Iron Gold

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of war, death, addiction, and racism.

Darrow of Lykos is one of the four protagonists and narrators of Iron Gold, following the events of the Red Rising series that depicts his rebellion against the Society and ascension to power. At the beginning of the novel, he describes himself as “tall and broad. Thicker at my age of thirty-three than I was in my youth. Stronger and more brutal in my build and movement. […] These Gold eyes and hair feel more my own than those of that boy who lived in the mines of Lykos” (4). Originally an enslaved Red from Mars, Darrow was later genetically modified to become a Gold and is now the ArchImperator of the Solar Republic.

After becoming the leader of the Rising, the rebellion that gave birth to the Solar Republic in Red Rising, Darrow is now married to Virginia, the Sovereign of the Republic. They have a son, Pax, who is 10 years old. Darrow loves his family and yearns for a peaceful life with them. However, he has only ever known conflict and now regrets not spending enough time with his wife and son: “In my youth I was consumed with the fever of war.