Thunderhead

As Winter Conclave approaches, Scythes Anastasia and Curie journey to Fulcrum City (formerly known as St. Louis). Scythe Curie takes Citra to see the remains of the Arch of St. Louis, which was destroyed by terrorists in the mortal days. Scythe Curie wants to “[remember] the things [they’ve] lost” as a society but also to remember “how much better [their] world is now than in mortal days” (318). Citra worries about Rowan and whether he is safe, and she wonders how Greyson is doing with the Tonists. She encounters a group of Tonists at the ruins of the Arch and tries to ask them about getting a message to Greyson, but the Tonists shun her for being a scythe. They insult Scythe Curie, whose high-profile gleanings have earned her widespread infamy among the Tonists. Citra angrily offers them immunity from gleaning, but they refuse her offer and begin to “intone,” which sounds like “a swarm of bees” (321). Citra and Scythe Curie leave them to their intoning.

Winter Conclave arrives, and the scythes of MidMerica gather in Fulcrum City. Security is heightened, and everyone is on high alert for Scythe Lucifer to make an appearance. As Citra looks around conclave, she notices more scythes wearing jewels on their robes to signify their alliance with the new order scythes, and she worries that “the division in the scythedom [is] as deep as a gleaning wound” (325). Rumors start to spread that High Blade Xenocrates is stepping down from his position, and Citra is surprised to notice that she has become quite popular with the other junior scythes, who look up to her. As conclave officially begins, Xenocrates announces that the rumors are true, and he is stepping down as High Blade to take a promotion as Grandslayer on the World Scythe Council. Scythe Constantine nominates Scythe Curie for the role of High Blade. Scythe Curie is mortified, but she accepts the nomination. The new order scythes nominate Scythe Nietzsche, and “The battle lines [are] drawn” (337).

Scythe Curie is angry that Constantine nominated her for High Blade, but he tells her he is certain this was what her attackers wanted to prevent: Someone must have known that Xenocrates was stepping down, and they knew Scythe Curie would “uphold the old ways” (339) if nominated. Xenocrates is delighted that he can finally talk openly about his promotion, but Scythe Constantine asks him if anyone else knew about his new role as Grandslayer and the need to fill the High Blade position. Xenocrates admits that Scythes Brahms and Twain were present when he got the news, and Scythe Curie calls Brahms a “lackluster, lazy scythe who [does] his job and little more” (343). The scythes gather at the end of the day to hold a vote after the nominees give speeches, but the proceedings are suddenly halted when Scythe Brahms interrupts and asks to nominate one more candidate for the position of High Blade: Honorable Scythe Robert Goddard. Xenocrates reminds Brahms that Scythe Goddard has been dead for a year. Suddenly, the doors of the chamber open.

Shock fills the room as the scythes process the sight of Scythe Goddard entering the room, “Risen from the ashes” (347) and very much alive. He is followed by Scythe Rand, who is also supposed to be dead. Goddard explains to a flustered Xenocrates that he was incapacitated but not dead and that Scythe Rand found him a new body. Goddard addresses the entire room of scythes and announces that if he is High Blade, he will waste no time finding Scythe Lucifer, who has been killing scythes left and right and tried to kill Goddard and Rand. The motion to nominate Goddard for High Blade is seconded, and panic spreads among the old guard scythes. They tell Scythe Curie that she must defeat Goddard and prepare to “battle a ghost” (349) for the title of High Blade. Goddard and Curie both give speeches: Goddard promises to embrace death and eliminate the quota system, thus ending the limits on how many lives a scythe can end. In response, Scythe Curie urges the gathered scythes to honor the vision set forth by the founding scythes and fight against corruption with honor and humility.

After the speeches, the scythes are left to “digest” the debate between Scythes Curie and Goddard. Scythe Curie and the other members of the old guard way of thinking worry that Goddard’s followers are starting to outnumber them. Scythes begin to talk about ending the quota, allowing ethnic bias in gleanings, and breaking the very laws that hold the scythedom together. Scythe Sun Tzu claims Goddard is offering the scythedom “the ambrosia of the gods” (354), making broad promises that Curie can’t offer. Later, when Citra is talking to Scythe Morrison, he remarks that a person’s head is only a small percentage of their physical body: “Seven percent” (356), Citra recalls, and she gets an idea. The votes are cast for High Blade, but as soon as the voting ends, Citra stands up and calls for an inquest, because “Mr. Goddard is not sufficiently enough of a scythe to hold the position of High Blade” (359) due to his new body. Amidst an uproar and a furious Goddard shouting protests, Xenocrates agrees to take this matter to the World Council, and Winter Conclave is brought to a close. Later, Constantine tells Citra that Scythes Rand and Brahms were likely behind the attacks on Citra and Scythe Curie.

Scythe Goddard is furious, and he and Rand return to their residence in Texas to plot their next move. Rowan is woken up and dragged into another sparring match, this time with Scythe Goddard. Rowan is disgusted to see how Goddard “command[s] Tyger’s body as if it were Goddard’s own” (367), but he refuses to let Goddard see his misery. Rowan correctly guesses that Winter Conclave didn’t go as Goddard had planned, and Goddard takes his fury out on Rowan by killing him because Rowan’s immunity from the last Winter Conclave has finally run out. Goddard orders Rand to send Rowan to a revival center so he can bring him back and kill him again. Rand begins to have some doubts about Goddard’s methods, and she privately mourns for Tyger, but she reminds herself that Goddard is “forging a great design that truly excite[s] her” (373), so she has to go along with his plans for now. Goddard tells Rand to gather all of the best structural engineers and programmers she can find, but only those who have no loyalty to the scythedom or the Thunderhead.

While Rowan is still technically dead in the revival center, the Thunderhead rouses his conscience and speaks to him the same way it spoke to Citra in Scythe. The Thunderhead tells Rowan that he has a 39% chance of changing the world, which is “exponentially greater than most people can ever hope to have” (376). Once revived, Rowan is returned to Goddard, who kills him again every time Rowan wins a sparring match. Goddard kills Rowan 20 times, reviving him each time to continue the torture. One day, Rand comes to Rowan and tells him he can end this vicious cycle by letting Goddard win one of their matches. She explains that Goddard plans to hand Rowan over to the Grandslayers during his upcoming trip to Endura, so he won’t permanently kill Rowan. Rowan realizes Rand is starting to have doubts, and she misses Tyger. Goddard never manages to defeat Rowan, but he announces he will be taking Rowan to Endura, where he will be gleaned in front of the Grandslayers. Rowan decides he doesn’t care what happens to him, but he “cling[s] to the hope that he might see [Citra] again” (380) before he is gleaned.

The Thunderhead watches three “important” conversations. The first conversation takes place in Texas. A group of scientists, engineers, and “one noted marine biologist” (382) arrive at the apartment of Scythe Rand, and after many hours, the scientists leave looking uneasy. The second conversation takes place in a coffee shop, where Scythes Anastasia and Curie meet with Scythe Faraday and Munira Atrushi. News of the election and the inquest have reached Faraday, and he offers Scythe Curie his support. Faraday and Munira show Scythes Curie and Anastasia what they have found: a tentative theory about the location of the mythical Land of Nod, which might be “the founder’s failsafe, should the scythedom fail” (386). They believe the Thunderhead was programmed to ignore this, and the thought troubles the eavesdropping Thunderhead. Faraday and Munira plan to visit the old Columbia District in search of more information, and although Curie is dismissive of their claims, Faraday insists that dissent is breaking out across the world’s scythedoms and the failsafe is of the utmost importance. The third conversation takes place in the Tonist monastery where Greyson Tolliver currently hides and Scythe Cervantes comes to speak to Greyson. Scythe Cervantes explains that he was sent by Scythe Anastasia to offer Greyson a chance to escape from the monastery and start a new life in Amazonia. Greyson refuses the offer, and Scythe Cervantes leaves. Greyson begs the Thunderhead for a sign that it hasn’t forgotten him, and although the Thunderhead breaks its own rules and causes the lights to blink, Greyson’s eyes are closed, and he doesn’t see.