The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas is a collection of five prequel novellas that take place before the first book in the Throne of Glass series. The novellas follow teenage assassin Celaena Sardothien as she journeys across Erilea, first to Skull’s Bay, then Rifthold, then the Red Desert. As she completes various missions on behalf of her mentor and employer, Arobynn Hamel, she discovers new insights about herself, her values, and her feelings for her fellow assassin Sam Cortland. Maas published The Assassin’s Blade in 2014, after the release of the first two books in the series, Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight. Maas advises reading The Assassin’s Blade after reading the first two books and before reading the third book, Heir of Fire, as Crown of Midnight ends with the reveal of Celaena’s true identity, context that can help add to the reader’s understanding of the prequel novellas. Maas is also the author of the A Court of Thorns and Roses books and the Crescent City books, two fantasy series that are also very popular and deal with similar themes of magical adventure, good vs. evil, the ethics of warfare, and the development of close personal and romantic relationships. The novel addresses theme of Self-Discovery and Empowerment, The Fine Line Between Loyalty and Betrayal, and The Fight for Justice and Freedom.

This guide refers to the 2014 Bloomsbury Publishing Kindle Edition.

Content Warning: This guide includes references to violence, torture, murder, and enslavement. 

Plot Summary

The first novella, The Assassin and the Pirate Lord, opens with Celaena Sardothien attending a council meeting in the Assassins’ Keep the home of the Assassins’ Guild of Rifthold, led by Arobynn Hamel, the King of Assassins. Arobynn tells Celaena that one of their assassins, Gregori, has been captured, and her mentor, Ben, has been killed. Furious that no one went to retrieve Ben’s body, she argues with her rival, Sam Cortland, before she leaves to get the body herself. Two months later, Arobynn sends Celaena and Sam to Skull’s Bay to challenge the Pirate Lord Captain Rolfe over the murder of some of the guild’s assassins. Once there, a disguised Celaena delivers a letter from Arobynn to Rolfe. Rolfe then reveals that Arobynn sent them to establish an enslavement trade deal with Rolfe, rather than to avenge the assassins’ deaths. Horrified, Celaena confronts Sam, who swears he did not know the truth. After witnessing the terrible conditions on the ship, Celaena and Sam devise a plan to free the enslaved people.

That night, they row out to the enslavers’ ships and inform an enslaved man named Dia about their plan. She and Sam will use the catapults to break the large metal chain that guards the harbor from ships entering or leaving. When they return to land, Celaena and Sam start a brawl in Rolfe’s tavern to distract him, but when they try to leave and destroy the chain, Rolfe follows them. Celaena fights Rolfe, knocking him unconscious, while Sam takes care of the chain. After helping Sam fight off more pirates, the chain breaks, and Celaena loses Sam in the ensuing chaos. Celaena forces Rolfe to sign a letter ending the enslavement trade and eventually finds Sam.

In The Assassin and the Healer, Celaena arrives in Innish, a port in southeast Erilea, on her way to train with the Silent Assassins in the Red Desert. She’s been badly beaten by Arobynn for stopping his deal. Celaena saves a healer named Yrene Towers, who is working in Innish to save money so she can train at the Torre Cesme, a famous institute of healers. Celaena teaches Yrene self-defense, then lets the mercenaries attack them again to make sure Yrene can defend herself. Before Celaena leaves Innish, she leaves money and a brooch in Yrene’s bedroom so she can pay her way to the Torre Cesme. Yrene leaves Innish and never looks back.

The Pirate and the Desert finds Celaena at the fortress of the Silent Assassins in the Red Desert. There, she trains with their leader, the Mute Master, before training with another assassin, Ansel of Briarcliff. After months of arduous training, Celaena and Ansel travel to the city of Xandria to meet Lord Berick, who is plotting to take the Silent Assassins’ lands. Ansel speaks with Berick alone while Celaena explores the town’s market. They steal two of Berick’s horses for their return journey to the fortress, and Ansel reveals that she wants to avenge her father’s death. Back at the fortress, the Mute Master punishes them for the theft but agrees to train Celaena, which angers Ansel, since she has been there longer.

Ansel tries to deceive Celaena into the leaving the fortress, but Celaena realizes Ansel’s plan to betray the Mute Master with help from Berick’s troops. Celaena stops Ansel before she can kill the Mute Master and gives Ansel a 20-minute head start before Celaena fires an arrow at her. The Mute Master rewards Celaena with enough gold to pay off her debts to Arobynn and a letter saying she completed her training. 

The Assassin and the Underworld begins with Celaena back in Rifthold, where she presents her letter to Arobynn, and he apologizes for beating her. She and Sam reunite, though Celaena is confused about her feelings for him. Arobynn contracts Celaena to kill Benzo Doneval, whom she believes is trying to promote enslavement. She and Sam have a passionate night together, cementing their relationship. After Celaena and Sam fulfill the contract, Arobynn confesses that he lied to Celaena and that Doneval was actually an anti-enslavement activist. Celaena squares her debts with Arobynn and moves out of the Keep, having Sam move in with her. 

The final novella, The Assassin and the Empire, ends with Celaena’s heartbreak. Celaena and Sam struggle to make ends meet without assassination contracts from Arobynn. Sam participates in pit fights to earn money, which upsets Celaena. They agree to move away from Rifthold, but Arobynn demands a high fee for their exit from the guild. Sam wins a contract to kill Ioan Jayne and Rourke Farran, two dangerous crime lords who work for the king. Sam does not return, and Arobynn informs Celaena that Sam has been killed. She goes to see his body in the morgue at the Keep and breaks down. 

Celaena plans revenge and manages to kill Jayne, but Farran’s men capture her. She stands trial for the killings she performed as Adarlan’s Assassin, and when the King asks if she has any requests, she asks for a quick death. To spite her, he sentences her to nine lifetimes of work in the salt mines of Endovier, enslaving her. They put her in a wagon and send her to Endovier. On the two-week journey, Celaena mourns Sam and their lost future. Close to Endovier, she sees a great white stag, the Lord of the North, the symbol of Terrasen. She finds the resolve to survive, walking into Endovier when the wagon arrives.