Whether you’ve read Tracy Deonn’s Legendborn and Bloodmarked once or twelve times, you are READY for the third book, Oathbound to come out! As you dive back into the Legendborn Cycle, here’s a very thorough Legendborn recap so that you’re completely ready to join Bree, Nick, and Sel on their continued adventures.
There is also a shorter Legendborn recap at the bottom should you need it and everything below this contains SPOILERS!
The Ultimate Legendborn Recap You Need Before You Read Bloodmarked
PROLOguE
The book begins when Bree Matthews gets in a fight with her mom about attending UNC-Chapel Hill’s Early College Program. Before they can resolve the fight, Bree’s mom is killed in a car crash.
PART 1
Three months later, Bree and her best friend Alice Chen are EC students. On their first night, a friend, Charlotte, invites them to a party off campus and Bree drags Alice along. There we meet:
- Evan Cooper (Charlotte’s boyfriend),
- “After-Bree” (who came into being the day after her mom died),
- and Selwyn Kane (dark, mysterious, disdainful, hot).
The off-campus party dissolves into chaos and Bree witnesses Sel and his companion, Tor, fight a creature called an isel?? with magic?? Sel uses magic to erase her memory, but his “mesmer” doesn’t work and she remembers everything. Bree realizes she’s seen magic before: the night her mother died!
Bree and Alice get in trouble and Bree has to be mentored by fellow student Nick Davis. She avoids him. He’s persistent (and cute!). When the finally meet, Bree runs directly into danger and they get attacked by another demonic creature—a hellhound!
Bree wakes up in a fancy house owned by the Legendborn secret society and Nick is by her side. Sel (who Bree learns is called a Merlin) storms in and Bree pretends to be mesmered by him again…but she forgets nothing.
Later, Bree returns to the house and tells Nick the truth. Nick, being an absolute angel, agrees to reclaim his title to help her find out the truth about her mom’s death.
(yes I can)
PART 2
Surprise! Nick is King Arthur’s descendant! As the Scion of Arthur, he taps Bree as his Page to compete to be a Squire in the Order. It’s a lot to take in but she fakes it like a champ. They go out into the woods to swear an Oath of Fealty but Sel swoops in out of nowhere and is like, this girl is a demon!! Nick’s dad shows up and is like, Sel chill. Everyone takes the oath, and Nick & Bree fake it.
Felicity, a fourth-ranked Scion of the Round Table drops to the ground. She’s been Awakened aka called to power by her own knight’s spirit. But there’s no time to dwell because they’re attacked by hellhounds!! Bree, Nick, and Sel battle with the other Legendborn and several, including Nick, are injured.
While they recover, Scion/healer/all-around great guy William explains things to Bree:
The Legendborn are a secret society full of the descendants of King Arthur and his knights of the roundtable. Thirteen Legendborn bloodlines make up the Order who protect the world from Shadowborn demons. A network of Vassels, Squires, and Pages supports the Order. Merlin’s descendants, like Sel, protect the Order with aether (magic) (that’s what Sel’s been out here trying to do in dramatic fashion).
In times of great threat, Scions are called by rank until Arthur’s descendent is called. This is called Camlann, where the Scion of Arthur is to lead the Round Table against the demon plague in a deadly battle. If in the battle, Arthur is struck down by Shadowborn blood, the Legedonborn lines will be broken forever, leaving the humans defenseless against the Shadowborn (aka the demons that have been attacking throughout the book).
The last time the Scion of Arthur was called was back in 1775 so William explains that everyone is a little nervous we’re already down to the 4th ranked Scion being called.
As Nick recovers, Sarah takes Bree back to her dorm where Sel appears out of nowhere to threaten her again. Oh Sel. Alice, being the best of friends, is worried about Bree, and calls her dad, who insists Bree see a school therapist. She reluctantly meets with this therapist, Patricia, who drops the knowledge that Bree’s mom was a Wildcrafter who could manipulate Rootcraft aka aether aka MAGIC! WHAT?!
Bree is not deterred and goes back to the lodge and reaffirms to Nick that despite the threat to her life and the systematic racism the Order keeps throwing her way, she’s sticking around to find out the truth.
But it’s not going to be easy. The Legendborn are finding out which Pages can further serve the Order in a series of trials. In the first trial, Bree is paired up with another Page, Sydney. Their mission: to make it to the other side of an arena populated by hellish creatures (thanks Sel) with themselves and two dummies intact. They go second and narrowly make it across. No time to celebrate because Nick is attacked by a hellsnake! Sel once again saves the day in an epic fashion.
The never-deterred Bree goes into Nick’s bedroom to make sure he’s ok and they share deep truths like how Nick’s mom tried to take him out of the Legendborn life, and in punishment, a Merlin came and took her away for him. They fall asleep together and the next morning, share a kiss as Nick walks Bree home. Swoon.
PART 3
Bree meets Patricia in a graveyard to get answers. Patricia’s enslaved ancestors show them memories of Wildercrafters borrowing power from plants to heal. The ancestors highjack the vision and show Bree the birth of a demon-born baby who looks like Sel. Bree realizes that Sel too, is Shadowborn! She’s worried for Nick, but William explains that Sel is Oathed to protect Nick as his sworn Kingsmage. Sel and Bree make angry eyes at each other. Sel and Nick make angry eyes at each other. No one is happy about it except me, who is living for the drama.
Time for the second trial! It’s a scavenger hunt and Sel is keeping an eye on Bree- he still doesn’t trust her. They run all over campus collecting items while Sel is snarky and Bree is annoyed. They end up back in the graveyard where Sel sets a hellhound on Bree! Rude! Bree is like, I’m not a demon, dummy! And then they’re attacked by hellfoxes, which was NOT part of the plan. They escape through some secret tunnels but the foxes find them again. In defending herself, Bree discovers red flame magic creeping up her arms and both her and Sel are like WHAT? They fight off the foxes and the others find them and announce that Tor has now been Called. Nick straight up punches Sel when he finds out about the hellhound stunt, but it seems Sel and Bree have come to an understanding. The eyes they make at each other are slightly less angry now.
Bree heals and meets up with Patricia and another rootcrafter, who says Bree need to consult her ancestors for answers. But she’s not ready for that – she wants answers but also vengeance. Patricia says she can’t get it through bloodcraft (Legendborn magic) and they part ways.
Time for trial 3: combat! Bree has been training with the other Pages, and Sel is weirdly…helpful? Bree loses to Sydney but beats Blake and Vaughan. Vaughan retaliates and breaks Bree’s collarbone. What a jerk.
While healing (thanks William), Bree finds an aether-drunk Sel tearing trees apart in the woods. Sel reveals that Nick and his father have the power to strip him of his title and his humanity. Bree feels guilty this is a possibility because of her but Sel is like, nah byeeee.
Bree isn’t one to quit so she seeks out (a shirtless!) Sel later that night and explains everything to him. She thinks together they can discover who the real mole is causing this havoc in the organization, because it’s not her! Their plan involves Bree and a hilarious piggyback ride on Sels’ back to break into the house where Nick & Sel grew up, where they go through Lord Davis’ files. Sel confesses that when he was 13, he loved Nick!! But it’s chill, he says, because everyone falls in love with Nick (ok wow call me out).
One of the files reveals that back when Bree’s mom was a student on campus, a Gate was opened and demons attacked. Sel’s mom (the Order’s Kingsmage at the time) is blamed for opening the Gate so they locked her away and sent Sel to live with Nick and his family. Bree comforts a very distraught Sel. They learn that in the cover-up for the attack, Bree’s mom had to hide her affinity for magic for 25 years, and it’s confirmed that the car wreck that killed her was an accident. Sel comforts a distraught Bree, who feels like all of this was for nothing.
She runs out crying, right into Nick. Awkward. Nick wants her to stay but it’s too much!
PART 4
Bree is now determined to follow in her mom’s footsteps and hide her rootcraft. Alice is rightly worried about her, and Bree’s dad comes to campus and gives her a much-needed pep talk, as well as a necklace that was her mother’s. But, surprise! The necklace contains a magic memory!! Bree’s mom’s memory tells her about rootcraft and encourages her not to give up.
Bree seeks out Patricia, finally ready to face her ancestors. Bree’s grandmother sort of possesses her, but in a good, reassuring way. Bree heads to the Legendborn gala to say goodbye to Nick the right way. Sel and Bree dance and Sel calls Bree remarkable (heart eyes).
Nick publicly chooses Bree as his Squire and everyone is up in arms! But before they can talk about it, the creepy Merlin Isaac kidnaps Bree! Nick’s dad is in on this plan and he’s like “you’re not worthy!” and lets on that he is the one out there accelerating Camlaan, for the power of it! In fact, HE was the one who opened that gate 25 years ago. The betrayal!! They pull in Alice and threaten her to coerce Bree to leave Nick, the Legendborn, and the university. She has no choice but to agree and they’re let go.
Bree explains everything to Alice, who is like, we’re not giving up!! They head to the Lodge where they explain everything to those gathered there. They realize the demons are converging on the center of campus where Excalibur is hidden. Nick’s dad must be forcing this hand. They take to the tunnels and split up to go protect the sword. Bree’s group is attacked by imps and Fitz is killed. This is NOT going to be good. It’s just Bree and Evan when she realizes, she can’t hear Evan’s footsteps. He’s a goruchel, the demon Sel initially believed her to be!!! He’s been sent by Morgaine to take them down. They fight and Bree narrowly escapes, finding her way into Excalibur’s cave.
Inside the cave, it’s chaos with Scions and Squires fighting off demons. Whitty goes down. Rhaz the demon (aka not-Evan) threatens Bree, trying to force Nick to pull the sword, but Sel (who can SHAPESHIFT!) appears and saves her. Russ goes down. Nick tries to pull the sword. Nothing happens. Bree is pulled into a memory.
Bree sees her ancestor, Vera, attacked by her master. Vera makes a bloodpact to protect her daughters, who can only live one at a time in their power. When Bree’s mother died, she passed the gift to Bree, with Sel’s mother, her friend, there to watch over her. (I’m crying here- are you crying?)
Back in the cave, Bree lifts Excalibur from the stone. She can feel Arthur inside of her. Nick was Called, but by Lancelot! Bree is Arthur’s Scion!!! With Arthur’s strength, they defeat the demons. It’s not over yet. Sel bows to her power and most of the others follow suit.
Bree collapses and wakes up the next day to learn that Nick’s dad has taken Nick. The remaining team strategizes but they’re at a bit of a loss. Sel swears they’ll find Nick and calls Bree his king and his cariad.
See why we need the next book ASAP??? Bloodmarked is out NOW!!
More resources for Legendborn fans:
Legendborn rollcall!
- Line of Arthur (1st ranked): Bree
- Line of Lancelot (2nd ranked): Nick
- Line of Tristan (3rd ranked): Tor and her squire, Sarah
- Line of Lamork (4th ranked): Felicity and her squire, Russ
- Line of Owain (7th ranked): Peter and his squire, Greer
- Line of Bors (11th ranked): Fitz and his squire,
Evan - Line of Gawain (12th ranked): William and his squire, Whitty
- Kingsmage sorcerer: Sel
TL;DR:
As a young student at UNC-Chapel Hill, Bree witnesses a mysterious guy, Sel, fight off a demon with magic. When Sel tries to erase her memories, she realizes she’s seen this before: the night her mom died! Determined to find out the truth, Bree infiltrates a secret society of Legendborn, who are descendants of King Arthur & his knights, with the help of Nick, the descendent of King Arthur himself. As Nick and Bree grow closer, Bree fights to prove herself to the Legendborn in a series of trials.
But things are getting dangerous with the Legendborn as demon attacks increase. Bree comes to an uneasy truce with Sel, and they discover that Bree’s mother had her own kind of hidden magic. Bree speaks to her ancestors and tries to embrace her unique magic.
Nick’s dad reveals that he’s the one letting in demons and trying to bring on a deadly foretold battle! With demons everywhere, Bree and the Legendborn rush to where Excalibur is hidden. But it’s not Nick who pulls out the fabled sword. It’s Bree! She’s the descendent of King Arthur!!!
