Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence and death.

The events of the Prologue take place when protagonist David Charleston is six years old. Calamity, which is at this point believed to be a star, arises one night, making the world glow red under its light. As David watches, the world feels warm for a moment, and then “the screaming” begins.

Thirteen years later, in the novel’s narrative present, David stares at Calamity and acknowledges how much his life has changed, noting that he and the Reckoners have defeated Steelheart—the Epic who previously controlled all of Newcago (post-apocalyptic Chicago). In the wake of Steelheart’s fall, other Epics have tried to lay claim to Newcago. The latest contender is Sourcefield, an Epic who wields electricity. David’s team has determined that her weakness is Kool-Aid, though they don’t know why. Accordingly, they douse her with the substance in an attempt to neutralize her powers. This method is only partially successful, and as she stares David down, her electricity grows more violent, “like a calzone stuffed with dynamite” (9).