King Sorrow

Allie frantically drives to the airport while calling her friends. Donna declines to join her because of work and refers Allie to Allie’s fiancé, Van. Allie replies that her engagement to Donna’s brother is over, but Donna has hung up. Allie is uncertain if Donna knows Allie’s romantic feelings for her.

Allie reaches Tana. She tells Tana she is running away from Van, but withholds the reasons for their strained relationship. Tana’s foul-mouthed response relieves Allie.

Allie buys her ticket and searches the pre-departure area for Horation. Horation is a racist Christian anarchist who killed his wife and stepdaughter. Unable to find Horation, Allie settles down at the airport pub and makes the acquaintance of another passenger named Frank Heck. They talk about her broken engagement and her brother, Theo, who died of cancer.

The novel flashes back to the summoning ceremony.

Allie’s experience of it conjured Allie’s memories of visiting Ayers Rock with her family when Theo was still alive.

The novel returns to the present.

Allie boards British Airways (BA) Flight 238 and sits beside a British trans woman named Robin Fellows. Robin introduces herself as a book editor.

To Allie’s surprise, Van enters the cabin, taking the last seat in her row. Van convinces her to pretend they are eloping as an excuse for the trip.

The cabin applauds for Van and Allie’s performed elopement. Allie realizes that Donna sent him to follow her. Van reassures Allie that he checked the flight manifest and confirmed that Horation would not be onboard.

Robin offers Allie and Van wine to congratulate them.

Allie listens to a voicemail from Colin, who informs her that Horation is traveling under his legal name: Randy Mathers. He also states that Allie’s assumption that King Sorrow won’t attack the plane if she is on it is mistaken.

The novel flashes back to earlier that year.

Allie and her friends review the candidates for that year’s sacrifice. Colin explains how he chose Horation: After Horation’s stepdaughter, June, and third wife, Ella, planned to escape from their religious compound, he raped June and tortured Ella to death. When Allie sees how uncomfortable the discussion makes Donna, she agrees to Horation as the sacrifice. Arthur wonders if killing Horation would make the biggest impact on the world as a whole. Colin cites Horation’s manifesto as evidence of his risk level.

The novel returns to the present.

Shortly after takeoff, the pilot warns passengers to expect storm turbulence over the Atlantic Ocean. In the lavatory, Allie encounters King Sorrow. He claims that he is flying towards them and confirms that Allie misinterpreted him: The flight will only be spared if she kills Horation herself.

Allie searches the airplane and finds Horation in the second-floor cabin.

Allie proceeds to Horation’s row.

A jolt of turbulence causes Allie to bump into Horation. Allie introduces herself and claims that the dragon is pursuing her as well. Convinced by her claim, Horation shares his racist, antisemitic views to explain why King Sorrow wants to kill him. Allie feigns sympathy to gain his trust.

Horation is searching for St. Helen’s Well, a pool that will cleanse the evil mark on his soul. The time until Easter shortens when they cross into another time zone. Horation believes that because he crucified his pastor, he is protected from King Sorrow. Allie insists they must stop the flight anyway.

Horation claims that if King Sorrow destroys the plane, Horation will become a martyr. Then, his collaborators could use the tragedy to draw attention to their cause.

Allie realizes she can use the corkscrew from Robin’s wine bottle to assassinate Horation. She returns to Van and asks him to convince the pilots to perform an emergency landing. However, neither pilot knows where they could land given their position over the ocean.

As Allie proceeds back to her row, Frank Heck pulls her into the seat next to him. Allie learns that Frank is armed. Frank questions her purpose in boarding the flight.

The pilot orders everyone to lower their window shades, reassuring everyone that the dark shape they see is another airplane. No one believes him.

Allie correctly guesses that Frank is a law enforcement officer. She tells him that the flight is at risk because of a dangerous passenger. Frank dismisses her concerns and demands she explain herself. When Allie insists on the dangerous passenger, Frank warns her against lying to him. Van rescues her from the interaction.

With less than an hour left until Easter, Allie tries to calm herself down. An elderly passenger named Raymond Pinet offers her a drink and then introduces his son, Gregg. The two men are debating whether they saw a dragon or an alien spacecraft.

When Van proposes that he should be the one to kill Horation, Allie volunteers to work together.

Allie reflects on her fraught relationship with Van. Allie has been repressing her sexuality after her family forced her to undergo conversion therapy while she was growing up. During her relationship with Van, Allie had a brief sexual affair with another woman, which Van eventually learned about. Van offered to enter a lavender marriage to protect Allie’s sexual freedom. Sometime later, Van realized that Allie was attracted to Donna. This caused an argument, which ended with Van accidentally falling down the stairs. This informally ended their engagement.

Allie affirms her feelings for Van, citing their mutual care for each other. Van distracts the flight attendants. When Robin seems suspicious that Allie is getting up with the corkscrew, Allie appeals to the bravery she perceives in Robin to let her go. Allie returns to Horation, who is wary. Frank interrupts their conversation.

Allie jabs Horation’s neck with the corkscrew. Horation tries to get Frank to protect him from Allie. When Frank refuses, Horation chokes Frank to death and grabs his gun. Allie escapes the struggle, but soon realizes that King Sorrow is about to reach their plane.

The turbulence throws Allie to the emergency exit, where she watches a fighter jet engage with King Sorrow. The jet downs King Sorrow with a missile.

The pilot confirms that the United States Air Force shot down an unidentified hostile aircraft approaching their plane. They are preparing to make an emergency landing in Greenland.

Horation pursues Allie with Frank’s gun. He forces Van to step away and demands to know if Allie is one of the people who sent King Sorrow after him. Just then, King Sorrow reemerges, destroying the fighter jet. Raymond uses the distraction to pull Horation’s arm away. In the ensuing struggle, Horation fires a gunshot that destroys a window. As the cabin swiftly depressurizes, Horation flies through the opening, breaking his neck. Allie summons King Sorrow to eat Horation. The plane lands safely.

The passengers are evacuated from the plane, which has a large claw mark on the fuselage.

Allie is so disturbed by the events of the flight that she hopes St. Helen’s Well is real, so that she can cleanse her soul. Van reassures her that she saved everyone’s lives.

Three days later, Timothy McVeigh perpetrates the real-life Oklahoma City bombing, killing over 150 people. Allie feels guilty after tying McVeigh to Horation. Van argues that there is nothing they can do about it now.

FBI agents interview Allie, who shares an alibi that she and Van previously agreed on: Van pursued Allie and convinced her to elope with him. He recognized Horation during the flight, prompting Allie to approach him. This provoked Horation’s attack, which led to Frank Heck’s death.

When Allie mentions seeing a dragon outside the airplane, the agents urge her to withhold this detail from her testimony. They insinuate threats to her and her father’s lives to get her to cooperate.

Allie complies with the agents’ revised narrative.

Allie and Van’s friends arrive in Greenland with Erin. Upon seeing Arthur, Allie apologizes for her recklessness. Arthur is glad she didn’t follow Horation because of suicidal ideation. This causes Allie to realize that her impulse to board the plane came from a feeling of guilt that pushed her close to suicide. This makes Van’s decision to follow her feel even more significant.

Allie and Van’s wedding takes place in the ruins of an old church. Allie is excited by the potential of her new life with Van. Donna hints at starting a romance with Gregg, Raymond’s son.

In 1997, Donna is engaged to marry Gregg Pinet in Podomaquassy. During Donna’s bachelorette party, it becomes clear to Gwen that Donna and Gregg’s sisters do not get along because Donna fears their disapproval. Gwen gets upset when the sisters tell Donna that she embarrasses them, forcing them to reconcile.

While waiting to link up with Gregg’s bachelor party, an inebriated Donna complains about a parked Chrysler whose bumper sticker encourages rape. She breaks off the bumper with a brick.

The two pre-wedding parties go to a medieval-themed roller rink, allowing Gwen to chat with Arthur once again. Arthur has become a popular professor at Oxford. He talks about his ongoing search for a troll named Svangur the Sly, who he believes possesses a magic sword capable of slaying dragons.

Members of the Rackham College lacrosse team, who own the car Donna damaged, destroy Colin’s car in retaliation. When one of the lacrosse boys hits Gwen, Arthur, Van, and Donna beat down the entire team. Colin records the event, capturing a happy Arthur just moments before they are all arrested. Tana and her son, Jett, pick the group up from the detention center the following morning. Donna resents Gregg for doing nothing during the altercation with the lacrosse team. Gwen falls asleep on Arthur on the ride home.

A search of Daphne’s cell yields contraband drugs. Two US marshals transport Daphne from Black Cricket to a higher-security facility in West Virginia. The marshals observe that Daphne keeps a collection of clippings associated with her daughter’s “friends.” She recites their names, looking forward to the future.