Entombed in stone by the Jackal, Darrow nearly succumbs to isolation and guilt before an attack lifts his marble coffin into the tyrant’s banquet hall. Displayed, skeletal, and slated for dissection, he glimpses old foes—Aja and Cassius—and the Jackal’s doctrine of fear. In a processing room, disguised Sons of Ares, Holiday and Trigg, execute the guards and free Darrow, patching his atrophied body with a heart-shot of stimulant. Defying the plan, Darrow diverts to rescue Victra au Julii, then triggers an EMP to black out Attica. Pursued onto a mountain pad, Aja kills Trigg and wounds Holiday; with Cassius demanding surrender, Darrow hauls Holiday and Victra into the abyss, trusting a subterranean rescue.

The Howlers erupt from a clawDrill. Sevro—bearing his father’s mantle of Ares—and Ragnar Volarus snatch them from the air and flee under fire. In Tinos, the hidden city of Ares, Darrow reunites with family and learns Harmony’s betrayal stalled the search for him. Sevro alone refused to let Darrow become a ghost, broadcasting Darrow’s Carving and igniting open war. The Rising reels: Roque commands the Sovereign’s armada at Jupiter; on Mars, mines burn and propaganda blames the Sons for massacres. Among Tinos’s starving refugees, Darrow falters until Ragnar drags him to the wards; the wounded’s humor and gratitude rekindle Darrow’s purpose.

He sets three moves in motion: reach Mustang through an emissary, bring the Carver Mickey to rebuild him and Victra, and prepare a third, contentious demand. Victra, freed and unbowed, joins the Sons seeking vengeance on Antonia, the Jackal, and Roque. Weeks later, after recovery and missions with Narol’s Pitvipers, Sevro inducts Darrow, Victra, and Holiday into the Howlers—"Never bow"—then unveils a strike on Quicksilver, the silent backer of the Jackal.

Smuggled into Phobos’s Hive, the Howlers witness wage-slavery and stage economic sabotage to seed chaos. They scale Quicksilver’s helix towers and breach a suite—only to find Matteo, Darrow’s former tutor and a one-time Son of Ares. Chasing a datapoint to a conference room, they crash a parley with Quicksilver, Mustang, Cassius, and the Telemanuses. Mistaken for assassins and primed by fear, Sevro orders the kill. In a savage crossfire, Ragnar hurls a razor through the Death Knight, Darrow burns down a Fury, and civilians die. Mustang cripples Darrow, then stays her blade when she recognizes him. Cassius escapes; Kavax is captured; any diplomatic bridge seems ruined.

Under pressure, Darrow takes command and executes a desperate vacuum extraction: Ragnar shatters a viewport and the Howlers, lashed together, vent into space until Holiday scoops them in a cargo bay. In a safehouse, Quicksilver claims he is the founding Son of Ares who built and funded Tinos. He denounces Sevro’s chaos and offers his empire to build, not burn. When Sevro moves to bomb Phobos’s lifelines anyway, Darrow stops him; their hallway brawl dissolves into confession. Sevro’s fear and Darrow’s doubts surface; they choose a new course—reject terror, court allies, build an army.

With Quicksilver’s networks, they broadcast Eo’s execution and a manifesto to billions, then ignite a disciplined uprising. Ragnar seizes Phobos’s military spire, and as the moon tilts toward revolt, Darrow slips away with Mustang, Holiday, and Ragnar to win the Obsidians. After a crash-landing on Mars’s polar ice, they fight engineered predators, Eater cannibals, and finally track Aja and Cassius. In a brutal ambush, Mustang’s arrow drops Cassius; Aja cripples Ragnar before falling into a crevasse. Sefi the Quiet arrives on griffins; Ragnar, beyond saving, asks Darrow for a merciful death and warns words will not sway his mother, Alia Snowsparrow.

At the Valkyrie Spires, Alia rejects alliance and orders them sent to Asgard in chains. En route, Darrow convinces Sefi the “gods” are Golds enslaving her people. With Quicksilver’s hacks blinding defenses, they climb the Way of Stains, bait two “gods” into the open, and expose them—Freya is decapitated; Proctor Mercury is mortally wounded. Sefi tastes blood, accepts a razor, and the Valkyrie rally. Returning in stolen armor, Sefi beheads Alia, executes the captive “gods,” and crowns herself. The clans align; Mustang orchestrates a twelve-hour migration to move Obsidians underground and warriors to the Rising’s fleet. Ragnar’s legend binds the tribes; Sefi and Darrow bear him to Tinos, where grief hardens resolve.

With Rim allies wavering, Darrow gambles at Io. In Romulus au Raa’s orchard, Roque offers concessions from the Sovereign; Mustang unveils proof of a secret nuclear cache. Romulus declares bloodfeud with Roque and sides with Darrow. In the Battle of Ilium, Roque divides the Sword Armada into agile strike divisions. Darrow overreaches by design, drives the Pax into the enemy heart, then turns the paradigm: he rides a mining clawDrill through his dying flagship and into Roque’s Colossus. While Roque’s boarders drown on the Pax, thousands of Valkyrie surge through Darrow’s tunnel. At the bridge, a Pink aide seals the door for them; Darrow detonates the Pax to spare Mustang; Sevro’s hidden Thebe caverns vomit boarders that flip ships from within. Roque refuses surrender and commits suicide, and Darrow, bearing the moral weight, repurposes the Colossus to obliterate Ganymede’s dockyards, crippling the Rim’s future fleet. Sefi renames the dreadnought Morning Star.

Victory frays. Victra captures Antonia and frees Kavax, but claims her black fleet for herself. In the brig, Antonia murders Thistle, a remorseful former Howler, to monopolize leverage. Then the Jackal broadcasts Uncle Narol’s execution, inflaming Color hatreds. Riots erupt; Sefi lynches Golds and moves to hang Cassius as Mustang is chained. Sevro, revealing himself as Ares, stages a double hanging with Cassius to force mercy, and publicly forgives him, averting schism. A week later, Sevro marries Victra, briefly healing wounds even as the war darkens.

The Red Armada advances on Luna. Seeking to prevent Cassius’s murder aboard, Darrow, Mustang, and Sevro clandestinely free him to flee; Cassius betrays them, shoots Sevro, and escapes with Antonia—and the captives. On Luna, the Jackal slices off Darrow’s hand and delivers them to Octavia’s sealed bunker. Mustang forces a strategic redeployment by revealing Sefi’s Horde has already landed in grain ships. Octavia executes Antonia for dereliction, then begins a live execution of Darrow, granting the Jackal the kill.

The gun fails. Cassius turns, kills Praetorians, and frees Darrow and Mustang. Darrow stabs the Sovereign on the live feed; together they slay the Truth and Joy Knights. Aja’s onslaught maims them until Darrow plunges a lifesaving stimulant into Sevro’s chest; Sevro erupts and the four hunt the Fury down, finally killing her. As Octavia dies, the Jackal reveals his true leverage: hundreds of nuclear bombs hidden across Luna under his Praetor Lilath. He detonates blasts over the mares and demands Darrow’s suicide. Darrow rips out his tongue and turns to politics.

On Lysander’s urging, Mustang calls the Ash Lord and Praetors, displays the Dawn Scepter and Octavia’s head, and exposes Lilath’s plot. The Lion of Mars is destroyed under converging fire; the armada fractures. Bearing symbols and truth, Mustang advances through the Citadel and Senate; Darrow kneels first, and the chamber hails her Sovereign. A week later, amid snow and ruin, Mustang ends her brother’s life at the gallows.

In the aftermath, defections swell to Orion and Victra; the Ash Lord retreats to Mercury. Mustang begins dismantling the Color order and prosecuting crimes, even as Luna reels from radiation and shortages. Sefi departs to free the Obsidians with medicine; Darrow’s hand is reattached and he turns toward building, not burning. Cassius reconciles with Darrow and leaves with Lysander to raise him away from war. On an Earth shore, friends gather. Mustang reveals their golden‑haired son, Pax, reframing the hard-won future they now must build.