“What I’m trying to get at is, as bad as everything seems, I think, at its heart, life is good. It doesn’t throw anything at us that it knows we can’t handle—and, even if it takes its time, it turns everything right side up again.”
- Liam, in The Afterlight
| “ | Wake up, team. Time to carpe the hell out of this diem. | ” |
–Liam, in The Darkest Minds |
Liam Michael Stewart is a Blue male and one of Ruby's traveling companions.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Liam negotiates with the Children’s League to take him in if they save Chubs’ life. At the Children’s League, Ruby wipes his memory of her and the League lets him go in exchange for Ruby’s cooperation. LISM
Liam's Mini Novella[]
A couple of weeks after him leaving the safe-house, Liam is struggling both physically and mentally. With a lack of food to eat he's malnourished, and being alone is taking its toll on his mental state. It is revealed that he retains a form of emotional connection to Ruby which is keeping him from moving on from Maryland. Throughout the story, he keeps thinking about Ruby, who he only remembers as the league agent back at the safe house. Thinking about memories Ruby altered seems to give him a headache as well.
While out driving he comes across another kid named Remy, whom Liam saves from being hit by a train. Liam, feeling sorry and worried about the kid, offers him a ride, and Remy reluctantly agrees. When arriving back at Remy's place, it is later revealed that he and his sister Laura are working for a family of slip tracers, in order to get their sister back. Liam must fight to escape and eventually manages to get away from the skip tracers desperation to survive, Liam reluctantly makes contact with his brother Cole, who tells him to meet him in Philadelphia.
Never Fade[]
Liam is barely mentioned at the beginning of Never Fade. When Ruby is tasked with retrieving the information about the location of the USB flash drive containing the origin of IAAN from Cole's mind, she discovers it is in the possession of Cole's younger brother, Liam. Ruby then must find Liam and retrieve the flash-drive before a faction of the league goes rogue and takes control of the organization. Ruby eventually tracks down Liam to a tribe of blues where a kid named Knox is posing as the Slip Kid, where Liam is on the verge of death due to a serious case of pneumonia. In order to save his life, Ruby organizes a hit on an airport hangar in order to get medicine. After Ruby is taken captive by Rob, a rogue league agent, Liam together with the rest of the group comes to her rescue. Although his memories of her had been taken away by Ruby, his feelings had not, causing him confusion until Ruby accidentally restores his memories during a passionate kiss. Further confusion ensues from regaining his memories, while still retaining his false, altered memories, before angering upon the realization that Ruby had wiped his memories. Although furious with her, he stays by her side while she attempts to complete her mission to retrieve and return the USB flash drive to Cole.
Through the Dark[]
Liam is mentioned in In Time, briefly appears in Sparks Rise (he is never named but it is obviously him), and he appears in Beyond the Night.
In the Afterlight[]
After the destruction of the LA HQ, Liam follows Ruby together with the remnants of the Children's League to an older league facility in northern California known as The Ranch. On their way to The Ranch, he is reunited with Zu. Although wanting nothing to do with the league, he sticks around in order to be with Ruby. Slowly their relationship begins to recover from the subsequent turmoil of his memory wipe. During this time, he frequently fights with his brother Cole due to previous issues between the two from Liam's last time with the league, as well as mutual distrust in each other's motivations and capabilities. On top of this, Liam becomes jealous of Ruby and Cole's friendship putting a further strain on their relationships. Due to fear of Ruby taking his memories away from him again, he begins keeping a note to remind him of his relationship with Ruby and how he feels about her, in case his memories were to be taken away again. Upon discovering this note, Ruby becomes conflicted about their relationship as she believes he doesn't trust her anymore. This together with Liam going behind Ruby and Cole's back in order to contact Amplify, a rebel news site determined to tell the world the truth about the current state of the U.S, as well as him putting the mission to break out a smaller camp at risk, causes a large fight where him and Ruby breaking up as well as him nearly being sent away by Cole. This turmoil causes a divide at the ranch where their current plans to free the camps come into question. With the risk of losing the belief in their goal, Ruby convinces Cole to tell Liam his secret. After Liam learning that his brother Cole has been a red all along, he becomes furious and confronts Ruby. After a long argument between the two, he discovers Ruby found his personal note and the two reconcile after him telling Ruby that he wrote the note in case Cole forced her to remove his memories again, not because he doesn't trust her. With the two of them confessing all their doubts and internal struggles, their relationship resumes, stronger than before. With the turmoil in the group having subsided, Liam ends up going on a mission with Cole to take pictures and document the state of a supposed red camp. Unfortunately during this mission, Cole is shot and killed causing Liam distress. At the same time as this happens, the Ranch comes under attack and Ruby lets herself be taken away in order to infiltrate Thurmond. Liam is not seen again until the liberation of Thurmond takes place, in which he rescues Ruby as she was being tortured for information by the camp security. After they escape the camp together, they are separated once again as Ruby requires urgent medical treatment due to her severely broken leg and hypothermia, but are eventually reunited at the meeting of what to do with the Psi. At the end of the book, he is in a new van, driving off with Ruby, Chubs, Zu, and Vida.
The Darkest Legacy[]
18 months after the camps were liberated, Liam goes into hiding together with Ruby after her father was shot while protecting her. Liam and Ruby dedicate themselves to helping children who are on the run themselves, and form a hidden and community called Haven on a small lake in Virginia. During this time, Liam has a falling out with Zu and Chubs as they feel betrayed due to them leaving without saying a word.
5 years later, Liam and Ruby each leave Haven to go pick up some kids who are rumored to be in need of help. The rumor turns out to be a trap meant for Ruby by the criminal organization known as Blue Star, and Liam is shot while trying to flee. Before passing out from his injuries he is able to send a message to Sam and Lucas who have a safe-house nearby and they come to his aid. He remains on their secluded farm in order to heal, while Sam and Lucas go out searching for Ruby after she has gone missing while on her own pick-up.
Liam reunites with Zu on the farm when she comes looking a safe place to rest. With the help of Zu and her new friends, they are able to locate where Ruby is and discover she is being held captive at Leda Corp. They, together with Chubs and Vida go to Leda Corp on a rescue mission to save Ruby. Liam is eventually reunited with a comatose Ruby before he needs to leave in order to find a new place to rebuild Haven after its destruction, leaving Ruby in Chub's care. It is presumed they are reunited at new Haven after Ruby awakes 3 weeks later.
Physical Description[]
Liam is tall and blond, with light blue eyes. He usually leaves his face unshaven and scruffy so that he can pass as an adult. He has a small scar above his lip, which he was told Cole gave to him. In truth, he received it as a baby during an incident with his abusive father. "Liam, our driver, was wearing a beat-up leather jacket, darker across the shoulders where the rain had soaked through. His hair was a light, ashy blond that stood on end when he ran a hand through it...I saw his eyes were blue." (Ruby//The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken// Pg 109).
Personality[]
He is kind ,honest and loves to help others even if it means putting himself in danger.A kind and caring person, Liam often disregards his own emotions for the sake of others. He is willing to risk his life for others which often puts him into dangerous situations. Even when he is upset with someone, he is quick to forgive and move past it, as shown with his relationship with Ruby. He struggles when he is alone as seen in the novella Liam's Story.
Relationships[]
Ruby Daly[]
Liam's cocky through both of the novels as they start to learn more about each other. Liam is definitely in love with Ruby and plans on having an intimate relationship with her. He is shown to be very kind and loving towards her. In The Darkest Minds, he worries about her and is flirtatious towards her in ways, even attempting to kiss Ruby. When he finds out Clancy sexually assaulted Ruby he reacts badly, and when Clancy made Hayes beat Liam bloody Ruby is shown to be in shock and mental peril. They both show to worry, care, and love each other so much. Despite the many troubles they face, they always gravitate back towards each other.
Cole Stewart[]
Cole is Liam's older brother and happens to look extremely similar to Liam. Liam and Cole have a rocky relationship firstly because Cole was part of the Children's League for a long period of time, and Liam believed that what the Children's League was doing was wrong and escaped. Their relationship is quite rocky, but deep down it is shown the Cole clearly loves his little brother and will do anything to prevent him from getting hurt.
Charles "Chubs" Carrington Meriwether IV[]
Chubs and Liam met at Caledonia, Liam's camp. They become an unlikely pair of best friends and planned to break out of Caledonia with the camp. When the breakout failed, it put further strain on their relationship. Charles often expresses that Liam chooses to be a hero, because "it's the easiest way". Despite all of this, Liam and Chubs are always there for each other. Their relationship involves much teasing and a brotherly bond that pulls through at all times.
Suzume “Zu” Kimura[]
Suzume, better known as Zu, met Liam while the breakout of Caledonia was going on. Seeing as that she was being trampled, Liam quickly responded by picking Zu up. She travels with Liam and Chubs. Liam shows deep care and worries for her. Liam often lies/keeps things from her to “maintain” her innocence. When Zu goes off with her cousin, Hina, and 3 others, Liam is shown to be very worried, unhappy and in denial. When Ruby says she should be with her family, Liam replies by saying “She should be with us.” Liam is shown to really love her and thinks of her as a little sister.
Claire Stewart
Claire, liam's younger sister, was the youngest Stewart sibling and died from the IAAN virus unlike Cole and Liam. Who are blue and red.
Abilities[]
Liam Stewart is a Blue, which means he has telekinetic abilities (can move things with his mind). He describes it as "thinking of point A and B. Point A is where it is and point B is where you want to put it". Compared to most other blues, he is much more skilled with his powers, often being able to perform feats most other blues cannot.
Besides his power, he is skilled at repairing things, especially vehicles, having grown up with a mechanic for a stepfather.