Tori tells Beatrice her test results are inconclusive across three factions, labeling her Divergent and warning her to tell no one.

Caleb shocks Beatrice by choosing Erudite at the choosing ceremony instead of staying in Abnegation.

Beatrice cuts her hand and lets her blood fall onto the Dauntless coals, choosing to leave her family.

Eric reveals that only the top ten initiates will become Dauntless members — the rest face a factionless life.

Eric forces Christina to hang over the chasm for five minutes as punishment for surrendering during a fight.

Tris's mother visits on Visiting Day and privately warns her that being Divergent puts her life in danger.

Peter, Drew, and Al ambush Tris at night and carry her to the chasm railing, threatening to drop her.

Four confronts Tris after a simulation and tells her he knows she is Divergent and will delete the footage.

Tris visits Caleb at Erudite to deliver her mother's message and is intercepted and brought to meet Jeanine Matthews.

Tobias tells Tris he accessed secure Dauntless files showing Erudite is planning war against Abnegation.

The injected serum activates overnight and all Dauntless soldiers file out of the compound like sleepwalkers.

Tris shoots Eric in the foot to save Tobias; both are captured and labeled Divergent rebels.

Jeanine injects Tobias with a serum causing him to attack Tris, then orders Tris to be executed.

Tris's mother breaks open her execution chamber and sacrifices herself so Tris can escape the Erudite guards.

Tobias overcomes the serum and shuts down the simulation program controlling the Dauntless soldiers.

Beatrice Prior discovers she is Divergent during her aptitude test and chooses Dauntless at the choosing ceremony, leaving her family behind. She endures brutal initiation while keeping her dangerous status secret and falling for her instructor Four, who is secretly Tobias Eaton. As Tris rises through the rankings, she uncovers Erudite's plot to use brainwashed Dauntless soldiers to overthrow Abnegation's government. The attack is launched, and Tris and Tobias — both immune to the serum — are captured by Jeanine Matthews and condemned. Tris is rescued by her mother, who sacrifices herself, and Tris loses her father fighting toward the control room. Tobias ultimately breaks free of Erudite's serum and shuts down the simulation, ending the slaughter as survivors flee to Amity.

The headline events of Tris's journey from Abnegation to Dauntless and through the war.

Dauntless students leap from a moving train outside school on the morning of the aptitude tests.

In the aptitude test simulation, Beatrice throws herself onto a snarling dog to protect a young child.

The night before the ceremony, Caleb tells Beatrice they must each think of themselves, not just their family.

Tris volunteers to jump first into the dark hole from the rooftop, landing safely in a net below.

Eric arrives at the initiates' first dinner and immediately singles out Tris as a Stiff who will not last.

During target practice, Tris struggles at first but hits the target and feels the power of controlling a gun.

Christina unties Tris's hair, applies eyeliner, and picks out new clothes; Tris looks in a mirror and feels hope.

Peter stabs Edward in the eye overnight; Edward and Myra quit initiation, moving Tris up in the rankings.

Tris joins other Dauntless members in zip lining down the outside of a tall building at night.

Tris faces a simulation of being attacked by crows and calms herself until the scenario ends.

The initiates gather at the chasm and watch as Al's body is pulled from the water below.

Tris completes her final fear landscape, facing only seven fears, and is ranked first among all initiates.

Tris is forced to shoot the brainwashed Will when he advances on her with a gun in the city streets.

Tris reunites with her father and Caleb at an Abnegation hideout and delivers the news of her mother's death.

Tris confronts Peter inside the Dauntless compound, shoots him in the arm, and forces him to guide her group.

From the moment Dauntless students leap from a moving train on aptitude test day, Tris is captivated by this bold faction. After choosing Dauntless, she jumps first into the dark compound entrance and quickly makes friends, while rivals like Peter viciously attack weaker initiates such as Edward. Physical training introduces her to guns, fighting, and the faction's ruthless culture, and a makeover from Christina marks the first moment Tris feels hope about leaving Abnegation behind. Emotional milestones define her growth — zip lining down a building, overcoming the crow simulation, and watching Al's tragic suicide deepen her understanding of bravery and weakness. After finishing first in her final fear landscape, Tris faces the outbreak of war, is forced to shoot the brainwashed Will, and reunites with surviving family before the desperate mission into the Dauntless compound.

The secondary moments that shaped Tris's transformation from Stiff to Dauntless.

At dinner, Tris's father reveals Erudite has been publishing reports attacking Abnegation leaders to stir up revolution.

Marcus delivers his choosing ceremony speech explaining the faction system was created to eliminate the personality traits behind conflict.

Four helps Tris out of the net and asks her name; she pauses and announces she is now Tris.

Four gives Tris fighting advice and admits he left her previous fight because he did not want to watch.

Climbing the Ferris wheel with Four during capture the flag, Tris realizes her breathlessness is caused by him, not the height.

Tris steps in front of Al at the knife-throwing target, taking his place to shield him from Eric's punishment.

Tori warns Tris that Divergents can manipulate simulations and that Dauntless leaders have killed Divergents before, including her own brother.

Tris overhears Eric and an unknown woman outside the dormitory discussing their mission to identify and eliminate Divergent rebels.

After experiencing Tobias's fear landscape together, Tris and Tobias kiss for the first time beside the roaring chasm.

Tris lies convincingly to Jeanine Matthews during their office meeting, downplaying her abilities and feigning loyalty to Erudite.

Tobias reveals tattoos of all five faction symbols on his back and tells Tris he wants to embody every faction's virtues.

During the initiation celebration, Tris feels the injection site on her neck and realizes the serum is meant to control the Dauntless.

Tris presses Tobias's gun barrel to her own forehead rather than fight him, and he breaks free of the serum.

Tris's father shoots the Dauntless guards blocking the control room entrance and is fatally wounded saving Tris's path forward.

On the train to Amity, Tobias tells Tris he loves her as she reflects she must become more than brave or selfless.

Long before the war breaks out, small turning points expose the faction system's cracks: dinner conversations reveal Erudite's growing aggression, and the ceremony's lofty speeches mask deep societal division. Tris's identity shifts the moment she renames herself and begins recognizing her feelings for Four — a slow revelation culminating in their first kiss after she witnesses his most personal fears. Crucial discoveries follow in quick succession: Tori confirms Divergents are actively hunted, Eric is overheard confirming the search is ongoing, and Tris must outwit Jeanine Matthews in a tense interrogation. Tobias's revelation that bravery and selflessness are inseparable reframes everything Tris believed about herself. When the war begins, her refusal to fight Tobias and her father's fatal sacrifice form the emotional climax of her transformation into someone who is neither simply selfless nor simply brave.

The revelations and turning points that defined Tris's identity and the collapse of the faction system.