Prodigy (2013) is the second installment in the Legend trilogy by Marie Lu. In this young adult series set in a dystopian future, the United States is divided into two warring nations, the Republic and the Colonies. Prodigy follows the first-person perspectives of two teen protagonists first introduced in Legend (2011), June and Day, as they join a rebel group called the Patriots in hopes of overthrowing the corrupt government. As they work to take down the Republic, June and Day must decide whom to trust and how to overcome the class divides and individual insecurities that threaten to tear them apart.

This guide refers to the hardback edition published in 2022 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Plot Summary

Fifteen-year-old Republic prodigy June Iparis flees her home city of Los Angeles with Daniel “Day” Altan Wing—a young revolutionary wrongly convicted for the murder of June’s older brother, Metias, and sentenced to death for treason against the Republic—after helping him escape his execution. With a gunshot wound to his left leg worsening, Day hopes to appeal to the Patriots stationed in Las Vegas for medical attention and for help finding his younger brother, Eden, who was taken away by the Republic once he contracted the plague. June worries the Patriots will not help without payment, which she no longer has after renouncing her wealth and status to help Day, with whom she has fallen in love.

In Las Vegas, Day and June disguise themselves as a soldier and a sex worker to navigate the city undetected by the Republic’s soldiers. June wears a necklace that doubles as an obscure Patriots symbol, hoping it will serve as a beacon and earn them a meeting with Patriot leaders. As an announcement begins on the city’s JumboTrons, declaring the former Elector has died and his son, Anden, will be assuming his father’s position, Day collapses, unable to bear weight on his leg any longer. The pair is saved from curious soldiers by the appearance of Kaede, a pilot for the Patriots whom June and Day met briefly in Legend and has since been looking after Day’s former partner-in-crime, Tess, who is training to become a Medic for the Patriots.

They are brought to a luxury high-rise barracks to meet with Razor, the rebellion’s leader, and reunite with Tess, who has romantic feelings for Day and distrusts June. Razor insists they pledge their allegiance to the Patriots and agree to aid in the Patriot plot to assassinate Anden in exchange for operating on Day’s leg and saving Day’s brother Eden who is being used as a bioweapon against the Colonies. June immediately distrusts Razor because of his significant amount of wealth but agrees to join the Patriots with Day. June is told to return to the Republic with false information on the Patriots and get close Anden, while Day is tasked with using his celebrity status to incite citizen uprising and deliver the killing shot.

The interactions between June and Day are stilted prior to their separation. Day resents June’s wealth and class privilege. June believes Day despises her for her past betrayals and is ashamed of her elite past. After Day’s surgery, Tess warns Day about trusting June, who she believes might side with the Republic once returning. The warning causes a fight between Tess and Day because Day does not believe June would betray him again. Day later gifts June a handmade paper clip ring, which is a common gesture of affection where he comes from. She is flattered, but Day becomes self-conscious about giving her something so cheap.

Day and Kaede disguise themselves as Republic soldiers and hide onboard the Republic Ship (RS) Dynasty, which is headed for the warfront city of Lamar. Meanwhile, June allows herself to be taken prisoner by Thomas, a former family friend responsible for her brother Metias’s death. June claims to be an escaped Patriot hostage with valuable information for Anden, which grants her an audience with the Elector in Denver. Kaede brings Day into the Patriots’ network of underground tunnel systems. Working alongside their forces in hidden bunkers, Day learns much more about the world outside the Republic, which is prospering more than he knew. As he interacts more with Tess, Day notices their similarities and admits she would make a much better match for him than June. He cannot, however, dismiss his feelings for June.

In the Capital, June undergoes a lie detection test, which she miraculously passes, and delivers all the misinformation the Patriots want Anden to have. June is treated like the elite instead of a prisoner but finds herself uncomfortable with the amount of wealth carelessly displayed, especially while many citizens in the slums suffer. June enjoys her interactions with Anden, who seems intent on changing the Republic for the better despite losing support from his Senators. He shares a similar past and way of life as June, which allows her to feel unashamed of herself.

Anden promises to release Eden and appeals to June, hoping her relationship with Day will be enough to form an alliance that will win the people’s approval and silence the Senators. His good intentions cause June to further distrust Razor and the Patriots as she begins to sympathize with the Republic once again. She decides to signal to Day through the cameras with a message to stop the assassination. Day watches their interactions on the camera feeds but is unable to hear audio. He becomes bitter and resentful at the way June easily acclimates back to her life of luxury in the Republic and worries about her similarities to Anden. Tess continues to convince Day of June’s untrustworthiness; Day dismisses Tess’s concerns until he catches June’s signal, then begins to wonder whom he can trust.

Day makes his first public appearance by taking part in a Patriots’ raid of a Republic train, prompting rumors of his survival to spread amongst citizens. On the train, Day discovers a young boy infected with the plague, like his brother. He is forced to abandon the distraught boy when guards approach, making him even more desperate to save his brother. In the following days, chronic headaches from his past return to bother Day.

As the assassination nears, June desperately hopes Day has received her signal. She begins to suffer dizziness and hopes it’s a common sickness rather than the plague, against which she’s been vaccinated. Despite her attempts to thwart the assassination attempt, Razor is intent on following through, forcing Day to betray the Patriots and sabotage the assassination himself. In the aftermath, Day and June escape through the tunnels. June explains her reasoning for sabotaging the assassination but is met with anger and distrust when Day claims not to believe Anden at his word.

The tunnels eventually deposit them in the Colonies, where June is hospitalized due to her worsening sickness. In her delirium, June’s mind spins through recent events; she realizes Razor has not been working undercover for the rebellion but has been hired by Anden’s senators to assassinate him and take power as a way to keep the corrupt system as it is. Kaede follows Day and June to the Colonies, where she tells Day the same information about Razor’s betrayal. She urges Day to return to the Republic and save it from falling into the Senators’ hands. While in the Colonies, Day discovers it is not the utopia he has always dreamed it was. Its society values the wealthy even more so than the Republic and gives their citizens a worse quality of life. He realizes that Anden’s offer of an alliance might be the best option for everyone.

June is taken prisoner by Colonies soldiers while Day meets with Kaede; she manages to escape using Day’s paper clip ring. Kaede steals a fighter jet and flies Day and June to the Republic while being chased by both Colonies and Republic soldiers. A stray bullet kills Kaede immediately after their crash landing in Denver. In the Capital, Anden attempts to speak to the rioting people of the city but is saved by Day’s arrival. Day convinces the people to rally their support behind Anden after revealing the Senators’ sinister plot to remove him from power for his radical ideas.

In the following days, Day is granted a full pardon for his crimes and reunites with Eden, who is almost entirely blind because of the plague. A doctor inspects Day and discovers a worsening injury in his brain from the government experimentations he endured years prior. The injury is incurable and will soon prove fatal. Meanwhile, June recovers from her illness and Anden offers her the opportunity to compete for the position as his Princeps—the leader of the Senate. The training for Princeps is intense and will mean a decade of shadowing Anden, which will leave her no time for Day. She is hesitant to accept because of her relationship with Day. When Day visits, however, he encourages her to train for the position and ends their relationship rather than tell her the truth about his imminent death. They share a passionate goodbye kiss and Day leaves June with the belief that their failed relationship is because of his inability to forgive her for her past mistakes.