The man’s name is Jon, and he tells the group their friends will return from their mission wounded but successful and that Mare’s group would have been captured if he hadn’t met them when he did. Julian Jacos is scheduled for execution, which Maven plans to use to draw Mare and Cal. Julian is being kept at a prison outfitted to hold Silvers and newbloods, and the queen plans to turn the newbloods into weapons. While the others don’t trust anything Jon says, Mare does, appreciating the irony that “I can’t trust my own friends, but here I am, allying myself with a cursed stranger” (301).

The group returns to the jet, where their friends arrive wounded, just as Jon predicted. Jon stays behind, telling Mare to fly immediately to a specific location and protect what she finds there if she wants to save her imprisoned friends. He also tells her to tell Farley “yes” when the moment comes and to follow her destiny, which is “to rise. And rise alone” (306).