Thunderhead

In the abandoned Columbia District, Scythe Faraday and Munira enter the “most comprehensive library in the world” (423) in search of more information about the blind spot in the Pacific. They meet a cranky librarian, who complains about the state of the city, the prevalence of unsavories, and the Thunderhead’s neglect of the district as a whole. The library has mostly gone digital, but they are reluctantly shown into a special room that still holds paper books and archives. Faraday and Munira find themselves staring down a pile of disorganized books, and they realize they have a long search ahead of them.

The night before the inquest, Scythe Rand decides to offer herself to Scythe Goddard. However, Goddard refuses her advances, which humiliates Rand. Goddard accuses her of wanting to pretend he was Tyger, her “weak-minded party boy” (432). He tells Rand if she wanted to have a physical relationship with his body, she “should have done it when [she] had the chance” (433). Angry and seething with pain and humiliation, Rand goes to Rowan, gives him a knife, and instructs him to escape and get off Endura. Rowan is stunned Rand actually wants to help him, and she explains that if she can’t have what she wants, neither can Goddard.

Faraday and Munira pore over the books in the Library of Congress late into the night. Munira finds a world atlas that shows a close-up image of the blind spot and a series of islands called the Marshall Islands, which is full of atolls. Faraday remembers the nursery rhyme about the Land of Nod, and he realizes the lines “A toll for the living, A toll for the dead” are referring to the volcanic atolls on the islands. They realize the Land of Nod is an atoll called Kwajalein, and on the heels of their discovery, they hear “A faint mechanical whirr” (441). The Thunderhead has been watching them from its many cameras, and Faraday says they just showed the Thunderhead “the one thing it was never meant to know” (442).

The next morning, Goddard flies into a rage when he discovers Rowan has escaped. Rand blames Brahms, and Goddard kills him without hesitation, breaking the scythe commandment that forbids one scythe from killing another. Rand suggests they hide Brahms’s body and tell the World Council he was only bluffing about bringing Rowan to Endura. Meanwhile, Rowan struggles to figure out how to escape from Endura because the island is isolated, and “Security [is] tighter [on Endura] than at conclave” (447). Instead, he decides to find Citra. That morning, things start to go wrong on Endura. Citra notices the technology is glitching more than usual, and around the island, problems begin to emerge with the water pressure and satellite connections. Endura has always had technical problems, but “like a lobster in a slowly heating pot” (449) no one realizes the gravity of what is to come.

The World Scythe Council gathers to hear the cases of Scythes Curie and Goddard. Although the World Council members have their own opinions regarding the politics of the MidMerican scythedom and the new order versus the old guard, they promise to “remain impartial until [they’ve] heard the persuasions of both sides” (457). Citra makes her case and argues that Goddard’s current body never went through a scythe apprenticeship, therefore he should not be able to hold the position of High Blade. In response, Goddard argues that his new body belonged to a young man who “gave himself willingly” (460) to help restore Goddard, although he cannot prove that Tyger was a volunteer. The Grandslayers meet to discuss the case, then announce their ruling: “[R]eplacement of more than fifty percent of one’s physical body” does, in fact, “severely [diminish] that person” (465). If Goddard wishes to be a scythe again, he must complete a year-long apprenticeship with his new body. With Goddard out of the running, Scythe Curie is granted the title of High Blade of MidMerica.

In the buoyancy control room on Endura, a red light starts flashing. Scythes Curie and Anastasia leave the World Council chamber, and Citra notices Rowan disguised as another scythe walking close by her. He tries to warn her that “Goddard has something planned” and they “need to get off the island right away” (471). Suddenly, the floor starts to become wet, and the technicians in the buoyancy control room realize something has gone very wrong. The lower levels of the island begin to flood with seawater, and the Grandslayers are trapped when a bridge collapses. The sea creatures around Endura begin to behave strangely, and some predatory animals start to “[attack] windows so hard they [bash] their own brains out” (476). The Grandslayers scramble to escape as water fills their chamber, and Citra, Rowan, and Scythe Curie find they are in the midst of a crisis. Rowan explains that Goddard must be behind this, and Scythe Curie realizes that Goddard plans to kill the Grandslayers. The technicians and engineers are unable to stop the sinking of Endura, and they predict the island will be underwater in a matter of minutes. The airplane runway begins to flood, stranding everyone on Endura. A biologist remarks that the nanites in the sea creatures must have been hacked, and as water fills the World Council chamber, the sharks begin to attack the Grandslayers as they try to escape. Panic breaks out across the island, and the sea creatures continue their vicious attack on the island inhabitants. One of the Grandslayers is consumed by sharks, but then a helicopter descends presumably to rescue the remaining Grandslayers. Goddard is on board, but instead of rescuing the Grandslayers, he taunts them and leaves them to be consumed by the sea creatures, killing them permanently.

Goddard gazes down at his handiwork from his helicopter. Endura continues to sink, the Grandslayers are no more, and he will “never have to face Scythes Curie and Anastasia again” (491). Scythe Rand explains that no one on the mainland will know about the decision that was reached on Endura. As the residents of Endura gather to try to escape, someone recognizes Rowan and blames Scythe Lucifer for the sinking of Endura. The engineers and technicians give up and stop trying to prevent the inevitable. Scythe Curie brings Citra and Rowan into the Vault of Relics and Futures, which contains the founding scythes’ robes and the scythe gems for rings. Curie locks Citra and Rowan inside without explanation, and although Citra is hysterical, Rowan realizes Scythe Curie did this to protect them. They are in a series of air-tight steel chambers, and “it’s like a sarcophagus within a tomb” (496). Rowan and Citra will die and sink to the bottom of the sea, but their bodies will be protected, and if anyone ever finds them, they can still be brought back to life. Meanwhile, Scythe Curie decides to spend her final moments of life helping to glean people so they won’t die a slow, painful death. She gleans herself as her final act, thus ending her long life of servitude as a scythe.

Endura sinks to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, and the world is filled with the cacophony of alarms and sirens. The Thunderhead screams, and an “ear-rending squall fill[s] the world” (501). When the sound stops, the Tonists rejoice because they believe they have just heard “the Great Resonance” that will unify the world. Greyson watches the Tonists celebrate, but on the street outside, the world is devolving into panic because the Thunderhead has marked every human being as unsavory. While people cry out for the Thunderhead and are met only with silence, Greyson alone does not have the red “U” on his phone. After months of silence, the Thunderhead speaks to Greyson and tells him that they “need to talk” (504).