#red god speculation

[torch-song]

thanking @thejackals for the inspiration here

if Cassius' love for Darrow is CONFIRMED on page then imagine the parallel between Eo's second gift that Darrow learnt of in golden son that caused him to spiral into a second (stronger) wave of grief

and the second wave of grief he may fall into after hearing Cassius' words in his message. it would be like losing him a second time. but here there would be no resentment

no matter if he's bi as I think he is or straight as Pierce says (man we know you lying to us). this would probably send Darrow into one of his usual moments of introspection

he would mourn the time lost

he would feel the guilt for not having been able to give him a family. the family he lost one piece at a time. and for not seeking him out — for not keeping him close

I love Darrow's endless potential for self-loathing.

this would destroy me so deliciously. unfortunately I always fall for doomed characters … Cassius is a weak spot for me.

[sharp-fanged13]

How is Darrow supposed to arrive on Mars? Like Odysseus on Ithaca, when he killed the suitors.

Razor: Uncoiled

Disguise: Off

Dick: Out

[adarkermiserablecrow]

I'll be so fr, while Darrow dying in Red God would rip me to shreds but I could handle it

However, anything happens to Sevro? You will see me on the news

[violetqueenofwands]

I need Red God to break down like this:

51% Poetic Darrow/Mustang Reunion scene (from both perspectives) and the subsequent equally poetic sex scene. Yes this should be half the book. Fight me. *Bonus if Darrow compares his wife to mars and refers to Virginia as the beautiful scarred*

19% Lysander New Groove (the groove is racism, and it is not in fact a new) Lysander takes out Atalantia in some underhanded way, probably rationalizes reasons to kiss Cicero, uses Atlas as a boogie man constantly, also someone makes a joke about a Lune controlling all the Moons of the Core of he takes Deimos

Also lots of racism because he thinks it makes him smart

10% Mustang bloodies her hooves:

Virginia 👏 gets 👏 shit 👏 done 👏

Only ten percent because she also has page time for the reunion chapters. And she’s just that efficient. Victra also gets shit done in these chapters and somehow gives less fucks whole doing so. Also *something* needs to be done about that clone 👀

20% Lyria becomes the Red God

Lyria joins Volga (after we get canon confirmation they’re lesbians) in figuring out how to communicate and organize with the Ascomanni that joined the Volk Fleet after Volsung Fa cling clang clunk confessed.

Through this and her growing connections to Darrow’s trusted friends, Lyria realizes the way to literally break the chains would be if no one had sigils anymore.

In the climax of her story Lyria becomes the Red God after she takes the red dose of Eidme meant for Darrow and instead dying a gruesome death her sigils simply crumble away leaving her hands bare.

Lyria reveals because of the efforts of herself, Virginia (and the clone), Darrow, and Mickey, (and hell legs throw in the guy that made the nightlily as well for the sake of an IG call back) they’ve found a way to alter how Eidme works it still targets the sigils but instead of causing rapid cell death to spread from the affected sigils, Eidme now *only* targets the sigils and anyone infected with it can break the chains by spreading among the colors as a way to remove sigils.

Lysander flees to Mercury but is already infected and begins to lose his sigils and by returning to the senate he causes a mass panic among the 200 not only for the biggest military embarrassment since Merrywater Ex Portus but also because the symbol of the golds status literally begins crumbling to dust before their golden eyes and Lysander is stabbed in the back by Cicero first, Julia Bellona second, and then the rest of the probably now less than 200 in the senate and Cicero surrenders for the greater good. ||

[violethowler]

After finishing my re-read of Light Bringer, I have a new theory:

That our boy Darrow O’Lykos, master of hiding his plans from the narration, already knows that Lysander has Eidmi.

During my re-read, I noticed how Darrow was already started to unravel Atlas’s involvement in Volsung Fa’s invasion of the Rim. But the instant that Diomdes confirms that Atlas was responsible for the massacre at Kalyke, Darrow immediately knows exactly what Atlas is planning with the Obsidians and how Lysander factors into it, because in his own worlds, “I know Atlas.”

This implies an incredibly deep level of familiarity with and knowledge of Atlas’s tactics and how the Fear Knight thinks. That just the unconfirmed claim, with no proof whatsoever, that Atlas is was in Ilium, is enough to make the metaphorical lightbulb go off over Darrow's head and give him such accurate, precision insight into the purpose of the Ascomanni invasion of the Rim.

And if Darrow knows Atlas that well, I think it’s very likely that the fact that there was no sign of Atlas during and after the fall of Volsung Fa would’ve been a big red flag that Atlas had other objectives and plans going on besides the Obsidian invasion. Especially because Darrow openly calls Atlas a student of history, and Atlas learned about Eidmi from historical records in Octavia’s vaults – vaults which Darrow and Virginia had unrestricted access to for at least 6 years before the start of Iron Gold.

And then Pytha’s testimony of Cassius’s death and him killing Atlas would’ve given him even more clues. Because Darrow was expecting Cassius to kill Atlas, since that was what Diomedes asked of Lysander as part of the terms for an alliance against Atalantia (mirroring Darrow bringing Fa’s head). So, the fact that Pytha would’ve told Darrow how Lysander and Cassius fought Atlas together only for Lysander to kill Cassius after Atlas was dead would’ve hinted that Cassius learned something in that hangar that Lysander wanted to keep quiet.

So, it’s entirely plausible that Darrow was able to put those pieces together and figure out that Atlas unearthed the Eidmi before Cassius killed him, and included a warning in his transmission home at the end of the book telling Virginia that Lysander has it now.

[violethowler]

Another method I just realized that Darrow could've already found out about Lysander having Eidmi through - Cassius could've hid a recording device on his body somewhere it wouldn't be found.

Atlas may have had a jamField up when Cassius and Lysander ambushed him, but that wouldn't have any affect on the recorder itself - Darrow had that one tiny camera Harmony put in his tooth before the Gala and even after going through multiple jamFields, the Jackal was able to pick up footage of Darrow and Sevro storming the bridge of the Pax without any issue. So if he hadn't already figured out that Eidmi is in play, perhaps Darrow could find a recording device while saying his goodbyes to Cassius and learn what happened in his friend's final moments.