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Queen of Shadows summary and Review (All 89 Chapters!)

By LoganReed 9 min read

Well, that would be Sarah J. Maas, the book genius behind the Throne of Glass series. With her intricate plots, complex characters, and romances that leave you wondering about your own sanity, Maas has enthralled readers across the globe. Love her or hate her, there’s no denying her influence on the fantasy genre.

Series: Throne of Glass
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance

Queen of Shadows Synopsis: Book Screenplay

Opening Scene: Dorian’s head is a party nobody wishes to attend, Valg-style.
Celaena comes back to Adarlan, and old wounds get ripped open.
Midpoint: Aedion’s going to be executed, and things fall apart.
Friendships are made, betrayals are planned, and magic hangs in the air.
Climax: Celaena against the world (again).
Ending: The war stage is set, and nobody’s quite certain who’s on whose side.

Queen of Shadows Review and Summary with synopsis

Oh, Queen of Shadows, you gorgeous, messy disaster. This is when Sarah J. Maas thought, “You know what would be great? More drama.” And proceeded to turn it up to eleven and add enough plot twists to blow your mind. Celaena’s back in Adarlan, and it’s about to get real.

Let’s get into this, four chapters at a time, okay?

Chapters 1-4: Dorian’s Descent and Celaena’s Return

We start in Dorian’s head, where a Valg creature is throwing a rager. He’s losing himself, and no one seems to notice—talk about a subtle takeover. Celaena, meanwhile, is rocking a terrible auburn wig in the Vaults, trying to figure out what Arobynn is plotting. Arobynn, of course, already knows who she is because he’s the puppet master of Adarlan. Then, he drops the bombshell that Aedion’s been arrested and is to be executed. It’s a trap, but Celaena has a hero complex, so of course she takes the bait. Arobynn offers his “assistance” in return for a Valg demon. Oh, and Aedion’s just rotting in a cell, hoping for a quick death. Fun times!

Chapters 5-8: Reunions and Revelations

Celaena makes a frantic escape from the Vaults and bumps into Chaol’s guard, Nesryn. Surprise, Chaol’s a rebel now! The exes have their stilted reunion, complete with Nehemia guilt trips and accusations. Chaol announces that Ren Allsbrook is alive (!!!) and that Fleetfoot is safe. Celaena’s a little bit of a jerk, blaming Chaol for all that’s gone wrong, but then she accepts Arobynn’s offer. And at last, we get a Manon chapter! She’s a complete and utter badass, holding down Morath with Duke Perrington, and things are most definitely creepy. Kaltain’s there too, sporting a Valg collar and a general air of despair.

Chapters 9-12: Secrets and Schemes

Lysandra appears at Celaena’s doorstep with a child and an awful lot of baggage. As it turns out, Arobynn is even more monstrous than we believed, and Lysandra and Celaena connect through shared loathing. Aedion is languishing in a cell, Dorian is adrift, and Manon is coping with witchling tests. And Elide? Sweet, sweet Elide is about to be in the middle of everything.

Chapters 13-16: Dancing with Danger

Celaena is summoned to the Assassin’s Keep, but it’s all just Arobynn being Arobynn. Lysandra and Celaena are suddenly best friends because nothing unites people like wanting to kill someone. Chaol pleads with Celaena not to kill Dorian and tells her about the Wyrdstone tower drama. Aedion is to be executed, and Celaena is impersonating herself in a group of dancers to infiltrate the castle. Time for dramatics and black powder!

Chapters 17-20: Saving and Revealing

The dancers drop their flowers, producing a smokescreen, and Celaena rescues Aedion! Dorian attempts to prevent her, but she is covered in Wyrdmarks. The almost-murder scene is interrupted by Nesryn. They get away, and Lysandra finally catches on that Celaena is Aelin. Meanwhile, Manon discovers Elide has witch blood, and we learn a bit about the history of the Valg. King Brannon granted witches the Western Wastes.

Chapters 21-24: Pits and Decisions

Dorian loses the fight against the Valg creature, and he resents Celaena for not killing him when she had the opportunity. Chaol still refuses to lose hope on Dorian. Celaena and Aedion share a decent reunion, and Arobynn arranges the Pits. Celaena battles a Valg commander and prevails, because, duh. As a reward, Arobynn informs her where Sam’s grave is.

Chapters 25-28: Wyrdhounds and Oaths

Asterin reveals Elide’s witch blood. Elide chooses to side with the witches. Aedion thinks he’s going to take the blood oath for Celaena, but Rowan’s already done it. Awkward! Valg soldiers massacre the Shadow Market, and Celaena follows a commander into the sewers, where she encounters a Wyrdhound. Then Rowan arrives in Adarlan, and we get that weird bath scene.

Chapters 29-32: Fae and Shadowfire

Rowan discovers that Lorcan has tracked Aelin to Adarlan. Celaena apologizes to Aedion for the blood oath. Dorian succumbs to the demon. Manon sees Kaltain casting shadowfire, and Elide overhears Manon and Asterin discussing something. Manon instructs Elide to discover a means into the chambers where the Yellowlegs coven is being held and determine what is being done to them

Chapters 33-36: Treachery and Warnings

Aedion is training with Rowan and worrying about living longer than Celaena. Lysandra comes to the apartment, and Celaena offers to kill Clarisse for her. Celaena takes Rowan on a tour of the city. Chaol and Nesryn accompany rebels to extract the captives en route to Morath. Celaena sneaks out of her apartment and lets Lorcan trail after her. She takes him to a band of Valg and leaves him there to die.

Chapters 37-40: Rescues and Plots

Arobynn calls for Celaena to come talk to him, and they come to an agreement: Celaena will get a book from the Torre Cesme and bring it back. Nesryn continues searching in the library to get information. Chaol and crew, being newly armed and allied thanks to Arobynn, stand ready to invade the wagons of prisoners bound for Morath.

Chapter 40 is omitted

Chapters 41-44: Revelations and Preparations

Arobynn is always two steps ahead, it seems, and forewarns Celaena that the book she has been searching for is not located at the Torre Cesme and instead orders her on a new mission to fetch it from a merchant in Rifthold. Rowan hands Aedion a letter from Maeve stating that Gavriel’s life is in peril and he can reach him only by swearing the blood oath. Manon, once she’s avoided it long enough, finally prepares to examine the Yellowlegs mating experiments. She takes Elide as her servant.

Chapters 45-48: Torre Cesme

Celaena has gone into Torre Cesme, but not to retrieve the book since she already knows it is a trap set by Arobynn, since it is still at Rifthold. She sits with the head, a priest, who informs her that he is on her side and provides her with weapons to depart. This action has already shown his loyalty to her and what she has to do to Arobynn. The priest takes her aboard a ship and that is where her trip back to Rifthold to obtain the book starts. The rebellion successfully raided the wagons, although Chaol was injured doing that.

Chapters 49-52: Experiments and Choices

Elide attempts to inform Manon that what they are doing is wrong, and it will only result in death and destruction. As they are inspecting, they witness the effects of the experiments on the witches and see how many have already perished. Manon queries why she doesn’t find herself repulsed by the Yellowlegs coven, and Elide answers her by stating she is sorry for them.

Chapters 53-56: Preparations and Goodbyes

Aedion is halfway through the blood oath, and the final step is to slice open his chest and tie himself to Rowan and therefore Celaena for life. Arobynn pays a visit to Lysandra, which fills her with a great amount of fear. She informs Celaena that he is not a person to be trusted. Lysandra finally has the opportunity to meet Evangeline, which puts her in a good mood to see her.

Chapters 57-60: Memories and Discoveries

As she lies in the tomb, Celaena reflects on her days with Sam. She gets up, finds the book that she was supposed to find (thanks Arobynn), and stabs a note into the tomb. Back at her apartment, Celaena starts to read the book and learns the tale of Elena and Gavin. Gavin, in his greed and lust for power, opened up the Wyrdgate. The Wyrdkeys are not a way to stop the Valg from coming to Earth, but rather a way to slam the door and stop them.

Chapters 61-64: Warnings and Decisions

Lysandra understands that she can no longer be a coward and that she must do something to change the future and prevent those responsible for the bad things. Lysandra goes to Rowan and informs him of what is to come. Kaltain goes to the dungeons to speak with Dorian and give him a warning. She tells him to wait, that the Queen will rescue him.

Chapters 63 and 64 are skipped: Feel this by yourself.

Chapters 65-68: Threats and Duels

Celaena threatens Arobynn because she cannot stand him constantly interfering with her plans and barking orders. While they’re sparring, it is certain that they each have plans in mind to kill the other person. The sparring is never done as a means of helping the other; instead, it is done with the intention of discovering a way to kill the other.

Chapters 69-72: Realizations

Celaena comes to the realization of what she must do in order to shut down the gate from the Valg invading this world. She begins to formulate a plan for getting all of it in line so that she can execute it. Manon visits with her grandmother.

Chapters 73-76: Plans and Betrayals

Arobynn has plans to wed Lysandra. He does so because he understands how much she and Celaena love one another, and that she will do anything to get to her safekeeping. This is his control over her. Kaltain and Elide set off on their path north to attempt to locate the third Wyrdkey. Lysandra provides Rowan with a memory stone so that he can remember them and know what is happening in case she gets injured and no one can inform him.

Chapters 77-80: Deception and Confrontation

On the night of her party, Lysandra, using some magic dust, courtesy of Celaena, becomes her, so they can deceive everyone. Celaena, at last, confronts Arobynn in his office and begins to disclose all that she has discovered. She is set to take him down.

Chapters 81-84: The End of Arobynn Hamel

The groundwork has been laid, and everything is ready for Celaena to annihilate Arobynn and all that he believes in. Their battle is ripe with passion, rage, and all that has pushed them both this far down their path. She has emerged victorious and taken out Arobynn, and has sought revenge on those that he wounded and killed, such as Sam.

Chapters 85-88: The Aftermath

Celaena is taken into custody after admitting to the death of Arobynn, but soon after is let go because she is who she is. She gives everything back to Lysandra that Arobynn stole from her and releases her. The fleet finally sets sail for Terrasen

Chapter 89: The End (Finally!)

The fleet sailed for Terrasen, but is now being surrounded by the King’s ships. They know they’re on their way and are prepared for them.

Spoiler Alert

All right, if you haven’t read the book, turn back now!

The biggest spoilers:

Dorian is possessed by a Valg demon and is essentially a lost cause (at least for now).
Aedion is half-Fae!
Rowan took the blood oath to Celaena/Aelin, making their bond official.
Lorcan is a force to be reckoned with and is now on Aelin’s watchlist.
Arobynn is no longer