Close Menu
Tuesday, October 27

Lorn au Arcos Character Guide

Finish Red Rising and choose it above to read this guide. Later-book sections remain hidden until you select those books.

Lorn au Arcos pixel art

Character guide · first on-page appearance: Red Rising

Who is Lorn au Arcos?

Lorn au Arcos is an elder Gold and renowned Rage Knight. He notices Darrow at the Institute and offers him the chance to study under one of the Society’s most respected fighters.

Darrow would like to learn from Lorn, but Nero’s household offers a better route into the power he intends to undermine.

Current status

Reveal the status for your selected book when you are ready.

Appearance and personality

Lorn is an older Gold whose reputation carries weight with the Institute’s patrons. His interest gives Darrow a chance at an influential apprenticeship.[1]

On Europa, Lorn is gray-bearded and tired of war. He has lost his sons and wants to protect the family he has left. He loves Darrow, but can still be ruthless toward people he believes cannot change.[2]

Attributes and abilities

Lorn’s long military career and reputation as a fighter make him a powerful patron. Darrow hopes to learn from him.[1]

Lorn trains Darrow in the Willow Way through long practice. Darrow keeps the training secret, giving him an advantage over opponents who do not know what he can do. Lorn’s own skill cannot save him at the Triumph, where he is attacked before he can draw his razor.

Darrow challenges Lorn’s judgments of Ragnar, Victra and Tactus. Lorn eventually admits he should not have killed Tactus, but he reaches that conclusion too late to save him.[3]

Darrow eventually realizes that treating the Willow Way as the best he can ever achieve is holding him back. He draws on Lorn’s lessons while developing a fighting style suited to his own body and experience.[4]

History

Book 1

Red Rising

Lorn supports Darrow during the Institute selection and becomes one of the powerful adults interested in his progress. Fitchner eventually offers the prospect of apprenticeship as an alternative to continuing a contest whose patrons are cheating.

After the victory, Lorn is identified as the supporter who returned Darrow’s Pegasus and knifeRing. Darrow chooses Nero’s service instead, sacrificing the more appealing personal offer to get closer to the power he intends to undermine.[1]

Book 2

Golden Son

Darrow’s duel with Cassius reveals that Lorn secretly trained him in the Willow Way between the Institute and the Academy. The apparent rejection of his patronage did not end their connection. Lorn has since withdrawn to Europa, where family losses and a lifetime of killing make him determined to avoid another war.

Darrow’s arrival and Aja’s threats pull Lorn back into the war. Tactus takes his family hostage, then releases them when Darrow offers him forgiveness. Lorn kills him anyway. Darrow argues with Lorn about his assumptions that Color and reputation determine whether someone can be trusted.

Lorn joins the campaign and later admits he should not have killed Tactus. At the Triumph, Lilath attacks before he can draw his razor, and Adrius kills him and his grandchildren. Aja takes his unused blade and closes his eyes.[5]

Book 3

Morning Star

Darrow remembers Lorn’s warnings about enjoying war. Aja carries Lorn’s razor, putting the weapon of his old teacher in an enemy’s hands.[6]

Book 4

Iron Gold

Lysander looks to his grandfather as an example of honorable Gold leadership. Cassius reminds him that Lorn did not believe in equality for lowColors. Diomedes remembers fishing with Lorn and says he wanted better men, not simply more warriors.[7]

Book 6

Light Bringer

Darrow stops treating the Willow Way as the limit of his abilities and develops the Breath of Stone. Later, he and Cassius visit Lorn’s preserved room on Europa. The family keepsakes remind them of the life he had outside war.[4]

Relationships

Darrow

Darrow would prefer to learn from Lorn, but chooses Nero’s household to get closer to the Society’s rulers.[8]

Lorn trains Darrow in secret and grows to love him. Darrow needs his help on Europa and helps pull him into a war he wanted to avoid. Their affection survives arguments about Tactus, Ragnar and who deserves their trust.[9]

Darrow and Cassius visit Lorn’s room on Europa and remember their teacher through the things his family has preserved.[10]

Tactus au Rath

Lorn kills Tactus after he releases the children and surrenders. He believes Tactus will betray them again, but later admits to Darrow that he should have spared him.[11]

Lysander au Lune

Lysander is his grandson through Brutus. That family connection binds Lorn to Octavia’s court even while he resists its politics.[12]

Lysander sees his grandfather as a model for honorable Gold rule. Cassius points out that Lorn’s concern for other Golds did not extend to equality for lowColors.[13]

Diomedes au Raa

Diomedes remembers fishing with Lorn. He says Lorn wanted his students to become better men as well as better warriors.[14]

References

  1. Red Rising, chapters 17, 20, 34, 44. ↩1 ↩2 ↩3
  2. Golden Son, chapters 28–36. ↩
  3. Golden Son, chapters 12, 28–36, 43, 51. ↩
  4. Light Bringer, chapters 73, 77. ↩1 ↩2
  5. Golden Son, chapters 6, 12, 14, 26, 28–36, 43, 51. ↩
  6. Morning Star, chapters 6, 15, 24. ↩
  7. Iron Gold, chapters 8, 15–16, 36. ↩
  8. Red Rising, chapters 17, 34, 44. ↩
  9. Golden Son, chapters 12, 28–36. ↩
  10. Light Bringer, chapters 77. ↩
  11. Golden Son, chapters 29, 36. ↩
  12. Golden Son, chapters 14, 28. ↩
  13. Iron Gold, chapters 8, 15. ↩
  14. Iron Gold, chapters 36. ↩