Golden Son

As the setting reverts to the Pax in this section, the author demonstrates the scope of the world of the story as Darrow’s forces travel toward the meeting location. Their travel represents a transitory stage in the plot, as they move from the action on Europa to the coming action of rescuing Augustus from Ganymede. Tension is increased by Pliny’s betrayal; he is disloyal and opportunistic, chasing power to keep himself safe, reinforcing the stakes of the narrative. With Augustus captured, Darrow must free him before he can carry on with his plans, feeling he needs a powerful Gold figurehead to gain widespread support. Both the external tension in the plot and the internal tension in Darrow’s character arc are expressed in Darrow’s growing openness toward his friends as well as the lowColors he encounters. Transitioning from The Isolation of Living a Lie and the skepticism of one always on his guard, Darrow moves toward a place of connection, comradeship and trust, which necessitates pushing back against the social conditioning of the Society. Darrow trusts Orion (a Blue) to command the ship, he trusts Cyther (an Orange) to salvage Mustang’s ship and misdirect Pliny, and he trusts Ragnar (a Stained Obsidian) with his origin story. He extends loyalty and trust to Victra, whose family has sided with Octavia. Darrow’s perspective on Augustus shifts when he learns that Augustus has nightmares about robots. The minor detail humanizes Augustus in Darrow’s eyes. Although Darrow knows Golds are not superior to other Colors in reality, he still struggles against the psychological conditioning he experienced as a Red to view himself as less. Similar social conditioning is also apparent in Ragnar’s reaction to their conversation about freedom. Society has manipulated all of the Colors in order to control them, forcing them to perform their designated social roles.

To overcome A Society Built on Oppression and Exploitation, Darrow must reject his own conditioned instincts and support others in overcoming their own. The author uses Ragnar’s character arc to explore this unlearning of social conditioning. Darrow’s delegations attract attention from the other characters, including Orion and Lorn. Orion suggests Darrow has “overstepped” in placing lowColors in positions of authority, and Lorn argues the separation of the Colors serves a purpose. Their remarks reflect the ideology of the Society that they have been conditioned to support. They believe they are working to fight against a corrupt Sovereign to save the Society; they don’t know that Darrow’s mission is to destroy the Society and ensure freedom for all the Colors. Ragnar’s incredulous reaction to Darrow’s offer of freedom reflects the Society’s conditioning of Obsidians, spearheaded, enforced, and perpetuated by the Golds. Obsidians and Stained are physically large and powerful. To control them and keep them subservient, the Golds manipulate Obsidians into believing Golds are gods, withholding basic necessities for survival until the lowColors are dependent on them and view them as benevolent. As Darrow observes, “We sow famine, then descend with food. We send plagues, then bless them with Yellows to heal their sick and cure their blind” (296). As such, it’s counterintuitive for Ragnar to assert independence until Darrow forces autonomy upon him by refusing to engage in oppressive behavior, positioning autonomy and the freedom to choose as the opposite of oppression and exploitation.

By revealing the truth to Ragnar, Darrow further rejects The Isolation of Living a Lie by expanding the circle of those who know his true identity one by one. He now shares his moral burden with Sevro and Ragnar. The act of revealing the truth to Ragnar points to the previous conversation between Augustus and his supporters about supplying a motive to inspire support. Darrow aims to inspire Ragnar to embrace autonomy and willingly support Darrow by providing him motivation to escape oppression in an attempt to secure his loyalty.

Darrow’s personal feelings for Mustang as well as her proximity to Augustus raise the stakes of trusting her with his secret, making the question of whether Darrow will tell her the truth central to their romantic arc. Instead of berating Darrow for delegating power, Mustang uses it to argue that Darrow also has the freedom of autonomy: “You who let an Orange give strategic recommendations. You who gives command of your ship to a Docker and keeps an entourage of bronzies? […] If you’re going to tell everyone else they can choose their destiny, then you damn well better do the same” (290). Mustang’s attitude toward Darrow’s unconventional leadership choices as well as the substance of her written dissertations criticizing the Society suggest that she’s ideologically aligned with Darrow’s clandestine mission, yet he hesitates to trust her with his secrets. Darrow isn’t forced into leading the rebellion; it’s a choice that he continues to make, yet he doesn’t explain this to Mustang. Darrow’s hesitance injures their relationship as he remains guarded with Mustang despite her pleas for honesty and vulnerability.