This one was a full-scale marathon 🤯. We clearly came in hot for this bad boy. Trevor & Wesley discuss their thoughts on Pierce's story telling abilities, uncover (coincidental?) overlap between the Red Rising Trilogy & the Marvel Universe, relive their favorite scenes from the book, and provide a tweak to the story's final plot twist that Trevor believes would have made the ending even MORE epic. If you can make it through this chunker of an episode, let us know your thoughts in the comments!
⚠️SPOILER ALERT ⚠️ This episode, like almost all of our eps, is chock full of spoilers. So pretty please read the book before watching (unless you're a gluten for spoilers, in which case, watch away!).
Timestamps:
00:00 Behind the scenes shenanigans
00:39 Intro
02:40 Plan for this episode!
03:48 Trevor gushing over Brandon Sanderson (per usual)
04:46 Wesley’s 3 words to describe Morning Star
05:59 Trevor’s 3 words
07:40 How Trevor felt reading this book 😂
08:18 Was the end a little cliche?
10:35 Our thoughts on why Pierce is an excellent storyteller
12:20 Setting Roque up as an antagonist
13:36 Morning Star felt less “busy” than Golden Son
14:04 Small scale battles vs. large scale battles
16:11 Darrow’s self-confidence shattering
17:36 Right sizing the ego of a strong headed protagonist
19:23 Red Rising & Morning Star had immediate emotional intros
20:35 Play-by-play of Morning Star
21:15 How to pronounce “Aja”
21:37 Trevor’s thoughts on Aja as a character
24:10 Victra!
29:24 Pierce doesn’t do a ton of world building, which made “the carving” more important
30:14 She betrayed Darrow 😡
31:16 It was an important detail for Pierce to include the Red Legion
32:03 What happens to Harmony?
32:32 Quicksilver
34:09 The importance of Sevro & Darrow’s power struggle
37:45 More on Quicksilver
40:07 Quicksilver & Sons of Ares from Marvel a coincidence or deliberate?
42:11 Thoughts on Sevro
42:57 Darrow & Sevro fight scene (these intimate scenes make the series)
46:34 Trevor’s evolving thoughts on Mustang
48:28 Aligning with the Valkyrie
50:45 The ambush on Cassius & Aja
52:19 Ragnar was 551 lbs 😳
54:00 Sefi, Ragnar, and the Obsidian propaganda
57:00 Start of Part 3 plot synopsis and commentary
57:59 Wesley’s skepticism of Sefi & Obsidians remains
01:00:23 The Jackal’s master plan
01:01:09 Cassius’ motives
01:03:49 Romulus, Roque & Darrow’s political stand off
01:08:14 Darrow, the howlers, and his armada take on Roque
01:09:04 Roque meets his maker
01:09:30 Wesley’s final thoughts on Roque
01:12:05 Antonia goes AWOL
01:13:36 What does “Morning Star” mean?
01:14:43 Romulus is a wild card for future books?
01:15:23 Darrow & Cassius
01:16:38 Darrow gives Cassius the Holocube
01:17:36 Darrow interrogating Antonia & Thistle
01:20:13 Narol’s passing inspires Sefi and low colors to uprise & Sevro deescalates it in dramatic fashion
01:22:11 The Jackal was truly isolated
01:24:13 Teasing Sevro’s a 2nd demise left us SHOOK
01:24:38 What Trevor thinks Pierce could have done to improve the final plot twist
01:27:58 Where’s the Pegasus Pendant (explosive) that Darrow had planned to use at the Gala in Golden Son?
01:29:49 The final showdown against Aja and Octavia
01:32:42 Darrow handles the Jackal and learns from his mistake at the Institute
01:33:23 Why Cassius flipped, reason for holocube revealed
01:34:34 The Ash Lord, little Lysander & remaining falling action
01:37:29 Daddy Darrow!
01:38:25 Wesley’s rating of Morning Star
01:39:17 Trevor’s rating
01:41:28 What we’re doing next!
#booktube #podcast #redrising #booktok #books #bookrecommendations #bookreview
