The Games Gods Play

Lyra observes Zeus’s temple’s display of lightning as members of the Order of Thieves go about stealing possessions from the onlookers. She directs them with whistles from her vantage point. She reflects on becoming part of the Order after her parents offered her as a child to settle their debts. Over time, she repaid her debt, becoming a records keeper for the Order since she wasn’t subtle enough to be a thief. A pledge calls out to Boone Runar, a master thief whom Lyra has a long-held crush on. He doesn’t pay attention to her, and Lyra is reminded of the curse that Zeus placed on her as an infant because her mother’s water broke in his temple.

Chance, another master thief, notices how Lyra pays attention to Boone and deduces her feelings. He bullies her. Lyra doesn’t engage, but his commentary on her unlovable nature stings. She leaves her station and decides to confront Zeus at his temple.

As the famed Crucible, a cryptic festival to choose the next King of the Gods, is set to begin, Lyra stomps to his temple, intent on damaging it to get Zeus’s attention. She crosses through the forest, and as she’s about to launch a rock at one of its columns, a man grabs her. He talks her down, and she realizes he is Hades, Zeus’s brother and king of the Underworld.

Lyra is wary of Hades. She asks why he’s in the Overworld (the world of the living) and near to Zeus’s temple, but he remains cryptic. They banter over what Hades will do with her, but he claims he won’t kill her and calls her his star, making her more suspicious. Her preconceptions of Hades are challenged, however, and he asks about her curse. He says that she’s allowed to leave.

Lyra follows Hades away from Zeus’s temple. When they return among humans, Lyra worries about being seen with Hades, but he claims only she can see him as he really is. Calling her by her real name despite her having given him a fake one earlier, Hades leaves, and Lyra walks away.

Lyra avoids the other members of the Order of Thieves, especially her boss, Felix, as everyone gathers for the midnight hour, which will ring in the Crucible festival. She goes to the fringes of the city to make her way back to the Order’s den as Zeus announces he’ll be choosing his champion for the Crucible.

The gods pick their human champions. As Lyra enters the Order’s den, she encounters Boone. He comments on her humming, an unconscious habit of concentration. Lyra tries to avoid him, fearing that Chance told him about her crush. He follows her, showing concern for her previous interaction with Chance. He tries to get her to look at the Crucible broadcast, but she only pays attention when Hades appears. He declares that, in honor of his recently deceased wife, Persephone, he will also join the Crucible and choose a champion. Smoke envelops Lyra at that moment, and she appears on the stage next to Hades as he announces her as his champion.

Lyra implores Hades not to nominate her, but it’s too late. Zeus confronts Hades and tries to dissuade him from participating, but Hades is adamant. The Crucible games begin, and Lyra and the others are transported to Olympus. In awe, Lyra notes the mountain with the faces of Poseidon, Zeus, and Hades, from which spring three rivers.

Hades declares that until the Crucible is over, she belongs to him, and they must present a united front. The gods unite with their chosen champions in the gods’ colors. Lyra remains in her own clothes as Aphrodite and Hades banter over his lack of divine armor. Hades snaps his fingers, and Lyra has new clothes and a tiara. She bickers over being used as a puppet instead of a partner. Poseidon comments on how scared she looks, and Hades asks her if it’s true.

Lyra implies she isn’t scared. When Poseidon makes a jab at Lyra being a thief, she talks back, and Hades protects her from Poseidon’s rage. She asks Hades why he joined the Crucible, stating that it makes her stand out by default, despite his insistence that she blend in. Hades provokes other gods before Zeus calls them to a meeting and asks Zeles, a Daemon, to explain the rules of the Crucible.

As one of the Crucible’s judges, Zeles explains how the humans represent their god and will compete for them in 12 Labors, each planned by a different god. Whoever wins can request one boon from the newly crowned King of the Gods. The gods and their champions are to be separated into four groups of virtues: Strength, Courage, Mind, and Heart. Lyra does not know to which she—through Hades—belongs, and she grows concerned when Zeles mentions that success may be achieved if all other champions die. Zeles gives the champions the opportunity to decline the “honor” of being a god’s champion, but Hades dissuades Lyra from abdicating, as someone close to her will be chosen in her stead.

A pre-Labor test begins, and the champions are tasked with finding a token from their god that will bring them to their god before the one-hour deadline. Winning will give them two gifts from their patrons—one relic and one skill/attribute. Lyra feels disheartened, but before she goes looking for her token, she witnesses a tense exchange between Hades and Aphrodite about Lyra’s so-called passion. Hades warns Lyra that if Aphrodite says the phrase “[d]on’t you wish to” with a specific intent (70), she can make anyone do anything. Dionysus’s champion finds her token, and with time dwindling, Lyra tries to find hers while noting what others are doing.

As Lyra searches, she encounters Hermes, the patron god of thieves, and he questions why Hades chose her. He threatens her, and she leverages Hades against him. Demeter later asks the same question, and when Lyra tries to offer her sympathies for Persephone’s death, she is rebuked. She notices something on the table of tokens, and as she sees the champions scampering with little time left, she knows what she’s about to reveal is going to anger Hades. She decides to do it anyway.

She hands off Artemis’s token to her champion. Gods complain, but it isn’t against the rules. She instructs the other champions to look for their god’s symbol on the bottom of their item. The champions scamper to find their items. Ares appears in front of Lyra and destroys her token from Hades as retribution. Since Ares interfered, Zeles and the other Daemones carry him off for punishment. His champion, Neve, is furious with Lyra. Hades intervenes, but Lyra despairs. He reminds her that there are other ways to win. She searches for another option and discovers cryptocode—a code she and other thieves use to transmit messages to other thieves—along with some artifacts that give directions to a path up the mountainside of Olympus that will bring her to the final stage where the gods wait. At Hades’s encouragement, she runs to make it to the end before her last five minutes are up.

Lyra encounters illusions in the form of mystical creatures like a hydra and a griffin. She runs through them but quickly tires. Hades speaks to her from afar and encourages her to do better and not give up. At the last second, she throws herself to the top of the dais and makes it in time.

She vomits over Hades’s shoes. He cleans it with a flick of his fingers and offers her water. When she thanks him, he reminds her he isn’t someone to be thanked, but feared. She isn’t cowed. She realizes she was transported to Hades’s house in Olympus. He asks her if she wants her gifts.

She accepts, and he offers her the tattoos on his arm: a tarantula, an owl, a panther, a fox, and a butterfly. All but the butterfly move to her skin, as if alive. He tells her she can summon them when she needs help. He then offers her a kiss to mark her as his, which leaves Lyra conflicted: She never belonged to anyone. He explains the mark will give her safe passage through the Underworld. Though trepidatious, Lyra allows him to kiss her. The kiss quickly turns passionate, but Hades backs off once the gift is given.

A bell chimes, and Lyra must rejoin the other champions. Zeus and the other gods are angry because all champions were awarded gifts in the last round. Aphrodite makes innuendos about Hades and Lyra’s relationship. Zeus announces their first Labor will begin the next day, and Hades transports Lyra to his penthouse in the Overworld instead of his house in Olympus. He asks about her curse again, and Lyra states that no one will want to work with her during the Labors because of it. She suggests Hades send her back and choose another champion, but he claims she is his only choice.

Lyra goes to her room and looks over the tiara he gave her. She finds six black pearls on it and knows they are the six pomegranate seeds associated with Persephone’s legend, which Hades later confirms, though he cannot give her more information since they are an extra artifact he gave her before the Crucible officially began—a loophole in the rules. Lyra deduces when she eats the pearls, they will transport her to the Underworld. As they watch TV commentary on the participants, she asks Hades why he picked her. He tells her he was impressed by her ability to stand up to him, the god of death, while others cower. She asks for more information on the Labors, but Hades only knows that some of them will be like puzzles while others will resemble the Herculean Labors of lore.

That night, Boone finds Lyra. He wants to help her, so he gives her a tactical vest filled with tools of the thieving trade, along with her relic.

Lyra recalls how pledges who graduate to master thief in the Order of Thieves mysteriously receive a relic. Though she never graduated, Lyra received a relic one night, a gold-and-silver axe. She tries to deny her ownership to Boone, but he knows it belongs to her. He gives her his lockpicking kit, despite her protests, along with his own relic: dragon teeth that grow bone soldiers when planted in soil. Before he leaves, he tells her that she was wrong to assume they all hated her. When he’s gone, Lyra knows she has no choice but to participate in the Crucible.

Lyra arrives in the kitchen in the uniform that appeared in her room. She asks if her black clothing is a representation of the virtue group of participants. Hades states that she doesn’t have a group because the virtue valued by Hades is survival. Hades takes issue with her clothes and changes them to fancier ones with butterfly embroidery.

Lyra has breakfast with Hades. He asks her questions about herself and flirts with her. She mentions the bruising on her ribs from throwing herself on the dais the day before. When she shows him, he calls for Asclepius, the god of healing. He scolds Hades for not calling him sooner and treats Lyra. Asclepius tells her that once the real Labors start, he will only be able to heal the victor. When Asclepius leaves, Hades asks who the man in her room was.

Lyra asks if he hurt Boone, but Hades affirms Boone was left unharmed. Hades inquires if Boone is her lover, which Lyra denies, explaining the reason for his visit. He asks if she’s in love with Boone, which she refuses to answer. A bell rings, announcing the first Labor. They discuss how the Labor is Poseidon’s and will involve courage. Hades gives her final directions: avoid unnecessary risks, use her gifts only when she must, and question everything. He tells her to “get” to him if she needs him and that she can succeed since she is his.