Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane

Infobox Book
name = Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Suzanne Collins
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series = The Underland Chronicles
genre = Fantasy novel
publisher = Scholastic
release_date = 1 September 2004
english_release_date =
media_type =
pages = 320 pp
isbn = ISBN 0-439-65075-5
preceded_by = Gregor the Overlander
followed_by = Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods

"Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane" is the second book in the Underland Chronicles.

Back Book Text

Months have passed since Gregor first fell into the strange Underland beneath New York City, and he swears he will never go back. But he is destined to be a key player in another prophecy, this one about and ominous white rat called the Bane. The Underlanders know there is only one way to lure Gregor back to their world: by kidnapping his little sister, Boots.Now Gregor's quest reunites him with his bat, Ares, and the rebellious princess, Luxa. They descend into the dangerous Waterway in search of the Bane, and Gregor knows what is at stake. If he does not fulfill the prophecy, his life, and the Underland will never be the same.

The Prophecy of Bane

"
If Under Fell, If Over Leaped,
If Life Was Death, If Death Life Reaped,
Something Rises From the Gloom.
To Make The Underland A Tomb.

Hear It Scratching Down Below,
Rat Of Long-Forgotten Snow,
Evil Cloaked In Coat Of White
Will The Warrior Drain Your Light?

What Could Turn The Warrior Weak?
What Do Burning Gnawer's Seek?
Just A Barely Speaking Pup
Who Holds The Land Of Under Up.

Die The Baby, Die His Heart,
Die His Most Essential Part.
Die The Peace That Rules The Hour.
Gnawer's Have Their Key To Power."

If Under Fell, If Over Leaped,: It refers to Henry who is the under, and he fell to his death. Gregor is the over, who leaped and lived.

If Life Was Death, If Death Life Reaped: King Gorger, who was the king of the gnawers also fell to his death. So, his death reaped or saved many lives in the Underland.

Something Rises From the Gloom/ To Make The Underland A Tomb.: Something terrible ( The Bane ) is coming to make the Underland a tomb, by causing the death of many.

Hear It Scratching Down Below,/Rat Of Long Forgotten Snow, Evil Cloaked In Coat Of White/ Will The Warrior Drain Your Light?: Many mice and bats are white, but only one rat was supposed to be white. Long-Forgotten snow is the fact that there is no snow in the Underland. When Gregor went to kill the Bane, he heard scratching. It also asks if Gregor will kill it.

What Could Turn The Warrior Weak?/ What Do Burning Gnawer's Seek?/ Just A Barely Speaking Pup/ Who Holds The Land Of Under UP.: Sandwich wrote that Gregor had a vulnerability. It was what gnawer's burning for war were seeking. The pup is the Bane. He holds the land of under up as the rats will not attack until the Bane orders.

Die The Baby, Die His Heart,/ Die His Most Essential Part./ Die The Peace That Rules The Hour./ Gnawer's Have Their Key To Power.: If Gregor killed the Bane, his heart would be destroyed, which is his most essential part. The Bane is the peace that rules the hour as the Gnawers would not attack, and killing the Bane would wage open war. Gregor took the Bane to Ripred, and the Gnawers did not have the key to power.

Confusion on the Baby

Much of the book and the prophecy is of a baby. This is the Bane, but was thought to be Boots. So, the Gnawers saw it as a race, either they kill Boots or Gregor kills the Bane. That was the reason Gregor went on his quest. They believed that killing him would destroy him somehow. When Gregor believes that Boots is dead, he decides to kill the Bane anyway.
He learns that the Bane is a baby, and refuses to kill it knowing that it is evil and gives it to Ripred. He is held on trial, but is saved by Nerissa since she knew that the baby was the Bane and Gregor was saved.

Plot summary

The books opens with Gregor and his family, who are still struggling. It is bitter cold and food is scarce, so Gregor decides to start doing chores for Mrs. Cormaci to earn money. His dad is still sick and has fevers and the family can barely afford his medicine. Gregor also notices that many cockroaches and rats were acting strangely around him. While sledding in the park, Boots disappears. Gregor goes to the place where he can enter the Underland and finds a cockroach leg. He phones his family and goes in. Two rats attack him, but he is saved by Ares and flies to Regalia. He is shown the Prophecy of Bane (see above) and decides to kill the Bane to save Boots.
The next day, he is taken to training and does some basic drills. He meets Luxa's cousins from the fount, and almost all of them are terrible except Howard. He does the blood balls training, in which three cannons are loaded with balls that have a liquid that mimics blood. Luxa and her cousins try it, and Gregor tries. He can't remember what happened, but he notices that he hit all 15 balls. He is sickened by the blood and flies with Ares to his hideout. Aurora and Luxa come over. Horns blow, meaning there is an emergency, but it turns out that it is Ripred with another rat called Twitchtip who is a scent seer. They decide to go to kill the Bane. Before, Ripred tries to teach Gregor echolocation, which he can't do.
It turns out that Gregor, Boots, Temp, Twitchtip, Mareth, Andromeda, Howard,and Pandora are going to the quest to kill the Bane by the waterway. They are joined by two shiners or fireflies, Photos Glow-Glow and Zap. They are attacked by an octopus, which poisons Gregor and the poison is stopped by Howard. They fight the giant octopus and Gregor feels the same sensation he felt when he hit the blood balls. Luxa and Aurora appear, against the counsel's wishes. Twitchtip senses something ahead, but can't describe it. It turns out to be a whirlpool, in which they lose a lot of food. Twitchtip almost drowns, and Gregor is sickened by the others who wouldn't save her since she was a rat. He saves her. Later, she tells Gregor that he is a Rager, a natural-born killer and that Ripred is one to. Twitchtip smells an island, which turns out to be newly-formed. There are some mites on the island, which Ares and Pandora begin to eat. The mites eat Pandora alive and Ares dived into the water and the fish eat the mites and the mites eat the fish. Ares escapes with a few bites.
The shiners betray them and they meet with rats. They go near the Labyrinth and are attacked by dinosaur-like serpents who bite off Mareth's leg. Temp, Boots, Luxa, and Aurora appear to drown. Gregor tells Howard and Andromeda to fly Mareth back to Regalia, who reluctantly agree. Twithctip has her nose hit which is no longer usable. Ares, Twitchtip, and Gregor go into the Labyrinth, and Twitchtip leads them through memory. Twitchtip can't smell anything further, and Gregor gives her food and she runs off. Two rats attack them and a third appears, who turns out to be Goldshard and another is Snare ( they are the Bane's parents ) who kill each other and Goldshard tells Gregor not to kill her baby. They continue and find out that the Bane is a baby, and Gregor refuses to kill it. They take off and decide to leave the baby with Ripred, who grudgingly takes him.
They go to Regalia where Nerissa is crowned queen and they are charged with treason for not killing the bane and Howard and Andromeda are also charged. Gregor tells the story and says that Howard and Andromeda are innocent. Nerissa comes into the court and when Gregor mentions the Bane is the baby, she says that the baby was not boots but was the Bane. Gregor and the others are released. While going back to the Overland, Vikus gives Gregor some medicine for his father and an antique clock.
They open the clock, which is wrapped in thousands of dollars. The family celebrates Christmas. Nerissa had given Gregor a scroll, and he reads it and the title is The Prophecy of Blood.

Contribution to the Story Ark

1. The Bane is introduced and is given to Ripred.
2. Luxa and Aurora go missing.
3. Nerissa is crowned queen.
4. From the book onwards, many people still think that Gregor and Ares are guilty for not killing the Bane.
5. Mareth loses a leg.
6. Twitchtip is introduced and so is Howard, and may other of Luxa's cousins from the fount as well. Shiners or fireflies are also introduced.
7. It is explained that Gregor is a Rager, a natural-born killer and that Ripred is one to.
8. Mrs. Cormaci begins being suspicious of Gregor's family and Gregor starts helping her for money.

References

The book Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane