Welcome to the Darklands is the second novel of the Trollhunters book series written by Richard Ashley Hamilton. It was released on December 12th, 2017 by Simon Spotlight.
Synopsis[]
Welcome to the Darklands, they’ve been waiting for you.
After a reckless, anger-fueled act, Jim Lake, Jr. sets out on his own in a strange new world: the Darklands. Separated from his friends back home, Jim is discovering exactly what it takes to survive in this new realm as he encounters a whole new horde of Trolls. Back in Arcadia, Toby, Claire, and Blinky are doing their best to get by—and maybe, just maybe—find a way to reunite with Jim. This original exclusive Trollhunter story reveals what happens to these beloved characters between the season one finale and the season two premiere.
Chapters[]
Prologue[]
- Hexile - Gunmar and the Gumm-Gumms find themselves cast into the Darklands. Accidentally trapped with them, Dictatious offers his loyalty and services to Gunmar, attempting to take over Kodanth's position as Gunmar's adviser. A troll named Skarlagk separates herself from them, nursing hatred.
Story[]
- Unwelcome - Jim leaves the Killahead Bridge and begins to explore the Darklands. A fireball appears behind him, demanding who he is.
- Good Mourning, Trollmarket - Blinky, Claire and Toby move Aaarrrgghh!!!’s stoned body into the library. They find out Barbara left the hospital and is headed home, still disoriented from losing her memories.
- Baptism By Fire - After a brief fight, the fireball introduces himself as Rob, a Heetling, and offers to be Jim’s guide through the Darklands in exchange for escaping with him afterward. Though irritated by him and his constant string of Gun Robot references, Jim agrees.
- Phantom Pains - Gunmar feels pain from his empty eye socket. Dictatious surmises that the Trollhunter has entered the Darklands and goes out to search for him.
- Seeing Double - Claire, Toby and NotEnrique attempt to head off Barbara. It doesn’t work and she sees her demolished home. Blinky arrives wearing a glamour mask and pretending to be Jim.
- Labyrinthine and Serpentine - Rob leads Jim through a maze, but Jim begins to suspect they’re going in circles. A Nyarlagroth attacks them and they get separated. Jim is trapped in a dead end and just as he’s being strangled by the giant eel, someone saves him.
- Switcheroo - Once alone, Blinky explains to the others that he managed to get the very last known glamour mask in order to impersonate Jim. But Toby accidentally drops it and it shatters. When they wonder what sort of plan they need now, Blinky suggests “Plan K”.
- Whistle in the Dark - Dictatious and his soldiers catch Nomura and are about to kill her when she reveals that she knows where to find Skarlagk.
- Underground Resistance - Jim wakes up as Skarlagk brings him to her castle. A tamed Nyarlagroth lifts the entire building and carries it to a new location. Skarlagk tells him she hates Gunmar because he killed her father while she watched and then stole his Gumm-Gumm army. She asks him to help her kill Gunmar and he agrees.
- Deal with the Devil - Nomura is brought to Gunmar and he promises to let her live if she tells him the location of Skarlagk’s rebels. She tells him where Skarlagk is moving her fortress, then he orders his soldiers to grab her, saying she can spend the rest of her life imprisoned.
- Plan K - The group travels by gyre to an undersea volcano and find a mountain of an ocean troll named Kelpestrum who was said to have swallowed an entire Trollmarket well-known for making glamour masks. Their suits start to leak.
- The Crystal Spire - Jim wanders through the fortress and finds a room full of gems. He chooses an emerald and shaves it down to fit into his amulet. Rob reappears and immediately makes a pest of himself. Skarlagk tells Jim she plans to destroy Gunmar’s entire kingdom, including the nursery with human babies. He’s so angry that they prepare to fight, but suddenly the castle is ambushed.
- Sunk - Team Trollhunters makes it inside Kelpestrum and find many masks, but are attacked by volcanic trolls. One steals Claire’s shadow staff and they have no choice but to fight their way through.
- The Horde Unleashed - Gunmar releases a horde of Hellheetis, Stalklings and Antamonstrum to attack Skarlagk’s fortress. Jim discovers the emerald in his amulet gives him glowing green whips, and he uses them to avoid plummeting to his death and fight the assorted creatures swarming everywhere. Jim confronts Skarlagk and reminds her of the day she watched her father get murdered, asking why she would condemn innocents to get what she wants--just like Gunmar did.
- A Hole Mess of Trouble - Eventually they corner the troll who has the staff, but unexpectedly find themselves thrown out through the Kelpestrum’s blowhole back into the ocean. As their suits begin to crack from the intense pressure, Claire manages to get her staff and transports everyone back inside the volcano. Their mission is a success, as Blinky happened to hold onto one mask during the excitement.
- Consumed by Revenge - Skarlagk takes Jim and Rob into the armory as Gunmar’s soldiers slaughter the rebels. Without warning, she throws them into her pet Nyarlagroth’s mouth and faces Gunmar alone when he breaks down the door. She is presumably killed.
- Burned - The giant eel escapes the battle with Jim and Rob trapped inside its stomach. Jim cuts their way out with the Eclipse blade, then tells Rob to leave since he hasn’t helped him even once and is nothing but a pathological liar. Rob angrily attacks, demanding to know where the Bridge is. They fight and Jim lures him into a Nyarlagroth’s nest, where Rob is promptly devoured.
- Drawn Together - Feeling anything in the Darklands will taint him if it can, Jim throws away the emerald he’d placed in his amulet. He finds a small cave and draws pictures of his friends on the wall, suddenly not so lonely anymore.
Epilogue[]
- A Life of Almost Dead... - Claire and Toby take turns pretending to be Jim at his home, but invent “Jim Lake Disease” to keep too many questions from being asked at school. At the same time, the long-dead Trollhunters discuss the visions they have seen of the future and how Jim will be able to return from the Darklands.
Characters (In order of apperance)[]
- Gunmar
- Deya the Deliverer
- Kodanth
- Bular (mentioned)
- Dictatious Galadrigal
- Skarlagk
- Orlagk (mentioned)
- Jim Lake Jr.
- Toby Domzalski
- Blinky Galadrigal
- Claire Nuñez
- Rob
- Skarlagk
- Draal the Deadly
- NotEnrique
- Barbara Lake
- Kanjigar the Courageous
- Spar the Spiteful
- Tellad-Urr the Terrible
- Unkar the Unfortunate
Books Index[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The main story begins at almost the exact ending scene of the Part One finale, "Something Rotten This Way Comes".
- The book marks the first appearance of Dictatious Galadrigal and Louis Scott as the book was published three days before the airing of Part Two.
- The book introduces two more past Trollhunters, Spar the Spiteful and Boraz the Bold.
- The book provides a preview for the upcoming book Age of the Amulet. Strangely, this is not the next installment in the book series, which would turn out to be The Book of Ga-Huel.