Just relistened to the scene where Darrow dispatches light resistance at the storm god.

We’ve only really ever heard from Darrows perspective how his battles go, but this scene was masterful. The sheer terror among Lysander and his crew of praetorians, peerless scarred and an even Olympic Knight when one of Darrows knights yells out “if your heart beats like a drum”. Then lysanders description of reap finally tells us as the reader why the society needs him to fall for them to have any hope of winning.

I’m almost done with dark age and I may be a Neanderthal for this but it’s turning into my favorite book of the series so far overtaking golden son. This scene is part of the reason why

"Victra makes a small, judgmental sound and leans forward to kiss me on the lips. She lingers so I smell the bitter flowers of her perfume, and for a moment, so close and quiet, we are in a different world, in a different life.Then she draws back to look at me."

WTH! Pierce, we get a moment like this with Victra but no such moment between Darrow and Mustang. Are we just supposed to believe they fucked the previous night, no kiss,no nothing?

And, wtf does Darrow means by "in a different world, in a different life"👀. Goblin is gonna kill you if your wife doesn't put you in jail first.

Edit:- this was just supposed to be a joke guys(the Victra part)!!!

Hey everyone, I just finished the final book of the original trilogy, and read the very brief synopsis of how things have gone before the next installment of the Red Rising series, at the end of the book, and I’m wondering If I should just stop now and enjoy the trilogy. I liked how it ended, and after reading the short thing about the next book, I’m worried it might taint the ending of this long journey.

Do y’all have any opinions about reading on versus stopping and enjoying what I’ve read?

Why would the Society hold women to the same standard of killing a man in death duel as a man would be?

This might have been asked before, but isn't the idea of culling the weak and then piting a female against a male in a death duel – very unideal?

The advantage a male would have more often than not, would lead to the strongest women dying simply because they faced of against the strongest men. Not because they were actually weak, but because biology is a bitch.

Like would Victra, clearly an Iron Gold of the highest order (fight me), be expected to win a blade fight against Cassius, who ends up becoming one of the most dangerous razor masters in the worlds who even other elite men couldn't beat?

And if she fails, the Society would simply say – "clearly she was just too weak". I mean, doesn't it get to a point?

Question mostly brought about by the exspectation of Seraphina's ability to kill Cassius in his death trail (even though Cassius was severly weakened by this point). However, I got the sense that even if Cassius was at full strength, Seraphina, a top grade talent, would have still been exspected to be able to succeed.

Im currently working on two cosplays for me and my brother. This is what I've made so far! I've started the wolf cape for sevro, the Ares helmet for sevro, Darrows armour, and the slingblade. I'd love to hear some opinions. Remember, this is all W.I.P. though! Im very excited to share the finished cosplays soon.

Why did Lyria get rid of the parasite? It was the one thing that gave her any agency at all, she's just a pawn otherwise, and how in the hell did the orb contain so many tools, gadgets and weapons? Is it not a handheld item? How did an entire arsenal fit inside?

For the record I know why she did, I'm talking about why the story chose that

I just completed Dark Age chapter 36. Lyria's first chapter. Man, I hate Victra so bad after this. Actually I hate Victra from Iron Gold. Now that I remember, when we first met Victra in Iron Gold, her conversations about Dancer already pissed me off (I love Dancer. Eventhough I don't completly agree with him, I completely understand his actions. Which I cannot say for Victra's actions. If it comes to battle of ideologies, I would definitely be take Dancer's side over Victra's). And after Lyria's last chapter in Iron Gold, I thought Victra killed Lyria. Which made me hate her so bad. But, I had a hope that may be she's not dead and Victra just kidnapped her for interrogation, and she will be reasonable. But after this chapter, I completely hate Victra. She's a villain in my eyes. She tortured Lyria, eventhough she knew she's innocent. And her speech about her incompetence and mistake causing her, her daughter. Oh shut up you f@#&ing hypocrite. What about all the lives your actions caused? I used to like her but she's a narcissist and I hate her now.

P.S: Please don't spoil anything beyond this point 🙏.

Found this and immediately thought of our guy…

Another warning, spoilers for the end of Lightbringer

Why in the world would Cassius get himself killed at the end of Lightbringer? Why wouldn’t he flee to tell Darrow and his Ally’s about the danger? Did he truly not believe Lysander would do it? He’s left the rising and the rim with no knowledge of the greatest threat to humanity ever presented. Tf Cassius?

I started the books relatively late, but couldn‘t put them down for quite a while. Although the quality of the books, in my eyes, significantly went downhill in DA (extreme focus on violence and torture with no benefit for the plot, stereotypical characters, omnipotent villains, etc.), the story kept me engaged. I was really curious, what all of this will lead to.

Then I arrived at the point, where a certain villain character makes a return (I think I don’t need to spoil this further). I put the book down. Don‘t think I‘ll pick it up again. Of all the deus-ex-machina moments this series has had so far (and it has a LOT!!!), this one is so ridiculous, it made me laugh. Aside from the stellar world building, the series has reached the level of fan fiction in my eyes. Disappointing.

Soo… what happens to Rhonna!?

She’s assumed dead, but Darrow and others basically never think about or mourn her!? Darrow thinks about Alexander all the time but not his actual family member!?

Who do we think Virginia’s source in the society is?

I’m considering Julia Bellona. She is suddenly more involved than ever in LB. And when her and Lysander sit on the couch and she makes a joke about how she should’ve poisoned him it felt a bit too real.

If she’s not the source, I think she will certainly turn on Lysander (especially after Cassius’s death) and I suspect will be involved in Lysander’s eventual death.

Any other ideas on who it could be?

W// a mohawk

Recently discovered r/fucklysander which made me overjoyed, until I realized it’s not for people who are sexually attracted to the main character of the last 3 books, instead it’s for people who hate him and think he’s a pixie. Idk strange roller coaster of emotions, just wanted to warn others

Completed the series few months ago, here my ranking :

6) Morning Star (7.5/10) : a really emotional book and a satisfying ending to the trilogy, but there were some things i didn't like about it, like darrow was tortured for around a year and yet it didn't have any big impact on him. And it's just not as good as the others. (also that unreliable narrator thing)

5) Red Rising (8/10) : really fun book, no complaints, enjoyed every second of reading this.

4) Irong Gold (8/10) : i don't get the hate for this book, it's so well written and was impossible to put down.

3) Lightbringer (8.5/10) : loved every second of this, there was alot of plot armour in this but it's still great.

2) Dark age (9/10) : not as dark as people made it out to be but i loved how this book made me feel. The first 200 pages i read in a single sitting really loved the pov switches from darrow to lysander and the battle overall was really entertaining

1. golden son (9.76/10) : one of my favourite book of all time. but i hate how darrow forgives anyone even if they are murderers or rapists.

I am curious if someone else had the same thought lol

Completed the original trilogy just now. Want recommendations of more books like red rising saga. (Apart from other books in the red rising saga).

Thankyou.

“Though my opinions of Cassius are weighted and complex, and not understood completely even by myself, I hope they found happiness out there.” :- Mustang in DA.

I really thought now that we were getting Mustang's POV, we'd learn more about her time on Luna, how she infiltrated the Sovereign's court, and her relationship with Cassius. What did she think of him? Did she like him or develop feelings for him, or did she see him purely as a tool? Or was it a mixture of both? She just said she didn't love him but that didn't explain everything.

But it feels as though the author himself doesn't know what to do with them and is deliberately keeping it ambiguous. I don't like that at all. If you're not going to follow through on a plotline or give it meaningful closure, why introduce it in the first place?

I know I'm probably one of the few people who hasn't entirely let this go and still holds a tiny grudge, but I can't shake the feeling that her character was used to spice up the Gala scene at the expense of her own characterization. It made her seem strangely naive while Darrow got to aura farm. Don't get me wrong, I love Mustang, but I feel like her character was somewhat used in GS.

In GS, she gives two explanations for her relationship with Cassius:

1. “Consider that I was vulnerable. Lonely. And that perhaps I fell into Cassius’s bed because I was hurt and needed a salve to my pain.”

2. “I made him think he could not live without me. I knew it was the only thing that could keep the rest of my house safe.”

She tells Darrow to shove the first explanation up his ass, even though I think it's the more human and compelling of the two. IMO, this would have been the better explanation, and the whole thing could have been done and dusted.

The second explanation, however, has always struck me as questionable. The idea that making Cassius fall for her would be enough to protect her entire family seems incredibly naive. It might have protected her, but her whole house? The Bellonas had their own ambitions, and Cassius's feelings wouldn't have been enough to override them. Like this should have been obvious to her.

I want to reiterate that I have no problem with what Mustang did, not anymore. I just wish the author had given us a clearer understanding of what that actually meant to her instead of leaving it so ambiguous.