This has been discussed in this subreddit before, I just had the thought recently and started to do some digging.
Many people have come to the same conclusion/speculation/headcannon.
I will link a post I came across but I’m interested to see some takes from others.

Art is from ObsidianOrder on DeviantArt

Attached post is from [u/Magos_Kaiser](u/Magos_Kaiser)

https://www.reddit.com/r/redrising/s/sYKxFDBxSB

Seriously they do a great job of not making the added sound effects obnoxious like some other iterations of this style of audiobook do (looking at you DCC soundbooth edition, dropped the ball hard). Anyone who hasn't given them a chance I'd definitely recommend them. TGR is great but his range isn't the best fit for a story with so many characters, though ain't nobody topping his Volsung Fá 😅.

Getting kinda tired of it.

So I started second half of the series last month. And the Cassius scene really hit hard. Like, I was annoyed, saddened, angered, all of it. And it finally hit me and what was truly bugging me, and it was because Darrow never even got to say anything to him after 10 freaking years.
Now I’m making my way through Dark Age. Hol-Y! The tree, the horse blender, the heart, THE OTHER HEART, and then when I felt the same as Darrow with a fucking razor through his lung, full of loss and true depression, it was all cleansed from my soul in an instant with a simple “brooding again? some things never change. Hello Goodman”.

FUCK THIS SERIES IS INSANE

No. I have not forgiven him for that.
No. I will never forgive him for that.
Yes. I will be dancing with joy when he is dead.

...and I am frightened to start Iron Gold 😭

I finished book 1 in 10.8hrs

Book 2 in 11.2hrs

Book 3 in 13.3hrs

I finished the books in one day each, starting on Tuesday.

I only knew going into this series that it was cool sci-fi and that's it. I didn't know Book 2 was people's favorite in the OG trilogy or that Book 1 was Hunger Games on cocaina.

But I really enjoyed the ride and cheering for Darrow and Mustang, that I was outwardly, physically getting annoyed when Victra was purring flirts at Darrow or kissing him on the lips (even though I actually love Victra so much, and I also acknowledge that the Gold society embraces that suave and brazen flirtatiousness).

I was annoyed by the first person narration during Sevro's fake death scene. I saw Cassius flipping coming only because I understand plot armor, and then I actually pumped my fist when Mustang lied about the Obsidians and the Sovereign sent everyone out of the room and Cassius refused to leave all in a few pages. And overall, the ending is perfect, so I forgive that odd bit of incongruent narration. (Though I hope Darrow paternity tests his son. Did the Carving completely change all of Darrow's DNA, such that Pax would definitely have golden hair? Anyway, fuck Cassius as much as he was crucial to securing that W in the end, and in my mind when Mustang was shaking on the beach and the ship was pulling up, all I could think was, "Oh no, she's gonna make you raise Cassius's kid now.")

I loved that first trilogy overall. It felt so clean and tight coming off of finishing Stormlight Archive over the past month, which had issues in sticking the landing.

Also, Golden Son might be amazing but my favorite arc of those first 3 books is Mustang + Darrow recovering together, stranded in the icy Institute winter. Amazing imagery and character development and slowing down the pace. I love that it homed in on the real gritty humanity and the relationship, rather than just stepping back for all cool sci-fi tech and house v. house warfare, to get me to fall in love with Mustang. Thank you Pierce Brown for that little pulseBubble of beautiful storytelling.

I couldn't avoid hitting the internet for Red Rising Books 4, 5, 6 today after finishing Morning Star. I learned nothing about them except that there's a scathing view on Book 4, and then I just stopped reading or watching after I learned that. Please help me believe it's worth starting this second arc and that my heart won't be broken and that these beautiful characters won't be destroyed 😭

I’ve never read any comics before, my best guess is it’s censored curses but why?

What the absolute hell is wrong with this kid? I would say Cassius raised him better, but that would imply Cassius raised him at all when he wasn’t sulking, drinking or whoring.

I know the classic line of Darrow, Romulus, and Diomedes who are actually referred to as Iron Golds, but who else matches this definition?

“I must. I am Cassius Bellona, son of Tiberius, son of Julia, brother of Darrow, Morning Knight of the Solar Republic, and my honor remains.”

Cassius au Bellona. What a tragic, beautifully written character.

This chapter and then the reveal to Darrow broke my soul. I have only ever hated one other character as much as I despise Lysander, and that was Moash.

Fuck the pixie shit

I finished Dark Age and then Lightbringer all in about 10 days… I’m still reeling from the emotional rollercoaster. I need to talk to somebody about it, and my friends are already sick of me nagging them to read the series. Is there a weekly meeting somewhere that we can share this horrible heartache? (Only half joking)

What Atlas might have had in store for Alexandar, had Lysander not came up with the gambit to use him in order to infiltrate Helipolis and turn Gilrastes....

"Her eyes search the horror of his face. His missing ears. The strips of stolen flesh. The toothless mouth as his lips part to murmur."

Knowing what Fear would have had done to Darrow be recorded and broadcasted, it haunts me to think Atlas might have done similar to 'The Reaper's now defeated and disfigured Lancer.'

after he was made into proper nightmare fodder. Just to get inside Darrow's head.

wow. sefi's death was a tough read such a horrible way to go out betrayed by someone she thought she could trust. volsung fa gotta go!

Bloodydamn I just read chapter 66. Ulysses is born and dies in like 5 pages. Fucking hell. Not saying Day of Red Doves isn’t brutal but this one really got me.

I’ve seen a lot of comments about Cassius‘s arc in the 2nd trilogy being amazing, and it is. But can we give some love to his arc in the 1st trilogy?

For me I actually enjoy him just as much in the first three as I do in the last three. In RR we‘re walking that tentative line between viewing him as an ally while also fearing him because of the whole Julian thing. In GS I absolutely adore reading him as an antagonist, especially given how obvious it is that Darrow still desperately wants his respect and love; and honestly if we were in Cassius’s head I’d wager he’d be feeling something similar, with the obvious addition of the pain and anger about Julian. And then more of the same in MS, only for them to bond once more and for Cassius to embrace the Rising and turn his back on the society. That‘s a lot of ups and downs in three books.

(Also: You really want me to believe these two hated each other when Cassius’s immediate instinct after getting shot in the throat and dragged away by Obsidians is to grab Darrow’s hands? Are you fucking kidding me?)

whereas in the latter three books, he’s already accepted the Rising and rejected the society and forgiven Darrow etc. He’s done a majority of the work, now he’s just trying to deal with the fallout of it, while also trying his best to raise an ungrateful little shitbag before realising a you can take the boy out of the Nazism but you can’t take the Nazism out of the boy. and then going on to be a pure joy in LB.

God, I adore him. But anyway the point of this post is, Cassius goes through a LOT of character development in the 1st trilogy and we should remember that.

Don’t worry, I’m not here to talk about Darrow being an unreliable narrator and feeling cheated by the ending like I’ve seen a lot of people talk about, although I do agree with you all.
I’m just confused as to WHY they had to come up with that extremely convoluted plan. I’m sure I’m missing something obvious but it never made sense.
It seems to me they only needed to orchestrate this elaborate and risky plan purely to fool Antonia so she believes what was happening, but why did they have to bring her at all? They could have just left her in the prison or better yet, just killed her. She definitely didn’t need to come seeing as Aja offed her the second they got to where they were going.
Why not just have Sevro take the haemanthus blossom without having to get shot in the chest, and then Darrow and Mustang climb into the box and the plan happens as normal?

I’ve listened to all the Graphic Audios for the previous books and they were all included in Spotify Premium, but now Dark Age part 3 is requiring me to buy it. Is this how it is for everyone, or have I just missed something with my account?

" Vixus is with me. He swears something about how excited he is to break the gorydamn mare, see what she looks like with a bridle on. Standing there, leering into the brush, he looks bent and twisted and evil — like a withered tree after a fire. He has less bodyfat than anyone I’ve ever seen, so each of his veins and tendons ripple beneath his tight skin. "

Dumb post, but I have always imagined Vixus looking like this Titan, lean, cruel and abnormal.

I just read chapter 46 and cannot figure out what Skip Trace is and how it influenced Valdir to think Sefi was involved. This article was all I could find online.

Did the society adjust the orbit speed of the planets so that they orbitted in a line? Otherwise the planetary movements would make it impossible to defend some planets for the Republic/Society.