Dorian is imprisoned in a Wyrdstone collar and possessed by a Valg prince who has nearly erased his identity.

Aelin returns to Rifthold in disguise and learns from Arobynn that her cousin Aedion has been sentenced to death.

Aelin and Chaol have a hostile reunion in the tunnels and she returns his amethyst ring, ending their romance.

Aelin infiltrates the castle execution disguised as a dancer, claims the Sword of Orynth, and frees Aedion.

Dorian intercepts Aelin and Aedion in the garden; Aelin raises the Sword of Orynth to kill him before Nesryn stops her.

Rowan Whitethorn arrives in Rifthold, having stowed away on a ship to find Aelin.

Rowan identifies Aedion's scent and reveals that Aedion's father must be Gavriel, one of Maeve's elite Fae warriors.

Lysandra kills Arobynn in his bed by slitting his throat with the knife hidden under his pillow.

Aelin reveals she secretly rewrote Arobynn's will and sells the Assassin's Guild at an exorbitant price to fund Terrasen.

Lysandra is captured by the king's soldiers after Arobynn's posthumous letter exposes her as a shapeshifter.

Aelin's team rescues Lysandra from a prison wagon in Oakwald Forest; Aelin spares Manon's life in their duel, incurring a life debt.

Manon repays her life debt by writing messages in Valg blood across Rifthold's buildings warning that Dorian's consciousness is still alive.

Rowan and Aedion use hellfire to destroy the Wyrdstone clock tower in the castle gardens, releasing magic across Erilea.

Dorian seizes control of the Valg possessing him, snaps off his Wyrdstone collar, and kills the King of Adarlan.

Aelin's court departs for Terrasen while Chaol and Nesryn head south to heal Chaol's injuries and forge alliances for the coming war.

Queen of Shadows opens with Dorian Havilliard imprisoned in a demonic Wyrdstone collar while Aelin Galathynius returns to Rifthold in disguise to face her past. She reignites a tense alliance with ex-lover Chaol Westfall, rescues her cousin Aedion from public execution, and destroys her abusive former master Arobynn Hamel while reclaiming his wealth for Terrasen. Aelin's old rival Lysandra becomes a loyal ally, and the arrival of Rowan Whitethorn in Rifthold deepens the bonds of her emerging court. The conflict culminates in a full assault on the glass castle, where Rowan and Aedion destroy the Wyrdstone tower to restore magic across the world. Freed by the restored magic, Dorian breaks his collar and kills his father, ending Adarlan's tyranny and exposing Erawan as the true enemy. The survivors scatter to their next missions, with Aelin's court heading north to Terrasen and Chaol sailing south to forge new alliances.

Aelin's return to Rifthold and the fall of the King of Adarlan.

Nesryn Faliq introduces herself to Aelin in the underground tunnels and explains Chaol's rebel work saving magic wielders.

Manon Blackbeak and her elite coven the Thirteen are stationed at Morath under Duke Perrington's command.

Aelin meets with rebel spies in the king's guard and instructs them to wear red flowers on the day of Aedion's rescue.

Manon meets the servant girl Elide Lochan, slices her cheek as a warning, and senses traces of witch blood in her veins.

Aelin fights and decapitates a Valg commander in the fighting Pits to fulfill her deal with Arobynn.

Valg soldiers burn the Shadow Market to the ground as a warning message directed at Aelin.

Aedion discovers that Rowan has already sworn the blood oath to Aelin, the oath Aedion believed was his birthright.

Elide sneaks into the chambers where the Yellowlegs coven is imprisoned and discovers witches begging to be freed from Valg breeding.

Elide reveals her past to Manon and shares that her mother died defending young Aelin the night Terrasen fell.

A Valg-possessed Roland enters the Thirteen's chambers begging Manon to end his suffering; she kills him to grant his wish.

Lorcan ambushes Aelin on her way home and offers to exchange an immunity ring for the Wyrdkeys.

The King of Adarlan levels his full dark power at Chaol, paralyzing him from the waist down.

The real Eye of Elena, secretly slipped into Chaol's pocket by Aelin before the assault, protects him from the king's killing blow.

Manon slaughters her way through Morath's dungeons to find and rescue Elide after magic is freed across Erilea.

Dorian signs a decree freeing all kingdoms conquered by Adarlan; Aelin grants Lysandra a noble title and land in Terrasen.

While Aelin prepares her strike against the king, Nesryn Faliq and the rebel network work to smuggle magic-wielders out of Rifthold to safety. At the mountain stronghold of Morath, Manon Blackbeak and her coven the Thirteen train under Duke Perrington's command, where a powerless servant named Elide Lochan becomes unexpectedly entangled with the witches. Aelin and her allies piece together the terrifying scope of Erawan's army being assembled at Morath, while Lorcan Salvaterre arrives in Erilea complicating their plans with his own agenda. The battle at the glass castle leaves Chaol paralyzed and Dorian newly crowned as king, prompting swift changes to Adarlan's leadership. As the dust settles, Dorian signs decrees freeing all conquered nations and Aelin rewards Lysandra with a noble future in Terrasen before the court sets out on their separate paths.

The rebels, witches, and hidden battles driving the war forward.

Aelin learns that the Amulet of Orynth, a family heirloom containing the third Wyrdkey, has been in Arobynn's possession since the night Terrasen fell.

Aelin and Lysandra form an unexpected alliance against Arobynn, bonding over the losses his cruelty has caused them both.

Chaol reveals that destroying the Wyrdstone clock tower will free magic, but first makes Aelin promise not to kill Dorian.

Arobynn reveals the location of Sam Cortland's grave to Aelin as a reward for killing the Valg commander.

Elide chooses to embrace her witch heritage and accept Manon's protection rather than remain under Vernon Lochan's cruelty.

Manon witnesses Kaltain wielding shadowfire to torture a soldier inside Duke Perrington's tent, revealing the weapon he is forging.

Elide rescues Kaltain from Vernon's assault in private chambers and returns to Manon's rooms requesting poison for protection.

Arobynn returns the Amulet of Orynth to Aelin but secretly slips a Wyrdstone ring on her finger and tastes her blood.

Aelin reveals to Aedion that she swapped Arobynn's real Wyrdstone ring with a decoy, completely foiling his attempt to control her.

Aelin's group discovers Wyrdmarks in an underground temple revealing that Erawan was imprisoned beneath Morath rather than destroyed.

Manon briefly breaks through to the collared Dorian at the Oakwald Forest meeting; he remembers his name before the Valg retakes control.

Rowan leaps in front of an arrow aimed at Aelin's heart during the confrontation with Manon's Thirteen in Oakwald Forest.

Asterin reveals to Manon the full story of her doomed love affair and stillborn child, shattering Manon's carefully maintained indifference.

Kaltain cuts the Wyrdkey from her own arm, passes it to Elide with orders to find Celaena Sardothien, then detonates her shadowfire through the catacombs.

Aelin, Rowan, Aedion, Lysandra, and Evangeline complete their journey and arrive together in Terrasen to begin reclaiming the kingdom.

Pool 3 traces the chain of revelations and pivotal decisions that made victory possible in Queen of Shadows. Aelin learns that the Amulet of Orynth has been hidden by Arobynn all along, while an unexpected alliance with Lysandra and Chaol's revelation about the Wyrdstone tower give her the pieces she needs to act. At Morath, Elide Lochan's courage and Manon's growing protectiveness set in motion a chain of events that will produce a critical Wyrdkey delivery. In the heat of battle, small acts of sacrifice—Rowan taking an arrow for Aelin, the Eye of Elena shielding Chaol—prove as decisive as any grand strategy. The dying king's confession about Erawan's long possession reshapes everything the characters thought they knew about their enemy, and Dorian's killing blow launches him into a painful new identity. The final revelations at Morath, led by Kaltain's self-sacrifice, ensure the war's next chapter begins with Elide carrying a Wyrdkey north toward Aelin.