Your mission, in case you missed it, is to relive all of the amazing moments of the Red Queen series. We’re kicking off a reread of this truly epic series! We’ve already hit you with everything you need to remember from Book One, and now we’re coming at you with this Glass Sword recap!
So before you move on to King’s Cage, know that we’re looking out for our fellow Scarlet Guard members! Read below for what you need to remember from Glass Sword. Spoiler alert: it’s pretty epic!
But also…
… for all of the moments you need to remember!
What Happened in Glass Sword?
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
• Execution: Mare and Cal are sentenced to death by Maven, who ascended to the throne after he and his mother, Queen Elara, forced Cal to kill his father, King Tiberias. Among the Silvers set to kill them in the Bowl of Bones is Evangeline Samos, Cal’s former betrothed. Instead of the easy kill that Maven was expecting, Mare channels the electric shield meant to protect the Silvers and overcomes her executioners. She tries to get Cal to kill Maven, but he won’t. Which leads us to:
• Escape: After being knocked out, Mare wakes up on an Undertrain with Cal, and learns that Captain Farley and Kilorn have survived. She also discovers that her brother, Shade, is alive and well. Silvers discovered his ability (teleportation) and tried to kill him for it, but as he says, “They weren’t fast enough. No one is.”
• The Plan: While the Scarlet Guard knows the names of the Newbloods (Reds who have abilities like Mare and Shade), so does Maven. The Guard resolves to find them before Maven can get to them, and we leave off with a promise from Mare: “I will kill him.”
For a more in-depth introduction to everyone we’ve met so far in the series, check out the Red Queen recap! The following characters are some of the most important Newbloods and allies that the Scarlet Guard tracks down in Glass Sword.
• Cameron Cole: Arguably the most significant Newblood in Glass Sword, Cameron has the ability to Silence the abilities of others to the point of killing them. Born into the slums of New Town, Cameron was held in Corros Prison and managed to escape. Her main goal is to rescue her twin brother, Morrey Cole.
• Nanny: Nanny is a shapeshifter who can change her physical appearance to look like anyone else. She once fooled the Sentinels into thinking she was Maven.
• Jon: Jon is an Eye, a powerful Newblood who can see the future.
• Sara Skonos: A Silver, Sara is a Skin Healer who was once Queen Coriane’s best friend and remains a friend of Julian. She was forced by Queen Elara to mutilate her own tongue, and as a Silver unable to heal herself, has been mute ever since.
• The Battle at Naercey: Mare, Captain Farley, and the rest of the crew head to the ruined city of Naercey. Once there, they are attacked by an army of Silvers, who use a human shield of powerless Reds at the front-line. Maven shocks Mare by arriving on the scene, telling her and the Guard to surrender. Mare refuses, and a battle begins. The Scarlet Guard manages to escape into a submarine while Cal stalls Maven with a wall of fire.
• The Island of Tuck: The Scarlet Guard heads to a base on the island of Tuck, where Mare is united with the rest of hr family. At the orders of The Colonel, a member of Command and Captain Farley’s faith, Cal is imprisoned in a cell made of Silent Stone, cutting off his abilities. When Mare attempts to free Cal, Kilorn locks her inside, as well. (Cut to us being like, what the actual hell, Kilorn?!) It turns out, however, that Kilorn was only pretending to betray Mare to fool the Colonel. He later breaks them out, and Mare, Cal, Shade, Kilorn, and Captain Farley escape into one of the Scarlet Guard’s Blackrun jets to set off on their mission of finding other Newbloods. An escape plan for the books, honestly.
• The First Newblood: The crew tracks down Nix Marsten, who immediately recognizes Cal and attacks him, revealing his impenetrability. Nix is old but pretty feisty, and vows to join the Scarlet Guard. Later, our group breaks into the Security Center in Harbor Bay to locate Newbloods in the surrounding area—namely Ada Wallace, our girl Cameron Cole, and Wolliver Galt. Mare & co. narrowly escape Silver Officers while trying to find Wolliver, only to make a disturbing discovery: they were too late, and they find his dead body hanging in a town square. To make matters worse (because they can’t catch a break), Maven shows up with a Sounder, a terrible machine that uses Mare’s lightning ability against her. She is left scarred with lightning burns. Maven also brands the letter M into her skin which is almost too messed up for words.
• The Notch: Mare wakes up at their new home base in forest called “the Notch.” When Cal sees Maven’s brand, he promises he’ll never let Maven hurt her again. Cal and Mare kiss (!!!) and Mare gives us the quote we could recite in our sleep because it still gives us chills: “If I am a sword, I am a sword made of glass, and I feel myself beginning to shatter.” But since this is a rebellion, there’s still actual work to be done. While at the Notch, Cal has taken up the task of training the Newbloods, including those we introduced to you above.
• Maven’s Letters: Harrick, a Newblood who can alter others’ perception, disguises Mare and some other rebels so they can sneak into a house in Templyn where more Newbloods are supposed to live. Upon arrival, the house is empty and Mare is horrified to find a dead baby with a note from Maven clutched in its hand, promising that he will keep killing Newbloods unless Mare surrenders to him. Mare finds a second note on another recruitment mission, in which Maven assures her that any Silvers still loyal to Cal are “being dealt with.” Oh, and he creepily signs each note with “Until we meet again.” We maintain that this will never not be disturbing.
• Jon, the Eye: Mare & crew arrive at a deserted village where they meet Jon, a powerful newblood Eye who can see the entire future. Jon tells them that Maven and Queen Elara are holding Newbloods and Silver dissenters (including Julian and Sara Skonos, a friend of Julian and the late Queen Coriane) captive with Silent Stone at Corros Prison. Elara wants to study and manipulate the Newbloods to use them to her advantage, so Jon says she must be stopped. No one knows whether to trust Jon, but Mare decides they must take the risk and try to free the prisoners. Jon refuses to join the band of Newblood rebels, but does suggest they make a pit stop at Little Sword Lake where they might find something useful.
• Cameron Cole: That something turns out to be a someone—Cameron Cole. Cameron wants to go to the Choke to save her brother, who has been deployed there with a legion of other young soldiers to fight in the war (basically a death sentence, as we know). But Mare forces Cameron to join her crew since she has insider knowledge of Corros. Cameron is our favorite feisty new character and doesn’t take s#&t from anyone, even Mare.
• The Battle at Corros Prison: AKA, when All Hell Breaks Loose. Here’s your highlight reel:
• Nanny transforms into Maven and everyone else waltzes into Corros dressed as masked Sentinels. Our disguised crew is surprised to hear that Queen Elara is there, and their refusal to see her sparks suspicion with the Silver Captain in charge.
• Mare creates a diversion and Cameron makes her first kill, taking out all of the guards blocking their way to the command center. The group splits up to free the Newbloods.
• Mare and Cal find Julian and Sara, and Julian uses his ability as a Singer to get a guard to release the rest of the Silver prisoners.
• Outside, Ara Iral (an imprisoned Silver) is fighting Magnetron Ptolemus Samos—Evangeline’s brother. Mare gets caught in the crosshairs and fights back. Ptolemus sends a needle of metal at Mare at the same time that Shade teleports in front of her. The needle pierces Shade’s heart and he drops dead. End scene and cue uncontrollable sobbing.
• The Aftermath: On the jet back to Tuck, Mare is sitting next to two dead bodies—Shade and Queen Elara, who Mare electrocuted to death before leaving Corros (the Queen is dead, long live the Queen, or whatever.) Farley, who was in love with Shade, blames Mare and Jon for not preventing Shade’s death. Then, Cal essentially calls Mare a monster after witnessing her coldblooded killings in Corros, and accuses her of still having feelings for Maven since he learns she held onto all his letters. Trouble in paradise?
• Starting a Civil War: Back on Tuck, Mare wants to incite a civil war. She records a video telling the truth about Newbloods and encouraging others to join the Scarlet Guard and Rise, Red as the Dawn. She holds up Elara’s decapitated head (good lord) to show the strength of the Scarlet Guard, and reveals that Maven has been imprisoning Silvers. Basically, don’t mess with her.
• Imprisoned, again: Mare plans to lead a team to the Choke to rescue the young soldiers. At Shade’s funeral, Farley hints that she’s pregnant (WITH SHADE’S BABY!) and won’t be coming on the mission. As the team is flying to the Choke, their plane is ambushed and begins plummeting to the ground. They find themselves surrounded by Maven and the Magnetrons of House Samos. Mare strikes a deal with Maven: she will be his prisoner, if everyone else goes free.
• Kneel or Bleed: As a prisoner in the capitol, Mare is paraded in chains and presented to Maven. He points to the ground in front of him, and Glass Sword ends with the words “I kneel.”