A Court of Wings and Ruin recap

Feyre is entrenched in the Spring Court as a spy, quietly wrecking Tamlin's alliance with Hybern and turning his people against him before escaping back to the Night Court with Lucien. With the King of Hybern's invasion looming, Feyre and Rhysand work to unite Prythian's fractious High Lords, gather armies, and counter the Cauldron. Feyre's remade sisters struggle with their new Fae natures: Nesta carries a terrible power taken from the Cauldron, and Elain begins to see visions. The war brings brutal battles, shifting alliances, betrayals, and heavy losses, and Elain is captured by Hybern before being rescued. In the climactic battle Rhysand sacrifices himself to bind the courts' power together and dies, and Feyre persuades the assembled High Lords to resurrect him as they once resurrected her. The King of Hybern is killed, his forces broken. Prythian survives at great cost, the Night Court's family is whole again, and a fragile peace settles over the courts as they begin to rebuild.

Previously: mortal huntress Feyre Archeron was taken into the faerie realm of Prythian, fell in love with Tamlin of the Spring Court, and freed the High Lords from the tyrant Amarantha Under the Mountain, dying and being resurrected as an immortal High Fae. Stifled afterward by Tamlin's smothering protection, she was drawn to the Night Court and its High Lord, Rhysand, discovering he had hidden his true, honorable self behind a cruel mask. Feyre learned she and Rhysand are mates, became the High Lady of the Night Court, and joined his inner circle to fight the King of Hybern, who means to use the ancient Cauldron to conquer both realms. In the struggle, Feyre's mortal sisters Nesta and Elain were forced into the Cauldron and remade as High Fae, and Tamlin allied with Hybern to win Feyre back. To fight the enemy from within, Feyre let Tamlin take her to the Spring Court while secretly serving as a spy for the Night Court, hiding her true allegiance.

At the Spring Court, Feyre plays the recovered bride while methodically sabotaging Tamlin from within, sowing distrust among his allies and undermining his pact with Hybern. When her cover has done its work and grows too dangerous, she escapes back to the Night Court, taking Lucien with her. Reunited with Rhysand and his inner circle, Feyre turns to the enormous task ahead: the King of Hybern's invasion is coming, the Cauldron gives him terrifying power, and the divided High Lords of Prythian have never united against a common enemy.

The Night Court races to prepare for war, marshaling the Illyrian legions and seeking alliances among the other courts, including a fraught gathering of the High Lords who have never trusted one another. Feyre's remade sisters strain against their new natures: Nesta is volatile and carries a strange, immense power drawn from the Cauldron, while Elain grows quiet and begins to glimpse things that have not yet happened. The group works to understand the Cauldron and the ancient book that might counter it, even as Hybern's forces begin to move and the first blows of the war fall.

The war erupts in full. Battles test the alliance and its armies, and betrayals and hard bargains complicate the courts' fragile unity. Hybern strikes at the people Feyre loves, and Elain is seized by the enemy before being rescued in a daring effort. Amren prepares to wield the power that might turn the Cauldron against Hybern, at great personal risk. As losses mount and the enemy's strength becomes clear, Feyre, Rhysand, and their allies gather everything they have for a final confrontation they may not survive.

In the climactic battle, Rhysand sacrifices his life to bind the High Lords' power into a spell that can break Hybern, and he dies. Feyre refuses to accept it and persuades the assembled High Lords to give up a share of their own power to resurrect him, as they once resurrected her; Rhysand returns to life. The King of Hybern is killed and his army destroyed, ending the invasion. Prythian survives, though at a terrible price in lives and wounds. Feyre and Rhysand stand together over a restored Night Court with their family intact, Nesta and Elain still adjusting to their changed lives, and the courts and human lands settling into an uneasy peace as everyone begins the work of rebuilding.

The final battle against Hybern's forces turns on desperate sacrifice. Rhysand pours out his life to fuse the power of the High Lords in a spell that can turn the tide, and he dies. Feyre, refusing to lose him, appeals to the gathered High Lords to give a portion of their own power to bring him back, just as they once resurrected her Under the Mountain; they do, and Rhysand lives again. The King of Hybern is killed and his army shattered, ending the invasion. The cost is heavy - lives lost, courts wounded, old wrongs left to heal - but Prythian is free. Feyre and Rhysand stand together as High Lord and Lady of a restored Night Court, their inner circle intact. Nesta and Elain remain changed and still finding their place in the faerie world, and the human lands and faerie courts face an uneasy new peace. The immediate war is won, and the survivors turn toward rebuilding the world they nearly lost.