 It does not fall in either informal trilogy (the Heris Serrano and the Esmay Suiza trilogies); fittingly it does not focus on any particular character, instead a more general, almost kaleidoscopic perspective of the upheaval in the Familias Regnant, and the rise to power of a new and more capable Speaker.It can be seen as a conclusion to the series, resolving or at least making a good start at resolving many issues and peoples and ending as it does on a memorializing elegiac note.The opening steps back to near the ending of "Change of Command"; the loyalists in the weapons lab on Copper Mountain (which planet has just been taken over by mutineers) have finished sending out their radio transmission, which unbeknownst to them will indeed be picked by an escaping loyalist Fleet warship, and are wondering what to do next.