#Darrow and Lysander

[thegorydamnreaper]

Darrow vs Lysander - symbolism and favored weapons

Okay this I a bit of analysis that has been turning around in my brain since I finished Light Bringer. There will be major spoilers for all of the books, so read on at your own discretion.

And of course if anyone has points to add please do! This is by no means exhaustive, just a compilation of my main thoughts on the whole thing!

Darrow basically grew up with a weapon in his hand, since he started mining at age thirteen. It becomes part of his identity, an extension of himself. It’s also a symbol of his people, as all Red miners are given one. So as a Red, he already closely identifies with the slingBlade as a weapon, as a cultural symbol, and as a means of protection.

“I wonder what Eo wants of me. Does she want me to take my slingBlade and start a rebellion? I would die. My family would die. She would die, and nothing would make me risk her. She knows that.”

(RR Ch 4)

“This is your slingBlade, son. It will scrape the earth’s veins for you. It will kill pitvipers. Keep it sharp and if you get stuck in the drills, it will save your life for the price of a limb.” So said my uncle.”

(RR part III intro)

Lysander, on the other hand, is trained by his grandmother from childhood to use his mind as his weapon. He is capable of using a razor after spending a decade with Cassius, but his mind was his first weapon. It’s also a callback to the Jackal losing his hand and being mostly unaffected - because all Golds are taught that their mind is their first and greatest weapon.

“He sighs. “I told you. I am something different than you. A hand is a peasant’s tool. A Gold’s tool is his mind. Were you of better breeding, you may have realized this sacrifice means so very little to me”

(RR Ch 41)

“Skipping supper. No wonder you’re a little twig,” Cassius says, pinching my arm. “I daresay you don’t even weigh a hundred ten kilos, my goodman.”

“It’s usable weight,” I protest. “In any matter, I was reading.” He looks at me blankly. “You have your priorities. I have mine, muscly creature. So piss off.”

(IG Ch 8/ Lysander 1)

“My memory is a formidable thing. In many ways it is my grandmother’s great legacy, her teachings preserved in me.”

(IG Ch 8/ Lysander 1)

But the mind isn’t a symbol on its own, there’s no cultural gravitas to it. So to him physical weapons are tools that are an extension of his intellect. In that world view, a gun is the most practical choice of tool. Firearms are the great equalizer - you can be smaller, weaker, less trained than your opponent and there’s still a VERY good chance that you will win any fight.

This leads into another similar understanding that he and Darrow share: their rise must be meteoric. Darrow accomplishes this the hard way, through pain and training and failures. He builds himself as a symbol because he knows that’s the only way to start the chain reaction of bringing Gold down. He is a symbol, and so are his tools. The slingBlade becomes a symbols of liberation when once (as just a razor) it was a tool of the enemy.

Lysander? He cuts corners, because the tools don’t matter only the endgame does. He’s not trying to build something new, or inspire his followers to fight for something they never thought possible. He is fighting to reestablish the status quo as swiftly as he can. He doesn’t need to fight from the ground up to become a symbol - as a Lune, he already is a living breathing symbol of Gold, and that’s enough.

“Dancer would want me to accept the offer. It would guarantee my survival. Guarantee my meteoric rise. I would be inside the halls of the ArchGovernor’s mansion. I would be near the man who killed Eo. Oh, I want to accept. But then I would have to let the Proctors beat me. I’d have to let this little whorefart win and let his father smile and feel pride. I’d have to watch that smug smile spread across his bloodydamn face. Slag that. They’ll feel pain.”

(RR Ch 41)

“He sneers at the gun. “No honor.”

“No time.”

I shoot Alexandar in the head”

(DA Ch 81)

He studies those who came before him, flipping their symbols and methods against them instead of doing anything new. He quotes poems like Roque, uses Darrow’s Morningstar as his flagship, claims to be honorable like Cassius - but it’s hollow because these aren’t his achievements. He doesn’t subvert the paradigm like Darrow does constantly, he just borrows and steals to get his way.

Darrow sees himself as the sword of his people, but he’s more than that because he put in the work to be more. He questions if he’s a good man, but the we see the weight his decisions have on him. But because he built himself up, he has a community that loves him, friends and family that are truly loyal and will check his worst impulses. He is the symbol, but he’s anchored by those he represent. It’s real and has meaning because of all the sacrifices he has had to make.

Lysander can’t even unite the Golds because he is built upon lies. His parents and their deaths, a lie. His grandmother’s teachings, all lies and propaganda. The Golden lies of the Society he so desperately wants to restore. He is built upon lies and hollow promises, of course he collapses into Gold dogma at the first sign of pressure. He has no idea what he’s doing, but he’s sacrificing everything and everyone to prop up this dying system, because that’s where he feels safe. He has no symbols to look up to, no culture to give him strength and community. Anything that could have grounded him is gone (often because of his own actions). Pytha and Cassius were his only family left and he rejected them and their teachings. More than ever before there’s nothing holding him back. He has his mind and it is telling him the only way to be safe is to double down and become the worst of Gold.

[bellonasceo]

god please take all of darrow of lykos' suffering and give it to lysander au lune

[kavinskhhy]

Darrow and Lysander by iparwing

[andieburky]

LIGHT BRINGER SPOILERS 🌟 Virginia makes an arrangement with Lysander

Characters belong to Pierce Brown for the Red Rising series.

*Do not steal/copy/print or reupload to any other platforms without permission. Reblogs appreciated!

[dangerandbeauty]

Dark Age Spoilers!!

"In the kingdom of death, amidst ramparts of bodies and wind all of screams, there is a king!!" Dark Age by Pierce Brown pg 683

When I read this B yell SL*AVE, I lost it, I was ready to go to war myself and wring his scrawny sorry little pixie throat.

I originally forgot his burn was on his right side which is why l also have the clean version of his face. Instead of mirroring it I just challenged myself to do it anyway. I had so much fun doing this. 37 hours on procreate!

[ihavenomoralsss]

Red rising crack headcanons: IRON GOLD SPOILERS

The sole artist played during Cassius’s 10 year bachelor pad era was Fleetwood Mac

Baby Lysander enters the common room at four am and it’s just Silver Springs and Cassius drunk-sprawled on a chair

“YOU WONT FORGET ME DARROW!!! YOU BETTER NOT” <insert sobbing noises>

One of the Pups’ final tests includes trying to stick a sign to the back of a howler without being noticed

Just. Imagine the chaos of trying to middle-school prank the solar system’s deadliest killers

Alex almost won once, then Pebble noticed a disturbance in the force (read: Alex in full stealth gear dangling above her bed attempting to put a sticky note on her back) and responded as if it were a Real Genuine Threat and. Well

He had a phenomenal shiner for weeks and smelled like beetle shit for even longer. Nobody but Rhonna would go near him

Lysander unironically read those god-awful self help books and kept leaving copies of Atomic Habits in Cassius’ quarters in an attempt to drop a hint

[sad-endings-suck]

Darrow in Lysander’s chapters:

Darrow in his own chapters:

[peach-au-barca]

Darrow is such a diva

“We brush away light resistance at the drowned storm god” says Darrow O’Lykos as Lysander au Lune describes what to him is the most harrowing fight during his time on Mercury and then proceeding to have his eye burnt out of his skull.

This will NEVER fail to make me laugh.

[tinasshelf]

half-finished Red Rising art (darrow and lysander)

can u tell I have a certain composition i like using (dont answer that) (i like drawing people standing in spacey voids with crecent shaped weapons)

[violetqueenofwands]

Lysander fans: Lysander is the main character now because he’s trying to rebuild what Darrow broke!

Me: You mean the CHAINS?!?!

[insignificant457]

Red Rising characters as questionable lyrics from Taylor Swifts new album

(For legal purposes this is a joke)

Darrow:

Mustang:

Sevro:

Cassius:

Victra:

Lyria:

Lysander:

[bellonasceo]

sevro would like taylor swift (canon), darrow'd be into olivia rodrigo, cassius would absolutely love sabrina carpenter, diomedes probably cries listening to mitski and lysander is secretly into kpop

[thatfoxnamedfinley]

The Motherfucking Consequence aka Dark Age thoughts

holy SHIT

holy FUCK

I was just up until 4AM finishing this book

It was so...........GOOD

Nearly flawless!

The CAST!

The PLOT!

THE STAKES!

DARRRRROOOWWWWW

ok spoilers under the cut bitches

I have been left in the crumpled ruins of this book

where do I begin, like where do I even START

Ok ok ok holy fuck I'm already cackling

The first part was PERFECTION. Back and forth with Darrow and Lysander.

HERE I AM YOU DEVIANT BITCH. THE MOTHERFUCKING CONSEQUENCE

DARROW YES THIS IS WHAT I LOVE TO SEE

The Storm Gods and Orion (r.i.p baby girl) and Lysander describing Darrow as he comes to battle

GOOSIES BITCH

"If you hear wolves, find me. Only a legion accompanying the Slave King is permitted the howl. If you hear it, he is coming."

How the howls announce Darrow and Lysander describing how Darrow fights is CRAZZZYYYY Like he knows where a strike is coming without having to see it

Lysander watching Darrow carve his way through the troops like a DARK SOULS BOSS

Then Darrow is gone as quick as he came after destroying everything in his path

Lysander being Mr. "The Genius of His Violence" talking about Darrow XD

*Beginning of next chapter*

D A R R O W

"We brush away light resistance."

LMMMFFAAAOOOOO ok go off king

Seeing Darrow at the peak of his fighting is SO COOL to see.

I made an audiobook bookmark cackling at someone calling Apple a muscled walking penis LMAO

Ephraim was SO enjoyable. His chapters were so much more lighthearted and funny even though the content of his chapters was not (VOLSUNG FAAAA holy fuck).

"Someone starts to say Freihild is deft in all things. Yeah yeah shutup." lmmaaooooo

R.I.P Eph

Especially right after he was able to reunite with Volga....

And PAX PILOTING THAT AIRSHIP and the people of Mars being ride or dies for Reaper is so so fucking good

SO GOOD

I had goosies

Lyria's story was much better this time around (lmfao when she was playing stupid to get close to Duncan by grinding on his dick LMAO and then she literally dunked him in acid) as she was one of my complaints from Iron Gold. But she, Victra and Volga were great. And that...parasite? In her brain wtf it can detects like heat signatures but I have no clue it's purpose.

Victra is such an interesting character because I go back and forth on her a lot. I still don't understand how she and Sevro work. Sometimes I'm like FUCK YES GO VICTRA

Like when she was unleashed after her baby was killed (omfg) and she was just POUNCING on people and killing and tearing and I was like YEEEEESS VICTRA BITCH GO GO GO GOGOG OGG OGOG O!!!!!

But then when she was acting nuts after Electra and Pax were first taken I was like

Harmony finally dying A+

I can't believe how far gone and radical she was (the child wives WTFFFF)

Volsung Fa being Ragnar's father I did not see coming. I want him vs Darrow so bad

I want Darrow vs anybody so bad tbh

I love when Darrow wins *cries in Dark Age*

r.i.p Sefi she got fucked up bad and it's nuts that all it took was someone like Volsung Fa to completely take over the Obsidians and make them hungry for war again. I'm very curious his part in the story and what his plans are. He wants war on everyone so....what? So Obsidian can rule? I think they will be a huge factor turning the tides of the war.

LYSANDER. He's a great character but I hate him. I understand what he's trying to say the Pierce Brown has done a very good job with finding nuance in the ways that others look at Darrow and how he can be perceived as a villain.

BUT IM STILL TEAM REAPER BEETCHES IF YOU'RE ON ANY OTHER TEAM BLOCK ME

TEAM REAP 5EVA

He wants Gold to rule again, to "sheppard" the other colors because they're incapable of being on their own in his view. He wants the society back but with more checks on power but as we've seen, most Golds are not capable of that.

So like...what do we do? We either have them in power or kill all of them? What's the medium? Where does this war END? HOW? Then at the end when all hope is lost, when he MORTALLY WOUNDS Darrow (I was SCREAMINGgGGGGG) and CASSIUS?

CASSIUS?

BRO where WERE you

wtf!!! he's pops up like "lol brooding again huh" while Darrow has a slingblade sticking out of his body with no hope left

The legend of Darrow grows, the weight of his name as Reaper and the gravity of battles when he's on the field is AMAZING. I love it i love him so much please let him survive through this series he deserves HAPPINESS

"I would die for the truth that all men are created equal."

my king

Pax slowly understanding the burden on his father is a nice touch and Electra is just like her parents lmao a little helion

YO THE COUP

When Virginia was like *squints around* something is wrong

and whenever Pierce Brown has one of his characters say something is wrong then something is REALLY FUCKING WRONG

They killed DAXXOOOOO nooooooooo and Dancer too *sits silently*

Here's the thing, Dancer wasn't on Virginia's side until he had to be and I don't like that. I feel like...he wasn't meant to be written to be unlikeable but I haven't liked him in Iron Gold or here in Dark Age

Good riddance Red Hand

I have no idea what's going to happen in Light bringer but I'm going to start it tonight, godspeed my goodman

ps GOOSIES when Mars formed that slingblade and Virginia was like "Mars endures." yo Mars is the GOAT

pss Diomedes im super interested in, he seems honorable and Cassius is alive so...ALLLLYYY??????? pls pls pls pls pls

YO ATLANTIA IS FUCKING NUTS

so is Lysander

so is Apple

so is Ajax

r these people ok

because they're all barely held together by a single string

not sure how I feel about the Jackal clone tbh but Lilath is also nuts

*sits up suddenly*

WAIT WHERE IS SEVRO

I wish we had more of Ephraim in the future tbh...

[if-you-built-yourself-a-myth]

This is Darrow’s biggest “I’m Him” moment so far

[dangerandbeauty]

Eagle One 🦅 Cassius au Bellona

LB spoiler 🦅🐺🍑

“I made myself believe my honor made me an exception. One of the ‘good’ tyrants. Honor was made to hide behind, I think. Like a crown, or an Olympic cape.” He grimaces. “I know now I was… only a more tolerable source of misery. If I am honest, that’s why I spent ten years traipsing around the asteroids with Lysander, doing small good when and where I could.”

— Light Bringer pg 32 by Pierce Brown

^^the part where Cassius wormed his way into my heart for the first time in 6 books 😅

[artemisandhersilverbow]

JFC that's a bar