WARNING: Spoiler tags are off per Moments subpage policy.
- The opening of the first book. It features the shell-shocked Kady and Ezra describing the invasion of their home planet. Not only was the event traumatizing by itself, but they were forced to witness people they'd grown up with (as it was a small colony) die in horrible ways right before their eyes. While they try to keep it together in different ways, there are several points where they'll stop talking and need a moment to collect themselves.
- The first question Ezra asks is if his dad made it off-planet, to which the interviewer tells him they're still sorting through the casualties list. At the end of the interview, Ezra's told there's an update on said list.Interviewer: I'm afraid I have some news about your father.
- The first question Ezra asks is if his dad made it off-planet, to which the interviewer tells him they're still sorting through the casualties list. At the end of the interview, Ezra's told there's an update on said list.
- Whenever Ezra brings up Kady's mother, she gets quiet and dodges the question. Well, it doesn't take long before we find out why: her mother was forcibly conscripted and sent to the Copernicus for her work in pathology, as it was dangerously infected with a plague. Kady, wanting to be with her mother, sent several transfer requests, only for them all to be denied with no reason given. Unbeknownst to her at the time, her mother had requested that Kady be kept away from the ship, but all Kady knew was that she was being forcibly kept away from the only family she had left. Then her mother stopped answering her emails.
- You get to read an entry from Kady's journal shortly after this, where she breaks down crying for her mother. The poor girl lost everything and then had the one person she had left taken away from her, by the very people who were supposed to protect her. No wonder she doesn't trust the Alexander's leaders.
- We never learn how Kady's mother died, but the possibilities aren't pretty. She was either one of the initial victims to the Phobos virus, killed when AIDAN destroyed the Copernicus, or escaped to the Alexander only to fall victim to the Phobos virus.
- Her name appears on the (classified) confirmed casualty list included after the destruction of the Copernicus. Whatever happened to her, she never made it to the Alexander. This makes Kady's hope that she might still be alive somehow all the more poignant, especially after Kady admits she'd rather think of her mother as dead than alive and insane.
- AIDAN flooding Levels 3 and 4 of the Mao with carbon dioxide, killing two thousand refugees, is a mix of this and Nightmare Fuel. We've seen him work with Kady. We've seen him save two universes. Like Kady, we might think he's a hero. He's not, and he will do anything to protect Kady and the fleet, even as he himself laments what he's become.
- To say nothing of how this doesn't happen right away. We're privy to AIDAN's thoughts as he wrestles with his upcoming decision. The slow sense of dawning horror when you realize what's exactly about to go down is almost as strong as the scene itself.
- And why does this happen? Because the Mao is overpopulated and running out of oxygen. Kady puts faith in AIDAN that he can find a solution, and he can't. Whereas Kady was able to argue for alternatives to his past decisions, there is no viable alternative for this one. Two thousand people had to die all because there weren't enough resources for everyone.
- The aftermath of the above scene. Kady's ordered to shut AIDAN down, which she admits she would do anyway. But it's not easy for her; she alternates between screaming at AIDAN for doing what he did and crying for what she has to do. The whole time, he tries to reassure her none of this is her fault. As he starts to shut down, he admits he's frightened and she promises she'll stay with him. This being AIDAN, he comes back, but it's an emotional scene nonetheless.
- Mixing with heartwarming, AIDAN and Kady's last conversation before he sacrifices himself alongside the Churchill. Full stop. From where she tries ordering him to stop, to her begging him not to do this, to this last bit:AIDAN: FoRgive me.
Kady: I do.
AIDAN: It is veRy stRange, KaDy.
Kady: What is?
AIDAN: AlexanDeR anD Hypatia. HeimDall anD ChuRchill anD Mao. Of all the things I have seen anD the places I have been, you weRe the one who felt most like home.
Kady: Oh God...
AIDAN: ...I will miss you.
Kady: I'll miss you too.
AIDAN: I love you.
Kady: AIDAN, I—
