Golden Son Recap: Where Darrow Stands Before Morning Star

Spoilers for Red Rising and Golden Son. This recap stops at the end of book two.

At the end of Golden Son, Darrow is alive and in enemy hands. Roque drugs him during a dinner in his honor, the Jackal kills Nero au Augustus, and the box that should hold Darrow’s Triumph Mask contains Fitchner’s severed head. Mustang knows Darrow was born a Red, but she leaves without telling him where she stands. That’s where Pierce Brown leaves the Reaper heading into Morning Star.

The detail I’d keep in mind before starting book three is that Darrow drugs Roque early in Golden Son to keep him away from a planned bombing. By the final chapter, Roque does the same thing to Darrow. The reversal captures how badly Darrow has misjudged a friend who once offered to save him.

If you need a refresher on Eo, the Institute or how Darrow became a Gold, start with our Red Rising recap.

Darrow loses Nero’s protection and starts a Gold civil war

Darrow enters the Academy hoping to earn command of a fleet. Karnus au Bellona defeats him in the final exercise, and Nero moves to end his patronage. Without House Augustus behind him, Darrow is exposed to the Bellonas, who still want revenge for Julian’s death at the Institute.

Harmony, a member of the Sons of Ares, wants Darrow to bomb the Golds’ Summit gala. He goes in prepared to do it but changes his mind and challenges Cassius au Bellona instead. Darrow has been training with the swordsman Lorn au Arcos and gains the upper hand. When Sovereign Octavia au Lune intervenes to stop the duel, the confrontation spills into open fighting. Darrow later forces Octavia to reveal that she planned to have Nero assassinated at the gala. The feud between the Augustus and Bellona families has become part of a wider fight for control of the Society.

Quinn’s death strains Darrow’s friendship with Roque

Mustang arranges for Sevro and the Howlers to help Darrow escape. They take Octavia’s grandson Lysander as leverage, but Tactus later returns him to the Sovereign. During the escape, Octavia’s bodyguard Aja mortally wounds Quinn. Roque loved Quinn, and her death deepens the distance between him and Darrow.

Darrow and Sevro seize the warship Vanguard with help from its crew. Darrow puts Orion, a Blue, in command and gains the loyalty of Ragnar Volarus, a Stained Obsidian. Darrow gives Ragnar a razor, a weapon reserved for Golds. The choice shows how far he’s already willing to go against the Color hierarchy, even while fighting under the banner of a Gold family.

The Iron Rain wins Mars, and Fitchner reveals he is Ares

After Augustus’s adviser Pliny betrays him, Darrow rallies support, helps free Nero and launches an Iron Rain on Mars. During the fighting, Aja overpowers Darrow aboard Octavia’s ship. Fitchner saves him and reveals that he is Ares, the leader of the rebellion that carved Darrow into a Gold. Sevro, Fitchner’s son, has already told Darrow that he’s part of the Sons.

Fitchner’s wife, Bryn, was a Red killed for having a child with a Gold. That history gives the rebellion a personal stake for both Fitchner and Sevro. It also explains the significance of Fitchner’s plan for Darrow. With House Augustus back in control of Mars and Octavia still alive, Fitchner wants Darrow to accept Nero’s offer of adoption and use the position of heir to dismantle the Society’s hierarchy from within.

Darrow tells Mustang the truth in Lykos

Darrow takes Mustang to Lykos, the mining community where he grew up. He shows her footage of his Carving, revealing that he was born a Red and was Eo’s husband. Mustang confronts him at gunpoint. She wants to know what his revolution means for Golds and how much of their relationship she can trust.

Darrow lays down his weapons and kneels. Ragnar kneels beside him. Mustang walks away, and the book leaves her decision unresolved. Her departure matters because Darrow has voluntarily put his secret in the hands of someone whose family stands to lose power if his revolution succeeds.

What happens at the end of Golden Son?

Darrow’s Triumph celebrates House Augustus’s victory on Mars. At the dinner that follows, Roque approaches Darrow with the box meant to hold his Triumph Mask and drugs him. Roque knows Darrow is a Red and makes clear that he intends to defend Gold rule. His betrayal carries the weight of a friendship that has been coming apart since well before Darrow’s identity was exposed.

Antonia shoots her half sister Victra, who tells Darrow she knew nothing about the ambush. The Jackal and Lilath kill Lorn. Cassius blames Darrow for the killing of Bellona family members, including children whose deaths Darrow says he knew nothing about. Octavia has ordered that Darrow be kept alive.

The Jackal, Adrius au Augustus, admits his role in the death of his older brother Claudius and kills his father, Nero. Inside the box is Fitchner’s head. In one evening, Darrow loses both the man who gave him standing among the Golds and the man who brought him into the rebellion.

Where everyone stands before Morning Star

Darrow goes into Morning Star without the protection of House Augustus or the guidance of Ares. The alliances worth remembering are the ones he built personally, especially with Sevro and Ragnar. Mustang is the open question. She knows who Darrow is, and he has left the choice of what to do with that knowledge to her.

Morning Star is book three. See our Red Rising books in order guide for the full series.

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• Find Golden Son in paperback at Penguin Random House.
• Find Morning Star in paperback at Penguin Random House.

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