Opening
In these chapters, Gregor and his toddler sister Boots (Margaret) barely escape a spider colony, only to lose their adult protectors and gain a guide from the enemy ranks. The quest turns darker and more urgent as the prophecy’s cost becomes clear and uneasy alliances redefine what survival demands.
What Happens
Chapter 16: The Spinners' Web
Caught in a massive web, Gregor tries diplomacy with the spiders, but a giant spinner starts wrapping him and Boots in silk. Desperate, he shouts, “Vikus sent me!” and the spider pauses, leaving the pair suspended while dozens of other spinners ignore them. Gregor is flooded with guilt for leaving the rat battle and doubts his worth as the prophesied “warrior,” thinking only of rescuing his father and protecting his family, underscoring Family Responsibility and Sacrifice.
The rest of the party—Vikus, Solovet, Mareth, Luxa, Henry, their bats, and the roaches—arrives after defeating the rats who saw Gregor’s face. Vikus says that mattered because Gregor resembles his father—the “son of the sun” of prophecy. Queen Wevox, ruler of the spiders, dismisses their mission and invokes spinner neutrality in the ongoing War and Conflict with the rats. She orders the group imprisoned inside a thirty-foot funnel of silk.
Chapter 17: The Coiler
Inside the silk prison, Vikus admits he overestimated his sway with the spinners, while Solovet tends injuries and assures the group they are not at war—only confined. The spinners even provide water and diapers for Boots, whose hunger and exhaustion spiral toward a meltdown. Gregor winces as Solovet treats the painful welts the web left on his face.
Solovet proposes a daring escape: destroy the funnel faster than the spinners can repair it using a maneuver called the “Coiler,” which only Luxa and her bat Aurora can pull off. They need a massive distraction. Gregor, thinking tactically for the first time, provokes Boots into an explosive tantrum by stealing her cookie and eating it. The weaponized wail buys the split-second window the plan needs, marking a step in his Coming of Age.
Chapter 18: The Root Beer Rescue
Boots’s shrieks thunder through the cavern as Luxa and Aurora spiral upward, slicing webbing with Luxa’s sword. The funnel unravels and the party surges toward freedom—until Queen Wevox fires a strand that snags Luxa and starts reeling her back. Unarmed, Gregor grabs a can of root beer, shakes it hard, and sprays the fizzy burn into the queen’s six eyes. Blinded, she drops Luxa, and Aurora dives to catch her.
The group forms a defensive “Blade Wheel” and escapes. Tension gives way to laughter as adrenaline fades. Gregor and Luxa apologize for earlier clashes and share the rest of the root beer; Boots solemnly pours the final drops for roaches and bats, binding the group with a child’s instinct for fairness. The mood shifts when Vikus and Solovet announce they—along with Mareth—must return to Regalia to lead the war. Gregor panics at the looming absence, but Vikus promises a guide. From the darkness comes a dry, mocking voice: Ripred, the very rat Vikus knocked into the river, steps forward.
Chapter 19: The Gnawer’s Bargain
Henry lunges at Ripred and is disarmed by a flick of the rat’s tail. Ripred proves razor-sharp, cynical, and terrifyingly competent. He wants King Gorger overthrown and needs the “warrior” alive to do it, forcing the humans to contemplate an alliance with their sworn enemy and complicating Prejudice and Alliances.
Gregor confronts Vikus, who reveals his long gamble: he has always intended for Ripred to guide them. He also finally shares the bleak lines of the prophecy—“And eight will be left when we count up the dead”—confirming that four of the twelve questers will die, intensifying Prophecy and Destiny. Vikus discloses he is Luxa’s grandfather, then departs with Solovet and Mareth. The younger leaders turn their backs in a deliberate gesture testing Betrayal and Loyalty. Gregor, mastering his anger, calls out a farewell to Vikus and commits to follow Ripred for the sake of finding his father.
Chapter 20: The Dead Land
Nine questers remain. Ripred drives them into a narrow, reeking tunnel where foul liquid drips from the ceiling to mask their scent from other rats. The bats—Ares and Aurora—are so claustrophobic they must ride on the backs of the roaches, Temp and Tick, an uneasy arrangement that underscores alliances born of necessity.
Cultural fault lines flare when Luxa and Henry, raised as royalty, admit they’ve never prepared their own food. Gregor, practical and patient, shows Luxa how to make a sandwich, a small act that cements his growing authority. After a grueling march, the party stops—only to be approached by two spinners, one large and one small and wounded. Survivors of a rat attack, they announce that Vikus sent them to fulfill the prophecy’s need for “two spinners,” and pledge themselves to the quest.
Character Development
The loss of adult leadership forces the younger questers to redefine themselves. Decisions sharpen; loyalties and prejudices are tested in real time.
- Gregor: Shifts from self-doubt to decisive improvisation, saving Luxa with root beer and using Boots’s tantrum tactically. He asserts steady, everyday leadership—teaching, mediating, and choosing trust when it hurts.
- Luxa: Proves elite skill with the Coiler yet reveals vulnerability when captured. Her thaw with Gregor and humility in learning basic tasks broaden her beyond proud royalty.
- Ripred: Enters as a lethal pragmatist whose goals only partially align with the humans. He reframes “enemy” and destabilizes moral binaries.
- Vikus: Emerges as a strategist willing to risk personal bonds—including his tie to Luxa—to serve the prophecy and the broader war.
- Henry: Remains rash and class-bound, attacking Ripred on sight and sneering at manual work, keeping intra-group tension high.
Themes & Symbols
Allegiance becomes a negotiation rather than a moral absolute. The partnership with Ripred, bats riding roaches, and spinner reinforcements all fracture Underland hierarchies, pulling the party toward cooperation forged by need rather than trust. Gregor’s Overlander perspective—more flexible, more practical—allows him to navigate these fault lines and grow into leadership.
The prophecy’s lethal math turns the quest into a crucible. Stakes spike from a daring rescue to a survival gauntlet where every choice may cost a life. Meanwhile, a humble object—the root beer can—emerges as a symbol of resourceful thinking and Courage and Fear: courage as quick wits under pressure, not mastery of traditional weapons.
Key Quotes
“Vikus sent me!”
- Gregor’s plea stays the spinner’s silk and signals how relationships and reputation can be as powerful as weapons in the Underland.
“And eight will be left when we count up the dead.”
- This line from the Prophecy of Gray reframes the journey as a countdown, pushing characters—and readers—to weigh every alliance and risk against a fixed, terrifying cost.
“Son of the sun.”
- The Underlanders’ phrase for Gregor’s father links lineage, appearance, and destiny, binding Gregor to the prophecy before he chooses it and amplifying his burden.
“Coiler.”
- The maneuver’s name becomes shorthand for elite skill under pressure and the teamwork required to survive a world woven with traps.
“Two spinners.”
- The prophecy’s requirement materializes in Chapter 20, proving that even enemies of yesterday may become the only allies capable of completing the quest.
Why This Matters and Section Significance
Chapters 16–20 mark the story’s hinge. With Vikus and Solovet gone, the safety net vanishes, thrusting the younger questers into true command. Ripred’s arrival complicates morality and strategy, shifting the narrative from simple heroics to hard bargains. The revelation that four must die saturates the quest with dread and urgency, transforming it from a hopeful rescue into a high-stakes trial that will define who these characters are—and what they are willing to sacrifice.