"Immortality has turned us all into cartoons." – From the gleaning journal of H.S. Curie, Scythe
Scythe Curie was Citra's mentor after Scythe Faraday faked his self-gleaning.
Biography[]
Apprenticeship[]
Scythe Curie was born Susan. She was the apprentice of Scythe Faraday. She was in love with him and would wait outside his door at night. Eventually, she tried to sneak into his room. He caught her and thought that she wanted to hurt him. The rest of the apprenticeship was awkward, but she was ordained as Scythe Marie Curie. She was the only one of the 5 apprentices to be ordained.
Formidable[]
Shortly after being ordained, there were a lot of problems with President Hinton, who wanted to rule instead of the Thunderhead. It was discussed at conclave. Afterward, Scythe Curie decided to glean the president and his cabinet. This caused many scythes to glean leaders around the world. She gained a lot of notoriety after this event, and people started calling her Little Miss Murder.
Before Scythe[]
Meanwhile, she was merely friendly with her old mentor, Scythe Faraday. Around 50 years later, both Scythes had turned their first corner. They became lovers and remained in this relationship for 7 years. The World Supreme Blade at the time, Prometheus, found out about what was going on. At this time, Faraday let Curie see the old journal entry he wrote.
After they were caught, the two were brought before the Global Conclave. It was a huge scandal, and it was thought that they might be kicked out of the Scythedom or be gleaned. Instead, they had to die 7 deaths and avoid contact with each other for 70 years.
Scythe[]
She is looked up to by Citra and is one of the most respected scythes in the Scythedom. After Scythe Faraday's faked self-gleaning, she becomes Citra's mentor.
Thunderhead[]
Scythe Curie still lives with Scythe Anastasia at Fallingwater and is teaching her how to drive. While teaching, they discover there was an attempt on their lives, leading them to go on a run. At one of Scythe Anastasia’s gleanings, she and Scythe Constantine glean the unsavories who tried to assassinate them.
At harvest Conclave, High Blade Xenocrates announces he will become Grandslayer of North Merica, leaving Scythe Curie to be nominated for High Blade.
When Goddard begins to submerge the city of Enduring Heart in the ocean, she puts Citra and Rowan in a steel air-tight chamber that is supposed to keep them safe and deadish, until they can be revived. She then goes to the top of the tallest tower of Endura, founder's tower, and gleans everyone on there with other scythes as a mercy killing, otherwise they will be killed painfully and be eaten by sharks. Then, after all the other scythes self-glean, she self gleans seconds before the water reaches her. While she dies, her only regret is that she will not be able to see the day Citra and Rowan are revived.
Post The Toll[]
Scythe Curie is one of the great minds who are placed in the consciousness of the dead Tonist colonizers. Upon arrival at her destination, a habitable moon orbiting the gas giant K2-18b, renamed Prosperus by colonists, she was supplanted into the body of Jessica Wildblood, who was a devout Tonist from WestMerica killed in the Tonist purge during the Year of the Raptor. Scythe Curie's memories, before the events on Endura took place, are in tact. Her last memory was flying to the island. She decided to take on the name of Susan Wildblood, keeping the last name of the Tonist, out of respect for her, while using her own given first name. After discussing her future with Cirrus, Scythe Curie chooses to fully leave behind who she once was and lead a new life on the moon.[1]
Personality[]
She describes herself in her early days as somewhat turbulent, earning the name "Little Miss Massacre." As she became a more understanding and mature scythe, the nickname "The Grande Dame of Death" was bestowed on her. She has always had an intense personality, but with age, her intensity has matured. Curie resists any form public celebrity trappings. She abhors fame or her elevation to cult status-- swatting away fans attempting to touch her robe.
Physical description[]
Scythe Curie is tall, slim, and described herself as gangly. She has long silver hair that's usually braided and falls along the back of her robe dangling halfway to the ground.[2] She wears a pale lavender robe. Scythe Curie, like everyone else, sets her biological age back but never sets it back past the age of 40.[3] Her eyes are gray, but once were dyed lavender, like her robe. Her robe was once bright purple with a lavender lining.[2]
Gleaning method[]
Scythe Curie prefers to glean in small towns, she observes the crowd for someone who looks "stagnant", someone who looks like they don't care anymore and have given up. Those are the ones she gleans, without warning, imitating how death sometimes came in the Age of Mortality. After gleaning, she finds the immediate family of the gleaning subject and invites them to Fallingwater, the place where she resides with Citra, to grant them immunity and provide solace.
Curie never gleans children. She said she never found one that looked stagnant, but even so, she stated she wouldn't do it. This has landed her a scolding sometimes, but never a punishment.
Possessions[]
- Porsche: an old-school sports car that requires skill to drive. It was a gift to her by the son of a man she had gleaned from an antique car dealer, and she later uses it to teach Citra how to drive as well.
- Sierra: Scythe Curie's cat.[2]
Relationships[]
Romances[]
- Scythe Faraday: Scythe Curie was the apprentice of Scythe Faraday. She had a romantic relationship with Scythe Faraday, and because the relationship was found out, the couple was punished. There is a deep friendship between them, even after all this.
Core Supporters[]
- Scythe Mandela
- Scythe Twain
- Scythe Meir
- Scythe Cervantes
- Scythe Angelou
- Scythe Sun Tzu
- Scythe Anastasia
Appearances[]
- Formidable
- A Martian Minute (mentioned only)
- Scythe (first appearance)
- Unsavory Row (mentioned only)
- Thunderhead
- The Toll (mentioned only)
- A Dark Curtain Rises
Gallery[]
Quotes[]
- “I think all young women are cursed with a streak of unrelenting foolishness, and all young men are cursed with a streak of absolute stupidity.”[3]
- “Everyone is guilty of something, and everyone still harbors a memory of childhood innocence, no matter how many layers of life wrap around it. Humanity is innocent; humanity is guilty, and both states are undeniably true.”[3]
- “The greatest achievement of the human race was not conquering death. It was ending government.”[3]
- “Mortals fantasized that love was eternal and its loss unimaginable. Now we know neither is true. Love remained mortal, while we became eternal.”[3]
- "That's exactly what the Scythedom is: high school with murder."[4]
- "It comes with the territory, dear. You can't make your mark without gleaning a few egos along the way." [4]
- "The end doesn't always justify the means, dear. But sometimes it does. Wisdom is knowing the difference."[4]
- "I will take care of and mentor Citra, I promise."
Trivia[]
- Scythe Curie speaks 12 languages fluently, including Spanic (the equivalent to modern-day Spanish)[3]
- Neal Shusterman's favorite character to write in Scythe was Scythe Curie.[5]
- At first Scythe Curie was going to be on the cover of Scythe, however, it was scrapped because her lavender robe did not look as striking as the scythe in a red robe.[5]
- Scythe Curie journals have become popular and not just among scythes. [4]