Golden Son

Darrow dislikes Luna for its heavy air and low gravity; the buildings stretch high into the sky, and people pull themselves across rungs running between them. Darrow asks Roque to practice kravat, a fictional martial art, but Roque is attending a conference. A Pink man takes Darrow to his room, which Darrow complains is too small. Theodora talks to the Pink, who first criticizes Theodora for her boldness then feels ashamed once he discovers Theodora had been a Rose—a highly valued Pink. A messenger summons Darrow to meet with Victra. Victra reaffirms she is a friend and complains that he remains distant from her but close to Roque and Tactus, the latter of whom is opportunistic. Darrow argues he is not friends with Tactus; he had once attempted friendship by gifting Tactus a violin only to have Tactus turn around and resell it. Victra gives Darrow a note with information for a meeting with the Jackal, Adrius au Augustus, off the Citadel grounds. Victra, Darrow, and 12 Grays hired to protect Darrow board a ship to travel to the meeting with the Jackal. Darrow and Victra are disguised as Obsidians, and the others refer to him as Icarus.

Darrow notices rebel graffiti depicting his hanged wife, which causes him a pang of grief: “[His] chest constricts as [they] pass, cracking the walls [he’s] built around her memory” (51). They land, and the ground is covered in filthy water and garbage. They enter the bar and meet the Jackal surrounded by his guards, one of whom is a Stained—a rare and powerful Obsidian. Victra leaves, and Darrow and the Jackal talk. When Darrow is rude, the Jackal points out that Darrow has lost his reputation and Pliny has emptied his bank accounts. Since he lost at the Institute and was exiled, the Jackal has become a businessman with stakes in the Society’s infrastructure. He’s summoned Darrow because they share a common enemy—Pliny, who is advising Augustus. The Jackal argues Pliny has been working to separate Darrow and Augustus and that he has convinced Augustus to take Leto as an heir because Pliny can control Leto. The Jackal also reveals his plans to destroy the Sons of Ares.

The Jackal feels the Sons of Ares will become a threat to Society, and he wants Darrow to act as the figurehead for his fight against Ares. Darrow argues his reputation was destroyed by the Bellona attack and says he cannot trust the Jackal. The Jackal offers information about his twin sister, Mustang, but Darrow refuses and threatens the Jackal with death if Mustang is hurt. When the Jackal reaches out to shake Darrow’s hand, Darrow returns the gesture and agrees to work together.

The Jackal gives Darrow an assignment to kill a Gold who is blackmailing him, with the hopes that Darrow will come into favor with the Sovereign, Octavia au Lune. Darrow lays out his conditions: to meet the Jackal’s financial backer and have Sevro and the Howlers brought back. The Jackal agrees. A woman approaches the table, and Darrow recognizes her as Evey, a Pink woman from the Sons of Ares. The Jackal hires Evey to take Darrow upstairs, and upon hearing the name, Evey recognizes Darrow as well. They go upstairs where there are more members of the organization, and Evey reveals her plan to kill the Jackal.

Darrow steals gravBoots and a dataPad then pulls the Jackal from the bar as it explodes. He tracks Evey to an abandoned factory and yells at her for killing lowColors. Mickey, the Violet Carver who turned Darrow into a Gold, agrees Evey has become a “monster.” Evey explains Mickey works for the Sons of Ares now. She brags about killing the Jackal before Darrow reveals he is still alive. Harmony, another member of the Sons, joins in and tells Darrow that Dancer, his friend, is dead. Dancer, she says, enslaved Mickey to Carve an army of Gold soldiers. Evey rationalizes their treatment of Mickey by arguing that he bought and sold children, but Darrow counters that everyone sins, including Evey. Darrow asks if Mickey carved Titus, who was killed by Cassius at the Institute, but Mickey did not.

Harmony and Evey are upset that Darrow does not agree with their actions. Evey wants to hurt Golds, citing how Pinks are conditioned as children by receiving implants that cause constant pain if they don’t obey a Gold. Darrow resists their ideas, arguing that their focus should be on dismantling the Society rather than killing individual Golds, and he demands to speak to Ares. Sending Mickey and Evey out, Harmony explains that Ares will not meet with him and that no one knows his true identity. She pulls up a map and says Ares’s new plans involve bombings. Harmony wants Darrow to attack the Golds during the gala on the final day of the Summit. Darrow refuses until Harmony shows him a video from Eo’s hanging in which Eo tells her sister, Dio, that she is pregnant.

Darrow mourns the loss of his unborn child and the family life he could have had. His grief turns to rage as he blames the Golds and the Society for the destruction of his family: “They made a woman choose death for her and her unborn child over a life of slavery. All that for power” (81). He agrees to Harmony’s plan.

The Jackal believes Pliny ordered the attack on the bar. They agree to continue on as if the bombing had not occurred, so Darrow returns to the Citadel. Darrow further isolates himself from his friends in the intensity of his grief. Theodora suggests Darrow sleep with Roses, but he refuses to use Pinks. The media reports the bombings by the Sons of Ares, depicting the Sons as terrorist Reds and the Society as triumphant and good. Augustus is questioned about the spread of the Sons’s activity from Mars to Luna. Darrow wears a copy of his Pegasus pendant, disguising a bomb, rather than the original, which holds a lock of Eo’s hair.

Darrow goes to Roque, and they discuss Tactus, who has many vices and comes from a scandalous family. Darrow apologizes for being distant, but Roque feels it is just Darrow’s nature. Roque plans to buy Darrow’s contract, and when Darrow asks if Roque ever feels lost, Roque tells him a story about two pigeons who are in love and separated from each other, but find each other in the end. They stand to depart, and Roque says Darrow will recover from his circumstances, declaring Darrow his best friend. As they shake hands, Darrow injects Roque with a sedative.

On his way into the gala, Darrow acts calm and collected, and he informs the others that Roque is not in attendance because he feels ill. The Jackal arrives and joins Augustus’s party, who are upset when they discover they must share a lift with the Falthes. In the gala, Darrow tries to focus on his hatred for the Golds, but he does not believe that bombing the gala will help the Sons’s rebellion. Antonia, Victra’s sister, comes to Darrow and offers him a drink. When he refuses, she warns him that the Bellona family is coming for him.

Darrow watches the gala attendees and Octavia, the Sovereign, surrounded by her guards, the Furies. He spots Karnus and has a drink with him. Karnus remarks that “the sixth course will be something to die for” (96), then he says he should thank Darrow for killing Julian, whom he felt was the weakest member of the Bellona family. Darrow asks why Karnus, who has everything, is trying to kill Darrow, and Karnus responds that it is for pride. Darrow sees Mustang and Cassius together, and Karnus tells Darrow that he will not be missed when he is dead. Walking away, Darrow plans to set off his bomb, but he ultimately can’t go through with it. He feels the act is violent, wrong, and ineffective, and he knows Eo would not approve. Darrow realizes that the Golds fear a civil war.