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Tuesday, October 27

Pax Augustus Character Guide

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Pax Augustus pixel art

Character guide · first on-page appearance: Morning Star

Who is Pax Augustus?

Pax Augustus is Darrow and Virginia’s son. Virginia introduces him to Darrow after the fall of Octavia’s regime, giving them a chance to begin a family together.

Current status

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Appearance and personality

Pax is still a small child when Darrow meets him. His rose-gold eyes reflect his father’s Red origins and his mother’s Gold ancestry. Virginia has kept his existence private to protect him from their enemies.[1]

Pax has a facial scar after the crash. He becomes more composed under pressure, which worries Virginia: she fears what captivity has done to him. Their reunion reassures her that he still needs and loves his mother.[2]

Attributes and abilities

As a small child, Pax relies on the adults who have hidden and protected him. Darrow meets him with no experience of being a father and has to learn how to care for him.[1]

At ten, Pax is interested in machinery and has built a hoverbike. He trains alongside children of several Colors. Talking with Lyria shows him how little his education can tell him about actually living through the suffering he has read about.[3]

Pax builds escape equipment, pilots under fire and controls Snowball with a neural halo. He learns from Ephraim and uses machinery well under pressure, helping the adults trying to keep him alive.[4]

History

Book 3

Morning Star

Pax is born nine months after the Lion’s Rain, while Darrow remains in captivity. Virginia conceals her pregnancy aboard the Dejah Thoris and later leaves him with Niobe in the asteroid belt when she returns to the war. She fears that enemies will use him and wants to know whether Darrow can become the father he needs.

Virginia introduces Pax to Darrow on Earth after the victory. Darrow understands why she hid him and wants to be part of his life.[1]

Book 4

Iron Gold

At ten, Pax trains with children of several Colors and wears no implanted Sigils. Darrow’s return does not immediately repair the hurt of his absences. Pax has built a hoverbike for them to share, but their ride ends with another disputed departure.

A conversation with Lyria reveals the difference between his knowledge of Red suffering and her experience of it. Soon afterward, he and Electra are abducted from Kavax’s shuttle. Their captors remove the trackers, and the children pass into the Syndicate’s custody. Ephraim eventually helps them escape, but the novel leaves their falling ship’s survival unresolved.[5]

Book 5

Dark Age

Pax survives the crash with a facial scar and becomes a bargaining asset in Sefi’s territory. He challenges Obsidian training customs, works on machinery and develops a difficult trust with Ephraim. Keeping Trigg’s engagement ring becomes part of holding the older man to his effort to stop using drugs.

Pax helps build their escape equipment and pilots under fire. He later controls Snowball with a neural halo during the attack on the Red Hand ship. The crowd recognizes him as Darrow’s son. He also sees the danger posed by Xenophon and asks Ephraim to warn Sefi.

After Ephraim’s death, Pax has to help negotiate over Volga while grieving for him. He later reunites warmly with Virginia, who has worried that captivity changed him beyond her reach.[6]

Book 6

Light Bringer

Pax enters Darkstar’s accelerated pilot training, with a shaved, tattooed head and a demanding separation from ordinary family life. He argues strategy with Virginia, supports giving Valdir a chance and believes Darrow may still reach Quicksilver. Their disagreement ends in an embrace rather than a reversal of policy.

Darrow carries Pax’s bike key, writes for him and completes memoirs during the aftermath of the Garter’s destruction. His final promise to return remains a promise at the end of the novel.[7]

Relationships

Darrow

Darrow first meets Pax after the war against Octavia. He wants to raise him with Virginia, but has to learn how to be a father.[8]

Pax resents Darrow’s long absences. He builds a hoverbike for them to share, hoping for time together, but Darrow soon leaves again.[9]

While away, Darrow writes his life story for Pax and carries the key to their bike. At the end of Light Bringer, he promises to return.[10]

Mustang

Virginia hides her pregnancy and leaves Pax with Niobe when she returns to the war. She waits until after the victory to introduce him to Darrow.[8]

Virginia fears captivity has taken away the child she knew. Their affectionate reunion reassures her.[11]

Pax challenges Virginia’s treatment of the Obsidians and argues for giving Valdir a chance. They embrace afterward, even though she does not change her decision.[12]

Ephraim ti Horn

Ephraim helps kidnap Pax, then helps him escape. Pax learns from him and pushes him to stop using drugs. Their trust grows as Ephraim begins taking responsibility for the children he endangered.[13]

References

  1. Morning Star, chapters 65, Epilogue. ↩1 ↩2 ↩3
  2. Dark Age, chapters 21, 91. ↩
  3. Iron Gold, chapters 2, 21, 35. ↩
  4. Dark Age, chapters 23, 28, 37, 40, 52, 71. ↩
  5. Iron Gold, chapters 2, 21, 35, 39, 42, 58, 64. ↩
  6. Dark Age, chapters 21, 23, 28, 37, 40, 44, 46, 52, 71, 74, 76–77, 88, 91. ↩
  7. Light Bringer, chapters 14, 34–35, 37, 59–60, 62, 89. ↩
  8. Morning Star, chapters 65. ↩1 ↩2
  9. Iron Gold, chapters 2, 21. ↩
  10. Light Bringer, chapters 34–35, 37, 89. ↩
  11. Dark Age, chapters 91. ↩
  12. Light Bringer, chapters 14. ↩
  13. Dark Age, chapters 21, 23, 28, 37, 40, 46, 52, 71, 74, 76–77. ↩