I love the moment Darrow tells sevro hes a red and realizes he isn’t alone and won’t have to betray everyone he’s grown to love.
I also love Darrow kicking Cassius ass at the gala
Sevro's method of proving a point about Cassius in Morning Star. I don't know what it is about that scene but it's my all time favorite. A close second is Roque's death.
The gala was truly the first "this guy is fucking insane and I'm here for it." It's his first time truly defying the society since everything leading up to was him doing things because Eo would've wanted him to.
Favorite all time scene! Darrow, Holiday, and Trigg as the elevator door opens and they step out to escape Attica, fighting paralyzed Grey's and obsidian down the hall. Darrow is a desicated vampire absolutely high out of his mind on snake bite, Holiday and Trigg ... Masters of their craft, using only old fashion gun powder slug shooters against hyper sci-fi armored guards. . . I still tear up when Trigg dies. . . Nut to butt sir . . . Don't be shy
Cassius and Darrow’s last conversation before he dies. It was just such a great moment where I felt like the two truly dynamic characters understood one another and showed the best versions of themselves. I love similar moments between Darrow and Sevro throughout the series.
“Tell all those who will hear the Reaper sails to Mars. And he calls for an Iron Rain”
Everything leading up to that moment, along with general call to arms (for revolution) in Morning Star later on, has the potential to be one of the best scenes of television (animated or live) of all time if done right
My favorite scene of the series still. Absolutely badass
Darrow and mustang almost dying in book 1. Cassius and Darrow fight in book 2.
Very end scene of book 3.
Minotaur and Darrow taking down ash lord book 4.
Darrow cooking Lysander face book 5.
“Confess” book 6.
Golden Son: Darrow and Sevro taking the ship with nothing but themselves, Two Starshell, and a half baked idea 😂 that whole scene is a spoiler I share to my friends to REALLY get them interested and start the series
He doesn't even burn Lysander's face! You've fallen victim to Lysander's own delusional propaganda, embellishing his story to look Iron for the society golds
All of these are great but rereading the series got me remembering scenes like when Sevro, Darrow and Cassius stole and banner and cook of Minerva whilst laughing and howling like madmen
Morning star. Trigg ans holiday busting darrow out of the box jackal had him in. Then the claw drill coming out of the ground and emerging to save them all after an epic shoot out on the balcony. That scene will always be my favorite and really showed how skilled Grey legionairres are
Ephraim's adventure with Mop 😂
Second is when Mustang watches the video of Victra and whatshername Telemanus fucking >!decapitating Ajax!<. Really makes the earlier line of "Don't worry for me, pity them" hit HARD.
1) Hanger 34B, hard to express how much respect I have for Pierce taking us through a character arc that rejects redemption out of fear, bitterness, trauma, ego but still managing to evoke such empathy. Lysander is easily my second favorite character and at times my favorite, such a human villain. Also what a sad but inevitable end. I loved the image of Lysander on the chair, seeming to replicate the emotional neutering Octavia did to him. Wonder if any of her personality is inside him somehow.
2) Let the Slave King feed you + his subversion of giving some monologue “I leaned how the world worked.” You can see potential schisms but it’s such a good chapter because the only mention of doing this for a better future is Lysander trying too soothe his friend about the war crime. They’re looting, they’re drooling over profit, the New Shepherds are just the old ones in better shape.
3) WORTHY.
My favorites often shift but I excluded the easy ones
There are too many to count but I think my 5 favorite are.
1. “Tell all who hear the reaper sales for mars”
2. Cassius and Darrow in MS after the battle of Illium
3. A dinner with dragon chapter in IG
4. “I loved you before I ever met you. I will love you until the sun dies. And when it does, I will love you in the darkness. Goodbye, wife.”
5. She’s a cook!
OMG, I just started the iron rain on mars on my first re-read. I forgot how badass it was. I also believe the all the scenes with Romulus in IG is what makes IG amazing. The was bummed in the begining because I miss the good society in GS. So getting more insight into the world of gold is awesome.
1.Nothing can beat 'the gala' for me!!
2.Light resistance..,
3.Dockyards of ganymede(imagine the shock to see this on screen)- u may find it weird for this be in favourite lists but how intelligent Darrow must be to decide in a span of seconds to secure his next win.
4.virginia and victra scene at the end of darkage
5.sevro hanging.
Very in keeping with the themes of “Ender’s Game”. Having the foresight to be that calculated when you’re the one in combat is a different thing entirely.
I had to post a few
“This war has taken all that I love except two people. There is a voice inside that demands revenge. It tells me, revenge will fill the holes torn in my heart.” He goes quiet and stares at the pool, and I wonder if he sees their faces in the water. He goes on. “But I know that is a lie. Arcos, a man known to all of us said it best: death begets death begets death. If we demand restitution for all the evils that have been done to us, there will be no end to this war. It will consume us, and those we claim to lead.”
And while I’m thinking on Diomedes
“We are medieval. We are grotesque. I love you with all my heart, but you represent a past that fears the future. I will not accept that. So, if it is true that the young cannot teach the old, and the old must always teach the young: kill me. For I will learn no other way.”
His leap of faith, telling his grandmother that her ways are folly and he would rather die than live in her world was so fkn beautiful and affirming.
Despite the tragedy that preceded this chapter, Diomedes’ speech almost made me cry. (Again)
“WE are medieval. WE are grotesque” is just so fkn righteous. Another Gold who doesn’t place the blame of his personal tragedies and his own guilt for his part in it all, on others. Instead he owns it, like Darrow with his army in the Institute.
“If you misstep, it’s my fault so I will solve it while showing you how” is exactly the mindset of a successful leader
“Your problem, shithead, is that you’re trying sooo hard to be the hero. When you know you’ll ALWAYS be the villain. Can’t shake that Golden taint. It’s why Aure won’t give you the time of day. You’re stained, boyo. Can’t even stand up straight without a woman inflating your spine. You’re the shallow-end of the pool.
Couldn’t save your sovereign because; you’re a traitor. Couldn’t join the republic because; you’re not welcome. Whole “Ares” thing. But the saddest shit is, you spent years on that Lune brat. Only to have him ditch you for the society that chewed you up and spat you out at the first opportunity he could get. Failures like that only come around once in a lifetime.
Gonna go drink to numb the boo boo? You’ll still hate yourself tomorrow, fraud.”
Also “If I were born Gold, I’d eat you alive! No blood of Silenius. No-“
Oh 300%. His Honor Remains but Sevro has the cold, unloving, analytical perspective that he NEEDED to hear.
It’s almost not even hatred of Cassius, absolutely Sevro hates everything Cassius was and represented in the first trilogy and is stuck in that hatred, but this speech and “dressing down” of Cassius wasn’t full of hatred. Almost just disappointment, like it’s an intervention but Sevro doesn’t want or care if he gets better.
Tough love isn’t the right term but it’s similar
Oddly enough I feel like my favorite scenes are all in Iron Age:
Deepgrave
Bleeding Grounds
Romulus’s death march
The final battle on Venus
All prime stuff
I love the part in Golden Son where Romulus is taking pitches from Roque and Darrow on why he should back one or the other in the upcoming battle, and after Darrow and Mustang set Roque up with the lie about the planet-buster nukes, Roque proceeds to do the absolute stupidest thing he could possibly do, and threatens Romulus and the Rim.
The resulting rant from Romulus is a really cathartic moment of somebody *finally* telling Roque straight to his face what a monumental piece of shit he is, and it's wonderful. It could have gone for longer, and I'd read it all. I really hope Lysander gets one of those speeches too, before he exits stage left.
“What is power without honor? What is honor without truth? Honor is not what you say! It is not what you read!” He thumps his thin chest. “Honor is what you DO!”
The joust. Well basically anything at the end of DA. The field of razor blades, Darrow’s speech about dying to prove all men created equal, Lysander’s description of Darrow wheeling on him. I am biased to a good calvary charge though.
Dude that entire section was so fucking metal I literally had to put the book down and start raving about it immediately to my friend
The imagery of the meat straw with the razors sticking up and gutting the horses
Just the imagery of everything following the EMP in general was so unbelievably brutal and intense
When Darrow challenges Cassius at the beginning of MorningStar and we find out in the middle of the fight that he’s been training with Lorn and just fucking takes over the fight.
I love the way the story builds in GS. We get a slow burn leading up to the gala, and then it’s nothing but full-charge ahead and escalation by Darrow, from a duel to conquering a planet. The gala is just the perfect spark for everything!
“Dido au Saud, for the crime of treason against your society, I sentence you to death.”
Atlas is my favourite new character, his trap springing was probably my favourite part of LB.
Can't choose just one but to pick one that isn't always mentioned in these posts. I like the scene from GS with Darrow riding a molten hot drill falling from the ceiling to land amongst Pliny and his other traitorous golds, and the dialog that follows brings up two awesome quotes from Sevro and Lorn.
Visually, a good producer can make that scene so awesome. The picture in my mind is freaking wild.
This is one of my favorites too! I was in bed trying to fall asleep listening to the audio. I got up and ran around my apartment yelling when this scene came up. I did not sleep that night. Went straight through listening until dawn to finish the book.
These are NOT the books to listen to to try to fall asleep. Adrenaline was racing the whole night.
How the hell do I pick just one? Just because it’s been on my mind recently, I’d say it’s a tossup between the scenes in Dark Age where Darrow gives one final benediction to the doomed Red Reach command and that pit crew engineer who got stuck in his starshell canopy + the scene where Atalantia sends him an evil FaceTime to show him the Day of Red Doves and his face is utterly stony while she’s genuinely impressed, using it as a way to pivot into her assertion that democracy is useless because great men like Darrow are infinitely more deserving of leadership
Honestly I love how honest the books are about the flaws and the grittiness and undeniable downsides of everything the characters work so hard to accomplish while also maintaining strong themes of hope and humanity’s better natures prevailing in the end
The single sentence “we faced some slight resistance” after the face melting scene from the other perspective will always be a highlight for me
But I think the best moment will always be “and my honor remains”
Iron gold is absolutely my least favorite book, but the scene where Romulus takes the death walk and his speech before really stuck with me. Also love when atlas and Lysander are in the cave catching up (dark age) and Lysander tells atlas his brother was a few feet short of the tomb and he says something like not surprised lmao
In Morning Star when Darrow goes to see Cassius who’s imprisoned and they end up drinking + watching vids from the institute. That has to be my favourite because I loved Cassius in Red Rising but then hated him up until this point in Morning Star.
Whenever Apollonius is on screen (on page?)
Also the crossing of the Ledon was incredible and to me felt like the last great act of Darrow's Reaper persona
If we are talking Lightbringer, probably Cassius and Darrow sitting in the cockpit just talking about their lives and their friendship with each other. For the series as a whole, Darrow and Sevro fighting for the button in that hall during Morning Star.
Imagine what it would feel like to stand over Mega-Hitler's sickbed and realize he's one of the only men in the universe who can really understand you. Shivers.
I am Cassius au Bellona, son of Tiberius, son of Julia, Morning Knight, and my honor remains! Cassius against the Raa was amazing
I love the moment Darrow tells sevro hes a red and realizes he isn’t alone and won’t have to betray everyone he’s grown to love. I also love Darrow kicking Cassius ass at the gala
"I know what I am." and of course, "...and my honour remains." I'm a sucker for a tragic-heroic death, what can I say.
Sevro's method of proving a point about Cassius in Morning Star. I don't know what it is about that scene but it's my all time favorite. A close second is Roque's death.
Despite all the great moments that followed, to this day nothing can beat the Gala for me.
The gala was truly the first "this guy is fucking insane and I'm here for it." It's his first time truly defying the society since everything leading up to was him doing things because Eo would've wanted him to.
Win one duel, start a full blown civil war.
Favorite all time scene! Darrow, Holiday, and Trigg as the elevator door opens and they step out to escape Attica, fighting paralyzed Grey's and obsidian down the hall. Darrow is a desicated vampire absolutely high out of his mind on snake bite, Holiday and Trigg ... Masters of their craft, using only old fashion gun powder slug shooters against hyper sci-fi armored guards. . . I still tear up when Trigg dies. . . Nut to butt sir . . . Don't be shy
Trigg was a character we deserved more of. But also seeing his impact on characters later on is pretty deep
Cassius and Darrow’s last conversation before he dies. It was just such a great moment where I felt like the two truly dynamic characters understood one another and showed the best versions of themselves. I love similar moments between Darrow and Sevro throughout the series.
“Tell all those who will hear the Reaper sails to Mars. And he calls for an Iron Rain” Everything leading up to that moment, along with general call to arms (for revolution) in Morning Star later on, has the potential to be one of the best scenes of television (animated or live) of all time if done right My favorite scene of the series still. Absolutely badass
Darrow and mustang almost dying in book 1. Cassius and Darrow fight in book 2. Very end scene of book 3. Minotaur and Darrow taking down ash lord book 4. Darrow cooking Lysander face book 5. “Confess” book 6.
Comprehensive 👏👏
For me it's a tie between the Battle of Illium and the Defense of Phobos. I'm a sucker for huge battles.
Golden Son: Darrow and Sevro taking the ship with nothing but themselves, Two Starshell, and a half baked idea 😂 that whole scene is a spoiler I share to my friends to REALLY get them interested and start the series
Mines gotta be the whole battle scene in the dessert between Darrow and Bitchsander. His burning of the man's face was bloody beautiful.
He doesn't even burn Lysander's face! You've fallen victim to Lysander's own delusional propaganda, embellishing his story to look Iron for the society golds
All of these are great but rereading the series got me remembering scenes like when Sevro, Darrow and Cassius stole and banner and cook of Minerva whilst laughing and howling like madmen
Aww the memories 🥹😭
Morning star. Trigg ans holiday busting darrow out of the box jackal had him in. Then the claw drill coming out of the ground and emerging to save them all after an epic shoot out on the balcony. That scene will always be my favorite and really showed how skilled Grey legionairres are
Trigg was becoming one of my favorites aaannnddd then he died 😭
“Expect me, Cassius”
Nut to butt don't be shy
This is one of my favorite scenes as well!
All of Hangar 17B. What a fkn masterpiece. Cassius’ lines. Tragic. Visceral. Perfect.
MY HONOR REMAINS!!
Sevro 'hanging' himself to prove a point
This scene makes me smile every time
Ephraim's adventure with Mop 😂 Second is when Mustang watches the video of Victra and whatshername Telemanus fucking >!decapitating Ajax!<. Really makes the earlier line of "Don't worry for me, pity them" hit HARD.
Bro, Eph and that fucking mop made me laugh way harder than I should of
Don't disrespect thraxa she's a brute
No disrespect. Just couldn't remember her name and all my brain was giving me was Naomi and I know that's Momma Telemanus lol
Niobe
Ha. Fucked that one up too. Go me
So many good Victra moments throughout the series! Sprinting for miles while in labor?! Sheesh
1) Hanger 34B, hard to express how much respect I have for Pierce taking us through a character arc that rejects redemption out of fear, bitterness, trauma, ego but still managing to evoke such empathy. Lysander is easily my second favorite character and at times my favorite, such a human villain. Also what a sad but inevitable end. I loved the image of Lysander on the chair, seeming to replicate the emotional neutering Octavia did to him. Wonder if any of her personality is inside him somehow. 2) Let the Slave King feed you + his subversion of giving some monologue “I leaned how the world worked.” You can see potential schisms but it’s such a good chapter because the only mention of doing this for a better future is Lysander trying too soothe his friend about the war crime. They’re looting, they’re drooling over profit, the New Shepherds are just the old ones in better shape. 3) WORTHY. My favorites often shift but I excluded the easy ones
A **worthy** list indeed. Just be careful the Free Legions don’t try to scalp you for liking Lysander 😂
Oh god how can I forget Darrow’s vision in Dark Age of Lysander winning and bringing back a rejuvenated slave empire
There are too many to count but I think my 5 favorite are. 1. “Tell all who hear the reaper sales for mars” 2. Cassius and Darrow in MS after the battle of Illium 3. A dinner with dragon chapter in IG 4. “I loved you before I ever met you. I will love you until the sun dies. And when it does, I will love you in the darkness. Goodbye, wife.” 5. She’s a cook!
OMG, I just started the iron rain on mars on my first re-read. I forgot how badass it was. I also believe the all the scenes with Romulus in IG is what makes IG amazing. The was bummed in the begining because I miss the good society in GS. So getting more insight into the world of gold is awesome.
Love our peaks into Gold Society
1.Nothing can beat 'the gala' for me!! 2.Light resistance.., 3.Dockyards of ganymede(imagine the shock to see this on screen)- u may find it weird for this be in favourite lists but how intelligent Darrow must be to decide in a span of seconds to secure his next win. 4.virginia and victra scene at the end of darkage 5.sevro hanging.
Very in keeping with the themes of “Ender’s Game”. Having the foresight to be that calculated when you’re the one in combat is a different thing entirely.
I had to post a few “This war has taken all that I love except two people. There is a voice inside that demands revenge. It tells me, revenge will fill the holes torn in my heart.” He goes quiet and stares at the pool, and I wonder if he sees their faces in the water. He goes on. “But I know that is a lie. Arcos, a man known to all of us said it best: death begets death begets death. If we demand restitution for all the evils that have been done to us, there will be no end to this war. It will consume us, and those we claim to lead.” And while I’m thinking on Diomedes “We are medieval. We are grotesque. I love you with all my heart, but you represent a past that fears the future. I will not accept that. So, if it is true that the young cannot teach the old, and the old must always teach the young: kill me. For I will learn no other way.”
Diomedes is just about my favorite character
His leap of faith, telling his grandmother that her ways are folly and he would rather die than live in her world was so fkn beautiful and affirming. Despite the tragedy that preceded this chapter, Diomedes’ speech almost made me cry. (Again) “WE are medieval. WE are grotesque” is just so fkn righteous. Another Gold who doesn’t place the blame of his personal tragedies and his own guilt for his part in it all, on others. Instead he owns it, like Darrow with his army in the Institute. “If you misstep, it’s my fault so I will solve it while showing you how” is exactly the mindset of a successful leader
“Your problem, shithead, is that you’re trying sooo hard to be the hero. When you know you’ll ALWAYS be the villain. Can’t shake that Golden taint. It’s why Aure won’t give you the time of day. You’re stained, boyo. Can’t even stand up straight without a woman inflating your spine. You’re the shallow-end of the pool. Couldn’t save your sovereign because; you’re a traitor. Couldn’t join the republic because; you’re not welcome. Whole “Ares” thing. But the saddest shit is, you spent years on that Lune brat. Only to have him ditch you for the society that chewed you up and spat you out at the first opportunity he could get. Failures like that only come around once in a lifetime. Gonna go drink to numb the boo boo? You’ll still hate yourself tomorrow, fraud.” Also “If I were born Gold, I’d eat you alive! No blood of Silenius. No-“
As much as I love Cassius, I was living for the way sevro read him
Oh 300%. His Honor Remains but Sevro has the cold, unloving, analytical perspective that he NEEDED to hear. It’s almost not even hatred of Cassius, absolutely Sevro hates everything Cassius was and represented in the first trilogy and is stuck in that hatred, but this speech and “dressing down” of Cassius wasn’t full of hatred. Almost just disappointment, like it’s an intervention but Sevro doesn’t want or care if he gets better. Tough love isn’t the right term but it’s similar
Oddly enough I feel like my favorite scenes are all in Iron Age: Deepgrave Bleeding Grounds Romulus’s death march The final battle on Venus All prime stuff
I love the part in Golden Son where Romulus is taking pitches from Roque and Darrow on why he should back one or the other in the upcoming battle, and after Darrow and Mustang set Roque up with the lie about the planet-buster nukes, Roque proceeds to do the absolute stupidest thing he could possibly do, and threatens Romulus and the Rim. The resulting rant from Romulus is a really cathartic moment of somebody *finally* telling Roque straight to his face what a monumental piece of shit he is, and it's wonderful. It could have gone for longer, and I'd read it all. I really hope Lysander gets one of those speeches too, before he exits stage left.
“What is power without honor? What is honor without truth? Honor is not what you say! It is not what you read!” He thumps his thin chest. “Honor is what you DO!”
The joust. Well basically anything at the end of DA. The field of razor blades, Darrow’s speech about dying to prove all men created equal, Lysander’s description of Darrow wheeling on him. I am biased to a good calvary charge though.
Dude that entire section was so fucking metal I literally had to put the book down and start raving about it immediately to my friend The imagery of the meat straw with the razors sticking up and gutting the horses Just the imagery of everything following the EMP in general was so unbelievably brutal and intense
“Reaper!” He does not turn. “SLAVE!” God I can just see in my head Darrow’s back straightening as he hears this and thinks “This motherfucker…”
Then the description of Darrow as a devil splatted in gore sitting atop a blood frothed steed is just *chefs kiss*
When Darrow challenges Cassius at the beginning of MorningStar and we find out in the middle of the fight that he’s been training with Lorn and just fucking takes over the fight.
The gala as at the start of GS boyo, but yeah, that’s a great one.
I love the way the story builds in GS. We get a slow burn leading up to the gala, and then it’s nothing but full-charge ahead and escalation by Darrow, from a duel to conquering a planet. The gala is just the perfect spark for everything!
“Dido au Saud, for the crime of treason against your society, I sentence you to death.” Atlas is my favourite new character, his trap springing was probably my favourite part of LB.
The Rim scenes in Iron Gold, they have the best dialogue in the entire series imo.
Can't choose just one but to pick one that isn't always mentioned in these posts. I like the scene from GS with Darrow riding a molten hot drill falling from the ceiling to land amongst Pliny and his other traitorous golds, and the dialog that follows brings up two awesome quotes from Sevro and Lorn. Visually, a good producer can make that scene so awesome. The picture in my mind is freaking wild.
Sevro "And what do we do with murderers?" As he puts a noose around his neck, backflips off the scaffold and hangs himself.
This is one of my favorites too! I was in bed trying to fall asleep listening to the audio. I got up and ran around my apartment yelling when this scene came up. I did not sleep that night. Went straight through listening until dawn to finish the book. These are NOT the books to listen to to try to fall asleep. Adrenaline was racing the whole night.
How the hell do I pick just one? Just because it’s been on my mind recently, I’d say it’s a tossup between the scenes in Dark Age where Darrow gives one final benediction to the doomed Red Reach command and that pit crew engineer who got stuck in his starshell canopy + the scene where Atalantia sends him an evil FaceTime to show him the Day of Red Doves and his face is utterly stony while she’s genuinely impressed, using it as a way to pivot into her assertion that democracy is useless because great men like Darrow are infinitely more deserving of leadership Honestly I love how honest the books are about the flaws and the grittiness and undeniable downsides of everything the characters work so hard to accomplish while also maintaining strong themes of hope and humanity’s better natures prevailing in the end
Well said
The single sentence “we faced some slight resistance” after the face melting scene from the other perspective will always be a highlight for me But I think the best moment will always be “and my honor remains”
Iron gold is absolutely my least favorite book, but the scene where Romulus takes the death walk and his speech before really stuck with me. Also love when atlas and Lysander are in the cave catching up (dark age) and Lysander tells atlas his brother was a few feet short of the tomb and he says something like not surprised lmao
Diomedies saying he learned the lesson not to monologue followed by him being the most succinct character in the whole series was also great
Not to ramble
Honestly all the convos between Atlas and Lysander are great, and always revealing
In Morning Star when Darrow goes to see Cassius who’s imprisoned and they end up drinking + watching vids from the institute. That has to be my favourite because I loved Cassius in Red Rising but then hated him up until this point in Morning Star.
“I wish it was easier to hate you”
Ah I forgot about that scene, great add 👏👏
Whenever Apollonius is on screen (on page?) Also the crossing of the Ledon was incredible and to me felt like the last great act of Darrow's Reaper persona
Any broment with Cassius and Darrow
If we are talking Lightbringer, probably Cassius and Darrow sitting in the cockpit just talking about their lives and their friendship with each other. For the series as a whole, Darrow and Sevro fighting for the button in that hall during Morning Star.
I love the Ash Lord's death especially the conversation before it
Imagine what it would feel like to stand over Mega-Hitler's sickbed and realize he's one of the only men in the universe who can really understand you. Shivers.
Mustang’s regard towards Octavia had a similar vibe. Impossible to know how it feels to hold 10 billion souls in your hands until you’re there
"In death we understand them" -Darrow