Chapter 60: Darrow: The Weight of Guilt

Summary

• Darrow is led to his trial before the Daughters of Ares, feeling the weight of his guilt and reflecting on his time in chains.
• The trial is heavily attended by around seven thousand armed rebels, including various color-coded societal classes who hide their sigils as a sign of unity.
• Aurae, a character associated with the rebels, tells Darrow that the original Daughters have lost kin in a purge and now even Athena, once a preacher of forgiveness, carries a gun.
• Darrow, feeling a mix of fear and responsibility, attempts to empathize with their resentment while recalling his past arrogance and contempt towards senators on Luna.
• A young Brown girl makes a gun gesture at Darrow, symbolizing the contempt and anger of the younger generation who have never seen him as a hero.
• Darrow acknowledges Aurae's sadness and inquires about her love for Diomedes, who is also present and chained on the stage.
• Aurae discusses love, duty, and the possibility of convincing Athena and Diomedes to help evacuate the population on Europa but acknowledges that their lives are in the hands of the Daughters of Ares.
• Athena, atop the stage, removes the golden cloak from Darrow in disgust and lists his numerous grave charges, including collaboration with the enemy and mass homicide.
• Darrow makes eye contact with Sevro in the crowd, feeling the burden of their strained relationship and the cost of his decisions.
• When asked to plead, Darrow admits his guilt openly to the assembly, reflecting on his past actions, his belief in the dream of Eo, and expressing regret over betraying his comrades.
• Darrow gives a poignant speech detailing the principle of unity and the necessity of living up to the ideal of freedom, encouraging the rebels to learn from his mistakes and to act better than he did.
• He advocates for cooperation instead of division, asking the rebels to consider saving lives rather than acting out of fear and self-interest.
• Darrow concludes his speech by describing his realization that being able to do bad things for a greater good was a blessing, urging the rebels not to surrender to fear and to recognize their collective strength and shared dream of freedom.
• Following his speech, Diomedes faces his own charges and speaks about the failure of Golds to uphold the contract of providing security and stability, suggesting that the lowColors take back what is due to them.