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.
Chapter 28 and EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 28 Summary
The fight begins. The opponents gain the upper hand quickly, partly due to the sandy floor being difficult for Cal to light on fire. Cal manages to fend off Evangeline and her brother while Mare works her way around to where Arven stands, leading a strongarm along. A Silver who manipulates water douses Cal’s flame and starts to boil him with his own heat. At the far end of the arena, Mare waits until the strongarm throws a sharpened pipe at her. At the last moment she moves so the pipe strikes Arven, killing him. Her lightning returns, and her sparking power and red blood are captured on screen.
Mare kills two opponents, including the one who was drowning Cal. Evangeline and her brother run, making Cal and Mare victorious. They look up to claim their victory but find the arena empty except for Maven, Elara, and an army of sentinels that crowds in on them. Cal and Mare back up to a chasm in the floor of the arena, and a row of guns pokes from the hole, firing at the sentinels. Members of the Scarlet Guard pull Cal and Mare off the edge, and they fall into the water far below.
Epilogue Summary
Mare comes to consciousness in the Scarlet Guard’s underground train. Members of the Guard point their weapons at Cal, who sits shackled. Farley and Kilorn survived, and Mare’s brother Shade is there, too, alive. As Mare watches, he moves so fast that it appears he’s “jumping from one spot to another in no time at all” (380). He has the power of teleportation.
Mare orders the Guard to release Cal. They refuse, and Cal agrees. He argues he is a danger, but Mare doesn’t believe it. Farley confirms she still has the list of Reds with the mutated gene, and Mare impresses the importance that they find them before Maven. She shares a look with Cal. Though their friendship feels broken, they share the desire to kill Maven.
Chapter 28 and Epilogue Analysis
Red Queen comes full circle, ending with a televised match that bares similarities to the battle in Chapter 1. That match ended with a Silver being wounded more than he should have been, and this match sees Cal and Mare emerge victorious. Both outcomes were unplanned, showing how Maven and Elara cannot control everything. Throughout the book, Cal is a force to be reckoned with. He is repeatedly shown winning fights, but his near-death in Chapter 28 shows he is not invincible. Cal is a powerful warrior and an amazing tactician, but water douses his fire, leaving him unable to fight back.
Mare begins the battle as a powerless Red, but she relies on the cunning she has always possessed to survive. Mare develops a plan to put herself back on an even playing field with the Silvers in the ring. She kills Arven without use of her lightning, showing how Reds are powerful in their own way. Once she regains her power, Mare easily takes out opponents and sends others on the run. Her lightning ability coupled with her Red upbringing make her more powerful than the Silvers because she knows how to truly fight for her life.
The Epilogue reveals Shade is alive, setting up Mare and Shade as the Reds with powers who will potentially train and lead others like them. The Scarlet Guard doesn’t trust Cal, even though the Silvers betrayed him, but Cal no longer wants to fight them. Maven and Elara’s betrayal has changed Cal. He no longer views the Reds as a liability to safety. His new goal is to eliminate Maven and Elara. Though Cal could easily overpower the Reds on the train, he doesn’t because he’s partially lost his will to fight, which he will likely regain as the series progresses.
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By Victoria Aveyard
