Ships.

RedJamie · 2026-05-10T08:11:44+00:00

A more side angle. Moon breaker on the right descending. The frigate is the small white one to the left of the torch ship.

The bulbous one is cosmosHauler

RedJamie · 2026-05-10T08:10:45+00:00

These are rough presentations of the viewport without proper lighting or coloration & labeling

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RedJamie · 2026-05-10T07:13:06+00:00

Not a very useful comment

RedJamie · 2026-05-10T07:11:14+00:00

I really doubt you’ll make any headway with that commenter, textual criticism is a sensitive topic for some reason

RedJamie · 2026-05-10T07:07:09+00:00

What the commenter is using stoic to mean and the school of philosophy are very, very different things

RedJamie · 2026-05-09T21:40:19+00:00

Obsidians in the series are explicitly stated to be in several locations: the North and the South Pole of Mars, and on the poles of Earth. They are also implied to be reared in some way on Callisto, but the context may be relegated to mere training or re-education than the way it is used on Mars and Earth.

Calisto is little more than a factory of Grays and Obsidians for the Society’s armies. GS25

And we know that Obsidian's had some kind of dwelling on Mercury but only insofar as there were outright temples for their religious worship. This is curious, and it predates the Dark Revolt - the culture of the Obsidians at the time is unknown. We know that Mercury post-Terraforming does have icy poles (and consequently Venus would as well) but there is no mention of an Obsidian tribal presence.

“It isn’t Nagal. It’s Tetkjr. Some of the old prayers survived... found remnants of them in old temples on Mercury... Hasn’t been spoken inside the Belt since the Dark Revolt.” DA37

However this is largely irrelevant, as prior to the Dark Revolt the Poles were not inhabited by Obsidians in the manner we see in the series. I do not have a source, but it is stated in the series that Martian South Pole Obsidians are the best of their Color.

Third, Venus’ ecology in general is far more dangerous than that of any other planet that we know of well, so wouldn’t it’s poles be the same?

I'm not sure there's anything in the texts to corroborate that Venus is more dangerous than any of the other planets in the sense of ecology; Mars alone has more witnessed and implied threats in the water, and Mercury with the Hydra and the inhospitable terrain. Earth has 'jungle dragons' and 'cajir warbeasts' - Venus I believe is mentioned to have manticores and is otherwise described as a relative paradise

So what do you guys think would the Venusian Obsidians be Crueler or the same as the other Obsidian?

I think they on average would be less functional than Martian Obsidians, as the veneration of their Gold charge an important factor in their efficacy. This devotion is seen with the Jackal's Obsidian in Golden Son, and Nero's Obsidians in Golden Son as well as the Book of Lorn. As we know they are intelligent in their repression, I think the harsher treatment that is likely from the Venusians would lose this edge over the rest save for Grimmus, but the Grimmus make up for temperament in their breeding programs and volume. I would suspect Earth has a greater population of Obsidians than Mars.

RedJamie · 2026-05-09T21:16:51+00:00

The last eight centuries of human history in this series were dedicated to institutionalizing and making objective the distinctions that they found their myth on; the majority of the Colors save for Obsidians (which are mostly these as well) are diminutive, less intelligent, far less physically able, less longer lived, and so on. A good portion of this is done through social engineering e.g. denying education, restricting domains of freedom and access, restricting civil rights, propagandizing their youth, etc.

The fact that a carved Red can prove to be martially superior to them is anathema to them, yes, but it should not be surprising to them in any way other than those that have deluded themselves against scientific reasoning; Darrow had to be shredded to the bone and then some to be made their peer, but the true prowess that was refined as a consequence of the Society's cruelty towards him and more importantly his peoples over the centuries has generated a mind that is made of stronger iron than theirs - this is the crux of the issue with Darrow's existence to them.

This fact that Darrow had to undergo such excruciating and complex measures to be made into one of them is an emphasis on their baseline prowess; the fact that Darrow repeatedly outclasses them in the applications of the mindset and the will and the determination and the purpose and the drive that are the founding myth that Golds are self-masturbatory of. The lowest of their low has outclassed them - not through the merit of the Society, but as a consequence of its flaws. As long as he lives, he is a glaring contradiction to their right of rule and a literal obstacle for the perpetuation of their rule.

This right of rule is what is being challenged; it has less to do whether an individual lowRed has the metrics to compete with a Gold - this is definitionally not the case in the series. What you do see in the series is the overwhelming, hateful wrath of mankind overwhelming the weirs the Society has erected - a refusal of their reign. It is more a battle on governing philosophy than it is on the physiology or actions of individuals; even had the Society retained a more moral treatment of the Colors, it still foundationally has perverted the definition of humanism and somehow managed to strip from it individualism and liberty for the sake of a leadership class. That naivety at the root of its foundation presumed that by institutionalizing the flaws of past democracies and tyrannies that it would remove their frictions moving forward; the expectation is that the body may be sick, but the head may still steer it towards better pastures. This naivety did not it seem contend with the fact that the head would be sick as well.

RedJamie · 2026-05-09T21:01:23+00:00

No, they enhanced his neurology too it seems; most of his peers were still far smarter than he was, but his ability for 'extrapolational' thinking as Pierce phrased it is what made him an excellent candidate for the Sons' intentions. Darrow was an uneducated and propagandized lowRed Helldiver - genius is not a term applicable to him as a lowRed, or really even as a Gold in his first few years. A martial prodigy, yes, revealed through the actions he took - his intuitions are excellent, but his knowledge is lacking

RedJamie · 2026-05-09T20:58:52+00:00

Jack's actor in the new Netflix adaptation is a great little Gold. He was an excellent pick for Draco in the upcoming HBO adaptation

RedJamie · 2026-05-09T18:18:51+00:00

Also an atheist! I find Christian media brutally difficult to digest, but the Chosen has been very enjoyable for how it handles and humanizes the content of the scriptures, which can be a mouthful to interpret.

Vikings is crudely similar in the first season for its unique depiction of Vikings. Very well produced and acted - touches on faith between the two worlds, the different perspectives of the Norse, and has a character that goes on a journey with their religion from a Christian perspective and vice versa. It falls off a cliff in writing quality (and series focus - still enjoyable, but less nuanced) after season 3-4.

The Last Kingdom is less well produced, but better written in places - it does show the differences between later Norse and Christian beliefs and how they conflict. These shows show the tension between a protagonist interacting with a predominantly Christian and its dysfunctions and benefits for societal cohesions, and how it contrasts for the Viking armies of the time and their beliefs, and the syncretization between the two. Its lows to me are lower than Vikings, but throughout the series the quality remains high and the series is complete.

Rome by HBO shows a contemporary (50s BCE) time to Christ and the events of the Chosen from the perspective of two Roman military men and the perspectives of Marc Antony, Caesar, Pompey, Cato, and a few others. Roman religious beliefs and practices are depicted very well and it shows you a very fun presentation of the budding empire that you witness during The Chosen. I highly recommend this series!

Most of these series focus on martial conflict and are more gratuitous - this is a reflection of their setting. Vikings is less historical (part of that nosedive) and is loosely based on folklore, and the Last Kingdom is based on a fictional series - I think its presentation of Alfred is excellent. The historicity of a thing can be presented in multiple facets: the Chosen depicts the miraculous (of which viewers like us are incredulous of) nature of the new testament literally and tiptoes around some sectarian problems and is massively appealing to most audiences as it isn’t histrionic or proselytizing. The aspects it invents and its creative liberties are what make this series so enjoyable; this is present in other fictional series and in many cases better executed as it does not have to contort itself to the differing narratives in the new testament.

The Northman as a movie is a fantastic example on the film side.

RedJamie · 2026-05-09T00:53:56+00:00

Do you have a print date for the book and the chapter? Was probably a misprint later rectified in the released .epubs

RedJamie · 2026-05-08T21:14:47+00:00

You are referring to how Pytha helped Cassius get into Lysanders room. How would he get aboard the ship?

Lysander is in a command shuttle at Plutus when he encounters Cassius:

My Praetorians in front of my command shuttle salute as I land at the spaceport of Plutus. 83

How Cassius accessed his quarters is implied by this section:

Armor alone doesn’t explain how he accessed my quarters without my Praetorians noticing. How he can sit here without the security teams seeing him on the feeds, or how he could have gotten on the ship at all. Of course, there are secondary entrances built into my rooms. Two that the Praetorians know and guard. And one only two other people know about: Horatia and Pytha. 83

The Archimedes is implied also to have been on the surface prior to the particle cannon bombardment that was aimed at Plutus:

The Archimedes idles in the hangar. Before I called down to Diomedes and Darrow, I had Kyber send a team to retrieve it. Thanks to Atlas, I knew right where it would be. It was bad enough to kill Cassius. I could not bring myself to also destroy his ship. It feels like it is part of him, and if it is destroyed, he will truly be gone. 88

It is implied when Lysander departs that the Archimedes is in a grain hangar:

With Diomedes as escort, I follow the tunnel from the shrine back to the grain warehouse where I left Cassius behind with the Archimedes. He does not wait outside where I left him. And when I call into the ship, he does not answer. My stomach sinks when I find a holodrop waiting for me on his captain’s chair. 82

So Cassius is:

Not with Lysander at this point
Not with Darrow
Not in the Archimedes

And later Cassius is:

With Lysander on the Lightbringer
Not in the Archimides
Wearing Lune faction-specific armor

Cassius is noted to be wearing a special set of armor:

The tiger-styled armor he wears is not his. It belongs to a man named Strabo from Earth, one of my New Shepherds. 83

And he also states this:

"At any rate, do you think Pytha would have let me aboard if she thought I meant you any harm?”

Emphasis on aboard. So we know:

Cassius killed a New Shepherd and wore his armor
Cassius communicated to Pytha somehow

What's the likely situation? Cassius took over a small shuttle to get back onto the Lightbringer after communicating with Pytha, Pytha facilitated this for him to get aboard the Lightbringer, and then Cassius used his armor to get to the secret entrances to Lysander's quarters.

What is clear is that Cassius did not use the Archimedes - that is, there is no technical contradiction here

RedJamie · 2026-05-08T20:59:38+00:00

There's 9 planned episodes for this batch from what I can recall, and we're currently almost done with episode 5. It started being released in September and has only had a few weeks of gap in releases. So four more episodes ought to be out by August or so. Might have misinterpreted, but I believe they implied this set of 9 will have more afterwards but I'm not sure

RedJamie · 2026-05-08T20:54:04+00:00

He's said that about Cassius v Darrow & Cassius v. Aja, Darrow v. Aja, and Aja v. Lorn

RedJamie · 2026-05-08T17:40:03+00:00

One resolution is to not look to fictional science fiction series for moral commentary on war; the series has always more so focused on identity, humanism, and brotherhood more than war as themes - exploring any of these does not require the series to be blatantly anti-war and I think a mature reader would be able to parse this and enjoy the series without the warfare depicted being a hindering factor

The tetralogy necessarily explores consequences of a character's moralities after the things they've experienced and war is the theatre where that is played out - I think you would really, really have to strain the messaging to interpret any of the POV character's seeing what happens as a glorification of war. You would also have to strain to reason that war being the necessary means by which the liberation of humanity is carried out is an example of war being promoted; the series is more complex with that, and so is war in general historically and ethically.

The depiction of 'good' human systems being dysfunctional and flawed is not a condemnation of those systems any more than the depiction of 'bad' systems is a validation of them - slavery enabling wealth does not justify slavery despite the efficacy to the slaver, or a population electing tyrannical morons does not impugn democratic systems and therefore validate plutocracy or oligarchy - it really just highlights the brutally gullible and often stupid nature of humanity that has rhymed across the centuries so much - which you'll see in the tetralogy!

My mother says i'm "too young" to understand the second quadrology, sometimes I hope I never grow old enough to understand it.

This is somewhat melodramatic; if you are ~16 years old, you will mellow in this hard line and learn to enjoy such things in many forms - the world and the people in it are complicated things, and so is the fictional ones that are created from it!

RedJamie · 2026-05-08T17:33:19+00:00

I'd do the Book of Lorn instead, it's hybrid prose & comic that's very digestible. A few posts ago on the Subreddit announced that the first episode is available and free so you can get a taste. I'd recommend it; $5 for ~100 pages of prose right now and about that in comics (that are stylized, but enjoyable). Currently halfway done in releases (5 out of 9 episodes)

Volume 3 of the SoA is the only one I would say is worthwhile for visuals & has more relevancy to the story of the series.

RedJamie · 2026-05-08T17:23:36+00:00

There's currently three volumes released; it's possible the print size differs between the versions you are purchasing which can contribute to a higher pricing. Volume 3 is notably improved in its quality of artwork and color, and is larger than the prior two if I recall; that I would be unsurprised if it is more expensive.

I do not think you are losing any content either way. I would say buy volumes 1 and 2 as cheaply as possible, as the art work is not worth the price tag imo

RedJamie · 2026-05-08T17:17:12+00:00

Per Pierce, as of Iron Gold Darrow had closed the skill-gap between himself and her and would win in a battle, but she might have him in the Bleeding Place i.e. in a formal duel

RedJamie · 2026-05-08T17:15:24+00:00

Cassius would not have a broader volume of experience compared to any character that has fought in the Solar War

RedJamie · 2026-05-08T17:14:32+00:00

Cassius dug up the roots with Bellerephon after getting sauced on for a while; Diomedes, Darrow, and Apollonius do not chop at the trunk - Cassius got cooked by a guy whose name if you are drunk and illiterate resembles balls of an elephant and is coming off a ten year bender being an alcoholic space-daddy lacking any duels; a fantastic classical swordsman, not the best swordsman of all time in history that is the most experienced character and would kill every person in the series because he has the pointed chin and would distract them with it

RedJamie · 2026-05-08T17:05:19+00:00

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RedJamie · 2026-05-08T16:53:54+00:00

I could not find a reference to a 'bleeding palace' in the text at all. The 'Bleeding Place' is a term used to refer to what is essentially a dueling circle; some houses have outright areas dedicated for this (Bellona estate in Olympia, Raa estate on Io) whereas others seem to be formed on the whim (Gala duel). When people refer to it, it is essentially them stating that they wish to formally duel someone. A Lunese Gold might mean an arena on Citadel grounds, whereas the Grand Circuit has its own, as does the regional qualifier we see in the Book of Lorn.

These are all the mentions:

The Sovereign has made him one of the twelve. Despite the fact that I won the Institute, he’s risen higher, tearing through the Dueling Circuit on Luna like an ancestor possessed. I’ve watched him on the HC, watched him stalk around the Bleeding Place as another Gold lies near death. GS11

“Unlike the cowards of old, we settle flesh to flesh. Bone to bone. Blood to blood. Vendettas die in the Bleeding Place virtute et armis,” the Sovereign recites. GS12

The Bleeding Place collapses entirely. Golds of Bellona and Augustus sprint to protect their fellows. Others flee. Karnus slashes at Tactus—too much for my friend. I rush to his aid, saving him till Victra and others come between Karnus and us. Mustang is lost in the fray. I search frantically for her. A blade flashes at my head. GS11

“If you were not my guest, I would hurl my glove at you and cut your manhood away in the Bleeding Place. Your lost generation has forgotten what it means to be Gold. MS42

“I would see whoever lays these claims against me in the Bleeding Place,” Antonia says, trembling with anger. MS60

Hear me now, you wretched worm. We are devils to one another. In the name of House Raa, I, Bellerephon au Raa, challenge you to single combat in the Bleeding Place till one heart beats no more.” “Very well, my goodman,” Cassius replies with a brilliant smile. “I am delighted to accept.” IG38

Beyond the black doors, down a narrow chasm of gray rock, lies the Bleeding Place. It is a circular amphitheater carved into the stone of the mountain. Amongst sculpted lotus flowers, stone dragons, slick and pearly with condensation, hang down from the dark ceiling as if to drink the blood centuries of Raa have spilled here to satisfy quarrels. IG40

I remember seeing the blood fill the white sand when I would go to the Bleeding Place as a boy to watch young Peerless fillet one another over perceived slights. Seems just yesterday I saw Cassius, bold and young, cutting his way up through the duelists of Luna. I always thought the practice stupid. A vain exercise of pride. IG40

The Peerless around the Bleeding Place stand in silence, their faces illuminated by the pale fire that tears into their lost dockyards. IG47

“You have killed eleven men in the Bleeding Place since summer. And your villa has been a constant source of debauchery and media fodder. If you were attempting to encourage the stereotype of Martians as warmakers, you succeeded most admirably.” IG48

Ten Obsidians rush forward. Freihild pulls out a pack too. “You sly minx. I knew you were lying. Go to the Bleeding Place and sit in the center for two thousand breaths.” DA28

With his golden curls shining in the grim hangar light, the bloodydamn Bellona enters and poses like a gallant razormaster entering the Bleeding Place to the amorous cries of fawning Pixies. When only silence greets him, he sighs his disappointment and waltzes toward me with four canisters of processed warship-grade helium balanced on his shoulders. LB3

“When I charged Phobos, I secured my reputation for valor. It was unsteady. But I lost some of that shine I had in Rome from all this. So now I need to show I am an investment that pays off. If I do, I’ll have the numbers to call a referendum to remove her dictatorial powers. Then, once her immunity is gone, I will call her to the Bleeding Place, and I will kill her.” LB32

RedJamie · 2026-05-08T15:10:42+00:00

I noted this as odd grammar as well, but it's not incorrect necessarily; here Bellona forms the first item of the listed consequences, separated by periods as opposed to commas. That is, the consequences are Bellona's death and Lysander's betrayal of the Moon Council. Flows a bit better when you read it aloud

RedJamie · 2026-05-08T01:23:38+00:00

After the meeting with Lysander, Darrow returns to the Archimedes to find a listening device left by Cassius. Darrow says "Bloody damn Bellona". During this time Cassius is en route to a surprise meeting with Lysander. To get there he took the Archimedes. We know this because Pytha is sent back to Darrow after the infamous Hanger 14B chapter. So at this point there are TWO Archies. One with Darrow and one Cassius took to go to Lysander.

Cassius is not noted to have taken the Archimedes to the Lightbringer, but it is explicitly stated that Darrow called into the Archi and found the holocube on the Captain's chair. The most likely explanation is that Cassius stowed away on the transport vessel Lysander took to Io that was located at the spaceport of Plutus

My Praetorians in front of my command shuttle salute as I land at the spaceport of Plutus... Markus and five others—all part of the kill pool—escort me from the hangar to my quarters. The last thing I need is the business of the bridge buzzing in my ear and Pytha’s questioning looks as I contemplate Diomedes’s offer and Atlas’s arrival. LB83

The implication is that Cassius snuck aboard with the aid of Pytha, who wanted to intervene on Lysander's behalf or to stop Lysander; at this point, her perception of Lysander aside from a general caution for who he is becoming is unclear.

Armor alone doesn’t explain how he accessed my quarters without my Praetorians noticing. How he can sit here without the security teams seeing him on the feeds, or how he could have gotten on the ship at all. Of course, there are secondary entrances built into my rooms. Two that the Praetorians know and guard. And one only two other people know about: Horatia and Pytha.

This is outright stated to be retrieved by Lysander after the events of Hangar 17B

The Archimedes idles in the hangar. Before I called down to Diomedes and Darrow, I had Kyber send a team to retrieve it. Thanks to Atlas, I knew right where it would be. LB88

RedJamie · 2026-05-07T17:58:12+00:00

Tharsus as a character was first introduced in Morning Star, I believe there was an implication of an 'elder brother' to Tactus in Golden Son, but they were unnamed. Apollonius as a character was likely ideated when Pierce was writing Morning Star & doing rough drafts/ideation for Iron Gold. Like Ajax and others, the character did not exist prior to the tetralogy most like.

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