When I bitched about the suicide bomb plan and being like, it's fucking stupid, Darrow wouldn't do this. The cherry on top of it to get him to a degree is I was with child. Yeah. Which is what I mean. Harmony weaponizes that because she's like, Darry will never do this. but now if I take everything from him,

then he has nothing to live for. And I thought that was great from a plotting standpoint. I agree. What a gut punch, it must be for Darrow to hear the jackal say, you save my life. Only one other person has ever done it. Thank you, Darrow.

Yeah. Because it's like, honestly, it's like in horrible bosses when Charlie, day saves Spacey, who's accidentally dying from a peanut allergy, and he's just epipetting him. Oh, yeah. And they're like, wait, did you just save the guy? The person we're trying to kill it. Yeah. And we would have got it perfectly away with it. Like, Darrow has been trying to kill the jackal for years. And then a random red, or it's a pink, but like a random red terrorist group comes in and bombs the jackal to death. Amazing. Amazing. I didn't have to do anything. And Darrow's like,

I saved him. I don't know what's going on. But again, it's just perfect from Pierce. Like, he needs him. This is where he is. He's like, motherfucker. I can't let him die. It's crazy. Yep. Exactly. I really liked the Theodora spilling anecdote. Sometimes the anecdotes don't totally work in every book. Yeah. Not just these, but I actually really liked that.

Just that in the same way, you know, not to call Theodore a dog, but in the same way a dog can sense when you're about to travel, the suitcase comes out or whatever. He's like, I'm keeping all this to myself. I don't think anyone's noticing.

And then Theodore spills something for the first time in her life. And he's like, oh, man. And it also shows us the way pinks react. Yes. thing, that anecdote is so good. I mean, and for, yeah, for those, he, she, he's getting ready for the gala. She spills wine on his white suit and genuinely loses her mind.

Like, she's like, I'm going to get killed for this. And it's, God, it's just another such a good example of who Darrow is and also who these golds are and what the pinks have been through. And it's just like, good Lord. It also leads him to wearing black, which becomes, no spoilers, but becomes so sick, so sick. Okay, so the meat of this chapter is the Roke conversation. It's unbelievable.

I have a few things from it. One, I actually wish Darrow didn't do it because he, and I mean talk to him, because he's made a point of saying I'm completely distant and isolated. I'm not talking to anybody. Theodora notices, everybody can notice.

And it has been a lot of Harry Potter references in this one, but it reminded me a lot of when Harry doesn't talk to Ginny on his way to the forest. He sees her and he's like, I talk to her, I just don't know that I'll be able to go. And obviously by the end of this conversation, we know why Darrow went. But at the beginning, I was like, dude, I don't know that you'd be able to go through with this if you go talk to your one boy. You know, like, you almost just need to leave it and be like, okay, I got to go just I can't, I can't hear his voice again.

Well, this is what I think happens. In the beginning, we have this quote at the beginning when he's really reeling with the information about EO. He's looking at his hands and he says, funny to think these hands have been with me this whole time. They touched her lips. They helped pull her ankles. They buried her in the soil. But they didn't just bury her, did they? No, they buried another life, one unborn.

Our child dead before it lived. And I never even knew. That is the beginning of this chapter expressing in this moment. He's placing the blame of the death of his wife and child on every gold. And he's going, yes, I have made friends here. Roke is a friend, but he's gold. And him and the society that him and his family have helped built killed my. wife and my fucking unborn child. I think he goes into that room, knowing he has to do what he has to

do that we learn by the end of it, but he has no intentions of having an important conversation. It's the strength of their relationship that overcomes the moment. I don't think it's a plan to talk to him. I think they start chatting. He hears the eloquence with which Roak speaks, the story about the wraths, and just everything he says that makes Darrow, I mean, Darrow is, he's broken in this moment. And all of a sudden he's talking to the softest gold he's ever met, who's so intelligent and knows what to say in every moment. And I think when he asks, do you ever feel lost? He's not meaning to ask that. He's just genuinely like, who the fuck can I talk to?

Yeah. Which is why this is such a good chapter. It's a great. He has no intention of these conversations. But they come out because despite everything, he is in a relationship with this guy. Like, this is a good friend of his. And he needs a friend right now. It's the only one he has.

It's unbelievable. point number two from this conversation and I don't mean to chirp roke but the pigeon story sucks i disagree wholeheartedly it's so so stupid i was like when dude every time i get to this part in the book when roke lines up and he's like there's a story of two pigeons from old earth i'm like this is about to be gas and then every time i'm like roke what don't you like about it's it's nothing it's a nothing burger story darrow is like do you feel lost and roke's like one time there were two pigeons who liked each other, they got different jobs, and then they found each other after they retired. And I'm like, what?

No. And he's like, you know, it's okay. No, dude. You're never always lost. You'll get home. The point of the story. The point of the story is that you can be as lost as you could ever possibly imagine and you can still find your way home. That is the point of the story. Story sucks. And that's why he says, find your home and you won't be lost ever again. Home is just, home is just the home they had. He's like, then they just went back home. No, it's with each other, you idiot.

Okay, Roque. That story is trash. But I do love, as we keep saying, like all of those emotions, when he looks at Roak after he does this, this quote, he doesn't understand, but he knows there's a reason. Yet still comes the fear, the betrayal that breaks my heart into a thousand pieces. I love that because it kind of solidifies everything I just said of as mad as he is, all the blame that he's placing, he's committed to this plan. when he goes through with it, when he betrays Roke in this way, which frankly is saving him.

He is still like he is devastated that presumably the last moment they have together is Roke being like this. What have you done to me? Like why are you doing this? It shows so much of Daryl's heart and it's just like, oh, it's devastating. Everything he is going through is just devastating.

So I had that Roke is really is, because we mentioned this last time when Victor seemingly was the only one offering help. Roak is a true friend here. We said last episode, Roque was making excuses about his parents. There are Neros people through and through. The senators, whatever, whatever.

Victor was the only one who did something. Who tried to help, right? But Roque shows his worth and his loyalty here. And to quote him, which I fucking loved, House Mars has to mean something, eh? And I'm like, yes, dude, thank you. Like these bonds do matter. We grab me, you and Cassius, grabbed you by the neck,

instead of me brothers. This is him finally stepping up and do it. It gets me so jacked. Roe will buy Darrow's contract. is the last thing he does. Amazing. But 4.4, again, there is a minor flash in Roe when Darrow's like, you're far too good for your color.

And he's like, what the fuck is that supposed to mean? Yeah. And I'm like, calm down. Well, I don't even think it's a calm down. Like, it's just such a goal. He's just such a pompous goal. He's like, what is too good for Gold being? We are literally the goat.

I mean, he says like, whatever does that mean? I think it's a fair question. Like, I first time I read it, I was like, is that a slip up from Darrow? And frankly, it's not because he's like, I'm about to put you to sleep. and never see you again. Yeah. But it's like, I don't think it's, I mean, listen, we'll get to all of it. But in that moment, I think it's a fair question.

Yeah. Which then leads perfectly into like this betrayal moment. Yep. And do you respect it from Darrow wanting to save him? I've thought a lot about this. Absolutely. Absolutely. Everything that Roke has been through and all of this, like everything he's doing for.

First of all, which we will get to, he needs to save him in order to execute his plan. Like Roke can't be there if he's going to do what. what he's planning to do. How come? Because of the, like him purchasing him, but he obviously went in here to be like this. I'm going to save your life. Yeah, yeah.

Dude, everything Roke's been through and everything he's done for him, I kinda dig. I think I get it, I'll put it that way, but here's my take on why I wish he wouldn't. Yeah. If you go there, if you knock him out and then you go and kill yourself and everybody,

Roke has a pretty horrible life. When he comes back, he's like, oh, dude. Sure. everyone I know is dead. I'd almost rather him be dead also. And if for whatever reason, you back out, Roke will still be alive, even if he went, because you backed out. And now, if you back out, you don't have a dude who knows for a fact you were about to do something horrible. You know, it was almost a little short-sighted by Dair. And again, I just wished death upon Roke. But I'm just saying, if you kill everyone else he knows, I almost wish, I'd almost bet Roke would be like, dude,

just put me in the blast, bro. I hear you. I get it. But I almost wish he. He didn't. Okay, and now, two. Chapter 11, read. In a world of killers, it takes more to be kind than to be wicked. But men like you and me were just passing time before death reaches down for us. Darrow walks with Victor and Tactus to the gala. He tells them Rok is feeling ill to explain his absence.

Hundreds of golds pile in, including the jackal, who stuns his father Nero with his presence. As all the great families make their way to the grass, that will take them to the processions atop the sovereign's tower. They're informed that no bodyguards will be allowed to accompany any of the families. Leto and Adrius both feel it's too dangerous to accept. Nero says declining the invitation is even more dangerous. The gala is made to look like a winter wonderland. Pink's move about on skates to serve food and drinks.

Carved mythical creatures linger around the area. Darrow lingers around the gala, trying to decide when to use the bomb hanging around his neck. From the book, this will not be for Eo's dream. It will be for the satisfaction of those living, to sate their lust for vengeance, rather than honoring those who have already sacrificed everything, and it will be irreversible,

but so is the course that has been set. As Darrow contemplates his plan, his thoughts are interrupted by Antonia, her beauty just outweighed by her evil words and calculated manner. She goads Darrow about his christening and tells him the balones are coming. He should run now lest he think he can beat Cassius in a duel. Darrow finds Carnus and approaches the monster with a couple goblets of wine.

He likes that they don't have to pretend to like each other. In their conversation, Carnus insults Julian, which surprises Darrow. He mentions that Cassius always said such good things about him, to which Carnus also insults Cassius. From the book, Cassius, he snorts out something like a laugh. Cassius once wounded a bird with a slingshot, came to me crying because he knew he had to kill it to put it out of its misery, but he couldn't. I dropped a rock on it for him, just like you did.

He smirks. should thank you for sweeping away the genetic chaf. Their conversation ends as Darrow sees the most gorgeous woman enter the gala, wearing all black like him, dressed for a funeral. It is Mustang, and accompanying her with a hand on her waist is Cassius. The rumors are true. The sovereign has made him the morning night, one of the 12, and now risen higher than Darrow. Darrow flees to a nearby bridge overlooking a stream.

He breathes heavily, dealing with seeing Mustang with Cassius. Clearly she has feelings for him. She is not the petty type. The sight is too much for him. He has no feeling left for any of these golds. From the book, I do not need Mustang. I do not need any of these greedy creatures. I'm done with their games of power.

Done with trying to go in on my own. I was not good enough to be a husband. Not good enough that my wife would let me be a father. Not good enough to be a gold. Now I'm not good enough for Mustang. I failed to do what I set out to do. Failed to rise. But I won't fail now.

Not now. all he has to do is whisper the words into his ring break the chains and the bomb will evaporate all at the gala but he can't this isn't ios dream aries is wrong he hasn't risen so others can follow this is anger violence revenge it isn't change doing this rejects eo and darrow refuses to act i agree with everything that went through his head right i agree with the the very end there why he decided not to act it is hilarious to me though that his pump up speech is I'm a failure. I failed at everything, but I won't fail at this. And then immediately fails at it. Like the very next thing that happens is he also fails. All he has to do is speak.

All he has to do, he goes, if my last act on earth, I won't be a failure again. And that immediate failure. I'm like, dude, you are a fucking idiot. Immediate failure. But maybe a sign that he's like, no, this is not my mission. This is not what I'm supposed to do. I'll tell you this, Dan. Victora no panties to the summit gala is the closest I've ever been to abandoning Mustang. And I'll never waver again, but that was a real test. And I passed. But that was a real test. She's just unbelievable.

She's got her long fingernails in Darrow's hair being like this. You can't wear underwear to a thing like this. It's the summit gala. It's the Catalina wine mixer and you have no panties. It's unbelievable. I might die today. He's walking in being like, I might die. and you have no panties on.

She's trying to do something nice for him. He passed too. Victor loves him. He passed too. I also had this thought when I was reading about the Winter Wonderland. Imagine being a carved pink mermaid. Like, dude, they have given you gills and flippers.

And you're like, I live underwater now. I guess mermaid's breathe air. Never mind. No, I think they can come up and they can, you know, sing and all that, but they got to stay underwater. I was like, dude, I can't tell if that is the greatest job assignment or the worst. Like, what do you do? I'm like, I'm a mermaid.

Yeah. It's crazy. Like, yeah, it's fuck. Some pigs go to the Rose Garden, dude. Some things go to the fucking ocean. It is electric. How many, again, Pierce is such a good author, and his character building is out of control. And I don't mean literally just each character.

I mean, how many characters. Yeah. And I think it's so amazing how we, there are so many different characters. He all gives them their own voice. And we have, what was it last episode, the Bologna Cousin? Oh, Cagney. Cagney. Such a piece of shit.

Yep. And then it is unbelievable that for just a breath of a second, Antonio shows up and you're like, I want to ring your motherfucking neck. Antonio is the biggest C word. I have ever. It's get rid of the C word. She is awful. I have ever encountered it. It is unbelievable.

And we said previously, her being half sisters with Victor is amazing, amazing for the story. But it's just, oh, my God. It is so savage. I hate her so much. And to escape that conversation to go and speak with Carnus. Unbelievable scene. Unbelievable scene and Carnus, you know, he is a beast. He just kills everybody.

It's always cool. It's like I said, when you get those moments with Adrius and you get a little bit inside their head, I'm curious what you think. I love this quote. From the book, Darrow says, you have everything, Carnus, wealth, power, seven brothers and sisters, how many cousins, nieces, nephews, a father and mother who love you, yet you were here drinking alone, killing my friends, setting the purpose of your life to ending me. Why? Because you wrong my family. No one wrongs the balona and lives. So it's pride. It's always pride.

Pride is just a shout in the wind. He shakes his head, voice deepening. I will die, you will die. We will all die and the universe will carry on without care. All that we have is that shout into the wind, how we live, how we go, and how we stand before we fall. What do you think about that quote? It's amazing. It's like the gladiator quote. It is one of the rattling things of when you hear of pride and it's not worth it and it's this and that and he's like, it is all that matters. How we live is all that matters.

And if I let you insult my family, how can I fall and be okay without. Because after I die, I don't give a shit people say about me. I'm dead. It's a lot. You know, no, it's so true. and that scene is so awesome. You said at the top, when they don't have to pretend,

they don't like each other, but also Carnus just pumping goblets. He literally finishes like four goblets in that scene of wine. And I'm like, dude, how big are those fucking things? It's incredible. Also, I'll say for the billionth time, the golds hate pissing so much. It's weird.

In this one, Carnus is like, Julian pissed the bed! And I'm like, he was a gyre. Man, he was a Justin bull. He was too old. He pissed the bed way too late, clearly. He was like, Jesus, Christ. dude so insane yeah and and andtonia is like this like when she said yeah christening she's like this

tough scent you're in to get out it's like you'll calm down everyone pisses dude uh the world building is great in this chapter just the description of the party i really liked uh you said the pinks were ice skating i believe dan that that implies there could be hockey in this world it's possible it's possible i mean they certainly have books on it yeah right like there's definitely they're ice skating on a frozen lake serving fucking hummingbird time i'm I'm sure if you go in some archives, you can find the best of Bobby or VHS somewhere. And that's incredible. And an actual lion as their table centerpiece is so gas.

Unbelievable. So guess. Imagine the one with the, there's a griffin. Yeah, yeah. Some of them I felt bad. They were like a sword. And I was like, I got a fucking real lion. Kind of distracting while you didn't.

Yeah, true. Yeah. I'm like, whoa. The Darrow's second guessing here throughout is good. It's fun for the story because I believe that the rage of hearing that, hearing that EO recording will have softened, only slightly, but just in the moment when you see it from Harmony, and she goes, go be a suicide bomber. He's like, okay. Yeah. That's dialed down at least a degree by now. So I think it's, it's right because he is right. This is taking the rebellion off a

cliff. He says that. Oh, yeah. He is 100% right about that. And he's right that Harmony is a fucking idiot. But despite her cool map of bombs that will go off simultaneously and everything, or actually I guess counting that, but even though I'm glad Dara was like, Harmony's so dumb, but I have to admit that him killing everyone here would be really effective. Oh, it would be a big deal. Like, it would be a big deal. I think she's a moron, but actually if he killed 200 of the most important golds to ever live in one swoop, I was like, that is actually a pretty good plan.

You're borderline wiping out some families. It's, you know. This is actually, Harmony, this is actually a tremendous plan. Listen, it would certainly create a dent, but there is no doubt that Harmony is just, just so short-sighted. And she also has no grasp on how deep and vast the gold control goes. But, I mean, the flip-flopping is amazing. And I do love, I mean, it is crazy how he's like, I don't know if I can do this. And then he just sees Mustang with Cassius. And he says, I wish I had missed him. It is Cassius. He of the bloody damn golden curls is with the girl who

nursed me to health in the winter, who helped me remember Eo's dream, his hand on her waist, his lips whispering into her ear. As surely as Cassius Aubelona put a sword in my stomach, he now sticks a dagger in my heart. First time I read that, I thought he was going to say, he now sticks his prick in my girlfriend. But this part, I had no idea. And they touch on it a couple times.

A few people almost tell. Someone is like, do you know what's up with Mustang? And I think it's Mickey. He's like, of course, she's like, she's with that. And you don't even think about it. And then here we go. Mustang. not out of spite because as a beautiful line yeah he's like she's not petty like that he's like

oh my god do she's just with cassius like that is that is the worst betrayal i've ever seen dan i just talked about the ranking the worst moments of darrow's gold life i can assure you that the worst moment of my chris powers life is when cassius walks in and it was mustang i actually i think it's the second i think the first is when she walks in and darrow says the most beautiful woman i've ever seen except for EO. Okay, so Dan, how mad are you in that? Are you like, can you please stop talking about this ruster chick? So I'll jump ahead to my next point here. Darrow is internally complaining that Cassius is better than him in everything, in every way. And then from the book, he says, why too does he deserve this girl who makes all but Eo pale and that

that one, yeah. Shut the fuck up. Dude, and dude, that is complete pandering, Dan, by the way. He even says in the fucking recording, last chapter when he's watching, he goes, he looks at the girl and he goes, wow, she is nothing like the fire of the girl I remember. She's this dusty, rusty fucking speck. Nobody. You watched her on the recording and she looked nothing like it. She's a fucking ruster who killed your baby. Okay, she's actually a murderer. All right. So don't talk about Mustang like that in front of me ever again and claiming that Eo doesn't pale in comparison to Mustang. It's hard to take him seriously in his internal monologues when he's claiming out loud that EO is anywhere near the realm of Mustang. Yeah, I won't lie in that moment. Even I was a little bit like, come on, dude, relax. Fucking eye roll, bro. But to go back, you said dagger in the heart. It was a dagger in my heart for sure. And I actually got dumped by my first girlfriend ever in middle school. I know those aren't really real relationships, but I got dumped by my first ever middle school girlfriend when she emailed our parents' email account to our one computer in the

kitchen because that was the only way to get in touch with us and I didn't see the email before school so then I got to school and everyone knew I had been dumped except me and that is that is what's happening to Darrow right now like everyone on earth knows that she's banging Cassius and he walks into the summit gala and I said he's like wait Mustang is dating Cassius and I'm like kidding me yeah and what's fucked in is as mad as I am at that situation it's the worst moment of my life I'm not mad at Mustang at all somehow. I'm just mad at Cassius. You know, like this.

It's not, me and Mustang are cool. It's not her fault. Yeah, I hear you. This is his fault somehow. And I will leave you with this at the end of this chapter. I'm not going to say anything for the first time readers, no spoilers, but knowing what is what Darrow's about to do, I'm actually rattled by how close he got to going through with the kamikaze.

Like knowing what his backup plan was the whole time, I'm like, bro. Well, what I think is awesome is it's, that moment, he sees that moment, as low as he's been, this whole book, and certainly now, he then sees that and he's like, fuck it. Fuck all you. You're all toast. And then I believe it is the combination of, really, in all of that emotion is so intense that the real emotion in him of being like, no, this is not the dream.

This is not right. I haven't talked to Aries. Harmony's out of her mind. He comes to his senses. He literally can't speak because he knows it's wrong. but I also think it's his love for Mustang. I think it's like, he can't do this because it's wrong, but he's also like, I am not killing her.

She doesn't walk in there, dude. I think people might be dead. For sure. It is nuts. And that is the end of part one and the end of this episode two, which takes us to our honors of this episode. The first honor from the scrolls of Tyrion Lannister given to the character who provided the most impactful words.

we are giving it to Adrius Augustus Kind of a crazy one here But Adrianus or as he prefers to be called Which was sick The Jackal Nero

Nothing from the Institute stays Shut the fuck up Nero Bitch Bitch ass That's the Jackal to you dad Yep Keep going I wanted to go full breakfast cloud there

The Jackal gets this award Because he is In this entire section spitting straight bars and spinning facts. Yes. Information is king, boys and girls. And the truth is what we perceive the truth to be. In a fair trade, I would say, he provides Darrow with plenty of information about Pliny and

Octavia and the rest. But more importantly, it's the way he relates to Darrow, that stuff we were saying at the top. Making him realize the two of them aren't that different when you actually break it down to its core. A lot of things. a lot of fucking negative self-harm things are going through Dero's mind during this section.

He gets reunited with a completely different-looking sons. Fucking, he might be killing himself in a second. And if he doesn't kill himself, he's going to get killed by the balona. Like, all this is going through his head. And it's really the Jackal's words that help him make the most sense of his situation. And the Jackal says, this was the wrong weapon for me to take. this, that was my weapon. And he uses that tongue very effectively in this section on Darrow and then probably on a pink

later based on the way he was looking at Victor and Eby. True. It's crazy that he is, I mean, in this section, he's so important to everything that happens. So shout out the Jack. Shout out Jack. Next honor is Dobby the house elf given to the character who is the unsung hero providing aid behind the scenes. This goes to Roke A Fabi.

We have to ask someone, by the way, so there was a comment on one of the episodes where they were like, listen to the autobi book on his name. Oh. It's like Fabi. Or maybe even like I, like Fabai or something. I can't remember, but we'll find out. I'll find out. I like Fabi.

Yeah, me too. So that's what I'm going with. Roque here gets Dobby the house elf because his aid is being a friend. Darrow is as low as he has been in this journey. In both books, he is so low here. he is lost, he is alone. And not only in a moment where he has no intention of having a heart to heart, no intention of real connection, he gets it from Roke because Roke is so pure that it just comes out. And it's an amazing moment where we get to see an actual friend amongst these

golds that Darrow cannot deny. And he gives him incredible advice and incredible heartfelt messages that allow Darrow to get to the decisions he needs to get to. And on top of it, that. Him getting loans to buy Darrow's account against his mother's wishes, actively, probably hurting his own standing within his family. That is unbelievable. That is true, true friendship. And whether he gets to do it or not, that is honor worthy. Agree, because we chirped him last one for saying, sorry I can and Victor, Victor helping when Roak wouldn't. This was a really cool guy move. Like genuinely, really cool guy move. And I will say to everyone else, lets, Darrow pulls away from people, right? And there's nothing, even if you tried to talk to him,

he wouldn't let you. But I feel as though Roque is the closest to understanding what Darrow's needs are. And he lets him take his space. When Darrow comes to apologize, I'm sorry, I've been distant. Roke says, I forget this line. It's a cool line. He's like, why would the blank complain about, or apologize for blanking? Because he's like, that's their nature. Yeah. Why would a dog apologize for wagging his tail? Yeah, that's it, Dan. Yeah. And he's like, it's okay, Darrow. You come in and out like the tide. You never have to apologize to me. It's those little moments and him actually acting here that stands out for me for Roke. 100%.

The next honor. The way of the Benegeserite given to the character who cannot be trusted or shows outright devious nature. Harmony. Harmony can fucking suck me, dude. She is the worst. She's whining about her kids dying from radiation. Oh, my husband just sat there and let them die. Fucking doubt it, dude.

I fucking doubt it, Harmony. Don't trust anything you said. I bet he was trying as hard as he could to get medicine and doing his job. Just because he isn't a fucking terrorist bomber doesn't mean he wasn't doing anything. So miss me with your fucking sob story because every low red on earth has a sob story. So fuck you. And she shows Darrow the recording of Eo's last words, which I might add was quite literally Eo's dying wish that Dara would never see that.

She said, I have one last wish on this earth. My second to last wish is that Dero breaks the chains. My last wish is don't ever tell him I was pregnant. Harmony does that. Darrow should never have heard it. She's also now enslaved Mickey, who I kind of like. And also, she's turned Evie into a fucking psychopath. And she has ruined dancers dream, which was for Darrow to do something more.

And oh, yeah, she picked Titus. Man, she is so few redeeming qualities. And it's so nuts because it gets to the point where I'm like, how did you ever get in here? How did you get in the suns? You are nuts. You're clearly nuts. It almost makes me upset with dancer. I know, dude.

That he let her get to this place because she is fully out of control. She is fueled by hatred and rage. It's awful. Suck me, Harmony. Harmony, you bit. You bit. Finally, our last honor, sword, axe, and bow given to the character deemed to have earned our loyalty, belief, and trust above all. Goes to Adrius the jackal, Augustus.

Double tap. First double tap in an episode. First double tap. And listen, this is a dark episode. Yep. The section that we have just read, there's a lot of brutal things. So many realizations for Darrow that are absolutely crushing. So many times that are making him flip-flop, not knowing what's real, not knowing who to trust, not knowing what to do. And at the end of the day, the North Star in this section is Adrius. All he does, I mean, he's a psychopath without question. but the information that he gives Darrow and the strength of knowledge that he gives him is easily the most important part of this section. It is unbelievable how instrumental he is to the next moves that Darrow is making. And it's also huge to learn the information he has about what happened with him and his family,

why he moves the way he moves, the intricacies of the crime syndicates, what he knows about the Sons of Ares. It is crazy how valuable Adris is in this section. So he earns the sword, axe, and bow. From the very literal standpoint that he is the, I know Victor is the broker, as the Jackal called her, but from the very literal standpoint, the jackal is the only person, the only person capable of saving Reap's life. I know Roque is like, I'm going to, I'll figure it out. I'll take out a loan.

Like, Quicksilver, we'll do it, whatever, whatever. We don't know if that was going to work. What I do know was going to work is the jackal had a plan. The jackal executed the plan. He was going to save him. So yes, the Jackal ace is his absolute salvation here. And as I said in mine, the Jackal trades very fairly in this section. He could easily be like, I can control the information about what's happening.

I'll figure it out. Don't worry. But he gives him, like you said, all that shit about Pliny, all that shit about Leto, all that shit about his childhood. These are vital pieces of the chess board that Jackal says he's sick of being a pawn. Yeah? Darrow is a pawn too. They're both trying to become fucking maybe knights first bishops.

We'll get to rooks and kings and queens soon. But yes, he is trading pieces here in a very fair way and is the only one standing up for REAP. Yeah, no question. That, folks, is the end of episode two of Golden Sun. Next week, we will head into... We have a very hot start. Oh, my God. We will head into the beginning of part two where we might come across my favorite moment in any of these books.

Cannot wait. It's going to be one hell of a ride. Hail Reaper.