At the end of Red Rising, Darrow swears loyalty to the man who had his wife executed. That choice is the most important thing to remember before Golden Son. Darrow has won the Institute, earned the name Reaper, and secured a place in House Augustus. He is also still a Red working undercover for the Sons of Ares. The people who can help him rise are the same people he set out to overthrow.
Spoiler warning: This recap covers all of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising and leaves the events of Golden Son unspoiled.
Darrow learns what the Society has kept from the Reds
Darrow starts out as a Helldiver, a helium-3 miner in the underground colony of Lykos on Mars. The Reds are told their work will make the planet habitable for future generations. Darrow takes pride in the job, and his wife, Eo, wants him to see that their children deserve more than the lives the Society has assigned them.
When the pair are publicly punished for entering a forbidden area, Eo sings a banned song of resistance. Nero au Augustus, the ArchGovernor of Mars, orders her execution. Darrow breaks the law by burying her and is sentenced to hang. His uncle Narol helps fake his death, putting him in the hands of the Sons of Ares.
Dancer, a member of the resistance, shows Darrow the truth. People have lived on the surface of Mars for generations. The Golds have kept the underground miners isolated so they will continue supplying the Society with fuel. Eo’s death gives Darrow a personal reason to fight, and seeing the surface makes him understand how many people have been living inside the same lie.
How Darrow becomes a Gold
The Sons of Ares want Darrow to infiltrate the ruling caste. A Violet Carver named Mickey rebuilds Darrow’s body, giving him a Gold’s appearance and physical abilities. Darrow also has to learn how Golds speak and behave, then pass as a young man named Darrow au Andromedus. His cover gets him into the Institute, where the Society trains its future leaders.
The transformation gives Darrow access to the people who rule Mars. The Institute immediately shows him what that access will cost. Its first test, the Passage, pairs recruits in fights to the death. Darrow kills Julian au Bellona, the twin brother of his new friend Cassius, and keeps his role in Julian’s death a secret.
The Institute turns Cassius against Darrow and brings Mustang to his side
Darrow and Cassius begin the competition as allies in House Mars. The Jackal eventually gets evidence of Julian’s death to Cassius, who challenges Darrow to a duel and leaves him for dead. Darrow knows the Passage forced his hand. For Cassius, the man who killed his brother also let him grieve without telling him the truth. By the end of the book, Cassius has declared a blood feud.
Mustang, the leader of House Minerva, saves Darrow after the duel. She and Darrow have already fought on opposite sides, and he once let her escape when he could have left her to his housemates. As he recovers, their trust deepens and they grow closer.
With Mustang and Sevro’s Howlers, Darrow rebuilds his forces. He frees captives bound to obey House standards and gives them a reason to fight alongside him. That choice makes his army stronger and gives him an early glimpse of what people might do for him when they can choose their own loyalties.
How Darrow beats the Jackal and wins the Institute
The Jackal is Adrius au Augustus, Nero’s son. The Institute’s Proctors are supposed to oversee the competition, but Nero has arranged for them to help Adrius win. Darrow takes the fight to Olympus, the Proctors’ base, and rescues Mustang after the Proctors capture her.
Darrow then learns that Mustang is Virginia au Augustus, the Jackal’s twin sister and Nero’s daughter. He has reason to wonder where her loyalties will fall. Mustang settles the question at the Institute by bringing him the Jackal as a prisoner. Darrow wins, but the revelation about her family makes their relationship harder to navigate outside the competition.
Why Darrow accepts Nero Augustus’s offer
Nero offers Darrow a place in House Augustus as his Lancer, a sworn aide, in exchange for discretion about the rigged competition. Darrow accepts. The bargain gives him a route to the Academy and puts him close to the people who command fleets and govern the Society.
It also puts him under the protection of the man who killed Eo. When Darrow gives Nero his oath, the reader knows he is doing it to advance the Sons of Ares’ mission. His new patron sees a talented Gold worth recruiting. Both men expect to gain something from the arrangement, and Darrow’s position depends on Nero continuing to believe his cover.
For a closer look at that oath and its cost, read our Red Rising ending explained.
What to remember before Golden Son
| Character or group | Where things stand at the end of Red Rising |
|---|---|
| Darrow, the Reaper | The Institute’s winner is a Red posing as a Gold and now serves House Augustus in public. |
| Eo and the Sons of Ares | Eo’s execution drives Darrow into the resistance, whose plan depends on him rising through the Society’s ranks. |
| Mustang | Virginia au Augustus saved Darrow and helped him win. Her father is his new patron and her twin is the Jackal. |
| Cassius au Bellona | His friendship with Darrow has become a blood feud over Julian’s death and Darrow’s silence. |
| Sevro and the Howlers | Sevro and his fighters helped Darrow turn a near defeat into a victory. Fitchner, House Mars’s Proctor, is Sevro’s father. |
| Nero and the Jackal | Nero tried to fix the competition for Adrius, then recruited the man who beat him. |
At the Institute, Darrow could build a following among people willing to fight beside him. Going into Golden Son, his authority also depends on the patronage of a man he despises. He has to protect his secret while navigating loyalties that were already complicated before he took Nero’s oath.
Golden Son is the second book in Pierce Brown’s series. See our Red Rising books in order guide for the rest of the series, or revisit our spoiler-free review of Red Rising.
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