Return To Zero

Return To Zero
Author	Pittacus Lore
Publication date	6/25/2019
Published by	HarperCollins
ISBN	unknown
Publication Order
Preceded by Fugitive Six	Followed by -

Return to Zero is the third and last novel from the Lorien Legacies Reborn series. It was released on June 25th, 2019.

About

All bets are off in this third and final book in the epic New York Times bestselling Lorien Legacies Reborn series! This fast-paced, action-packed adventure—which is set in the world of I Am Number Four—is perfect for fans of the Darkest Minds series and the X-Men franchise.

After the battle in Switzerland, the Fugitive Six find their allegiances torn, dividing them into two factions. Taylor, Kopano, and Nigel return to the Academy with Nine, but nothing is the same. As fear and resentment of the Human Garde continues to grow, the United Nations decrees that all humans with Legacies must be implanted with inhibitors. So our heroes will have no choice but to rebel. 

And with the Foundation still at large, Isabela, Caleb, and Ran have decided to join forces with their former foes Einar and Five to hunt them down. But when a new threat is revealed, the group may find itself painfully outmatched. Facing capture or annihilation from all sides, the only hope the Human Garde have for survival is to stand together once and for all to fight back against their true enemies.

Return to Zero is the epic conclusion to the story of the Garde that began with the worldwide phenomenon I Am Number Four.

Plot

At the Earth Garde base in Washington, DC, Daniella is attacked by Greger Karlson and Melanie Jackson for refusing to be implanted with an inhibitor chip. (Melanie, Jiao, and Lofton are sellout Garde who have already agreed to have inhibitors implanted). Daniela is overwhelmed and put into prison with Six, Sam, and Vincent Iabruzzi. While in the prison, they meet an insane Garde named Lucas who believes in the Harvesters' ideology and who has the power to control the bodies of others via physical contact.

Taylor, Kopano, and Nigel confront Miki and take him in, interrogate him, and eventually heal Bea Barnaby and release her and Dr. Linda to Earth Garde. They also tell all other students at the Academy the full truth regarding The Foundation and the attempts of the Fugitive Six to stop the organization.

The Academy then comes under siege by Earth Garde. John Smith shows up with Vontezza, who somehow managed to gain Legacies and was actually in the vision experienced by Human Garde in "The Fate of Ten." Her power is that she is unable to die--because her body can slowly regenerate.

Einar’s group has a run-in with Lucas (via several controlled individuals) and Isabela figures out where the Earth Garde prison is, so Einar's group heads there to free the inmates and kill Lucas before he can control more people.

John and Vontezza negotiate the landing of the warship and transfer all of the Mogadorians on board to Alaska with Adam. While this is happening, John, Miki, Vontezza, and Kopano attempt to steal the warship's shield generator to take back to New Lorien. (The Indian Government had agreed to give John and the Vishnu Nationalist Eight their own autonomous country in the Himalayan mountains). While stealing the generator, John is possessed by Lucas, and he 'kills' Vontezza and captures Kopano for Earth Garde. Miki manages to escape with the generator and warn the Academy Garde that John has been possessed. The Academy is invaded, and the Human Garde all retreat, except for Taylor and Nine, when John/Lucas attacks. John/Lucas--who has also stolen a nuke from Earth Garde--plans to destroy New Lorien and kill everyone therein. Nine fights John/Lucas and stalls him while Taylor tries to trick him. Taylor manages to get a tranquilizer in his neck, but John/Lucas reaches a Loralite stone and teleports them all and the Nuke to New Lorien. At the same time Einar, Ran, Duanphen, Five, Caleb, and Isabela attack the prison and manage to free the prisoners. Ran and Five accidentally teleport to New Lorien by touching Sam’s amulet right before John/Lucas arrives. The rest of the prison group manages to kill Lucas just after he sets off the nuke. John returns to his body in New Lorien but isn’t strong enough to stop the nuke. As it explodes, Ran absorbs all of the energy from the blast, saving everyone, but she can’t hold the energy in. She says goodbye to Nigel, then Five sacrifices himself and Ran by flying as high up as he can go before Ran explodes, killing both of them but saving all of the Garde in New Lorien.

All of the Garde retreat and hides in New Lorien, Einar turns himself over to the authorities, Vontezza wakes up in a Sydal Corp factory and destroys everything before heading out to Alaska, Kopano is rescued by John and brought to New Lorien, Isabela and Duanphen choose to stay in hiding in fancy mansions (and Caleb visits them), Taylor’s dad moves to New Lorien, and Kopano’s family (except his mother) visits him there too. Nigel finds Gamera (Ran’s lost chimaera). In order to avoid further abuses of his powers by others, John has an inhibitor implanted in him and gives controllers for it to Nine, Sam, Six, Marina, and Taylor. The book ends with all of the Garde gathered in New Lorien, ready to go out and help fix the world.

Characters

Human Garde

• Sam Goode
• Taylor Cook
• Kopano Okeke
• Nigel Barnaby
• Ran Takeda
• Isabela Silva
• Caleb Crane
• Einar

Garde

• Daniela