Darrow, a lowRed of Mars remade into a Gold by the Sons of Ares to bring down the Society that hanged his wife Eo, won the Institute and rose as lancer to ArchGovernor Augustus, whose feud with House Bellona became civil war when the Sovereign Octavia au Lune revealed herself as its architect and massacred House Augustus. Broken out by Sevro and the Howlers, Darrow freed the survivors with the hostage heir Lysander, seized the flagship Pax, won the Stained giant Ragnar, forced his old master Lorn into the war, retook the fleet after Pliny's coup, and launched an Iron Rain on Mars—nearly dying to capture the hidden Sovereign before his mentor Fitchner revealed himself as Ares and saved him. With Mars won, Darrow became Mustang's lover, learned Sevro is Fitchner's half-Red son, accepted the plan to be adopted as Augustus's heir and one day inherit and break the Society, then went home to Lykos and told Mustang his truth; she vanished into the deepmine at gunpoint, her choice still unknown, though Ragnar there chose to live 'for more.' Now, at Darrow's Triumph, Augustus offers to adopt him as heir and husband to Mustang—confiding that he will imprison or execute the Reformers once Octavia falls—and Darrow kneels and calls him Father. But at the intimate Mask ceremony the trap closes: Roque, long a secret traitor allied with the Jackal and the Sovereign, poisons Darrow with a needle-ring, and Gold assassins in Pink fleshMasks—Lilath, Vixus, Antonia—butcher the gathered lords. Antonia guns down Victra; Lilath and the Jackal murder Lorn; Cassius and Aja descend. The Jackal reveals he engineered his brother Claudius's death as a child, then executes his own father Augustus. Cassius, believing Darrow slaughtered the Bellona children, strips the wolf ring from his finger and vows to hunt Sevro and Mustang, ordering Darrow taken alive for dissection. Paralyzed, betrayed by Roque, Darrow looks into the ivory Mask box—and finds Fitchner's severed head, mouth stuffed with grapes. Ares is dead, and Eo's dream falls into darkness.