74 pages • 2 hours read
Victoria AveyardRed Queen
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2015A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 23-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 23 Summary
In the capital, Maven and Mare ride in a transport, and Maven describes the city. The eastern side is for common Silvers—everyday people who aren’t part of the noble families—and the west is for the highborn and royalty. When they arrive at the palace, Mare is forced to give a speech about new restrictions for Reds. There will be a new curfew; any Red who breaks any law will be executed; and the conscription age will be lowered, and anyone with information on the rebels may win an exemption. The restrictions will be upheld until “the disease known as the Scarlet Guard is destroyed” (293).
In her room, Mare finds a gift from Julian: a book that looks normal but contains the names and details of Reds who have a new marker in their blood that makes them somehow both Red and Silver. This means that Mare is not unique; she is one of many. Julian urges Mare to find them and train them because they might be “the new dawn” and the world’s only chance (296).
Cal finds Mare in a sitting room. They fight about the Scarlet Guard and how to change society. Cal can’t bring himself to fight for the change, and Mare struggles to understand how he can let so many die. Cal asks about Julian’s disappearance. He recognized the signs of Julian’s power from the guard’s missing memories and delayed the arrest orders for as long as he could. Even so, he says he will kill Julian when he’s found, which leaves Mare feeling torn about who Cal really is.
Maven proposed Mare’s records be erased so there is no evidence she was born Red, and the royal family agreed. As a result, Mare’s background, including her “school record, birth certificate, blood prints” and more are destroyed. Maven came through on his promise to save her.
Chapter 24 Summary
The next day, Mare joins Maven for the first of many public appearances where she is expected to make speeches and chat with Silvers. As they tour the capital, Mare sees Reds being abused and called names, and her heart aches at not being able to intervene. At one point, she manages to ditch her guards, and a little boy hands her a slip of paper that’s a note from the Guard telling her and Maven to go to an afternoon show at a nearby theater. They are seated in a private box, and after a few minutes, the ceiling opens. They climb up into the darkness, where Will from the Stilts is waiting to guide them to a meeting.
Will leads them far below the theater to an underground train built by Reds in secret. Farley is aboard, and the train heads south toward the area thought to be overtaken by radiation. Maven and Mare panic until the train stops and Farley disembarks without a care. Maven argues that the detector machines have reported radiation, to which Farley reminds him that Reds built the detectors, and it dawns on Maven that “the detectors lie” (310).
Above ground, Mare finds a thriving community among the ruins of the old city. Farley brings them to a building where Kilorn waits, and the four discuss the worsening situation in the Red villages and at the front lines. Mare reveals the list of names Julian left her and how this group of hybrid Red-Silvers is their best chance. Farley and Kilorn argue it will take too long to find them, and Maven comes up with the idea to stage a coup d’état on the palace and force the king to listen to the Guard’s terms. He’ll offer Cal a choice: Tell his soldiers to stand down so the Guard can take over or lose Mare.
Mare is sure Cal will never choose her until she remembers all the ways he has saved her since they met. She believes that he does love her. Begrudgingly, Farley agrees with the plan, and the attempted coup will take place at dawn the next morning.
Chapters 23-24 Analysis
In Chapter 22, Mare observes that the capital was built for war, and in Chapters 23-24, she sees how true her statement is from the inside. The palace is isolated atop an easily defended hill, making it nearly impregnable to a standard attack. This fact leads to the idea of a coup, which Maven suggests and supports because he knows it will lead to Mare’s capture and the culmination of his and Elara’s plans. A coup d'état (French for “stroke of state”) is a typically illegal seizure of a government by another party, such as military or rebels. Since the western side of the capital is built to withstand a frontal assault, the coup makes strategic as well as tactical sense for the Scarlet Guard.
In the capital, Mare is surprised to learn there are Silvers who work jobs and live lives without the same opulent luxury as the noble families. Though these common Silvers live better than the Reds, they are regular people who are doing their best to live and thrive. They show Mare that there are disparities among Silvers.
Mare struggles with her identity in these chapters. She hates how she is part of the Silvers’ games, but she understands the importance of keeping up appearances so she can survive to fight. Watching Silvers (even common ones) abuse Reds strengthens her resolve to do whatever must be done, which leads her to reveal Julian’s book in front of Maven.
The book Julian leaves Mare sets up for the rest of the Red Queen series. The names in the book symbolize people who will become important as the war between the Guard and the Silvers continues. Mare believes in Julian’s information and the idea of slow change. Farley and Kilorn do not, which likely foreshadows how Mare will be more successful than the Guard. It also puts distance between Kilorn and Mare. Mare wants beneficial change and meaningful progress, but Kilorn just wants to see the Silvers fall. He hasn’t given thought to what will come after.
Maven’s lies come to a head in Chapter 24. He likely doesn’t believe Cal will choose Mare, but he knows how Cal feels about Mare and how conflicted Mare is about Cal. Maven uses Mare’s uncertain feelings to trick her into believing the coup will work, and that Cal loves her enough to surrender.
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By Victoria Aveyard
