Work Text:
743 PCE
March:
Monday, March 05:
- The Sword Armada seizes control of Calisto, leaving Io and Ganymede as the last strongholds of the Second Moon Lords' Rebellion.[01]
Tuesday, March 06:
- Theodora receives word from one of her informants that Cassius and Aja are collecting Darrow from Attica.[01]
Friday, March 09:
- Darrow is released from the Jackal's table and cleaned for transport back to Luna.[01]
- Harmony and Trigg rescue Darrow and help him free Victra.
- Trigg is killed and the Sons of Ares rescue the remainder of the escapees.
Sunday, March 11:
- Darrow wakes up in Tinos and reunites with his family.[01]
Monday, March 12:
- Darrow is brought up to speed on the state of the war and what he's missed while in captivity.[01]
- Darrow convinces Victra to join the Sons of Ares.
~Tuesday, March 13:
- Agents of the Jackal rob a top secret nuclear weapons depot on Asteroid S-1988.[01]
Thursday, March 15:
- Mickey arrives in Tinos to carve Darrow and Victra back into fighting shape.[01]
April:
- After recovering from their Carvings, Darrow and Victra start working out to get themselves combat ready.[02]
June:
- Praetor Antonia au Severus-Julii is dispatched to the Rim to reinforce the Sword Armada.[03]
Friday, June 01:
- Mustang and Kavax leave in secret for Mars to pursue peace negotiations with Octavia.[04]
Friday, June 29:
- Mustang's delegation arrives on Phobos for a secret peace negotiation with the Sovereign, hosted by Quicksilver.
- Darrow, Victra, and Holiday are inducted into the Howlers.[04]
- Darrow and the Howlers smuggle themselves to Phobos.
Saturday, June 30:
- The Howlers infiltrate Quicksilver's tower at 3 A.M. local time and take Matteo prisoner.[04]
- The Howlers discover Quicksilver hosting the peace talks between Mustang's forces and the Sovereign.
- Darrow takes charge of the Howlers after the firefight and organizes the Howlers' escape from the tower.
- Darrow interrogates Kavax and learns that Mustang had attempted to contact Sevro months ago.
- Darrow and Sevro learn that Quicksilver was the Sons of Ares' main financial backer.
- Darrow and Sevro fight over how to lead the rebellion and their plans for Phobos.
- The Battle of Phobos begins when Darrow appears in the Hollows to make his survival public.[04]
- Darrow, Ragnar, Mustang, and Holiday sneak away to the antarctic but are shot down by Cassius.
- Darrow and company take shelter from a blizzard inside the wreckage of Cassius's ship after defeating a tribe of Obsidian cannibals.
July:
Sunday, July 01:
- Darrow, Ragnar, Mustang, and Holiday confront Aja and Cassius in the Martian antarctic.[04]
- Mustang wounds Cassius while Aja kills Ragnar and escapes as Sefi arrives with her Valkyries.
- Sefi brings Darrow, Mustang, and Holiday to the Valkyrie Spires.
- Alia Snowsparrow has Sefi bring Darrow and his friends to Asgard.
- Darrow convinces Sefi to join his cause and help them seize control of Asgard.
- Sefi kills and deposes her mother and rallies her people to join the war against Gold.
Monday, July 09:
- Darrow and company return to Tinos to begin coordinating the migration of Obsidians away from Mars’ south pole.[04]
Tuesday, July 10:
- Darrow finds Mustang and the Telemanuses mingling with his mother and the rest of his family just after midnight.[04]
- Cassius informs Darrow of the Sovereign's secret nuclear weapons depot in the asteroid belt that the Jackal has raided.
- Darrow and his inner circle debate the veracity of Cassius’s claims before Darrow decides on their next course of action.
- The Sons of Ares begin the Obsidian migration while the Red Armada leaves for the Rim.[05]
Wednesday, July 11:
- The Sons of Ares finish the evacuation of Obsidian civilians to Tinos from Mars' south pole.[05]
August:
Saturday, August 04:
- The Jackal executes Narol on camera and begins broadcasting the recording across the solar system.[06]
Saturday, August 18:
- The Red Armada arrives at Ilium.[04]
- Darrow and Mustang convince Romulus au Raa to ally with them and reject Roque's offer of peace.
Sunday, August 19:
- The combined armies of the Rim and the Rising destroy the Sword Armada at the Battle of Ilium.[04]
- Roque commits suicide after he realizes that he's lost the battle.
- Darrow and Victra destroy the Ganymede Dockyards and frame Roque.
Tuesday, August 21:
- Darrow and Romulus discuss the the timetable of the Rising’s departure via hologram.[07]
Friday, August 24:
- With the majority of their preparations complete, the Red Armada departs from the Rim and sails towards the core.[06]
- Darrow holds a funeral for Roque before launching his body toward the sun.
- Darrow and Cassius watch footage from their time at The Institute on Roque's holoCube.
- Darrow gives Cassius the footage that shows the Jackal slaughtering his family.
Saturday, August 25:
- Victra engages Antonia’s fleet in the belt and requests reinforcements.[06]
- Darrow and Sevro arrive with reinforcements to find the Julii fleet under Victra’s control and Kavax freed from the brig.
- Antonia murders Thistle when Darrow and company try to interrogate them.
- Mustang, Darrow, and Sevro come up with their plan to infiltrate Luna.
- Mustang leaves the Pandora to rejoin the main fleet.
- The Red Armada receives a public broadcast of the Jackal murdering Darrow’s uncle Narol, causing tensions to boil over.
Sunday, August 26:
- Darrow, Sevro, Victra, and the Telemanuses arrive aboard the Morning Star to find the Obsidians preparing to hang Cassius.[06]
- Sevro hangs himself alongside Cassius to make a point to the mob and quell the infighting with their Gold allies.
- Victra proposes to Sevro.
September:
Sunday, September 02:
- Sevro and Victra's wedding is held aboard the Morning Star.[08]
October:
- The Sons of Ares garrison at Icarus Base abandon Marcher-1632 to join the Red Armada for its attack on Luna.[09]
Thursday, October 18:
- Octavia declares martial law across all Society territories as the Rising makes its way into the Core.[10]
November:
Sunday, November 04:
- The Red Armada invades Luna.[10]
- Darrow, Mustang, and Sevro infiltrate Octavia's bunker with the help of Cassius.
- Octavia and Aja are killed by Darrow and friends.
- The Jackal begins detonating the stolen nuclear bombs on the surface of Luna before Darrow rips out his tongue.
- The Ash Lord's fleet destroys Lilath's ship to stop the nuclear bombing.
- Mustang marches into the senate and declares herself Sovereign.
- The Ash Lord leads the remaining Gold loyalists toward Mercury to regroup for a counterattack.
Sunday, November 11:
- The Jackal is put on trial and hanged for his crimes.[11]
- Mustang abolishes capital punishment after her brother's execution.[11]
Saturday, November 17:
- Cassius says farewell to Darrow as he departs from Luna with Lysander in tow.[12]
December:
~Monday, December 03-Monday, December 10:
- After securing Luna, Darrow and Mustang take a vacation to Earth, where Mustang finally introduces him to their son Pax.[13]
Sources
[01] Iron Gold establishes that the death of Octavia au Lune occurred in 743 PCE. In Morning Star chapter 59, Cassius tells the Jackal that he was held prisoner by Darrow for four months, and in chapter 37 he states that Darrow’s escape occurred about four months prior to his capture. When asking Darrow about the theft of the nuclear weapons, Cassius reveals that the bombs were stolen “in March, several days after your escape”. This puts the death of Octavia in November 743 and the Battle of Phobos in July. The Jackal indicates in chapter 02 that Darrow had been his prisoner for a total of 12 months – 3 of interrogation, 9 inside the Jackal’s table. This indicates that the end of Golden Son occurred in March 742 PCE.
The fact that the Triumph parade is a reference to the parades that ancient Rome held to celebrate victorious military commanders, combined with Gold’s general obsession with ancient Rome, means that Darrow’s Triumph occurring in March frames the massacre in the garden as an allusion to the assassination of Julius Ceasar on the Ides of March (a.k.a. March 15th) in 44 BC, which in Shakespeare's play about the event occurred soon after Caesar's own Triumph. From this, we can deduce that Darrow’s Triumph occurred on March 15th, 742 PCE. In Dark Age chapter 37, Darrow is specifically stated to have spent 270 days in the Jackal’s table. This indicates that each of the months that the Jackal referred to in MS chapter 02 was 30 days, meaning that his three months of interrogation lasted approximately 90 days. Adding these together means that Darrow’s escape occurred 360 days after the massacre at the Triumph.
MS chapters 08 and 12 establish that Darrow’s escape happened on a Friday, as his debriefing occurs on the third morning after his escape, and Mickey’s impending arrival to re-carve Darrow and Victra is said to be “in three days” and “Thursday.” IG chapter 50 confirms that October 17th, 753 PCE is a Tuesday. This is most likely a meta reference, as Pierce originally planned to release the book in late 2017 before it got delayed until January 2018, and October 17th, 2017 is a Tuesday. Following that logic, we can assume that 752 PCE is a leap year, meaning that 743 will not be. Since we don’t have to worry about adding February 29th, 360 days after March 15th, 742 would be March 10th, 743 PCE. However, calculating the days of the week backwards from October 17th 753 being a Tuesday would make March 10th, 743 a Saturday.
But if we subtract a day so that Darrow's interrogation was eighty-nine days, that would putting Darrow's escape on Friday March 09th, 743 PCE and still put Darrow's internment inside the table three months after March 15th. This means that his debriefing occurred on Monday March 12th and Mickey’s arrival in Tinos on Thursday, March 15th, while Dancer establishes in chapter 08 that they only learned of Darrow's impending transport to Luna five days before the 11th. Meanwhile chapter 10 establishes during Darrow's debriefing on the 12th that Roque's fleet captured Calisto "last week," putting the fall of Calisto on approximately March 5th. And since Cassius only mentions the theft of the nuclear warheads occurring several days after Darrow’s escape, as opposed to a week or more, I’m inclined to assume that the theft of the warheads occurred sometime between the debriefing and Mickey’s arrival, and because week has been used to refer to both 5 and 7 day weeks in the series, I’ve put the theft on Tuesday the 13th just to be safe. Back
[02] Darrow mentions in Morning Star chapter 13 that it’s been two months since he and Victra finished recovering from their carvings and were able to start working out to get themselves back into fighting shape by the time that they’re inducted into the Howlers shortly before the Battle of Phobos. In MS chapter 24, Darrow indicates when he sees Mustang in the hangar as he’s preparing to leave Phobos that their visit to Lykos at the end of Golden Son was fifteen months ago. Darrow’s comments in GS chapter 51 indicate no more than a day or 2 passed between that day and his Triumph, which puts the Battle of Phobos in June 743, meaning that Darrow and Victra would’ve finished their recovery in April. Back
[03] Octavia specifically states in Morning Star chapter 60 that Antonia was conscripted to join Roque’s fleet in June of that year. Back
[04] Cassius mentions in Chapter 37 that as of eight days after the fall of Asgard, March was “about four months ago”, putting the Red Armada’s departure for Ilium in July 743. MS chapter 24 indicates that only three months have passed since Darrow’s escape, putting the Battle of Phobos in June. Darrow, Mustang, Holiday, and Ragnar spent one night on the ice before Ragnar’s death, and Darrow mentions in chapter 27 that they thought that they “could descend and free the Obsidians in one night.” This puts Cassius’s conversation in chapter 37 nine days after the Battle of Phobos. In order for the Battle of Phobos to be in June and Cassius’ conversation to be in July, the Battle of Phobos can’t take place any earlier than June 22nd. However this also means that, since chapter 36 establishes that it’s after midnight when Darrow talks to Cassius, and therefore the beginning of the ninth day post-Asgard, and Darrow says in the meeting that same day that they’ll destroy the Sword Armada in forty days, that the Battle of Ilium cannot take place any later than August 19th, as chapter 47 establishes that the meeting between Darrow, the Moon Lords, and Roque took place on the day before the battle, and Darrow would've needed to spent time negotiating with them and hollowing out Thebe for the battle even before he knew about Roque's presence at the meeting.
During the meeting, Romulus mentions in chapter 41 that Virginia left for the core “two months ago.” Based on the fact that the Red Armada leaving Mars in July had a travel time of about 40 days, Mustang would’ve had to have left within the first week of June, putting the Battle of Phobos in the last week of June. Various chapters in Golden Son indicate that in February and March 742 the travel time between Mars and Jupiter was only a few weeks. So based on the length of time it takes to go from a few weeks’ travel time to 39 days (just about 5 and a half weeks), Virginia woudlve had to have left Jupiter on June 1st, and reached Phobos on June 29th,which would put the Battle of Phobos on June 30th. This fits given that the need for both the Sovereign and Virginia to keep their meeting a secret from the Jackal would mean that their secret peace summit likely occurred shortly after her arrival on Phobos, and MS chapter 15 establishes that it’s 3 AM local time by the time the Howlers infiltrate Quicksilver’s tower after traveling from Mars to Phobos. This puts the fall of Asgard on July 1st, Darrow’s conversation with Cassius on the 10th, and the Battle of Ilium on August 19th. Back
[05] Morning Star chapter 37 establishes that Darrow and company returned to Tinos to oversee preparations for the Obsidian migration. Chapter 39 opens with the ships leaving to begin retrieving the Obsidian civilians from the ice while the warriors are sent to orbit to join the Red Armada. Since Darrow is preparing to leave at the same time, this indicates that the warriors migrated first before the Red Armada left for the Rim. Given that Darrow's conversation with Cassius was just after midnight and the debriefing logically would've occurred shortly after, this indicates that the migration began later that same day. Darrow mentions in chapter 39 that the migration will take twenty-four hours by the time it's done, meaning that the migration will be completed the day after the Red Armada leaves for Jupiter. Back
[06] In Morning Star chapter 54, Darrow refers to the Battle of Ilium as being “the week prior” when he walks in on Cassius being hanged after the publicizing of Narol’s execution. Since the calendars line up to put the day of the battle on a Sunday, this means that the scene of Cassius’s hanging took place sometime between August 26th and September 1st of 743. Darrow’s behavior with Roque’s computer console in MS chapter 50 adds more support for it being the former because his narration makes it seem like this is the first night that he’s spending in Roque’s former stateroom, which would put the funeral on the day they leave Ilium, which chapter 50 places five days after the Battle.
MS chapter 51 takes place “hours after Cassius left” when he and Darrow spent the night drinking and watching the old Institute videos. Since it was most likely late at night when they stopped, this would put their arrival aboard the Pandora on August 25th. MS chapter 53 establishes that it’s “late night ship-time” when they receive the footage of Narol’s execution, and the narration of chapters 51 and 52 imply that it’s the same day as they arrived, given that Darrow mentions in chapter 51 that the rest of the fleet is two days behind, and Victra’s ships are mentioned in chapter 53 as already being on course to rejoin them.
Since chapter 53 establishes that it takes Darrow four hours or less to get back to the Morning Star, this would put his arrival sometime after midnight on August 26th. Since MS chapter 53 says that the time-stamp on the video of Narol’s death puts it “three weeks ago,” this puts Narol’s execution on August 4th, 741. Back
[07] Morning Star chapter 50 establishes that Darrow speaks to Romulus two days after the battle. Back
[08] Morning Star chapter 55 refers to Sevro and Victra's wedding as "seven nights later" after she proposes. Back
[09] In Light Bringer chapter 02, Darrow says that Marcher-1632 was abandoned “eleven years ago, when its garrison joined my fleet in our desperate attack on Luna.” LB chapter 07 establishes that the scene takes place eight months after the Long Night. Dark Age chapters 35 and 58 indicate that a total of approximately five weeks pass between the Battle of the Ladon and the Long Night. Virginia’s speech in DA chapter 18 refers to the battle beginning “on Friday evening last, the third day of the mensis martius.” Mensis Martius refers to the first month of the ancient Roman calendar, meaning that the Battle of Ladon starts on the first Friday of January 754 PCE. This is consistent with how Ephraim accepts a contract with the Obsidians six weeks after his abduction of Pax and Electra, which Lyria’s narration in Iron Gold chapter 35 puts in November 753. IG chapter 50 establishes that Lyria’s first meeting with Ephraim occurred on October 17th, while Ephraim says in IG chapter 31 that he gave her the sleeping gas pendent both a week and a half after that first encounter, as well as three days before the party, meaning that the party would’ve occurred on November 1st, meaning that Ephraim would’ve accepted the contract in mid-December, and he notes in DA chapter 23 that the contract promises that Lyria and Volga will be released in six weeks. All of these details put the Long Night in February 754 PCE, meaning that the opening of Light Bringer is in October of that same year, putting the abandonment of the base in approximately October 743 PCE. Back
[10] Morning Star chapter 57 states that the Red Armada arrives on Luna "two months and three weeks after news of the destruction of the invincible Sword Armada reaches the Core, eight weeks after I proclaimed we sailed on Mars, seventeen days after the Sovreign's declaration of martial law in all Society cities." In MS chapter 59, Cassius establishes that he'd been a prisoner of the Rising for 4 months at that point. Since he was captured in July, this puts the battle on Luna in November. While Darrow is unable to contact the Sons of Ares due to the deep space relays being destroyed by Narol's Pitviper squad, his holo-call with The Jackal during Sevro and Victra's wedding in MS chapter 55 proves that Society forces can still send and recieve transmissions, just on a delay. So the Core would still have received news of the Battle of Ilium's outcome on the same day as the battle, as Darrow indicates in MS chapter 44 that it'll take 34 minutes for his speech at the start of the battle to reach Mars, where Quicksilver and the Sons will "boost the signal to the core."
Darrow's comment in MS chapter 54 that they have forty-nine days to reach their destination would seemingly contradict this, as that adds up to only 7 weeks, which is less than 2 months. However it could also be part of the campaign of counter-intelligence that he mentions in MS chapter 57, with him deliberately spoke of the time it would take to reach Mars in order to avoid giving away their true target to any eavesdroppers. Two months and three weeks can either be 11 weeks or "60 days plus 3 weeks", which puts the death of Octavia on either November 4th or November 8th.
MS chapter 65 establishes that multiple weeks pass after Mustang's ascension to Sovereign, by which point the Ash Lord has retreated to Mercury. Dark Age chapter 18 establishes that the novel’s main events begin on the first Friday of January 754 PCE, by which point the maps have indicated the Solar War is in it’s 11th year. This means that the Ash Lord’s counterattack on Luna mentioned in Iron Gold chapter 18 takes place in January 744 PCE, which indicates that Cassius’ departure and Darrow’s reunion with Pax both take place in December 743 PCE. So earlier in November is the most likely date for the Red Armada's arrival on the moon. Back
[11] Morning Star chapter 64 establishes that Adrius was hung a week after Mustang became Sovereign. Iron Gold chapter 27 reveals that she abolished capital punishment later that same day after her brother’s execution. Back
[12] Darrow says in Morning Star chapter 65 that Cassius left “almost six years to the day” since they first met, and that it's been weeks since Virginia's ascension. Since it was weeks but not a month, this would put their goodbye 2-3 weeks after the death of Octavia. Since their first meeting would be at the Institute's entrance exam, this would put Cassius's departure in late November 743. Based on the fact that RR chapter 16 has Darrow be evaluated by the Board of Quality Control two months after the exam, and then when he gets the results of the evaluation four weeks later, the exam is still two months ago, this indicates that Darrow did the evaluation at the beginning of the second calendar month after the test and receives his results at the end of the month. If the test is in November, the only way this would make sense is if the Board of Quality Control evaluated him in early January 738 and he received his results at the end of the month. This also works with how Dark Age chapter 23 refers to the abduction of Lyria from Luna in Iron Gold chapter 59 as 6 weeks ago, then in DA chapter 24 a few days after chapter 23, Ephraim refers to his kidnapping of Pax and Electra a few days before Lyria's abduction as "two months ago", even though it's technically only been 7 weeks at most. So we can infer a 6-7 week jump between Darrow's initial exam and being evaluated by the Board of Quality Control.
Given that The Society observes the concept of the weekend, we can assume that Darrow's test and his review by the Board both occurred on weekdays given that most schools and government offices are closed on weekends. Iron Gold chapter 23 establishes that October 16, 753 PCE is a Monday, likely referencing the book's intended release date in 2017, since October 16, 2017 is also a Monday. So if we take it as a given that the days of the week in 753 PCE match the 2017 calendar, then the dates for 737 PCE would match the 2001 one. So January 31, 738 PCE would be a Thursday, meaning that Darrow would have to be evaluated on Tuesday the 1st, Wednesday the 2nd, or Thursday the 3rd. Counting back 6-7 weeks from any of those dates would put the exam between November 13th and 22nd, 737.
Since the first section of chapter 65 implies that Cassius leaving "the day before last" from Darrow's POV, the way it reads that 2 days after Cassius left was the anniversary of the entrance exam. Since it's been 2-3 weeks after Octavia's death, this narrows down the anniversary of the testing to between the 19th and the 22nd. Given how a lot of important business and school related stuff will typically start as close to the beginning of the week as possible, we can safely guess that the entrance exam would happen on a Monday, giving the test overseers the rest of the week to get started on going over the results. This means that Darrow took the entrance exam on November 19th, 737 PCE, putting Cassius's departure from Luna on November 17th, 743. Back
[13] Morning Star chapter 65 establishes that after Cassius left, multiple weeks passed by the time Darrow met his son for the first time. The Ash Lord’s counterattack came in early January 744, so based on the fact that it would've taken a few weeks for his ships to reach Luna and Darrow doesn't make any mention of the Ash Lord's fleet being on the way when he and Mustang visit Earth, Darrow would've most likely met his son for the first time in early December, no more than 2-3 weeks after Cassius' departure and the anniversary of the Institute entrance exam. Back