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Basically this entire thing is a spoiler for multiple books.

So during a reread of Dark Age I noticed that Lysander au Lune seems to go on for quite a while about his relationship with Ajax au Grimmus, the son of Aja au Grimmus and Atlas au Raa. Seeing that Lysander was essentially a surrogate son of Aja, Lysander and Ajax are supposed to have been best friends growing up. Lysander speaks of Ajax as a "kind, generous brother who could never bridle either affection or fury," (p.30) and both seem to be overjoyed when they are reunited.

Assuming Ajax and Lysander are around the same age, Ajax should have been kept mostly out of the way, like Lysander. Not off on campaigns with the Ash Lord or some other Imperator, right? Being the product of a "loveless genetic union", Ajax was likely being raised to be the Sovereign's next apex killer, so she'd want to keep him safe before he could kill things really well. The safest place was with her and Aja, where she kept Lysander.

Specifically where he should have shown up is either during Golden Son, when the Sovereign attempts to bring Darrow to her side, or later (I think in Morning Star) when Mustang is reliving her time on Luna with Cassius. Both of those times mention Lysander in detail, and shouldn't Lysander's best friend have been running around with him? Or maybe Ajax could have been a small, dark shadow hiding behind Aja?

So why is he never mentioned in the first three books? Or even in Iron Gold? Pierce very rarely (if ever) makes continuity mistakes, so it wouldn't make sense that he would just make up Ajax for the sake of book five. He's really a cool character and absolutely makes sense with the kind of stuff the Sovereign would do, so any theories as to why he isn't mentioned until he's useful?

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I suppose the answer depends on which parent he was with.

I looked at the Fandom timeline and it appears Lysander and Ajax grew up together at least till 739, when Lysander's father is killed, and as a result Atlas is sent to the Kuiper belt. Possibly he went with with his father on this mission which would explain why he isn't present in Golden Son (741) as his father doesn't return from Kuiper belt until 747, five years before Ajax and Lysander are reunited. This might also explain why Aja treated Lysander like a surrogate son as her own son had been gone for the past two years. Of course he could also simply be at court with Aja but is simply never present in any of the events of the earlier trilogy.

731 - birth of Ajax

733 - birth of Lysander

737 - Red Rising

739 - Atlas sent to Kuiper belt

741 - (Golden Sun) Lysander appears

743 - Solar War starts, Death of Octavia, Cassius and Lysander depart Luna

747 - Atlas returns from Kuiper belt

753 - Ajax appears

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  • That's a good theory for how little info there is, and I appreciate the research. Thanks friend Apr 11, 2020 at 2:19

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