Darrow is imprisoned by the Jackal after betrayal and endures months of torture and isolation.

Sons of Ares operatives Holiday and Trigg reveal themselves and rescue Darrow from captivity.

Darrow forces guards to take him to Victra's cell and rescues her before the team escapes.

Sevro and Ragnar emerge from a clawDrill tunnel and pull Darrow's team to safety underground.

Darrow arrives in Tinos and reunites with his mother Deanna and uncle Narol.

Darrow visits wounded Sons of Ares soldiers in the Tinos hospital and reclaims his drive to lead.

Mustang recognizes Darrow through his broken helmet during the violent confrontation at Quicksilver's meeting.

Darrow gives the Phobos Address, declaring Gold rule over and calling all people to rise.

Mustang joins Darrow's mission to the Martian North Pole after Ragnar secretly arranged her invitation.

Ragnar is mortally wounded by Aja and dies in Darrow's arms on the Martian ice.

Sefi kills her mother Alia Snowspear and leads the Obsidians into open revolt against the Golds.

Darrow boards Roque's Colossus by drilling through the hull with modified helldiver clawDrills.

Roque dies by suicide after watching his Sword Armada defeated at the Battle of Ilium.

Cassius reveals the capture of Darrow was a ruse; Darrow stabs the Sovereign repeatedly in her bunker.

Mustang is appointed Sovereign of the Society, and Darrow meets his son Pax for the first time.

Pool 1 follows the central arc of Morning Star, from Darrow's imprisonment by the Jackal through his rescue, return to the Rising, and assumption of open leadership in the rebellion. After months of captivity, Darrow is freed by Sons of Ares operatives and reunites with his allies in the underground city of Tinos, where he must reclaim both his body and his sense of purpose. His public reemergence at Phobos, where he delivers a landmark speech declaring Gold rule over, transforms the scope of the war and brings new allies—Mustang and the Obsidians—into his coalition. With this combined force, Darrow shatters the Sword Armada at the Battle of Ilium before striking at the very heart of the Society on Luna. The novel closes with the Sovereign killed, Mustang rising to power as the new leader, and Darrow finally meeting the son he never knew he had.

The headline events of Darrow's war against the Society.

The Jackal taunts the imprisoned Darrow over a dinner party, calling him broken and alone.

Cassius covers Darrow's naked body with a cloak, the only act of honor at the Jackal's table.

Sevro reveals to Darrow that he had Darrow's original red eyes surgically implanted in his own head.

Darrow learns that Roque's Sword Armada has been routing Mustang's coalition while the Sons of Ares struggle.

Darrow unlocks Victra's cell restraints and invites her to join the Sons of Ares.

Darrow, Victra, and Holiday are initiated into the Howlers through a hazing ritual and given wolf cloaks.

The Howlers discover Quicksilver is hosting a diplomatic meeting between Mustang and the Sovereign's envoys.

Darrow takes command of the Howlers from Sevro and orders them to jump into the vacuum of space.

Quicksilver reveals he was a founding member of the Sons of Ares and Fitchner's original partner.

Darrow and Mustang expose the Gold gods in Asgard as ordinary humans to Sefi's Valkyrie warriors.

Cassius reveals the Jackal stole five hundred high-yield nuclear warheads from a Rim asteroid.

Darrow's fleet travels to the Rim and Romulus au Raa agrees to meet with Darrow and Mustang.

Antonia kills Thistle through the prison cell bars; Sevro and Victra break off their romance.

The Jackal broadcasts his execution of Narol, sparking violent riots against Golds across the Rising fleet.

Sevro kills Aja in the Sovereign's bunker after Darrow plunges a syringe into his heart to revive him.

Pool 2 captures the significant events that shaped the Rising without being its defining headline moments, tracing the personal cruelties of Darrow's captivity, the quiet bonds forming in Tinos, and the behind-the-scenes figures whose support proved decisive. These events cover Darrow and Sevro's integration of new allies—Victra and Holiday—into the Howlers while navigating the dangers of the Phobos mission, including the discovery of Quicksilver's secret history with the Sons of Ares. The pool follows the Rising's journey to the Rim, where shifting loyalties and brutal confrontations test the coalition before the climactic battle. Later events show the fleet fracturing after Narol's death as riots break out against captive Golds, before order is restored and the war is decided in the Sovereign's underground bunker.

Key moments behind the scenes of the main revolt.

Aja kills Trigg during the escape; Cassius secretly signals Darrow with his eyes to jump into the gorge.

Darrow learns only Sevro believed he was alive, and that Harmony had betrayed him to the Jackal.

Kavax tells Darrow that Mustang secured fleet ships for the Rising and that Sevro had ignored her outreach.

Darrow and Sevro have a fistfight over the Phobos detonator; Sevro cries, breaks it, and yields command.

Darrow baits the Jackal into deploying legions to Phobos before secretly departing with Ragnar.

An enemy ship follows and shoots Darrow's craft down, forcing a crash landing on the Martian Northern Pole ice.

Sefi the Quiet descends on griffins with her Valkyrie warriors, having not spoken since Ragnar was taken away.

Darrow tells Sefi that their mother sold Ragnar into slavery, and Sefi agrees to lead the Obsidians in revolt.

Darrow frames Roque for stealing nuclear weapons at Romulus's meeting; Romulus declares a blood feud with Roque.

Roque tells Darrow their friendship was lost the day Quinn died rescuing Darrow from the Sovereign.

Sevro springs a trap on the Sword Armada from hidden tunnels dug inside one of Jupiter's moons.

Sefi leads riots against captive Golds; Sevro hangs himself from a walkway to stop the lynching.

Sevro's speech about building a better world rather than destroying the old one prompts Victra to propose marriage.

Cassius apparently recaptures Darrow, Mustang, and Sevro and delivers them to the Sovereign as prisoners.

The Jackal detonates nuclear bombs across Luna; Darrow rips out the Jackal's tongue in defiance.

Pool 3 focuses on the pivotal moments where knowledge changed hands, characters made defining choices, and the direction of the war shifted. Starting with Trigg's death and Cassius's fateful secret signal at the gorge, each event marks a turning point that reoriented what came after, from the heated confrontations between Darrow and Sevro over revolutionary strategy to the quiet revelation of Mustang's deep commitment to the Rising's cause. The events escalate through the Obsidian arc—Sefi's haunting descent from the sky and Darrow's devastating disclosure about Ragnar's enslavement—before moving to the high-stakes diplomacy with Romulus and Roque's painful confession about their lost friendship. The pool ends with the fleet's near-collapse during the riots aboard ship and the Jackal's final gambit of nuclear terror, which Darrow defies at close range.