Read a full Light Bringer summary with spoilers. Do you need a reminder of what happened in book six of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising saga? If so, then you are in the right place. This page is full of spoilers, so beware. Read on for a full recap of Light Bringer by Pierce Brown. (affiliate links)

Author
Pierce Brown

Ratings
4.9 stars on Amazon
4.75 stars on Goodreads
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The Red Rising Saga Recaps:
#1 Red Rising
#2 Golden Son
#3 Morning Star
#4 Iron Gold
#5 Dark Age
#6 Light Bringer (This Page)
#7 Red God (See the Series or Add on Goodreads)

Setting & Society – The Red Rising saga is set in a futuristic solar system where Mars, Luna, and other moons and planets have been terraformed. All people are divided into color classes. Golds are at the top, and Reds are at the bottom. Their ancestors are from Earth.

***** Everything below is a SPOILER *****

What happened in Light Bringer?

Here’s your Light Bringer summary:

Part I

Darrow and his men are trapped on a forgotten trash moon near the sun after suffering heavy losses on Mercury. Darrow waits on the shipwrecked Archimedes as Cassius and his Pink accomplice Aurae search for helium to get the Archimedes moving again. They’ve had no outside communication with the Republic in eight months. Darrow’s guilt gnaws at him for leaving so many to die on Mercury. The White Fleet is falling apart, and the Obsidians have abandoned them.

As Darrow waits, he helps repair the ship, trains with his razor, records messages for Virginia and Pax, and reads a book of meditations that Aurae gave him. 

A torchShip arrives, and Colloway tells them Mars has not fallen. The Rim has sent Helios with the Dust Armada and Dido with the Dragon Armada. Quicksilver has withdrawn from the war, but Virginia and Pax are alive. Cassius and Aurae have brought helium and news that Sevro was sold to Apollonius and is being held on the dockyards of Venus.

Cassius and Aurae accompany Darrow on a rescue mission to save Sevro while the rest of his men escape to Mars. Aurae stays with their ship while Darrow and Cassius fight their way to Sevro, only to find that it is a trap. They are captured, and Darrow must fight against Apollonius in a gladiatorial arena. He is almost killed when Asmodeus attacks, intent on killing Apollonius. Sevro rescues Darrow and Cassius as the fighting ensues, and together, they escape on the Archimedes.

Aurae reveals that she is with the Daughters of Athena. She plays a hollow with a message from Athena and the late Fitchner, saying they have a fleet of ships ready for Sevro, who should take his place as their general. Sevro is reluctant, but Darrow wants the ships for the republic.

Lysander remains on Mercury, pouring money into the planet. He has become the people’s war hero and is beloved. He’s spent an extraordinary amount of money arranging games and inviting the elite. Lady Julia au Bellona is insultingly missing. Glirastes cautions him concerning his alliances. 

Lysander mingles with politicians, keeping his alliance with Apollonius a secret. Tharsus of House Rath reveals that Apollonius has captured Darrow and Cassius. Lysander is surprised that Cassius, his former mentor, is with Darrow but still wonders if he can save Cassius from death. 

Diomedes and his Rim warriors reveal that they will travel to Atalantia’s summit in Rome, where she will reveal the plans for the war. Lysander is offended for not receiving an invitation, though he is wed to Atalantia. 

Lysander successfully launches the Lightbringer (Darrow’s former flagship, the Morning Star), hoping to prove that warships can be built outside the Carthii. And to reach his goal of uniting all Golds. 

To Lysander’s displeasure, Rhone reveals that the Venus dockyards have been invaded, and Apollonius requests reinforcements. Lysander works to keep his arrangements with Apollonius—the fact that he’s been sending troops to him—a secret. Lysander is summoned to meet with Atalantia on Earth, and as they begin their travels, the Gorgons beat him.

Part II

Lyria is in the asteroid belt with Republic rangers, attempting to find clues about the parasite inside her. It led her to the Rim but has gone silent. 

They are attacked by Rim Golds, who kill her crew, but Matteo and Quicksilver save her. They live inside an ecosystem within an asteroid in the Rim. The thing in Lyria’s head is a psyche, an AI tool that allows a link between the host’s nervous system to machines. It would allow someone to run a war from afar. Matteo thinks they might be able to repair the psyche, but Lyria may lose her memory. She has them remove it instead.

Virginia, Sovereign of the Republic, visits her son Pax at the Darkstar Conservatory, where he is in training with other elite pilots. She doesn’t want her son to become a weapon, but Pax believes this is his path.

Atalantia has gained control over Earth, and Lysander meets her there in Africa. She plans to make Earth’s population into 40 legions. She knows he’s been forming a faction and shames him by making him ask for forgiveness. She forgives him, but his hatred grows. He is not to speak at the summit. 

She intends to launch an Iron Rain on Luna instead of Mars. 

Lysander speaks anyway about peace, saying that Gold has lost its way. He argues for an invasion of Mars, not Luna. He reveals that he has allies willing to join him, including Ajax. Atalantia is furious and will not join Lysander. She will continue her attack on Luna.

Virginia learns that Darrow and Sevro are alive and that Lysander is on his way to Mars with a fleet. The battle begins on the moon Phobos. Virginia, protected by Holiday and her Lionguards, must make many hard choices. 

As Lysander approaches in the Lightbringer, Virginia feels something is off. A stream of rail glugs strikes the Republic’s fleet. They were fired weeks ago from Earth. She lowers the shields to prevent an overload, and a destroyer crashes into Phobos. Lysands and his Helldivers make landfall. Kavax moves to head them off and is captured. The Votum and Rath troops land, and Ajax begins hunting Virginia. She frees Valdir, Sefi’s former warlord, and his obsidians. Together, they escape to the Hollows, losing most of the obsidians. The battle rages for several more days. The troops are still loyal to Darrow and his mission.  Victra finally kills Ajax. 

Virginia knows she is losing and meets Lysander in secret. They make a deal, and Lysander allows Virginia and her troops to safely pass to Mars. Lysander reveals that he plans to give Phobos to Apollonius and remove Atalantia from power.

Lysander destroys Darrow’s statue as Virginia leaves and plans to conduct an Iron Rain in three days. Atalantia tries to poison Lysander, but he survives. 

He learns that the moons of Jupiter are under attack from Volsung Fa, who has united the Ascomanni and the Volk. The Rim golds make for Jupiter and convince Lysander to join them.

Virginia finally talks to Darrow, but rather than bring him home, she sends him in search of Quicksilver and more ships. Sevro is not happy that he can’t go home. Virginia will ground her ships until Darrow returns.

Part III

Darrow finds and meets with Quicksilver and Matteo, appealing for support in the war. Darrow believes that Quicksilver has a fleet of ships, but Quick reveals instead that he has used the resources to create a habitat inside an asteroid called Tabula Rasa, which is meant to create a new society without the color hierarchy. 

Quicksilver gives Darrow pulseArmor and allows Darrow to use his telescope, which provides information that the enemy fleet has left Mars and is heading to Jupiter. Darrow wants to go on to meet Athena, but Sevro wants to go home. They reunite with Lyria and plan to send her home with Sevro. That is until she reveals Sevro and Vicrta’s baby died. Sevro decides to stay with Darrow, and Lyria sneaks aboard their ship to join them. She is quickly discovered and forms a friendship with Cassius.

Lysander finds himself on a Rim ship with Diomedes. His fleet is slower and will arrive at Jupiter later. Lysander blames Darrow for the existence of foes like Volsung Fá. 

Atlas au Raa, posing as Helios, boards their ship, and things quickly escalate. Lysander launches Diomedes—who is incapacitated—from the ship in an escape pod. Lysander is taken captive. 

Darrow intercepts Diomedes in his escape pod and takes him prisoner.

Atlas forces Lysander to work with him, justifying his actions as necessary for the greater good. The greater the trauma, the longer the peace that follows. Lysander accompanies Atlas to meet Fá on Io. He learns that Fá is an imposter who only works for Atlas to secure an easy future of luxury. They plan to fake Lysander’s victory over Fá. Atlas reveals the existence of a virus capable of selectively exterminating any of the Colors.

Darrow and his crew land on Io, which the Obsidians have mostly obtained.  They bring Diomedes along so that he will see the destruction of his homeland. It’s revealed that he’s in love with Aurae. 

Cassius sees the enemy rounding up children and decides to engage. Darrow helps, and they save the children. Afterward, they are surrounded by Obsidians, and Darrow reveals himself to them. Before anything else can happen, the Daughters of Athena arrive along with Lyria and Diomedes in the Archimedes. Sevro takes Sigurd, an Obsidian who surrenders to join Darrow, captive. 

Sigurd confirms that Volga has military command over Callisto, but Lyria is skeptical.

Athena holds Europa and is prepared for invasion. She plans to seal the Deep, so Darrow and his crew go to her. They join her underwater but find that they were tricked and taken captive by Athena. Aurae is in league with her, and they hold a grudge from when Darrow betrayed them 10 years ago.

Darrow is tried before the Daughters. Aurae suggests that he speak to them and make them see him as she now sees him. He accepts all guilt and implores them to help those stranded on the surface of Europa. Diomedes also accepts his guilt. 

While they await the verdict, Diomedes reveals that he thinks Atlas is behind everything. Sevro takes up his father’s place, wearing the Twilight Helm. He convinces them to allow Darrow to confront Fá and allow the refugees to evacuate to the Deep.

Lyria convinces them to send her among the Obsidians to talk to Volga. Lyria tries to convince Volga to become queen and ally with the Republic. She believes she is where she is meant to be. She turns Lyria over to Fá and requests mercy for the Red. Fá refuses and challenges Volga to kill one person of each color, including Lyria. Volga seems to be obeying but can’t kill Lyria. At that moment, Darrow and friends attack from the belly of a captured leviathan. 

Volga protects Lyria while Darrow challenges Fá. They fight, and Fá tries to poison Darrow, but he lives and finds his own fighting rhythm, the breath of stone. Darrow eventually must chase Fá, trapping him and forcing him to admit his allegiance to Atlas. Darrow convinces Volga to kill Fá. The Ascomanni retreat and the Obsidians are leaderless.

How did Light Bringer End?

Part IV

Sevro reclaims Victra’s ship, the Pandora. 

The Volk have an election, and Volga is the new queen. She declares her intent to return to Mars and fight alongside the Reds.

Darrow watches as Lysander defeats a group of Ascomanni warships and saves the civilians aboard, including Gaia. Lysander promises to attack Europa and defeat the remaining enemy forces. Darrow mistrusts Lysanders propaganda as he promises to kill Fá, who Darrow knows is already dead. It seems Lysander will wait for reinforcements, so Darrow moves in on Io. 

Diomedes presents himself to Lysander and tricks him and Darrow into meeting together. Diomedes proposes an alliance between the three of them to confront Atalantia. Diomedes demands the head of Fá from Darrow and the head of Atlas from Lysander. They go their separate ways. 

Cassius goes to Lysander and helps him kill Atlas. But Lysander turns on Cassius, revealing he will not ally with Darrow. He tries to get Cassius to leave, but Cassius refuses. Lysander kills him and gets rid of all evidence, making it look like a Rim assassination. He has Atlas’s biological weapon. 

Darrow is brought before Diomedes’s grandmother, Gaia. Gaia opposes Darrow’s ideas of democracy, but Diomedes declares his allegiance to eliminating the hierarchy. Gaia surrenders to his wishes and will support him before the Moon Lords of the Rim. 

Lysander does not show up at the appointed meeting time but speaks through a hologram. Bloodied, he accuses the Moon Lords of betrayal. He reveals Cassius’s body, devastating Darrow. Lysander paints Darrow as the villain of the Moon Lords. He demands they hand over the Reaper. They refuse, so Lysander bombs their location and the Rim croplands.

Later, Lysander loots trees from Io to take to Mercury’s biome. He will control the food supply. Pytha vows to kill Lysander and departs with Cassius’s body for the Republic. Lysander, Cicero, and Pallas decide to sail home and capitalize on their successful mission. When alone, Lysander ponders which biological weapon to use—which Color to kill first. 

When Darrow emerges from a Raa bunker after the attack, he takes in Lysander’s destruction and the Rim’s dire food situation. Those that remain reach a new alliance in which no one is quite happy. Lyria stays with Volga. Darrow returns to Archimedes and mourns the loss of his friend. He thinks of Virginia and Pax, affirming his love and determination to win the war.

There you go! There’s your Light Bringer summary. We hope you enjoyed this Red Rising recap with spoilers. If you enjoyed this Light Bringer summary, share it with a friend!

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