Darrow loses the final Academy fleet battle to Karnus au Bellona, costing Augustus and Darrow significant reputation and status.

Augustus decides to sell Darrow's contract, declaring him a financial and political liability after the Academy defeat.

Darrow meets secretly with the Jackal on Luna and forms an uneasy alliance against their shared enemy, advisor Pliny.

Darrow challenges Cassius au Bellona to a duel in front of the entire Summit gala, shocking the assembled Golds.

Sovereign Octavia interrupts the duel to protect Cassius, publicly overstepping the legal bounds of her authority.

Darrow cuts off Cassius's arm and the assembled Golds break into chaotic fighting, ignoring Octavia's pleas for peace.

Augustus and his supporters discover their ships have been sent away and are surrounded and arrested by Octavia's forces.

Darrow wins the Oracle honesty game by forcing Octavia to admit she plotted the assassination of Augustus.

Darrow holds Lysander—Octavia's abducted grandson—hostage to force Aja to allow Augustus and his supporters to escape.

Darrow and Sevro are launched as missiles onto the bridge of the Sovereign's warship and seize control of it.

Augustus approves Darrow's plan to attack Ganymede and recruit the retired fighter Lorn au Arcos as a military ally.

Pliny's betrayal is exposed when Augustus and the Jackal are captured and the fleet falls out of Darrow's control.

Darrow's forces board Pliny's supply ship, rescue Augustus and other prisoners, and Pliny is killed by Augustus's bannermen.

Darrow calls for an Iron Rain and leads a thousand fighters in a ground assault on Mars.

Roque drugs Darrow with a kiss at the ceremonial dinner, and Darrow is taken prisoner by the Jackal.

Darrow's loss at the Academy triggers a chain of high-stakes political events, starting with ArchGovernor Augustus selling his contract and forcing Darrow to navigate the treacherous Summit on Luna. At the gala, Darrow challenges Cassius to a duel that spirals into open warfare among the Golds, exposing the Sovereign Octavia's corrupt intentions. After escaping Luna and seizing a warship, Darrow builds a fighting force to push back against Octavia's fleet. A plan to rescue Augustus from Pliny's betrayal succeeds, setting the stage for a massive assault on Mars to seize the planet. The Iron Rain marks the climax of Darrow's campaign, but a devastating betrayal by Roque leaves him captured and the rebellion in crisis.

The headline events that drive Darrow's rebellion forward.

Seven Bellona family members ambush and savagely beat Darrow in the Academy garden hot spring, urinating on him in humiliation.

A bar on Luna explodes when Evey and Harmony of the Sons of Ares attempt to assassinate the Jackal.

Darrow meets with Harmony in an abandoned factory, where she reveals the Sons of Ares's plan to bomb the gala.

Darrow injects Roque with a sedative to prevent him from attending the gala on Luna.

Fitchner arrests Augustus and all of his supporters on Luna using a stunFist, placing them under Octavia's control.

Octavia offers Darrow an extravagant room and promises of freedom and luxury in exchange for his loyalty.

Sevro and the Howlers break into Darrow's room after Mustang sends a secret holoCube message warning him to take cover.

Aja kills Quinn with a devastating blow to the head as Darrow and Quinn attempt to leave with the freed prisoners.

Darrow rallies the lowColors aboard the captured warship, offers them the choice to fight, and renames the ship the Pax.

Mustang informs Darrow and the others that Quinn has died from the injuries inflicted by Aja.

Darrow meets Lorn au Arcos on Europa, and Lorn explains the ruthless political origins of Augustus's rise to power.

Lorn kills Tactus in his family home as punishment for Tactus threatening Lorn's hidden family.

Darrow and a thousand fighters are sealed into starShells and fired toward Mars, landing far from their target.

A Brown operative deploys an EMP globe that disables Darrow's forces and traps many fighters underwater in the river.

Antonia shoots Victra, and Darrow discovers Fitchner's severed head inside the box meant to hold his Triumph Mask.

Behind the main confrontations lie equally important events that define Darrow's world and push his alliances to their limits. A brush with the Sons of Ares on Luna forces Darrow to reckon with their radical tactics, while his decision to drug Roque plants the seed of a friendship destined to break. The escape from Luna costs Quinn her life when Aja intervenes, and the grief ripples painfully through Darrow's circle. On Europa, Darrow recruits Lorn as an ally, though the alliance comes at the cost of Tactus's life at Lorn's hands. The assault on Mars reaches its crisis point when an EMP ambush nearly destroys Darrow's forces in the river, and what should be a night of triumph ends in catastrophic, coordinated betrayal.

The key supporting moments and battles that shaped Darrow's journey.

Harmony shows Darrow a hidden video proving that Eo was pregnant with his child at the time of her execution.

Standing at the gala with his bomb ready, Darrow decides that mass murder is wrong and puts the weapon away.

Darrow reveals mid-duel that he secretly trained under Lorn au Arcos, shocking Cassius and turning the fight decisively.

Mustang enters the Oracle honesty game and publicly confronts Octavia about plotting the assassination of her own family.

Tactus steals a ship and flies away to return Lysander to the Sovereign, betraying Darrow and the entire group.

Sevro forces Darrow to guess his true allegiance, then reveals he is a secret member of the Sons of Ares.

Sevro plays a whisperGem for Darrow confirming Harmony has gone rogue, that Dancer is alive, and that his family is safe.

Darrow deliberately leaks his plan to visit Lorn through Pliny, setting a trap designed to force Lorn to choose sides.

Darrow uses his razor to cut himself free from his drowned suit and then rescues Ragnar from the riverbed.

Ragnar accepts a razor from Darrow and freely chooses to lead the Obsidians on a mission to open the Citadel gate.

Fitchner reveals himself as Ares, leader of the Sons of Ares, and saves Darrow by detonating a grenade on Octavia's ship.

Fitchner instructs Darrow to let Augustus adopt him and help him become Sovereign, positioning Darrow as heir to the throne.

Darrow hands Mustang a holoCube recording of his own carving, revealing his true identity as a Red to her.

Mustang returns to confront Darrow at gunpoint, demanding answers and fearing he intends to commit genocide against Golds.

The Jackal kills Augustus after Augustus publicly disowns him and reveals he himself murdered Claudius, as Darrow lies paralyzed.

Every major turn in Darrow's arc is driven by a moment of revelation or decision that shifts the story's entire direction. Learning that Eo was pregnant at the time of her execution deepens Darrow's grief and nearly leads him to violence, but at the gala he chooses conscience over revenge. Sevro's unmasking as a Sons of Ares member gives Darrow his first true ally who knows the full truth, cracking open his dangerous isolation. Strategic deceptions—leaking plans through Pliny, concealing Lorn's training—reveal Darrow as a cunning operator who quietly shapes events from within. Fitchner's revelation as Ares reframes the entire rebellion and its future, and Darrow's choice to show Mustang his true identity brings their relationship to a moment of reckoning. The Jackal's murder of Augustus in the final chapter completes a web of betrayals that leaves Darrow imprisoned and the fate of the Sons of Ares deeply uncertain.