The Toll

Arc of a Scythe

Content Ratings

Mild Romance

Citra and Rowan's romantic relationship is resolved in this volume; their connection is emotionally significant and the conclusion is genuinely earned; physical content remains mild.

Intense Themes

The trilogy's conclusion explores civilizational collapse, the failure of AI governance when it can no longer communicate, the abuse of religious devotion as a political tool, and the cost of absolute power over life at the civilizational scale.

High Violence

Large-scale gleaning campaigns, war between Scythe factions, mass deaths, and the physical destruction of major characters are depicted; the novel is the most violent entry in the trilogy.

Synopsis

Three years after the catastrophic conclusion of Thunderhead, Citra and Rowan are missing and the Scythedom has fractured into a global power struggle, while a new religious movement has formed around a young man who claims to hear the silenced Thunderhead's voice. The final volume of the Arc of a Scythe trilogy is sprawling and ambitious, bringing all threads to a conclusion that matches the series' philosophical seriousness. A very long but ultimately satisfying conclusion.