Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas: Chapter-by-Chapter Book Summary

This Empire of Storms book summary covers Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass Book 5. Whether you need a full recap before picking up Tower of Dawn or just want a refresher on what happened, this chapter-by-chapter breakdown of Empire of Storms has you covered. The summary of Empire of Storms below includes full spoilers.

EMPIRE OF STORMS TROPES: Chosen One | Dangerous Journey | Fated Mates | Found Family | Morally Gray Characters

Jump to Chapter Recap of Empire of Storms: 13–26 | 27–38 | 39–50 | 51–62 | 63–75 // ToG Book 1 Summary | ToG Book 2 Summary | ToG Book 3 Summary | ToG Book 4 Summary

Empire of Storms Book Summary

This Sarah J. Maas Empire of Storms book summary contains full spoilers for all 75 chapters and a prologue.

Empire of Storms Prologue

Princess Elena Galathynius and her allies are camped in a valley, vastly outnumbered by Erawan‘s approaching army. Gavin urges Elena to flee, but she refuses to abandon her people.

Elena shares that her father’s power is fading and he cannot stand against Erawan. But she has a plan for the night ahead. Rather than waiting for the battle at dawn, Elena wants Gavin and her to sneak across the valley and reach Erawan directly. Erawan’s forces will assume she’s a prisoner and bring her straight to him. Elena wants Gavin beside her to act as a distraction, giving her enough time to breach Erawan’s inner defenses.

Gavin says they cannot kill Erawan, only contain him, and that doing so simply passes the war on to whoever comes after them. Elena points out that their soldiers will die at dawn regardless. But Elena argues it’s the only way to give the world any future at all.

In the end, Gavin accepts the plan. He tells his most trusted war leader, Holdren, to take command of the army for the coming battle. He offers no explanation and says no goodbyes. Then Gavin and Elena slip away into the darkness toward Erawan’s camp.

Empire of Storms Part 1: The Fire-Bringer

Empire of Storms Chapter 1

Elide Lochan has been alone in Oakwald Forest for weeks, trying to make her way north on Manon Blackbeak‘s orders. Hungry, injured, and running low on supplies, she still carries the strange black stone that Kaltain Rompier pulled from Kaltain’s own arm before bringing Morath down around herself. Her job is to deliver it to someone named Celaena Sardothien, though Elide barely knows who that is or where to find her.

Moving along a dry streambed, Elide senses something off and ducks into hiding just in time. Two wyverns pass low overhead, their riders witches on a scouting run. She stays still until they’re gone, then starts moving again. She barely makes it two steps before the same instinct stops her. Someone is watching her. Elide pulls out her knife.

Meanwhile, Lorcan Salvaterre, a Fae warrior, has been hunted by Yellowlegs witches for two days after torturing one of their sentinels for information. He learned that two massive witch armies are ready to move on the continent. But that discovery brought him no closer to finding the two remaining Wyrdkeys.

Lorcan was already hidden in that streambed when Elide stumbled past, and he’d been watching her quietly ever since. Something about her scent triggers recognition, tying her to the Yellowlegs witches. He decides she might be worth following and questioning later, slips out without a sound, and starts tracking her.

Empire of Storms Chapter 2

Aelin Ashryver Galathynius is by a stream in Oakwald Forest, practicing her water magic in the early morning rain, when Rowan finds her. They share a brief, flirtatious moment before Rowan reminds her that he needs to head out to scout ahead. Aelin mentions that she took over the night watch from her cousin Aedion Ashryver, hasn’t slept, and is nervous about the upcoming meeting with Terrasen’s lords. 

While Aelin waits at camp with Aedion, Lysandra, Evangeline, and Fleetfoot, Rowan flies out twice to track the approaching lords but can’t find them. As evening draws closer, something moves in the woods, and the group pulls into a defensive position. Rowan returns with Lord Darrow‘s young messenger and keeps the messenger at knifepoint.

The news isn’t what they expected. The lords aren’t coming to the clearing. Old Murtaugh has been struggling, and Ren Allsbrook didn’t want him out in the rain and dark, so the lords are asking the group to come to a tavern four miles away instead. Aedion insists they’ll need to scout the place first, so the group will arrive later than expected.

Empire of Storms Chapter 3

Manon Blackbeak’s grandmother, the High Witch Matron of the Blackbeak clan, arrives at Morath with her coven, and Manon escorts her through the fortress to the duke’s council chamber. Inside, they find Lord Vernon and an unfamiliar golden-eyed stranger. The stranger is Erawan, an ancient Valg demon king who abandoned his old host body and now inhabits a new one.

Erawan orders Manon to lead her riders north to sack Rifthold, with the Yellowlegs witch Iskra following behind with a larger force to hold the city afterward. He also wants Dorian Havilliard taken alive if possible. Manon argues that leveling the capital would frighten potential allies into siding with their enemies, and Erawan agrees to a more restrained assault. Before dismissing the witches, he adds one final order. They must bring down the glass wall in Rifthold because demolishing it would crush the people’s morale.

Back in camp, Manon pulls aside Ghislaine, a scholarly rider in her coven, and asks her to explain who Erawan actually is. Ghislaine tells Manon and the other riders that he’s one of three ancient Valg kings who once invaded the world and that after being driven out, he spent centuries quietly amassing strength before launching a second campaign to conquer the continent.

Manon suits up in new wyvern-scale armor, takes her riders into the sky, and heads for Rifthold.

Empire of Storms Chapter 4

Aelin and her companions ride through a storm to a packed tavern in Oakwald, where Darrow, Murtaugh, and Ren are waiting in a back room. The meeting goes sideways almost immediately. Darrow refuses to bow properly and calls Aelin Princess throughout, pointedly withholding the title of Queen. 

Darrow goes after everyone in Aelin’s group, dismissing Lysandra as a commoner with no legitimate title, questioning Rowan’s true motives given Rowan’s past service to Maeve, and dropping the bombshell that Wendlyn once officially rejected a betrothal between Aelin and Aedion, something neither of them had ever been told.

When Darrow starts in on Aedion, Aelin slams a dagger into the table near his hand and warns him to back off. He doesn’t. Instead, he accuses Aelin of spending her years in comfort in Rifthold while her people suffered and tells her flatly that she’s unfit to rule. 

Aelin pushes back by saying she intends to be fully honest with her people about everything she has done and everything she has survived. Darrow is completely unmoved. He ends the meeting with a formal declaration that he and Lords Sloane, Ironwood, and Gunnar refuse to recognize her claim to the throne and that returning to Orynth without their approval will count as an act of treason. Aelin leaves still only a princess by blood, with no path to the crown yet secured.

Empire of Storms Chapter 5

The Lords of Terrasen have already voted before Aelin enters the room. She is barred from the throne and stripped of command over the Bane, and Darrow says the only path back is a political marriage to a foreign ruler.

Word then arrives that the Ironteeth host has left the Ferian Gap and is flying toward Rifthold. Dorian is the target. Rowan is the only one who can reach Dorian in time, so Aelin sends him ahead while she starts working out what comes next.

Aelin’s plan is to split their forces on two fronts. Aedion will get word to Ren to have the Bane ready to push from the North, while Aelin, Aedion, and Lysandra sail south to Skull’s Bay to bring Captain Rolfe and his fleet onto their side. Rowan will take Dorian to Skull’s Bay once Rifthold falls.

Before leaving, Aelin ensures Evangeline goes with Murtaugh. She cuts her own palm and makes a blood promise before the lords. If anything happens to Evangeline, she’ll hold them all responsible. She then tells Darrow plainly that she’ll return for Terrasen and won’t let personal pride stop her from saving it.

As Aelin rides out with the others, she notices a small figure the Little Folk left at the base of a tree. The figure points her toward Brannon‘s temple on the coast, a piece of information she keeps to herself.

Empire of Storms Chapter 6

Dorian, King of Adarlan, is on his castle balcony watching the city when an eerie stillness settles over Rifthold. His magic suddenly surges out of control, spreading ice across the balcony stones. A horn sounds to the west and cuts off almost immediately. He rushes to a window and sees a massive legion of wyverns bearing witch riders sweeping toward the city as screams rise from the streets below.

Manon and her Thirteen have been flying without rest to reach Rifthold, pushing harder than the escort covens could manage. When the city finally comes into view, she can see that Iskra’s legion has already begun the attack without waiting for Manon’s arrival. Manon drives Abraxos toward the stone castle, intent on carrying out her orders to bring down the glass wall, though she’s desperate not to have arrived too late for another purpose.

Empire of Storms Chapter 7

Dorian is forced to stay in his tower while wyverns tear through the city below. Unable to go to his people, he turns his magic outward and destroys the first wave flying toward the castle. Before Dorian can recover, a witch crashes through the wall, and her wyvern catches him with a venomous spine. The poison begins shutting his body down, though his magic fights against it. When the witch moves in to finish him off, Manon Blackbeak swoops in on Abraxos, kills the witch, and drives the wyvern away.

Manon pulls Dorian to his feet and tells him to find a hidden passage and escape. She warns him that Perrington is a demon who has taken over a mortal body and is raising an army in Morath to conquer the world. Manon urges Dorian to gather his forces before Perrington’s army grows beyond stopping.

Suddenly, four enemy witches break through the base of the tower. But a Fae warrior charges in and cuts them down. The warrior immediately recognizes Manon as the one who tried to kill his queen, and he uses his magic to steal the air from her lungs. Dorian shouts at the warrior to stop, and he relents. Dorian tells Manon to find him when she’s ready to fight on their side, and then Dorian leaves.

Empire of Storms Chapter 8

Rowan Whitethorn arrives in Rifthold after two days of flying without rest, only to find the city already overrun by witches and their wyverns. He manages to locate Dorian, and the two of them slip away through the castle before the fighting can close in around them. 

Dorian leads Rowan to the queen’s chambers, where a portrait conceals a hidden trapdoor. They go down through a series of tunnels that eventually open into the castle sewers, where Rowan finds a rotting but usable boat. Rowan tells Dorian to get in it, covers him with a cloak, and shifts into his hawk form.

Using his magic to guide the boat out through the sewer entrance and shield it from detection, Rowan escorts Dorian safely down the river and out of the city.

Empire of Storms Chapter 9

Elide has spent three days running through the forest of Oakwald, exhausted and aware that something is tracking her. When she stops at a stream to drink, an unnatural howling breaks through the trees. A warrior appears on the opposite bank and warns Elide to follow him if she wants to survive.

Lorcan has actually been hunting Elide himself. Now something else is closing in on both of them. The creatures approach from two directions at once, driving Lorcan and Elide like prey, and Lorcan sends Elide running east while he stays behind to fight.

The ilken, enormous humanoid beasts Erawan created, tear straight through the magical barrier Lorcan throws up to slow them. Lorcan takes one down with his axe and drives knives into the skulls of two others. But the ilken simply pull the blades out and get back up. Lorcan realizes that beheading might be the only way to keep the creatures down for good.

To buy time, Lorcan pretends he has no stake in Elide’s fate and offers to help the ilken catch her. The ilken tell him that Elide is a wanted criminal, a thief and killer their king is demanding they bring back. Before anything is resolved, a scream cuts through the forest from the direction Elide had fled.

Empire of Storms Chapter 10

A creature blocks Elide’s path and threatens to kill her. Unable to fight or outrun the creature, Elide bluffs by pretending to be an agent of the Dark King. The creature backs down, and Elide walks away.

Once she’s out of sight, Elide gets sick from the stress. Lorcan, a man Elide had assumed was dead, reappears and grabs her. He holds a sword to her throat and demands to know why she smells like the creatures hunting her. Elide tells him she escaped from Morath after months of imprisonment. Lorcan cuts her arm to verify that her blood runs red rather than the black that signals possession. Satisfied, he throws her over his shoulder and runs.

When they stop to rest, Lorcan gives Elide a tin of healing salve in exchange for information about Morath’s armies and interior. Elide then tells Lorcan she plans to reach Terrasen, find Celaena Sardothien, and join Queen Aelin’s army. Lorcan shares little in return beyond the fact that he’s heading to Morath on his own mission.

Elide and Lorcan agree to travel together as far as the Acanthus River and blend in among the merchant caravans crossing the plains. Before they set off, Elide warns Lorcan that the creatures will be watching the main crossings and hints that she has a plan to get around that.

Empire of Storms Chapter 11

Manon returns to Morath after the attack on Rifthold, where she killed a Yellowlegs sentinel to protect the king and the Fae warrior who came for him. Iskra Yellowlegs had already flown ahead to report Manon’s actions.

On arrival, Manon finds that the three Matrons have gathered to put her on trial. She’s charged with killing Iskra’s sentinel for no legitimate reason and with the deaths of four other Yellowlegs witches. Manon lies her way through it, telling the Matrons that Iskra’s sentinel attacked her to steal her prize and suggesting that Iskra is only pursuing the matter to steal her position as Wing Leader.

Then Petrah Blueblood steps in unexpectedly. She reminds the Matrons that Manon once risked her own life to save Petrah during the War Games and argues that someone who showed that kind of loyalty wouldn’t recklessly turn on her own sisters. Petrah’s words shift the room.

The Matrons decide Manon will live, but a life still has to be given in exchange. Her grandmother announces that Asterin, Manon’s Second and closest ally, will be executed the following morning in Manon’s place.

Empire of Storms Chapter 12

Aelin, Aedion, and Lysandra make quick time heading toward the coast after parting ways with Evangeline. Lysandra scouts ahead in various bird forms while Aelin and Aedion ride, and they cross Terrasen’s lowlands without much trouble. About a week into the journey, they reach the port town of Ilium, where Lysandra had flown ahead and returned with bad news. Adarlanian soldiers have occupied the town and are using the local temple as their barracks.

Aedion wants to turn around and head north to Eldrys, but Aelin refuses. They ride into Ilium disguised as pilgrims and take a room at a seaside inn. That night, Aelin lays out her plan to retake the town, arguing that she can’t let Adarlan hold it, especially the temple, which stands on the site where her ancestor Brannon first landed on the continent.

The idea meets immediate resistance from Aedion. He insists they need to focus on raising a real army before winter shuts off the northern routes. Aelin doesn’t budge. Aedion eventually stops arguing and acknowledges that reclaiming a place so bound up in Terrasen’s founding story would do something an army alone cannot. It would make Aelin look like an undisputed queen, not just an heir by blood. The three of them head down to eat before putting the plan into motion.